I'm starting this thread for people to post links to news stories about the Olympics.
The New York Times has a great section of their web site that is devoted to Olympic coverage. The main page is here:
www.nytimes.com/.../index.html
Former Member
August 5, 2008
Head Games Before the First Splash
By KAREN CROUSE
www.nytimes.com/.../05readyroom.html
The rectangular space where many swimming medals will be won or lost at the Beijing Olympics has no lane lines or starting blocks. It has no water, unless the competitors bring their own.
Immediately before they race in the 50-meter pool at the Olympic aquatics arena, the Water Cube, the swimmers will be required to spend up to 30 minutes at rest in the ready room. It is like a television studio green room, except instead of hospitality, there is usually a strong whiff of hostility....
....Amy Van Dyken, a two-time United States Olympian, cackled into her cellphone. “You want to talk about the ready room?” she asked gleefully. “You mean the white-padded room?”
She described a place where the swimmers sit on metal folding chairs looking twitchy, ashen, zoned out — or vaguely threatening, as Van Dyken did before the 50-meter freestyle at the 1996 Atlanta Games. She spun her chair around to face her main rival, Le Jingyi of China, then the world-record holder.
“For the next half-hour,” Van Dyken recalled, “I sat there and stared at her like you just took the last Double Stuf Oreo.”
Van Dyken won the gold, touching out Le by 0.03 of a second....
August 4, 2008
A Map of Olympic Medals
www.nytimes.com/.../20080804_MEDALCOUNT_MAP.html
This one's very cool. Click on a year to see the graphic results for that year. Then click on the individual circles to see a list of medals for that country.
"After the Games" - Eight Olympic legends discuss their greatest athletic moments and life after competition.
www.nytimes.com/.../20080803_ICONS_FEATURE.html
There are audio clips from each of the eight athletes:
John Carlos
Nadia Comaneci
Mary Decker-Slaney
Bruce Jenner
Jackie Joyner-Kersee
Olga Korbut
Greg Louganis
Mark Spitz
I found the interview with Mary Decker to be especially interesting. In it she explains why she fell in the 1984 Olympics. She says that it wasn't Zola Budd's fault; it was actually her (Decker's) fault.
The Envelope
Out There
By MARK LEVINE
Published: August 3, 2008
www.nytimes.com/.../803PHELPS-t.html
This one's a story about Michael Phelps. Really cool photo (see attachment).
August 5, 2008
For American Athletes, a Home Base for Training That’s a Little Like Home
By JULIET MACUR
www.nytimes.com/.../05normal.html
BEIJING — With the opening ceremony of the Beijing Games just a few days away, the athletes’ village here is filling up, and fast.
Russian volleyball players are making themselves at home. Ecuadorian runners have set up camp. The Egyptian delegation arrived and hung what seems to be the world’s longest flag from a balcony. It unfurled for seven stories.
The atmosphere can be chaotic, but United States athletes in need of some normalcy can escape to their very own oasis: Beijing Normal University.
About a 15-minute drive from the village, on a quiet campus with tall trees, the United States Olympic Committee has created what it calls a high-performance center. Athletes can train, eat and play in a place that looks and feels like home.
“The Olympics is such an emotional thing, so it’s great to have a place where you can come to relax and breathe a little,” said Taraje Williams-Murray, a judo athlete from the Bronx. “The only thing they don’t have is Western toilets. That’s been interesting....”
Ha! I wish!
No, they just seem to have a lot of good articles. (Read them and you'll see what I mean.) And they started this coverage a couple of months ago, I think.
Anna Lea
