Hard act for London to followIT seems members of the London 2012 Olympics committee have been hugely impressed with the Beijing Games. One member of the English delegation admitted: "We had a fascinating presentation from the creative director Wang Min, who explained how each of the design elements - including their emblem, mascots, graphics and slogan - had all been created to give a sense of harmony and peace that communicates their vision of 'one world one dream'.
"After the presentation, we were taken on a tour of the National Stadium, which was going under the most amazing transformation from theatre to a fully functional sports stadium in just six days. Just three days after we had witnessed the spectacular ceremony, they had already laid the grass and filled the sand pits in the long jump. It was an unbelievable sight."
Prancing, posing not Gay's style
IT'S refreshing to come across an American 100-metre runner who doesn't fall into the brash category. After the verbal excesses of former sprinters like Maurice Greene and Denis Mitchell it's nice to note that the current American kingpin, Tyson Gay, doesn't feel the need to preen in front of the cameras.
The reigning 100m and 200m world champion, he has also run the fastest recorded time over 100 metres, 9.68 seconds, though a strong tailwind prevented its ratification as the world record, which remains the 9.72 posted by Jamaica's Usain Bolt. Gay clocked that 9.68 in the final of the US Olympic trials, a day after setting a US record of 9.77.
The soft-spoken Gay bore the disappointment of tweaking a hamstring in the 200 metres at the US trials - he misses out in that event in Beijing as a result - with typical good grace as he faced the press ahead of what will surely be the most anticipated 100-metre final in Olympic history, featuring the men who have run the three fastest times ever.
Gay, who said his hamstring was fully recovered, will join the exciting young tyro Bolt and another Jamaican, the former world-record holder Asafa Powell.
Gay happily answered questions, many of which touched on his sedate, respectful personality.
"I kind of believe I don't have to put on a certain image just because I run the 100-metre dash," he said. "It's kind of how I was raised."
Double jeopardy for Liang
ZHANG Liang endured not just the personal torment of having his Olympic dream ended by poor timekeeping but also the agony of knowing he had inflicted a similar fate on his unwitting team-mate Su Hui. The Chinese rower was barred from competing further in Beijing after he forgot the time of his race.
When Liang finally arrived to take part in the single scull the competition had already ended.
"I wrongly remembered my time as that of the third group, but actually it was the second group," he explained.
The rules of the International Rowing Federation say if an athlete fails to attend a race he forfeits his right to compete in further races.
Therefore Zhang not only missed the single sculls but also forfeited his right to compete in the final of the double sculls, for which he had qualified with Su Hui.
He appealed the decision but his appeal was rejected.
