Maria Sharapova pulls out of 2008 Beijing Olympics
Tuesday, August 5th, 2008
Sharapova fans, mourn.
As we count the remaining days heading to the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China, news broke out that we won’t have the privilege of watching Sharapova run around the tennis court when the biggest sporting event of the year starts on August 8.
You read it, the hot and sexy Maria Sharapova won’t be playing for her mother country Russia, pulling out of the tournament because of a right shoulder injury. Sharapova, winner of three Grand Slam singles titles, said that an MRI exam and other medical tests showed she has two small tears in tendons in her shoulder.
Sharapova, before opting out of the Games of the XXIX Olympiad, already pulled out of the WTA tournament in Montreal because of the said injury.
‘’After yesterday’s match, I knew there was something seriously wrong with my shoulder,’’ Maria Sharapova said in a posting on her web site under the headline that reads, ‘’No chance of me competing in Beijing.’’
‘’This is something that needs a lot of time to heal, which really hurts me to say that I have to miss the Olympics.’’
‘’I’m currently packing up really quick to hop on the plane and head to [New York] for a second opinion, but I wanted to let all of you know first that there’s no chance of me competing in Beijing. The timing is so unfortunate and this makes me more sad than anything.’’
Sharapova opting out of the 2008 Beijing Olympics means she’ll have more time to prepare for the last Grand Slam of the…
No Substance Abuse in 2008 Beijing Olympics
Friday, August 1st, 2008
The 2008 Beijing Olympics’ International Olympic Committee has laid down the law.
The 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China is almost here and the event’s organizers have begun running here and there to bring its fans the best only the Olympic Games so rightfully deserve.
In fact, the International Olympic Committee has come up with ‘’anti-doping rules’’ that they are hoping to be the answer to the somewhat dangerous trend the world of sports is in these days.
For starters, they have increased the number of tests in these Olympic events. From the 3,600 tests they made back in the 2004 Athens Olympics, they moved it up to 4,500 for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad in Beijing, a clear example how they want to have fair play on the biggest sporting event of the year.
There are some new elements of the ruling too, like one where an athlete may be notified and tested more than once during the same day. If an athlete misses a test on two separate occasions during the Olympic Games, or on one occasion plus twice in the 18 months beforehand, that athlete will be considered to have committed an anti-doping violation.
Mere possession of the prohibited substances will also be considered a violation.
As the ruling body for the Olympic Games, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) will delegate the responsibility for implementing doping controls to the Organizing Committee for the Olympic Games (BOCOG) and the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA).
They will act under the IOC’s…
Can USA win the Most Gold Medals in the 2008 Beijing Olympics?
Tuesday, July 29th, 2008
Which country will win the most medals in the Olympics?
With merely days to go before the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China begin, athletes who will be competing in this grandest sporting event of the year are all set to go and win gold medals for their respective countries.
Different countries are pouring in tons of resources, hoping that their athletes will achieve national glory by winning a gold medal.
While the Olympics do not lack feel-good stories of athletes overcoming adversity to make it to the Olympic Games, the superpowers of the world have traditionally dominated the podium.
At the 2004 Athens Olympics, for example, the top-five nations that won the most gold medals are; USA, China, Russia, Australia, and Japan, with USA taking home 36 gold medals, closely followed by China with 32.
The biggest question now is, which of these superpowers will go on and win the most gold in the 2008 Olympics? China, as the host country, has a bigger chance of winning it overall since they will be participating in all of the events, while the United States of America is an automatic shoe-in to win the 2008 Beijing Olympics because, well, they’re the United States.
Still, host China could still give the United States some competition mainly because they improved a lot during the past 4 years, especially in boxing, weightlifting, gymnastics, taekwondo and…
Katie Hoff is ready for the 2008 Bejiing Olympics
Thursday, July 17th, 2008
The Beijing games are almost here.
Of course, we’re still a few more weeks from August 8, 2008, when the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games start. Hopefully, the U.S. basketball team will find the redemption they’re looking for since Europeans started beating them on the basketball courts.
One who’ll also be looking for redemption is swimmer Katie Hoff. She was just a shoo-in to make the 2004 Olympic team. She was just 15 years old then. But something happened back in Athens that made her so eager to redeem herself in this year’s Olympic games.
Her trip for the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens was the first international flight she did it without her parents, who couldn’t afford the cost of last-minute travel to the Olympics. Yup, her parents were not around to support her. And to make matters worse for the young lady, her coach, Paul Yetter wasn’t even allowed on the pool deck and couldn’t be with Hoff much of the time.
With all these factors, her losing in the 2004 Olympics in Athens was almost known even before she took the flight. She finished 6th in her heat and 17th overall.
Katie Hoff admitted that she really didn’t get over her disappointment in Athens until she went to Montreal for the 2005 World Championships. And back on July 25, 2005, nearly a year after Athens, Hoff finally found redemption in these international tournaments. She won the 200 IM final in 2:10.41.
‘’When I touched the wall in the 200 IM, the first thing I thought was, ‘OK, I’m good again,”’ Hoff said. ‘’I proved to everyone, especially to…”
Are You Ready for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games?
Monday, June 2nd, 2008
The biggest event to hit Asia is only a few days away.
With merely days to go before the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China take place, you can be rest assured that all the preparations, hard work, and effort people put in for this won’t be in vain with this being the most prestigious sporting event to hit Asia.
One of the traditions practiced in the 2008 Beijing Olympics is the lighting and relaying of the torch. With the theme, ‘’Light the Passion, Share the Dream,’’ the Nanjing torch relay was soon followed at Hefei for its next stop. Leading the lighting of the torch was Sun Yue, who carried the Olympic torch proudly, reaching the Drum Tower Park and lighting the cauldron. That marks the conclusion of the Nanjing leg of the Olympic torch relay.
Sun, a former captain of the Chinese national women’s volleyball team and currently a coach for the Jiangsu team, was the last of 208 torchbearers who ran the relay. Among the torchbearers were Yu Kaixiang, 14, a middle school student, and Xu Zhize, 91, a retired teacher.
Following a minute’s silence in remembrance of the earthquake victims in Sichuan, the 12.9-kilometer relay started at East Square of the Olympic Sports Center, taking the torch past numerous landmarks, including Nanjing University. Donation boxes were set up along the route to enable spectators to donate for earthquake relief activities.
In other Beijing Olympic Games preparation, host China will try its best to make Olympic stadiums ready ahead of the Games while it goes all out for earthquake relief, that’s according to Xi Jinping, the Chinese vice president.
‘’The preparation for the Olympic Games has…”
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