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I have a sad, sad confession to make - I cannot name a single Canadian who is competing at the summer Olympics in Beijing. I know, it's horrible! I just don't have the Olympic spirit this year - it's been dampened by protests, pollution, and censorship debates. It doesn't help that it's the summer Olympics and I'm definitely a winter Olympics kind of fan (hey I live in a country called "The Great White North" what do you expect?). I have no doubt that I'll be plenty excited for Vancouver's 2010 Olympics but I should be more enthusiastic for this batch of athletes.
Thankfully there are Canadians out there that are stoked about the Beijing Olympics. Canadians like Jenner are making up for those like me who are slacking in the enthusiasm department.
I LOVE the Olympics. I prefer the Winter Olympics because, well, Canada does MUCH MUCH better at the Winter Olympics than the summer ones, understandably, but really, I love the Olympics PERIOD. *giddy*
Kate at Five Blondes who has a connection to the Canadian who is carrying out flag in the opening ceremonies. Very cool! And Elaine is keeping tabs on the Olympics at her blog Adventures in Elo-Land. The Savvy Boomer has a list of all the Canadian boomers who are competing this year. I grew up watching one of them compete. Ian Miller is competing in his ninth Olympic games at the age of 61! Way to go Ian!
Min is not Canadian but I can't help but be amused with her assessment of the Canadian Olympic gear.
I have no idea what the Canadian Olympic Committee was smoking when they chose those uniforms, but I'll bet they have a twelve-step program for it somewhere.
Ah, so true. They are pretty bad. We'll have to redeem ourselves on that front for Vancouver's 2010 games.
Among the many things I was unaware of during this Olympic season was that Canada had a soccer match even before the opening ceremonies. Martina Franko, a member of the Canadian women's soccer team reported on the action on her blog.
It was hot (35degrees), muggy, and polluted evening in the Tianjin Olympic Stadium. I looked as if I had taken a shower in my uniform before the game even started. You could see the dim haze of pollution in the air that was magnified by the stadium lights. We had a shaky and ugly start to the game as we couldn’t seem to link any good passes together and we allowed Argentina to play too much. We got our act together and started pressuring hard against Argentina. Chappy (Candace Chapman) scored our first goal (the first Olympic goal of Canadian women’s soccer history) off a rocket shot outside the goalie box.
She also wrote about her impressions of the Olympic village - or as it's being called Dream World.
We spent 3 days in the dream world of the Olympic Village. The words “Dream World” are even written on the sewer covers throughout the village. It’s a perfect analogy. It’s a world where everything is taken care of for you.
The Olympic dream...sometimes it is easy to forget about that. In the midst of talks of protests and terrorists, of pollution and censorship, half a world away are a band of Canadian athletes who really are living their dream. That's truly something for Canadians to celebrate.
Contributing Editor Sassymonkey blogs at Sassymonkey and Sassymonkey Reads.
