{"id":432,"date":"2008-08-14T04:07:14","date_gmt":"2008-08-14T09:07:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.teamcrossworld.com\/running\/?p=432"},"modified":"2008-08-13T22:08:01","modified_gmt":"2008-08-14T03:08:01","slug":"true-olympic-spirit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.teamcrossworld.com\/running\/2008\/true-olympic-spirit\/","title":{"rendered":"True Olympic Spirit"},"content":{"rendered":"

So far there has been a lot of great competition in the 29th Olympiad. For me this is the first Olympics where I have seen any controversy or even thought about boycotting the Olympics. Ultimately, after reading comments from both current and former Olympians about the decision I think the world has made the right choice to not boycott.<\/p>\n

Yes, China has a lot of policies that are really messed up and harmful to many people around the world. Every country has some policies that someone would vehemently disagree with, but the Olympics are about overcoming.\u00a0 Overcoming adversity to triumph.\u00a0 Overcoming fear and getting personal goals.\u00a0 Overcoming politics and creating peace and unity.\u00a0 The theme for this year’s Olympics is One World, One Dream<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\"Yao

Yao Ming & Lin Hao<\/p><\/div>\n

I’ll step off my soap box and highlight some great stories about the Olympics and Olympians.<\/p>\n

1) Opening Ceremony<\/strong> was pretty sweet – lots of colors, emotions, and powerful stories about the flag bearers. Including the story about Lin Hao, one of the students in May’s deadly earthquake in China.\u00a0 According to the reports<\/a>, this little guy pulled 2 classmates out of the school building.<\/p>\n

2) Lopez Lomong<\/strong> has an amazing story<\/a>. He was selected by the US Olympic Team Captains to carrying the red, white, and blue into the Olympic stadium.\u00a0 You probably have heard this but he was a “Lost Boy” from Sudan. He literally ran for his life to flee the terrible violence that has killed millions.\u00a0 He arrived here and has built a great running reputation.<\/p>\n

3) Sudanese Athletes<\/strong> are competing and trying to overcome the violence in Darfur. Training with logs, boulders, and paint cans several athletes are in contention for medals, including Abubaker Kaki Khamis in the 800m. From the Washington Post:<\/p>\n

“We see this as an opportunity to bring us together and lift up the country,” said [Abdullah] Nyala [Sudanese 1500 meter runner], whose parents are farmers in Darfur. “We have all tribes on the team, and there is no problem.”<\/p>\n

“I’ve got nothing to do with the government,” Nyala said. “I’m running for Sudan, I’m running for the whole country, and I’m also doing it for myself.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

4) Ryan Hall<\/strong> has an amazing story and I am a big fan.\u00a0 I’m sure you have heard about him! Runner’s World <\/a>recently did a great spread about him. As did The New Yorker<\/a>. He is a solid athlete and a medal contender in the marathon.<\/p>\n

Lots of information is available at NBC’s website<\/a>. Track events start Friday, Aug 17. The USATF has a lot of information at their site <\/a>as well, including a complete roster with bios about most of the athletes.\u00a0 The Final Sprint<\/a> has and will have more information and stories about athletes and “live coverage”. Finally, Down the Backstretch, a Minnesota focused blog has a list of some great links to follow Olympic coverage (the links focus on more than just Minnesotans!)<\/p>\n

[tags] Olympics, Sudan, China, USATF [\/tags]<\/p>\n

\"Reblog<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

So far there has been a lot of great competition in the 29th Olympiad. For me this is the first Olympics where I have seen any controversy or even thought about boycotting the Olympics. Ultimately, after reading comments from both current and former Olympians about the decision I think the world has made the right […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[40,8],"tags":[91,139,138,141,137,75,694,146,140],"class_list":["post-432","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-olympics","category-usatf","tag-2008-summer-olympics","tag-beijing-olympics","tag-china","tag-lopez-lomong","tag-olympiad","tag-olympic-games","tag-olympics","tag-sudan","tag-yao-ming"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4iaAv-6Y","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":494,"url":"https:\/\/www.teamcrossworld.com\/running\/2008\/athletes-for-darfur\/","url_meta":{"origin":432,"position":0},"title":"Athletes for Darfur","author":"crossn81","date":"August 27, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"The Olympics are officially over now, so this post may be a little outdated. However, the topic is still worth talking about, at least in my opinion.\u00a0 China had a long list of reasons why it maybe should not have been the host for the Olympics this year, most surrounding\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Charity"","block_context":{"text":"Charity","link":"https:\/\/www.teamcrossworld.com\/running\/category\/charity\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.savedarfur.org\/page\/-\/TorchRun\/mimages\/images\/SS_dream.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":243,"url":"https:\/\/www.teamcrossworld.com\/running\/2008\/olympic-medals-or-olympic-spirit\/","url_meta":{"origin":432,"position":1},"title":"Olympic Medals or Olympic Spirit?","author":"crossn81","date":"May 13, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Do you think it is more important for the US to bring home lots of hardware (medals) from the 2008 Olympics or should we focus on having athletes with character who compete at their physical limits - legally? Vote in the poll at the right or leave a thought in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Olympics"","block_context":{"text":"Olympics","link":"https:\/\/www.teamcrossworld.com\/running\/category\/olympics\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":319,"url":"https:\/\/www.teamcrossworld.com\/running\/2008\/olympic-trials-follow-up\/","url_meta":{"origin":432,"position":2},"title":"Olympic Trials Follow-up","author":"crossn81","date":"July 22, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"It seems like a lot of time has passed since the Olympic Track Trials ended a few weeks ago and we now find ourselves about halfway between their ending and the beginning of the actual Olympic games.\u00a0 For the athletes there is still a lot of training to accomplish for\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Olympics"","block_context":{"text":"Olympics","link":"https:\/\/www.teamcrossworld.com\/running\/category\/olympics\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.beijing2008.cn\/upload\/cms_owrp2\/column_en\/08new_beijing_logo.gif?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":201,"url":"https:\/\/www.teamcrossworld.com\/running\/2008\/smogs-impact-on-running\/","url_meta":{"origin":432,"position":3},"title":"Smog’s Impact on Running","author":"crossn81","date":"March 12, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"We've heard lots about the impact of smog on the environment and that there really is no upside to having smog around. Here in the USA we've done a decently good job at beginning to reduce smog - especially in metro areas. We aren't smog-free by any means but some\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Health"","block_context":{"text":"Health","link":"https:\/\/www.teamcrossworld.com\/running\/category\/health\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.olympic.org\/common\/images\/games\/beijing\/logo_beijing.gif?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":483,"url":"https:\/\/www.teamcrossworld.com\/running\/2008\/can-you-be-an-olympian\/","url_meta":{"origin":432,"position":4},"title":"Can You Be An Olympian?","author":"crossn81","date":"August 28, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Two average guys, Dennis and Christian decided as part of the 5 in 5 Challenge that they would see how they fared against Olympic athletes in 5 different events. You can read more about it at the 5in5.com blog. The 5 events were: 100m freestyle, 100m dash, 110m hurdles, long\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Olympics"","block_context":{"text":"Olympics","link":"https:\/\/www.teamcrossworld.com\/running\/category\/olympics\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/5-in-5.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/07\/olympic-pic.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":107,"url":"https:\/\/www.teamcrossworld.com\/running\/2007\/olympic-trials-triumph-and-tragedy\/","url_meta":{"origin":432,"position":5},"title":"Olympic Trials: Triumph and Tragedy","author":"crossn81","date":"November 7, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"In an amazing performance early Saturday morning, Ryan Hall shattered the Olympic Marathon Trials record in an amazing 6 mile breakaway to finish in 2:09:02 (4:55).\u00a0 He finished over 2 minutes ahead of his soon to be teammate Dathan Ritzenhein who broke away and finished in 2:11:07 (5:00).\u00a0 Third place\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Olympics"","block_context":{"text":"Olympics","link":"https:\/\/www.teamcrossworld.com\/running\/category\/olympics\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.teamcrossworld.com\/running\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/432","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.teamcrossworld.com\/running\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.teamcrossworld.com\/running\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.teamcrossworld.com\/running\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.teamcrossworld.com\/running\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=432"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.teamcrossworld.com\/running\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/432\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":443,"href":"https:\/\/www.teamcrossworld.com\/running\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/432\/revisions\/443"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.teamcrossworld.com\/running\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=432"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.teamcrossworld.com\/running\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=432"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.teamcrossworld.com\/running\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=432"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}