Other than a few odd scandals that don’t even rank with the
political and doping disgraces of yesteryear, the Beijing Olympics were
compelling, devoid of debacles and laden with memorable developments.
A look back alphabetically:
A for Adam van Koeverden, a Canadian icon heavily favoured for gold medals in kayaking. He finished an unfathomable eighth in the 1,000-metre event, although a silver in the 500 gave him some redemption.
B for beach volleyball, women’s. It’s wonderful.
C for China, which distinguished itself as a first-rate host and also won 51 gold medals, 15 more than any other country.
D for Despatie, as in Alexandre, a Canadian diver who grabbed silver despite fracturing a foot and missing months of training.
E for 18, the number of medals for Canada, tying its third-best performance.
F for fiascos — two in taekwondo. Canadian medal hopeful Ivett Gondo protested her loss (unsuccessfully) because of what she considered unfair judging and Cuban Angel Matos kicked a judge in the face after he was disqualified.
G for gold medals, Canadians captured three — wrestler Carol Huynh, equestrian’s Eric Lamaze and the men’s eight rowing team.
H for Hickstead, the horse who carried Lamaze to gold, giving the 40-year-old Ontarian sweet redemption after a cocaine-checkered past.
I for Ian Millar, who, at 61, won his first medal by leading Canada to silver in team-jumping equestrian.
J for judges, who’ve outlived their usefulness in the Olympics.
K for Karen Cockburn, who garnered silver for Canada on the trampoline and carried the Canadian flag in the closing ceremonies.
L for Luan, as in Jujie, a legendary Chinese fencer who, at 50, represented Canada in her homeland.
M for money. Canadian athletes need more.
N for Nattrass, as in Susan, a legendary Canadian shooter who sadly struggled and, at 57, will retire.
O for Olympics. Are they clean again?
P for Phelps, as in Michael, the U.S. swimmer who won eight golds. These were his Games.
Q for question marks, which surround the ages of some of those cherub-faced Chinese gymnasts.
R for rowing, which Canada rules.
S for silver medals. Canada took nine.
T for terrible, as in the IOC’s decision to dump women’s softball.
U for Usain Bolt of Jamaica, history’s greatest sprinter. Flashiest, too.
V for Vancouver, which will have a tough time matching Beijing’s excellence in the 2010 Winter Olympics. Good luck.
W for world records — 43 in Beijing.
X for Xingfang Xie, a Chinese medallist. (Hey, it works.)
Y for Yes, I love women’s beach volleyball!
Z for Zimbabwe swimmer Kirsty Coventry, winner of all four Zimbabwean medals.
Marty York is Metro’s national sports columnist as well as an
instructor at the College of Sports Media in Toronto. You can also read
his columns at www.freemyteam.com.
He
can be heard each Wednesday night on Vancouver radio station CKNW with
Sportstalk host Dan Russell.
Contact Marty at marty.york@metronews.ca
