Days 12 & 13 in London: Is Usain Bolt the Greatest Ever?

“If I have seen further than others, it is by standing upon the shoulders of giants.” – Sir Isaac Newton

Usain Bolt believes he’s the greatest. (Photo from skysports.com)

Although the Olympics have almost concluded, it wasn’t until we were over halfway through these games that we were treated to the appearance of Usain Bolt.  The Jamaican sprinter began the quest to repeat his performance from four years ago in Beijing, winning gold in both the 100 and 200 meters.  Mission was accomplished; and in addition to these two gold, he also helped his team win a gold medal in the 4×100 meters relay.   Once Bolt’s first race concluded, I had resigned myself to believing that yes, Usain Bolt is the real deal, and it’s just not possible that his lightning fast speed is anything but real.  I could finally relax and like this guy.  Along with millions of others, I needed to just sit back and enjoy watching him.  This merely lasted for a few days before I was turned off following his win in the 200 meters.  As he crossed the finish line, he did a few push-ups as if to say, “I’m not even tired.”  He then told the media that he was “now a legend” and “the greatest athlete to live.”

Yams may be part of the Jamaican diet, but apparently humble pie is not.

Bolt’s statement had me thinking:  Is he the greatest athlete ever?  Is he the greatest Olympian?

No.

We can say without question that Usain Bolt is the greatest sprinter in our time.  He has beaten all of his competition and set new world and Olympic records.  Many consider Michael Phelps to be another contender for this

Jim Thorpe (Photo from http://www.cmgwordwide.com)

title.  While I believe that Phelps is more deserving of the title than Bolt, he is not my choice either.  The title of world’s greatest athlete has, and still does, belong to Jim Thorpe.

When I think of who can be called the greatest Olympian ever or who we can say is the greatest athlete ever to live, I’m looking for someone who proved themselves over many years in various disciplines, events, or sports.    At the 1912 Olympics, American Jim Thorpe competed–and won gold–in not just one event, but two:  pentathlon and decathlon.  And because pentathlon and decathlon are both combined events combining multiple track and field events, Jim Thorpe wasn’t just proficient at sprinting and middle distance running.  He also excelled at the shot put, javelin, discus, long jump, high jump, pole vault, and hurdles.  Think about this.  How can we compare one race by Usain Bolt (two if we count both the 100 and 200 meters) to a grueling schedule of multiple disciplines over several days?

We must also take into account that 100 years ago, when  Jim Thorpe won his two Olympic gold medals, his conditions for training and competing were quite different from those of Bolt’s.  There was no aerodynamic clothing, or non-slip track surface.  Athletes like Thorpe competed on grass, dirt, and cinder ash, wearing heavy cotton clothing; leather cleats with metal spikes!  There were no juicer machines, sports nutritionists, or corporate sponsors.  Nor were there state-of-the art gyms with special weights and resistance training.  What could Jim Thorpe have done with training conditions of today as well as modern technology?

Thorpe wasn’t just a multi-event Olympic gold medalist.  He also excelled at baseball, football, and basketball, and he was good enough to play professionally in all three of these sports.

While it might not technically be a qualification for the title of either greatest Olympian or athlete, Thorpe possessed one other quality which makes him all the more deserving in my book:  humility.  It is giants like Jim Thorpe whose shoulders Usain Bolt has stood on to reach his achievements.  And most of those predecessors, like Thorpe, did so humbly.

Faster, Higher, Stronger.

Days 11 & 12 in London: I’m in Love!

I know, I know.  I’m late on getting this blog post submitted.  Please bear with me!  I’m working a full-time job and watching the Olympics, and I don’t like to do anything else while I’m watching at home.  My attention while watching the games is undivided!

Day 11

I must make a confession:  I’m in love with these London Games.  I’m also in love with all of Great Britain.

Now, I already liked Great Britain quite much before these games.  Years ago I spent a few days in Wales and London.  The British people just tend to do a lot of things better than we Americans do:  reporting of news, healthcare system, respecting tradition….Well, now they’ve proven again how good they are at sport, and I’m in love with their darling stars of the men’s triathlon:  Alistair and Jonathan Brownlee.  Who wouldn’t be charmed by these adorable two?

An exhausted Jonathan Brownlee is embraced by older brother Alistair. (Photo: Jamie Squire/Getty Images Europe)

I’d written briefly about the Brownlee Brothers during my preview of triathlon.  While the women’s triathlon proved to be disappointing for me (Neither Helen Jenkins, or Andrea Hewitt medaled!), I was super excited for the men’s, as I had one more opportunity to watch this grueling event that combines swimming, cycling, and running.  The  Brownlee brothers did not disappoint.  It was as if they’d rehearsed this race in their minds a thousand times, and it all played out magically, just like a movie.  Both brothers were in the top 3-5 racers from the minute they dove into the waters of Hyde Park until they crossed the finish line.  While they’re not shy about telling the media how competitive they are between each other, it was evident that they were working as a team during the cycling portion, relying on tactics to keep themselves in the top three.  And while Jonathan was penalized for getting off of his bike too early during the cycling-to-running transition, he made up the 15-second penalty, coming in third behind Spain’s Javier Gomez (silver medal) and his older brother, Alistair, who ran the last few feet draped in a GBR flag handed to him by a fan.  Alistair and Jonathan are the first British brothers to share an Olympic podium since the

Bronze and Gold for the brothers! (Photo: Paul Gilham/Getty Images Europe)

Dougherty brothers did so for tennis back in 1900!

As if Day 11 wasn’t already “happy and glorious” enough with the Brownlees’ medals, Sir Chris Hoy did not let down his kingdom with another gold medal in cycling, bringing Great Britain’s total cycling gold medals to eight!  What’s after Knighthood?  Is there a step up from Sir?  Maybe Baron, Viscount, or Earl?

Add to all of this a gold medal in team dressage for Great Britain, and its gold in the team jumping event on Day 10, and one must wonder if there’s any stopping the Britons!

While most of the track and field events have focused on British and American athletes, I’ve got to take a moment to recognize Australia’s Sally Pearson.  It’s not been a great Olympics for Australia.  Thus far, they’ve only won six gold medals, but at least one of them came from Pearson, who blazed past all of her competitors, clearing each hurdle with such quickness like I’ve never seen.  She became the first Australian to ever win gold in the 100-meter hurdles!

Day 12

AFP Photo (Source: Sports Keeda)

While NBC was fixated (again) on scantily clad women playing beach volleyball (Congrats to Misty May-Treanor & Kerri Walsh-Jennings!), I found more interesting competition during Day 12 online, with a humdinger in both handball and (field) hockey.  I have to say I was pulling for Iceland in its quarterfinal match against Hungary.  How many times does one get to say they’re watching Iceland compete in the Olympics?  Not very often.  But alas, the country wasn’t strong enough to hold off the Hungarians, but the  match did go into overtime, with Hungary edging out Iceland by only one point!  In women’s hockey, Netherlands and New Zealand battled on a sopping wet pitch for a spot in the finals.  The Dutch seemed to have the advantage during most of the game, even though both teams remained tied and the game went into a shootout!  The New Zealand goalie just seemed too slow, and with a crowd that seemed to be majority Orange, the game ended with a victory for Holland.  The women’s final will be a doozie:  Netherlands versus Argentina!

If all of this isn’t exciting enough, I haven’t even touched on taekwondo, wrestling or canoe/kayak sprinting; Mo Farah will be running again in the 5,000 meters; and Modern Pentathlon starts tomorrow!  Do these games have to end?

Faster, Higher, Stronger

Days 9 & 10 in London: Best Olympics of 21st Century?

As each day passes, I’m starting to believe that these Olympics in London are the best we’ve seen thus far in the 21st Century.  Now granted, we’ve only had four Olympic Games since the new century began, but I believe without question that the 2012 Games are the best, ranking above Athens, Sydney, and Beijing.

Day 9

What wasn’t the best was how McKayla Maroney handled her silver medal win on the women’s vault.  While I haven’t been able to find any good video, I can tell those of you who didn’t see it live that Maroney’s reaction and lack of good sportsmanship was embarrassing.   She not only was pouting  worse than Suri Cruise, but stared daggers at Romania’s Sandra Izbasa, who beat her out for gold.  Izbasa had to reach out to Maroney to offer the traditional “good sport hug” following the competition.  Maroney was not keen to return the embrace.   Listen, McKayla.  I understand you were disappointed.  But you screwed up.  You fell on your bottom.  It’s not like you didn’t medal at all.  You got a silver!  How many people (me included), would give anything to have had a chance to be an Olympian?  Show a little more appreciation and class.  Here’s a small slide show of McKayla’s reaction to her silver medal:

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I spent the remainder of Sunday enjoying more track and field.  Thank God for the live feed online, because NBC only showed about 1/4 of the actual competition.  They say that lightning doesn’t strike the same place twice.  Maybe  Jamaica’s Usain Bolt wasn’t racing in Beijing again, but he was running in the 100 meters again.  And just as he did four years ago,  he blew away the rest of the field, making the race appear effortless, leaving me wondering how much faster he could actually go if pressed to do so.  In the past I’ve doubted Usain Bolt’s world records and Olympic medals.  Perhaps though, he really is just that darn good and that darn fast, a freak of nature, if I can say so, in the most complimentary way.

Andy Murray is, quite possibly, the poster child for the saying “If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.”  With the weight of Great Britain on him, after so many years of trying to win at home on the grass, of trying to win a major tournament, Murray did it!  He did it!  How fantastic is it for Great Britain to not only have won four gold medals on Saturday, but to have won at Wimbledon for another gold medal?  Fantastic doesn’t even begin to describe it.

Day 10

No matter what your opinion is of synchronized swimming, I highly encourage you to watch this routine by Russia’s Natalia Ishchenko and Svetlana Romashina.  No wonder they are the world’s best!

Growing up, I only associated violence and conflict with Grenada.  It’s nice to now be able to associate something more positive with this tiny island nation:  A gold medal from Kirani James.  James’ sportsmanship impressed me when during the semi-final heat he exchanged bibs with South Africa’s Oscar Pistorius.  How proud the “Island of Spice” must be!

Finally, if you didn’t see Felix Sanchez’s gold medal ceremony, then you must.  The runner was overcome with emotion as his national anthem played following his win in the 400 meters.  Yet again, I love seeing the  impact that such an experience has on some of these athletes.  This is what it’s all about.

Faster, Higher, Stronger.

Days 7 & 8 in London: “Happy & Glorious”

Saturday, August 4, 2012:  This day was amazing.

While I’ve witnessed greatness thus far in these 2012 Games, nothing can compare to what I witnessed days 7 and 8 of these Olymics at Olympic Stadium.  And I watched it all unfold live, as if I were there in Olympic stadium.

The wins for Jessica Ennis, Mo Farah, and Greg Rutherford could not be more memorable or more perfect as they competed in their home country, with throngs of fellow countrymen cheering them on, proudly united and jubilant.  These “Golden Three” all won Olympic gold medals today, their accomplishments happening within a span of  a few hours–two of them within 20 minutes of each other!  With each win came the roar of an elated home crowd, with the thousands of Union Jacks waving madly, and the love of a nation felt by all who watched.

I grew up knowing about the tradition of British athletics.  The tradition which began with those like Liddell, Abrahams, and Bannister and passed on to those like Coe, Holmes, and Thompson, has now been handed down to Ennis, Farah, and Rutherford.

How amazing it must be right now to be British.  A great day for Britain.  A great year for Britain.

“God save our gracious Queen,
Long live our noble Queen,
God save the Queen:
Send her victorious,
Happy and glorious,
Long to reign over us:
God save the Queen!”

Faster, Higher, Stronger.

Days 5 & 6 in London: Heartbreaks & Triumphs

I know, I know.  I didn’t write yesterday about Day 5, and I’m just now getting to Day 6.  But folks, these are the Olympics, and while I love to blog, I love the Olympics more.