The Olympics are on and I'm otherwise too occupied drooling over Michael Phelps to write a good post. Here's a great recap courtesy of julib.com (Thanks Juli!).
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it's been nearly a week from the start of the beijing olympics, and you still can't get your head around the fact there were 15,000 performers included in the opening ceremony. then there's the story that the fireworks were faked, and china's diva darling was seen, but not heard. but if you think the olympics are just another reason to see hot men and women in skimpy outfits and tights, well, you're right. still, there's so much more than meets the eye. if you don't know your phelps from your phinney, or your chen from your citakovic, juli b's olympic survival guide will take you through some stats, facts and faces you should know before you walk through the forbidden city.
what: GAMES OF THE XXIX OLYMPIAD
who: 11,028 athletes competing from 205 countries
where: beijing, china
when: august 8th – august 24th
how: round-the-clock coverage on NBC and its affiliatescurrent medal standing: US: 29 (10 gold); china: 27 (17 gold); south korea: 13 (6 gold)
people you should know:
people you should know:
michael phelpsthe 23-year-old swimmer from baltimore was a stand-out during the 2004 olympics in athens, and has quickly become the face for the 2008 olympics. so far, the "baltimore bullet" (as he's known) has won 11 gold medals (five in beijing), surpassing the likes of carl lewis and mark spitz. and he's easy on the eyes, too, despite having most of his swimmer's physique hidden in that NASA-designed suit.
dara torresthis 41-year-old swimmer has 10 olympic medals (including four golds) she's been collecting since ‘84. and if such an award existed, she'd certainly have the "most amazing bod" prize on her trophy shelf. last year she won the US nationals only a year after giving birth to her daughter, tessa grace. yes, those abs used to house a baby.
chellsie memmelthe star of the US women's gymnastic team can play through anything. the day the women's team took home silver (losing to china), the 20-year-old memmel revealed she had competed on a broken ankle, the result from a injury earlier this month. just remember that hungarian weightlifter janos baranyai screamed and cried like a baby when his elbow was dislocated.
chellsie memmelthe star of the US women's gymnastic team can play through anything. the day the women's team took home silver (losing to china), the 20-year-old memmel revealed she had competed on a broken ankle, the result from a injury earlier this month. just remember that hungarian weightlifter janos baranyai screamed and cried like a baby when his elbow was dislocated.
tom daleylittle tom daley might want to downplay his age. le petit pool-prince is only 14, making him the youngest olympian at this year's games. he won silver at the 2007 australian youth olympic festival, and was three years younger than their minimum qualifying age of 15.
liu xiangchinese hurdler liu xiang's legs have been insured for $13.3 million. but don't think he's pulling a j.lo and doing it out of vanity. he is the first chinese athlete to achieve the "triple crown" of sports: world record holder, world champion and olympic champion. and he holds all titles simultaneously.
liu xiangchinese hurdler liu xiang's legs have been insured for $13.3 million. but don't think he's pulling a j.lo and doing it out of vanity. he is the first chinese athlete to achieve the "triple crown" of sports: world record holder, world champion and olympic champion. and he holds all titles simultaneously.
hiroshi hoketsuat 67-years-old, the japanese equestrian is the oldest competitor in the beijing olympic games. he was 22-years-old when he competed in the tokyo olympics in 1964. after some disappointing results over the years, hoketsu placed first in the pan-asian olympic qualifiers this year. his nickname is "oldie idol."
you oughta know:
mater-nutty ward.expectant mothers in beijing were trying to deliver on the day of the opening ceremonies to give their babes a b-day full of china's luckiest number, eight. and around 3,500 babies have been named "aoyuan," the mandarin word for olympics. to top it off, more than 16,000 couples applied for marriage licenses on 08.08.08.
can't stand the rain.chinese olympic officials must love old missy elliot tracks. or maybe they just hate a rainy ceremony. either way, fighter jets launched 1,100 rockets full of silver iodide into rain clouds, dispersing them from the site of the opening events. the same precautions are planned for the closing ceremonies. and speaking of ceremonies, nearly two-thirds of the 15,000 performers are members of the people's liberation army.
money talks.the opening ceremonies reportedly cost $100 million. that's $476,000 per minute and almost $8,000 per second. (figure it's about as much as you'd pay to have michael phelps do the breaststroke in your hot tub.) NBC reportedly sold over $1 billion in advertising revenue, with a 30-second spot costing as much as $750,000.
grammy went to the olympics, and all you got was this $143,894.48 plate.see ya later, golden goose egg. the most expensive souvenir at this year's beijing olympics is a gold plate on a decorative stand that will cost you the low, low price of $143,894.48.
doggone it.the beijing catering trade association ordered all 112 designated olympic restos to take dog off their menus. waiters were asked to patiently suggest protein alternatives.
fu me once.this year's official mascots of beijing are designed to express the qualities of five children who form an intimate circle of friends. "fuwa" (pictured above) embodies the natural characteristics of china's most precious animals: the fish, panda, tibetan antelope and the swallow. (oh, but the red guy in the middle is supposed to be the torch.) each fuwa has a rhyming two-syllable name, and represents the colors of the olympic rings. when their names are put together, "bei jing huan ying ni," they say "welcome to beijing." you just know they're cute.
and just because:
balestra: used for fencing, it's a forward hop or jump, typically followed by an attack such as a lunge or fleche. melissanidis: a vaulting skill in which the gymnast performs a round-off entry onto the vault table and after blocking off the vault table, rotates a two-and-a-half back somersault. it is named after the greek gymnast, melissanidis, who performed it first in international competition. negative split: a race strategy in the distance freestyle events in which a swimmer covers the second half of the race faster than the first half. dressage: a rider making his or horse dance. hairpin net shot: used in badminton, it's a shot that is made from below and very close to the net, which causes the shuttle to rise, just clear the net, then drop sharply down the other side. the shot is so-named as the flight of the shuttlecock resembles the shape of a hairpin. sore made: term used in judo, to indicate the match is finished, or time is up.
you oughta know:
mater-nutty ward.expectant mothers in beijing were trying to deliver on the day of the opening ceremonies to give their babes a b-day full of china's luckiest number, eight. and around 3,500 babies have been named "aoyuan," the mandarin word for olympics. to top it off, more than 16,000 couples applied for marriage licenses on 08.08.08.
can't stand the rain.chinese olympic officials must love old missy elliot tracks. or maybe they just hate a rainy ceremony. either way, fighter jets launched 1,100 rockets full of silver iodide into rain clouds, dispersing them from the site of the opening events. the same precautions are planned for the closing ceremonies. and speaking of ceremonies, nearly two-thirds of the 15,000 performers are members of the people's liberation army.
money talks.the opening ceremonies reportedly cost $100 million. that's $476,000 per minute and almost $8,000 per second. (figure it's about as much as you'd pay to have michael phelps do the breaststroke in your hot tub.) NBC reportedly sold over $1 billion in advertising revenue, with a 30-second spot costing as much as $750,000.
grammy went to the olympics, and all you got was this $143,894.48 plate.see ya later, golden goose egg. the most expensive souvenir at this year's beijing olympics is a gold plate on a decorative stand that will cost you the low, low price of $143,894.48.
doggone it.the beijing catering trade association ordered all 112 designated olympic restos to take dog off their menus. waiters were asked to patiently suggest protein alternatives.
fu me once.this year's official mascots of beijing are designed to express the qualities of five children who form an intimate circle of friends. "fuwa" (pictured above) embodies the natural characteristics of china's most precious animals: the fish, panda, tibetan antelope and the swallow. (oh, but the red guy in the middle is supposed to be the torch.) each fuwa has a rhyming two-syllable name, and represents the colors of the olympic rings. when their names are put together, "bei jing huan ying ni," they say "welcome to beijing." you just know they're cute.
and just because:
balestra: used for fencing, it's a forward hop or jump, typically followed by an attack such as a lunge or fleche. melissanidis: a vaulting skill in which the gymnast performs a round-off entry onto the vault table and after blocking off the vault table, rotates a two-and-a-half back somersault. it is named after the greek gymnast, melissanidis, who performed it first in international competition. negative split: a race strategy in the distance freestyle events in which a swimmer covers the second half of the race faster than the first half. dressage: a rider making his or horse dance. hairpin net shot: used in badminton, it's a shot that is made from below and very close to the net, which causes the shuttle to rise, just clear the net, then drop sharply down the other side. the shot is so-named as the flight of the shuttlecock resembles the shape of a hairpin. sore made: term used in judo, to indicate the match is finished, or time is up.
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