Summer Olympics

[drz]

The opening ceremonies were very impressive on TV. Loved the stunt by the Queen. Anyone here able to take any of it in person? Anyone cheering for any favorites in the games? Hard to believe some of those countries have some little population they don't even make a city but they have a couple athletes at the games. Must be quite an experience for them? England should do well since they have largest number of athletes at the games this year and host country always tend to get 50% more medals than they usually do at an away site.

[drz]

Farmer Bikes From Beijing To London To See Olympics


by Kristina Chew (http://www.care2.com/causes/author/autismvox)
July 26, 2012
8:02 am

http://dingo.care2.com/pictures/causes/2965/2964487.large.jpg








In what can only be called an Olympic feat, a Chinese farmer, Chen Guanming, bicycled on a rickshaw about 60,000 kilometers (about 37,282 miles) (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-18984651) from Beijing to London. Chen tells the BBC (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-18984651) that he traveled through “16 countries, overcoming floods, war zones, mountain passes and temperatures of -30C (about -22F). The odyssey took Chen two years.
Seeing London mayor Boris Johnson accept the Olympic flag in Beijing’s Bird’s Nest stadium at the 2008 closing ceremonies inspired Chen to undertake his journey (http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/07/26/farmer-cycles-from-china-to-london-for-olympics/). Chen arrived in London on July 6; a British businessman John Beeston found him looking “completely lost and downhearted” on Lower Regent Street. Fortunately, Beeston knew some Mandarin and Chen “burst to life” when spoken to, showing his rickshaw emblazoned with mementoes from his journey.
What a journey it must have been. Chen showed reporters a passport full of visas from the many countries he had traveled to, says Agence France-Presse (http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/07/26/farmer-cycles-from-china-to-london-for-olympics/) (via Raw Story (http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/07/26/farmer-cycles-from-china-to-london-for-olympics/)):
He told the broadcaster he had to wring sweat out of his clothes in Malaysia, Vietnam, and Thailand, where he was also caught up in deadly floods.
When he was refused a visa to Myanmar, he simply backtracked and cycled to the mountains of Tibet instead.
On reaching Turkey via Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iran, he found himself snowed in for four days.
Describing London as “especially beautiful,” Chen said that he “wanted to come here because [he] wanted the whole world to support the Olympics and be part of it.”
Beeston described the appearance of a Chinese farmer pedaling a rickshaw “like telling people that a Martian has landed in the garden” and compared Chen’s travels to that of Marco Polo.
Even in the times of the ancient Olympics, people (http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/Olympics/index.html)traveled from all over (http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/Olympics/faq2.html). Olympia, the site of the ancient Olympics (http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/Olympics/site.html), is readily accessibly by sea. People came not only from all over the different city-states of Greece (which was not a unified country in the ancient world) and from colonies where Greeks had settled, as far away as modern-day Spain, the Black Sea, or Egypt.
Beijing is about 5,000 miles from London but, of course, finding roads to bike on means the “most direct” route was not, for the most part, an option for Chen. No word yet on his plans for biking back to China.

[mishb]

I recorded the opening ceremony and loved the James Bond and Queen skit and also Mr Bean.
The torch lighting was also terrific.

I love watching the gymnastics, swimming, diving and equestrian events and I also like watching the weight lifting.....for some strange reason (and my warped sense of humour) I find it funny when they drop the weights.....wrong I know.

I guess that it is only feasible that the host Country win most of the medals as they are able to field a massive team. They wouldn't normally be able to afford to send that size of a team away to another Country. The same goes for when it was held in Australia, China or even USA.....it's just the way it goes.

[pwc51]

The cycling road races came through my town. The family and I went to see both men and women racing. Great fun although weather on second race was very wet. We also enjoyed riding our bikes on part of the route which is usually busy with traffic.
Off to see some Olympic tennis tomorrow and to visit the Olympic park the following day.

[drz]

The cycling road races came through my town. The family and I went to see both men and women racing. Great fun although weather on second race was very wet. We also enjoyed riding our bikes on part of the route which is usually busy with traffic.
Off to see some Olympic tennis tomorrow and to visit the Olympic park the following day.

Wow. Great opportunity for you. I enjoy watching some of the brief highlights they have on TV but they only broadcast a few of the events but the athletes are very impressive.

[drz]

Another inspiring Olympic story:

Powerful Inspirational true story...Don't give up! - YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kZlXWp6vFdE&feature=player_embedded)


At some point or other, we have all thought about giving up. No matter what the task is, we get to a point where we can no longer see the light at the end of the tunnel. Sometimes the hardest thing to do is to make it to the finish line.The Olympics are just around the corner and they are full of inspirational stories. One of these stories is of Derek Redmond. Ten years ago, at the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona, Derek Redmond was making a second attempt to fulfill his Olympic dream. He was forced to pull out of the 1988 Olympics in Seoul due to an injury to his Achilles tendon. He had gone through multiple surgeries, but was in good shape at Barcelona and was favored to win the 400 meters dash. He won the quarter-finals and moved onto the semi-finals.He started the race well and ran for about 150 meters before his hamstring snapped. He stopped and fell down in agony. After a few seconds down, he remembered where he was and got back up and continued running. Unable to run, he hobbled on. The other competitors had finished but Derek did not stop. Even though the competition was over, he just wanted to finish. A man fought off security and ran onto the track towards Derek. It was his father, Jim Redmond. He told Derek to stop and that he did not have anything to prove. Derek replied and told him that he did. His father helped him get back to his lane and Derek finished the race despite an injured hamstring and terrible pain. The crowd of 65,000 stood up and gave him a standing ovation. Even though Derek was officially disqualified and Olympic records state that he “Did Not Finish” the race, he finished it better than anyone else on that track.Share your intent at Intent.com (http://www.intent.com/).Photo (http://www.flickr.com/photos/samuelbernof/2624602521/) by Schmuelick (http://www.flickr.com/photos/samuelbernof/)

[Lightwarrior]

The cycling road races came through my town. The family and I went to see both men and women racing. Great fun although weather on second race was very wet. We also enjoyed riding our bikes on part of the route which is usually busy with traffic.
Off to see some Olympic tennis tomorrow and to visit the Olympic park the following day.

Have fun, what an opportunity to see some of the Olympic games.

[Lightwarrior]

Another inspiring Olympic story:

Powerful Inspirational true story...Don't give up! - YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kZlXWp6vFdE&feature=player_embedded)


At some point or other, we have all thought about giving up. No matter what the task is, we get to a point where we can no longer see the light at the end of the tunnel. Sometimes the hardest thing to do is to make it to the finish line.The Olympics are just around the corner and they are full of inspirational stories. One of these stories is of Derek Redmond. Ten years ago, at the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona, Derek Redmond was making a second attempt to fulfill his Olympic dream. He was forced to pull out of the 1988 Olympics in Seoul due to an injury to his Achilles tendon. He had gone through multiple surgeries, but was in good shape at Barcelona and was favored to win the 400 meters dash. He won the quarter-finals and moved onto the semi-finals.He started the race well and ran for about 150 meters before his hamstring snapped. He stopped and fell down in agony. After a few seconds down, he remembered where he was and got back up and continued running. Unable to run, he hobbled on. The other competitors had finished but Derek did not stop. Even though the competition was over, he just wanted to finish. A man fought off security and ran onto the track towards Derek. It was his father, Jim Redmond. He told Derek to stop and that he did not have anything to prove. Derek replied and told him that he did. His father helped him get back to his lane and Derek finished the race despite an injured hamstring and terrible pain. The crowd of 65,000 stood up and gave him a standing ovation. Even though Derek was officially disqualified and Olympic records state that he “Did Not Finish” the race, he finished it better than anyone else on that track.Share your intent at Intent.com (http://www.intent.com/).Photo (http://www.flickr.com/photos/samuelbernof/2624602521/) by Schmuelick (http://www.flickr.com/photos/samuelbernof/)


Thanks for the Intent.com link. What a very powerful website. I signed up and found it very user-friendly and inspirational.

[KathyB]

I remember seeing this and lately saw an interview with him. Who remembers who won the race? Probably no one, but we all remember the courage and "finish" of this race! Truly an inspiration! Thanks for sharing his story!

KB

[Debbie C]

I think they should give the farmer from Beijeng an honorary gold medal for the mission he accomplished. I missed the opening ceremonies and I really wanted to see them. I have been watching the gymnastics and swimming. I love the huge ferris wheel there..is that up all the time or is it just an Olympic thing. I think that would be awesome to ride.

[crackers]

debra the ferris wheel you mentioned is called the london eye and it is a permanent feature.the opening ceremony is available to watch on the bbci player.if you google it you should find it.
john.

[drz]

I saw the rickshaw driver getting pix taken with some Chinese athletes. He had a big smile. I hope some one gives him a quick ride back home. Maybe they have an empty seat on one of their planes. They (Chinese athletes) sure are raking in the metals. It seems sort of embarrassing to Russia who used to dominate many events and compete for top spot in most gold metals.

[Debbie C]

debra the ferris wheel you mentioned is called the london eye and it is a permanent feature.the opening ceremony is available to watch on the bbci player.if you google it you should find it.
john.

i hate ferris wheels..I'm always afraid I'm going to fall off,,but being closed in like that I would love to go on it. Have u been on it..I'm sure u have.Thanks for the info about the website I'll have to look it up. Cheers !!!!!

[Debbie C]

I saw the rickshaw driver getting pix taken with some Chinese athletes. He had a big smile. I hope some one gives him a quick ride back home. Maybe they have an empty seat on one of their planes. They (Chinese athletes) sure are raking in the metals. It seems sort of embarrassing to Russia who used to dominate many events and compete for top spot in most gold metals.

I bet that driver was so happy getting to met the athletes..that would be nice if they would give him a ride back. Yea China is kicking butt there. I saw on the news tonight how they start training their athletes at a very young age and very strict. They should pix of them being hit with sticks to straighten up more and one father said he hasn't seen his child in 6 years.Thats a bit extreme to me

[drz]

I found out one can find some highlights or real fast summaries of some events on You tube. I watched the girls beach volley game highlights for one set in less than five minutes. Great way to enjoy some of the events if time is real limited.

[KathyB]

Like you all, I've had a great time watching the Olympics. The thrill of victory and the agony of defeat! What is that quote from?!! I must say the US women have really done well. Many inspirational stories, too! I noticed a lot of the world class athletes train in the US. While the athletes are very competitive, they are also gracious and respectful of one another. Impressive two weeks!

[Sangye]

That quote is from the opening of the show that used to air called "Wide World of Sports" that ran for a long time. I think it started in the 60's. The opening showed a terrible skiing crash that is etched on my memory!

[pberggren1]

Oh ya, ABC's Wide World of Sports.

[KathyB]

You both get the gold medal!! Yes, Wide World of Sports! And that ski jump wipeout happens when the announcer says "the agony of defeat!". Now, who was the announcer?!