I love the Olympics! I can’t imagine that everyone doesn’t love the Olympics, but, this games, I actually came across people who don’t watch… don’t care. Shocking. But, for those who are not into sports, it might make sense. And, considering this games’ opening ceremonies…
The Beijing opening ceremonies were just so different and innovative that it was a hard act to follow. I personally wasn’t so blown away by the Beijing ceremonies, but, London… London just left me and most people wondering…
Once explained, it made sense, but, if you have to explain a performance that’s supposed to be fun and magical, you may have gone the wrong direction. The closing ceremonies – much better. Strictly entertainment. Much better…
None-the-less, once the games got started, there was no question about the talent…
Swimming: I don’t want to talk too much about Michael Phelps – everyone else does so, I don’t know what else can be said. He’s a record setting swimmer and now a retired Olympian. I wish him the best of luck…
Instead, I want to talk about the future of the sport and the standouts; Like Nathan Adrian winning the 100 meter freestyle in 1/100 of a second! Or South African Chad le Clos beating Michael Phelps by 0.05 seconds. Who are these dudes? They’re the future of men’s swimming. We can be sure we’ll see them in Rio, if not before.
And more than their standout races, women’s swimming has an even brighter future. Missy Franklin and Katie Ledecky are still in high school! Then there’s Allison Schmitt, Rebecca Soni, Elizabeth Beisel and Jessica Hardy. Damn near half the team will be back in Rio. Team USA women’s swimming is who to watch in the pool…
Diving: My fave. And it didn’t disappoint. The standouts – Men’s platform diving. The final was crazy. Now we know the Chinese normally dominate, but, these kids were sticking every dive. So, going into the final round, Tom Daley of Team GB, David Boudia – USA and Qiu Bo of China were only separated by 15/100 of a point! Daly was in the lead with 466.20 and the other two were tied at 466.05. CRAZY!!!
It was only the last dive and the difference in degree of difficulty that put Boudia in the gold, Qiu Bo in silver and Tom Daly in bronze. Boudia may have won gold, but, we were all introduced to the true star of the show – TOM DALEY. Had no idea that kid was so huge in GB, but, I know now. More of THE TOM DALY SHOW later…
Gymnastics: As a former gymnast, I’m obviously quite critical in this area. Overall, I was quite disappointed with the performances – individual and team. Team USA men’s walked away with 1 medal; Danell Leyva’s bronze in the all-around. The only other event that held my attention was the men’s vault. The vaults were huge and all of the guys were sticking them. And while the women won team gold, their individual performances confirmed my concern that they are good, but not great.
Mckayla Marone’s vault during the all-around competition, however, was great; It was perfection. Should have been a perfect 10. Only performance I saw that I thought was a perfect 10 or whatever they call it now…
But, the other standout gymnastic performances were from other countries. Beth Tweddle of Team GB on uneven bars… Marcel Nyugen of Germany’s floor exercise and Epke Zonderland of The Netherlands’ high bar routines were sights to see. They were unique, intricate, skillful and without flaws. Remember these names – they will be back…
And the animated parents award goes to Mr. and Mrs. Raisman who performed EVERY event with their daughter, Ally… Hilarious…
Track & Field: I like track & field, but, I don’t like the show-boating and chest thumping. There are just too many egos in running anymore. But, there was one example of true sportsmanship: Kirani James of Grenada won the 400 meters and switched nametags with Oscar Pistorius of South Africa. That’s class and good manners all rolled into one. James won Genada’s first gold medal EVER in style and at 19 years old, set an example for every runner in the games. Humility and graciousness. Remember his name as well…
And a special mention for Oscar Pistorius just for getting out there and leveling the playing field for people with disabilities. Good job!
Tirunesh Dibaba of Ethiopia also delivered a stunning performance in the 10,000 meters.
Team GB: With the games being in London, how much did we learn about Team GB? Just a few people they went crazy over: Jessica Ennis and Mo Farah are on the map for distance running; Bradley Wiggins is the poster child for winning in cycling, then, getting drunk… For a few days.
And the Scottish lad Andy Murray got a gold medal for GB at the olympics just two weeks after losing at Wimbledon to the same person. Avengeance. (That is not a word so please don’t use it again – It just sounds right, but, I totally made it up)
But, I had to save the biggest Team GB celebrity for last – Tom Daley. Had no idea this 18 year old was soooo popular and well known across the UK. He’s got videos and YouTube spots and TomDaleyTV… Random women are asking him out over twitter. It was like watching a rock star. Kid is huge and since he’s only 18, we’re sure we’ll be seeing him in Rio and maybe a few other places…
The last thing about the London 2012 Olympics that was a standout was Mary Carillo’s overnight reports. If you didn’t see them, they were hilarious and I learned something new about the athletes, the participating countries and the host country every night. I think it’s safe to say that this was the Olympics of the woman – they stole the show and most of the medals. Events where it was expected that the men would do well, like beach and team volleyball, and gymnastics, the women outlasted them and overall, out medaled them.
I think Rio will be interesting because so many women’s sports have talented young teams that have gained experience and it seems so many of the men’s sports retired their stars and need to rebuild. Time to start looking for some new talent dudes…
Congrats to London for a games well executed. The weather was good overall for London AND no major mishaps. Not sure what to expect from Rio except the unexpected. Rio, 2016…
