So the Olympics are over and many people are reflecting on the moments, good and bad, that made up the Games of the XXXth Olympiad.
The memories are still fresh so I have come up with a list of awards that I would give out for the things that stick out in my memory from the last two weeks.
Best celebration award:
Robert Harting of Germany did not hold back after securing the discus gold medal. Some of the highlights of the celebration included ripping his shirt off Incredible Hulk-style, attempting to jump the hurdles that were set up for the woman’s 100m hurdles final, trying to rip out one of the stems of the Olympic cauldron and partying aboard a German cruise ship that was docked in London.
Somewhere in the midst of all of that his accreditation was lost or stolen and he was denied access to the Olympic village when he eventually returned. No problem though, as he succumbed to the need for sleep, he curled up somewhere outside the village and got some rest.
Worst time keeper award:
In the women’s fencing epee semi-final, Shin A Lam of South Korea seemed to have won the match against Britta Heidemann of Germany. She had successfully defended against attacks by Heidemann when there was a break in the match with only 0.02 seconds left on the clock. The timekeeper somehow accidentally restarted the clock before she should have and the clock was then set back to one full second.
When the match restarted Heidemann got a touch in that one second and was handed the victory. It turns out the timekeeper was a young volunteer, so actually the blame should go to the officials who should have had an experienced timekeeper keeping time – it is the Olympics after all.
Best husband award:
The St Kitts and Nevis sprinter, Kim Collins, was kicked out of the Olympics by his country’s Olympic committee the day before his heats were due to start. His crime? Spending the night with his wife in a London hotel, although he did also apparently miss some minor things like training and registration for his event.
Biggest back flip award:
At the end of the fight in the quarter-final of the Judo men’s 66kg category between Ebinuma Masashi (Japan) and Cho Jun-Ho (South Korea), the officials raised their blue flags to indicate that Cho Jun-Ho was the winner. The crowd, mostly Japanese, and the Japanese coach then jumped into action, acting as if they were Collingwood fans who had just heard that they were merging with Carlton to make way for a team from Wagga Wagga.
The brains trust in charge of officiating then decided to have a video review of the match, they came back and over-turned the decision and all was well in the world again.
Biggest sorry about that award:
In the beginning of the woman’s football game between North Korea and Colombia, the North Korean players were introduced on the big screen with the flag of South Korea next to their faces. Considering the political tensions between the two countries this was a monumental blunder that prompted even the Prime Minister to offer up an apology.
Best gatecrasher award:
An Indian lady living in London who was part of the opening ceremony cast decided that, while she was there, she might as well join the Indian athletes on their opening ceremony parade. She might have gotten away with it had she not been walking at the front of the delegation wearing an attention-grabbing bright red shirt. Indian officials were not amused and the lady has since apologized.
Most relevant surname award:
Vania Stambolova gave a few people the giggles when she lined up in the women’s 400m hurdles heats and, when the race got underway, duly did the ‘stumble over’ that some of us secretly hoped to see. She probably wasn’t amused at what happened but I hope that she understands that for the rest of us, the humour of the situation was too much to bear.
Never mind I’ll just carry on award:
American men’s 400m relay runner Manteo Mitchell was running the first leg in the heats when his leg “felt weird”. He carried on and at the 200m mark he heard his leg break (his left fibula it was later confirmed).
Amazingly he found it within himself to carry on for the rest of the leg and pass the baton on to his teammate. They qualified for the next round.
Most obvious tanking award:
Watching the women’s badminton tournament became a complicated affair when teams started trying to lose games on purpose which caused other teams to try the same tactic, all to get more suitable games in the medal round.
It could have worked but they were too obvious about it and at the end of it all two South Korean teams along with one Chinese and one Indonesian team were disqualified for the tanking efforts.
Fellow Roarers, are there any other awards to add?
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