Summer Olympian

The big news this week for Human Interest Saturdays is of course the startling decision by Court of Arbitration for Sport to allow double amputee sprinter Oscar Pistorius the chance to qualify and compete in the Olympic…

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Last Tuesday the United States Olympic Committee brought in Chinese cultural experts to speak to about 35 athletes. Their message: “Be good ambassadors. Don’t do anything that would offend.” Our first thought was what did they really learn? We love learning what’s…

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Zara Phillips’ recent confirmation as a member of the five-person British equestrian team took no fan of the sport by surprise. She is the reigning world eventing - a rugged combination of equestrian’s three disciplines…

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Did you get your mother a card and some flowers for her special day? Well here’s another gift from the…

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While your watching the your favorite athlete at the Beijing Olympics this year the cameras will inevitably flash to his/her nervous parents. Maybe one of them has left their seat out of anxiety, maybe one has their eyes covered, or maybe they’re…

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Performance-enhancing drugs and the Olympics. The proverbial elephant in the room. Someone’s not afraid to talk about it and it’s none other than Victor Conte, head of the infamous Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative (Balco) lab and supplier to countless would-be cheaters. In…

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The Wall Street Journal has had the most thoughtful, insightful, and interesting Beijing Olympics coverage of any English language news source. Their nonpareil work continued today with this excellent Page One article about the Puerto Rican…

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What news could possibly emerge from the Men’s 10k Open Water World Championships that would top yesterday’s…

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South African Natalie du Toit qualified for the Beijing Olympic Games today in the 10 kilometer open water race after finishing fourth at…

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Not every Chinese-born Olympian will be competing for their birth country in Beijing. Dozens of competitors now living throughout the world will be making a homecoming during this years’ Olympics. In fact eight will…

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Beware 50m men’s freestyle johnny-come-latelies. The 33-year-old Gary Hall, Jr. is tanned, rested, and ready to return himself to the the…

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Now if you thought the Sunday New York Times’ front page article “Witness in Track Doping Case Is Ready to Name…

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Boxing’s second (and final) Americas Qualifier got started on Friday in Guatemala City, Guatemala with three American pugilists aiming to join their eight already-qualified teammates in Beijing.  In their first bout of the tourney middleweight Shawn Estrada picked up a decisive…

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The April 13 Sunday New York Times was a veritable indictment of Beijing 2008 and the Olympics movement. How bad could it have been? The front page upper left hand corner article’s title was ”

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Two weeks ago we wrote here at summerolympian.com about 58-year-old yachtsman John Dane III. He will be competing in the Olympics’s Star Boat sailing competition. At the time we were confident that he would be the oldest…

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