The 2008 Olympics Finishes Up

This year’s Olympics has been filled with exciting finishes, record setting performances, painful disappointments, and even accusations of poor judging and possible cheating allegations. It has been an Olympics that will be unforgettable. The Opening Ceremonies were incredible, Michael Phelps lived up to the hype, the gymnastics were tense and exciting, and many other sports events showed why the Olympics is one of the most watched events in the World.

It began with the Opening Ceremonies which was an awesome sight and feast for the eyes and ears. Beijing put on an incredible show to get the Olympics underway. The dancers and the costumes they were wearing was a treat to watch. The fireworks and awesome displays were amazing to behold. It was fun to watch the athletes enter the stadium each representing their respective countries and each full of hope and excitement at the thoughts of competing with one another for the right to be awarded the gold medal of their particular sport.

Swimming was one of the first events showed in the Olympics. The focus was on Michael Phelps as he would try to earn a world record 8 gold medals in 1 Olympics. He went on to accomplish this feat but it wouldn’t come easily. It started with the 4x100m freestyle relay where Phelps and others started the relay and then Jason Lezak came on strong in the final leg of the race to pass France’s Alain Bernard and win the relay in world record time. I thought this was the most exciting race of the Games this year. The other race that Phelps’ turned up the “excitement meter” on was the 100m butterfly where he won by a fingernail or 1/100th of a second. This was an incredible finish that was so close that the second place finisher had the judges take a second look to make sure that Phelps actually finished first. It was shown that Phelps indeed won by an incredibly short distance. Michael Phelps completed all 8 of his swimming events with the gold medal being hung around his neck.

The gymnastics events were exciting to watch as well. They were going on the same time as the swimming providing many late nights full of excitement and intrigue.
China went on to gain many medals in the gymnastics despite the many allegations of underage gymnasts which is currently under investigation of the IOC. The US went to win several medals with Shawn Johnson and Nastia Luikin leading the way. There were many events which featured what many felt like were unfair judging, but for the most part the gymnastics delivered one of the most exciting events in the Olympics. The performances were incredible and the way each of the athletes handles the pressure was amazing. When Nastia Luikin won the gold for the all-around competition, with Shawn Johnson getting silver, the U.S. couldn’t be prouder.

There were countless other events that took place that were fun to watch and some were painful to witness. The 100 meter hurdles featured a US woman LoLo, who was leading her race when she hit a hurdle and it slowed her down to make it so she finished without a medal.
The US basketball team has been astounding. Their level of play has been turning most matches into blowouts. There were many more events that took place that should be mentioned but I am out of time for this blog. If you missed the Olympics then all I can say is you missed a great year of the best athletes in the world putting on the best show in the world. It will be another 4 years until you can watch the Summer Olympics again. Don’t miss out on the excitement in 2012 in London.

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Michael Phelps- World’s Best Swimmer, Ever

The Olympics are about half way over now and it has been exciting to watch the best athletes in the world compete with one another. My wife and I have been watching the swimming events every evening all week long having a particular interest in Michael Phelps. Michael has been amazing in every race that we have seen him swim in. He has blown away the competition in every race and received a gold medal for the 5 times that he has raced up to the point I am writing this article. He has 3 races left and if he gets the gold in each of those races he will be the first athlete in Olympics history to get 8 or more Gold medals in a single Olympics. He already has 11 career Gold medals which is an Olympic record for the most gold medals in an athlete’s Olympics career. I didn’t know Phelps very well and thought that maybe I should, where he is the greatest Olympic athlete in history and is from the United States. I did some quick research to find out who he was and share my findings on my blog.

According to the Wikipedia online encyclopedia:

Phelps was born and raised in Baltimore, Maryland. He has two older sisters, Whitney and Hilary both of them were swimmers as well, with Whitney coming close to making the U.S. national team for the 1996 Summer Olympics before injuries derailed her career. In his youth, Phelps was diagnosed with Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD).He started swimming at age seven, partly because of the influence of his sisters and partly to provide him with an outlet for his restless energy. He blossomed quickly as a swimmer, and by the age of 10 held a national record for his age group. More age group records followed, and Phelps' rapid improvement culminated in his qualifying for the 2000 Summer Olympics at the age of 15 where he competed in Sydney, becoming the youngest American male swimmer at an Olympic Games in 68 years. In the 2004 Olympics in Athens he went on to get 6 gold medals and 2 bronze medals.

It has been amazing what Michael has gone on to do in the Olympics throughout his life, with this year being the culmination of all his hard work and dedication. As you watch the Olympics this year, remember that you are watching history being made. You will be able to let your children and grandchildren know that you were watching the 2008 Olympics when Michael Phelps went on to set many Olympic records.

Just as Michael Phelps has gone on to make a difference in the Olympics by his hard work and determination; we can use the same type of effort in our own lives. We can be an Olympian parent, Olympian friend, Olympian co-worker, Olympian spouse, and all of us can be an Olympian citizen of our own countries. We can make a huge difference in the lives of family, friends, children, and neighbors by setting records in friendliness, kindness, or even a simple hello and smile. Make the Olympics part of your everyday life and you will find that you, too, can be the recipient of gold medals of love, trust, and appreciation from those around you.


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