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Torch Lit, World Records Fall

Posted March 25, 2008 at 02:07 PM by Michael J. Sedor

Section: Beijing 2008, Beijing News, Beijing Results, Opening Ceremon., Culture/History, Olympic History, Socio-Political, Events, Aquatics, Columns/Blogs, Michael Sedor

Temple of Hera, Olympia The Olympic torch was lit yesterday in Olympia, Greece site of the Temple of Hera and the legendary birth of the Olympic Games. A bombastic ceremony of Greek actors in ancient costume lit the torch and passed it along while Jacques Rogge, the head of International Olympic Committee, blathered on about sport uniting humanity in a peaceful environment while a few determined protesters - they had found their way to the ceremony through a cordon of 1,000 police officers - waved flags and reminded Rogge of the Tibet-related violence. It all sounds rather farcical. Actors dressed as gods, god-like chairman unaware of the dissenting masses and sure of his own rightness (corrupt as it may be), phalanx of policemen to reinforce chairman’s delusions, phalanx fails, imagined perfect scenario ruined, and in the next day’s news the headlines stress the protest rather than the ceremony. Great work IOC. Possible preview of Beijing? Let’s hope not.

Once the torch was set afire it passed from Greek actress priestess to a Greek javelin thrower Costas Gatzioudis. Couldn’t he have been on security duty? Gatzioudis then passed to Russian Alexander Popov, the legendary swimmer whose eight-year-old world record 50m freestyle record fell one month ago to Australian Eamon Sullivan and then again last weekend to Frenchmen Alain Bernard. Popov was, famously, one of the last racers to wear only the skimpy Speedo briefs and not the full-body, drag reducing Great Gatsby-ish costumes which are now the standard. While bearing the Olympic flame Popov must have been thinking “Where can I get one of those seamless, NASA-built, super-fast Speedo LZR swimsuits? I really need to get back in the pool again. My record needs avenged. GET ME ONE OF THOSE SUITS!”

He wouldn’t be alone in his thoughts. The suits have wrecked havoc on swimming record the world over. In the last 24 hours three more world records have fallen. On the last day of the 2008 European Swimming Championship Holland’s Marleen Veldhuis took world record ownership from her countrywoman Inge de Bruijn with a time of 24.09 in the 50m free. In the 400m women’s freestyle Italian Federica Pellegrini lowered the world record by an amazing 0.2 of second with a time of 4:01.53. Meanwhile, at the 2008 Telstra Australian Swimming Championships Stephanie Rice grabbed the 200m IM mark to go with the 400m IM world record she set on Saturday.

The 19-year-old Rice is also one half of swimming’s most famous couple. Her lesser half: former 50m world holder Eamon Sullivan, of course. The Australian press has begun calling them “Steamon” and has declared that they are the first couple to jointly hold world records since some East German pair in the 70’s. “Well. not anymore,” we say with glee. Really, it’s hard to sympathize with these two. They’re beautiful, they’re happy, they’re on top of the world, they might well have been the inspiration for the Pavement B-side “I Love Perth”. Quoting Malkmus “You’re gorgeous, I’m pretty handsome too, We make a pair, Me and you forever on and on.” Which makes they’re bitter venom for American Gary Hall, Jr. strange. Don’t they already have it all? Nevertheless, after setting her world record Rice said “He’ll probably be like, ‘oh, the power couple are on drugs.’ Who knows? It’s all crap.”

Sources:
Torch Lighting: BBC News (protesters); BBC News (pomp and circumstance)
Swimming Power Couple: Sydney Morning Herald article “All Hail the King and Queen of the Pool”

Photo courtesy of Matěj Baťha via Wikipedia.