What were your favorite events?
What were the most memorable moments?
Which athletes impressed you the most?
What were the moments you enjoyed that you feel were under-rated and didn't get the attention they deserved?
What was the most intriguing controversy?
Feel free to answer any or all of the questions that interest you or add your own categories.
My picks:
Favorite Event: Gymnastics has always been my favorite. After that track and field, the marathons, and diving usually capture my interest the order depending on who is competing that year.
Memorable moments: Probably the three most memorable moments of what I saw were the men's highbar competion although it was much longer than a moment, the Marrocan winning the 5000 meter (I missed the 1500) and for some reason the women's 400 hurdles really touched me. (That was the one the Greek woman won) I didn't even know at the time that it was an unexpected win or the problems the Greek team had been through. She just won my heart in those brief minutes.
Impressive personalities: The Brazilian marathon runner was a class act. Aleksi Nevmov(?) the Russian that came in 4th in the high bar may not have won the gold but he won hearts all over the world. He would have a great future in politics. Or the movies. And last but not least, Michael Phelps was a class act from start to finish. When he gave up his place on the relay team so that his team mate could have a chance to actually feel like he had earned the medal...pure class.
Under-rated events: Rhythmic Gymnastics has always been on that list for me but I was shocked at how far the synchronized swimming had evolved since I last paid it any attention. Shocked. Thank heaven I wasn't a judge for that. I couldn't have picked a winner. Their training had to have been absolutely grueling and their creativity and beauty were unbelievable. That will be on my list of events to really watch in the next olympics.
Interesting Controversies: The men's all-around. I didn't see it and my first reaction when I heard about it was wondering why Hamm didn't just give up the gold. I wouldn't want something I hadn't earned. But then the plot thickened when someone pointed out that the judges missed the fourth rest in the Korean's routine that would have made his score worse than it was had it been caught even if he started out with the right score. What a mess.
Men's high-bar (Poor Paul Hamm...I can't help but think he got extra credit for preforming so well under so much pressure.) I poo-pahed the female Russian gymnast's charges of biased judging because I didn't think she was that good. But when that happened to Aleksi....that had to make me wonder.
So tell me, what were your picks and pans? What awards would you hand out?
