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

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)