Indeed, Leau. The other great thing is that equestrianism is the only sport where men and women compete as equals. Anyone that thinks the horse is doing all the work is very mistaken.

Very true, my Beagle friend, especially as horses have quite the minds of their own!! No doubt all the athletes are very, very good at what they do, and those either younger or older have an extra "obstacle" to overcome to be where they are today. Me? I'm watching from the couch.

Quiz Beagle, as a longtime rider, I love the equestrian competitions for precisely the reason you mention: that men and women can compete as equals.

However, let me return to my perusal of interesting Olympic facts and trivia: the oldest medalist overall AND in an individual event was the Swedish Oscar Swahn, aged 64 years and 256 days, when he won an individual medal in the "Double-Shot Running Deer Shooting" competition in 1912, and 72 years and 279 days when he medaled in the "Team Running Deer Shooting, Double-Shot competition" in 1920. He won other medals as well, beginning at the age of 60. His son, Alfred Swahn, was another, very successful competitor in shooting.

Speaking of shooting, HERE'S a piece of bizarre information: In the discontinued "Free Pistol, Team" event of 1920, one of the four American gold medalists was James Snook. According to Wallechinsky:

"Dr. James H. Snook of the gold-medal-winning U.S. team gained national notoriety in June of 1929 after he was arrested for first-degree murder. Snook, then a 48-year-old professor of veterinary medicine at Ohio State University, confessed to killing his 25-year-old mistress, Theora Hix, by beating her with a hammer following an overly violent sexual act that took place at the local rifle range. He was put to death in the electric chair eight months later."

A violent sexual act at the local rifle range? Good grief.

Quote:

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"Straight to the pool room"

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THAT is a classic!

Anyone see gymnastics last night? So disappointing, i really thought they were gonna get the gold...Im really not convinced all the chinese girls are 16.
Also, i found an article about the documentary in the new york times and Kerri Strug is involved, def wanna see it now...Dominic Dawes was on the Today Show today, made me love that team even more. i think its coming out here in DC tonight...

Wisconsin, I watched the gymnastics competition, and I really hadn't expected our ladies to win the gold. Given their various difficulties, I was happy with the silver. I'm old enough to remember when American women gymnasts had no chance at all to win medals. The 1984 competition was fluky, because of the Soviet-bloc boycott.

I have to say that at least a couple of the Chinese gymnasts DO look astonishingly young. Even making allowances for the often-slight builds of Asians, the faces, demeanors, and even the teeth of these girls seemed "immature". Bela Karolyi was blunt about his view that they are underage, but I think he wants age limits to be abolished altogether. I don't.

Absolutely, Quiz Beagle. The early decades of the Modern Olympics were a riot of lunacy. That's why I like them.

Benjamin Boukpeti, a canoeist representing Togo, has decided that he should actually visit the country, after winning a medal. He was born and raised in France, but has a Togoian (Togonese?) father.

Also, basketballer Becky Hammond has been labelled a traitor by a US team coach, because she is playing for Russia.

I am not sure what to think about either of these stories, but there are plenty of precedents. Bulgarian weightlifters, Chinese table-tennis players, Russian boxers have all changed countries in the last couple of Games.

Should the IOC insist that a person play for their country of birth, or do you agree that the rules should be relaxed?

Togolese, Ozzz, Togolese (according to wikipedia and several dictionaries anyway). I heard the same thing today, that Boukpeti had never even visited Togo, and have to admit that for me it ruined the story of the first ever medal for Togo.

Although I guess one could argue that Boukpeti has every right to represent Togo, since he holds dual citizenship. He didn't represent just any country that would have him, he actually was Togolese by birth.

I think Boukpeti's situation is considerably less disturbing than the one involving runner Zola Budd back in the 1980's. South Africa was banned from the Olympics at the time, but her paternal grandfather had been British, so she was granted U.K. citizenship in record time -- with assistance from the "Daily Mail" newspaper. That's a case in which I think the IOC should have intervened, given South Africa's pariah status, which existed for good reasons. It wasn't fair to other South African athletes who perhaps didn't support apartheid but also didn't have Budd's loophole available to them. Later, Budd simply returned to being South African.

Perhaps the IOC could consider a rule requiring athletes to compete for their countries of birth or naturalized citizenship UNLESS they have two parents (but not grandparents) of different nationalities. It might also be a good idea to insist that in cases of naturalized citizenship, the citizenship should have been granted no less than a certain period of time before the Games. Dual citizens could choose, but they could also be required to register that choice well before Games.

In fact, I think there ARE, or have been in the past, some rules regarding citizenship issues, but I don't have the details at hand.

That is a common theme, for not only these Olympics but those in the past as Lan pointed out with Zola Budd.

It is especially true in terms of where the athletes from smaller countries may attend schools or do the majority of their training.

I don't know how often there are situations like with Boukpeti, where he has never been to the country he is representing.

Countries are only allowed a certain number of athletes for each event. If a person just misses making a large countries team, and they have citizenship or can gain citizenship with another country where they could represent them in the Olympics, I see no major problem with it.

I'm very much enjoying watching the Olympics. Even though I do have some top favorite sports, it is still fun to watch some of all the Olympic events.

My top favorites to watch- Swimming, Diving, Gymnastics, Taekwondo, Track & Field, Cycling.

Was watching the live men Gymnastics last night. One thing I keep wondering though about Gymnastics, what is that white stuff they put on the hands? Anyone know exactly what it is called?

Amy,
The gymnasts are putting good old chalk on their hands to enhance their grip and keep the sweat and oils at bay. It is actually a special chalk and the ideal consistency is smooth but pasty, and sticky enough to make it all the way through the routine they are doing. Many of them wear a leather glove also, but you will still see them use chalk with the gloves. Hope that answered your question.

Rosin powder.

Ren is right, it's rosin. Also used by some string musicians and by ballet dancers, on their shoes, to prevent slipping. I used it on my toe shoes when I was still dancing.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosin

And it didnt work for the Columbian weightlifter. His hand slipped off the bar seven, yes, seven times and he was out.

Apropos of the citizenship issues we were discussing earlier, it seems that if an athlete changes nationality, he or she must wait three years before competing internationally for the new country UNLESS the former country grants a waiver.

Wallechinsky discusses this issue in reference to weightlifter Naim Suleymanoglu, an ethnic Turk who had been born in Bulgaria but who defected to Turkey in 1986. Turkey paid Bulgaria over $1,000,000 to persuade Bulgaria to grant the waiver, so Suleymanoglu could compete for Turkey in Seoul.

I don't know how this rule applied to Zola Budd, whether South Africa granted a waiver or whether this was even necessary, since South Africa was locked out of international competition anyway and since Budd could claim U.K. citizenship through her grandfather.

I've be listening to the Olympica a lot, on the radio, in the very early hours of the morning, as well as watching some too. Great Britain has done excellent, and Phelps is incredible at swimming

Yes, Jane. it is very gratifying that Britain are third!

Mainly thanks to the British track cyclists, they've done incredibly well!