LinkParkFn

Ilias Iliadis will be the flagbearer at the Opening. One question, do the Greeks get tired of being the first ones in over and over again, or is being the first team in a tremendous source of pride? As for the Greek team, I do see a dropoff from the 16 medals won in Athens, with Pigi Devetzi the biggest lock for a medal as of now.

Does anyone have any idea as to BOCOG will post the Olympic Village paper online? Torino and Athens did, and Salt Lake did on the University of Utah's paper website.

My picks: Slovenia Germany New Zealand

Hurdler Rawlinson to miss Games Australian world 400m hurdles champion Jana Rawlinson will miss next month's Olympic Games because of a toe injury. The 25-year-old returned to the track in Poland last week after nine months out following surgery, but suffered another reoccurrence of the injury. "The key to her chances would be how she pulled up from her Poland race," the Australian Olympic Committee said in a statement on Wednesday. "Sadly she had been unable to train since she raced." Rawlinson - wife of former British 400m hurdler Chris - had been included by the AOC's athletics team for Beijing. She had undergone an operation on the second toe of her right foot two months after winning gold at the world championships in Osaka in August. Although she had been determined to regain fitness in time for the 2008 Games, Rawlinson was eventually forced to admit defeat. "She had been racing against time for several months and has now exhausted all possible options," the AOC statement added.

Sorry for the misinfo, I wrote this half asleep early this morning, so I wasn't my usual smart self.

I've been doing some thinking now that the 29th Olympiad is now 1 month away. I definitely have to wonder what must be going through the minds of the athletes who have qualified in their respective sports for their countries. I can only imagine that anxiety and even a little bit of nervousness is starting to set in, even for the experienced Olympians. The fact that out of over 6 billion people on this earth, only 13,000 during the 4 year Olympic period (Winter and Summer mind you) can call themselves Olympians, and if you were one of them, you would have to take tremendous pride in that privilege. For most of the athletes going to compete in Beijing, this may be the only time they get to compete in an Olympic Games, so I hope they take full advantage of a wonderful opportunity. All I know is that if I were an Olympian, and I was about to compete in Beijing, I would not sleep the night before the Opening Ceremony, because I would be too nervous and excited to sleep. Instead, I would go out on the town, take in the night scenery and ask the locals for advice. I would probably also read, go online or chat with other Olympians dealing with the same restless night. Even those who don't win medals, they can tell their children and grandchildren that they competed in the Olympic Games, and tell them of how proud they are of having the honour and privilege. What an honour it will be to follow the exploits of 11,000 remarkable yet ordinary people, doing incredible feats. Long live the Olympic spirit!

Found this while surfing Deviantart, which is a great site where people post their amazing artwork, this one is of a rather humanized and Mangaed version of the Fuwa: http://extvia.deviantart.com/art/Bei-Jing-...ing-Ni-71626914

Yep, but that just shows how deep the talent pool is in Jamaican sprinting, when even a legend can't qualify.

That has to be one of the best names in sport ever...Usain "Lightning" Bolt. And to think the 100m is not his best event, so if he qualifies in the 200 and 400m, his better events, in Beijing, he could concievably win all 3, he has that potential. Likely won't pull it off though.

R.I.P

OK, so you're saying that because he's crippled he's not a real athlete and that he should be kept to the Paralympic Games, which sadly noone follows? Just watched Around the Horn on ESPN and the columnists said the same thing. If the Olympic Games are to take seriously the mantra of fair and equal play, they should allow disabled athletes to take part if they meet qualifying standards. Pistorius isn't going to medal anyways, all the guy wanted was a shot, is that too much to ask? Apparently it is.

It's disappointing and aggravating that there's more coverage on the ceremonies than there is on the sports on this forum, but I'll save that for another time, because this is a feel good story going into Beijing: Du Toit surprise at Beijing place Paralympian Natalie Du Toit said she was surprised to qualify for the open water events at the Beijing Olympics. South African amputee Du Toit made Beijing by finishing fourth in Sunday's 10km world championships in Seville. Britons Cassandra Patten and Keri-Anne Payne also qualified for the open water events at the Olympics. "Fourth was much better than expected and hopefully I'm going to Beijing," said Du Toit. "I've got to wait for my federation to give me the go-ahead." She added: "It's been a dream for me since I was six years old to go to the Olympic Games and to finally have that dream realised is something massive for me. "When I get home it will all sink in, when I start preparing for the Olympics." Du Toit finished just five minutes behind the leader in the two-hour able-bodied event in Seville. The 10km swim - often described as "wrestling in water" because of its aggressive tactics - will be making its debut at the Games in August. "Probably for the first 5km of the race everybody's together and I myself came out with a bit of a blue eye," Du Toit told BBC Radio 5 Live. "A couple of the boys even have cut eyes, it is pretty rough, but in the last couple of kilometres it does spread out. It's quite a gruelling event." Du Toit will be swimming in the 100m freestyle at this week's Paralympic World Cup in Manchester. Story from BBC SPORT: http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/sport2/hi...ing/7386893.stm And here's this: http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/olympics/2008/0...pic_dreams.html I certainly hope the South African federation does the right thing and OKs her for Beijing.

Thanks, or should I say, efkharisto (I hope I pronounced it right, if I didn't, I'm sorry, needless to say I really need to get better at speaking Greek in time for Vancouver 2010) for the pics and updates PY2K4, I have to admit the countryside of Hellas looks very inviting compared to the chaos that is my movie theatre. Trust me, the theatre is very stressful.

To hell with Celine and the cheeseballs, here's my suggestion, "Ladies and Gentlemen" by Saliva http://myspacetv.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=...videoid=7008547 Face the facts, to get fired up, athletes don't want to listen to "let's hold hands and sing kumbaya" nonsense, they want hard edged, fact paced rock to fire them up.

Australia’s triple Olympic gold medallist Jodie Henry’s dream of a successful Beijing defence of her 100 metres freestyle crown is over – but certainly not her career. After months of agony, battling with a complicated muscle imbalance in her pelvic region, the 24-year-old former world record holder, today officially withdrew from the Telstra Australian Swimming Championships at the Sydney Olympic Park Aquatic Centre from March 22-29. The Championships double as the official Swimming Selection Trials for the Beijing 2008 Australian Olympic Team, thus ending her Beijing dream. Along with her personal coach Drew McGregor and Australia’s National Head Coach Alan Thompson, Jodie bravely fronted the media in Brisbane today. And as devastated as she is to have to sit at home and watch the Trials and the Games, her career is far from over. In fact doctors have told her that with the right treatment – a combination of exercises and physiotherapy - she could well come back for next year’s FINA World Championships and the 2010 Commonwealth Games even faster than she has ever swum. “It has been a very hard decision to make as the Olympics is every swimmers goal and I would have loved to be able to go to Beijing and try and defend my title and to help the girls win another relay,” Henry explained. “I have been struggling with an injury which has meant that I haven’t been able to train as much as I would have liked, and as much as I have needed to, to be ready for the Olympic trials.” “Whilst missing the Olympic team is a huge disappointment for me, I am pleased because now that my injury has been finally diagnosed I can start the road to recovery,” she said. “I am happy to say that I am definitely not retiring as there is no way that I want my swimming career to end like this. I will now get stuck in to working on fixing my injury and getting back into the pool and then looking at resetting my goals for the future.” Thompson expressed his disappointment for the girl who thrilled the Athens Olympic pool four years ago – becoming the first Australian woman since Dawn Fraser in 1964 to win the coveted 100m freestyle gold medal. And who spearheaded the golden paths of both the women’s 4x100m freestyle and 4x100m medley relays – Australia’s only women’s Olympic relay gold medal winners since the Dawn Fraser led 4x00m freestyle team of 1956. “It’s a shame for Jodie and a great loss to the Australian team. She has become a great leader for us, both individually and particularly in our relay teams over the past six years,” said Thompson. “Like Ian Thorpe, Jodie Henry will not be easy to replace but as I said when he lost Ian there will now be an opportunity for two swimmers to step up to the plate who otherwise may not have received a chance at this stage of their careers. “Australia, through the planning of our National Youth Coach Leigh Nugent has set up a system where we have been able to develop a group of aspiring youngsters to come through. “They will get there chance to shine at the Trials and as I continue to tell our guys it is all about opportunities and taking those opportunities. “It will be interesting to see what happens come March 22.” Swimming Australia http://www.olympics.com.au/News/Australian...?ArticleID=9876

After suffering a stress fracture in his foot, he won't play again for the Houston Rockets this season, and he'll miss the playoffs as well if they qualify.. Now, he is expected to recover in time for the Beijing Games, but he admitted during a press conference to reveal his injury that if he wasn't able to play in the Olympics, it would be the biggest loss of his career. He likely will recover in time for the Games, but if, and that's a big if, he doesn't, how big of a loss would this be for the Games and for China?

<vomits> Why do the Olympics need cheesefest songs that not even the athletes want anything to do with? Revenue, that's why. There will always be people with crap tastes in music who will eat up thie "let's hold hands and sing kumbaya" nonsense.

I could care less about the ceremonies in general, but here's a list of bands that probably could be a part of London's handover: Franz Ferdinand Rachel Stevens Girls Aloud Paul Mccartney I would be cool if Ozzy or Judas Priest were involved, but that will never happen (having seen Ozzy perfrom 2 weeks ago in KC, while he may not be as great as he once was, he's still awesome live. Amazing, he sings better than he speaks). If it did, many of their fans would cry, "Sell out!!!!", same thing for Lordi's original fans when they did the Eurovision thing, I'm sure they were pissed off and cried "SELL OUT!!!" when they did. Honestly, I'd rather they not be involved in such nonsense.

I pray this isn't serious, and if it is, I would hate to see the looks on the faces of the athletes who have qualified for the Games only to be told, "You are not going to the Games and if you try to go, we will revoke your citizenship." Look, whatever you may think of China, noone can ever convince me, or the athletes themselves, that a boycott will do any good. As far as I'm concerned, I am really looking forward to the Beijing Games and seeing what the people of China can do. From what I've seen, it's basically the reverse of the Torino Games, when 90% of Italia's population either didn't know that they were hosting an Olympics and those that did protested against them. The people in China, and Chinese abroad, are genuinely excited for the Games. Honestly, if I had my drothers, I'd go to Beijing, not only for the Olympic Games, but also to see everything there as it's a beautiful city and I am interested in Chinese history. But watching the Games will be a nice consolation prize.

Unless Canada and the US boycott the Games (no doubt Lou Dobbs of CNN would love it if a boycott happened)... Anyways, I figure to be working during the Games, so I may ask my mother or my sisters to do their bit with regard to the Games.

Would anyone be illing to repost some of them, including the ones I uploaded(since I have no idea which cd I saved them on)?

And to think I'll be there in person, thanks to my grandmother and uncle. Cannot wait anymore... And since I will be there, I'm trying to learn as many different langauges as possible. I do know some Espanol, and some Francais=though not much, and some Italian and Greek, but hopefully between now and when I go to B.C. for the Games I'll be able to speak in other languages. Ideally, I'd like to be affluent in many, many languages, but realistically, I just hope I don't make a jackass out of myself, especially when I meet women from other countries. In that case, it's going to be the same as with American and Canadian women, just hoping not saying the wrong thing at the wrong time, and I hope and pray that women from France, Greece, Norway, Russia, Germany, Italy, and Australia are nowhere near as arrogant and narcisstic as American women are.

Yes it was.

Athens' and Torino's sites, and even the ones for the Melbourne Commonwealth Games and Doha Asian Games were awesome and easy to use, far superior to Beijing's site at this point. Beijing's is rather muddled, but they still have time to work out the kinks. Maybe they'll work out a deal with Yahoo or Microsoft or Lenovo. Probably not, but there's plenty of time. By the way, love the sig P2K4, Elena is a honey

Well I did save a lot of the Torino version of NBCOlympics.com to cd, so I'm covered. The video's great, but that's the only thing those NBC bastards have done right of late. They interrupted Game 5 of the Ottawa-Buffalo Eastern Conference Finals in the NHL to cover the Preakness warmups. They chose horses walking in circles instead of playoff overtime hockey, those NBC idiots are just like everyone else, trying to shove the "hockey is for anti-American wussy losers" message down our throats. I'm so mad at them right now...