Beijing Surprise

The US Olympic team may not have fared quite as well as they would have liked these Olympic games. Of course we have all heard about the track woes, the baseball team failed to win gold in our own sport and the US failed to win a single diving medal, a sport that was dominated by the Americans up until the 1980s. However despite the lows there were also some pleasant surprises from the Americans in Beijing.

We watched as 21 yr old Henry Cejduo, son of illgeal immigrant parents, took home the gold for the Americans in freestyle wrestling. Cejudo had only been wrestling at the international level for a very short time and shocked everyone by bringing home the gold.

We also got to see 19 year old swimmer Rebecca Soni become one of the best female swimmers in the World before our eyes. Athens breaststroke hero Amanda Beard faltered, failing to reach the finals, but the 19 yr old Soni took the opportunity to show that the women's swim team was pretty good too, winning a gold and two silvers for her country.

American hurdles sprinter Dawn Harper also very unexpectedly took home the gold in the womens 100 meter hurdles. Heavy favorite Lolo Jones, stumbled on the 2nd to last hurdle, but Harper made sure it was still an American Victory.

And of course there is the Men's gymnastics team. Considered a long shot to win any medals at all after Athens all-around champion Paul Hamm decided he was not healthy enough to compete. The Americans dazzled in the team competition, taking home a bronze medal and only just missing out on a silver. Team leader Jonothan Horton followed that up with a silver medal in the high bar event.


So, while the US team may not have been perfect during these games, they still have plenty to smile about. After all they are still highly likely to finish atop the medal table once again, with well over 100 medals. We are looking forward to an even better team in London, 4 years from now.

Memorable Olympic Highlight of the Day. Day 2

Rulon Gardner vs. Alexander Karelin at the 2000 Games in Sydney. Karelin hadn't lost a competition match in 13 years prior to this match. He hadn't even allowed his opponent to score a single point in a match for 6 years. He is generally considered to be the best and most feared Greco-Roman Wrestler in the history of the sport.

In their only previous match, Karelin had dominated Gardner, winning 5-0 at the 1997 World Championships. It was such a huge upset that if you listen to the match commentary in the video they actually compare Gardner winning to the 1980 "Miracle on Ice" Hockey upset.

Let's be honest. It's a pretty boring match. For the most part they just stand there and jostle back and forth. But everyone likes to root for the underdog and Gardner was as big an underdog as you'll ever come across.

I think my favorite part of this clip is towards the end you hear a woman (Gardner's wife perhaps?) shouting into a cell phone "He won, he won, call everybody". That part totally gives me goosebumps even 8 years later.

To me this is what the Olympics are all about. Most of us had never seen a Greco-Roman Wrestling match in our lives prior to this event and Rulon Gardner was just another farmer from Idaho. But in 5 minutes time he captured our imagination and created a memory we can all share. That's why it's fun to watch the little events. You never know when history is going to happen.