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Post by newbie on Aug 8, 2008 11:13:27 GMT -5
I just finished watching the opening ceremonies in real time on CBC (Canada).
All polical issues aside, that was BY FAR the most spectacular opening ceremony I have ever seen. When NBC covers it tonight WATCH.
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Post by number1fan on Aug 8, 2008 12:17:23 GMT -5
manu ginobili for argentina
canada
yao ming and little earthquake victim for china
france
dirk nowitzki for germany
great britain
japan
rafael nadal for spain
pau gasol for spain
roger federer for switzerland
kobe bryant for usa
lopez lomong for usa |
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Post by susie on Aug 8, 2008 12:28:06 GMT -5
Very Cool Susie, thanks for posting the pic of the medals. I love when countries do something unique with the medals that really is indicative of the region and associated with that country. The Jade inserts remind me of when France held the Olympics and made the medals with Lalique Crystal because it was made in the area. Very beautiful and creative. The Torino medals were SO Italian, the look of very cutting edge design and craftsmanship - Simple yet Elegant - I loved them. The Beijing website has the pics of medals from past summer and winter Olympics. They really have gotten more creative over the years. Lillihammer's had inserts of granite (how heavy must THOSE be?)  - and the reverse had Norwegian primitive inspired caricatures of the various sports. (click on the pictures of the medals to see the reverse) en.beijing2008.cn/94/79/column211997994.shtmlI really enjoyed looking at those medals -- thanks, Mtnme! The winter games medals have been so creative in recent times. I'm glad that Beijing opted for something unique that reflects their culture. Newbie, thanks for the report. It doesn't surprise me at all that the opening ceremony was spectacular. It appears to me that the Chinese have left no stone unturned in terms of preparing for the games. Awesome photos, Number1fan! Everyone looks so sharp! |
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Post by number1fan on Aug 8, 2008 12:34:24 GMT -5
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Post by A.O.Freak on Aug 8, 2008 13:54:05 GMT -5
Beautiful pics #1...gave you karma for those awesome images...   |
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Post by mellie on Aug 8, 2008 18:41:18 GMT -5
Thanks number1 for the pics and the links. I like the look of the medals with the jade in them. Love the pic of Manu, and I'm just praying that his ankle will be okay.  :-[Sad that the Hamm twins are out for the Olympics.  They were our hope for a medal in gymnastics.  |
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Post by number1fan on Aug 8, 2008 18:52:09 GMT -5
thanks aofreak! 
but it's my pleasure to share whatever i find out in the www on these olympics games with you all!
after checking out all the olympic websites today, i can't wait to see tonight's opening ceremonies!...it's going to be breathtaking!
i'm sooo excited! 
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Post by mellie on Aug 8, 2008 19:20:52 GMT -5
What I've seen so far of the opening cermonies is really cool.
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Post by mellie on Aug 8, 2008 22:44:42 GMT -5
What was weird to me was watching the Chinese team walk in and hearing the mariachi music that was being played. I loved how the Olympic flame was lit. That was cool.  |
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Post by Elle on Aug 8, 2008 23:10:37 GMT -5
I was watching the opening ceremony last night and let me say, it was bloody amazing and emotional. I started screaming the moment I saw the British team. Am super duper exited. Could you girls believe how lovely the little boy walking next to Yao Ming is? I cant remember his name but he is a survivor of the resent earthquake. He went back to his school and help save the lives of two of his class mates. When they asked him why he decided to go back,he said that he was in charge of his class. Awwwwwwww that broke my heart. How beautiful is he? God bless him |
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Post by bubblebuttsbabe on Aug 9, 2008 2:11:00 GMT -5
Adam Duvendeck and Michael Blatchford also are ticketed to compete in the team sprint at Beijing. Whoever that USA Cycling deems is fastest of the three at the time will get to ride the keirin. Adam is also one of Apolo's friends. He went to the DWTS' 100th Episode and After Party with Giddeon, Apolo, and another cyclist named Travis Smith (who didn't make the team - although I can't say for sure that he even tried).  [ L to R:] Travis Smith, Adam Duvendeck, and Giddeon Massie. Adam and Travis are on the same team - Momentum Cycling. This team also consists of Josiah Ng and Jennie Reed - who are both friends of Apolo and a part of Team USA. Travis is making a comeback from a hip injury during the 07 World Champs (he has had surgery twice since then, I believe, and the bruises looked nasty  ). |
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Post by bubblebuttsbabe on Aug 9, 2008 2:47:01 GMT -5
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Post by susie on Aug 9, 2008 12:06:01 GMT -5
Thank you for the info, 3B! We'll have to keep an eye out for those athletes.
Elle, your fellow countrymen were looking quite sharp last night!
I truly enjoyed the opening ceremony. China really pulled out all the stops. I'm glad that Team USA got such a good reception.
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Post by number1fan on Aug 9, 2008 14:28:17 GMT -5
one of the highlights for me was that block sequence...all along i thought it was computer generated but each block was performed/controlled by an individual. ....how amazing was that? they were all sooo precise!!!
i thought everyone received a warm welcome (including chinese taipei, japan and usa)...
all countries looked and represented their countries beautifully and that little 9 yr old from china is indeed 'my hero'...what a brave little room monitor going back to save his classmates from the rubble.
i was sooooo proud that the us team captains selected lopez lomong to be our country's flag bearer...take that sudan!
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Post by mtnme on Aug 9, 2008 15:08:18 GMT -5
US sweeps the podiam in Women's Fencing Event in the US's first medals of the games.
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Zagunis leads US sweep in fencing event
By NOAH TRISTER, AP Sports Writer
BEIJING (AP)—Mariel Zagunis stood proudly atop the podium, the first American to do so at these Olympics.
A former president was in the front row—and three red, white and blue flags were rising to the rafters.
“It was a dream come true,” Zagunis said.
Zagunis won the first U.S. gold medal of the Beijing Games, leading an American sweep Saturday in women’s saber fencing. Zagunis took the gold with a 15-8 victory over Sada Jacobson, who won the silver. Becca Ward took the bronze.
Before the fencing medals were awarded, the Americans had been shut out of Olympic medals, trailing the likes of Cuba, North Korea, Taiwan and Uzbekistan in the overall standings. Then the saber trio went to work, moving the U.S. to the top of the table with three medals.
And to make the night even more memorable, former President George H.W. Bush was in the front row for the medal ceremony, just to the side of where the three flags were lifted.
“It was amazing. It was emotional. It was such a dramatic moment,” Bush said. “To win all three was simply magnificent.”
Zagunis was also saber champion in 2004, when she became the first American in a century to win a fencing gold. Now, the U.S. is a legitimate powerhouse— in women’s saber at least. These same three women are seeded No. 1 for the team competition on Thursday.
“We hope that any success we have goes to making our sport more popular,” Jacobson said. “If we can get even one girl to take up fencing, then we’ve done well.”
The sport endured some growing pains even after Zagunis’ big win in 2004. The U.S. Olympic Committee took over USA Fencing’s high performance program for this year’s Olympics, citing financial problems for the sport’s national governing body.
“We’re just here trying to do our jobs,” Jacobson said. “It hasn’t been an issue that has impeded our performance at all.”
Clearly not.
Zagunis and Ward, members of the same Oregon fencing club, met in the semifinals. Zagunis prevailed 15-11, and Ward left in tears.
Ward still looked red-faced and shaken when she came out for the bronze medal match, and she fell behind 6-1 to Russia’s Sofiya Velikaya. But the 18-year-old from Portland, Ore., rallied for a dramatic 15-14 victory that ensured a U.S. sweep.
“I kind of got my head back in the bout that I was in, because I was really hung up on my last bout,” Ward said. “It was a quick turnaround.”
Once that victory was out of the way, Zagunis and Jacobson took center stage. Jacobson, of Dunwoody, Ga., won the bronze in 2004. She was the top seed in this year’s competition but couldn’t overcome Zagunis in the final.
Zagunis, of Beaverton, Ore., never trailed in the gold medal bout—her most lopsided win of the tournament. When it was over, Zagunis ripped off her mask and let out a yell, then shook hands with Jacobson and shared a hug with her teammate. Zagunis returned to the strip with an American flag, which she held in her hands while bowing in two directions.
She then dropped down and kissed the floor.
Jacobson missed out on a similar celebration—but the joy eventually hit her.
“I don’t think I anticipated the emotion I would feel up there,” Jacobson said of sharing the podium. “It was such a feeling of pride.”
At least one famous American felt it too.
“Fencing may not be a big sport in America,” Bush said. “But today at the Olympics, it certainly is.”
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