Saturday, August 21, 2004

Olympic flashes

I feel sorry for the woman living with this name: Loudy Tourky. (She's an Israeli-born platform diver competing on the Australian team.)

Unfortunately, age and craftiness don't always win: Witness the travails of 37-year-old sprinter Gail Devers in the women's 100 meters, and of 31-year-old swimmer Jenny Thompson in the women's 50-meter freestyle.

Needs a Double-Cheese Whopper in the worst way: Beach volleyball star Kerri Walsh stands six-three and weighs just about that many pounds.

I believe he can fly: Shawn Crawford laid down a smokin' 9.89 100 meters. And that was just the semifinals.

The whiff of overconfidence: Seemed like pole vaulter Stacy Dragila thought she could breeze through the qualifying rounds just by tossing her pole onto the field. Sorry, kid — you actually have to come ready to compete.

Have to root for: Sprinter Lauryn Williams, whose father traveled all the way to Athens to see her compete, despite a battle with leukemia that requires him to undergo frequent kidney dialysis. I'm glad Lauryn won a silver medal in personal-best time to make her dad proud.

I wanna be a rock star: Swedish heptathlete Carolina Kluft — now there's a cool name — cracked me up with her pump-up-the-crowd moves. It ain't showboating if you can back it up, and she did, winning the multi-skill competition handily.

White men can run: Shades-sporting, bling-bling-flashing Jeremy Wariner made it look easy in the semis of the men's 400 meters. He and teammates Otis Harris and Derrick Brew — another name you've gotta love — could sweep the medals in this event on Monday.

White women can run, too: Wow — Yuliya Nesterenko from Belarus can really scoot.

"Are you sure?": American diver Sara Hildebrand couldn't believe she made the cut for the finals.

Good runner, great kitchen gadget: LaTasha Colander, who finished last in the women's 100-meter finals.

The Stepford diver: Is it just me, or is there something unidentifiably creepy about Laura Wilkinson?

You have to know how the Dutch swimmer's surname is pronounced to get the joke: What can Inge de Bruijn do for you?

1 insisted on sticking two cents in:

Blogger Joel offered these pearls of wisdom...

I'm getting LOTS of names for future books. Thanks!

11:01 AM  

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