World's Fastest Man

The individual who holds the title of World's Fastest Man is named Usain Bolt (Jamaica). Bolt?! Are you kidding me! Who plans this stuff? That's phenomenal.

In other Olympic news, congratulations to Michael Phelps for breaking the record of most Olympic golds both in a single Olympic games, and of all time. Yeesh.Now, for an Olympic rant. I've been hearing a lot of skepticism recently about the players who compose the Olympic basketball team. NBA players, primarily. Duh. Who else would we choose? They're the best basketball players in the country.But the argument is that the Olympics is a competition for amateurs, not paid professionals. (I've heard this from multiple people for multiple Olympics, for the record.) But let's think about this, folks. All Olympians are by no means all amateurs. A significant number of these athletes who are in the major events are paid athletes. Yes, some of them are young, high school or college students. Fair enough. However, just as many of them are professional, adult, paid athletes. For example, who cycled in the Olympics for two games? Lance Armstrong. Who played tennis in this 2008 Olympics? Federer, Nadal, the Williams sisters. Michael Phelps isn't making money working at McDonald's while simultaneously training to win 8 gold medals at once and perpetually breaking his own world records as an amateur. No. He is a full time swimmer and he makes the big bucks doing it. So why do the basketball players always get the heat? Soccer, tennis, sprinters, cyclists, swimmers, beach volleyball stars--they are all full time athletes. They are professionals. So back up off Kobe, man! He's got skillz! Why shouldn't the basketball team also be composed of the best players in the country? It should. And it is.

4x100 medley relay

Jade Edmistone is an Australian breaststroke swimmer, who is the current world Adolph Gustav Kiefer was an American swimmer and the 4x100 medley relay first man in the world to swim 100 yards backstroke under 1 minute. Frank Edward McKinney Jr. was a backstroke swimmer from the United States. Christopher John Fydler is a former freestyle swimmer from Australia, who competed in three consecutive Summer Olympics for his native country, starting in 1992. Medley Relay event at the 2000 Summer Olympics was held in Sydney, Australia, on September 23, 2000. Ashley Callus is an Australian sprint freestyle swimmer, who won a gold medal in the 4 x 100 m freestyle relay at the 2000 Sydney Olympics. Roland Mark Schoeman is a South African swimmer and a member of the 2004 Olympic Games swimming team for South Africa. born Australian swimmer. Klim was first selected to represent Australia in the Commonwealth Games in Victoria, Canada in 1994, while still a student at Wesley College, Melbourne. In 1996, he arrived at the Atlanta Olympics ranked first in the world for. Bradley Darrell Schumacher is a former freestyle swimmer from the United States, who won two gold medals as a member of the US Men's Relay Teams at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia John Devitt was an Australian sprint freestyle swimmer of the 1960s, who won a gold medal in the 100 m freestyle at the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome. Giaan Leigh Rooney OAM is an Australian swimmer who won a gold medal in world record time with her teammates Leisel Jones, Petria Thomas, and Jodie Henry at the Athens Olympics in the Women's 4 x 100 metre Medley Relay. Vladimir Valeryevich Salnikov is a Russian former swimmer who competed for the USSR and set 12 world records in the 400 medley relay. Enter your search terms. Submit search form. Web. www.zdnet.co.za. not found. Swimming events at the 2000 Summer Olympics Freestyle 50 m men women 100 m men women 200 m men women 400 m men women 800 m women 1500 m men Backstroke 100 m men women. Ed Moses is an American swimmer who won gold and silver medals at the 2000 Summer Olympics. Petria Ann Thomas OAM is an Australian swimmer and Olympic gold medallist and a winner of 15 national titles.

The world record marathon time

The world record time for men over the distance is 2 hours 4 minutes and 26 seconds, set in the Berlin Marathon by Haile Gebrselassie of Ethiopia

The Marathon Distance

Olympic Special: 100 Years of the Marathon Distance
Stefano Baldini achieved Olympic marathon glory in Athens. © www.photorun.net
Even at the first modern Olympic Games in 1896, the marathon was the cornerstone of track and field competition. But what is today the classic distance of 26.2 miles (42.195 kilometers) was not run for the first time until the 1908 Olympics in London.
How this odd distance came about is linked—however strange it may seem—to the eruption of Vesuvius in 1906. The 1908 Olympics were originally to take place in Rome, not London. But the volcano’s eruption, which led to widespread destruction around the Italian capital, meant that the Italians had to give up the Games. Berlin was a candidate, but the German capital at that time did not possess the necessary sports facilities. So the British moved to fill the gap.
In previous Olympics, the marathon had been around 40 kilometers rather than a fixed distance, and if the Games had been held in Rome, the 1908 version would also have been 40 kilometers. In London, however, the seemingly arbitrary distance of 42.195 kilometers was run, principally because of the British royal family. At that time the course was measured back from the entrance to the Olympic stadium, 40 kilometers went as far as Eton. But the start was supposed to be directly in front of the east terrace of Windsor Castle so that the royal family could enjoy the view, so the distance became 42 kilometers.
That wasn’t the end of the matter. Another adjustment was needed in the Olympic stadium so that the finish would be in front of the royal box. So another 195 meters were added to reach what eventually became the standard distance.
The new distance, however, didn’t become universally accepted immediately. The International Olympic Committee didn’t decide until 1914 that a marathon should be 42 kilometers. After the course in Amsterdam in 1920 was extended to 42.75 kilometers, the debate began again. It was ultimately the world record committee of the International Athletics Federation, founded in Berlin in 1913, that decided in 1921 that the distance should henceforth be 42.195K.
The 1908 Olympic Marathon is memorable not only because of its distance. In fact, if the course had not been extended by 195 meters to the royal box, the winner would not have been John Hayes of the U.S., but Italy’s Dorando Pietri.
In torrid heat the Italian had been the longtime leader and was first into the stadium. On his last legs, he ran the wrong way. After officials pointed him in the right direction, he collapsed, got up and continued to stumble towards the finish line. Time and again, Pietri fell. As his nearest rival, Hayes, reached the stadium, the officials led the Italian across the finish line, which, naturally, led to his disqualification. Hayes, in 2:55:18, was pronounced the gold medalist.

NBA TEAMS BANNED FROM SIGNING IRANIAN 7-FOOTER

According to Yahoo! Sports, the NBA has sent a letter to all 30 teams informing them they are FORBIDDEN from signing 7′ 2″ center Hamed Ehadadi of Iran. Ehahadadi was reportedly close to signing a deal with the Memphis Grizzlies.
Unfortunately, there is a federal law which prohibits “a person or organization in the United States from engaging in business dealings with Iranian nationals.”
Ehadadi has looked great for the Iranian team in the Olympics. He had 21 points and 16 rebounds against Argentina on Saturday.

Michael Phelps Won his 8th gold MEDAL!!!

Holy cracker jacks. I just witnessed history! Michael Phelps has just broken the record and won his 8th gold medal. Seriously, I was sitting on the edge of my seat. I know nothing about swimming or much about sports but oh my god that was truly amazing. The man is like a dolphin or something! Are they sure he doesn’t have webbed feet??? I along with probably most of the world are in disbelief. His face when he saw he won was priceless as I’m sure mine would if I had just accomplished such a feat. His single mother, was seen in the crowd with shock and disbelief as well. I tip my hat off to you Michael as does the rest of the world. You deserve it. Now what happens when people tell you to go for the gold? You can simply tell them you already did (^_^) Michael Phelps you are officially on my “List of People to Meet in my Life”. God Bless you and congrats!

Phelps equals Spitz's gold medal record

American Michael Phelps won his seventh gold on Saturday in the Men's 100m Butterfly final at the National Aquatics Center, to equal Mark Spitz (USA) as the only person ever to have won seven gold medals at a summer Olympic Games.
But Phelps had to survive a big scare from unheralded Serbian Milorad Cavic to do it.
Phelps won in an Olympic record time of 50.58, to take his gold medal tally to seven, but by the slimmest of margins - 0.01 seconds. He had a huge battle on his hands after Cavic touched first on the 50m mark at 0.09sec under the world record.
Phelps and Cavic battled it out in the last 50m. A monumental upset looked to be approaching - until Phelps dug deep and out-touched Cavic on the wall.
Cavic finished with the silver medal in a time of 50.59.
Australia's Andrew Lauterstein won the bronze medal in 51.12. World record holder Ian Crocker of the United States swam in fourth place at 51.13.

Giovinco: ‘The Italian Messi’

This summer one of Europe’s finest young talents will be strutting his stuff at the Beijing Olympics as part of the Italian national side. The youngster’s name is Sebastian Giovinco and if you haven’t heard of him yet, you soon will.

The 21-year-old is a Juventus player but spent last season on loan at fellow Serie A club Empoli where he certainly caught the eye. At 5 ft 4, the attacking midfielder is nicknamed the ‘Atomic Ant’ and for what he lacks in size, he more than makes up for in ability. Despite the youngster having played just 3 senior matches (1 start) for the Juventus first team, he is held in extremely high regard by the club and particularly the fans.

A recent contract dispute with the club led to a fans protest as it was suggested that Arsenal were to set to move for the player with Robin Van Persie perhaps heading to Turin. A poll launched on the Juve fans vecchiasignora.com website ended with a staggering 89.5% voting in favour of snubbing a potential Van Persie player-exchange offer for Giovinco from the Gunners. This shouldn’t be too much of a surprise as the wonderkid has been hailed as the future of the club and heir to club legend Alessandro Del Piero.