The Olympics Blog » United Kingdom

Olympic Tattoo Watch: Who’s Got the Best?

bill — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 00:52:00 +0000

Are tattoos cool? Of course they are. Why would these Olympians scar themselves with tattoos if they are not cool.

If you are wondering who these tattoos belong to, here’s some of them (from top, left to right): archer Natalia Valeeva of Italy, Brazilian diver Cesar Castro, an unidentified swimmer, Cesar Castro [again], British cyclist Cris Hoy, Brazilian diver Hugo Parisi, British archer Laurence Godfrey, and an unidentified German swimmer.

Photos via chinadaily.com

Olympic Hottie of the Day: Goldie Sayers

bill — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 12:30:00 +0000

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.

Christine Ohuruogu vs Sanya Richards

bill — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 12:50:00 +0000

Who between this two will emerge triumphant in the 400 meter run? Britain’s Christine Ohuruogu or American Sanya Richards?

Olympic Diver Tom Daley

bill — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 11:39:00 +0000

British diver Tom Daley just might become the breakout star in the Beijing Olympics so we might as well start blogging about him. [Are you listening, Mr. Google? Har har.]

Anyways, here’s a picture of Tom during the British Academy Television Awards last April 2008. What does this mean? Maybe it means that the kid has cross-over appeal? He’s like a mainstream celebrity already.

Well, Tom, here’s a word of advice from an old coot: Don’t forget about the diving, okay? Be more like Maria Sharapova and less like Anna Kournikova.

Going to Beijing: David Beckham

bill — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 06:39:00 +0000

British football star David Beckham is bound for Beijing during the Olympics but he’s not going there to play football. Rather, he’s there to “star in the closing ceremony” where he will reportedly “play a key role role in the the official handover to Britain for the London 2012 Games”.

It is fitting that Beckham is joining this handover because he’s one of the “ambassadors” for London’s successful bid for the 2012 Olympic Games.

Jordan’s Olympic Dreams

bill — Fri, 23 May 2008 02:31:00 +0000

Model Jordan a.k.a Katie Price a.k.a Katrina Alexandra Infield wants to compete in the Olympics but some meanies are making fun of her Olympic dreams. Back off, people, back off. If she wants to compete in the Olympics then she can compete in the Olympics. Can’t a girl dream big anymore?

PHOTO SOURCE: Anorak

Andrew Hoy: Horse Abuser?

bill — Fri, 23 May 2008 02:11:00 +0000

Nice hat, Andrew. But do you really abuse your horses with your spiked boots? From the Associated Press:

Three-time Olympic equestrian gold medalist Andrew Hoy appeared at hearing Thursday to answer accusations of horse abuse.

Hoy and Dutch eventer Madeleine Brugman, who he trains, appeared before a three-member panel from the sport’s governing body. Both deny the charges, and the hearing will resume next week.

Brugman is accused of wearing spiked boots when riding Sundancer 6 in the warmup to the show jumping phase of a three-day event at Barroca d’Alva, Portugal, in March.

Hoy has competed for Australia at the last six Olympics. He won team eventing gold at the 1992, 1996 and 2000 Games and won the individual three-day event silver in 2000.

PHOTO SOURCE: jtinuk.com

Olympian to Watch: Zara Phillips

bill — Mon, 12 May 2008 02:55:00 +0000

She’s the granddaughter of Queen Elizabeth and the reigning eventing world champion. She is some kind of a model too.
Zara was recently named to the British equestrian team going to the Beijing Olympic Games.

She will be following the footsteps of her father, Mark Phillips, who won the gold medal at the three-day event in the 1972 Munich Olympics, and her mother, Princess Anne, who competed at the 1976 Montreal Games.

PHOTO SOURCES: blogs.ya.com and AFP.

Amir Khan: Looking For a Trainer?

bill — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 10:54:00 +0000

Briton Amir Khan is apparently looking for a trainer after he split with Oliver Harrison. Amir won the silver medal (lightweight division) during the 2004 Athens Olympiad. He turned professional in 2005.

Photo source: Skysports

Quote and Photo of the Day: Jason Gardener

bill — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 09:40:00 +0000

Here’s a pretty strong — but we must say not unfounded — statement by British athlete Jason Gardener on the drug scandals that has engulfed athletics in recent years.

“If Maurice Greene is proved to be a cheat then, apart from Kim Collins, every winner of the world and Olympic titles I tried to win from 1999 to 2005 will have been shown to be frauds.

It’s so disappointing. You can’t help thinking what might have been. My childhood dreams have been destroyed by cheats time after time.

As a teenager, I remember the build-up to the 1988 Olympic final between Ben Johnson and Carl Lewis in Seoul and Johnson just blew the field away. It was amazing and an inspiration to me.

Then it came out that he had failed a dope test. I can remember him saying that everyone was on drugs and the outcry in the sport. Now when I look back at that 100m final, with all the people with a question-mark beside their names, he was right, wasn’t he?

Our sport needs to wake up. Maybe in other events drug-taking may not be as rife, but certainly in the sprints it seems to be the case.”

As a member of Britain’s sprint relay team, Gardener won a gold medal during the 2004 Athens Olympiad but his career quest for an individual gold has been frustrated by Maurice Greene (who’s now suspected of doping) and “proven cheats as American Justin Gatlin and Britain’s Dwain Chambers“.

INFO/PHOTO SOURCE: Dailymail