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What will basketball coach Tom Maher do next?

I have just returned from Beijing. On my flight was the Beijing Olympic women’s coach for the Chinese basketball team, Tom Maher. He was up in business class while the rest of the family were in economy. Ex Australian player Michele Timms was also on the flight. She had worked as an assistant coach with Maher in China.

Maher has just ended his three year term with the Chinese women’s basketball team where he lead them to fourth place in their hometown Olympics. Maher’s team was defeated in the semi’s by Australia, the team he had previously coached to a bronze medal in Atlanta and a silver in Sydney. Maher is an Australian.

It has been reported that he is keen to once again lead the Opals as they go after the elusive gold medal at the London Olympics in 2012. Lauren Jackson is one player who has a lot of respect for Maher and would be keen to play under his guidance.

The Opals collected their third consecutive silver medal at the Beijing Olympics under the leadership of coach Jan Stirling.

Tom Maher also coached the New Zealand women’s team at the 2004 Olympics where they were placed 8th.

Heading home from Beijing

Just moments away from heading down from the apartment here in Beijing and off to the airport to catch a flight to Australia.

It has been an interesting month in Beijing which of course included the Olympics. They may have been the best run Olympics but I still feel the Sydney Olympics were the fans Olympics. It just had a better feel.

In Beijing apart from seeing the banners everywhere you did not get the same buzz as I experienced in Sydney. I guess if I spoke Chinese it may have been different. In Sydney you could see Olympic tourists everywhere, in Beijing I got excited when I saw just one.

I have to say it has been a good experience and one I will not forget in a hurry. Now gotta get through the four long years until the London Olympics.

At least in the world of sport there is always plenty happening. I hope you have enjoyed reading my posts while I have been here in Beijing.

What was your Beijing Olympic highlight?

Now that the 2008 Olympics have been run and won it is a time to look back on my favourite moments.

It was good to see the host country experience success through winning the 51 gold medals.

Going to the 100m men’s athletics final on Saturday 16th August was a buzz. Just to be in the stadium was good enough for me. To have Usain Bolt excite the fans with his comprehensive win in world record time took it to a whole new level. That was hard to beat.

Michael Phelps and his eight gold medal haul was impressive. I had another on the buses moment with one of his races. He was swimming the 100m butterfly final when I was on my way to one of the venues. It was an exciting race and for Phelps to snatch it in the last stroke by such a tight margin was another moment to remember. The win kept him on track to win the eight gold medals. You have to feel sorry for Milorad Cavic who Phelps edged out by the 1/100th of a second margin.

Another swimming highlight was watching Stephanie Rice claim three gold medals, all in world record times. First up was the 400m individual medley. Rice then completed the double by winning the 200m medley. It was a great race between her and Kirsty Coventry. The surprise medal came when Rice swam the lead off leg for the Australian women in the 4×200m freestyle relay. Her teammates swam a great team race to smash the world record and beat home the Chinese. The third gold medal for Rice made her the most successful women in the pool.

Another great moment was watching the men’s final of the volleyball, all without ads. That was a great thing about watching the Olympics on Chinese television. The USA claimed their third Olympic men’s volleyball gold medal in what was a great game to watch. As an ex volleyballer I loved watching all the beach and indoor volleyball at the Beijing Olympics. The Chinese coverage was great.

Next up on the final day was the men’s basketball final. This was another highlight for me. I had been to the basketball stadium on women’s quarterfinal day and got a feel of the atmosphere. This was probably nothing compared with the men’s final. Watching on tv was still great as the Spanish team gave the redeem team a run for their money. In the end the US won the gold in what will go down as one of the great finals.

There were other great moments such as in the men’s platform diving when Matthew Mitcham stole the gold with the best ever Olympic dive. The opening ceremony was great as was seeing the Chinese men dominate the gymnastics. I also enjoyed watching the women battle it out in the team final of gymnastics even if China had a so called underage competitor.

They are the memories that come to mind for me. What was your favourite moment. Leave a comment below. I would love to hear from you.

The people’s fireworks on closing ceremony night

The Olympic closing ceremony was a big hit watched by millions around the globe. Part of the big night was the spectacular fireworks display. As part of this the city of Beijing put on a treat for the regular citizens.

In south Beijing above Longtan Park they let loose with a ten minute fireworks show probably watched by millions in the streets of Beijing. I was in a fortunate position as the apartment I am staying in had a ringside seat to watch the show. My wife, daughter and I went from the 11th floor up to the 18th floor for a better view.

From our vantage point you could see people come from all directions to watch the show as we enjoyed the fireworks. It was a great end to the Beijing Olympics in 2008.

Before the show I enjoyed watching the closing ceremony. I think it is better to watch as the athletes come out in a large group together and it is more of a party atmosphere. The way this is done was actually suggested by a Chinese-Australian boy for the closing ceremony of Melbourne games in 1956. At least that is what I have heard.

 

Olympic games over but Olympic shopping still popular

Beijing store at Wangfujing packed out with souvenir shoppers.

The Olympics were capped off with the spectacular closing ceremony last night. As I no longer had sports action to watch I headed off to the Beijing store to grab some souvenirs.

My wife and I went to Wangfujing which is just down the road from Tiananmen and the Forbidden City. In this popular shopping strip there are two large Olympic souvenir shops. I have to say it was chaos in the two stores.

The stores were packed and with the system they have for buying goods it is not the easiest way to shop. First of all you have to select the item or items you would like to purchase. You then get an order slip for each one. You make your way to the cashier and make your payment. You then return to where you selected your item.

If you buy several non-related items you go from place to place within the store. Then if after all that something else takes your fancy you have to repeat the process. A friend of mine here in Beijing was saying there have been many complaints about the Olympic souvenir shopping experience.

In Sydney during the 2000 Olympics there was a huge store that you could visit to buy souvenirs. I also remember many departments stores also stocked souvenirs. It was a totally different experience.

This is one area I can say was not handled well by the Chinese. In the long run I got what I wanted however it was a difficult process.

Many of the collectable items such as medallions and coins seemed to be quite popular.

Now I have to start looking at what London has to offer.

Magical Olympic moment on Beijing bus as Mitcham stuns China

Last night I was on my way home from checking out the nightlife at the lake near Beijing’s Drum Tower. There are heaps and heaps of bars with projection screens and projectors showing the Olympics.

After leaving there on bus 60 I was watching the men’s 10m platform diving. It was just three dives from the end and a lot of the Chinese on the bus were cheering on the hometown boys.

With one dive to go the Aussie Matthew Mitcham was in second place. Up to the platform he came with a gold medal a slight chance but probably not his on the night. What came next stunned the crowd on the bus as Mitcham performed a spectacular 112.10-point final dive that overcame a 32.50-point gap.

I had to stay on the bus to see the next dive and I witnessed the Chinese diver Zhou Luxin put in an average dive for which he was awarded just 74.80 points. This left Mitcham with an advantage of 4.80 points. 

Amazingly the gold was his. I let out a small cheer and clapped as the Chinese on the bus looked on. The Chinese diving team were hoping to complete a cleansweep however the highest ever Olympic dive denied them.

This was a great moment in my Olympic fortnight here in Beijing. It is not always about being at the events but the overall experience. 

Out shopping with Dayron Robles

Yesterday I went shopping with my wife. Can’t watch sports all the time. We went to the YaShow clothing market in Sanlitun. The last time I went to that building in 1998 it was a department store and I purchased what was back then a large 80cm tv. Now it is a huge market for mainly clothing.

The market seems to be on the list of popular places to visit for Olympic accreditted visitors as I saw th e most passes I have seen in my time in Beijing. The Olympic transport fleet was lined up outside waiting for their passengers.

After grabbing a few shirts and pants, along with some Olympic souvenirs we headed next door to the Adidas shop. When I went in I saw an Australian tracksuit on display. I snapped a photo just before a staff member approached me to say no photos. Guess they don’t like free publicity.

I then continued to browse in this superstore for Adidas. They had plenty of Olympic t-shirts priced around 160rmb. Whatever you wanted in the adidas range was in the store. As we walked around the top level I noticed a tall athletic looking guy surrounded by security guards. At first I thought this was Usain Bolt. I went to take a photo but had a hand shoved over the camera.

As I was leaving the area I snapped a shot however security were once again in the way. At this time I saw several Cuban athletes in the official tracksuit. I then realised it was the winner of the 110m hurdles, Dayron Robles. Later that night on CCTV I saw a news item about his visit to the store. I knew it was the same guy as I recognised the rather chunky necklace her was wearing.

In the same Sanlitun location Nike and Puma also have a store. In the Puma window there is a huge display using photos of Usain Bolt after he won the 100m final at the Olympics. They did not waste time getting that into the store.

After my wife got home and talked to her parents about prices at the market and also after talking to more relatives today we discoved that prices are about 40% higher than normal during the Olympic period as the locals cash in.

An example of this was for some pants my wife purchased that she paid 130rmb. Despite her best efforts in bargaining that was as low as she could get. Tina is a Beijing local so knows how to bargain. Her relatives said the normal price you would get is around 70-80rmb.

It was an interesting day out.

Beijing Olympics Medal Count – when your not on top just change the rules

As I write this post China sits at the top of the Gold medal tally with 47 to the USA’s 31. In most people’s eyes this means China is the top medal nation. I think it is Gold medals that decide the pecking order.

If you visit the Sports Illustrated site you will see that the USA is on top of the medal table. They seem to think that medals won overall is more important that the number of Gold medals. As the USA have 102 to China’s 90 that is good enough to have them on top.

What do you think should be used to decide the top Olympic nation on the medal tally? Is it the number of Gold medals, or the total medals won?

Leave your comment below.

Best place for Beijing Olympic tickets in town?

After last night going to my last Olympic event that I had pre-purchased tickets for I was hungry for more. Luckily a friend of mine gave me a tip about where to go for more tickets at reasonable prices.

This morning I jumped on a bike and headed to the source. I arrived at 8.20 and found a queue of about 30 people. I waited a while and saw a few people come out with tickets. Some had wrestling, others athletics.

My main interest for the day was to go to the Australian women’s basketball match. I was in luck as a large amount of tickets were delivered just after nine. I was able to buy a ticket for a good price in the A reserve area.

China plays Belarus in the first match and then Australia follows up against the Czech Republic in match two. Tickets for the night session involving team USA were due to be delivered a bit later in the day.

I did not hear if any of the gymnastics finals tickets were available however many other top rate tickets were up for grabs.

If you are in Beijing and want to know where I went put a comment down below. You are asked for your email when making the comment. This is not published however I will see it and can send you the details.

What do you think about the lip-synch in the Beijing Olympic opening?

It has been reported recently that a girl considered to have a good image for television rather than a girl with a good voice was used to lip-synch to the voice of another performer during the opening ceremony.

Olympic games opening ceremony producers decided just 15 minutes before the show to replace 7-year-old Yang Peiyi with 9-year-old Lin Miaoke, who wore a red dress and appeared to sing “I Sing For My Country.” Instead we have now been told that Miaoke did the lip-synch to Yang’s recording

Chen, the music director, told CCTV the switch was made because Lin looked better on television while Yang had a better voice.

Does it worry you that a lip-synching performer was seen during the Olympic opening ceremony or do you think the artist with a voice considered worthy to be listened to should have also had her face beamed around the world, even if she was not as cute?

Leave your comments below.

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