Olympic Diary : Day 11

Hosts Medal Rush , Hockey Misery Complete, 2 contrasting Hurdles emotions

The Brits bid farewell to 2 iconic Olympic track cyclists. Sir Chris Hoy, who won his 6^th gold medal (surpassing Sir Steve Redgrave) by winning the men’s keiran, and Victoria Pendleton , who could not manage such a fitting farewell having to settle for the silver after losing to long term rival Anna Meares (Aus). The British renaissance was furthered by the Brownlie brothers (Alistair and Jonathan) taking gold and bronze respectively in the men’s triathlon.

British Media goes Gaga

 Mexico and Brazil eased past their asian rivals to set up a gold medal clash in men’s football  , while Holland and GB along with Australia and Germany set up respective men’s hockey semi final clashes. India completed a miserable tournament by being soundly thrashed by Belgium...aye your eyes do not deceive you Belgium...and fittingly so , as India were easily the worst team in the tournament – unfit , lackadaisical ,tactless and shockingly for Indian fans even lacking basic skills as compared to the other teams. I sincerely hope India doesnt qualify for the games in the next few editions to be saved from the ridiculous and recurrent thrashings.

 2 Contrasting Hurdles Emotions : Iconic Chinese hurdler Liu Xiang (Athens goold medallist) hit the first hurdle in his 110 m heat signalling the end of a great yet mightily unfulfilled career. Aussie world champion Sally Pearson , however kept the up to the formbook winning the women’s 100 m hurdles in Olympic record time in probably the closest track event till date in these games.

Celebration of the day: Big Burly Robert Harting of Germany , however showed Liu the way to go about the hurdles. Upon winning the Men’s Discus gold decided to jump over all the hurdles lined up for the women’s 100 m finals. He certainly did a better job than Liu.

Harting the hurlder

Olympic Diary : Day 10

Low Key Monday , The Queen dethroned

A relatively low key day at the games after the tumultuous weekend. The Queen of the Pole Vault , Yelena Isenbayeva , abdicated her throne with American Jessica Suhr taking gold. The 2 time defending champion could only garner a disappointing silver medal.

Felix Sanchez, the 2004 , Dominican Republic sprinter , completed an astonishing win the mens 400m hurdles, to add to his gold at Athens in 2004. The big guns in the women’s 200m all calmly positioned themselves for yet another exciting finish, while Belarus and Russia won golds in the women’s shot put and steeplechase respectively. Kirani James earned Grenada its first Olympic gold in the 400m.

 Jessica Suhr dethrones Yelena Isenbayeva

Olympic Diary : Day 9

The Greatest Show on Earth

It needed something special to relegate an Andy Murray thrashing of Roger Federer on Wimbledon centre court in the Olympic gold medal match to the footnotes. It needed a moment of history to make Britons forget ,albeit momentarily , their greatest day in Olympic history (just 24 hours prior) – the world waited as the most anticipated showdown of the London Games assembled on the start line , and we got the greatest sprint in the history of all competition. It was the first time in the modern Olympic era that all four of the fastest men in history at that moment were on the start line for the 100m final. It was the first time that 7 of the 8 starters (poor Asafa Powell might have pipped Gatlin but for that injury) recorded sub 10 second times. It was the first time that 3 athletes recorded sub 9.8 s times....so much for first times : Usain Bolt still won by a good metre.

You Cannot be Serious

There is something refreshingly simple about the 100 m sprint which appeals to the sentiments of striplings and greybeards alike – there are no tactics to be understood , no detailed discussions with coaches , no shadowboxing – the aim quite simply to get onto the other end of the track before the guy next to you does – and no one is history has done that quite so astonishingly and  emphatically as the big Jamaican.

This win might not have had the same shock and wow factor as his Beijing triumph, where shoelaces flying, he was beating his chest and slowing down a good 5 meters from the line , nor his Berlin world record where he posted the first sub 9.6 second time in history. In my opinion , this was still Bolt’s greatest race , judging by the strength , form and ultimately the performance of the rest of the field.

Yohan Blake is an immensely likeable athlete , and his pre-race warm ups laughs and high fives with Bolt were refreshingly good to see , in a discipline where athletes are wont to be moody and taciturn (before and after their events) – not so here ; both Bolt and Blake know how to get the crowd going, whether it be on the starting blocks or at the end of the race. With Bolt 30 in Rio ,  Blake is likely to be the premier sprinter 4 years down the line. But this moment was Usain's – sheer unadulterated genius

(Can’t wait for the 200 m and the Jamaican relay team to get going).

Footnotes : All other action in the games yesterday.

-Outstanding double gold by Serena Williams

- Murray finally making the big league (adding the mixed doubles silver to the singles gold)

- Kazakhstan winning a 6^th Olympic gold (women’s high jump)

-Lin Dan defending his Olympic gold in the men’s singles badminton

- China making complete sweep of all badminton golds ,

- Ben Ainslie winning a 5^th consecutive sailing gold.

- The amazing Mary Kom reaching the quarter finals in her boxing tournament.

Honourable Mention : “Bladerunner” Oscar Pistorius for simply competing and making the semi-finals. Thats essentially the Olympic Spirit , ain’t it ??

Olympic Diary : Day 8

Hosts run riot , the pool finishes with a golden swansong , a photo finish , gearing up for a historical sprint.

Great Britain had their single best day of competition in the Olympics in over a hundred years as they snapped up 6 gold medals. 3 of these came the first major athletic day with Jessica Ennis winning the heptathlon , Mo Farah breaking the African dominance in the 10,000 m and Greg Rutherford leaping8.31 m to claim the coveted long jump gold. The Brits also won golds in their now patented rowing and track cycling events to comfortably sit in 3^rd position in the overall medal tally. Jamaica meanwhile finally flexed their athletics muscles as Shelly Anne Fraser price won a thrilling women’s 100 m ahead of Carmelita Jeter of the US.

The swimming competition came to an end amidst a tumult of records with dutch golden girl Kromowidjojo adding the 50 m freestyle to complete the sprint double in an Olympic record time while Sun Yang of chine thrashed his own world record in the 1500 m freestyle. The US dominance in the pool was underlined yet again as they took home both medley relays with the ladies setting a new world record. Yeah, I have to talk about him one final time – Michael Phelps called time (or so we expect) on a “..........” (use your own choice of superlative) career swimming an outstanding butterfly leg in the relay to comfortably place in Americans in the lead , which was comfortably anchored home by 100 m champ, Nathan Adrian. Halfway through the games (which Ryan Lochte famously claimed would be his) Michael Phelps sat alone atop the individual medal tally with 4 gold and 2 silver medals. Teenage sensation Missy Franklin , can probably lay the best claim to have inherited the swimming monarchy from Phelps as she finished with a fabulous 4 gold medals (and she’s 16 years old with the world at her feet).

Take one final look at him

Event of the day : The women’s triathalon – after a 1500 m swim, 40 odd km of bicycle racing, and a 10 km run, the gold medal came down to a photo finish as Switzerland’s Nicola Spirig and Sweden’s Lisa Norden were awarded the same time in the closest finish in Olympic history. The Swiss girl won the gold by the proverbial hair’s breadth – and yesterday we were gawking at how close the Federer –Del Potro match was!

A Triathlon photo finish - what next in these games ???

The Most Anticipated Event of the Games : Aye , Michael Phelps was probably the most celebrated athlete of these games – but nothing beats today’s men’s 100 m event , either in terms of line-up or sense of history. With Bolt, Blake , Powell , Gay, Gatlin and Johnson all easing to wins in their individual heats with consummate ease , the blue riband men’s even promises to be one for the ages. Will we see the first ever sub 9.5 s time ????

Olympic Diary : Day 7

That man Phelps again, a Wimbledon epic , 2 iconic images and an unheralded Indian

It’s getting to be a bit of a routine (and perhaps boring to read) to write about Michael Phelps on this blog – sure there are other athletes doing splendidly but do not get even a mention. Phelps has won only 3 golds (might make it 4 if he wins the relay tonight) – half of his Beijing tally : Preposterous drop in performance. But I still cannot help writing about him. I am something of a dreamer and during certain delusions of grandeur, I imagine some known (yet unborn) individual might stumble upon this blog 50 or maybe 70 years later – if the age of information as we know it still persists – and read about how much of a privilege (not to mention an opportunity) it was to watch Michael Phelps reel off Olympic medals like withdrawing cash at an ATM. Even as I grew up reading enviously the joys of the fortunate ones who described elatedly the phenomenon of Bradman, the exuberance of Trumper, the contorted face of Zatopek , the wizardry of Dhyan Chand, the magic of Puskas’ Magyars and so on – similarly , even the fortunate youtube generation, might appreciate the sense of pervading history to have witnessed these great deeds live.
In one single day, we were privileged to watch 2 iconic legends (for want of a better superlative) showcase a tenacity and steel to literally will themselves to the finish line even though neither might have been at their imperious best.

Phelps touched 7^th during the split in the 100 m butterfly and was visibly behind the leader heading into the last 20 m, when pretty much out of nothing,  he pulled out an astonishing turn of speed, outsprinting even that manic closer , Chad le Clos , who’d pipped him to the touch in the 200 m event. The iconic image of the evening was not his but that of his mother Debbie once his name was confirmed as the winner. For Phelps himself, standing alone for one last time on top of the podium, tears were hard to keep back, as the strains of the Star Spangled Banner filled the arena.

Federer and del Potro after their epic

Michael's Mom Debbie 

If anyone in the entire Olympic Village can claim equal iconic status to Michael Phelps (if not as an Olympian certainly as a sportsman) , it has to be Roger Federer. From the time London was announced as the venue of the 2012 games and the All-England club the venue of the tennis tournament, Federer has set his eyes on this moment. 4-5 years back in an interview questioning him of probable retirement dates, the Swiss maestro replied that there was no thought of retirement before the London games as he wanted that gold medal at the Wimbledon turf. Last night , it all nearly went pear shaped. Up against an inspired Juan Martin del Potro, who I’d earmarked for greatness before injuries struck, Federer was playing awfully. Routine forehands were being blooped into the crowd, the Argentine’s ground strokes repeatedly pined Federer on the backfoot and reminded one of that awesome US Open Final. However the great man clutched on, finding that big serve whenever it was really needed. It was at an astonishing 17-17 in the 3^rd set that del Potro finally blinked and Federer had won his shot at the gold. Whether he pulls of the victory against Andy Murray is another question , but the match gave us one of the more iconic Olympic moments of all time – topped off by the heartfelt embrace at the end.

Oh Yes! There were other events as well – the US dominated the pool yet again, the Brits the cycling velodrome with Golden Girl “Queen” Victoria Pendleton claiming the kierin. A soft spoken Indian soldier (whom neither the media nor his countrymen knew existed) shot his way to the silver medal in the rapid pistol event, providing a fitting answer for his more touted countrymen who perhaps exhausted all their energy in creating ruckus before the games before failing to show up on the big stage.

Olympic Diary : Day 6

A Night for Legends - Hoy , Vessali and a guy called Phelps

Trust the man to make me look an absolute fool. Just 2 days back , after his loss in the 200m butterfly, I was eulogising over Michaels Phelps attempt at the holy grail of the three-peat , an endeavour I honestly didn’t think he’d pull off. Last night , however , Phelps swam an outstanding 200 IM , only fractions of a second outside world record place and reasonably comfortably beat his great rival Ryan Lochte. So the tally now reads – 20 medals , 16 gold. If his performance in the 100 butterfly semi-final minutes after the individual medley  is any indication , not to mention the storming of the pool by US swimmers , I think pretty safe bets may be placed on Phelps coming away from London with 2 more gold medals.

Phelps : Back where he belongs

If Phelps had a blinder of a day, Lochte had  shocker. It is perhaps testament to the expectation he sets on himself (inspired no doubt by Phelps), that on a night a swimmer becomes the 2^nd greatest medal winner in the pool for his country , we talk of him having failed. However so it was as Tyler Clary romped home in th final 50 m to take the men’s 200 backstroke gold with Ryan Lochte finishing a not too close third (inspite of having a comfortable lead at the final turn). The Americans had an absolute scorcher in the pool with Rebecca Soni blitzing the 200m breaststroke WR on the way to her gold medal. The US hegemony was only broken by the gloriously named Dutchwoman Ranomi Kromowidjojo who won the women’s 100m freestyle.

If a legend shone bright in the pool , there were others making splashes in the deep in other disciplines. Sir Chris Hoy anchored the GB team sprint to equal Sir Steve Redgrave haul of 5 gold medals. Meanwhile on the piste, 38 yr old mother of one, Valentina Vessali (Italy) guided Italy to the women’s team foil gold – her 6^th Olympic gold and ninth medal. Vessali, incidentally, intends to back in Rio at the age of 42 after taking a year’s sabbatical to give birth to her 2^nd child.

The British Sprint Team with Sir Chris Hoy

                                                                Valentina Vessali

Mixed day for Indians : While Saina Nehwal entered the women’s singles badminton semi-final to really brighten our hopes for another medal. The other great medal prospect, shooter Ronjan Sodhi, failed to even qualify for the double trap final.

Quote of the Day: Journalist Leo Turrini, why Italian Fencing is so good- "There is a romantic explanation. It's the result of the Risorgimento [the movement that unified Italy in the 19th century]. If you look at the sports we are good at – Shooting, archery, fencing– they are all to do with defending ourselves. Once, every small town in Italy had a tower and had to defend itself against attacks."

Great Day : Host Britain finally started to assert themselves with golds in cycling , trap shooting and rowing. American Teenager Gabrielle Douglas won the women’s all round gymnastics gold.

Jackpot of the Day : Germany, who took the women’s cycling team sprint gold after first GB (semis) and then China are disqualified for illegal changeovers. Incidentally both Britain and China had faster times than the Germans with the Chinese setting a world record pace before the disqualification.

Olympic Diary : Day 5

Badmintongate , Wiggins to the fore , More splashes in the Pool 

Badmintongate headlined day 5 at the Games. All and sundry had a go at China , Indonesia and the other traditional powerhouses of the sport after 4 women’s doubles teams were eliminated from the competition for deliberately throwing away matches in order to garner more favourable knockout pairings. While I can only speculate on how congenial the atmosphere is for Chinese athletes who return back from the games without a medal (especially in a sport they’ve dominated), the blame must be laid squarely on the daft tournament rules. Can you imagine a round robin format in a tennis grand slam tournament – under the pretext of giving more playing time to lower ranked players. The only tennis tournament which has a round-robin format is the season ending Maters Tournament where only the top 8 in the world feature. Even there it is unthinkable that Roger Federer might even contemplate throwing away a match to ensure he doesn’t meet Rafael Nadal or Novak Djokovic in the Semi-final. The fiasco speaks about the prevalent sporting ethos in the game of badminton in general , and when 8 top players are thus found indulging surely many others given a suitable opportunity would do just the same.

The scandal pretty much overshadowed a few exceptional performances in the field. Shortly after Heather Stanning and Helen Glover gave the hosts a much awaited 1^st gold in rowing , Tour de France champion Bradley Wiggins comfortably eased to victory in the mens individual time trial , with trusty Team Sky and GB lieutenant , Chris Froome taking the bronze. Wiggins thus became the most decorated Olympian in British history and is odds on to pick up a knighthood before the year is out. In an action replay finish to the men’s 200 m, Aussie ‘Missile’ James Magnussen was pipped at the final touch by American Nathan Adrian in the blue riband event , the 100 m freestyle. Hungarian Dan Gyurta pocketed a world record and the gold in the men’s 200 m breaststroke while the US 4 x 200 m women’s freestyle team comfortably took home the gold.

Indians in Disarray : multiple eliminations followed for the Indians including the men’s doubles , world number 1 archer Deepika Kumari. The hockey team turned in a shambolic performance and were thrashed by the black sticks of new Zealand. The only bright spots were the performances of Saina Nehwal and P Kshyap who booked quarter final berths for themselves , Saina looking especially comfortable in her straight sets victory.

Eyesore of the day : The garish ‘throne’ podium for the men’s and women’s individual cycling time trial....really ????