things that make you go hmmm

 

on the beijing olympics:  critics who slam the summer games for china’s abuse of human rights, refusal to free tibet, having a pretty girl lip-sync a pretty voice, possibly having an underaged gymnast, the horrid smog of beijing, the authoritarian no-fun-games.  let’s take each point mentioned above and slam it to the ground once and for all.

1. government politics (human rights, tibet):  sure, these are pressing problems that must be addressed AT THE APPROPRIATE TIME & VENUE.  i’ve always maintained understanding that protesters and advocates for these issues would use the olympics as a means to air their grievances, but i draw the line when it comes to using the government’s policies on these issues as the measuring stick to gauge the success (or lack thereof) of the summer games.  
2. of young girls:  whether lip syncing or underaged gymnasts, the games have been slammed by the self-righteous (read:  western interests, particularly the media and a certain martha karolyi, coach of the US gymnastics team who, not strangely enough, got the silver in the team competition — someone remove the stench of sour grapes from the room, please!).  it is rather odd finding out that the pretty, vacuous-smiling girl in the red dress who was obviously singing to a recording was not the actual singer but it really doesn’t bother me.  should it?  as a performer myself, i can see why the beijing officials ordered this to happen.  whatever their reasons, i really can understand the motivations behind them and i’m not one to condemn them for wanting to put a pretty face before a worldwide audience of 4 billion.  you think any of the 2.7 billion non-chinese viewers will remember the not-so-cute genuine singer had she been allowed to be on stage?  i really don’t think so.  it’s an issue that has been blown all out of proportion.  strange, sure, but deserving of contempt?  not.  as for the underaged gymnasts, until the proof has seen the light of day, i’m giving the diminutive, young-faced acrobatic wonders of the unparallel bars the benefit of the doubt (and gold) and hold my peace.  so let the burden of proof begin, western media.  let the mad sleuthing commence!  and may it never end to give the endlessly wagging tongues something to write about when no other american gymnasts apart from shawn johnson and anastasia lukin bear uncle sam’s glorious stripes.
3. smog shmog:  where?  first world spoiled brats moan and wail about the harsh side effects of horrible smog for world-class athletes except for the athletes themselves.  ethopian legend haile gebrselassie pulled out of the premier marathon event citing smog as the reason only to find that the event was held on a smogless rainy day.  i can only commend the medallists from kenya, morocco, and ethiopia for running for glory in a sport that started the olympics in ancient greece millenia ago.  retired justine henin said in her pre-retirement days that she was considering not going to the olympics for the same reason.  did anyone miss her?  i doubt anyone, least of all the enthusiastic crowds, cared that the belgian prima donna was not there.  i didn’t!  the russians were more than enough to excite fans of the women’s tour.  davai!
4. no-fun-games in the socialist country:  the problem i have with critics is that they think that democratic nations are the only ones who know how to put on a good show.  i’ve read more than enough canadian columnists and listened to enough bitter british commentators whine and complain about the chinese communists, daring to claim that the 2010 vancouver winter olympics and the 2012 london summer games can be even better on ethical and moral grounds than the extravaganza the chinese put up in 2008.  enough!  the chinese put on a spectacular show that no stupid red bus morphing into an even more stupid hedge with a bunch of ragtag jazz dancers can outstage or even dream of topping.  can western performers summon the discipline to make 2008 drummers perform in flawless sync?  or dance in breathless formations?  no.  do these western societies even stand a squeak of a chance competing against china’s 5,000-year old history?  oh please.  and then they will take it against the beijing games by writing silly nonsense such as “it was a yawner getting a crash course on china’s 5000-yr history”… to such comments i say, then stop watching and try to do something meaningful instead of showing the world your obvious ignorance and contempt for anything better than anything you or your culture can ever do.  why not try to learn from the masters, instead, and perhaps put on a special show not bent on unflattering moral/ethical comparisons?  

smiling ethiopian long-distance running legend haile gebrsellasie (photo credit: reuters) 

which star shines brightest?

who is the biggest star of the olympics? this certainly makes for an interesting debate, doesn’t it?

if you ask me, the first week of the olympics belonged to the phenomenal michael phelps, who achieved his personal goal of 8 gold medals, surpassing mark spitz’ all-time gold medal record haul that has been in place since the 1972 munich olympics.

A combination photo shows Michael Phelps holding each of his eight gold medals in the swimming competition at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games. Phelps won his eighth gold medal on Sunday, beating Mark Spitz’s record of seven gold medals won at a single Games in 1972. The medals were won in: (Top row L-R) 400m individual medley (August 10), 4x100m freestyle relay (August 11), 200m freestyle (August 12), 200m butterfly (August 13). (Bottom row L-R) 4x200m freestyle relay (August 13), 200m individual (photo credit: the montreal gazette)

 the second week has its undoubtedly brightest star in jamaica’s lanky 6’5 sprinter, usain bolt, breaking his 100-M sprint world record by .04 of a second (could have been faster had he not started celebrating 5 metres before the finish line!) AND, more amazingly, michael johnson’s 12-year world record at the 200-M sprint by .01 of a second!  when bbc’s commentators sue barker and pundit collin asked michael johnson what he thought of the man who had broken his record, johnson enthused, “he’s superman!”

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usain bolt of jamaica celebrates winning the 200m final at the national stadium (bird’s nest) last aug 20 (photo credit: the vancouver sun)

21-year old hurdles track star dayron robles from cuba, the man who would break china’s 1.3 billion hearts, stormed to a gold finish earlier, and one wonders if he and liu xiang would have had a battle royale in the 110-M hurdles final.  that race had lost some of its lustre for the chinese, whose favourite son, xiang, limped off the track days ago with a hurting hamstring and right foot injury.

dayron robles of cuba and liu xiang of china (photo credit: bbc photo gallery)

not even the russian beauty yelena isinbayeva who holds the world record for the pole vault, who broke her own record yet once more at the games, could take away from the shine of phelps and bolt.  not even the chaotic race of the 4×100 metre relays of the american men and women can distract one from the glory of the two amazing younsters.  there is no doubt in my mind that michael phelps and usain bolt are the recognised poster boys of the 2008 beijing olympic games.

compared to the legendary sergey bubka, yelena isinbayeva flashes a smile after besting her own record at the pole vault, clearing 5.05 m (photo credit: the telegraph.co.uk)

a question to you (do take this seriously, give me a response, i would really love to know):  will anyone ever remember the amazing run rafael nadal had in winning the olympic gold in men’s singles on his first try, coming after his equally amazing wins in roland garros and wimbledon just one month before?

rafael nadal, olympic gold medallist for his beloved spain, after defeating fernando gonzalez of chile in their gold medal match last sunday, aug 17

olympic glory for my faves

olympic trio:  fernando gonzalez of chile, rafael nadal of spain, and novak djokovic of serbia (photo credit: tennis.com)

last december 2007, i made some fearless forecasts at my favourite tennis forum, following a question posed to us regulars, “who are your picks to win the majors in 2008?”  risking ridicule, i posted, on a lark’s prayer, the following:

• australian open:  novak djokovic
• french open:  rafael nadal (going for 4!)
• wimbledon:  rafa (three times lucky?)
• us open:  nole (you rule hardcourts, baby!)
• olympics:  rafa!

as of today, i have made 4 out of 5 guesses.  my beloved rafa, who treats each tennis triumph as a triumph for his beloved spain, gave his mother country the best prize of all — olympic gold.  vamos, mi rafalito, you have made your nation proud, and your loyal supporters happy beyond belief.

 

bringing the gold home for spain: olympic champion rafael nadal (photo credit: tennis.com)

that he overcame my other favourite player, nole, in the semi-finals, and missed watching this match, makes it somewhat bittersweet for me.  as the rivalry between the two intensifies, it gets increasingly difficult for me to watch the two men play, and sometimes my cheering for one over the other is framed by my desire to split the glory between the two (best example:  see picks above).  in my heart nole is the king of hardcourts but rafa’s win over nole last weekend has tilted the head-to-head advantage in rafa’s favour, with him notching two wins over nole — indian wells 07 and beijing 08 on hardcourts; FO 06 and FO 08 on clay; and Queen’s 08 on grass.  nole has two wins over rafa, both on hardcourt, indian wells 08 and cincy 08.  what moves me is how both young men show ardent love for their country, pushing aside the quest for individual honour for the glory of spain and serbia.

intense rivalry between two intense, charismatic young men, rafa and nole — vamos!  ajde!  (photo credit: tennis.com)

roger federer and stanislas wawrinka snared the elusive tennis gold for switzerland in the doubles, and it was poignant to see the soon-to-be-former world #1 getting his first olympic gold a few days before rafa ascends the top spot in the rankings for the first time in 4 1/2 years.   as roger comes to accept the inevitable reality of his waning domination, my affection for him grows by the day.  i was truly happy to see roger take the gold.

 

at last, roger!  roger embraces stan after winning olympic gold (photo credit: tennis.com)

the women’s medallists featured a smashing russian 1-2-3 whammy, with elena dementieva doing one better than her previous olympic silver at the sydney 2000 games, winning over compatriot dinara safina and vera zvonareva overcoming homecrowd favourite na li to win the bronze.

 

russian sweep of the medals:  dinara safina – silver, elena dementieva -gold, & vera zvonareva – bronze (photo credit: tennis.com)

to see venus and serena screaming and jumping in delight puts a smile on everyone’s face as the two sisters swept their spanish opponents in two sets. although they failed in their singles bid to medal, they showed that they are the pair to beat with a 10-0 lifetime record as a doubles team.

my beijing darlings

novak is still on track in his quest for a maiden olympic medal (photo credit: AFP)

tennis:  spain’s rafael nadal struggled in his opener against 71st ranked potito starace of italy, their match going three sets.  however, in the match featuring compatriot david ferrer against serbian janko tipsarevic which lasted two sets, the players were grinding out each point and it took several long rallies and several minutes to conclude one game.  rafa’s match featured several of his service games at love while starace struggled on his serve.  i’m saying that rafa, though he played a deciding set, did not get as tired as ferrer or tipsarevic did.  (incidentally, tipsy won his match against ferru)  in other tennis news, ana ivanovic and lindsay davenport remained the tour’s biggest withdrawals, neither hitting a ball in any singles match. i have yet to read if jelena did play or not.  switzerland’s roger federer won handily in his match against russia’s dmitry tursunov; same with serbia’s #1 novak djokovic triumphing over american bobby ginepri.  britain’s newly crowned masters champion from last week’s cincinnati, however, fell in two sets to the inspired lu-yen hsun of taiwan.  wimbledon semifinalist upset agnez szavay, sania mirza withdrew due to wrist injury, and the williams sisters won their opening matches against their hapless opponents.  so far, all is swell in tenis land for this tennis fan.  it’s a pity murray bowed out but at least my big three are still in the mix.

 

andy murray crashes out of the olympics round of 64 (photo credit: AFP)

diving:  youngest olympian tom daley of britain and partner blake aldridge finished 8th out of 8 finalists in the 10-m synchronised diving event, bowing to superior chinese, russian, german, and american diving duos.  colombo’s young pair made a delightful dark horse showing, moving up to as high as 6th after 6 rounds.

phelps celebrates after his team snares gold in the 4×100-m freestyle (photo credit: AP)

swimming:  michael phelps continues his quest for 8 gold medals, snaring his second with team USA in the 4×100 meter freestyle relay, pipping the puffed up french quarted by 8 hundredths of a second.  this came one day after he took his first gold medal in the 400-m medley, setting a new world record in the process.  phelps has to thank compatriot jason lezak, who at 32 was the team’s oldest swimmer, who lunged for the wall at the last minute, edging out france’s anchor man alain bernard in 3:12.23.  2 heartbreaking losses were to be had, however, by phelps’ compatriot katie hoff, who missed out on gold in the 400-m individual medley and the 100-m freestyle, both times pipped at the last second, once by australian stephanie rice and the second time by british rebecca addlington.   my eye’s on kirsty coventry of zimbabwe, who has already won a silver medal in tge 400-m individual medley and broke the world record for the 100-m backstroke in her semifinal heat earlier today.

my eye’s on kirsty coventry of zimbabwe (photo credit: SI)

gymnastics:  anna pavlova of russia is my sentimental favourite to win the all-around women’s individual gold but team usa’s shawn johnson, the diminutive power-packed american from des moines, iowa, is tagged by pundits as having the biggest chance to take gold given her unwavering consistency across all events.  compatriot nastia lukin is a strong contender as well and personally, i prefer nastia’s style of gymnastics, characterised by aesthetic grace and artistry, over shawn’s mary-lou-retton-workmanlike quality.with a name like hers, it comes as no wonder to discover that nastia’s father was a former olympian medallist from russia who is now the assistant coach to team USA.  think back to 1984 when bela karolyi, nadia comaneci’s coach from rumania, coached his amercian ward retton to the overall title.  (nadia is my all-time favourite gymnast, scoring the first perfect 10 in the 1976 montreal olympics)

nastia lukin, daughter of a former olympian four-time medallist, has the pedigree to dazzle the world with her grace and technique (photo credit: eurosport)

parade of stars

electric atmosphere outside the bird’s nest (reuters)

my favourite people were out there today.  athletes.  my favourite kinds of celebrities.  yes, even the trash-talking nba and nfl stars.  dressed in their country’s chosen costumes, my favourite tennis players made my heart soar.

what a messi

messi scores in the 42nd minute as argentina opens its campaign as defending olympics champions

(photo courtesy of AP)

let him play for his country, barça, growls svelte rogue, backed by the entire defending champion team of argentina.  and to bring home the point more emphatically, check out who scored the only goal in the first half of the argentina-ivory coast football match of the 2008 beijing summer games?  none other than football prodigy lionel, the 21-yr old runner-up to fifa player of the year cristiano ronaldo.

I understand the position of the club because a lot is at stake, … but they also have to understand that it is my dream to play for my national team at the Olympic Games — Lionel Messi

sure, there is the champions league qualifying match to play next week, but nothing compares to playing for your country’s glory in the biggest sporting event on the planet.  nothing.

jaded glory

forty deuce has criticised how the olympic medals at the beijing summer games looks, saying they lack the character previous medals (athens and sydney) possessed.  c-note, i think it’s a matter of appreciating chinese culture and what jade plays in elegant, classic chinese memorabilia.  i find the medals are elegant and simple, able to retain the spirit of the olympics while showcasing one of the best things china can offer.  6.000 of these jaded beauties will catapult athletes into the stratosphere when their dreams come true.  bring on the games!

the beijing olympics medals, unveiled last 24 march 2008

(photo courtesy of  shanghaiist)

here’s an excerpt from the press release on the medals by bhpbilliton:

Designed with inspiration from “bi”, China’s ancient jade piece inscribed with a dragon pattern – the medals are a blending of traditional Chinese culture and the Olympism. The medals, made of gold and jade, symbolize nobility and virtue and embody traditional Chinese values of ethics and honor.

The design is based on the winning entry in the inaugural Olympic medals design competition, initiated by BOCOG in partnership with BHP Billiton 12 months ago, which received over 265 entries from design and creative organisations throughout the world. The competition was the first time in Olympic history that the design of the much coveted Olympic medals has been opened to the public through a competition.

 

let the games begin!

rafa arrived in beijing last monday, august 4, with pal tommy robredo.  according to down the line, he got mobbed and robredo had to duck all the crazily waving cameras (check out the video) good luck to rafa, all the media attention will only get more frenzied as the olympics prepare to kick off officially in the land of chopsticks, smog, questionable human rights, the bird’s nest, and the great wall.

rafa, roger, ana ivanovic, and a host of other stars have begun practising in beijing’s hot and humid conditions and in spite of the weather setbacks are determined to make a go of it and bring their best.  the best part of it all is rafa’s willingness to hunker down in the olympic village with roommate tommy robredo (yes, the guy who got shoved in the video link above) and be part of the olympic experience with other top athletes from around the world, an opinion shared by andy murray.  roger federer and other millionaire nba stars have opted for five-star accommodations during the games, saying that being mobbed does not a wonderful olympic memory make.  the swiss posters feature only one athlete on them, the soon to be former world number 1 roger federer.  he is bound to visit the village one day soon, promised the swiss coach, and talk to others and probably exchange pins.

check out tennis served fresh‘ photo spread of the stadium where the tennis will be played.  pretty impressive, huh? it’s going to be smashing, to say the least.  let’s just hope the athletes weather the heat, humidity, and smog and take away memories to last them forever.

(photo credit: great tennis photos)

if you guys haven’t seen it yet, check out the e-version of the ITF olympic book commemorating the 40th year of tennis (since it made its return to the games in 1988) which features 44 top tennis players like rafa, roger, ana, maria sharapova, serena williams, and the male russian quartet (marat safin, mikhail youzhny, dmitry tursunov, nikolay davydenko.

bring on the games now!  only 2 days to go!

 beijing’s famous bird’s nest stadium

(photo courtesy of blossom design)