XXIX summer Olympics: Swimming is out…?

I have just finished watching the swimming final in the men’s 200 metres breaststroke at the Olympics.

I have had high hopes for Mike Andrew Brown (here), as he was very close to getting the first medal for Canada in these Olympic games. But he fell short, just some 0.09 seconds behind a Frenchman Hugues Duboscq and came 4th.

Both Oriwol and Beavers swam in semifinals of the 200 metres backstroke, but none moved on into the finals.

Beavers has finished 5th in the men’s 200m Individual Medley semifinal, so again just only place short. He could have been going into finals.

On the positive note, Annamay Peirse has finished third in women’s 200 metre breaststroke semifinal. So she is now heading into the finals on Aug 15. Boy, I hope she gets it!

Canada at XXIX summer Olympics at Beijing

What is happening to the Canadian Olympics team? So far the score is perfect for Canada: 0 – 0 – 0 : 0. That’s the best thing you can wish for in biathlon. But hey! Wait a minute, that’s not right, that’s medals!

Canada hasn’t yet won a single medal! It’s been 6 days without a medal now! Not even close (well, a couple of times… that doesn’t count because it still wasn’t close, really…). What’s with all that Canadian Olympics spirit? Where is it hiding? Let us help you find!

But even so, I cannot blame the athletes: they are trully doing the best they can and trying to show that Canada has some athleticism in the country. What does bother me is the small number of athletes that Canada has sent to the Olympics. How can we win anything when there’s just too few of us?

In any case, let’s hope that we get on the right track and we figure out a way to start receiving medals. I hope that, if this Olympiad becomes a disaster (which it is very likely to), it will shook the Canadian Olympic Committee really well.

Here’s some things that there’s still hope for:

• Baseball. The top competitors are Canada and the States, but some other countries (like Cuba, for example) have been doing really well in the past. But I think the (boring) MLB will pay off and Canada will get a medal there (may be even a gold)
• Rowing.
  1. Men’s Pair: Calder and Frandsen. They have gotten into the final, which will be on August 16th. let’s hope. They’ve shown some really strong effort along the road.
  2. Women’s Eight: Mandoli, et alii. Great effort to get into the final (Aug 17), but the competition is tough.
  3. Men’s Eight: Light, et alii. They have been strong all the way through, so I’ve got large hopes for them. Now they’ll be competing in the final on Aug 17.
• Softball Same as with baseball. I think we’re already in the medals, but will cross that bridge when we get there.
• Swimming
  1. Men’s 200m Breaststroke, Brown. He is in the top competitors, so he’s got a really good shot at a medal. The final is starting in about 20 minutes.
  2. Men’s 200m Backstroke, Oriwol, Beavers. Both have gotten into the semifinals (Aug 14). May be…
  3. Men’s 200m Individual Medly, Beavers has gotten into the semifinals, also on Aug 14.
  4. Women’s 200m Breaststroke, Pierse has advanced to the semifinals, Aug 14.

Other competitions follow, but we have to see these ones first.

On the side note, I cannot not mention my admiration to what Michael Phelps has already achieved. 5 gold medals! Absolutely mind-bottling!