The 2012 Summer Olympic Top 5 Performances

I admit it – I am an Olympics junkie. I usually eschew the television and the mindless waste of time that comes with it, but I am a weak, weak man when the Olympics come around every couple of years (Winter and Summer). I have also decided that I pretty much love watching any of the sports, except maybe boxing or rhythmic gymnastics. The folks at NBC will be glad to know that even though I know the outcomes (it is pretty hard to avoid the results if you get on the internet at all during the daytime), I still like watching the tape-delayed events. One thing NBC will probably not be too happy with is that this time around, we are watching everything on DVR, which has been wonderful. We can skip all the commercials, interviews, and other segments we are not interested in and jump right to the actual events. It has freed up considerable time in the evening so that instead of devoting 4 or 5 hours lounging in front of Bob Costas and the rest of NBC’s cast of merry commentators, the Olympics now only has to consume about an hour or so of our evening.

Overall, the games have been competitive, well-played, and enjoyable, with many performances that could have made this list. It was difficult to narrow the performances down to the best ones, which is why there was a tie for number five. At any rate, I usually start the Top 5 list with Honorable Mentions, but for this edition, there were some athletes who stood out for the wrong reasons.

DIS–Honorable Mention:

• Usain Bolt , who is  electrifying when he runs, but not when he opens his mouth. I cannot stand his boasting, egoism, and finger wagging.
• South African swimmer Cameron van der Burgh, who admitted he cheated when he won the gold medal in the 100-meter breaststroke, but he rationalized it by saying most of the swimmers are doing the same thing. Swimmers are only allowed one “dolphin-kick” after they push off the wall on their turn, but video replay shows he took three.
• Cheap shot basketball players: Argentina guard Facundo Campazzo, who purposely hit US forward Carmelo Anthony in the groin while Anthony was shooting a 3-pointer during the Americans’ 126-97 victory.  Not to be outdone, French forward Nicolas Batum punched Spain guard Juan Carlos Navarro below the belt so that Navarro “would have a good reason to flop.”

Had to add some Honorable Mentions, especially after my mother pointed out the Top 5 were all Americans:

• Mo Farrah, Great Britain — He literally lit up the home crowd at Olympic Stadium by winning both the 5K and 10K gold medals. The Brits were going berserk in the crowd. My fastest 5K is just over 24 minutes, he ran it in 13:41. The look on his face as he crossed the finish line is just priceless.
• David Rudisha, Kenya — led from start to finish and won the 800-meter gold medal in a dominating track performance. Britain’s own Sebastian Coe called it the “top effort of the games,” and it was pretty cool to watch.
• Oscar Pistorius, South Africa — ran in both the 400-meter and 4X400-meter relay despite losing both legs below the knee when he was a baby. Not only is it much more mechanically inefficient to run with his prosthetics, he has severe blisters and sores on both leg stumps due to the intense friction.
• Bryshon Nellum, USA — won a silver medal with the US Men’s 4X400 relay team after doctors told him he would never run competitively at a world-class level again. He was the victim of mistaken identity when shot by gang members in a drive-by shooting near the USC campus. Both legs were shot, and he required 3 surgeries to repair the damage, the last surgery occuring just one year ago.

5. US Women’s Soccer or US Women’s Water Polo Teams or US Women’s Indoor Volleyball – It is too bad the soccer and water polo gold medal matches were on at pretty much the same time. It reminded me of the NCAA Basketball Tournament where everything kind of stops at work while the games were being played. Great for patriotism, not so good for productivity.

4. Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh Jennings – The beach volleyball gold medal game ended up being USA (Misty and Kerri) vs USA (April Ross and Jen Kessy). When one of the kids asked my wife which team we were cheering for, she said the old ones, of course. Plus, they didn’t have to hug each other after every single point. What a way to finish an amazing career for Misty and Kerri with a gold medal for the third straight Olympics, during which they only ever lost one set en route to those three gold medals.

3. Jordyn Wieber and Gabby Douglas – There is a lot of pressure that comes with Olympic competition, but even more when you are the favorite to win. Poor Jordyn made a few costly errors and barely missed out qualifying for the Individual All-Around Finals to her two teammates. As the two-time defending World Champion, Jordyn was the heavy favorite to win the gold, but didn’t get a chance. It was heart-wrenching to watch her try and compose herself while waiting to be interviewed after the qualifying round, but she pulled herself together and performed well the following night to help win the gold for the US Team All-Around. Also, hats off to Gabby Douglas for her stellar performance winning the gold medal in the Individual All-Around instead of Jordyn Wieber. She looked like a champion despite her hair controversy, and she won with dignity.

2. Michael Phelps – Somebody will break his medals record someday, but not for a long while. As far as swimmers go, he is the Michael Jordan or Wayne Gretzky of the water, and what an amazing opportunity to watch history as he raced in his last Olympics. I think the best moment was the Final of the 100-meter butter fly, his 20th gold medal. Out of 8 swimmers, Phelps was in 7th place at the turn (50-meters), but he showed his greatness by passing the field and winning the race by 0.23 seconds. He won this event in Beijing and Athens also, which makes it even more remarkable. NBC won’t allow the videos to be shared yet, but here is the link to their website if you care to watch.

 Michael Phelps wins gold in final individual race

1. Manteo Mitchell – He didn’t win a medal, but to me he epitomizes what the Olympics are all about. During the he first leg of the US Men’s 4X400 meter relay, he sustained a fractured fibula halfway around the track but still finished the race. He said the leg felt kind of funny during warm-ups, and then 200 meters into his run, he felt a pop and immediate pain. He knew that he couldn’t stop, or the US Men’s team would be disqualified. Although he was in excruciating pain and limping badly, he finished the last 200 meters running faster than I could on two good legs. In an interview after the diagnosis was confirmed, he said: “I knew if I finished strong we could still get it (the baton) around. I saw (teammate) Josh Mance motioning me in for me to hand it off to him, which lifted me. I didn’t want to let those three guys down, or the team down, so I just ran on it. It hurt so bad.” Later, he watched on crutches as the US Men’s team went on to earn a silver medal. Well done, Manteo. Makes me feel a little foolish when I complain about a little stiffness or soreness when I run. Again, video link is below if you care to watch.

Manteo Mitchell runs 4×400 relay on broken leg

Now that the Olypics are about over, looks like I have some yardwork to catch up on.

© Copyright 2012 Jeff, All rights Reserved. Written For: Jeffrey Olsen