Shame on Cuba

Angel Matos, a cuban 'athlete' if he can be called that, was suspended today in Beijing, and banned for life, after he lost the bronze medal fight, and angry at the judge's decision, threw him a kick to the face.

There are ways to appeal if you are not happy with a judge's decision, you can file a complaint against the olympic committee and they will sure hear you out, but clearly round house kicking the judge to the face, is the way of animals! He brought a great shame to his home country of Cuba and a great shame to the latin community, and just a great shame to the world.

Here are some pictures of the incident:


saluuuuu

'Lightning' Bolt

A lot of you, or almost every one of you now knows, the name Michael Phelps, he broke almost every world record available for him to break, and he achieved 8 gold medals, a feat, no one had done before. 

Well, the swimming meets are over now, and the olympics are focused on another really interesting and really followed sport: the track and field. And another name that you will soon get to know, and most of you already know: Usain Bolt. The 21 year old Jamaican, who broke the world record on the 100m dash a couple of weeks ago, and 'celebrated' even before crossing the finish line, which many saw as a mockery of sorts. Many say his secret is due to his incredible size which stands at 6'5 contrary to many professional athletes who compete in the olympics, who are regularly 5'9 or 5'10. The average steps a normal competitor takes to finish the 100 meter dash are 46, Bolt did it in just 41 steps!

His time to make history has come now, he will run the men's 200m final today, and he is looking to crush Michael Johnson's world record of 19.32 seconds which has been there since 1996, Bolt's personal best is 19.67 which he ran last month, but many believe he has been holding out for the olympics so he can break the record on international television. He already beat the defending Champion Shawn Crawford last night in the qualifying rounds, as he finished jogging. 

Whatever happens, Im sure that we will be hearing a lot from this kid, Usain 'Lightning' Bolt at least for the next 2 olympic games. 

saluuuuu

Yelena Touches the Sky

The russian sensation in the olympics has been Yelena Isinbayeva, a track and field competitor, who today performed in the finals of the pole vaulting competition, and as many expected broke the world record, not just any record, but her world record.

She has had the world record since 2004 and now she shattered it jumping over an altitude of 5.05 meters. The silver medalist could only get 4.80, imagine the difference(25 cm to be exact).

Isinbayeva, celebrated as soon as she fell to the ground (picture) and as soon as she could, rushed over to pick up a russian flag to do her well deserved victory lap.

Another incredible story, from another incredible athlete.

saluuuuu

Olympic Monkey Warrior

Check out the spot made by the BBC of London for the 2008 Beijing olympic Games.
The Famous news agency, went to Gorillaz co creators Damon Albarn of the band Blur, and Jamie Hewlett who himself co created the comic book Tank Girl. Now they team up again to bring us Monkey Warrior, inspired by Chinese philosophies and culture, they deliver this really interesting spot...

saluuuuu

Olympic mascots in years

The Olympic Mascots have been a main element of the olympic images for years, a mascot should always be able to concentrate all the olympic spirit, communicate the concepts of each Olympic Games and promote the history and culture of the host city.

Given the upcoming Beijing Games, I decided to do an insight of the olympic mascots throughout their history and here is what I found out starting from the first one... a list of names pictures and a bit of history for each:

Waldi - 1972 Summer Games, Munich Germany

Waldi the Dachsund was very popular this year, specially for being the first ever, but he also has the qualities indispensable to an athlete: resistance, tenacity and agility. He has some of the pastel colors from the olympics.

Amik - 1976 Summer Games, Montreal Canada

The next mascot was a beaver named Amik, the name comes from an indian language of Canada and it means beaver. It simbolizes hard work. In my opinion the worst mascot of history.

Misha - 1980 Summer Games, Moscow Russia

It has been described as the cutest mascot in olympic games history Misha was developed by renowned illustrator of children's books Victor Chizikov. It became an international success instantly. 

Sam the Eagle - 1984 Summer Games, Los Angeles, USA

Sam was designed by Walt Disney and it is a cartooned eagle with the main american characteristics, it wears the same clothes as legendary Uncle Sam and has the typical colors of the USA. The bald eagle, also has been named the official animal of the USA. This is the year that the commercial use of olympic mascots was initiated. 

Hodori - 1988 Summer Games, Seoul Korea

This little tiger was designed wit typical oriental colors and it was an amicable tiger, which portrays the friendly and hospitable traditions of Koreans. Ho is derived from the korean word for tiger and Dori is diminutive for boys. It wore the olympic rings around its neck like a medal while sporting a traditional Korean dance hat on its head.

Cobi - 1992 Summer Games, Barcelona Spain

This mascot, which I like to call 'the naked mascot' for obvious reasons, was a dog named Cobi. The committee for the olympics these year had even produced a TV series in which Cobi could communicate with the spirits of the games. It was created by the Valencian artist Javier Mariscal. 

Izzy - 1996 Summer Games, Atlanta Georgia

Izzy was the first mascot designed by computer,

 and it was also the first amorphous mascot with an abstract fantasy figure. Supposedly the name Izzy is derived from "What is it" because no one seemed to know exactly what Izzy was.

Syd, Ollie and Millie - 2000 Summer Games, Sydney Australia

They are three native australian animals who represent earth, air and water. Olly represents the olympic spirit of generosity; Syd, represents the environment and captures the energy of Australia and its people; and Millie, is a techno whiz and information guru, with all the facts and figures at her fingertips. This is the first time multiple mascots were used, as well as different sex mascots. 

Athena and Phevos - 2004 Summer Games, Athens Greece

This olympic mascots with their whacking feet, long necks and puny heads, one was colored in deep yellow and the other one in blue, they were based on thousand of year old dolls who where discovered at archeological sites in Greece. Supposedly in greek mythology they were brother and sister, named after the god of light and music and the goddess of wisdom.

The Fuwa - 2008 Summer Games, Beijing China

The Fuwa means good luck dolls and are comprised of five members which include Beibei, Jingjing, Huanhuan, Yingying and Nini. Each of these seem like a cute name, but when put together they sound identical to the phrase 'Beijing welcomes you'. The five figures and their colors also represent the five olympic rings.

So as we can see, the challenge of making an olympic mascot apparently always involve some kind of whacky, crazy story, sometimes magical, sometimes mythological... and In my opinion we have yet to see a great one, some of them have been good, but must of them I think have been just plain...

saluuuuu