<p>Great job last night Rebecca Soni - from virtual unknown to two-time medalist, this one gold - Jersey Girl done good!!! And all of us in Rochester are proud of Ryan Lochte, even though everyone says he is from Daytona Beach he was born and started swimming here!!</p>
<p>Canada vs. U.S. women’s soccer game has resumed after a rain delay, in case anyone was watching.</p>
<p>I’ve only read this in one place (the New York Times), but this would be the best evidence so far regarding the Chinese girls’ ages: They said that a person’s birth date is imbedded in their national ID number, so if a person reads Chinese (Mandarin?) and knows how to decode the numbers, the truth is right there.</p>
<p>I was so proud of Nastia and Shawn last night. Shawn was my favorite, but I’ve been saying all along that if Nastia hit everything, Shawn couldn’t beat her. It’s great that neither of them had major mistakes, so there’s no horrible moment that Shawn will be reliving in her brain forever. Shawn was the favorite because Nastia has been known to crater under pressure and Shawn is a rock. When Carly won in '04, the crowd at WOGA said that Nastia could have beat her then. It’s so nice that, given an “unfortunate” year of birth and several injuries, Nastia’s devotion to the sport paid off.</p>
<p>I think both girls have been trained well in graciousness and how to give an interview. Good work on the part of parents and coaches!</p>
<p>You guys got to check out badminton videos on the website esp. if you haven’t seen a real game before. The doubles game is one of the most entertaining and exciting sports to watch and top players can make the birdie go over 150 mph, faster than any tennis serve. :)</p>
<p>Apparently, the “terrible” air didn’t stopped many 10,000-meter run athletes from achieving their personal best, despite how some journalists/writers reported how difficult it was for them to breathe when they ran. Interesting. :rolleyes: </p>
<p>[2008</a> Beijing Summer Olympics - Track & Field | Athlete Profiles, Videos & Photos | Event Recap | NBC Olympics](<a href=“http://www.nbcolympics.com/trackandfield/resultsandschedules/rsc=ATW100100/index.html]2008”>http://www.nbcolympics.com/trackandfield/resultsandschedules/rsc=ATW100100/index.html)</p>
<p>It has been raining a lot recently… anyhow kudos to the athletes :)</p>
<p>YEAH!! Way to go Shalane and Kara!! New American Record for Shalane.</p>
<p>I think the media in the west just like hyping and exaggerating the pollution factor. I think heat and humidity affect much more. I stayed in Beijing for a summer and there was a think haze and I didn’t know a mountain existed until after a rain event. But I honestly didn’t feel anything different other than feeling hot and humid. It’s interesting how all those journalists/writers reported about it could actually feel and discern the effect of pollution so well and almost none of them felt the way I felt. It looks to me they can’t help exaggerating anything negative for China.</p>
<p>cartera, when Bela comes on I turn on the closed captioning on my TV. That way if I can’t understand him I can read what he said.</p>
<p>Also, I was there with a group of 20 other American college students. We were volunteering to teach kids English. NONE of us voiced any discomfort due to pollution. We even play a soccer game with the kids; nobody had trouble breathing or collapsed!!</p>
<p>Yes, Sam Lee, but you weren’t trying to perform extremely taxing physical events at a very high level. The best athletes in the world running long distances or playing very physical games (ie Olympic-level soccer) would be much more likely to feel affected by any problem with air quality.</p>
<p>You missed the point. The journalists/writers that exaggerated the pollution problem didn’t engage anything more rigorous than we did.</p>
<p>The air is bad but it’s not as dangerous as the media had painted before the Games. So far, the outdoor athletes have done just fine, as far as I know. The ones that did say something about the tough condition pointed out the heat and humidity, not pollution. This is the environment that Chinese athletes practiced and competed for many years, not just a week or two; if it’s so bad, I wonder how these Chinese athletes are still here. LOL! You think the Chinese athletes are superhuman?
Also, if the pollution is such a factor, I wonder why the Chinese players (outdoor sports) haven’t seem to get any advantage out of this since they are supposed to be used to it when others are “supposed” to have all sorts of problem to cope. Yet, none of three 10,000-meter Chinese runners finished in the top half. The women soccer team just lost as a favorite to the Japanese team. The Chinese have done very well in the indoor sports though.</p>
<p>Sam, pollution problems in Beijing are nothing new and concern how they may affect athletes are very reasonable. Just because it hasn’t been that bad during these games doesn’t change the fact at at times pollution is so severe it forces locals to wear scarfs that cover their mouths and noses. </p>
<p>As to Chinese athletes… just how many of them train in Beijing proper?</p>
<p>My husband and I visited China in April and our daughter was living there for the past year (she’ll be home next Thursday!) and the pollution was bad. Hazy, bad. It looked to our eyes like a real humid day here but it didn’t feel humid at all. My daughter has what she calls a “Shenzhen cough” and said that when the torch went through her city they made all the factories shut down for two days before and the day of the pass. It was the first time she saw a blue sky in a month. All of our pictures of Beijing look like they were taken on a hazy day. Hopefully, things will improve with the new pollution controls that were put in place because of the Olympics.</p>
<p>katliamom,</p>
<p>The locals wear scarfs to cover their mouths and noses? Where did you get that from? No wonder the US cyclist would arrive at the airports wearing masks if that’s what they kept hearing from. </p>
<p>I don’t know where the Chinese athletes came from but Beijing is hardly the most polluted in China. I am sure some of them came from places with even worse pollution. But I find it silly to even ask that question. There are kids and locals engaging competitive endurance sports/games in Beijing. Just because they are not as good or skilled as the Olympians doesn’t mean their games aren’t as intense. There are schools kids playing soccer, basketball, or whatever for 2 hours or even longer each time they play in their entire life and yet we worry about Olympics soccer players on the field for 90 mins per game?? The fact that there’s a need for experts to clarify “it’s unlikely the pollution would cause any long-time effects to athletes” shows how this’s been so overhyped, considering the athletes are there for just 3 weeks!!</p>
<p>“concern” is such a blanket word. This article specificly targets the hype and exaggeration that’d been going on before the Games:
[Smog</a> fails to shroud road-race cyclists - Olympics - Yahoo! Sports](<a href=“Sports News, Scores, Fantasy Games - Yahoo Sports”>Sports News, Scores, Fantasy Games - Yahoo Sports)</p>
<p>Did you guys see the news about a Mongolian wrestler winning the first <em>ever</em> Olympic gold medal for his country? Wow, pretty cool!</p>
<p>No, but I love the Togo guy from a couple of days ago. How exciting for him and his countrymen!</p>
<p>Also, I’m surprised no one has mentioned that Nastia is headed to SMU in the fall!</p>
<p>BunsenBurner,</p>
<p>I kinda undestand what it feels like. Hong Kong got its first <em>ever</em> gold medal back in 1996 through a female windsurfer and the whole place went crazy over her.</p>
<p>So excited that Michael Phelps today got his 7th gold metal of the Beijing games! Excited too that the women gymnasts finished gold and silver first time ever in all around gymnastics.</p>
<p>Phelps is one lucky fella. I thought his medal was gone, but touchpads are a tricky business. He is lucky that he has such long arms! Anyway, yay! That was a historical race, just like the 400 free relay.</p>