Well, the Vancouver Winter Olympics are over.
The Winter Olympics will next be in Sochi.
This Olympics has been one that I will remember for a long time, not only because of the great triumphs or losses, but because I feel like there was a little bit of everything--humor, sorrow, and joy.
After the Olympics, I can't help but wonder if the world was always at peace, no war, and just faced off in friendly competition. The Greeks were geniuses.
I hope the world really can come together and work to create international peace.
That would be a great example of real Olympic spirit.
Showing posts with label Sports. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sports. Show all posts
Monday, March 1, 2010
Friday, February 26, 2010
The 2010 Winter Olympics (Part 2)
Yesterday's women's figure skating was simply breathtaking. Vancouver's Olympics figure skating will definitely be remembered for the record-breaking performances, as well as emotional strength, that the athletes displayed.
Winning the bronze medal,
ROCHETTE Joannie of Canada:
We all know her moving story by now--her mother passed away suddenly two days before her competition. But what is also inspiring about Joannie is the fact that she has endured through tragedy before to stand proudly where she is now. When she returned home from the Turin Olympics, Joannie found out that one of her training partners had been killed in a car accident.
After her short program, she wasn't able to hold back her emotions, and let her tears fall. Personally, I was worried that maybe all the pressure of an Olympics games, as well as her grief would hurt her free skate program, but she proved me wrong yesterday. She was able to win a bronze medal. Canada should be very proud of not only her dedication to her sport, but also of her strength.
The silver,
ASADA Mao of Japan:
Mao Asada was considered by many to be a child prodigy, placing in several junior and senior national competitions. She is the first and only lady to have performed two triple axel jumps at the same program in an ISU (International Skating Union) competition. She is also the first and only woman to have landed three triple axel jumps in the same competition at an ISU competition. She accomplished this yesterday.
Her routine was interesting. She landed all her jumps cleanly in the free skate yesterday, and her choreography was definitely her signature style (the spiral sequence). The NBC broadcasters mentioned that she had many hopes riding on her for the gold, and that she wanted the gold badly. In Japan, Mao is one of the top celebrities, and one of their national prides. Though she fell short this time, there is no doubt that she is a beautiful ice skater, and that won her the silver medal.
And the 2010 Olympic Gold Medalist of Women's Ice Skating...
KIM Yu Na of South Korea:
Where do I start... Kim Yu Na is 19 years old, as is Mao Asada. Right now, she is the reigning world and Olympic champion, and is also the record holder for ladies in the short program, the free skating, and the combined total under the ISU Judging System. Kim is the first female skater to surpass the 200-point mark and also the first female skater to receive +2.20 grade of execution for jumps under the ISU Judging System, as of yesterday.
Like Mao, Yu Na faced many expectations from her country, as she is not only the queen of the ice, but also the queen of commercial advertising for Korean products. I'm happy to see her blood, sweat, and tears rewarded with this Olympic medal.
Here are her winning performances:
Short Program:
Thanks to JellolBello for the video.
I can't seem to find a video that I can embed in my blog, but click here to watch the free skate program!
Just exquisite.
Congratulations to all the competitors for a memorable performance.
Winning the bronze medal,
ROCHETTE Joannie of Canada:
We all know her moving story by now--her mother passed away suddenly two days before her competition. But what is also inspiring about Joannie is the fact that she has endured through tragedy before to stand proudly where she is now. When she returned home from the Turin Olympics, Joannie found out that one of her training partners had been killed in a car accident.
After her short program, she wasn't able to hold back her emotions, and let her tears fall. Personally, I was worried that maybe all the pressure of an Olympics games, as well as her grief would hurt her free skate program, but she proved me wrong yesterday. She was able to win a bronze medal. Canada should be very proud of not only her dedication to her sport, but also of her strength.
The silver,
ASADA Mao of Japan:
Mao Asada was considered by many to be a child prodigy, placing in several junior and senior national competitions. She is the first and only lady to have performed two triple axel jumps at the same program in an ISU (International Skating Union) competition. She is also the first and only woman to have landed three triple axel jumps in the same competition at an ISU competition. She accomplished this yesterday.
Her routine was interesting. She landed all her jumps cleanly in the free skate yesterday, and her choreography was definitely her signature style (the spiral sequence). The NBC broadcasters mentioned that she had many hopes riding on her for the gold, and that she wanted the gold badly. In Japan, Mao is one of the top celebrities, and one of their national prides. Though she fell short this time, there is no doubt that she is a beautiful ice skater, and that won her the silver medal.
And the 2010 Olympic Gold Medalist of Women's Ice Skating...
KIM Yu Na of South Korea:
Where do I start... Kim Yu Na is 19 years old, as is Mao Asada. Right now, she is the reigning world and Olympic champion, and is also the record holder for ladies in the short program, the free skating, and the combined total under the ISU Judging System. Kim is the first female skater to surpass the 200-point mark and also the first female skater to receive +2.20 grade of execution for jumps under the ISU Judging System, as of yesterday.
Like Mao, Yu Na faced many expectations from her country, as she is not only the queen of the ice, but also the queen of commercial advertising for Korean products. I'm happy to see her blood, sweat, and tears rewarded with this Olympic medal.
Here are her winning performances:
Short Program:
Thanks to JellolBello for the video.
I can't seem to find a video that I can embed in my blog, but click here to watch the free skate program!
Just exquisite.
Congratulations to all the competitors for a memorable performance.
Sunday, February 21, 2010
The 2010 Winter Olympics (Part 1)
Sometimes being an outlier can be rewarding, but right now it's pretty confusing.
I'm always excited about the Olympics--I mean, it's always exhilarating to watch internationally recognized athletes compete with each other, and try to out perform their personal own best--but yesterday made me stop and think.
The South Korean short track speed skating team has done fairly well in Vancouver, with Lee Jung-Su with two gold medals, and Lee Ho Suk winning a silver medal in yesterday's race. After the horrible crash in the short track 1500 race, I was hoping for the three athletes (Lee Jung-Su, Lee Ho Suk, and Sung Shi-Bak) to have another chance to even slightly raise their self-esteem.
And for the most part, they seemed to work harder, and won two medals! (I felt sorry for Sung Shi-Bak, who seemed very disappointed at not qualifying for the finals. He was denied a medal because of the earlier mistake by his teammate, Lee Ho Suk as well.)
Better luck next time Sung Shi-Bak! Don't be discouraged and continue to try hard.
And Apollo Ohno managed to pick up a bronze, which is fairly commendable. Unfortunately, my favorite US speed skater (J. R. Celski) didn't qualify.
So I was in a pretty good mood! As a proud Korean-American, I was happy for both Korea and America's medals.
But my friend decided to text message me after the race, asking if I had watched it.
She said that she was proud of Apollo Ohno being a good sport, and that the Koreans were wrong in disliking Ohno. She also mentioned that the Korean people threatened Ohno, and prevented him from entering Korea during the 2002 Fifa World Cup. She also said that the Korean skaters were "sore" losers (which is ironic, because they won, and they were courteous about it). She also brought up the controversial Salt Lake City disqualification.
There goes my good mood.
This girl is a good friend of mine, and I didn't expect these words from her. She did end up saying that she believed that the Koreans were great skaters, and that she "would never hate them", but we obviously have some different perspectives.
As a Korean-American, I sometimes feel torn in between two cultures. I thoroughly enjoy watching the Superbowl (especially when the Steelers are playing!), but would probably be watching while chomping on a bag of spicy Sewookkang--check out this website if you don't know what I'm talking about. I could be chattering away to someone in Korean, but could be talking about my English homework.
But because I am a KOREAN-American, many of my friends around me seem to forget that I am American as well. I understand them--I don't look like all of them, I don't speak like all of them, and I lead a generally different lifestyle. And when I cheer for Korea in various events, I become a foreigner to them.
While the Winter Olympics are meant to symbolize unity between the nations on Earth, it doesn't seem to helping my identity crisis at all.
I'm always excited about the Olympics--I mean, it's always exhilarating to watch internationally recognized athletes compete with each other, and try to out perform their personal own best--but yesterday made me stop and think.
The South Korean short track speed skating team has done fairly well in Vancouver, with Lee Jung-Su with two gold medals, and Lee Ho Suk winning a silver medal in yesterday's race. After the horrible crash in the short track 1500 race, I was hoping for the three athletes (Lee Jung-Su, Lee Ho Suk, and Sung Shi-Bak) to have another chance to even slightly raise their self-esteem.
And for the most part, they seemed to work harder, and won two medals! (I felt sorry for Sung Shi-Bak, who seemed very disappointed at not qualifying for the finals. He was denied a medal because of the earlier mistake by his teammate, Lee Ho Suk as well.)
Better luck next time Sung Shi-Bak! Don't be discouraged and continue to try hard.
And Apollo Ohno managed to pick up a bronze, which is fairly commendable. Unfortunately, my favorite US speed skater (J. R. Celski) didn't qualify.
So I was in a pretty good mood! As a proud Korean-American, I was happy for both Korea and America's medals.
But my friend decided to text message me after the race, asking if I had watched it.
She said that she was proud of Apollo Ohno being a good sport, and that the Koreans were wrong in disliking Ohno. She also mentioned that the Korean people threatened Ohno, and prevented him from entering Korea during the 2002 Fifa World Cup. She also said that the Korean skaters were "sore" losers (which is ironic, because they won, and they were courteous about it). She also brought up the controversial Salt Lake City disqualification.
There goes my good mood.
This girl is a good friend of mine, and I didn't expect these words from her. She did end up saying that she believed that the Koreans were great skaters, and that she "would never hate them", but we obviously have some different perspectives.
As a Korean-American, I sometimes feel torn in between two cultures. I thoroughly enjoy watching the Superbowl (especially when the Steelers are playing!), but would probably be watching while chomping on a bag of spicy Sewookkang--check out this website if you don't know what I'm talking about. I could be chattering away to someone in Korean, but could be talking about my English homework.
But because I am a KOREAN-American, many of my friends around me seem to forget that I am American as well. I understand them--I don't look like all of them, I don't speak like all of them, and I lead a generally different lifestyle. And when I cheer for Korea in various events, I become a foreigner to them.
While the Winter Olympics are meant to symbolize unity between the nations on Earth, it doesn't seem to helping my identity crisis at all.
Thursday, November 26, 2009
Racist Jokes, Faulty Calculators, & Bellyflops
Well, we all know that today is Thanksgiving Day.
Where we give thanks. Today.
I have a huge list of things to be thankful for, but there are a couple that surprised even me:
Racist jokes.
When I was younger, I used to think racist jokes were the worst things imaginable. Even worse than 'shut up' or 'stupid'. They irked me, until the 4th grade. In the 4th grade, I met a boy who made racist jokes, things like, "What did you eat for dinner? OH WAIT, you're Asian. Of course, rice and eggrolls." At that time, I thought those were horrible, and I'd come home feeling rotten. But now that I think about it, these racist jokes helped me become a lot more insensitive to words that people use to try and hurt me. And now, this boy is one of my best friends. So I have two things to be thankful for in this category, racist jokes, and one of my best friends.
Faulty Calculators.
I had one of those days. The ones where I want to stay at home and sleep. I woke up at 6:50, and had to get to school by 7:10. I thought it was an A day, when in fact it was a B day. (On A days, I had gym, on B days, I had math.) I forgot about the math test we had, and my Physics teacher gave us a pop quiz. So, while I was taking my math test, I was calculating an integral on my TI-89, when I realized the calculator was giving me the wrong answers. So I had to work out all of my problems by hand. At the time, of course, I felt like running away and never doing math again, but then I realized that I was becoming too dependent on my calculator, and that not using it was a good measure of my knowledge. I'm pretty thankful for that. (By the way, the TI-89 is a HUGE reason why college and high school students are failing math.)
Bellyflops.
Bellyflops hurt. I found that out during my diving practice. I tried to do a forward dive pike for the first time, and I couldn't get out of it fast enough. BAM. It hurt. A lot. But that's okay, because then I felt like getting it right, and got back on the board. I didn't end up doing a forward dive pike, but I did end up doing an inward for the first time. I'm thankful for bellyflops too.
This time of year makes me think of being thankful, when I should really be thankful all year. Unless you're a turkey.
Happy Thanksgiving.
Saturday, October 24, 2009
DIVING.
Is dangerous?
I'm on my school's diving team, and my parents are constantly insisting that diving is dangerous--that people have gone blind and have weird bone structures because of diving. A lot of my friends are also warning me about hitting my head on the board...
But it's so much fun I can't help but look forward to diving season!
And besides, check this article out:
"Decking myths about diving."
I mean, diving can't be half as dangerous as motorcycling or something... Right?
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
Field Day
Field Day: an annual day for schools in which students compete in sports and or have fun during recreational activities.
I've always wondered why school systems call this particular day 'Field Day'. I mean, there's no field involved in any shape or form. And what do fields have to do with fun OR sports? During my first Field Day in the 1st grade, I was severely disappointed to see that Field Day consisted of students running around with water balloons and buckets of water, while the teachers watched in the shade.
I also remember lots of crying and chaos. But apparently the crying and chaos on Field Day is evidence of a "successful way to integrate learning and fun nearing the end of the school year", according to one of the teachers. Now that I think about it, 1st graders with water guns and hoses equals utter confusion.
Field Day 2009 was pretty similar. Minus the 1st grade part. Plus basketball courts.
Thank goodness that we children are creative.
We actually make field day fun every year.
I've always wondered why school systems call this particular day 'Field Day'. I mean, there's no field involved in any shape or form. And what do fields have to do with fun OR sports? During my first Field Day in the 1st grade, I was severely disappointed to see that Field Day consisted of students running around with water balloons and buckets of water, while the teachers watched in the shade.
I also remember lots of crying and chaos. But apparently the crying and chaos on Field Day is evidence of a "successful way to integrate learning and fun nearing the end of the school year", according to one of the teachers. Now that I think about it, 1st graders with water guns and hoses equals utter confusion.
Field Day 2009 was pretty similar. Minus the 1st grade part. Plus basketball courts.
Thank goodness that we children are creative.
We actually make field day fun every year.
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