What was your Beijing Olympic highlight?
August 27, 2008
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 4x200m 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.
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