Though I’m happy that I’ll be able to go to bed at a reasonable hour, I’m sad that the Olympics are over. I love me some Olympics. Here are my top 10 lasting memories from this year’s games:
10) The Cuban taekwondo athlete who kicked the ref in the face and got banned for life
9) That Serbian dude who sucks at touching a wall and let Michael Phelps beat him in the 100m butterfly
8 ) The opening ceremony
7) Sub-par performance of US sprinters
6) German weightlifter Matthias Steiner (who vowed to win the gold for his wife who died in a car accident last year) won gold, even after dropping a bar with more than 500 pounds on his neck (pictures here, scroll down below the volleyball shots)
5) The amazing venues - mainly the Bird’s Nest and the Water Cube
4) Usain Bolt breaking the 12-year old 200m world record
3) Jason Lezak chasing down and passing that French guy in the 4×100m relay
2) Phelps setting the career gold medal mark (more impressive to me than winning 8 in one Olympics is winning 14 in two)
1) Bolt jogging 9.92 seconds in the 100m prelims, then easing to the finish and running 9.69 seconds in the final, which is insane
August 24th, 2008
WHAT?!? Some dude kicked the ref in the FACE? I think I watched all 720,000 hours of olympic coverage, and somehow managed to miss that gem. I just hope it’s on YouTube…
Other than that I totally agree with your picks. Definitely the best games ever (in the last four years).
August 25th, 2008
I didn’t get to watch the games because I don’t have cable or dish, and NBC wouldn’t let us watch online because we are not subscribers to cable or dish.
August 25th, 2008
And I thought I was watching a lot of Olympics. Apparently not, ’cause I missed the majority of your favorite moments.
Did you watch May and Walsh beat their way to a gold medal in beach volleyball?
My favorite moment: a Chinese gymnast, doing an incredibly difficult routine on the balance beam, slips and falls off. After her routine is over, her coach approaches her, gives her a hug, then whispers in her ear, “No dinner for you or your family!” and she bursts into tears.
August 25th, 2008
Okay, maybe that didn’t quite happen…but I have to wonder a little about what happens to the Chinese athletes when they only get the silver…
August 25th, 2008
i’m with wynne–do they still get to live in china if they don’t get a gold? or do they just get to keep their life?
the dude kicking the ref in the face was my utmost favorite. sometimes i’m a little too sick and twisted for my own good.
August 25th, 2008
scroll down below the volleyball shots
No.
—X
August 25th, 2008
i wish i had been more into the Olympics this year. but after H wasn’t interested in watching the opening ceremonies, i sort of lost interest. i guess i liked them better when i was at my parents’ house and the whole family was glued to the tv when they were on.
August 25th, 2008
I just watched that kicking in the face dude this morning. Crazy I tells ya.
I watched NO Olympics this year =(
I don’t know what happened to me, I love gymnastics, track and field, swimming and diving.
I feel sad Omar. I think you should give me 20,000 cool points to make me feel better.
It’s only fair.
August 25th, 2008
I agree with most of your choices. Usain Bolt bugs me though- although he’s impressive.
The US beating the French in the relay rocked!!
August 26th, 2008
You don’t get cool points for NOT watching the Olympics, NCS!
I missed the ref getting kicked in the face. Did he do it on purpose???
August 26th, 2008
Rhonda, I *do* get points from NOT watching the Olympics.
=’( <=== see that? That’s me sad, hence Omar feels bad for me and then ka-ching, cool points.
I could also throw the token Mexi card, but people might feel I am cheating and stuff. Whatever.
August 27th, 2008
I had the same problem as Heffalump. Very sad.
August 27th, 2008
I spent a great deal of time not watching the Olympics this year. Don’t know why, but I just didn’t care. I think I’d be more upset about not being able to ignore the Olympics for longer if I didn’t have the Democratic National Convention to not care about at all right now. It’s filling the void. (this doesn’t mean that I’m a republican, it just means I like to avoid watching big events on TV. I think the NBA finals really scarred me.)
August 27th, 2008
I didn’t see as much of the Olympics as I would have liked, but I loved what I did see!
August 27th, 2008
Kris Face always goes to sleep around 10 PM, but the Olympics kept him up WAY past his little bedtime night after night!
August 27th, 2008
usain bolt was AMAZING! and just for your information, i ran the 100 meter dash. {paul and i raced} last week just to see how we compared to usain. ya. i pulled a muscle. and made it in 42 seconds. paul in 30 something.
August 27th, 2008
On the bright side aubrey, your 42 seconds would have beat a world class 400 meter runner.
August 28th, 2008
“9) That Serbian dude who sucks at touching a wall and let Michael Phelps beat him in the 100m butterfly”
LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
But seriously, it’s true.
September 3rd, 2008
tom from Kodak here. That is a good Top 10 list. Thanks for linking to Kodak for weightlifting pix - glad youl iked them. Just got back from being in Beijing for most of August. Here is my summary post which, interestingly enough, doesn’t contain a single athlete shot. Xie xie.