What an Olympics!
Started by watching the Olympics Games Opening Ceremony.
It is a mind-blowing performance. Truly out of this world.
A benchmark that the future Olympics host countries will find it tough to surpass.
The 29 fireworks foot prints symbolise the 29th Olympic Games that Beijing is currently hosting.
I was going like "Wow! They are able to make the footprints looks so real!"
The rest of the performance were simply awesome.
I personally like the one that have the "skyscraper" boxes going through the routines.
It amazes me how they choreographs the moves as the men inside the boxes will have no idea what the person besides them is doing.
First race that I caught on television is the nail-biting 4x100m Freestyle Men's Relay.
Only his second race and Michael Phelps is in danger of losing the eight gold medal chase when Jason Lezak dives in a full body length behind Alain Bernard, the world record holder at the 100m freestyle distance.
With only 25m to go, it is amazing to watch how Lezak manage to pull off the feat to finish ahead of Bernard.
Watching the Butterfly 100m Heats, it seems like the US swimmers Michael Phelps and Ian Crocker are under the weather.
Both men qualify for the Butterfly 100m semi-finals though.
Watching the Butterfly 100m Final, one would have thought that Michael Phelps has failed to equal Mark Spitz record of seven goal medals, only to have the scoreboard shows that Michael Phelps touched the board 0.01 second ahead of Milorad Cavic.
Slow motion replay shows that Phelps extra half stroke was the deciding factor.
It helps Phelps propel slightly ahead while Cavic is still gliding towards the finish.
This race reminded me of Anthony Nesty, the Surinamese swimmer who won the 100m Butterfly gold medal during the 1988 Summer Olympics.
He out-touch the then-darling of the pool, Matt Bondi by 0.01 second.
Slow motion replay shows that Nesty extra half stroke was the deciding factor too!
That race has commentators scrambling for the world atlas, trying to figure out where in the world is Surinam.
Anthony Nesty has propel the tiny country onto the world's sporting arena.
On the final day of the swimming competition, Phelps completed his eight gold medals haul.
He is going down in history as the greatest Olympian that the world has set eyes on.
Only 23 years of age, I think he can win more Gold Medals in the future Olympic Games.
Extracted from Wiki
Physical attributes particularly suit Phelps to swimming
Long, thin torso (low drag in the water)
Long arm span - 6 feet 7 inches (201 cm) (long, powerful, propulsive "paddles")
His height of 6 feet 4 inches (193 cm)
Relatively short legs (lower drag, and perhaps the speed enhancement of a hydrofoil)
Size 14 feet (providing the effect of flippers)
Hypermobile ankles that can extend beyond the pointe of a ballet dancer, enabling him to whip his feet (as if they were fins, for maximum thrust through [if not over] the water).
Women's Team Fencing Sabre Gold Medal match
A real thriller to watch.
With China zooming far ahead at one stage, you would have thought that China got the match all wrapped up.
Never under-estimate the resilience of the Ukrainians as they battled it out to win the match by a single point.
Women's Team Table Tennis
Got to watch the Table Tennis semi-finals match between Singapore and South Korea.
Tied at 2 games apiece, the rubber set between Feng Tingwei and Park Mi Young is what stands between Singapore and an Olympic Gold Medal.
A tantalising game which Singapore won to assure ourselves of at least a Olympic Silver Medal.
The Women's Team Table Tennis Gold Medal Match pips Singapore against China.
Most of us have already guess the outcome of the match.
So it is no wonder why everyone is smiling even before the match is over.
Singapore has waited 48 years for our second Olympic medal. Hope we do not have to wait that long for our next Olympic Medal.
Women's Pole Vault.
Such a thrill to watch Elena Isinbaeva. It is like watching a female version of Sergey Bubka.
She came onto the field with only 4 other competitors left.
Captured gold with 2 pole vault attempts. One at 4.7m and another one at 4.85m.
With the gold medal in the bag, her attempt at 4.95m is just a warm-up for her world record attempt of 5.05m.
After 2 failed attempts at breaking the world record, she cocooned herself under her blanket and emerged from under it with 2 minutes to go.
Can see the instant relief and jubilation when she cleared the bar on her third attempt.
She proceeded to do a lap of honour.
Wednesday, 20th August 2008.
A Day to remember.
A Legend is born.
Usian Bolt, the Sprint Sensation.
He is a 200m sprint specialist who took up 100m just because of the Olympics.
4 days ago, he won the 100m Finals in a World Record time of 9.69 seconds, even though he decelerate after 80m!
Today, he won the 200m to secure the 100m and 200m Sprint Double.
But he did it better than Carl Lewis, by winning both races in World Record time!
I guess Michael Johnson's (former 200m World Record Holder) words "Bolt is not ready yet" before the race really spur Bolt on.
The race was a thrill to watch.
Usian Bolt switch on his afterburners and cruise through the finish line in World Record time of 19.30 seconds.
Friday, 22nd August 2008
We witness another spectacular show by the Jamaicans.
Women's 4x100m Relay... They were way ahead of their competitors, but unfortunately they had a very bad changeover which results in their disqualification.
Men's 4x100 Relay! The show everyone is waiting for.
It was a good start. Textbook changeover and soon we see Asafa Powell powering down the straight to cross the finish line in World Record time of 37.10 seconds, erasing a 16-year-old record by 0.3 seconds!
Congratulations, Usian Bolt! That is 3 Gold medals, accompanied by 3 World Records!!
Sunday, 24th August The Closing Ceremony.
After such a memorable opening ceremony, I am pretty excited to see the closing ceremony.
Zhang Yimou did not disappoint and it was a thrill to watch.
The most memorable spectacle of the night is the Memory Tower.
It is 20.7m high, covered entirely with artistes.
A lot of daring acts were performed. Definitely not for the faint-hearted.
That concludes Beijing Olympics, an event that costs China USD 44 billion, but have no doubt left a deep impression on everyone.
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