Nastia Liukin's Controversial Silver in Uneven Bars

Okay, so after all the hub bub about Nastia Liukin's controversial silver in the uneven bars, I finally had a chance to watch it on tv. From my untrained eye and regardless of the fact that He Kexin and Nastia Liukin scored the same, I thought He Kexin had a better routine. It was more exciting and had more release moves than Liukin's. That's my personal preference stuck landing or no.

I'll say it again, I've been very impressed by the composure of the Americans not rising to the bait of stupid reporter questions on how she feels of the fact that the Chinese gymnasts might be underaged. Liukin replied that He Kexin is a great athlete no matter what the age. That's class. And no worries Nastia. People will remember you as the all around champion with a lot of class even more than they will uneven bar champion. That would have been icing. You already have the cake.

Oh, and for those that say gymnastic has a stupid scoring system and what not. True, but these athletes knew what they were getting into. If it's a subjective event, you live by the sword, you die by the sword. Yeah, it would have been nice if Liukin and Kexin could have both been winners but, what can you do?

Olympic Mens and Womens Gymnastics Finals

We've had the mens and womens gymnastic team competition and all around competition and now is time for the specialist tricksters.

We start things off with the men's floor routines and you'd think that it would be cleaner than this but they were falling all over the place like bad figure skating. But who comes through in the end? Surprise, surprise. It's the Chinese. Here are your medalists.

Men's Floor Final

Zou Kai - China
Gervasio Deferr - Spain
Anton Golosutskov - Russia

Next up is the men's pommel horse. I don't understand all the intricacies of hand placements and travels and flairs but here are the winners in what is considered one of the hardest apparatus.

Men's Pommel Horse Final

Xiao Qin - China
Filip Ude - Croatia
Louis Smith - Great Britain

Women's Vault Event

This has got to be one of the most insane competitions I've seen. Alicia Sacramone was in the running for a medal. Good to see her bounce back after the team competition because let's face it, she pretty much screwed the U.S. chances... Another vaulter, Anna Pavlova would have probably gotten a medal but she went before the judges go-ahead. And to top it all off, a 33-year old German won a medal! What a story that is considering gymnastics is a sport that youth reigns supreme. A "mature" woman pretty much has no shot but Oksana Chusovitina, a mother no less, won silver! Favorite Cheng Fei who had all the expectations of the Chinese on her eked out a bronze after her a fall on her second vault. A North Korean won the vault final and it was nice to see... You hardly ever seen North Koreans since they are so isolated but good for her.

Hong Un Jong - North Korea
Oksana Chusovitina - Germany
Cheng Fei - China

Women's Floor Event Final

Surprisingly, you haven't heard much from Romania in this gymnastic competition. Usually they are so strong but I guess it comes in cycles and now it's U.S. and China's time to shine. But the Romanian gymnast, Sandra Izbasa put the smack down on everyone and made it known that the Romanians are still a factor by winning the Women's Floor Event final. Shawn Johnson came in second and Natsia Liukin added to the American medal count with a bronze. I must say, looking at people congratulating each other, I've very impressed with the camaraderie of all the gymnasts from different nations. Chinese, Romanians, Americans, etc. I would have thought there would be cat fights and all given the fierceness of competition and what's at stake. But I guess all the barriers are pretty much broken. You just see all these gymnasts so often at other meets as well. It's SO nice to see heartfelt hugs of congratulations. And I have to say, Shawn Johnson always looks so happy. We know why Natsia Liukin is happy because she got her all around gold, but Johnson still looks so happy with a silver. I'm very impressed with this young lady. She has a couple more events to go as I'm updating this so I hope she gets a gold.

Sandra Izbasa - Romania
Shawn Johnson - USA
Natsia Liukin - USA

Olympic Swimming - Michael Phelps Wins Eighth Gold!

Michael Phelps has made history by winning his 8th gold in the 4 x 100 individually medley relay. Phelps swam the butterfly leg for the U.S. team and they set another world record time at 3:28.24. Congratulations, Michael Phelps, if there was any doubt, you are the story of the Beijing Olympics.

It was a close race up as the Americans did not get the lead in the backstroke or the breaststroke. It was only until Phelps hit the water for the butterfly that he got the lead for the Jason Lezak to take it home for the freestyle holding off the Australians. Japan came in third.

So that ends the story for Michael Phelps swimming in Beijing, and what a story it was!

Usain Bolt Fastest Man Alive

The jewel of the Olympic Games is undoubtedly track and field's men's 100 m final. A new upstart in Jamaican's Usain Bolt won the gold at a world record time of 9.69.

Usain Bolt cruised through the preliminary rounds and semi finals just toying with his competitors. He was glancing left and right to stands and didn't run through the 100 meters but just cruised through. When someone runs with that much ease and still destroys the competition, that's got to be very intimidating. At the finals, he still didn't run through the 100 meters, shutting it down at 80 m when he knew he had it in the bag!

Usain Bolt is just genetically a genetically gifted specimen. He comes from the powerhouse running nation of Jamaica and his lanky 6'5 frame just unfurls itself out of the starting blocks. Usain Bolt is only 21 years old and it's just scary how much he can lower his time when he has all the techniques.

Olympic Swimming - Michael Phelps Wins Seventh Gold!

The 100 m butterfly could have been a speed bump in Michael Phelps quest for his 7th gold medal since he wasn't the world record holder. If it can be said, it's one of his weakest events. But what do you know, Michael Phelps did his personal best and won it at 50:58. He won by 1/100 of a second. It wasn't a world record but it was an Olympic record and he tied the great Mark Spitz for seven gold medals in an Olympic Games. All that's left is the relay and Olympic imortality.

Nastia Liukin Wins Women's All Around Gymnastics Gold!

Wow, what a competition in the women's all around artistic gymnastics. So much better than figure skating where the women just fall all over the place. Everyone performed amazing and I was just covering my eyes because I couldn't bear to look. But Nastia Liukin eked out the gold ahead of her teammate Shawn Johnson and Yang Yilin took home the bronze. It was really nice to see how gracious the women were congratulating each other too.

Nastia Liukin is a 19 year old and she was just amazing with her beauty and grace. She had the classic Russian lines and no wonder as she was born in Moscow but grew up in the States. Hard to believe that some had counted her out as too old. 19 is too old? But the heir apparent who came in second place is Shawn Johnson. She's one of those American fireplugs who is reminiscent of Mary-Lou Retton. She's 16 now so maybe she's got another Olympics in her. I keep on mentioning the gymnasts age because of course there was the controversy of underaged Chinese gymnasts. Seriously, the Americans look like beautiful young women but the Chinese look like downright adolescents. Yang Yilin's passport says she's 16 but she looks more like 14. Still before everyone throws stones, I don't think this is the first instance of coverup. I'm Canadian and of course I remember the U.S. Olympic Committee coverup of Carl Lewis' three positive drug tests before Seoul... Just saying...

In any case, good competition from the ladies tonight. I look forward to the event finals if it is going to be as exciting!

Olympic Swimming - Michael Phelps Wins Sixth Gold!

Another gold medal goes to Michael Phelps in the 200 IM. He took command from the start with his butterfly and it was never in doubt. The only question was whether or not he would break the world record and once again, he didn't disappoint with a clocking of 1:53.23. He's AMAZING. He has 6 GOLD medals. Cripes, just one individual has won more medals than Canada. We haven't even gotten off the schneid yet. Think about that. This guy produces more medals alone than countries! Of course, I read that Michael Phelp's body is freakishly weird. His arm span is actually greater than his height. He wears size 14 feet and his body is actually longer in the torso than his legs. All this helps with his swimming I guess. Also add to the fact that his chest is double jointed?! I never even knew such a thing exists. But again, that contributes to his swimming ability. Now if you think about it, a guy that is that misproportioned would be mocked in normal life (not that you can really tell) but just saying... But Michael Phelps actually found a sport in which he could excel and was in the right country with the right program. He has just been blessed.

Yang Wei Wins Men's All Around Gymnastics

The Chinese gymnastic machine keeps on rolling. There really was no competition for Yang Wei since his main rival Paul Hamm wasn't there in Beijing to push him. He pretty much walked over everyone and hit all six of his events. The other names expected to do well all fell or had some mishaps so Kohei Uchimura snuck in for the silver and France's Benoit Caranobe took the bronze.

After winning the men's team, women's team and now men's all around gold, there's undoubtedly more to come for this ultra prepared Chinese team. Look for the big red machine to keep rolling.

Chinese Win Gold in Women's Team Gymnastic

Okay, time to give some love to the home country. The Chinese women won the team event in gymnastics in a head to head battle with the United States. It was an even battle through the first 2 rotations. The Chinese women did leave a crack in the door open on the third event, the beam. However, the Americans couldn't capitalize when one of their members, Alicia Sacramone, fell off the balance beam herself. To make matters worse, she fell again on the final floor exercise while her team mates Nastia Liukin and Shawn Johnson went out of bounds on their tumbling passages. There were too many mistakes and at the end, the Chinese women just needed to complete their routines with no major mistakes but they still executed them perfectly. so the gold goes to the Chinese, their first in the team event for women.

Olympic Swimming - Michael Phelps Wins Fifth Gold!

Just another quick update. Michael Phelps and company won the 4 x 200 m freestyle relay in another world record time of 6:58.56. He's bearing down on the Mark Spitz record... At this point, I don't know whether to root for him or against him. It seems almost too easy for him. But like it or not, he's the story of these Olympic Games.

Olympic Swimming - Michael Phelps Wins Fourth Gold!

Okay, Michael Phelps is half way there. Tonight he won his fourth gold medal in the 200 m butterfly in another world record time of 1:52.03. He clearly is in a class by himself. He isn't taking it easy either but he's leaving his mark by smashing all records in his way. I'm looking for some more excitement like the previous 4 x 100 m relay showdown with the French. If not, this can get sort of old. Ho hum, another day, another medal. Bring on the next challenger!

Olympic Swimming - Michael Phelps Wins Third Gold!

Well, it really wasn't a contest in the 200 m free style. He won it in world record pace of 1:42.96. The amazing thing is that he won it with more than a body and a half length. Was there any doubt? He just destroyed everyone. Next challenge!

Olympic Swimming - Michael Phelps Wins Second Gold!

The drive for eight gold medals is still alive for Michael Phelps thanks to some help from his friends in the 400 m free style relay. It's hard to believe that the Americans are the underdog to the French but after a grave mistake by the French anchor to swim at the lane marker and let American anchor Jason Lezak to come from behind and that was the difference between gold and silver. And to boot, the Americans got the World Record 3:08:32.

If his team mates can come through for him in the two remaining relay races, then Michael Phelps schedule looks good for his quest for eight golds.

Olympic Basketball: USA Wins Over China

Even with the home court advantage and the national hero, NBA star Yao Ming, the might of the US basketball was too much for the Chinese as the US won 101-70. It looks like the US team is looking for redemption from the Athens bronze embarrassment and what better way to get pumped for their quest for a gold medal than to go against the host Chinese?

And just like having celebrities court side on US soil, president George Bush junior and senior were in attendance along with former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger.

The Chinese team was surprisingly strong and held their own until late in the second quarter. Hey, when you have a team full of all stars the likes of Dwayne Wade, LeBron James, Kobe Bryant and Dwight Howard TRULY motivated, that's the results you should be getting. Let's see if the US team can keep their motivation the rest of the way onto a gold medal.

Michael Phelps Wins First Gold Medal in 400 IM

Michael Phelps history making quest for eight gold medals in the Beijing Olympic Games started tonight in the 400 IM. And he did it in World Record time of 4:03.84. That's one gold down, seven to go!

At first he was pressed by American team mate Ryan Lochte but Phelps was strong on his breast stroke and really pulled away in the freestyle. In the end, Phelps was just too strong and Lochte got left behind and finished third behind Hungarian Laszlo Cseh.

It's a good start for Phelps, he's sending a message that he's all the hype and more. It will be interesting to see if he'll be the story of the Beijing Games.

Beijing Olympic Games Opening Ceremony

The Beijing Olympic Games are finally underway and boy, did they put on quite a show for their Opening Ceremony! It helps when the host country has a storied history like China. I've been a veteran Olympic Game watcher of previous Olympiads and I have to say this ranks one of the best. From the opening drummers, the themes of the four Chinese inventions: gunpowder, paper, movable printing type, compass, it was nice to learn what the country was about. The precision in which they did everything was just amazing... I also noticed they used a lot of children in the Opening Ceremony. I guess that with all it's gloried history and recent troubles with human rights issues, China is looking forward to making amends with the future generation.

The Olympic cauldron was lit by Li Ning, a legendary Chinese gymnast from the Los Angeles Games. It was really neat how it was lit too. He was hoisted in the air by wire fu and he mimicked running a lap around the birdnest Olympic stadium as a paper scroll unfurled. It must have taken a lot of strength to keep the legs moving and also the arm up.

In all, it the Beijing Olympics Opening Ceremony was a very impressive fusion of history and art. You passed the first hurdle Beijing, and it went off without a hitch. Congrats. Prove the naysayers wrong the rest of the way!

Bad Luck Beijing

It seems as though the Beijing Olympics can't buy a break. There have been earthquakes, floods, train wrecks, and protests. There was even a joke that the Beijing FUWA mascots were bad luck instead of good luck as each of the mascots had some sort of motif dealing with the tragedies.

Now the latest incident is despite putting billions into security, there was an attack by a Muslim ethnic group in a Chinese city near the Afganistan-Pakistan border. 16 Chinese border officers were killed. I guess the media will be all over this one and security will get even more antsy.

This also does not include the leaked video of the opening ceremonies and the ever looming clouds of pollution. Will it or won't it dissipate in time? All this bad luck and the Games haven't even opened yet!

Allowing Steroids in the Olympics

I turned on the TV today and was hooked on a documentary called "The Man Whose Arms Exploded". Now I had also read an article recently that this guy got arm transplants so I had automatically related the two events together thinking it was a medical special. To my surprise, it was a show on bodybuilding and steroids. This 5'5 guy had 28" arms and looked like a freak in general. Finally, one arm exploded when he got an infection and his biceps and triceps looked like they had been inflated to the size of small melons.

So where am I getting at this? I wonder whose athletic career is going to explode for the worse at the Olympics. My thoughts on steroids at the Olympics is just screw it. Let them do it. Aren't we skeptical of the Olympic winners anyways? I don't even know if any Olympic medal winners can be clean. And don't we want a spectacle? Don't we like to watch trainwrecks? Let them get juiced up out of their minds and push the limits of human capabilities. Or die trying. Our kids revere these athletes but then they can see who these freak shows really are and what steroids can truly do to you.

Let's peal back the layers of hypocrisy and not have our kids worship false idols. And in the meantime, let the athletes put on a good show.

Beijing Getting a Bum Rap

So I've been really excited about the Beijing Olympics and I've been following it closely in the newspapers and online. Boy, for a city that's getting so much flak, you'd think that they would have awarded the Games elsewhere.

Let's see, it beat out Toronto (sniff, it could have been in Canada), Paris, Istanbul and Osaka. All these cities would have been a lot less controversial. Kind of makes you wonder that a city/country with all that humans rights violations, pollution, censorship problems could be awarded the Olympics.

I remember that a few years ago, the ex-IOC president Juan Antonio Samaranch was accused of corruption but was cleared of wrongdoing. I also remember reading about bribing votes for the host city. The thought is in the back of my mind that maybe this is still going on.

Now don't get me wrong, I do think that the criticism Beijing has received up to this point has been excessive and that's before the Opening Ceremonies. You also can't deny that China is becoming an economic superpower. It seems right that the Games be awarded to it. However, did the IOC really believe that magically, the country will change it's ways, free Tibet, lift censorship, become Green suddenly? Please.

And now one of the most ludicrous thing I read recently was that someone tested positive for anabolic steroids because he ate a piece of barbecue meat from Beijing! That's the best excuse I've heard yet. First off, the athlete was Chinese so I didn't think it was right piling the criticism onto the cuisine of your own country. Second, because he was Chinese and he was accostumed to eating Chinese food on a regular basis, why didn't he test positive for steroids before?

So while I don't agree with some of the Chinese politics, I think the city is getting a raw deal. The IOC knew what it was getting into and reform doesn't happen overnight. Lets just wait and see what happens at the Games and then people can say I told you so.

Welcome to Olympic Glory!

Hello, and welcome to my Olympic Glory blog. Every 2 years (yes, I'm counting the Summer and Winter Olympics) I like to play the armchair Olympian. I watch sports that I normally wouldn't watch on TV like volleyball, swimming and heck throw in some kayaking in there. But there's something compelling about the Olympics. I don't know if it's national pride or the drama of watching athletes fulfill their dreams or crash and burn. It just makes good sports drama. So I'll be glued to the TV set this August to the Beijing Olympics. I am Canadian and I don't think our Canadian team will do all that well. That's okay, I'm banking on the Vancouver 2010 Games. While I don't expect many podium finishes from our Canadians, I'll still be tuning in to the greatest sporting show on earth. Join me as I share my opinions on the Games to come!