There are few things I consider myself good at, but one thing that I feel like I excel at is the ability to watch the Olympic Games, be it summer or winter. For two weeks every two years I anticipate just about every event (especially those where Canada has a medal shot) and glue myself to the TV, sleep be damned. It's especially funny that only during the Games do most of these sports get any attention and people (just like myself) eat them up.
Just for the start there are a couple of stories that I really want to follow that have absolutely nothing to do with Team Canada
- Natalie du Toit almost qualified for the 2000 Sydney Games when she was only 16 years old and the future looked bright for her dream of going to the Olympics. Unfortunately she was hit by a car and had her leg amputated soon after, an accident that would end nearly anyone else's swimming career. She then tried to qualify for the longer distance events as she could use her strength to make up for lost time over the course of the race, but once again she fell short. When the Olympic Programme added the 10K open water event for the Beijing games, Du Toit realized there was still a chance to make the Olympics and ended up qualifying for this event.
- Dana Abdul Razzaq is going to be one of two Olympians coming from Iraq, which lost the rest of its competitors to the IOC ban put on them that was just recently lifted. Razzaq qualified for the 100m and 200m sprint events, but her trip there was very different from those of her competitors. In a country that has a strong religious and cultural standing, some people are opposed to women being athletes and have tried to prevent her from competing in the Games. If that wasn't enough, Razzaq has twice been shot at, once by a sniper as she was training, and the other by a group that shot at her and her trainer's car. Apparently she dodged the bullets from the sniper 'Matrix style.'
- The Spanish basketball team won the World Championships in 2006 in what was a relative surprise since they had not won a medal at any World Championships and had not even won the Eurobasket competition. Their only significant performance at the Olympics was a silver at the 1984 games (obviously marred by the boycott) and have not won a medal at any other games. But, along with Argentina, they have to be considered the favourites for the silver (because nobody is beating Team USA). The reason why I'm excited to watch them is because they feature all around NBA good guy Pau Gasol, former Raptor Jorge Garbajosa and my favourite Raptor, Jose Calderon. These guys have good chemistry and I hope they can bring home the silver again. I will also be watching Team USA simply because they seem to just be toying with opponents. Plus Chris Bosh is the man.
What Du Toit and Razzaq bring to these games are what make the Olympics so special and they will be two athletes that I will be looking for in the parade of nations. What they have overcome to get to these Games is more than most of us will ever do in our lives and I hope more time will be dedicated to others with stories like this (although maybe not as intense) than the same old stuff on people who end up being caught doping anyways. Not to mention, it will take more air time away from Brett Favre.
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