olympics

in the past olympiads, i didn't bother watching any live matches. i was only interested in knowing which country will take home the most number of gold medals, which of course can be seen from the internet. probably due to the philippines' almost zero chance of winning any medal or the chinese domination of the beijing olympics, but i really didn't come close to actually stay up late to watch any games... until this london olympics. unlike the past three olympiads, i did watch the 4 am telecast of the opening ceremonies and also saw the 4 am closing ceremonies. in all of its two weeks, solar sports and aktv (as well as tv5 and aksyon tv) were my staple channels. i would only change channels for a short break and will immediately come back to either of these 4 channels, depending on which competitions or events are being shown. some of the matches are also shown very early in the morning so that meant staying up late even during workdays. 

while the philippines didn't medal in any of the 11 events we entered, the sporting achievements coupled with the olympic spirit of fair play, solidarity and friendship pretty much kept me glued. of course, there were disappointments such as when brazil lost to russia in the gold medal match of men's volleyball or when USA bowed to brazil in women's volleyball. but those two glorious weeks gave me a newfound appreciation of the technicalities and specifics of each sport (esp. weightlifting, gymnastics and diving) and the athletes' lifelong quest to be the best in their respective sports. i could just imagine the amount of hours and sacrifices put in by every athlete culminating in these two weeks of sporting competition and the emotions surrounding the truth that they are carrying their nation's hopes and dreams. below are 12 of the golden moments that i've seen and liked the most:   

1. USA won the women's all-around team competition in gymnastics. anchored by strong performances by gabby douglas and aly raisman, USA pulled ahead of russia and romania.

2. south korea continued their domination of the sport of archery when their women's team defeated china for the gold.

3. teenager missy franklin took the gold home in both 100 m and 200 m backstroke events.

4. kim rhode won the women's skeet event in shooting.

5. kaori matsumoto gave japan one of their seven gold medals when she won the women's lightweight judo.

6. after ending up as runner-up to roger federer in this year's wimbledon, andy murray avenged that defeat in the same court to give team GB the gold medal in men's singles tennis.

7. andy murray could not duplicate the feat of winning another gold medal for his country when he and partner laura robson lost the gold medal match to the pairing of victoria azarenka and max mirnyi of belarus.

8. anna chicherova won the women's high jump gold medal.

9. ashton eaton led all the way in the decathlon event and gave the US one of their 46 golds.

10. mexico beat brazil, 2-1, to win the gold in the men's football tournament.

11. yevgeniya kanayeva and daria dmitrieva gave russia a gold and silver finish in the women's individual all-around rhytmic gymnastics.

12. david boudia gave the performance of his life to beat china's qui bo for the gold in men's 10 m platform diving.

i'm hoping to be in rio de janeiro in 2016 for the 31st olympiad. while tv provided the needed excitement, nothing beats being right there, seeing the competitions live and taking part in one of man's truly global achievements. rio 2016, go team philippines!