Whole London celebrates a very special day

 

 

 

  

Ferocious fencing

Having watched foil in Athens in Beijing, this time around I switched to epee. That proved an excellent choice, as the rules are way simpler: you can hit any part of the opponent's body, and the first hit wins the point whatever the circumstances. Just like in Zorro.

The bronze medal fight was very exciting not only thanks to cool masks, but also the result. After nine bouts it was all square, and the American girls won their medals only after scoring first in the overtime!

In the final, the Koreans took an early lead, but the Chinese came back in style, dominating the rest of the match, and taking gold deservedly.

Teamwork-themed triathlons

Triathlon stands for any kind of activity divided in three parts. For example: horse riding, horse lifting, and horse throw.

But the Brits cherish their traditions, so it was swimming, cycling, and running again. With a twist: slipstream is allowed during the Olympics. So basically your swim needed to be decent enough to get into the first group of 20-25, the cycle bared no importance at all, and the run decided the outcome. Weird stuff.

Awesome athletics

Oh, what a fantastic day yesterday was! A morning stroll through Camden Town, followed by the marathon in St. James Park, probably the best lunch of my life, and a night in the Olympic Stadium, starring Mr. Usain and... a guy who ran 100 metres 9,8s but didn't even get a medal! Quick recap below.

The closest I'll ever get to watching equestrian:

Unicycle?Asymmetrical umbrella? Do YOU go shopping in style?

Tatyana Petrova stayed sharp throughout the race, but Priscah Jeptoo ran like a blur:

Olympic Stadium baby:

Phiii, this time he didn't even do anything funny before crossing the line:

Humorous perambulations in Hyde Park

Lancaster Gate.

The 10 metres vertical dash finals.

Sochi 2014 mascot.

Prince Albert Memorial.

Africa Village.

Today's triathlon.

Brisk badminton

Sometimes I like watching people play badminton at work. But what I saw here seemed like a different sport altogether! Eight acrobats going full-steam for minutes without a single mistake, jumping and running as if they belonged to a different species, constantly alternating between playing defence through their own legs and jumping out of the gym to spike ferociously. If you ask me, BADMINTON stands for Bad-Ass Duracell Magicians Igniting Nifty Thunders Over the Net.

Bobby Moore looking good in purple!

The quintessential cheap seat I'm occupying at all arenas. In the back, Thailand-Malaysia and China-China. (At this point I'd like to point out to the gentleman shouting 'Go China' all the time that he might want to be more specific next time.)

The other two quarter-finals: Korea-Indonesia and Taipei-Denmark.

Wonderful weightlifting

Poland's first gold medal, and I was there! Woohoo!

 

 

Vibrant volleyball

Day 1: Australia - Great Britain & Brazil - Russia

The level difference between the two games was sad - or hilarious - depends how you look at it. The Brits got destroyed by what is the second or third worst team in the tournament, but the fans cheered wildly... at least once they were informed they won the point ;-P

Brazil looked like their good old selves though, the crisis is officially over! And once it was clear they were back to top shape, the mental advantage over the Russians could be felt throughout the arena. I pity the team to meet Canarinhos in the Quarters!

Day 3: Russia - Tunisia & Poland - Argentina

The Tunisians fought very very bravely, and actually almost stole a set, leading 16:12 at the second technical time-out in the third set. However, the sheer power and physicality of the Russians, including Dmitriy Muserskiy's 218 centimetres, proved too much eventually.

The second game was an amazing demonstration of the offensive style of the Polish team, starring big servers Ruciak, Jarosz, Winiarski, and of course Bartosz Kurek Superstar. All accompanied by deafening cheers from countless and colourful fans! Among them, albeit working hard, my first semi-celebrity encounter: Kuba Atys - one of Poland's leading sports photographers, and - as it turns out - a very nice and humble person too.

Turbulent Time Trial

Aaaaaaaargh, the Beijing deamons are coming back. Olympic blogging is a biatch. Before you go, all your words are utterly irrelevant. Once you're there, you're too freakin' busy!

Anywhooo. It was a fun day! In the morning I went to the Olympic Journey exhibition at the Royal Opera House, later headed to Hamptton Court to watch the cycling. Plus, the weather forecast had me soaking wet, and instead I got tanned actually!

It was really exciting too! Luis Leon Sanchez lost his chain 10cm into the race, Jack Bauer protected everybody from the evil, and Bradley Wiggins gave the Brits their long awaited gold medal. The rest of the pictures here.

I'm on a boat

No, I'm not. I'm on a train. Booooring, I know. Slept four hours, then took the first tram on the schedule, right after sunrise. The rest was a slightly crazy chain reaction: local train, Thalys, Eurostar. Netherlands, Belgium, France, UK. Now the good part is: I'll arrive at 10am local time! Just enough time to check in, eat, sleep siesta, maybe watch some basketball on the telly, have 5pm tea, and take a walk through Hyde Park to the see the first highlight: Brazil-Russia, volleyball men. Long story short: busy bee!

Of course I'm surrounded by a bunch of Dutch people so extremely orange it could present a health hazard, weren't my eyes properly trained over the last six years. 15 sleepy people in total, starring a family of five (the girls are 6, 6, and 2 years old!) and three guys offering me half of their tickets for my Athletics 100m men's final. I think I'll wait until they offer all their tickets and half a kingdom - should be any minute now!

Yep, I've decided: from now on, should I meet anybody I don't particularly like, I'll just ask them what they're doing on the 5th. Then I'll casually explain it's the third time in the row I'm gonna see that race. And that the Queen* will probably be there.

* - note to self: depending on the victim audience, substitute by Michelle Obama, Roger Federer, or Justin Bieber. Whichever is most likely to make them burst into tears. Muahahahaha!

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UPDATE: the above was written 18 hours ago. Did manage to sleep a bit and then watch my very first event! I'd even give you more details on first impressions and on how to say 'loser' in Russian, but it's probably been the longest day of my life. And tomorrow I'm outta town the whole day watching the cycling, so be patient. Good night, and good luck!

Some must lose so that others win

Agnieszka Radwanska, the biggest star of the Polish team, eliminated in the first round. Flag bearer curse strikes back! Incidentally, she was one of a total of eight tennis players sharing that privilege, starring Sharapova and Djokovic.

Fabian Cancellara was in the right break with great legs, Olympic gold seemed likely. Then he fell and injured his wrist badly. Still uncertain whether he'll be able to even start in the time trial, where his medal was absolutely guaranteed.

In volleyball, Italy got absolutely humiliated by Poland. But unlike the above examples, it was but a group game. Can they rise from their knees?

Sunday Schedule

14h30
USA - France, sacrebleu!

20h00
Cast Away 2

21h00
A gold medal in the relay to make him lose that frown.

Or not.

The King is dead

 Long live the King!

Holy cow, what a start!

The first medals have been given out 10 minutes ago, and Poland got one, wooooooohooooooooo! Yeah baby! Sylwia Bogacka took silver in 10m air rifle shooting! Gold and bronze went to China. Plus, both luckily and contrary to what I have written this morning, I have watched it live!

She even led with 3 shots to go, but then the top favourite started an incredible series of 10,7-10,8. (FYI, 10 is Wilhelm Tell, 10,5 is Robin Hood, and 11 is Chuck Norris.) Still, what a great result!

Yesterday is history, today is quality TV

To be quite honest, the Opening Ceremony was more entertaining that expected! The only parts I didn't like were the largely disinterested Her Majesty the Queen (but ok, she's 86), Muhammad Ali so sick he seemed not to know where he was (give the guy a break already), and maybe the somewhat lengthy procession with the Olympic Flag carried by Haile Gebrselassie and seven people you've never heard of.

The part I liked the most? Use in one show the Queen, Paul McCartney, Bradley Wiggins, Kenneth Branagh, David Beckham, Mike Oldfield, Mary Poppins, Steve Redgrave, James Bond, and JK Rowling, and still the simple yet brilliant Mr. Bean is what the world shall remember for years to come!

Now, with all due respect to the Opening Ceremony and Olympic football (yawn), today is the day we're really getting started! I'll try to watch every single final with the exception of shooting (triple yawn).

Approximate British times of the gold medal events:
Cycling 15h30-16h30
Judo 16h00-16h20
Weightlifting 16h30-17h30
Archery 18h00-18h30
Swimming 19h30-20h50
Fencing 19h40-20h10

And in case any Polish tennis fans are reading this:
11h30 Jans/Rosolska - Kirilenko/Pietrowa
13h30 Urszula Radwańska - Mona Barthel
13h30 Fyrstenberg/Matkowski - Ferrer/Lopez
15h30 Łukasz Kubot - Grigor Dimitrow

Well this is fun!