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- Mar 17, 2007
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Well, it seems the IOC really doesn't want people to see the highlights of the opening ceremony if they didn't catch it live. Seems like the equivalent of a movie theater suppressing the trailer to its films in terms of marketing approach, but what do I know? The performance can still be found at ThisDayInMetal.com, at least for the time being.
I mostly caught swimming yesterday. The semifinals of the women's 100 meter butterfly, and the finals for both the men's and women's 400 meter freestyle. From an audience standpoint I preferred the 400 meter, as the 100 meter was over so quickly. The men's 400-meter was fairly close, with Germany earning the gold. What was most impressive in the women's was just how far out in front the first two were, and to a lesser extent the bronze medalist as well. It was clear after 250 meters who would be on the podium, the only question was the order of gold and silver. And also how much of a young person's competition it is. Bronze went to a 27-year-old (Katie Ledecky, winning a medal in her 4th Olympics), but everyone else was late teens or early 20s.
Not that that's unique to that competition, but it's quite the contrast to another competition I saw - men's tennis, featuring 38-year-old Rafael Nadal. It makes me wonder to what extent the differences between competitions that favor young athletes, and those that are more receptive to athletes in the 25-35 age range, is a different skill set focus - pure speed or strength, versus technique or being able to anticipate an opponent's move; or perhaps quickness versus stamina - versus perhaps having more prospects for being a full-time career. Nadal obviously has tennis as his day job, but in many Olympic sports, it would be challenging to make a living on them in most countries. But presumably his experience also helps him in games, even if he's not quite as youthful anymore, whereas in many competitions it's just you against the clock or the measuring tape.
I also saw a little bit of the men's gymnastics. Impressive strength and precision on the stationary rings.
I mostly caught swimming yesterday. The semifinals of the women's 100 meter butterfly, and the finals for both the men's and women's 400 meter freestyle. From an audience standpoint I preferred the 400 meter, as the 100 meter was over so quickly. The men's 400-meter was fairly close, with Germany earning the gold. What was most impressive in the women's was just how far out in front the first two were, and to a lesser extent the bronze medalist as well. It was clear after 250 meters who would be on the podium, the only question was the order of gold and silver. And also how much of a young person's competition it is. Bronze went to a 27-year-old (Katie Ledecky, winning a medal in her 4th Olympics), but everyone else was late teens or early 20s.
Not that that's unique to that competition, but it's quite the contrast to another competition I saw - men's tennis, featuring 38-year-old Rafael Nadal. It makes me wonder to what extent the differences between competitions that favor young athletes, and those that are more receptive to athletes in the 25-35 age range, is a different skill set focus - pure speed or strength, versus technique or being able to anticipate an opponent's move; or perhaps quickness versus stamina - versus perhaps having more prospects for being a full-time career. Nadal obviously has tennis as his day job, but in many Olympic sports, it would be challenging to make a living on them in most countries. But presumably his experience also helps him in games, even if he's not quite as youthful anymore, whereas in many competitions it's just you against the clock or the measuring tape.
I also saw a little bit of the men's gymnastics. Impressive strength and precision on the stationary rings.
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