Golden Wedding Anniversary

Olympic celebrations took pause on Saturday, August 11, 2012 to celebrate the Golden Wedding Anniversary of my wonderful parents.  Friends and family gathered in Tunbridge Wells for feast and fun and a good time was had by all.  Earlier in the month, my parents spent a few days in Somerset, visiting friends, family, and the church in which they were married 50 years ago.  Many thanks go out to everyone who participated, but especially to my cousin Susan for hosting the party and creating the majority of the delicious food and exotic desserts.  Obviously, I wasn't around for the original wedding, but we celebrated their Silver Anniversary in Australia and now Gold in London.  Timing is everything!

The royal couple with the fake Crown Jewels

An eclectic feast

Homemade lemon meringue pie

Watching the Olympics after the party

4x1

I have to admit I was a little concerned that Team USA was going to switch out some women from a semi-final team that had near-perfect exchanges and the fourth fastest time ever, but the changes paid off and after 27 years, the Americans finally erased the dirty East German team from the record book.

 

Michelle, Sara, Momo, Johnna, and the rest of the girls, if you are reading this, remember how much fun you had running on that 4x100.  Bulldogs Rule!

U-S-A, U-S-A, U-S-A

Across the board, a great day for the Americans!  Many medals in many sports, but a new hero in track & field is born.  The man broke his leg halfway around the track in the qualifying round of the 4x400, but didn't want to let his teammates or his country down, so he finished the race.  Amazing inspiration!

"As soon as I took the first step past the 200m mark I felt it break.  I heard it.  I even put out a little war cry, but the crowd was so loud you couldn't hear it.  I wanted to just lie down.  It felt like somebody literally just snapped my leg in half." Mitchell said.  "I knew if I finished strong we could still get it (the baton) around.  I saw Josh Mance motioning me in for me to hand it off to him, which lifted me.  I didn't want to let those three guys down, or the team down, so I just ran on it.  It hurt so bad.  I'm pretty amazed that I still split 45 seconds on a broken leg."

Don't want to spoil anything for those of you watching on tape delay, but just have to say that you don't want to miss tonight.  The Women's 4x100 semi-finals and the Men's 200 final are awesome, but the Men's 800 final is possibly the best race I've ever seen.  Don't miss it!

Finally, taking a page from the NBC book of How to Piss People Off, the BBC coverage ended after the 200 and I had to watch the Decathlon 1500 on a computer that buffered every eleven seconds.  Arghhh!

Interesting People

During a break, Al Roker wandered over and shook my hand.

Everyone follows the Olympics, not matter what the language.

Swimmer Tyler Clary

Two interesting observations I made while Tyler Clary was being interviewed in Olympic Park after his victory in the 200 meter backstroke were that I wouldn't recognize Ryan Seacrest if he was standing in front of me and that people like the bling.  Typically, you see most guys walk by a beautiful girl and subtly check out her chest; but on this occasion, it was fellow Olympians of both sexes whose eyes went directly to Tyler's chest.

And finally, it's nice to be able to meet some of my family in the most interesting city in the world . . .

A family stroll along the Thames

The Agony of Defeat

Today's morning session on the track was not a happy one for two popular athletes whom I watched earlier this summer in the Diamond League Meet at Crystal Palace.  One of the best 110 meter hurdlers of all time, China's Liu Xiang, failed to make it over the first hurdle and tumbled to the track in the first round.  He was China's first ever (track & field) gold medalist in Athens and a former world record holder, but was unable to compete in Beijing because of an Achilles injury.  He ran a world's best at Crystal Palace just a few weeks ago, but he reaggravated his injury and was unable to finish this race.  He eventually got up and hobbled to the finish line, where he was assisted by two of his fellow hurdlers to the cheers of the Olympic Stadium crowd.

Probably Liu Xiang's final Olympics

Team GB's Goldie Sayers broke the national record in the meet at Crystal Palace on her third attempt, but then tweaked a nerve in her elbow on her fourth throw.  She spent the past three weeks, including her 30th birthday, in a controlled state of panic.  She took all three throws today but couldn't reach the qualifying standard and just like that, her home Olympics was over.  In her post-competition interview, she put up a brave front and explained how much it meant to her to compete in London, but she had tears in her eyes trying to figure out why she had been injured for the first time in her career, just three weeks before the biggest day of her life.   

Heartbreaking day for Goldie Sayers.

Men's 100 Meter Final

Final Wind (m/s): +1.5 Official + Rk Bib Athlete Mark + 1 2170  BOLT Usain 9.63 OR + 2 2169  BLAKE Yohan 9.75 =PB + 3 3216  GATLIN Justin 9.79 PB + 4 3217  GAY Tyson 9.80 SB + 5 3205  BAILEY Ryan 9.88 =PB + 6 2547  MARTINA Churandy 9.94 + 7 3051  THOMPSON Richard 9.98 + 8 2184  POWELL Asafa 11.99

When I first started following Track & Field, I was lucky enough to see Calvin Smith set a World Record in the Men's 100 Meters at the U.S. Olympic Festival at the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs.  His time of 9.93 broke a 14-year-old record set by Jim Hines in Mexico City.  Last night, Tyson Gay ran 9.80 and DIDN'T EVEN MEDAL!

Calvin Smith wins another 100 meters in the 1980's.

Usain Bolt is the first man to successfully defend his title as the World's Fastest Man (don't get me started about Ben Johnson & Carl Lewis) and he does it with such style.  I fully appreciate the relaxed attitude he displays all the way up until he takes his mark.  The Jamaicans have us there.  If Asafa Powell doesn't come up lame in the final 20 meters, all eight finalists would have been under 10.0.  

The 4x100 is going to be amazing!