The World Competes

If you’re planning on attending the 2012 London Olympics, you might want to sign up for ticketing information. They will be going on sale in 2011, so you still have some time, but you might want to sign up now, so you won’t forget.

If ticket sales for London are anything like they were for Vancouver, people in the UK will be eligible to buy the tickets first. There will be plenty of tickets for people in other countries; not all tickets will be released at once. To get the best tickets, you might need to buy a package that includes airfare and hotel. How ticket sales are actually handled will depend on the country that you live in.

The only credit card accepted at the Olympic games is Visa. If you don’t have a Visa card, you will have to get one to pay for the games online. If you don’t like credit card debt, Visa debit and prepaid cards will work just as well as a regular credit card… so, if you don’t have a Visa credit card and your debit card is a Mastercard, you can always go to the grocery store and buy one of those prepaid cards… but you have a year to get one. At the games, the Official Olympic stores… same thing; they only take Visa cards or cash.

There will be free events, like cycling and the marathon.

To express your interest in 2012 London Olympic games tickets, visit tickets.london2012.com.

If you missed the Paralympics and live in the USA, NBC is going to air a 90-minute highlight show tomorrow, April 10th, from 3:30-5 PM EST. Central and Mountain times usually are a little different, so you might want to check out your schedule to find out the details.

If you live in the USA, then you probably missed the Paralympics completely… unless you watched it online. As far as I know, NBC showed no Paralympic events on television, and if you were interested, you’d have to watch it online. It’s a shame, because many of the Paralympic athletes have quite inspiring stories. Hopefully they will be able to capture that with their highlight show.

At least they’re showing this. I’ll be over at Glenn Beck’s American Revival tour for the day, so I’ll have to catch it on Tivo.

I found this photo series about the Evolution of Bobsled over at teamusa.org. It has 30 years that range from 1928 to the present day.

It’s amazing how a sport evolves over time. I was very surprised with the first photo from 1928. The sledders are practically laying on top of each other. Even by 1932, bobsleds were designed so that the athletes were at least sitting up. They weren’t the most aerodynamic of designs, but at least they had a place to sit.

I hope that you enjoy the link.

Although the swimming world was focused on Michael Phelps in 2008, another swimmer had an impressive year as well. This swimmer was Natalie Coughlin. In any other era, her accomplishments would seem amazing.

Coughlin’s first Olympics was in Athens in 2004. There, she won two gold medals, two silver medals, and a bronze. In 2008, while everyone was paying attention to Michael Phelps, she won one gold, two silver, and three bronze medals, for a total of 11 medals total. In Beijing, she was the first female athlete to win six medals at one Olympics.

Coughlin is currently 27 and still practices at the pool; hopefully we will see her return in 2012. Outside of swimming, she has been on Dancing with the Stars (Season 1). She got married in 2009. She likes to cook; she has been a judge on Iron Chef America, and recently appeared on “The View From the Bay” as a guest chef. Click on the link to see her on View from the Bay.

Many people have been negatively affected by the worldwide recession that is currently ongoing. London has already expressed concern about their 2012 budget. The government of Rio is also concerned about their ability to pay for an Olympics, even though it is still six years away. This video discusses their concerns:

In 1948, London hosted what would be known as the “austerity Olympics”. The world was just emerging from world war. Simon Jenkins of the UK Guardian argued for a return to the austerity Olympics… way back in 2008. Things have not improved since.

For London, many of the cogs are already in place. But it’s not too late for Rio to host their own austerity games. There are some things that they have to do… they need to make sure that Rio is safe when the world arrives there. They need to have places for the athletes to compete. Even some of the infrastructure needs to be built. However, in tough times, do we really need to try to best the 2008 Beijing Olympics? There are ways to cut costs, and perhaps Brazil should look into that. They have hosted major soccer events in the past, that can be a base for their austerity Olympics. If London can host a pared-down games after coming out of war (where their city was bombed), then Rio can offer a pared-down version of the games.

In 2018 and 2020, it is possible that the games will be awarded to the countries that are performing the best financially. Hopefully we will be pulling out of the economic doldrums by then, but much of the work to build the games will have to come several years before the games are held. Do we really need to spend that much on the Olympic games anyway?

Until the world economy turns around, perhaps we should keep things simple.

The British government is concerned about the costs of the upcoming 2012 London Olympics. The games are still a little over two years away, but they are concerned about cost overruns.

While the Yahoo article doesn’t mention it, the problem about the cost worries probably stems from problems with the global economy. Private financing that they were expecting fell through.

The West Ham football club (that’s soccer to us Americans) is in talks to jointly use the stadium. This could potentially help their financing problems.

The 2008 Beijing Olympics were definitely one that you did not want to miss. The two-week event started off with an unforgettable opening ceremony. China, with a population of over a billion people, was able to amass a huge number of volunteers and put together an event that you would never forget.

Some of the highlights of the Beijing Olympics include Michael Phelps achieving a record-setting eight gold medals in one Olympics, Shawn Johnson and Nastia Liukin’s performances in gymnastics, and Usain Bolt, with his insanely fast runs.

What would a good Olympics be without a little controversy? In 2008, there were several. Many questioned the Chinese gymnast’s ages. Although one googler found documents to prove otherwise, the IOC accepted the girl’s passports, which said they were 16 (they need to maintain this facade for the rest of their lives, or they might find themselves losing their medal, even eight years from now). Usain Bolt showboated at the end of a run and caused an uproar. Both the men’s and women’s US relay teams dropped their batons (argh!).

In all, the 2008 Beijing Olympics were quite memorable. While the athletics are likely to be good in 2012, London is unlikely to be able to produce the same kind of spectacle that Beijing did. They are already having financially difficulties, mainly due to the recession.

When people remember the 1994 Lillehammer Olympics, many people think of Nancy Kerrigan and Tonya Harding. Nancy Kerrigan, while inspirational for recovering from the attack that she received that Tonya Harding arranged, won the silver medal. The gold medal winner, Oksana Baiul, also has an amazing story.

Oksana’s parents separated when she was a baby. Her mother lived with her grandparents, and it could have been a happy story. Unfortunately, her grandmother died. Then her grandfather died. Just when things couldn’t get any worse, her mother died at age 13. Although her mother had remarried, her stepfather didn’t feel any responsibility for her, and she had to fend for herself.

At times, she would sleep with friends; other times, she slept at the ice rink. Her coach helped her out. Then he left for a job in Canada, but suggested that Galina Zmievskaya coach her. Zmievskaya heard her story, and not only decided to coach her, she decided to support her. Oksana was able to stay at her house.

Not only did she have a place to live, but at age 15, she won the world championship, becoming the youngest winner since Sonja Henie won in 1927.

At the Olympics, Baiul was second behind Kerrigan after the technical program. The following day during practice, she collided with another skater, Tanja Szewczenko, and had to have three stitches on her right shin. She came back the following night and eked out a win over Kerrigan for the gold.

Later that year, Oksana had to have knee surgery; she started skating before her doctors advised, and her skating ability was never the same. She later moved to the United States with her adoptive family. She still skates professionally from time to time. Most recently, she skated at the One Step Closer HIV AIDS figure skating exhibition on March 27th of this year.

A news report about her appears below:

I get the occasional reader from the United Kingdom, so I’d like to pass on this opportunity. The London 2012 Organising Committee (LOCOG) is looking for 15 people to work for them. This is an opportunity directed at people who are just leaving high school or the university, and it is a paid position. Click on the link for more information about the Get Ahead School Leaver’s Programme.

While I’ve never actually worked for the Olympics, this does sound like an excellent opportunity. I did carry the US flag in 1996 for the Olympic Torch Relay Kickoff for the Atlanta Olympics, and I wouldn’t trade that experience for anything. One of my life’s mottoes is carpe diem, or “sieze the day”. If you have the opportunity to do something, and you don’t even try, then you might regret it for years afterwards.

This is a two-year program that runs from this September to September 2012 (I suppose after the Paralympics are over). The application deadline is April 11th, so if you are interested, you better get moving and apply.

London is going to be adding a new landmark to their skyline for the 2012 Olympics. It will be larger than Big Ben and the Statue of Liberty. Here is a video of what it looks like:

I’m not very fond of it, but I guess some people like it.