Welcome to the new Luso Lounge blog!
Let’s start this off with the topic that is on everyone’s minds these days… the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics! Just like every other American, I have been glued to my television screen every night (and day on the weekend) for the past week and half, watching… cheering… elated with joy when an American athlete wins yet another gold, silver, or even bronze medal – with America currently winning the medal race with 77 total medals to China’s 74 the last time I checked – but who’s counting! I find it truly amazing what these athletes can accomplish – as spoken by a woman with absolutely ZERO athletic ability – it’s just truly awesome!
Some obviously more awesome than others (and you know who I mean)… I want to tell you about a few of my personal favorites, starting off with none other than the incredible, Michael Phelps! This guy is totally unbelievable!!! He competed in a total of eight Olympic events, and went a perfect 8 wins for 8 gold medals, breaking Mark Spitz’s 1972 record of 7 gold medals in one Olympic Games. Michael swam a staggering seventeen times over nine days and broke the world record in four of his five individual swims, with his three relay teams also setting world records. Michael’s physique may look like that of a typical swimmer, but there is absolutely nothing typical about him – he stands 6-feet-7-inches tall with a wingspan three inches longer than his height, providing him with unusual reach, and his torso is long compared to his legs, enabling him to ride high on the water, and let’s not forget his size-14 feet which give him an unbelievably powerful kick. During the Olympics, Michael was quoted as saying, “eat, sleep and swim, that’s all I can do,” and judging by the AMOUNT he eats and swims… check out this web site for Michael’s Olympic diet (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7562840.stm)… it’s not surprising Michael Phelps will go down in history (at least in MY history) as the greatest American athlete – EVER! Congratulations Michael – and to the entire American swim team!
And speaking of GREAT athletes… let’s go to the beach, specifically, beach volleyball – seriously, one of my absolute favorite events to watch… especially when the competition involves my all around favorite female athletes, Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh! These girls are awesome! I’m just going to come out and say it, I think they are going to be the Olympic champions… no one can beat them! What are they on, their 107th consecutive win going into the gold medal match?! These girls are going for consecutive gold wins – and I have to say, I’ll be cheering them on all the way – go girls!!!
I could go on and on and on… with the abundance of talented American athletes competing in Beijing right now, it’s hard to select only a few to talk about. They are ALL amazing and unique in their own way – but I have to mention two more girls that have established a special place in my 2008 Summer Olympic Games memory – Nastia Liukin and Shawn Johnson, two of the most talented gymnasts in the world today. With having won the team silver, and Nastia and Shawn going on to win individual gold and silver respectively – not to mention gold, silver and bronze wins in their event finals, these young friends who make something so fundamentally difficult look so darn easy have truly earned their new titles as America’s gymnastic royalty!
And one more thing I have to mention – have any of you watched the trampoline event? Can I just say - Wow!!!
Feel free to email me any thoughts, questions, or suggestions on this topic or on any future topics you would like discussed on our new forum. The Luso blog is open to anything.
Thanks for reading - see you next time!
