Joe Soriano
O.J. LewisWhat were your favorite moments of the 2008 Summer Olympic Games in Beijing?
August 26th 2008 03:38
What were your favorite moments of the 2008 Summer Olympic Games in Beijing?
There were so very many amazing moments and performances during the 17 days in Beijing that it is hard to narrow it down. Here are a few of my favorite moments, in no particular order.
Michael Phelps: Which moment? Pick one! He had so many incredible moments in the pool. I think my favorite from him was probably the 7th Gold Medal that he won by about a fingernail. The one that caused his mother to nearly have a heart attack as she slipped down into her seat out of utter shock.
Usain Bolt: He is another one that leads you to ask, “Which moment?” It is unreal that he wasn’t a 100M runner until a few months ago when he was trying to get loose for his event, the 200M. He may have showboated a bit near the end of the record-breaking 100M, but it was astounding that as he was “shutting down,” he still crossed the line in world-record time. In the 200M, he broke a Michael Johnson record that no one thought would be broken for a long, long time. My favorite moment of him competing was in the Men’s 4X100M Relay, though. He ran the third leg of the relay. His Jamaican team was in or near the lead by the time the baton got placed in his hand, but after he took it he pulled away from the field. By the time Asafa Powell got the handoff for the anchor leg, they were ahead by 15-20M. At the finish line, Powell crossed 40-45 meters ahead of second place. I loved how the camera view showed Bolt still jogging behind Powell as he ran to the finish. Bolt in a jog would have crossed the line in 4th or 5th I think.
What was even better than his gold shoes, gold medals, and world record times, however, was what he did after he had finished competing in Beijing. He donated $50,000 of his own money to the Red Cross effort to aid the victims of the earthquake in the Sichuan Province. He did this as a way to say thank you for his wonderful experience while in China and at the games which allowed him to shine on a world stage.
I also liked all the diving competitions, even if the Chinese dominated anything that involved jumping into the water with precision. Even though the Chinese controlling it all got a little boring at times, I loved watching Guo Jingjing winning gold in both singles and synchro.
The highlight of diving for me, however, was seeing Australian Matthew Mitcham in the final round of the final diving competition of the games, the Men’s 10M Platform, knock off Zhou Luxin of China for the gold medal. His precision dives and high scores were just enough to be the only person in Beijing able to block a total diving sweep by the host nation. His reaction was so very priceless, as was the silver medalist who happened to be caught in the same shot a few feet behind Mitcham’s elation.
Most American Olympic viewers will, nine times out of ten, list a gymnastics moment as their favorite in most years. I am sure this year will be no different, although Phelps will top many of their lists.
Now, I know I said I was listing these in no particular order. That isn’t totally true. I do believe my #1 moment is the one I am about to list. Sure, I loved seeing the U.S. Men win an unexpected bronze medal in the artistic gymnastics team competition and the women win a silver, as well as an outstanding All-Around Gold Medal win for Nastia Liukin. My favorite moment, though, was Shawn Johnson’s gold medal win on the Balance Beam. After seeing her let down again and again with individual silvers in Floor Exercise and the All-Around competition as well as the Team Silver, it was such a wonderful moment to see her huge eyes and incredible smile get even bigger. It was also very nice to see Nastia and Shawn just happy to go 1-2 regardless of which one was gold and which one was silver.
So, there are some of my favorite moments. What are your favorite memories from the 2008 Summer Olympic Games in Beijing?
There were so very many amazing moments and performances during the 17 days in Beijing that it is hard to narrow it down. Here are a few of my favorite moments, in no particular order.
Michael Phelps: Which moment? Pick one! He had so many incredible moments in the pool. I think my favorite from him was probably the 7th Gold Medal that he won by about a fingernail. The one that caused his mother to nearly have a heart attack as she slipped down into her seat out of utter shock.
Usain Bolt: He is another one that leads you to ask, “Which moment?” It is unreal that he wasn’t a 100M runner until a few months ago when he was trying to get loose for his event, the 200M. He may have showboated a bit near the end of the record-breaking 100M, but it was astounding that as he was “shutting down,” he still crossed the line in world-record time. In the 200M, he broke a Michael Johnson record that no one thought would be broken for a long, long time. My favorite moment of him competing was in the Men’s 4X100M Relay, though. He ran the third leg of the relay. His Jamaican team was in or near the lead by the time the baton got placed in his hand, but after he took it he pulled away from the field. By the time Asafa Powell got the handoff for the anchor leg, they were ahead by 15-20M. At the finish line, Powell crossed 40-45 meters ahead of second place. I loved how the camera view showed Bolt still jogging behind Powell as he ran to the finish. Bolt in a jog would have crossed the line in 4th or 5th I think.
What was even better than his gold shoes, gold medals, and world record times, however, was what he did after he had finished competing in Beijing. He donated $50,000 of his own money to the Red Cross effort to aid the victims of the earthquake in the Sichuan Province. He did this as a way to say thank you for his wonderful experience while in China and at the games which allowed him to shine on a world stage.
I also liked all the diving competitions, even if the Chinese dominated anything that involved jumping into the water with precision. Even though the Chinese controlling it all got a little boring at times, I loved watching Guo Jingjing winning gold in both singles and synchro.
The highlight of diving for me, however, was seeing Australian Matthew Mitcham in the final round of the final diving competition of the games, the Men’s 10M Platform, knock off Zhou Luxin of China for the gold medal. His precision dives and high scores were just enough to be the only person in Beijing able to block a total diving sweep by the host nation. His reaction was so very priceless, as was the silver medalist who happened to be caught in the same shot a few feet behind Mitcham’s elation.
Most American Olympic viewers will, nine times out of ten, list a gymnastics moment as their favorite in most years. I am sure this year will be no different, although Phelps will top many of their lists.
Now, I know I said I was listing these in no particular order. That isn’t totally true. I do believe my #1 moment is the one I am about to list. Sure, I loved seeing the U.S. Men win an unexpected bronze medal in the artistic gymnastics team competition and the women win a silver, as well as an outstanding All-Around Gold Medal win for Nastia Liukin. My favorite moment, though, was Shawn Johnson’s gold medal win on the Balance Beam. After seeing her let down again and again with individual silvers in Floor Exercise and the All-Around competition as well as the Team Silver, it was such a wonderful moment to see her huge eyes and incredible smile get even bigger. It was also very nice to see Nastia and Shawn just happy to go 1-2 regardless of which one was gold and which one was silver.
So, there are some of my favorite moments. What are your favorite memories from the 2008 Summer Olympic Games in Beijing?
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