Beijing 2008 - highs and lows?

juvenal

So, after sixteen days working on our ass grooves and watching some sports we’ve never seen before (Rhythmic Gymnastics anyone?), it’s time to return to normality, or at least another form of madness.

Despite well publicised fears about air quality and human rights, I think most people thought it was a decent success from a sporting point of view. While I’m still critical of the IOC for a number of their policies - broadcasting agreements and rampant commercialism for a start, and would still argue the ethics of awarding the Chinese these games, I nevertheless sat and watched as much of it as I could. Hypocritical I know. . .

Anyway, as usual there were a number of highs and lows, and in no particular order, here are some of mine:

Highs:)

- Usain Bolt, three golds, three WRs; a story for the grandkids
- Natalie du Toit swimming to 16th in the women’s 10k Open Water
- The men’s swimming 4x100m freestyle relay final.
- Irish boxing team's performances – two bronze and a silver, great result
- German weightlifter Matthias Steiner winning gold after promising his dying wife he’d make the Olympics
- Eoin Rheinisch’s run to 4th in the men’s kayaking
- Paul Hession winning the 200m round 2.
- Phelps v Cavic – I still can’t believe he pipped him!
- Aussie diver Matthew Mitcham preventing the Chinese winning an eight gold medal sweep with one last dive
- Yelena Isinbayeva breaking the WR in pole-vault
- Hugh McCutcheon coaching the US men's volleyball team to gold after his father-in-law was stabbed to death in Beijing
- Benjamin Boukpeti winning Togo’s first-ever Olympic medal in the men's kayaking
- Roger Federer winning gold in men’s doubles tennis

Lows:(

- Chinese authorities reneging on protest agreements and faking various aspects of the opening ceremony
- Cuban Angel Valodia Matos kicking the referee in the head after being disqualified in the men's taekwondo (even though it was funny to watch!:o)
- Denis Lynch’s horse Lantinus failing a drug test
- Liu Xiang pulling out of the men’s 110m hurdles with injury
- NBC gaining increasing control over the Olympic schedule and world broadcasting issues, and failing to broadcast many events live, including the athletics sprint finals.
- Lolo Jones hitting the second-last hurdle while leading the women’s 100m hurdles final
- Martyn Rooney making an idiot of himself by taunting the Bahamians and Jamaicans at the end of the men's 4x400m relay semi, and then failing to place in the final
- Various Irish athletes underperforming for a number of different reasons
- Increasing suspicion over the Chinese women’s gymnasts’ ages
- Sanya Richards falling apart on the home stretch in the women’s 400m
- Lyudmila Blonska failing another drug test and getting the boot

Thoughts?

Macha

Don't forget these lows:
a fair amount of dodgy judging (boxing, taekwando, diving).
the harassing & arrest of some members of the press
the failure of the Chinese authorities to remove internet censorship.
the failure of the IOC to condemn any of this (THAT now infamous press conference questions http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WuE6LSiaLNk ) Cringe!!!

Highlight:
Ethiopia's Bekele: double 5,000 & 10,000.
Matthias Steiner was my highlight!

Other than that I agree with your list!

Dodge

juvenal wrote: »

- Martyn Rooney making an idiot of himself by taunting the Bahamians and Jamaicans at the end of the men's 4x400m relay semi, and then failing to place in the final

I'd have had the last bit as a highlight. What a thick..

Lirange

That's a good list Juvenal.

Also, Bindra winning India's first ever individual Gold.


Handball is always an Olympic highlight for me. Most watchable sport. Been online watching loads of the matches. Was really hoping for Iceland to beat the French.

Happy for Norwegian ladies after demolishing the Russkies though.

Lirange

taconnol wrote: »

Don't forget these lows:
a fair amount of dodgy judging (boxing, taekwando, diving).

Has there ever been an Olympics that were not plagued by dodgy judges in Boxing?

Macha

Lirange wrote: »

Has there ever been an Olympics that were not plagued by dodgy judges in Boxing?

True, I think they're really going to have to do something about it, especially in Taekwando - introduce video-playback or something.

Another low:

The Chinese people criticising their own athletes when they got silver or bronze & not gold. Eg comment about Zhou Luxin winning silver in 10m men's diving:

"Very disappointed! Everyone expected Zhou to get the 50th gold. But he lost, he is the criminal of our country. We lost the most important gold medal in men's diving event. It is a huge shame, Zhou Jiehong, the team leader of China's diving team, should quit her post!"

Also, I heard one Chinese guy, participating in pistol shooting I think, had participated in 3 Olympics & never won anything. This time he got a bronze. They were interviewing him on TV & he started off so happy & by the end they had him with his head bowed, saying how he had disappointed his country.

juvenal

I think that the sports that rely on a judge's opinion are always going to struggle. There's no defined finsh line or method to decide victory, apart from human opinion.

Good shout on Bekele. What a performance.

I personally suspect Liu Xiang pulled out of the 110m hurdles as the fear of losing gold to Robles was more shamful than pulling out with injury after a noble effort.

It's all for the "motherland" for the Chinese, which is kinda weird tbh.

juvenal

Here's an article on the reaction to the men's diving silver medallist:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/thereporters/jamesreynolds/2008/08/when_losing_becomes_a_national.html

There were also a number of farcical incidents in the taekwondo competitions, from judging to fans fighting with security officials.

ZiggyStardust

Good list juvenal.

Yeah would definately have Bekele in there and if he's on the list i guess you'd have to add Debarber. 5 and 10K double also.

As a cycling fan I'd have Chris Hoy also.

ZiggyStardust

Pole Vault was excellent as well. Hooker olympic record.

Now i'm thinking back and it really was a good games.
Can't wait for the Zurich golden league meet.

juvenal

Yeah, I agree the 5k & 10k doubles by both men and women were outstanding. It was hard to gauge the reaction as the middle and long distance events are not that high profile here in North America.

Generally athletics (or track-and-field as they call it here) don't get as much coverage as the swimming where the US would usually have a far more dominant team. Unfortunate really that the viewing public are so fickle - thank God for the internet!

I might also throw Rebecca Adlington on there as GB's first swimming gold medallist since 1988. Her parent's missed the first gold as they were the victims of a well-publicised ticket scam and watched it on television - before someone got the finger out and made sure they were there for gold medal #2 when she also broke Janet Evans' 19 year old WR. Goos stuff.