Archive for August, 2008

Sex and the Olympics

August 24, 2008 at 3:17 pm · Filed under Beijing Olympics 2008

Sorry if you came here expecting something else !!!

I’m no pornography enthusiast- so no nude pics of Ashley Harkleroad or Katarina Scholz.

But Matthew Syed has written an excellent article in the Times, and I thought it was worth a read.

It is titled Sex and the Olympic City.

I played my first Games in Barcelona in 1992 and got laid more often in those two and a half weeks than in the rest of my life up to that point. That is to say twice, which may not sound a lot, but for a 21-year-old undergraduate with crooked teeth, it was a minor miracle

Syed represented Britain in table tennis in 1992 and 2000. Jan Ove Waldner took the gold in Barcelona. Kong Linghui took it in 2000, with Waldner coming second.

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ICC postpones Champions Trophy till October 2009

August 24, 2008 at 2:43 pm · Filed under Cricket

With the Champions Trophy in Pakistan in danger of being reduced to another Asia Cup after South Africa pulled out and the other nations threatening to follow suit, the ICC today has decided to postpone the event till October 2009. The ICC had only two choices- either to change the venue or postpone it, and it has gone for the former, managing to avoid the wrath of the BCCI.

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South Africa pull out of Champions Trophy

August 23, 2008 at 4:39 am · Filed under Cricket ·Tagged , ,

It was only a matter of time before someone officially said it. South Africa have become the first team to withdraw from September’s Champions Trophy to be held in Pakistan. England, Australia, New Zealand and the West Indies could follow suit-something that the ICC cannot afford.

The ICC finds itself in a very sticky position.  South Africa can justify their stand regarding the security issue- remember the bomb in Karachi when Graeme Smith’s men toured the country in October 2007 ? Should the ICC shift the venue to Sri Lanka, Pakistan stands to lose millions of dollars in revenue, and even worse the ICC could incur the wrath of the BCCI. India’s cricketing body has said that it supports Pakistan’s bid fully, although it is unclear what its stance will be should the tournament move away from Pakistan.

The ICC will hold a meeting today to talk about a possible shift in venues. Reports are also suggesting that South Africa could be a replacement venue too, but that would lead to the country hosting two consecutive money spinning events- the T20 WC and now the Champions Trophy.

An international tournament without South Africa is not quite the same- the 1992, 1999 and 2003 WC will be remembered for what South Africa could not manage to do. If the venue remains Pakistan, with the ICC dropping Rawalpindi, we may end up seeing another Asia Cup.

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Jamaica break 4×100m relay World Record

August 22, 2008 at 6:10 pm · Filed under Beijing Olympics 2008

Third gold medal of the 2008 Beijing Olympics for Usain Bolt !!!

And guess what, another World Record was broken in the Chinese capital today evening. The Jamaican relay team, consisting of Nesta Carter, Michael Frater, Bolt and Asafa Powell ( they ran in that order) finished in 37.10, wiping 0.30 off the previous 37.40 mark set by the United States. Trinidad and Tobago finished nearly a second behind, with Richard Thompson bringing them in at 38.06, while Japan were surprise bronze medallists at 38.15

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Bolt from the Blue Part 2- Usain does it again !

August 20, 2008 at 5:47 pm · Filed under Uncategorized ·Tagged , , , ,

After cruising through the 100m, Usain Bolt powered his way through the 200m race to become the first man since Carl Lewis in 1984 to win the 100 200 double at the Olympics. Bolt’s time of 19.30 seconds eased .02 seconds off Michael Johnson’s 19.32 at Atalanta. Johnson’s record was considered unbreakable by many, but as Michael Phelps has already proved in the Water Cube, records are meant to be broken.

Bolt won his 100m in 9.69, and could have easily brought the world record down further had he not chosen to celebrate 20m ahead of the finish line.

In the 200m Olympic heats, Bolt had run a 20.09.

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And the first gold medal of the 2008 Beijing Olympics goes to….

August 10, 2008 at 7:17 am · Filed under Beijing Olympics 2008

The first gold medal of the 2008 Beijing Olympics goes to Czech shooter Katerina Emmons, wife of American shooter Matt Emmons. Emmons won the gold in the 10m air rifle event, broke local favourite Du Li’s Olympic record of 502 by scoring 503.5. Li, who was widely tipped to win this event, finished fifth with Liubov Galkina taking the silver and Snjezana Pejcic taking the bronze.

Emmons had taken the bronze in the same event at Athens four years ago.

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