2008 Olympics: The aftermath
After 16 days of fierce competitions, the 2008 Beijing Olympics is finally over.
This would be the closing curtain to our posts here, here and here.
In the overall medal count, we have the United States, beating China by a couple of medals (ten), followed by Russia at third. However team China has more gold medals with 51 against the United States’ 36.
Top five countries by Overall medal count: USA – 110 medals (36-38-36); China – 100 medals (51-21-28); Russia – 72 medals (23-21-28); Britain – 47 medals (19-13-15); Australia – 46 medals (14-15-17). The top three are expected, the big surprise here is Britain’s haul of 47 medals, their best showing in recent Olympics.
Winners on this year’s edition of the Olympics are bannered by Michael Phelps. The swimmer who set the record for most gold medals in a single Olympics with eight. He is now the most medalled individual in Olympic history, with his haul of eight total medals in the last Olympics and this one in Beijing. But his medal haul may not end at this one, since he still has the 2012 London games.
Jamaica’s Usain Bolt was also a sensation in athletics. He brought home 3 gold medals for his country and a couple of records as well.
Tennis superstars also strut their stuff. Rafael Nadal brought home to Spain, the singles gold medal in his victory over Fernando Gonzalez. Roger Federer, the World No. 2 player (being unseated by Nadal), together with his doubles partner S. Wawrinka captured the gold medal in the doubles competition. We’ll see more of these superstars in the 2008 U.S. Open.
There were also a couple of firsts in this year’s edition of the Olympics. For the first time, there was no US boxer who made it in the finals. It settled for a lone bronze in the boxing competitions.
Asian countries fared well in this year’s Olympics. Of course, led by China’s haul of 100 total medals. South Korea came in second (13-10- 8 ) followed by Japan (9-6-10). Singapore won its first medal in 48 years and Malaysia took a silver. Afghanistan, though affected by war, worn its first medal ever, a bronze courtesy of taekwondo. India on the other, had its first share of an individual gold, courtesy of shooting.
And of course the highlight, the Basketball competitions. In Women’s Basketball, Team USA won the gold medal against the Lauren Jackson led Australian team, 92-65. A good treat for Lisa Leslie’s last stint in the Olympics. Russia took home the bronze with a win over China, 94-81.
In Men’s Basketball, Argentina took home the bronze with its win over Lithuania, 87-75. In the absence of the injured Manu Ginobili (sustained during the semifinal match up with the USA), NBA players, Carlos Delfino and Luis Scola tookover. In the finals, the US Redeem team won the gold after beating Spain, 118-107. The contest was closely fought with Spain inching to as close as two points in the waning seconds of the game. At the start of the game, US superstars Kobe Bryant and Lebron James went into early foul trouble but the team slowly picked up steam with Dwayne Wade coming off the bench and scoring 21 first half points en route to a team high 27 at the end of the game. Kobe Bryant made 20 and LeBron James 14. NBA players also led Spain, with Rudy Fernandez scoring 22, Pau Gasol contributed 21.
With the win, the USA finally ended an eight year drought of gold medal in international competitions. The team is still young and with ages 22-24, most of the core of this team may be back to defend the title in the 2012 London games. Spain also has its share of young talented players with Ricky Rubio, the 17 year old sensation and Pau’s brother, Marc Gasol, which is also due to play in the next NBA season for Memphis. This may be a start of an Olympic rivalry in Men’s Basketball so watch out.
To all the winners, congratulations. And to the losers, it’s back to the drawing board once again. Time to regroup, plan and practice.
It’s still a long way to go for the next Olympics.
See you then at the 2012 London Games.
[...] sure Michael Phelps would be there with what he did in the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Roger Federer also made some sort of [...]
Guinness Book of World Records 2009 « In-sight said this on September 17, 2008 at 11:31 am |