Are you watching the Olympics? Which sports are your favorite? I have always loved diving and gymnastics, but this year, I am looking forward to watching running of all distances. I feel a little at a disadvantage since every bit of Olympic news on the TV is in German! My German is getting better, but I don’t have the patience for this! *sigh*
This year, three athletes have caught my eye. Two just happened upon me, and the third was a choice.
Roman Sludnov: Russian Swimmer
Definitely most excited about this athlete. I know him personally: He was a student in my first ever Writing I for Non-Native Speakers of English class. And he was bright. He had some typical Russian-speaker-learning-English problems, but his complex ideas beyond his years impressed me. Roman was generally quiet in class, but when he did speak up, he was either funny or brilliant. He challenged me as a teacher.
Roman broke a very important world record, swimming the 100 meter breaststroke in under a minute for the first time ever.
See his Olympic profile here.
Zuzana Tomas: Slovakian Marathon Runner
My friend M told me about Zuzana when she visited in May, but I had sorta forgotten about her until I visited M’s blog the other day and spent some time reading about her Vocal Beauty Boot Camp experience. I noticed the links on the side and “The Most Famous Runner I Know” caught my eye. I was already planning on watching the Olympic marathon, but now I’ll be cheering for someone I kind of know (think six degrees of separation) Run, Zuzana, Run!
Read her personal blog here.
See her Olympic profile here.
Marcel Tschopp: Liechtenstein marathon runner
Unlike the other athletes I’ve written about, I don’t have a personal connection to Herr Tschopp. I found him through a Mashable article shared with me via Google Reader, 18 Smaller Olympic Countries to Root For. I chuckled at the author’s family tradition of adopting an athlete from a small country (small defined as “a country that isn’t sending more then 1 or 2 athletes). But as I read on, I started to like the idea. The list showed me that “track and field” brings lots of solo athletes to the Olympics. But I wanted to find an athlete whose sport I already knew. When I found marathon runner Tschopp, from neighboring tiny country Liechtenstein (whose capital I visited in 1999), I knew I had found my other athlete to follow. Maybe you should look at Mashable’s list too.
See his Olympic profile here.
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by Linden
12 Aug 2008 at 11:19
@lifestudent: Cool! I didn’t know all that about Phelps, and I’ve gained some new respect for him. You should check out the Olympic marathoner I kinda know’s latest post: She was there, as in at the arena!!! when Phelps set his world records yesterday!
by lifestudent
11 Aug 2008 at 13:45
Ohhh, new looking page :) I can give-or-take the olympics. Originally I was a bit p.o.’d by all the Phelps talk…like he is some god. Then I saw some interviews, and all this info on how he submits to every drug test out there and has voluntarily enrolled in a program to test doping, and I changed my mind a bit. Then watching some of his events made me like him a bit more. I dont think one person should get all the glory…but this guy is a bit of a stud.