Jump to content

Athletes returning home


gotosy

Recommended Posts

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has paid tribute to the Iranian athletes who won the medals at the London 2012 Olympic Games.

c_330_235_16777215_0___images_stories_edim_13-1(63).jpg

At a ceremony held to honor Olympic medal winners at the Ministry of Interior in Tehran on Saturday night, Ahmadinejad said, “We finished in 17th place on the medal table of the 2012 Olympic Games and now we want to be among the 10 best countries in the upcoming Olympics in Rio. Also, we must finish second in the 2014 Asian Games,” he said.

...

“Iran must compete in the next Olympics with 250 participants and win more medals,” Ahmadinejad added.

http://tehrantimes.c...ers-at-olympics

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 51
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Chinese athletes rake in London rewards

China's Olympic gold medallists have been rewarded with lavish gifts by the state, including cash bonuses and luxury sea-front apartments.

Real estate companies in particular have been lining up to sponsor athletes by furnishing them with new housing after their success at last month's London Games.

Chinese swimmers Sun Yang and Ye Shiwen both received apartments worth 3 million yuan ($472,600) from a company in their hometown of Hangzhou, according to the China Daily.

Hangzhou also plans to build statues for the swimmers to honour their efforts at the Olympics.

Double gold medallist Sun, who broke the men's 1,500 metres world record, was named "Zhejiang Model Worker" and given 2.6 million yuan, state-run news agency Xinhua reported.

Ye, who also won two gold medals in London, received the same title as well as 1.8 million yuan.

Table tennis player Zhang Jike, from the coastal city Qingdao, Shandong province, was presented with a 120 square metre apartment with a sea view.

Li Xuerui, who won the women's badminton gold in London, will move out of the small house she shared with her parents and into a 100 square metre flat in Chongqing.

Estate agents hope to sell property to prospective buyers by enticing them to become 'the neighbour of Olympic champions' in their adverts.

China won 38 gold, 27 silver and 23 bronze at the London Olympic Games to finish second behind the United States in the medals table.

Hurdler Liu Xiang triggered the wave of athlete-chasing agencies after winning the 110 metres hurdles at the 2004 Athens Olympics.

His income from sponsorship in 2005 was reported to be more than 460 million yuan.

The athletes have also been royally paid for their achievements in bringing Olympic glory to China at the London Games.

During a visit to Hong Kong and Macao last week, Olympic champions also pocketed HK$25.2 million ($3.25 million) from Hong Kong entrepreneurs.

They also bagged another HK$10.2 million from the government of the Macao Special Administrative Region.

China began rewarding Olympic athletes in 1984 when the country participated for the first time after regaining its seat on the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in 1979.

Each gold medal at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics earned athletes 6,000 yuan. The bonus rose to 15,000 yuan at the Seoul Games in 1988. It had reached 200,000 yuan by Athens in 2004.

The rewards for the 2008 Beijing Games were kept secret but the amount is believed to be much bigger. China topped the medal count in Beijing.

Eurosport - Reuters

Link to comment
Share on other sites

S.Africa's Olympic gold medalists get cows

South Africa's six gold medalists in the London 2012 Olympics have each received a traditionally revered gift back home - a cow - from the country's barbeque champ, the Beeld newspaper reported on Saturday.

The gifts, each valued at 7,000 rand (S$1,040), were handed over by businessman Jan Scannell, better known as Jan Braai, for his aim of using the most cross-cultural social custom, the barbeque or braai, to the unite South Africans.

One of the six Olympians, swimmer Cameron van der Burgh, chose to have his cow processed into 140 kilogrammes of boerwors, a popular thick aromatic beef sausage, which he donated to an orphanage in Alexander township.

Rowers John Smith and James Thompson opted for biltong, dried beef strips.

Another rower Sizwe Ndlovu preferred the live animal, likening the gift to a bride price or 'lobola'. Cows are traditionally used to pay for brides in most southern African cultures.

"From a national cultural perspective I did not expect to get lobola because I won a gold medal," said Ndlovu.

Jan Braai who in 2010 broke the Guiness World Record for the longest barbeque at 28 hours 26 minutes, now promotes September 24 each year, South Africa's cultural heritage day, as national braai day.

http://news.asiaone....901-369042.html

Link to comment
Share on other sites

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has paid tribute to the Iranian athletes who won the medals at the London 2012 Olympic Games.

c_330_235_16777215_0___images_stories_edim_13-1(63).jpg

At a ceremony held to honor Olympic medal winners at the Ministry of Interior in Tehran on Saturday night, Ahmadinejad said, “We finished in 17th place on the medal table of the 2012 Olympic Games and now we want to be among the 10 best countries in the upcoming Olympics in Rio. Also, we must finish second in the 2014 Asian Games,” he said.

...

“Iran must compete in the next Olympics with 250 participants and win more medals,” Ahmadinejad added.

http://tehrantimes.c...ers-at-olympics

They cannot finish in the top ten when two of the sports are swimming and track and field, two of Iran's weakest sports. At least China has a chance at multiple medals in swimming.

As a fan of Track and field, I laugh when countries weak in the sport like China and Iran think that they can dominate the medals table. Sure, China leads after a week, but we all know what happens in the second week: track and field starts, and except for the Hammer throw and the 20 K Walk, China poses no threat to surpassing the United States at the medal table when the games are over with. There's also Jamaica.

Americans who win gold get to do the national media rounds, most of the time. The Fierce Five Gymnasts did the Late Show with David Letterman and the Colbert Report. Gabby Douglas herself appeared on the Tonight Show, Extra, Access Hollywood, Inside Edition and America's Got Talent. Swimmers Nathan Adrian and Katie Ledecky appeared on the Today Show and Adrian did a bit for the Tonight Show. Ryan Lochte did his various media rounds as did Allyson Felix.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Grenada to name new sports stadium after Olympic 400-meter champion Kirani James

Grenada will name a new sports stadium after a young track athlete who won the tiny island’s first Olympic medal.

Prime Minister Tillman Thomas says the unfinished stadium will be named after 400-meter champ Kirani James when it is completed.

Thomas also said Saturday that the island of just over 100,000 people will introduce a stamp commemorating James’ Olympic victory.

James gave Grenada its first Olympic medal in London when he won the 400-meter race in 43.94 seconds.

James became the first non-U.S. athlete to run the 400 in less than 44 seconds. He also was the first non-U.S. winner of the race since the 1980 Moscow Games.

Thousands of islanders crowded outside an airport on Thursday to welcome back the 19-year-old runner nicknamed “The Jaguar.”

AP

http://www.washingto...e4ed_story.html

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Boris Johnson = speech of the year!

"Speaking as a spectator you produced such a paroxysm of tears and joy on the sofas of Britain you probably not only inspired a generation you probably helped to create one as well!"

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Obama pay tribute to Olympic, Paralympic athletes at White House ceremony

President Barack Obama tells U.S. Olympians and Paralympians they are the “portrait of what this country is all about” as he, Vice President Joe Biden and first lady Michelle Obama salute their achievements at the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games in London

The Obamas and Biden saluted the U.S. teams at a ceremony on the South Lawn of the White House.

Obama says: “You could not have been better ambassadors for the United States.”

The athletes presented the Obamas with the U.S. flag carried during the events’ opening ceremonies.

At the Olympics, the U.S. won 104 medals, 46 of them gold, their highest total at an Olympics not held in the United States.

The Paralympics, which came immediately after, attracted 2.7 million spectators, a record.

AP

http://www.washingto...f8eb_story.html

4a5889aefe7a11e18159123138178971_7.jpg

http://instagram.com/p/Pjzh9iLIQS/

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Two videos of South Africa's two swimming gold medalists from London, Cameron Van Der Burgh and Chad le Clos, touching down to a raptuous reception at Johannesburg's Oliver R. Tambo International Airport with Sports and Recreation Minister Fikile Mbalula, a Miss South Africa, and students from Van Der Burgh's alma mater Crawford College welcoming them. Le Clos makes note of that day being Women's Day in South Africa.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Grenada to name new sports stadium after Olympic 400-meter champion Kirani James

Grenada will name a new sports stadium after a young track athlete who won the tiny island’s first Olympic medal.

Prime Minister Tillman Thomas says the unfinished stadium will be named after 400-meter champ Kirani James when it is completed.

Thomas also said Saturday that the island of just over 100,000 people will introduce a stamp commemorating James’ Olympic victory.

James gave Grenada its first Olympic medal in London when he won the 400-meter race in 43.94 seconds.

James became the first non-U.S. athlete to run the 400 in less than 44 seconds. He also was the first non-U.S. winner of the race since the 1980 Moscow Games.

Thousands of islanders crowded outside an airport on Thursday to welcome back the 19-year-old runner nicknamed “The Jaguar.”

Another stadium for that tiny island of 100,000? I wonder if it's the one inaugurated in 2006 when the Taiwanese national anthem was inadvertently played instead of Red China's even though it was the PRC who had financed the stadium?? (Even the Taiwanese intelligence service could not have plotted a better stratagem!! :lol: )

Or is the family of Jack Warner "giving" one to the people of Grenada?? ;)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

392510_843128_Foto_14435647_medium.jpg

(ANSA) - Rome, September 19 - Italian President Giorgio Napolitano recieved medal-winning athletes from the Olympic and Paralympic teams at the presidential palace in Rome on Wednesday. Complimenting the returning athletes, the Italian president said, "even if we tend to speak badly of ourselves, when we want we can excell more than we even believe we can". Speaking to the athletes from the Paralympic teams, Napolitano said that their performance was a "great life lesson and reason for pride". Italy won eight gold medals, nine silvers and 11 bronzes for an overall total of 28, one more than the team achieved in Beijing in 2008 and well over the minimum target set by Gianni Petrucci, the head of the Italian Olympic Committee. Paralympic athletes brought home nine golds, eight silvers and 11 bronzes for an overall total of 28.

http://www.gazzettad...c-athletes.html

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Olympians, Paralympians honoured at Toronto

Members of Canada's Olympic and Paralympic teams were cheered by thousands on the streets of downtown Toronto today during a parade to celebrate their successes at the 2012 London Games.

About 200 Olympians and Paralympians waved and exchanged greetings with fans as they travelled on floats and foot, and made their way toward Maple Leaf Square in front of the Air Canada Centre during the half-hour parade.

..

The parade is the final event of the Olympic Heroes Tour. On Thursday, members of Team Canada visited schools and hospitals in Toronto, and attended a gala dinner.

...

http://www.cbc.ca/ne...pic-parade.html

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...

A right royal celebration! Olympic and Paralympic heroes honoured at Buckingham Palace

David Cameron hailed Great Britain's incredible summer of sport as the Queen hosted a glittering Buckingham Palace event for Olympic and Paralympic heroes.

Sportsmen and women who won gold for the nation during the summer's extravaganza of sport were invited to the palace to mark their achievements.

The Prime Minister joined the athletes and senior figures like Lord Coe who helped make the Games a success at the palace, where the Queen celebrated their efforts with the Duke of Edinburgh, Duchess of Cambridge and other members of the Royal Family.

article-0-15A55D82000005DC-867_634x517.jpg

Pleased to meet you: The Queen greet London 2012 hero David Weir

Mr Cameron said: 'I think people will look back and just think, 'what an incredible summer' - success after success, medal after medal and the whole country putting on its very best face for the world.

'What matters now is that we maximise the momentum and the legacy following the Olympics and Paralympics.

'We had a cabinet meeting about that and Seb Coe was there, and we were talking about the physical legacy of East London, the important economic benefits we want, there's the sporting legacy carried through to Rio and school sport, there's also the legacy in terms of attitude to disabilities, which I think is a real chance of a step change in our country.'

Team GB began the summer's medal rush by winning 65 in total, including 29 golds, an achievement that was hailed as the athletes' 'greatest ever' performance by Andy Hunt, their chef de mission for London 2012.

Amongst the stars who delighted the home crowds and the world with podium-topping performances were heptathlete Jessica Ennis, cyclist Sir Chris Hoy and sailor Ben Ainslie and double gold-winning runner Mo Farah. The Paralympics saw Great Britain secure 120 medals, including 34 golds.

article-0-15A61DAF000005DC-859_634x516.jpg

Heroes' welcome: Rowers Andrew Triggs-Hodge, Pete Reed, Alex Gregory and Tom James in royal company

article-0-15A5F067000005DC-462_634x515.jpg

Gold standard: Anthony Ogogo greets Her Majesty during the event at Buckingham Palace

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Azure event in Maranello with 2012 London medal winners

121029_120241_cor_olimpici_260x200.jpg

Maranello, 29 October – The Fiorano track, the Ferrari campus and the Ferrari Museum welcomed the 45 medal winners from the 2012 London Olympics and Paralymics, together with CONI President Gianni Petrucci, General Secretary and Head of Mission Raffaele Pagnozzi as well as the President of the Italian Paralympics Committee Luca Pancalli. They all were guests of Ferrari Chairman Luca di Montezemolo.

A day to celebrate Italian excellence "bound together by passion for sports, privation and the will to win", as Montezemolo said. The core values since 2006 for the collaboration between the Prancing Horse and CONI, Ferrari offers technology and know-how.

The Ferrari Chairman received a 2012 London Olympic torch, while team principal Stefano Domenicali a medal from the 1960 Games from the CONI President. "I was moved by seeing your extraordinary victories at the Olympic Games," Montezemolo said. "What you did and how you did it makes me think that we share the passion and the will to never give up. This is why I really feel moved so much today. You athletes represent the most beautiful part of sport. Seeing the Italian flag in London in front millions of people was an immense satisfaction and we are very grateful for that." Coni received the pistons from the engine in the World Champion cars F2001 and F2003-GA from Ferrari.

The event started at the Fiorano track where, after a show by Giancarlo Fisichella on board of an F1 single-seater, the champions from London 2012 went for some laps on the track in a F12berlinetta and a 458 Spider, experiencing the emotion of speed next to the Ferrari test drivers. In the afternoon the athletes visited the production lines for the road cars, ending the day with a visit at the Ferrari Museum in Maranello.

Amongst the numerous athletes: Valentina Vezzali and Oscar de Pellegrin, Daniele Molmenti, Marco Galiazzo, Arianna Errigo and Elisa Di Francisca as well as Jessica Rossi and Martina Grimaldi.

"The emotions they give us will stay with us forever," CONI president Gianni Petrucci said, underlining how Ferrari is "the history and the culture of our country, a great example of team spirit”.

http://www.ferrari.c...al-winners.aspx

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...

maroney155148--415x415.jpg

Even McKayla Maroney was impressed.

A photo of the Olympic gold medalist gymnast and President Barack Obama doing her now-famous "McKayla Maroney is not impressed" face went viral Saturday after the White House posted it on Twitter. The two took the picture Thursday when Maroney and her Fierce Five teammates visited the White House.

"He was the one who brought it up," Maroney told The Associated Press. "We were about to leave and he said, 'I want to talk to you one second about the face.' He said, 'I pretty much do that face at least once a day.'"

Maroney was photographed making the half scowl with her nose scrunched up while she was on the medals podium after winning silver on vault at the London Olympics. It spawned dozens of "McKayla Maroney is not impressed" memes — including one showing a photoshopped Maroney in the White House Situation Room on the night Osama Bin Laden was killed.

The "face" has become Maroney's trademark. But it's one thing for fans to ask her about it, quite another when the president does.

"I, like, freaked out," Maroney said. "He said, 'Let's do it together.' We took a picture and now it's everywhere."

The entire U.S. Olympic team visited the White House earlier this fall, but the Fierce Five missed it because they're doing a 40-city nationwide tour. But the show, which ends Sunday in New York, was in Washington on Thursday night, so Maroney, Gabby Douglas, Aly Raisman, Kyla Ross and Jordyn Wieber got their own private visit.

The Fierce Five had talked to Obama in London, where they became just the second U.S. women's team to win the Olympic title, and first since 1996. But it was neat to meet him in person, Maroney said.

"He's the coolest person I ever met," she said — which is saying something, considering the Fierce Five have hobnobbed with a Who's Who of celebrities since London. "He's got the hardest job in the entire world."

Maroney had hinted on Twitter that she had done "the face" at the White House, saying, "Did I just do the Not Impressed face with the President." But she didn't know when — or even if — the White House was going to release the photo.

Her father saw it first and sent Maroney a text message. It wasn't long before pretty much everyone was passing it around.

"It's really funny," she said. "Because it's like everywhere."

http://abcnews.go.co...34#.UKf-_YbNkYI

Link to comment
Share on other sites

medals, including 34 golds.

article-0-15A61DAF000005DC-859_634x516.jpg

Heroes' welcome: Rowers Andrew Triggs-Hodge, Pete Reed, Alex Gregory and Tom James in royal company

Aren't they being disrepsectful and downright treasonous? Are commoners allowed to stand over the monarch? SHouldn't she have been on a platform or at least they should've been kneeling so that HM wouldn't have to crane her neck to make chit-chat with these commoners?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...

Javelin gold medalist Keshorn Walcott returns to Trinidad & Tobago (Port-of-Spain, to be exact) to rock star and soca/calypso adulation for winning its first Olympic gold since Hasley Crawford did it in 1976 in a fun-filled and energetic celebration. This is the full ceremony that actually celebrates T&T's best Olympic performance. Crawford himself appears in this celebration thrilled to have some gold medal company.

Erick Barrondo, Guatemala's first Olympic medalist, brings the rest of the 2012 Guatemalan Olympic Team including gymnast Ana Sofia Gomez, with him in a celebration back in Guatemala City.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.


×
×
  • Create New...