Expect NBC and other U.S. media outlets to downplay the fact that the U.S. is lagging behind China in the gold medal race by focusing on the total number of medals.

Here’s what it looks like at the NBC website:
And here’s what the medal race looks like according to media outlets from other parts of the world. From ABC-Australia:

From the BBC:
From the Canadian Broadcasting Co:
From xinhuanet:
It is telling that only the NBC is focusing on the total number of medals rather than the gold medals won. The Olympics isn’t halfway yet, and the U.S. has a very good chance of surpassing China in the gold medal count, but this “creative counting” is ridiculous. I wonder what NBC would do if the top two is reversed, that is, that the U.S. has more golds but China has more medals overall.

Anyways, what do the gods of teh internets, i.e., Google, say about the matter? Well, the gods have spoken and they’re counting based on the gold medals won. But then maybe they’re doing it because they would still want to be in the good graces of Beijing. You know, kind of like when they agreed to censor websites in China.

Update: Thanks to our anonymous commenter who added this link to a Wall Street Journal article which addresses this issue. The article states that this U.S.-ROTW (rest of the world) divide in how medals are counted is historical. So I may be wrong in my earlier assumption that NBC is doing this only because the U.S. isn’t leading the race for gold medals.

Ahh, Federica Pellegrini. You are geeky-looking sometimes but you are an Olympic hottie too. Congratulations on winning your first Olympic gold medal and the fourth gold medal for Italy.

Related:
Olympic Hottie of the Day: Leryn Franco
Olympic Hotties: Amanda Beard Naked
Olympic Hottie of the Day: Goldie Sayers
Olympic Hottie of the Day: Juliana Felisberta Silva
Olympic Hottie: Yelena Isinbayeva
Olympic Hottie: Maria Sharapova

Photo credit: federica pellegrini’s website

Apologies for not blogging about the most recent Olympic results particularly the one we care most about, i.e., the race for gold medals between China and the United States. I must admit to being discouraged after I discovered that my blog posts were being stolen. This sapped my enthusiasm to blog. But now that the problem is fixed [the webmaster behind the site agreed to not republish my contents after I contacted him/her and his/her host], let’s continue having fun.

At the end of Day Four of the competitions, China has 13 gold medals while the United States has seven. China appears to be on its way to bagging the number of medals that some crystal ball gazers predicted. In particular Luciano Barra predicted that China will win 38 gold medals while researchers at the Sheffield Hallam University predicted that the host nation will win 46 Olympic gold medals.

Meanwhile, Barra predicted that the United States will win 47 golds; so the Americans have to bag 40 more golds which they can very well do given that we’re still only on the fifth day of the Games. I’m not sure if the Sheffield Hallam folks made a prediction for how many medals U.S. athletes will bring home.

Anyways, as a sort of recap, here’s a listing of the gold medalist from both countries. I hoped to make individual entries for each of them but, as I said earlier, I was derailed by some baddies who, to their credit, responded favorably to my request.

Chinese Gold Medalists [end of day four]
Weightlifting
LONG Qingquan – Men’s 56kg
ZHANG Xiangxiang – Men’s 62kg
LIAO Hui – Men’s 69kg
CHEN Xiexia – Women’s 48kg
CHEN Yanqing – Women’s 58kg

[Read more →]

Come on, Abhinav, go ahead and bite that Olympic gold medal to test if it is real. Abhinav, who won the gold for the men’s 10 meters air rifle, earns the distinction as the first individual gold medalist for India. He’s a smart cookie too; he’s got an MBA and is the CEO of Abhinav Futuristics.

India related Olympic stories:
Round II: The Paes-Bhupathi “Will We Play Doubles Together?” Saga
Olympians to Watch: Mahesh Bhupathi and Leander Paes

Photo source: beijing2008

Do you think cyclist Nicole Cooke will mind if we call her “The Shrieker”? Hopefully not, after all she seems to be a, to use the words of a popular song, jolly good fellow. Nicole won Great Britain’s first gold medal in the Beijing Olympics. Here’s a report about her victory and the loud noise she made afterwards [from the telegraph]:

As she crossed the line Cooke let out a shriek – mostly of joy but also a venting of past frustrations. “We did it, it was perfect. It’s a dream come true,” she said. “I came over the line and there were so many emotions that were coming out all at once.

“I made so much noise because I guess that’s just the person I am. I want to thank all the people who’ve been there from the start. I’ve worked so hard, I’m so happy. I don’t think it has sunk in yet. I still feel like the normal Nicole from before the race. But it’s just so exciting.”

Congratulations to you Nicole! For those of you looking for more info about Nicole, she has a website here.

Photo source: telegraph