Olympics Days 7 & 8

We have reached Track and Field and are approaching the halfway point of the Games!
May I temporarily re-direct you to MighTY Mom's comments from the Days 5 & 6 post. First of all...note the post time of 1 am! Sweet. And some very good material. I definitely agree the green WR line in swimming makes it more enjoyable to watch.

The media and so many people get hung up on the medal count. Sure, I like to see the US of A do well at the Games, but the experience will not be tarnished for me if China ends up with more medals or more gold. I know Russia (20) and Germany (14) are lamenting their totals vs. the US (48) and China (41). Germany decided recently to amp up its development program to Berlin Wall era levels. We should start seeing results in the London Games. Michael Phelps has more medals that all but 11 countries, and more gold than all but three: USA (8 w/o his), China 26, and Germany 8. The medal count I like best so far is Mongolia's gold total of one, as Tuvshee Naidan won the 100 Kg class in Judo for his country's first gold...EVER!

Cool thing: Kineisiology tape. Several athletes, especially beach VB players, are wearing this on various parts of their body to improve performance. Most obvious is US Beacher Kerry Walsh's shoulder version. Still trying to figure out how it helps.

Controversy: Pretty tame so far. Tennis etiquette, age of Chinese female gymnasts (they all look about Elizabeth's age), close finishes in swimming (are people really questioning the electronic timing?), and the Swedish Greco-Roman wrestler throwing down his bronze medal during the ceremony and stomping away to protest the officiating. He was later stripped of the medal.
Speaking of stripped...time for the Hot 11 update, and we need look no further than the quartet of German athletes in the German version of a popular magazine: Romy Tarangul (judo), Nicole Reinhardt (canoe), Katharina Scholz (field hockey), and Petra Niemann (sailing). All four are strong athletes and a couple are medal contenders. Nicole Reinhardt just missed a medal finishing fourth in her K2 event final. But she is the first athlete to lock up a spot on my Hot 11, so congratulations go out to Nicole pictured twice below both in and out of competition.










I look forward to what track has to offer in this category. I hear there is a Russian pole vaulter that has awesome abs in a McD's commercial.