Olympic Strike

Day 12 of the Beijing Olympics, Aug 21 in China (20 in North America) brought many striking performances.

Let's talk about the most fashionable and dazzling sport of the summer games: Synchronized Swimming!

What Are You Looking At?




Strike a pose.Strike a pose.












Vogue, vogue, vogueVogue, vogue, vogue




















Vogue, [Vogue] Beauty's where you find it [move to the music]

Vogue, [Vogue] Beauty's where you find it [go with the flow]


And what an amazing competition in the duet event. Earlier this week, there was controversy over the Spanish team's suits. The Spaniards had incorporated waterproof flashing lights in their suits to dazzle the crowd, but the officials said no! And it wasn't because the new swimsuits were obscene. The officials didn't like the idea of twinkling lights on the suits, but apparently, they've no problems with sequins. I would've let the Spaniards wear their Xmas lights swimsuits so they could blink and twinkle in the pool.

Of course, I can understand the officials reactions. What if the suits malfunctioned and they got electrocuted? The headlines would be horrific!

Spicy Spanish Tuna Fillet Fried in Beijing!



The Japanese team of Saho Harada and Emiko Suzuki jazz hands their way to bronze. But the day belonged to the two Anastasias. Russians, Anastasia Davydova and Anastasia Ermakova win gold, just like in Athens. Spain's Andrea Fuentes and Gemma Mengual happily claim silver without their Xmas lights suits.

Even Spain's Queen Sofia was happy with that silver.

In your face, Liz! See ya in 2012 when I bring it!



And the synchronized team event takes place in a few days! I'm looking forward to all those legs scissoring in the pool. Aren't you?

In track and field, Usain Bolt strikes again, winning gold and setting a new world record of 19.3s in the 200m dash. He's all ready set the new world record in the 100m dash at 9.69s. He becomes the first double sprint winner since Carl Lewis in the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics. Amazingly enough, the 2nd place and 3rd place winners were disqualified for running out of their lanes! In track, if you step on the white line, you're disqualified for moving out of the lane. American Wallace Spearmon was 3rd and Churandy Martina of the Netherlands Antilles was 2nd. Spearmon and Martina were running around the track, waving flags until someone finally told them, 'Hey, Cheaters, y'all got disqualified! Losers!' The disqualifications led to Americans Shawn Crawford getting the silver and Walter Dix's 2nd bronze on track. When they congratulated Walter Dix, he just shrugged his shoulders and said, "Well, I still lost."

Jamaica's Melanie Walker wins the 400m hurdles, with American Sheena Tosta second, and Britain's Tasha Danvers earns bronze. The Jamaican women have all ready swept the 100m dash, and with this win, Jamaica continues to strike Olympic gold. The showdown with the Americans who've long dominated the track isn't over yet! The relays and the distance runs take place in a few days.

The most exciting sport of the day has to be beach volleyball! The weather was terrible, and there was a chance of lightning. But the only strikes today were found on the volleyball sand. Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh battle China's Jia Tian and Jie Wang for gold! It was an incredible match. It was raining hard and the ball was slippery; the sand, hard. The Chinese crowd was rooting for their favorites.

Several times during the match, the Chinese made bad serves that hit the net, but still went over the court to count as a point. But, the Americans fought back. There were so many ties and dives for the ball. At one point in the second set, Tian called a medical time out because she claimed her left arm was hurting. Funny, how she did the same thing when she played against the other Chinese team. That Chinese team was winning, but Tian started holding her side, complaining of injury. Several international players have commented that Tian does this injury call whenever her side starts to lose. She does this to try and break up the other team's momentum. Unfortunately for her, it didn't work with the Americans who kicked their asses! And when they won, the crowd cheered loudly for them.

With this win, Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh become the first team to win gold in back to back Olympics. Gold in Athens, and gold in Beijing. And they keep an undefeated record of winning 108 straight sets! In keeping with her Athens tradition, Misty May-Treanor spreads her mother's ashes in the sands of the Beijing beach volleyball court. In 2000, her mother had cancer and was in the middle of chemotherapy when she went to see Misty place 5th at the Sydney Olympics. She would not live to see her daughter win gold at the Athens Olympics. Misty and her father took her mother's ashes to Athens so in some way, her mother could still be a part of Misty's Olympic experience. And tonight in Beijing, her mother again becomes a part of Misty's Olympic gold experience.

As you know by now, I tend to include sob stories in my posts. If Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh have the most thrilling win of the day, then Matthias Steiner has the most moving. On Day 11, 19 Aug, German weightlifter Matthias Steiner wins the gold in the 105+ kg wt class. In July of last year, the 25 year old's wife lay dying in the hospital after a car accident. She had saved for over a year so her husband could follow his Olympic dream. Before she died, Matthias Steiner promised his wife that he would win the gold for her. By lifting 461kg, he kept his promise, winning the gold and becoming the strongest man in the world by setting that record. He was so excited about his win that he jumped up; he fell down; he cried; he smacked the floor; he punched the air; he ripped shirt; and he screamed and laughed at his unbelievable win. When he was on the podium to receive his gold medal, he held up a picture of his wife, Susann and dedicated his victory to her. He had kept his promise and said she had always believed in him; she was always with him; and that day, she shared the gold medal with him.