all of the good stuff is on at such a late hour. All last week I was up until 12:30 a.m. That doesn't make it really easy to wake up at 5:30 a.m. The swimming has been great. I was talking to my brother, and he mentioned to me that in the 50 meter freestyle, he noticed that they don't take a breath. I am certain I could not swim that far without taking at least 5 or 6 breaths.That is one thing I would like to do, is go over and compete in the finals off all these different events. I will be honest, I am actually in pretty good physical condition, and these athletes would blow me away in every sport. I caught some badminton this weekend. I thought that was cool. I am pretty sure I wouldn't score a point. I think the ping pong finals are one of the next couple nights. Again, I doubt I would get a point. I saw some of the biking. They were going 42 miles per hour, on a bike. Just crazy. I was running this past weekend, training for my marathon. I ran 17 miles in 2 hours and 42 minutes. Now mind you that is just training, but the first place finisher in the marathon won in 2 hours and 25 minutes. That is 20 minutes faster and 9 miles further. I watched some of the gymnastics. How those guys can do that hand stand with their arms way apart is just crazy. I can't even do a regular hand stand. Or how do you do a back flip on a balance beam? It is only 4 inches wide. Let me talk about the men's 100 meter dash. The winner came across the line in 9.69 seconds. That translates to running 23 miles per hour. Or let me put that in to perspective for you this way. If I am lucky, I might be able to run a 40 yard dash in 5 seconds. Like I said, if I am lucky. If I had been running in that race, at that pace, I would have finished 3.98 seconds behind the winner, which translates into being
44.91 yards behind him when he crossed the finish line. So I would be just past the half way point when the winner crossed the finish line. And just like the challenge that I threw out for the rollerblading, I don't think any of my readers can beat me in a foot race either. So you guys would be even further behind.But I have been wondering about this. If I had enough money and time, could I go and gain citizenship in some obscure country, start training for 4 years and make the Olympics. Just make the Olympics, not medal. Suppose I moved to and gained citizenship in the African Country of Togo, and all I did all day was train for the men's Kayak. Do you think I could make the Olympics?
3 comments:
You may qualify for that country's team, but you would not qualify for the olympics. As far as I know, they have world championships and qualifying tournies to limit the number of contestants per event. I think you have to "qualify to qualify".
Otherwise, every country would send at least 1 person for every event in every sport! I think there are 203 countries competing. So in a sport where there are men's and women's categories, like diving, there would be 406 people competing at each event!
FYI, there are 68 men and 68 women competing in 8 events in diving. So just because you are the only guy who can do a cannonball in Togo, doesn't mean that you can compete on the big stage. So I guess you will have to go on beating yourself!
Think of the olympics as top gun: the elite, the best of the best. The plaque for the alternates is in the ladies' room.
-Bubs
Bubs, you are fairly correct. This is the information that I gathered.
The IOC has instituted what is known as the Eddie the Eagle Rule, which requires Olympic hopefuls to finish in the top half of an international competition.
I agree that the Olympics wore me out because I would be up past my bedtime....phew glad they are over so I can get some sleep again.
S.L.
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