Celebrating the heroes, damning the cheats, and always loving the game

Posted on August 20, 2008 by whythawk under This Olympics, 2008, we mortals have been in the company of gods. Michael Phelps. Eight golds. Seven world records. Usain Bolt. Two golds. Two world records. No-one who watched Usain Bolt actually break stride, look around, slow down and beat his chest in victory 15 METRES BEFORE THE LINE could have any doubt that you are watching a supreme athlete. Athletes are the supreme example of physical genius. An injury - one that regular folk wouldn’t notice - is something that threatens to shave 0.2s from your finishing time. A massive difference in the world of competitive sport. The difference between free people and collectivists is never so clear than at the Olympics. During the Cold War, the USSR treated the event as a political endeavour. Heroes were less important than the shear... [read full story]