In a little under ten days, the Olympic Games in London have lit the world on fire with all sorts of incredible feats from the thousands of athletes competing. Today we take a look at what happened in this first week.
The lightning Bolt has struck again
Hats must go off when looking at what Usain Bolt achieved on Sunday night in the Olympic Stadium. Following his supersonic run in the eagerly-anticipated 100m final, the king of sprint joined US legend Carl Lewis as the only sprinters in history to retain their gold medal in the most popular track and field event in the world. The Jamaican’s out-of-this-world performance is furthermore underlined by the quality of the lineup on Sunday night (Blake,Gay, Powell, Gatlin, Martina) but Bolt didn’t let the pressure get to him. With a time of 9’63 (his second all-time best), the ‘Solo Boy’ dominated the fastest 100m final in history and confirmed he truly is the greatest sprinter of all time.
AP Photo/David J. Phillip
Murray on top the Mount !
It was written… On the very same Wimbledon lawn where he was beaten by Roger Federer in the final a little over a month ago, Andy Murray was bound to finally beat the Swiss maestro in a title decider. Cheered on by his most loyal fans, the Scot magnificently outplayed the world number one who, for once, was only a shadow of his very best. Winner in straight sets (6-2, 6-1, 6-4), Murray becomes the first British player to win Olympic gold in tennis since Arthur Gore in 1908… in London ! Told you it was written…
Ye Shiwen, the Chinese torpedo
Ultimate revelation of the Olympic Games in swimming, with gold medals in 200m and 400m medley, and moreover a world record, Ye Shiwen was barely stepping off the podium as suspicions about doping were already circulating in the media. Several athletes and observers were eager to compare the Chinese star with the East Germans swimmers who were caught for blood doping in the 1970’s and 80’s… except the 16 year-old had yet to carry out a drug’s test ! If such a curse has been around for years in the field of sport, one can’t just go around pointing fingers at every over-performing athlete with absolutely no proof. In that respect, several high-profile people’s reactions were extremely borderline…
Pistorius living the dream
For years, he had been waiting for this moment… And at last, Oscar Pistorius was able to live his Olympic dream. The famous South African amputee sprinter was finally allowed to compete in the Olympics with his carbon fibre running blades and the least one can say is that he had a blast, despite finishing last in his semi-final heat. «I didn’t come here to prove a point. I wanted to do the best I could possibly do and push myself as hard as I can. This has been one of the best experiences of my life. Just being out in front of this crowd, 70,000 felt like 170,00, was an unbelievable experience». Read more from Oscar’s Olympic experience here.
no comments