Individual diving is pretty amazing, but synchronized diving is double the awesome. Not only are the dives cool-looking and super difficult, two people have to do the exact same thing at the exact same time! And the US did great, too! The women's team won silver and the men's team, bronze. So neat!
The American men really messed up the team gymnastics competition, but the Brits pulled through to medal for the first time in a hundred years with a bronze. Originally, Britian had silver, Ukraine had bronze, and Japan got fourth, but Japan disputed a score and was moved up to second, bumping Ukraine off the medal stand. You can't blame a coach for looking out for his team, but I, for one, thought the Japanese guy's score was fair--his pommel horse dismount looked pretty terrible to me. I feel sorry for the Ukraine.
US swimmer Missy Franklin (17 years old) has a really great story. She and her family decided to stay in Colorado to train instead of moving to a bigger swimming state (like California), and they have turned down numerous sponsorships and prize money offers so she could stay eligible to swim with her high school team. I think that's really cool--that her parents are allowing her to stay a normal kid as much as possible, not pushing her talent to the breaking point or weighing down her shoulders with high-stakes pressure. As a result, swimming has remained a fun activity for her instead of an obligation and a job. That's the way it should be done... and it has worked out splendid for Missy! In addition to the bronze she got with the US team in the 4x100m freestyle, she won GOLD in the 100m backstroke 14 minutes after swimming in a heat for the 200m freestyle. Looks like I have a new favorite swimmer.
No comments:
Post a Comment