Sunday, August 17, 2008

Olympic Fun: Row Row Row Your Boat

What a fun day for water sports in Beijing--that's rowing events, not the kinky fetish! Today was Day 8 (17 Aug) of the Olympics. It was a beautiful day for rowing, made all the more alluring by the presence of these beautiful medal bearers.

(These aren't real medal bearers. They are the pretty faces used to present medals. This way, the prettiest faces match the best talents of the real but less cute medal bearers...I kid! I kid!)


A lot of great athletes won medals at these events, and I would like to focus on the few that caught my attention.

How about those lovely ladies of rowing? These moments are what make these games meaningful.




What about that rookie Chinese women's team, pulling off a spectacular win in the quadruple scrull! The look on their faces at their unbelievable win against the other veteran teams is just pure joy! This is China's first ever gold in the rowing sports.











Check out the gold medalist in the women's single sculling event. Rumyana Neykova of Bulgaria is overcome with emotion upon winning the event.
















and what about the silver medalist, Michelle Guerette of the US.

Such a beautiful expression of emotion. You can see how much winning these medals meant to these great athletes. What a great way to celebrate a well earned win!


And another wonderful surprise at these Olympics!
*Cue Celine Dion's My Heart Will Go On: Every night in my dreams, I see you, I feel you, That is how I know you go on...

Do you Zac Purchase take Mark Hunter to be your lawfully wedded...




I kid! I kid! Great Britain's dynamic duo, Purchase and Hunter pulls off a surprise win in the men's lightweight double sculls, foiling all the medal favorites.


And what about those Danes? The Viking Spirit that conquered the seas and put fear in the World is alive and well at these Olympics! First up is the incredible story of sportsmanship and drama and the high seas in Denmark's quest for the 49er gold is told by CyberPete! Jonas Warrer and Martin Kirketerp Ibsen fought against incredible odds and aided by Croatia in a generous move, they make Olympic history!




After winning their race, these sensational sailors had to wait until the next day to for confirmation that their victory (and gold medal) is official!







And the Vikings continue their dominance, winning the gold in men's light weight four in rowing.












And with this defining win, Denmark becomes the only country in history to win gold in this event more than once! Denmark won the gold in 1996, 2004, and now 2008. In 2000, they won the bronze.

Even more amazing than Denmark's win is the connection they have to the third place Canadian team. The man who built Denmark into the rowing juggernaut helped the Canadians win the bronze! Legendary Danish coach Bent Jensen trained Denmark's light weight rowing World and Olympic champions. And he is the current coach for Canada's bronze winning team. Bent Jensen is being treated for cancer, but he made the trip to see his incredible athletes claim gold and bronze! Poland took the silver.



Speaking of Canadians, they also won the eight man rowing gold today.

And how did they celebrate?



By throwing a teammate into the water! If this is how they celebrate a win, I shudder to think what they'd do if they lost.







It's so obvious that having a Hobbit on their team gave them an unfair weight advantage, making them lighter than the other competitors!



Great Britain claims the silver. The Americans came in 3rd. Clearly, this event was rigged to let Canada win, and China was in on it! They planted that 'medal bearer' there to distract the American athletes. The proof is in the pants!

14 comments:

  1. And dont think that gratuitous mention of Spotted Dick yesterday slipped by without notice.
    You will pay
    Oh yes you will pay :-)

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  2. What is with that last photo??? My goodness - poor guys to have that as a lasting image.

    I was so happy when the Canadian team actually sang the national anthem so loudly and with such pride.

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  3. Beast, I would need to see this Spotted Dick first, then decide if I will order it or not.

    Snooze, I don't think those guys really cared. But the smile on the medal bearer means she likes what she sees...it's one of the perks of her job ;)

    Canada certainly earned their gold along with bunch of other medals in the sport!

    MJ, that's what happens when you wear biker shorts and someone offers to love you long time...

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  4. "Is that a pencil in your pocket or are you just glad to see me?"

    Tee-hee!

    I think they put the hobbit next to her was to make her look very tall (I bet she's still standing on a box though)

    Thanks for the shout out!

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  5. CP, "It's my oar. Want to give it a stroke?"

    The rowing events were great, and Denmark made a remarkable win. They're going to talking about that 49er race for years to come!

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  6. They sure are going to be talking about that 49'er for many years. Or at least until they've specified the rules.

    Apparently they are quite open to interpetation.

    "Well little dear, if it's as wee as you are, I don't think I'd bother"

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  7. CP, I'm glad they interpreted the rules right! It's so nice to see generosity and skill rewarded!

    "It's a grower, not a shower. I call it My Precious! Everyone wants to it!"

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  8. True. I'm still a little shocked about the decision because we get so used to it not being that way.

    Apparently the maritime sports are very gentleman'ish.

    "oh it'd better be because it sure isn't much to look at. Have you seen Michael Phelps or Alexandre Despatie around here?"

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  9. CP, that win was a definite Olympic moment.

    Well, those Croats certainly were gentlemen.

    "That's because I can make it disappear...in you! It'll feel like magic...better than 8 gold medals! Michael Phelps is busy with the other swimmers modeling old lady one piece bathing suits. And Alex Despatie is not interest in diving into your pool. Trust me, I'm a coxswains, an expert on the little man in the boat."

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  10. "Oh well, I guess you'll have to do until Alex Despatie comes around"

    Wait, you don't buy your clothes in the junior section right?

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  11. "Don't worry. As a Hobbit, I wear size 16 shoes."

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