Upon Further Review: Gearing up for the Games
The 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens will kick off this weekend, with opening ceremonies getting things started on Saturday.
Over the years many great athletes have performed beyond anyone’s expectations — and a few have been picked to win it all only to have their dreams crushed.
The games always provided us with great memories of athletes breaking records and bring home the gold. But every Olympics have some type of tragedy, be it on the field or off. This year is no exception, as the games have already been marked with two deaths.
A young man threw himself off his balcony on Monday, just two days after a quarrel prompted his girlfriend, a member of Greece’s Olympic judo team, to jump from the same balcony. Both remain in an Athens hospital in critical condition.
Enough about bad things, lets look at a few great moments in summer Olympic history.
The best of all time has to be the 1936 Olympics in Germany. Jesse Owens showed the world his great athletic abilities as Adolph Hitler watched his German runners go down on Nazi turf.
Everyone knows the story of Jim Thorpe, one of the greatest athletes who has every walked the planet. In 1912 he won the pentathlon and decathlon, finished fourth in the high jump and took seventh in the long jump.
In gymnastics, who could forget the performances by Nadia Comaneci, Olga Korbut and America’s favorite, Mary Lou Retton. As a 16-year-old in 1976, I had my eyes glued to the television set and watched as Comaneci turned in the first perfect 10’s in Olympic history.
Yes, you might say I had a little crush on her.
In 1968 Bob Beamon broke the world long jump record by almost two feet in Mexico City. And who could forget about Mark Spitz and his seven gold medals in swimming during the Munich games? And I can’t leave out Rulon Gardner as he beat Russian Alexander Karelin for the super heavyweight Greco-Roman wrestling gold medal in 2000.
The games have had their share of bloopers and blunders, and of course, a little controversy.
The one I remember most is the 1980 U.S. boycott at the Moscow Olympics. The U.S. wanted the Soviets out of Afghanistan, but it didn’t happen for another nine years.
Then there’s Dan and Dave. Reebok just knew the two would be a “shoe”-in for capturing gold or silver. But Dan didn’t make it to the games after failing to make the team on an unsuccessful pole vault.
Then there’s been a few cheaters over the years, such as Ben Johnson in 1988 and probably every East German who ever competed in the Olympics. The Germans were forced to hit the juice, but Johnson knew better.
If the truth was known, I’d bet over half of the athletes who competed in the Olympic games from the 1950’s to present have hit the juice.
The biggest cheater of all time has to be Fred Lotz in 1908 when he won the marathon by riding the middle 11 miles in a car.
I bet there’s another big upset or disappointment in the 2004 games. Who will it be? Right now I have to say it might just be the USA men’s basketball team. Everyone expects them to bring home the gold, but it has to be a team effort — and so far they haven’t looked like a team.