Posts from — July 2008

Of course Olympic athletes know how to have fun. Just ask Goldie Sayers who’s posing here as a Playboy bunny. Goldie is Britain’s top javelin thrower and will compete in her second Olympics when the Beijing Games open.

Related:
Olympic Hottie of the Day: Juliana Felisberta Silva
Olympic Hottie: Yelena Isinbayeva
Olympic Hottie: Maria Sharapova

Expect Americans to cry foul if their competitors, in this case Chinese gymnasts, turn out to be under-aged. Why are there age limits anyway? If British diver Tom Daley can compete at age 14 [with Western media cheering him on], why can’t the Chinese gymnasts — who may or may not be of the same age as Tom — compete in the Olympics as well?

I say, remove the silly age limits. If an athlete can compete with the rest of them despite their age, then let them compete.

From USA Today: Two female Chinese gymnasts, including a gold medal favorite, might be too young to participate in the Beijing Olympics.

Several online records and reports show He Kexin, the host nation’s top competitor on uneven bars, and Jiang Yuyuan might not be 16, the minimum age for eligibility. Both were chosen for the team last week.

On the website of the Chengdu Sports Bureau — Chengdu is the capital of Sichuan province in southwest China — a file dated January 2006 shows He Kexin as being born Jan. 1, 1994.

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Brazil’s beach volleyball star Juliana Felisberta Silva.

Related:
Olympic Hottie: Yelena Isinbayeva
Olympic Hottie: Maria Sharapova

From china.org:

The Kenyan government said on Monday that it would give cash rewards for the gold medalists in the forthcoming Beijing Olympic Games next month.

President Mwai Kibaki said gold medalists will earn 750,000 shillings (about 11,000 U.S. dollars) while silver and bronze medalists will get 500,000 shillings (7,500 dollars) and 250,000 shillings (3,700 dollars) respectively.

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The US$220,000 that the Philippines is offering to an Olympic gold medalist is the second highest incentive I’ve come across so far. Thailand is offering the richest incentive at US$ 314,000 for an Olympic gold. More at How Much Money Do Olympians Make.

Philippines offer US$220,000 for gold medal
The Philippine government and the private sector are offering 9.5mil pesos (US$220,000) to any athlete who brings home the country’s first-ever Olympic gold medal, an official said yesterday.

The Philippines have not won an Olympic gold since their first Games, at Paris in 1924. The most recent medal of any colour was silver in boxing in Atlanta in 1996.

“This is an incentive. The first gold winner will get the money,” said Philippine Olympic Committee spokesman Joey Romasanta.

The government pledged 5mil pesos (US$116,000) and the rest came from donations from the private sector, Romasanta said.

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