Well the Olympics are winding down and I must say that I have thoroughly enjoyed the games. I liked the archery and shooting events. I liked all the team events that you seldom see, like water polo and team handball (love that sport). I enjoyed the mainstream sports like basketball and soccer. Heck, I even kind of enjoyed the gymnastics and diving. Of course, I paid special attention to the track and field, and as always was amazed with the performances of the athletes. Looks like the USA has won the all important medal count, so all must be well for the US Olympic committee. Some of the more interesting performances in my humble opinion....
Woman's 10k marathon swimming. 10k and marathon seem to be an oxymoron to me, but that is what they call it. Swimming for about 2 hours out in a lake. And Haley Anderson of the US finishes in second by 4 tenths of a second. And 3 seconds back is the third place finisher. Unreal.
I tend to keep a close eye on the men's 800m. So Rudisha goes out and runs a 1:40:91. This is difficult to comprehend if you haven't been around these things for awhile. You can get below 2 minutes in high school and be pretty good, but you're still about 20 seconds back., Run in the low 1:50's in college and you'll be good, 1:49 and you win some meets. Still back by ten seconds. Runners cover a lot of distance in ten seconds.
The mens 10000m was won by Mohamed Farah. He beat Galen Rupp by about a half a second. The thing I find interesting about this is that they train together and are both coached by Salazar. Guy was a great runner, must be a great coach. If I was a skilled young runner who could cover 10k in a half an hour or so, I think I would seek him out....
How about outstanding performance by a non athlete? Thought that Doc Rivers did a fantastic job, not only talking about basketball, but about team handball and soccer and other sports. Seemed like he sincerely was happy to be in London and not just taking in basketball, but watching other sports and meeting other athletes. Also was nice to see athletes watching sports they weren't competing in.
There were so many more great stories in these Olympics. The Americans goin one and two in the decathlon. The marathon runner in representing the IOC because he has no country to run for. The double amputee 400 m runner. The female runner from the middle eastern country, the first from her country to be allowed to participate. All the British athletes doing well. The Irish boxer. The US diver being the last qualifier in the 10m, then winning gold. Bolt. Phelps. Although sometimes the announcers were a little grating, I thought NBC actually did a pretty good job.
I must say that I have had a good time watching the games. Not that much negative, plenty of human interest stories. I find it interesting watching these "lessor known" sports, and still enjoyed watching the stuff we see all the time. Wish they would show more of the track and field events, less of the gymnastics would be okay, but I suppose that is what America loves. I'm actually looking forward to Rio in 2016, in the meantime only a year and a half to Sochi.....
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