Friday, August 15, 2008

Turkish Hokie Swims in Beijing

Even though I was a Turkish-American as opposed to a student from Turkey and I went to nearby Radford University, I was a member of the Turkish Student Association at Virginia back in the mid-90s.
So, I am delighted to hear that a Turkish student-athlete from Virginia Tech has competed for his country at the Beijing Olympics.
Kaan Tayla (pictured here) was an ACC Champ while competing in Blacksburg this year.
According to "The Roanoke Times," Tayla  finished 37th  in the  50-meter  freestyle  prelims on  Thursday.  He also swam for Turkey in the 2004 Athens Olympics.

Useful Links:

http://www.hokieports.com


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Thursday, August 14, 2008

Congrats to Nastia and the Girl from Iowa

It was a very exciting night of women's gymnastics tonight as Nastia Liukin, the daughter of a gold-medalist Soviet gymnast, won all-around gold in Beijing.
Her teammate Shawn Johnson from West Des Moines, Iowa, came in second.
All of this, of course, brings back memories of a certain girl from West Virginia.........
.......who was, of course, Mary Lou Retton.

I was really impressed with both Nastia and Shawn. Nastia's performances on the beam and then the floor were both stellar. She provided the grace of a swan whereas Shawn demonstrated athletic prowess and power.

I think it more than made up for the disappointment of coming in second to China in the team competition. Both gymnasts will now go on to compete in individual apparatus events.

http://shawnjohnson.net

http://nastialiukin.com
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It Might Not Make Up for Cherynbol, But.....

 Some years ago when I was in college, I had a crush on a girl who was a member of the fencing team. Alas, like my crush on the girl who was on the gymnastics team (different school), it did not work out.

But, I did go to quite a few fencing meets and I learned a few things about the sport. Having said that, I have not caught any fencing action on tv so far, but rumor has it swimming and gymnastics have 'slightly better' ratings.

Nevertheless, there was a huge upset today in women's team fencing as Ukraine defeated the host Chinese team 45-44 in a come from behind victory, which should give fencing schools a big boost in Kiev.

 In the final round, Olga Kharlan (we presume this is her picture) upset Tan Xue, who was ranked fourth in the world. China had a commanding 25-15 lead until Round 6 when Kharlan defeated Bao Yingying.

The match was tied 44-44, when Kharlan delivered the 'fatal blow.'

Thus the team consisting of Kharlan, Olena Khormrova, Olha Zhovnir and Halyna Pundyk won the gold medal for Ukraine.

Khormrova put the victory in simple terms:

"We had nothing to lose, so we relaxed and started fencing."

Our American girls came in third in team fencing today as they defeated France, which should make Republicans happy.

Side Note: I know some of you might be saying: "Omigod. This is turning into a sports blog..." Well, it is good for ratings (over 250 hits yesterday, and I think we average nine a day!"

Useful Links (Unrelated, except that it deals with sports):

http://www.onlyagame.org - A Link to the NPR sports show from WBUR/Boston.

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Wednesday, August 13, 2008

No Medals for Happy Country (Denmark) So Far

 According to a story in the Sunday edition of "The Washington Post" from Scott Vogel based on a study by the University of Michigan, Denmark is the happiest country in the whole wide world.

America ranks #16, and I imagine if they asked people living in the economically-repressed town of Martinsville, Va. (between Roanoke and Greensboro, NC), that number would be even lower!

During a travel to Copenhagen, Vogel found a sausage vendor who credited Carlsberg Beer (pictured here) for the reason why everyone in Denmark acts like they're on Paxil. Other folks told the reporter that the Danish tradition of dinning with friends made them feel happy.

But, Denmark can not to be too thrilled with their early Olympic results. The Danes have yet to medal though the Swedes, Norwegians and Finns have.

Nevertheless, I did see Danish swimmer Jeanette Ottesen (pictured below) compete in the semi-finals of the 100-meter free-style swimming event, during the NBC broadcast tonight.

Ottesen, who turns 21 on New Year's Eve, holds the Danish record in this event.

Alas, she did not qualify for the finals today, but since she is Danish perhaps she will go home happy, anyway!

CORRECTION: I saw Ottesen compete tonight, so perhaps she made the semi-finals after all. She came in fourth. I need to see if Denmark has won any medals........!

UPDATE (Aug. 15)- Denmark has won its first medal! It was a bronze (team competition) in the equestrian/horse sport of dressage.

UPDATE (Aug 18)_ Denmark should now be even happier as the country has won two gold medals since this entry. They were team gold medals in rowing and sailing. The rowing medal was a disputed one, but we don't have time to go into that!


 

Useful Links:

http://www.washingtonpost.com

http://danishroyalwatchers.blogspot.com

 

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Water Polo News

 If there is one unique thing about the Olympics, it is that it gives one a chance to see sports that would otherwise NEVER be shown on television any other time. In the Winter Olympics, these sports include curling. In the summer games, they include fencing and water polo.

I could kick myself for missing the water polo match between The United States and Italy, the defending gold medal-winners, today. But, as it is the game ended in a 9-9 tie.

There is a unique story on the Italian team which NBC may have made into one of those  sentimental bits. I saw one last night on Chinese pandas. Awww.

It turns out that Italian water polo team member Erzsebet Valkai has a sister who competes for another team!

They are not in the same pool, but they could end in the same 'pool' if both Italy and Hungary advance to the next round.

This is because the other sister Agnes Valkai (pictured below) competes for Hungary. Both sisters were on the Hungarian squad during the 2004 Athens Olympics.

 

In other water polo matches today, Holland beat Greece 9-6. Mieke Cabout scored an impressive four goals for the Dutch team, while Kyriaki Liosi netted two goals for Greece.

Hungary tied Australia 7-7.

And, China recorded its first win of the Olympics by defeating Russia 13-11.

Both sisters said their dream would be to face each other in the finals of the water polo competition.

One has to wonder which team their parents would root for.........

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Tuesday, August 12, 2008

China Wins Gold in Women's Gymnastics

One must congradulate the Chineses women's gymnastics team for an impressive gold medal-winning performance tonight in Beijing, lead by their captain Cheng Fei (pictured here).

 Our American girls came in second and won a team silver medal thanks to the likes of Nastia Liukin (pictured, taken by Grace Chiu) and Shawn Johnson though expectations were higher. Some mishaps on the floor and beam cost the team dearly. One has to feel for the team's most experienced gymnast Alicia Sacramone who had a very disappointing night.

Romania, the 2004 Olympics Champs, came in third ahead of their long-time rival Russia.

I think the main disadvantage that the American girls faced was the fact that the games were in China. Much as Atlanta helped us in 1996, the home gym seemed to really assist the Chinese team this time around.

In other Olympics news, Elnur Mammaldi won the first gold medal for the former Soviet Republic of Azerbaijan on Tuesday (I visited the country last month) in men's judo (73-kg division). It took him 13 seconds to defeat his opponent Wang Kichum of South Korea.

I was hoping to download a photo of Mammaldi because he bears an uncanny resemblance to Adam Sandler!

Let's try it again.........

 

Hey, it worked!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice

(Great Olympic coverage here)

http://www.collegegymfans.com

 

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That Dutch Beach Volleyball Player is........

 For those who actually read these blog entries, you may recall that I mentioned a certain Dutch beach volleyball player in an entry this past Sunday who just happens to be very attractive.

Well, her name is Merel Mooren. She is 25, and (perhaps it's hard to tell in this photo) she is indeed quite tall. Wikipedia lists her as being 1.86 meters tall (perhaps my friend Terry Williams knows how big that is. He is good in math!). Mooren is also a native of Haarlem, a town I visited back in 1993.

Her teammate is Rebekka Kadijk. In 2005 and 2006, the duo reached the European Championship finals. Last year, they won their first Euro Tour competition in Hamburg, Germany.

Mooren was a professional indoor player who kicked off her shoes and headed to the beach in 2002.

They lost to the American duo of Kerri Walsh and Misty May-Treanor in Olympic action on Sunday.

But, I will keep an eye out for the Dutch team and see how they do the rest of the way.

Useful Links:

http://kadijk-moorel.nl

(In Dutch, but there are some great photos here). 

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