Thompson brings home Silver August 17, 2008
Posted by Emir in Current Events, Sports.Tags: beijing, olympics, richard thompson, usain bolt
1 comment so far
In some countries, Olympic medals are a given. For a nation like T&T it is a moment of pride when one of its very small Olympic delegation brings home a medal. Yesterday, Richard Thompson brought home the Silver in the Men’s 100m sprint. He was one of five Caribbean athletes to make the final round. Jamaican athletes Usain Bolt, Asafa Powell and Michael Frater ran first, fifth and sixth respectively while Trinidadian atheltes Richard Thompson and Marc Burns ran second and seventh respectively. Thompson set a new personal best of 9.89 seconds while Bolt set a 9.69 second world record.
Now I do congratulate Bolt, but before I accept that as a fair win I need to know he was clean when the record was set. If anyone saw the race, Bolt was skipping ahead of the pack and looking back, to the extent that at the end he was not even running. It was one of those finishings that leaves you wondering how anyone could be THAT far ahead of the pack. Regardless, this is not a discussion about Bolt.
Richard Thompson: Congratulations on your Olympic Silver and I would think that given what a hot topic of conversation you became yesterday, you have done your country proud.
2008 Beijing Olympics: Opening Ceremony August 10, 2008
Posted by Emir in Current Events, Sports, World Affairs.Tags: beijing, ceremony, china, olympics
add a comment
The glittering Olympic Rings are hoisted into the air at Beijing's "Bird's Nest" stadium
I would think that anyone who saw the opening ceremony for the 2008 Olympic Games hosted in Beijing, China would have been completely blown away by the event. It was not only the amazing display of culture, but the sheer scale, effects and the coordination of so many participants!
China has a talent, and let me tell you what that talent is. It is not the amount of money they have to throw behind an event like this, nor is it their extremely impressive cultural heritage. What China’s talent is, is the ability to coordinate large masses of their people in perfect harmony. Every part of the opening ceremony was filled with masses of people drumming, dancing, running and performing other antics in complete synchronization. Even at points where the performers had no means whatsoever of seeing what the others were doing, the timing was flawless. I’m talking about the giant Movable Type printer – if you saw the ceremony you would know what I’m talking about.
Now unfortunately, most internet clips of the opening have been removed due to copyright claims. However, I did find the next best thing: A collage of still images set to the song “Sadness” by Enigma, created by the user “NewAgeEnlightenment” on YouTube. You can view this clip below.
This of course doesn’t show the true splendor of the event. You really need to catch a rerun if you haven’t seen it as yet. What I have to say though is that with this event China has shown the world not only the depth of its culture and its vast human and financial resources, but it has also told its critics to sit down and shut up.
