This entry was posted on 8/9/2008 12:07 AM and is filed under General.
I watched the opening ceremonies for the Olympics tonight, and am so excited to watch certain events. Having swum for so many years, I'm especially excited about that sport. I'm a total sentimental fool, so I always have a few moments of embarrassing choke-ups during the Olympics. For example, medals ceremonies, or watching the underdog win. This year, I'm unbelievably inspired by Dara Torres, 41 year-old mother of a toddler, and a contender for the gold in two events competing against swimmers half her age.
Looking back, here is one of my favorite Olympic moments of all times. Eric Moussambani was considered a hero for
having the courage to
represent his poor country (Equatorial Guinea) on the international stage, even
though he could barely swim. His country only has one pool and he taught himself
to swim in it. And then, the two other people in his preliminary heat
(the slowest one) got disqualified so he had to swim all alone in front of the world. I remember watching this epic moment in swimming . For me, it overshadowed the incredible swims by Ian Thorpe (the "Thorpedo"), Pieter van den Hoogenband, Team USA's women's 400 free relay world record, etc. Try to ignore these (Hungarian?) announcers, and listen to the crowd in the background. It was electric:
