Salon.com > John Leicester

Column: London, the Olympics of Us

Sun, 12 Aug 2012 21:46:28 +0000

LONDON (AP) — Sebastian Coe, the organizer-in-chief who more than anyone made the London Games possible, is absolutely right. The Olympics really are the Greatest Show on Earth.

So cheers, mate, to you, London, for reminding us of that fact.

Unlike four years ago in Beijing, we could wrap ourselves in the sport and the human drama here without having to ignore our conscience. In this splendid world city that proved so telegenic, with marathoners sweating past the Tower of London and cyclists zooming by Buckingham Palace, the hairs on the back of our neck tingled for all the right reasons.

In short, after the 2008 Summer Games that were as much about dissidents and control as about sport, we, the world's people, got our Olympics back. And they are just that — games for the entire planet. Points in London were scored in baskets, goals and on shooting targets, not in geopolitics. British Prime Minister David Cameron did display an uncanny knack for turning up at venues where hometown athletes were scooping up gold. But here, we could mock his opportunism.

Column: 1st Tibetan Olympian wins medal for China

Sat, 11 Aug 2012 23:44:44 +0000

LONDON (AP) — On any other day and in any other situation, the Tibetan exiles who gathered excitedly in groups next to Buckingham Palace would never have come to cheer for an athlete wearing the colors of China, a country they regard as their oppressor, a country that invaded and has governed their Himalayan homeland with an iron fist for six decades.

But this was exceptional. Because, apparently for the first time at an Olympics, the athlete was one of them, a Tibetan.

Standing apart but, just this once, both wanting the same thing, groups of Chinese supporters shouted "Jia You!" while the Tibetans yelled "Gyuk!" — both meaning, "Go on!"

The Chinese waved their red flags. The Tibetans waved the flag of Tibet that is banned in China, with a bright yellow sun rising over a snow-clad mountain. They could hear and see each other, but they studiously ignored each other, too.

The athlete — Qieyang Shenjie to the Chinese, Choeyang Kyi for the Tibetans — could hear the yells of encouragement. But she kept her head down and concentrated on not putting a foot wrong. It seemed a fitting metaphor for a Tibetan competing for China, one smart enough not to get sucked into the politics that have swirled around her Olympic participation.

Column: Bolt says he’s a “legend.” Is he?

Fri, 10 Aug 2012 00:48:19 +0000

LONDON (AP) — "Legend." A small word, but with such weight of meaning. Usain Bolt bandied it around a lot before the London Olympics, saying these would be the games where he wanted to become one.

He did.

But not solely for the reasons he thinks.

Becoming the first man to win the 200-meter sprint at two Olympics made Bolt a pioneer. But that feat, while historic, isn't in itself enough to make him legendary.

Nor is becoming the first sprinter to win both the 100 and 200 races at two consecutive games. That is the unprecedented sprint double Bolt completed Thursday. And that, as far as he was concerned, was mission accomplished. No ifs or buts.

"I am now a living legend. Bask in my glory," he said.

But Bolt is selling himself short. His legend rests on more than just the new pages he has written in record books.

He's a legend for the same reason Michael Jordan is. And that is neatly summed up in the words carved into black granite under the bronze statue of Jordan in Chicago, where the NBA superstar played his basketball with the Bulls.

They read: "The best there ever was. The best there ever will be."

Some people become legends for a legendary feat.

Column: China’s Liu epitomizes Olympic bitterness

Tue, 07 Aug 2012 19:35:34 +0000

LONDON (AP) — Seven steps, five more than in Beijing. But the outcome was identical: Liu Xiang's Olympics were over, yet again, before they really began.

The magic ingredient that makes the games such compelling drama isn't the stadiums or the crowds. It is their rarity. Once every four years — a gap long enough to make or break athletes.

Peak and attain perfection at just the right time and their names will live in Olympic history books forever. Make the slightest mistake or get hurt when that Olympic window opens once every four years and they might never get another chance to make it right.

The opportunities for redemption are so few. For some athletes, they never come. That rarity is what makes Olympic success so sweet, Olympic failure so bitter and it is why we and why athletes, for as long as they can, keep coming back for more.

Liu — the hurdler as famous and loved by Chinese as David Beckham is in England and Michael Jordan in the United States — tasted the sweetness once and, now, the bitterness twice.

Liu may never appreciate this and certainly not while the pain from his Achilles tendon and from his disappointment in London is so fresh and acute. But, sometimes, Olympic failures live longer in our collective memories than the successes.

Britain makes history on Olympic ‘Super Saturday’

Sun, 05 Aug 2012 02:42:29 +0000

LONDON (AP) — In one unforgettable night for a nation, the Olympic Games and host Britain were the best they can be.

Three British athletes winning three gold medals in Olympic Stadium in a delirious 44-minute spell produced the signature moment of the London Games. Barring catastrophe in the final week, this Saturday night of fever and fervor made sure the London Olympics will be remembered as a roaring success.

It was a night when the prefix "Great" before "Britain" suddenly seemed to make a lot more sense. It ended, so appropriately, with the massive crowd in the 80,000-seat stadium awash in the colors of the Union Jack's red, white and blue and belting out "God Save the Queen" to celebrate sporting success beyond the wildest expectations.

The best Olympics need moments like these.

Beijing in 2008 had Michael Phelps eclipsing Mark Spitz's iconic record with eight golds in the Water Cube and Usain Bolt getting three golds in three world-record sprints in the Bird's Nest.

Sydney in 2000 had Aborigine Cathy Freeman, Haile Gebrselassie of Ethiopia and U.S. sprinter Michael Johnson conjuring up one of the most memorable nights ever on an Olympic track.

Column: Pistorius revolutionizes Olympic notions

Sat, 04 Aug 2012 18:13:56 +0000

LONDON (AP) — There are times when history only becomes clear with hindsight and others — rarer, more goose-bumpy — when you actually feel it being made. Oscar Pistorius revolutionizing our notions of what is possible with every clink, clink of his prosthetic legs on the London Olympic running track was one such moment.

A double-amputee, tearing down the finish straight on carbon-fiber blades. You almost had to rub your eyes to believe it. Then again, Pistorius' gift to us all is that he has made this seem not at all strange. By running 400 meters in 45.44 seconds, Pistorius showed how absurd it is to think of him as "disabled."

He's different to many of us. But with one lap of the track, he showed that is not because his legs stop just below the knees. Rather, with the 13th fastest time in a field of 49 sprinters from 39 countries, he proved he's an exceptional athlete. Exceptional not because he runs on blades. Just exceptional, full stop.

"That's going to be his legacy," said Anthony Stone, who has multiple sclerosis and, from his wheelchair 25 rows up in the stands, watched Pistorius become the first double-amputee Olympian.

"You're no longer talking about the disability. You are talking about what he can do."

Is Phelps history’s best?

Wed, 01 Aug 2012 05:45:00 +0000

LONDON (AP) — Nineteen — say that again, nineteen — Olympic medals. All won by one man unlike any other. It simply defies belief. Imagine the space that much heavy metal takes up. Even more unimaginable is the effort it took to get them.

No one could disagree with the bedsheet unfurled by fans in the crowd that said: "PHELPS GREATEST OLYMPIAN EVER."

So thank you, Michael. Thanks for another milestone in human history. The simple words "Olympic record" didn't quite do justice to the achievement, which Phelps sealed and delivered in London, but which really was a monument to a lifetime of dedication to the goal of being the best one can be.

Sounds so simple. It's anything but.

For the first time in all of the hundreds of races he has swum, Phelps said he smiled to himself underwater in the last 20 meters of the 4x200-meter freestyle relay on Tuesday night that got him the medal — it was gold, yet another one — he needed to become the first Olympian in history with 19 medals.

"It shows that hard work does pay off," he said.

Trying to understand what it must feel like to be Phelps is beyond us. But those words of wisdom — seemingly so obvious, but so hard to actually execute — we could grasp.

Column: What’s up with China’s swimming success?

Mon, 30 Jul 2012 18:39:17 +0000

LONDON (AP) — What are they on? Or are they?

When Chinese swimmers started blowing rivals out of the water in London's Olympic pool, whispers quickly followed. Is China cheating the sport again, as it did in the 1990s, when drug-fueled, muscle-bound swimmers emerged from nowhere to beat the world? Alain Bernard, the 2008 Olympic freestyle champion from France, was among those who wondered.

"I'm for clean sport, without doping, and I truly hope the authorities in charge of this are doing their job in good conscience and really well," he said. "Unfortunately, I want to say that there is no smoke without fire. But today there is no proof to show that any Chinese has tested positive in this competition."

At a briefing Monday in London, reporters peppered Arne Ljungqvist, the International Olympic Committee's medical commission chairman, with questions about Ye Shiwen, China's 16-year-old swimming sensation. Ljungqvist said "it is very sad that an unexpected performance be surrounded by suspicions."

"Suspicion is halfway an accusation that something is wrong," Ljungqvist said. "I don't like that. I would rather have facts."

Unlike the 1990s, however, there are plausible explanations this time for why China is the swimming phenomenon of the 2012 Games.

Column: London 2012 learns (again) how to lose

Sat, 28 Jul 2012 19:57:29 +0000

LONDON (AP) — Rule Britannia? Try cruel Britannia.

An unrepentant ex-doper from Kazakhstan kissing his gold medal on the queen's front drive was hardly how Brits had imagined Day 1 of their Olympics. Instead of a British champion in cyclist Mark Cavendish, they got Borat without the fun and a lesson in how to lose.

As if they needed one.

The omens for Britain had been so good. Everyone figured Cavendish — a.k.a "the Manx Missile," on account of his ungodly speed in the finishing straight — as a sure thing. Prince Charles and his wife, Camilla, came to give Cavendish a royal send-off. The world champion also had Bradley Wiggins in his corner, ready to repay one good turn with another after Cavendish helped the rider now universally known across these isles as "Wiggo" (soon to be Sir Wiggo?) become the first Briton to win the Tour de France.

"Cav," the thinking went, would get Britain's first gold of 2012 — hopefully, the first of many.

Only hours earlier, director Danny Boyle had made maximum use of his license to thrill and ensured everyone had a gas, gas, gas at the opening ceremony. If Cavendish could then follow James Bond and the rock of the Rolling Stones by kick-starting Britain's medal count, then London 2012 would be off to the best possible beginning. IOC President Jacques Rogge himself had said beforehand how important an early British medal would be to the mood and atmosphere of the London games.