Faster Posted August 19, 2008 Report Share Posted August 19, 2008 Its German poetic justice. In Sydney, Whitfield paced a German to take gold and now a German passed Whitfield to get gold. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Citius Altius Fortius Posted August 19, 2008 Author Report Share Posted August 19, 2008 Glad to see that two German athletes won gold in the time I was in Vienna (just came back)... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Citius Altius Fortius Posted August 20, 2008 Author Report Share Posted August 20, 2008 (edited) The story of Matthias Steiner is really emotional - he is a born Austrian and participated for Austria until 2005 - at the European Championships in Sofia he got really into trouble with the Austrian weightlifting federation and left Austria. He moved to Germany, where he married a woman from Zwickau. He was not allowed to participate three years internationally until he received German citizenship in January 2008. His wife wasn't able to witness this since she died last year in a car accident - Matthias said that weightlifing keep him in life and wanted to win a medal in Beijing to "honour" his wife... Edited August 20, 2008 by Citius Altius Fortius Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil1981 Posted August 21, 2008 Report Share Posted August 21, 2008 I saw Steiner in the interveiw on ZDF (German TV channel), he is really a profit for us, very likable and a strong athlete ... not only by his muscles ... and a great job in triathlon ... this was a gold medal by Frodeno that I didn't expect at all ... haven't even heard of him before (seems that I never watched triathlon before, but now I do) !! I agree, Germany is not bad at these games - just one thing that we already realized : There is almost no sport left in which we are really dominant. The ones we had - rowing, swimming, cycling, fencing (well two gold this time is a real COMEBACK for us in fencing), ... do not work out for us any more ... obviously our medals are well distributet over several sports, and some of the medals are real surprises for us. I doubt that London will see us Germans back in the top three or four You know, when watching winter sports you can bet your money that our athletes in Bobsports, Luge, Biathlon and Speed Skating bring home several medals in their sports - continuously. But in summer sports I see some nations overtaking us ... but well, still we are one of the strongest teams here in Beijing ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olympian2004 Posted August 22, 2008 Report Share Posted August 22, 2008 Andreas Dittmer finished eighth in his only final at these Games, the men's K1 1,000 metres. What a tragic end for that great career! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Citius Altius Fortius Posted August 22, 2008 Author Report Share Posted August 22, 2008 Andreas Dittmer finished eighth in his only final at these Games, the men's K1 1,000 metres. What a tragic end for that great career! I think this result is symptomatical - I will give my evaluation after the Beijing Olympics are closed... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olympian2004 Posted August 22, 2008 Report Share Posted August 22, 2008 I think this result is symptomatical - I will give my evaluation after the Beijing Olympics are closed... Symptomatical for what? I mean, there have always been pleasant and unpleasant surprises at the Olympics for Germany (just like, I think, for any other country). And Dittmer's failure wasn't really surprising, bearing in mind that he's already 36 and was in bad shape throughout these Games. At the same time, our women's 500 m K4 has won convincingly and we had a surprise gold medal in the men's 1,000 m K2 already. So the wheels keep on turning... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olympian2004 Posted August 22, 2008 Report Share Posted August 22, 2008 Olympic Champions Fanny Fischer, Nicole Reinhardt, Katrin Wagner-Augustin, Conny Waßmuth Olympic Champions Martin Hollstein & Andreas Ihle Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kaufy Posted August 22, 2008 Report Share Posted August 22, 2008 I`m devastated at the Dittmer result. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Citius Altius Fortius Posted August 22, 2008 Author Report Share Posted August 22, 2008 (edited) Symptomatical for what? I mean, there have always been pleasant and unpleasant surprises at the Olympics for Germany (just like, I think, for any other country). I think we witness at the moment several different tendencies: - struggle between two sport super-powers (USA (old sport super power) vs. PR China (stepped in for the Soviet Union)) - the fact that Russia has not the same capacity as the former Soviet Union ("decline" of Russia) - the lost of superiority of one nation in one sport (the medals were more spread) - smaller countries focus on single athletes and their efforts to receive attention (e.g. Jamaica/Bolt) Edited August 22, 2008 by Citius Altius Fortius Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olympian2004 Posted August 22, 2008 Report Share Posted August 22, 2008 The picture fits very well: What a surprising gold medal! Olympic Champion Lena Schöneborn, Modern Pentathlon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Citius Altius Fortius Posted August 22, 2008 Author Report Share Posted August 22, 2008 ohh - wow - I haven't heard about this one yet - thanks F. for the info I like her finger nails - her index-finger looks like the Oz-flag Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kaufy Posted August 22, 2008 Report Share Posted August 22, 2008 this has been a better day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olympian2004 Posted August 22, 2008 Report Share Posted August 22, 2008 By the way, before anyone wonders where I am and why I don't comment on the closing ceremony and the overall success of the Games: I won't be able to post in the next three days -- I'm attending a friend's wedding. Bad decision of her to put her wedding on the closing weekend of the Olympic Games, but I like her nevertheless. I'll be back on Monday evening (CET) and will also make a final evaluation of the SI medal picks then. However, this is the outlook on tomorrow from a German perspective: If I've counted correctly, we still have the following eight medal chances tomorrow: -- Men's Hockey: Either gold or silver for certain (since the team has already reached the final) -- Women's K1 500 m: Pretty good medal chances for Katrin Wagner-Augustin (silver according to SI) -- Women's K2 500 m: Very good medal chances for Fanny Fischer and Nicole Reinhardt (gold according to SI) -- Men's C2 500 m: Slight medal chances for Christian Gille and Tomasz Wylenzek (bronze according to SI) -- Men's K2 500 m: Very good medal chances for Ronald Rauhe and Tim Wieskötter (silver according to SI) -- Women's High Jump: Pretty good medal chances for Ariane Friedrich (silver according to SI) -- Women's Mountain Bike Cross Country: Slight medal chances for Sabine Spitz (no medal according to SI) -- Men's Diving, 10 m platform: Pretty good medal chances for Sascha Klein (gold according to SI) On Sunday, we will have no medal chance at all. For all German athletes still competing in these Games, good luck! I hope that the team will be able to keep the fifth place in the medal table. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olympian2004 Posted August 23, 2008 Report Share Posted August 23, 2008 Before I leave, one last time: Olympic Champion Sabine Spitz, Mountain Bike One down, seven to go! (But not necessarily only gold medals.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Citius Altius Fortius Posted August 23, 2008 Author Report Share Posted August 23, 2008 Good morning Olympian2004, you beat me again I just wanted to write something about Sabine Spitz, when I saw you posting... I wonder why your friend "dare" to marry on the final day of the Beijing Olympics - you will miss the handover to London, the flag bearer of Germany (I suppose it will be Steiner), the wonderful closing ceremony... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olympian2004 Posted August 23, 2008 Report Share Posted August 23, 2008 Good morning Olympian2004,you beat me again I just wanted to write something about Sabine Spitz, when I saw you posting... I wonder why your friend "dare" to marry on the final day of the Beijing Olympics - you will miss the handover to London, the flag bearer of Germany (I suppose it will be Steiner), the wonderful closing ceremony... Please don't rub it in. It's hard enough for me anyway. But I'll tape the closing ceremony and immediately watch it after my return. Well, my friend is obviously not very keen about the Olympics. But I think that we in this forum have a special case of "Olympicitis" anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Citius Altius Fortius Posted August 23, 2008 Author Report Share Posted August 23, 2008 But I think that we in this forum have a special case of "Olympicitis" anyway. yeah - that is true... I slowly get a feeling of emptyness - tomorrow the Olympic Games will be closed and we have to wait another four years for the next one Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olympian2004 Posted August 23, 2008 Report Share Posted August 23, 2008 yeah - that is true...I slowly get a feeling of emptyness - tomorrow the Olympic Games will be closed and we have to wait another four years for the next one Actually only one-and-a-half years -- till Vancouver! However, I just heard on "ARD Olympiaradio" that medal hope Sascha Klein has missed the final in the men's 10 m platform event. Obviously, he ranked even last in the semi-final. His partner in the synchronised diving, Patrick Hausding, ranked 10th and thus missed the final as well. Well, one down, one missed and six to go! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olympian2004 Posted August 23, 2008 Report Share Posted August 23, 2008 Sorry, I have to correct myself: Patrick Hausding has reached the final. But he probably doesn't stand much of a chance, maybe he's too young to win an individual medal already. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olympian2004 Posted August 23, 2008 Report Share Posted August 23, 2008 OK, I'm leaving. Have fun, everybody, on the last two days of competition and of course during the closing ceremony! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Citius Altius Fortius Posted August 23, 2008 Author Report Share Posted August 23, 2008 OK, I'm leaving. Have fun, everybody, on the last two days of competition and of course during the closing ceremony! thanks - I suppose we will have another live Closing Ceremony Chat here... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Citius Altius Fortius Posted August 23, 2008 Author Report Share Posted August 23, 2008 Olympic Champions German Hockey Team Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rafa Posted August 23, 2008 Report Share Posted August 23, 2008 City basks in glow of German's gold Zara Nicholson 23 August, 2008 Cape Argus Cape Town this week claimed its first Olympic gold medal when an athlete who lived and trained in the city for years won the triathlon at the Beijing Olympics. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LA84 Posted August 23, 2008 Report Share Posted August 23, 2008 Olympic ChampionsGerman Hockey Team Fantastic news! I am sorry I have not dropped into the German virtual hospitality room before now. I have been a little busy with work and when I get home, I seems to be addressing U.S. issues, trying to make those pesky Brits understand how we really count the medal tally (just kidding!) and watching the games coverage at the same time! I love watching Germany in the Olympics now. As you know, I am from a different era of these games. But the performance of Germany in these games is second to none. So here is raising a big glass of brewskie to you and congratulating you on just being Germany - and doing a great job. *clink* Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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