How do you get to compete in six Olympics?
Well, the most likely way is to compete in an event that isn't as unforgiving to the ravages of age, like shooting or equestrian...
...or gymnastics.
Jordan Jovtchev - 39 year old Bulgarian, the President of their Olympic federation, gray-flecked hair, looking much like an executive with an IT firm. In the first day of the men's gymnastics competition, he turned in a brilliant rotation on high rings that qualified him for the individual finals at that apparatus.
Humans can't do that.
I LOVE THE OLYMPICS!!!!!!!!
Other observations:
Women's weightlifting - 106 pound women lifting more than twice their body weight. In order for me to do that, I'd have to lift nearly 400 pounds.
Yeah, right.
A very nice-looking, blonde man won the men's cycling road race for Kazakhstan. He had tears in his eyes as he stood on the medal platform, listening to his nation's actual anthem.
Sasha Baron Cohen owes these guys big.
Watched fencing for an hour. I can't tell what's a point and what isn't a point. I just watch two people point foils at each for a few seconds and look at the lights to see who scored, and I STILL can't figure it out. It's a fascinating, elegant sport, and I'll watch it again, but it has me beat. And I still don't get the shouting.
LeBron James tosses a 60 foot bounce pass between two defenders to feed Kevin Durant for a score. LeBron makes it hard to hate him sometimes. It helps that he's playing for my team again.
A clock problem at the end of the first quarter of the U.S.-France basketball game resulted in 12 seconds being added to the clock, which indirectly led to France getting an extra three points at the buzzer they wouldn't have had if it had been properly timed.
Flashback to 1972 Gold Medal game - the final three seconds of the game are played three times to give the Soviets three shots to score the winning basket, handing the American Olympic Basketball program its first ever loss.
The added time in today's game didn't have quite that much impact.
And how cool is it to see Reggie Watts on Team USA???
I love, love, LOVE the U.S. Women's National Soccer Team. Winning the gold medal in Beijing without Abby Wambach (imagine the Lakers winning a title without Kobe) is one of the great team accomplishments in the history of sports. They have started this tournament strong, with two impressive victories in group play.
There's no one left on this team from the Mia Hamm days. They have completely turned over, and they are still among the elite, and will be for the foreseeable future.