The Olympics Blog » Athletics

Irving Saladino’s Golden Jump

bill — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 05:29:00 +0000

Here’s another one I should have blogged about last week but didn’t because of a tight schedule: Panama’s Irving Saladino who lived up to the hype by outjumping the competition in the men’s long jump. Congratulations, Irving.

Update: Here’s a video of Irving’s golden jump.

And here’s a picture, courtesy of estrelladepanama, of the Olympic hero’s homecoming.

Interestingly, the Panama Guide reports that Irving was “re-awarded” his medal during his homecoming. Why go through the process of awarding the medal to him again? Panama Guide has the juicy details:

As part of the festivities yesterday, Panamanian boxer Roberto Duran “re-presented” the Olympic Gold medal to Irving Saladino in front of thousands of cheering fans at the steps to the ACP administration building in Balboa yesterday morning.

Saladino considered the medal to be “tainted” because it was awarded to him by Melitón Sánchez, the only member of the Panamanian Olympic Committee who was not under a court ordered restriction to keep him from traveling to Beijing.

Check out this video on delante.com that shows how Telemetro had blocked out the face of Melitón Sánchez to the delight of Irving Saladino’s father, who went on to say that after Melitón Sánchez awarded the medal and shook Saladino’s hands, that he wiped them on his ass to clean them.

So, the “re-do” medal award ceremony with Roberto Duran presenting the medal again was specifically to purge the memory of Melitón Sánchez. In an interview Irving Saladino said about Sánchez “that guy has no shame.”

The controversy over the fight to gain control of the Panamanian Olympic Committee continues, and hopefully with the attention drawn to the issue with Irving Saladino’s win in Beijing, the Panamanian justice system will smack a homerun and set things straight (finally.) This whole thing has been one big embarrassment and Irving said it right, they have no shame at all.

So it seems like there is a power struggle on who should control Panama’s Olympic Committee. Sounds familiar, no?

Photo credit: BBC and estrelladepanama

Andreas Thorkildsen: The Best Gold Medal Biter

bill — Sat, 23 Aug 2008 21:17:00 +0000

Norwegian Andreas Thorkildsen who won the gold medal in the javelin throw is probably the best medal biter I’ve seen in the Beijing Games. Seriously, have you seen a better practitioner of the art of Olympic medal biting than Andreas?
Congratulations to you Andreas. May you have another gold medal to bite in London 2012.

Photo source: beijing2008

Bryan Clay: No Feet of Clay

bill — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 22:29:00 +0000

Forget the overhyped Michael Phelps, the real strongman in the Beijing Olympics is American decathlon gold medalist Bryan Clay. A short visit to his website made me an instant fan. I particularly like the fact that he takes time to answer questions from his fans:

Q: Bryan, best of luck, all the Hapa Kepanis peeps worldwide are pulling for you. My query is how much of an Asian influence did your mom bring to your family, e.g. did you eat a lot of Japanese food and/or get exposed to Japanese culture?

A: Japanese culture and food were a huge part of my life growing up. My mother made sure I knew who I was and where I came from.

Q: Bryan, why did you choose Azusa Pacific an NAIA school over a NCAA Division I School? Azusa Pacific has an excellent reputation in the decathlon. Most people don’t realize some of our countries greatest decathletes have come out of the NAIA. GO FOR GOLD!

A: I chose APU because I felt it was the best combiation of academics, athletics, and atmosphere. All that stuff together has allowed me to be successful.

Q: Brian, what’s your typical Ipod playlist? I want to know what you listen to to motivate you when you are competing.

A: I usually have a mix of christian, country, r&b, and techno.

Congratulations, Bryan Clay. Anyone who’s got country music in his ipod playlist is fine by me.

Photo source: xinhua via beijing2008

Youtube Video: Liu Xiang’s Non-Run in Beijing 2008

bill — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 08:09:00 +0000

It does look like he is injured right from the start, so I feel more sympathetic to him now than I was in my earlier post.

Here’s another one in case the Youtube video above gets deleted.

JO 2008 forfait en direct de LIU Xiang
Uploaded by lanouninoune

Liu Xiang Quits

bill — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 06:57:00 +0000

Argh! Liu Xiang, my favorite Olympian pulled out of the 110 meter hurdles reportedly because of a “tendon injury to the right foot“. As a fan who’s been blogging about Liu and who hoped that he will get his second Olympic gold medal, his decision to quit is very disappointing.

It would have been great to see him run despite whatever injury he sustained. After all, isn’t that what the Olympics is about — overcoming all odds and that kind of stuff? But, then again, maybe its unfair to expect him to risk his health and future well-being if only because his fans want to see him running. I’m sure his other fans also have mixed feelings about this.

What would be interesting to see in the future would be the impact, if any, of Liu’s decision to quit. Will Nike, for instance, still produce its Air Liu? Or will they find someone who will be a better fit for their expensive shoes? [It's expensive not because it is expensive to produce but because of the ridiculous fees they give to the stars who wear them.]

Update: The video of Liu Xiang in the 110 meter hurdles is here.

Update II: Nike continues to feature Liu Xiang in its ad campaign, details here.

Photo source: xinhuanet

Video: Usain Bolt’s Olympic Gold Medal Run

bill — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 23:02:00 +0000

Beijing_2008_UsainBolt World Record
Uploaded by DailyBaller

Update: Youtube deleted the previous video but this new one should work.

This is the best video of Usain Bolt’s gold medal winning run I can find at Youtube. I think the IOC and its ilk are preventing the uploading of better videos. Damn them.

Anyways, congratulations to you Usain. What will that crystal ball gazing Michael Johnson say now that his bet Tyson Gay didn’t win the gold medal? But in fairness to Michael he merely predicted that Tyson will beat Asafa Powell in the 100 meters; both turned out to be non-contenders for this event.

Tomasz Majewski Bags the First Gold Medal for Poland

bill — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 23:40:00 +0000

Shot put may not be popular in Poland [is it popular anywhere?] but this didn’t stop Tomasz Majewski from becoming a shot putter. It paid off big time when he won the gold medal in Beijing. Time for our Polish friends to perhaps pay more attention to the sport but Tomasz isn’t optimistic.

The silver and bronze medals for this event went to Christian Cantwell of the United States and Andrei Mikhnevich of Belarus.

Photo source: chinadaily

Tirunesh Dibaba Kenene Bags Ethiopia’s First Gold Medal

bill — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 22:57:00 +0000

Aha, Tirunesh Dibaba Kenene of Ethiopia, is a flag draper (a variation of the Olympic “art” of flag waving). She set a new Olympic record in the women’s 10,000 meter run and bagged herself a gold medal. Congratulations to you, Tirunesh.

Expect more gold medals for Ethiopia in distance running because they tend to dominate the discipline.

Photo source: beijing2008

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.

Merlene Ottey: Is She the Next Dara Mama?

bill — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 02:48:00 +0000

Merlene Ottey is 48 years old — 4 years older than Dara Torres — but she just might make it to her 8th Olympic Games if she manages to qualify before the qualification deadline on Wednesday. Merlene has been participating in the Olympics since 1980 representing Jamaica and Slovenia [in 2004]. She boasts of three gold medals from the World Championships but is less successful in the Olympics where she bagged three silvers and five bronzes.

Merlene will be joining our Dara Mama Club if she makes it to Beijing. Go Merlene.

Photo source: virginmedia