Epic Olympics Post Is Epic

(I've come to the realization that the fact that I'm actually going through with posting this post is extremely self-indulgent.  But I've been working on it for so long that I couldn't not post it!  So, enjoy reading it, even if you can't remember half the stuff I'm talking about, heh).

So, the Olympics have been over for like, a month.   But I didn't have a blog a month ago!  I need to share my Olympic experiences with all of you!  Why?  Because I love the Olympics.  Not just normal love, obsessive love.  No other time do all of the people within a country get to come together to root for a common cause.  I get to watch sports I don't normally get to watch, I get to fall in love with the athletes, and I get to spend hours and hours on my couch trying to watch every single event because I don't want to miss anything.  What's not to love?  I wish the Olympics were on every year!   

PART ONE:

The first part of my Epic Olympics Post is going to be about my top 10 favorite Olympic moments.  There were a ton of moments I loved during this Olympics.  In fact, for me, this Olympics was probably one of the most memorable I've ever experienced.  This is why this top 10 list has no real order of favoritism.  It's just a list of awesomeness that was present at these Beijing games.

1.  The Men’s 4x100 Free Relay.  In the last turn of this race, the announcers actually said that the US would have to try and hold on for the silver because they were behind, and it seemed impossible for them to catch up.  But then, out of nowhere, Jason Lezak actually catches the french swimmer by swimming the fastest relay split ever, and won the gold.  This was quite possibly one of the greatest races I’ve ever seen before in my entire life. The sheer determination of Lezak and the other members of that relay team was...inspiring to say the least.  Because of this and the 4x100 Medley, Phelps totally owes Lezak for helping him get 8 medals, heh.

2.  The Men’s 200 Fly.  The other greatest race I’ve ever seen before in my entire life.  Phelps won by 1/100th of a second, the closest anyone can win a swimming race. I really thought he had lost, but by some crazy act of God or something, he out touched the other swimmer by doing one final half-stroke.  I’ve looked at the replays and seen the pictures, and I’m still not sure I can believe it.

3.  Nastia Liukin Winning the Gymnastics All Around.  Nastia has been my favorite ever since the team finals started, and she just absolutely rocked the all around.  She’s an amazing amazing gymnast who I just love to watch, and I think she also has a really great story.  You go, Nasty!  Not only that though, the all around competition as a whole was pretty darn amazing as well.  It was very close all throughout, and there were some pretty iffy judging calls. But to add to the total drama of the competition, the medal positions came down to the floor routine with the three girls in the running for medals, Yang Yilin, Nastia, and Shawn Johnson, all going last one after each other, each having to hit their routines to secure their medals. That? Was epic.

4. US Men’s Gymnastics Team Winning the Team Bronze.  Unlike the women’s team, who when they got the silver, it felt more like they lost the gold, the men’s team truly won that bronze.  No one thought they could do it with all the setbacks they had faced getting there, but  they ended up turning out just an amazing performance.  I’ll never forget seeing Justin Spring and Jonathan Horton sticking their bar routine landings perfectly, or Sasha Artemev, with the bronze medal resting on his shoulders, performing the greatest pommel horse routine I’ve ever seen in my life to clinch it.  These guys really had an awesome story that I won’t forget. 

5.  USA Men’s Volleyball Team Winning Gold.  I was rooting for this team so hard--more than the basketball team or the softball team or any other US team-- because of the tragedy that had befallen it at the beginning of the games when the coach’s father in law was murdered in Beijing.  These guys came together, faced adversity, and won it for their coach, and I will never forget seeing the tears stream down his face when they won.

6. Ryan Lochte Winning His First Individual Gold Medal in the 200 Back.  But really, just discovering Ryan Lochte in general.  I had so much fun this Olympics watching him compete, and learning about him and what a kind of weird, but totally cool guy he is.  He is by far my favorite swimmer now, and it sure doesn’t hurt that he’s really nice to look at. 

visual evidence

7. The Women's 4x400 Track and Field Relay.  You could just tell that these women really really wanted to redeem themselves on the track.  They had all had disappointments in their previous races, and so watching Sonya Richards pass the Russian runner in the last leg, you could just see the determination on her face.  Probably the most exciting track race of the competition.

8.  Matthew Mitcham Winning Gold in Men’s Platform Diving.  I fell in love with Matthew during the semifinals because he was just so cute and adorable, and I was rooting for him throughout the competition.  But seeing him win the gold medal was just amazing because it was such a huge upset!  He defeated a Chinese diver, which they said wasn’t possible, and he did it all by being adorable and gay (and getting the highest score for a dive EVER).  I can’t even tell you how happy I am for this guy. ♥

9.  Jonathan Horton Winning Silver on the High Bar.  I’m just going to say it, I love Jonathan Horton.  He’s just a cute, excitable hobbit who happens to be an amazing gymnast.  Throughout these games, I’ve really wanted the best for him, and he went out there during the event finals and absolutely killed it!  His bar routine was so amazing the audience even booed when he only got second place.  He really showed the world what he could do, and I really hope he goes to London so I can root for him some more!

10.  Usain Bolt.  Just in general.  This guy is amazing!  And the truth is, I just love to watch him.  I love his showboating and his excitement.  I find it really really endearing actually.  I’ll always remember this guy, and what he did this Olympics and hopefully many more to come.

PART TWO:

Part two of my Epic Olympics Post was going to be a detailed description of me and my cousin's epic story about Nastia Liukin, Secret Agent, and all of her exploits with her partner, Shawn Johnson, fighting off the underage Chinese gymnast-ninjas (led by Yang Wei) from ruling the world.  At one point, CIA director Bela Karolyi needs Nastia to go to Russia for an Op.  It is here she meets Russian spy and pommel horse expert, Alexander 'Sasha' Artemev, whom she falls in love with.  This gets a little awkward later on, when Nastia and her crime fighting-gymnast friends team up with the Swimming Special Forces led by Michael Phelps, who has some history with Nastia, causing Sasha to become jealous, and of course, hilarious love-triangle hijinks ensue.  And then in the end, it turns out that Shawn Johnson really was working for the Chinese all along, and she betrayed Nastia, and they have an epic gymnastics battle to determine who will survive.  But...I figure no one wants to hear about that so we're just going to skip over to Part 3.

PART THREE:

Epic Olympics-themed videos!

Epic Olympics montage that makes me cry every time I watch it.  Inspiration!

Epic "The World According to Lochte" video.  Including Ryan's Epic drawings of Epicness!

Epic Morgan Freeman-narrated Olympic commercial.  I could have picked any of the Morgan Freeman commercials to post here, but I picked this one because it makes me SOB!

Epic gymnastics montage set to "Be a Man" from Mulan:

BONUS!

My two favorite Olympians looking hot together:

END

until 2010 in Vancouver!