Olympic Update: 8/11/2008

Aug 11th, 2008 by Clayton |

After a fantastic, glorious, terrorist-free, expensive ($300M!) opening ceremony on Friday night, August 8, 2008 – The 29^th Olympic games are under way.

I was literally glued to the television set like they were showing reruns of Saved by the Bell. However, my TV was not showing Zack and Kelly slow dancing outside of the costume ball, but rather Michael Phelps breaking world records, Dana Torres showing she can swim with the much more hip and younger girls, and Shawn Johnson delivering a crisp, mistake-free routine (unlike her teammates).

I happen to be a women’s gymnastics enthusiast. I’ve followed it since Kim Zmeskal scored a perfect 10, since Kerri Strug broke her ankle on the vault, and Amy Chow, captain of the “Mag 7”, rode in the same car as me (Yes, its true: she sat directly behind me). My mom was a sponsorship coordinator at USA gymnastics in Indianapolis, so I kind of grew up watching it, and even trying it out for a month or two.

But this SurplusThoughts writer has an Olympic connection. Bridget Sloan, the last one selected to be on the USA Women’s gymnastics team is the little sister of a good friend of mine back in high school. Even when I went back to substitute teach at her middle school, where my mom is now the main office secretary, I would say hi to her and ask how her older brother is doing. I even remember when I was playing soccer with her older brother, and I would see her, at about 6 years old, during intermissions doing flip throw-ins. If you’ve never seen a flip throw-in, look for one on youtube and imagine a tiny 6 year old do it. And to be honest, its kind of cool being able to have that kind of connection with someone who is representing (in sport) the country you hold dear to your heart. Although having a connection with someone in the military overseas is special in a way, it doesn’t hold the same value as someone you know competing in the Olympics. But anyways, it was my second time seeing her compete, and she has talent. I am very proud of her. GO USA!

But, as promised, here are some updates:

8/11/2008:

Medal Count (Top 5):

China – 8 Golds, 3 Silvers, 2 Bronzes = 13 total

USA – 3 Golds, 4 Sivers, 5 Bronzes = 12 total

Korea – 4 Golds, 3 Silvers, 0 Bronzes = 7 total

Italy – 2 Golds, 3 Silvers, 1 Bronze = 6 total

Russia – 0 Golds, 4 Silvers, 2 Bronzes = 6 total

Notes:

-Michael Phelps (2 Gold medals) set a new world record in the 400m IM.

-4×100m men’s relay team shattered the recent world record set by the Americans on Sunday night by 4 seconds!!!

-In women’s sabre fencing, team USA swept the field, taking all three medals.