Tuesday, August 14, 2012

Amazing : Olympics 2012

Very first Olympic 2012 match I saw was a women's fencing match and from then on, it became a habit of sort for me to watch the games whenever possible. 

London Olympics started with the Opening Ceremony on the 27th of July; and the grand show of sports began. It was amazing to see the great line-up of various games, such competitive athletes and the excitement among people.

I don't recall myself watching a handball or a table tennis game ever, but this Olympics changed it all. Since then, I have been glued to the tv - and saw my first women's handball preliminary match between France and Norway, what a superb match it was. Both the teams were equally good and were neck to neck in the competition till France won by one point.

The first round of men's singles table tennis match between Latvia and Canada, was great as the players were so swift in the game, it was almost unbelievable to see them play. And the preliminary basketball match between USA and France was so interesting, everyone played their best but only one team could win and that was USA.

Women's weightlifting match was laudable too, the chinese Li Xueying scored the highest and she definitely had the edge over her competitors from the beginning. Can't imagine how difficult it must be to lift 58 kgs of weight, that's humongous.

All these and many-many more matches were worth watching and I tried my best to follow most of the games all through. But somehow the Finals/Medal matches still hold that special place and that goes for everyone, I guess.

The semi-final Men's Water Polo match between Croatia and Montenegro was a thrilling match till the end, though Croatia won, both the teams were commendable. And I can't forget the Men's Beach Volleyball Bronze medal match, it was superb, such great players and it was so hard to predict the winner. It was a nerve-racking match and Latvia won its first Olympic medal against Netherlands.

Then the women's badminton doubles-Gold medal match was great, China won against Japan.
And the Wrestling gold medal match between USA and Ukraine was an exceptional one, both the competitors were focused and given a situation, both of them could have won.  

The most exciting of them was - the final lap of Men's Pentathlon, it was brutal, seriously its beyond imagination how these athletes complete and then even go on winning in such arduous competitions. All three winners were up to the mark, and 'the last few seconds are very important' was proved in this competition, when Svoboda of Czeck Republic over took Cao Z of China in the final seconds. Such impossible determination deserves much more than an applause.

Usain Bolt's and Micheal Phelps's spectacular record finishes were outstanding as well. Seeing such tremendous performances by the best athletes from around the globe was extraordinary. The closing ceremony was held on 12th August, two days back and that brought to a close a fortnight of sports extravaganza.

It was a delight to write down my wonderful experience of Olympics 2012. It sure is the greatest celebration of sports in the world.