11:51 AM: The United States wins!!!! Three sets to none, they are 5-0! That's Day 10, a Black Monday for the Chinese-with national hero Liu Xiang falling to injury. Join me for the show later this evening at www.blogtalkradio.com/hdsports! I'll be back for Day 11!
11:31 AM: The United States up 5-4 in the third set, ready to close out an effortless win.
11:14 AM: Japanese people have cool last names!
11:08 AM: The United States won first set. Up 8-3 in the second, this is turning out to be an easy game!
10:47 AM: Japan and USA playing volleyball right now (Men's). It's the opening set and Americans up 13-11.
10:15 AM: The US wins the jump off. So, Canada doesn't bring home the gold, but a silver is pretty good for a team that hasn't won an equestrian medal in 40 years. Ian Miller, at age 61, in his 9th Olympics wins his first career Olympic medal.
10:12 AM: Just heard the Kenyan national anthem again...can anybody beat the Kenyans in long distance running?
10:02 AM: The United States sweep the Men's 400 M Hurdles-Angelo Taylor (Gold), Kerron Clement (Silver) and Bershawn Jackson (Bronze). Americans get redemption for the Jamaican sweep of the Women's 100.
9:57 AM: Canada and the United States are going to a jump-off in the Team Show Jumping Competition. Guaranteed a silver, Canada will attempt to claim equestrian gold for the first time since 1968.
9:49 AM: Here come the hurdlers-Men's 400 M-three Americans and two Jamaicans are lined up on the track. Another one of THOSE duels. Angelo Taylor of the USA is the favourite though.
9:45 AM: Just heard the national anthem of Kenya...it sounds awfully Chinese.
9:40 AM: Ian Miller, the 9 time Olympian comes up with a very clean and fast run to put Canada in the gold medal position in Team Show Jumpin! Woohoo! (as boring as equestrian is)
9:17 AM: CBC's showing equestrian. Why isn't Despatie and diving on??
8:55 AM: The Chinese He Wenna takes the gold in trampoline!! Karen Cockburn settles for silver. What a great routine forthe Chinese, but Cockburn wasn't far behind. It's always nice for me to see both China and Canada on the podium.
8:48 AM: Karen Cockburn does a fabulous routine in trampoline.She is in the lead...and now guaranteed a medal.
____________(Sleep)____________
12:21 AM: A golden Sunday on which China took home 8 gold medals and 14 total has turned into a Black Monday with the Chinese national hero going down with injury. The crowd was devastated. I was devastated. No body expected this at all. You could hear this huge gasp when an announcement was made that Liu would not come back. Unbelievable!
11:59 PM: The news is that Liu is nursing an Achilles injury. But the question now is when did this happen? And why did he still go out there? The hero of the most populous nation in the world will not even get a chance to defend his title. You can only imagine what's going through the mind of Liu Xiang. The sports minister had said before that if Liu did not win gold in Beijing, all his previous accomplishments would be meaningless.
11:54 PM: The rest of the field goes onto run in the quietest race I've ever watched. What are they? Stunned? Shocked? Disappointed? Angry? This is a heartbreaking development for the entire nation of China.
11:53 PM: Yup, there he goes. Liu Xiang has dropped out of the 110 M Hurdles race. The pressure was enormous coming into these Olympics and Liu will not run at all in Beijing. His Olympics is over and perhaps, his celebrity status is in jeopardy.
11:52 PM: Liu seems to be wincing a bit. And they're off...nope, false start! Liu is limping, wonder what's wrong with him.
11:48 PM: Here comes Liu Xiang!!!!! Listen to this crowd as he is introduced!! Amazing!
11:40 PM: Emma Snowsill of Australia is 39 seconds ahead of Vanessa Fernandes. This could be a major upset in the women's triathlon. There is 5 KM to go in the running stage.
11:28 PM: As the triathlon crowd get to the bike-running transition, Kathy Tremblay is placed 18th. Portuguese favourite Vanessa Fernandes is relentless with her incredible endurance.
11:23 PM: Kathy Tremblay, Canadian triathlete is still in the lead group in the biking stage. Kudos to CBC for broadcasting this triathlon, really showcasing a diversity of sports as of late. Lauren Groves of Canada has crashed during the back stage and it is suspected she broke her wrist. It was a bad fall, hope she's okay.
11:17 PM: Daryon Robles, the biggest threat to Liu Xiang gold medal in the 100 M Hurdles, has won his heat in a time of 13.39 s. You can be sure the 90 000+ in Bird's Nest will scream at the top of their lungs with Liu Xiang comes out to run his heat.
11:12 PM: Canada and Japan are tied scoreless in the bottom of the third, but seeing what has happened to Canada in the past few games in the late inning pressure situations, it's better to not take anything for granted.
11:06 PM: Does NBC broadcast anything live except for Phelps' races??? Why do they keep showing stuff that happened 12-16 hours ago? They skipped both the Men and Women's 100 dash final. Classless! Perhaps that Toronto Star writer is right...they really are the History Channel.
11:01 PM: Jared Connaughton of Canada runs a respectable 20.60 in the 200 M Heats. He'll be moving onto Round 2...seems like a very laid back guy who knows what he's doing.
10:58 PM: Rogers/Dalhausser wins the match on the 4th match point. The Germans gave them a ride for their money, but can't finish off the second set. Todd and Phil will be going to the semi finals!!!
10:50 PM: Rogers/Dalhausser are in a tight one against the German pair Klemperer/Koreng. They're in the tail end of the second set, with the Americans having won the first one. The score is 23-22 Rogers/Dalhausser.
10:21 PM: How bout that, Queen Silvia of Sweden is watching the triathlon. And it's nice to see a Canadian in 4th position after coming out of the water.
10:00 PM: The women's triathlon is underway! They're off splashing in the Ming Tomb Reservoir. Beautiful scenery, but hats off to these triathletes, it's an exhausting sport!!!!!!
9:49 PM: Wow, Wariner coasts his way, almost just jogging to the finish the line. He qualifies and probably saved a scary amount of energy!
9:47 PM: Yay!! There's my favourite sprinter Jeremy Wariner! I'm telling ya, he'll break the WR in Beijing.
9:41 PM: Tyler Christopher of Chiliwack, BC finishes 5th in the Men's 400 M Heat 6. This is a big disappointment. Christopher won bronze at the 07 World's and he certainly has the capability to medal. Though we knew the competition would be fierce, this is a very dejecting development.
7:06 PM: 18 more golds set to be handed out today, 18 more anthems set to ring in Beijing. 6 of those will be in track and field. Canadian medal hopefuls include Karen Cockburn in Trampoline and we may end up on the podium in Team Show Jumping in Equestrian. The Chinese, who hauled in 14 medals in Day 9, will look to continue their winning ways. They've got some strong events like Table Tennis coming up and as always, gymnastics! The women's triathlon starts at 10 PM. Keep it here for updates.
-D
Liu Xiang is going to be the talk of the games. The most shocking event that ever happened yet. I feel sorry for the spectators and sponsors. Not the media, tho. They're enjoying every bit.
ReplyDeleteits 110m hurdles.
I'd like to also comment on Lin Dan, who was the first Rank 1 male singles badminton player ever to win an Olympic Gold Medal. His performance in this Games is parallel to Federer at his peak in Wimbeldon. They both play with grace, confidence, and agility.
Lin's smooth moves are almost flawless; its amazing. What also leaves me in awe is that it seems he can anticipate every shot, and his every move is purely offensive.
Moreover, he does not rely on his strength to defeat opponents. What he does is put his rivals (also hapless victims) in an extremely powerless position and go in for the kill. Definitely a guy to watch.
Yea, for sure, you feel for Liu Xiang and the spectators. He had worked so hard to live up to expectations (put on by the media no less) and it's just sad to succumb to injury.
ReplyDeleteI think Lin Dan plays more like Nadal than Federer. Federer's really really calm while Lin Dan is an audacious and energetic player like Rafa. And now that Nadal is on top of the tennis world, there is even more a parallel to Lin Dan. For sure an exciting player to watch,