Sunday, August 24, 2008

Olympics in Review......


It's really cool when you can witness history in all different aspects of life... and really neat when you can witness history in sports. Over the past 2 weeks, many of us witnessed some pretty incredible feats that took place at the Beijing Summer Olympics. In my opinion, this is the best Olympics I have ever watched... but that might be because I have a new appreciation for many of the Olympic events that I would have not particularly been interested in a few years back.


So the highlights for me???


Michael Phelps - Ok, so the guy is a freak of nature, and has a body that is ideal for swimming.... but do you realize that he swims for 2-5 hours/day??? That is just unreal... this guy works so hard, that he has developed that mental edge over all of his competitors... that to me is the most impressive thing about him.










Usain Bolt- 3 golds, 3 world records, in two of the most highly anticipated events in the Olympics??? And of course, he is Jamaican... so this one is near and dear to my heart. What the Jamaicans did in this Olympics was incredible... with a population of 3.6 million people.....to have that much talent in the Track & Field events is very impressive... they are still partying in the streets of Jamaica... actually my cousin was in Jamaica this past Friday, and he told me that they have sold out of (Usain Bolt Water)... which is supposed to make you run faster!!! Classic... he said they are selling like hotcakes!!!!







Also the Jamaican women went 1,2,3 in the 100 m. That is just unreal!!!!




Redeem Team - It's not just that they got back the gold medal... but it was the way they handled themselves throughout the Olympics.... they were at so many of the events, cheering on other Americans... they didn't come off as "We're better than all of you... so this is above us" type... they really made the U.S. proud, and put basketball back where it is supposed to be. I must say though, that the world continues to catch up... beware in 2012....


The women's and men's marathon- I know this is not necessarily a favorite event to most of you.. but for me, this was one of my favorites (obviously there is some interest on my part now). It's really cool that a lady that is 38 could crush the competition like that... which shows that your body can continue to do amazing things as we get older... it's usually ourselves that put these limits on what we want to do.




The Kenyan man that won the Olympics was absolutely incredible. I don't think the average person realized what he did yesterday... running that pace in that weather was almost incomprehensible... even the experts thought he was going to croak or something.... for me that was the 3rd most impressive feat at the Olympics (behind Phelps and Bolt).