Tuesday, August 12, 2008
"The Americans? We're going to sm ash them. That's what we came here for. If the relay goes according to plans, then we'll be on a roll."
-- French swimmer Alain Bernard
Roll? Make that a croissant to go, Monsieur Trash-talk.
Hard to say which was more fun, seeing the U.S. 4x100-meter relay team win in such dramatic fashion or seeing the French team lose in such dramatic fashion.
No it's not. Number Deux. Way more fun.
Quel pusses on the French team when Jason Lezak used his Midas touch to give the U.S. team a gold medal -- and Michael Phelps his second.
"Obviously, I've lost big time," Bernard told Eurosport. "But my disappointment has not gone away. . . . As the world record holder, I was naturally expecting to touch the wall first."
Then as the world record holder, Choque-Monsieur, I guess you were sadly disappointed.
But then Bernard ruins it by being somewhat humble, an almost unbelievable feat for an astonishingly cut, not unattractive Frenchman in a loincloth.
"When your teammates have given you a meter's lead, you naturally want to reach the wall first," he continued. "Certainly, the Americans were better and stronger than I. Maybe we had a little bad luck. But we still have a nice silver medal. That's not too shabby."
Well, Alain, it's un peu shabby.
After un matin joyeux, things took a decided turn for the worse. Scott Parsons failed to advance in men's whitewater kayak after incurring a 50-second penalty on the second run. Katie Hoff is still chasing her first gold medal. Gary Russell Jr.: reluctant trendsetter for Washington area athletes?
Sadam Ali was knocked out of the boxing tournament; the synchronized divers fell short of a medal. The cross-country portion dealt a blow to the eventing team.
But Tina Thompson scored 27 as the U.S. women's basketball team beat China, and Corey Cogdell, an Alaskan who began hunting as a toddler, won a surprising bronze in trap shooting.
Best of all, while it was overcast yesterday -- we dimly recall seeing the sun a week ago Sunday -- it was dry and after Sunday night's rain cleared out Beijing's pollution we finally got a gift better than any gold medal: oxygen.
Mon Dieu.
-- Tracee Hamilton
Quote of the Day
"Now I have lots of work ahead as he is the country's most eligible bachelor."
Babli Bindra, mother of Abhinav Bindra, India's first gold medal winner, told Reuters
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