The Straits Times Blogs - From The Beijing Olympics

Magic of the Bird's Nest

2009-02-07T22:00:00Z

Peh Shing Huei on how this icon still elicits excitement post-Olympics.

FEB 8 marks the six-month anniversary of the Beijing Olympics' grand opening at the Bird's Nest stadium and much has changed in the past half a year.

The skies in Beijing are no longer as blue, Olympic traffic lanes bear the five-ring logos but carry no special privileges and Michael Phelps has gone from medals to marijuana.

But something remains unchanged - the Chinese people's enthusiasm and pride in the Beijing Games.

SOURCE: Peh Shing Huei

While the Olympic flame has long been extinguished, for the thousands who still head to the Bird's Nest daily, it is almost as if Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt was still galloping to gold in the stadium.

SOURCE: Peh Shing Huei

The excitement starts miles before the stadium. On Friday morning, when I took the subway towards the Olympic Green, the squeals of delight could be heard the moment visitors switched to Line 8 - the four-stop Olympic subway line.

Camera started clicking at the station because it bears the name "Olympic Sports Center" and familiar Beijing Olympic tunes like "You and Me" and "Beijing Welcomes You" serenaded passengers.

It almost feels like August 8 again, as a mother excitedly told her young son that "we are going to the Bird's Nest, we are going to the Bird's Nest!"

SOURCE: Peh Shing Huei

Touted as a symbol of rising Chinese nationalism, the Nest is an architectural marvel that is now a must-see for Beijing tourists - joining a long and illustrated list that includes the Great Wall and the Forbidden City.

Some 10,000 gamely paid 50 yuan (S$10.90) a day to enter the stadium and about a million reportedly lingered at the Olympic Green area - free of charge - during the recent Chinese New Year holidays, just to admire the stadium's impressive lattice design.

It was so crowded when I was there that the security officers blocked some visitors from approaching the ticket counter. They were allowed in only when those at the counter had purchased their tickets and moved into the stadium.

SOURCE: Peh Shing Huei

And that is when you noticed the biggest difference between now and during the Olympic Games.

While the Games had thousands of smiling, polite and eager young Chinese volunteers to usher you in when you pass the turnstiles, they have been replaced by a bunch of non-smiling and surly workers and security guards.

"Go that way," barked a guard when visitors failed to take the right entry lane.

Yes, the Olympics is well and truly over.

Read the full story in The Sunday Times here.

We packed a punch

2008-09-17T09:57:00Z

Theresa Goh is proud to be part of S'pore's best Paralympics showing yet.

Born with spina bifida, Theresa Goh started swimming at the age of five. She is one of Singapore's top athletes and was awarded Sportsgirl of the Year for two years in a row in 2002 and 2003, Sportswoman of the Year by the Singapore Disability Sports Council in 2004, and the Singapore Youth Award in 2005. Now 21, Theresa will swim her pet event, the 100m breaststroke on Friday when she could win Singapore's first Paralympics medal.

From the Paralympics Village
In Beijing

IT'S all over!

Hi everyone. Events are finally over!

The swimming team ended with a bang!

Thanks to my swim mate Pin Xiu, who won Singapore’s first gold medal in the Paralympics. This Paralympic outing has been a rather successful one and it has all been made possible by a group of fantastic people.

The swim team may be small but I think we pack a punch. I’d also like to take this opportunity to congratulate Laurentia on her 2 bronze medals. Eric, Jovin and Desiree complete this wonderful Singapore Paralympic team.

This is our best Paralympic showing so far and we are all very proud to be a part of this.

I’m now going off to sleep and I look forward to going back to Singapore.

Home sweet home.

Heating up for victory

2008-09-15T13:29:00Z

Sim Chi Yin follows Paralympians Pin Xiu and Theresa at their swimming heats.

In Beijing

Singapore swimmer Yip Pin Xiu lowers herself from the wheelchair and into the water with swim team manager Danny Ong's help.
ST Photo: Sim Chi Yin

Watched over by swim team manager Danny Ong, Pin Xiu positions her goggles with her permanently-clenched fingers before she lowers herself from the wheelchair, into the water.
ST Photo: Sim Chi Yin

Pin Xiu flips into the water on her back once swim her team manager lets go of her wrists in the heats.
ST Photo: Sim Chi Yin

Pin Xiu propels her way to a second world record in three days in the 50m backstroke (S3). She lopped 3 seconds off her world previous world record of 1:00.80 with a new time of 57.92, fininshing first among 10 swimmers.
ST Photo: Sim Chi Yin

Singapore swim team manager Danny Ong holds swimmer Yip Pin Xiu as she gets back into her wheelchair after smashing her own world record in the 50m backstroke (S3) heats.
ST Photo: Sim Chi Yin

Singapore swim team manager Danny Ong tells Pin Xiu to look up in the stands where her parents are after she smashed her own world record. Pin Xiu, 16, lets out a wide grin and waves with her permanently-clenched fingers shortly after.
ST Photo: Sim Chi Yin

Singapore swimmer Theresa Goh looks up at the scoreboard to check out the timings of her opponents in the first of two heats for the 50m freestyle (S5) before surprising everyone but her coach by swimming her favoured breaststroke instead of the faster front crawl in her last race at these Games.
ST Photo: Sim Chi Yin

Finishing second last among 14 swimmers, almost all of whom did the front crawl, Theresa did not qualify for the finals. Coach Ang Peng Siong had asked her to swim the breaststroke to help her regain her confidence and correct her technique after she was disappointed last Friday when she narrowly missed the bronze in her pet 100m breaststroke (SB4) event. She finished in 53.67 seconds, about 1 second short from the world record of 52.62 seconds she set during the 4th ASEAN Para Games held in January this year.
ST Photo: Sim Chi Yin

Faster with each swim

2008-09-14T09:49:00Z

Sim Chi Yin captures the moments at Pin Xiu's record-breaking 50m free-style.

Singapore swimmer Yip Pin Xiu, 16, who has muscular dystrophy, gets to the starting block for her 50m freestyle (S3) heats on the morning of Sept 13 with the help of swim team manager Danny Ong while her Mexican rival Patricia Valle (right) is carried and lowered into the water.
ST Photo: Sim Chi Yin

Pin Xiu starts her 50m freestyle (S3) heats on the morning of Sept 13 with the help of swim team manager Danny Ong. Pin Xiu smashed Mexican rival Patricia Valle (right)'s world record, finishing first among 14 swimmers in 57.04, a new world record and more than 4 seconds off her personal best. Her coach Ang Peng Siong said that she has been clocking faster and faster times - doing world- record times even during training.
ST Photo: Sim Chi Yin

Pin Xiu smiles when she sees the scoreboard flashing "world record" after she finished first in her 50m freestyle (S3) heats on the morning of Sept 13 as she grips the railing with her permanently-clenched hands.
ST Photo: Sim Chi Yin

Theresa swims 200m free tonight

2008-09-09T07:10:00Z

Singapore Paralympian Theresa Goh prepares for her second swim in Beijing.

From the Paralympics Village
In Beijing

Hi everyone, it's Theresa here. I've read the past few entries by Laurentia and Eric and I shall try to measure up. Let me try to get into the blogging spirit too!

This is my second Paralympics and so far, Beijing has been amazing.

The atmosphere at the Paralympics is something unique and one-of-a-kind. To see so many athletes with disabilities competing in so many different sports is wonderful. To see athletes with disabilities and able-bodied people here as support staff, caregivers, coaches together part of the Paralympic Games is even better.

This is my eighth day in the village but it seems like I’ve been here for weeks already. Things are going swimmingly, pardon the pun, and I just had my first race yesterday!

I’m happy with the times I got and I’m looking forward to my next few events in the coming week. To think it’s all going to be over in less than a week. Wish me luck!

Taking the plunge at the Water Cube this morning.
ST Photo: Sim Chi Yin

Theresa Goh finished second in her 200m Freestyle heat this morning with a time of 3:18:51. Out of 15 competitors, she placed fourth. Watch the finals LIVE at 7:13pm tonight on paralympicsport.tv.

Reflections on the Paralympics

2008-09-09T03:27:00Z

Sim Chi Yin is heartened that support for disability sports is growing.

In Beijing

"MAYBE even terrorists are not interested in the Paralympics."

So grumbled a fellow journalist covering these Games for the world's top physically disabled athletes.

A Chinese worker changes Olympic banners to
Paralympic banners on a street light pole in Beijing.
Photo: AP

For all buzz and security worries over the Beijing Olympics – China's big-bang coming-of-age party – there's considerably less hoo-ha about its equivalent for the disabled. The international and local journalist pack is visibly much thinner on the ground, and for days before the Paralympics opened on Saturday, even the notoriously-tight security checks around the Olympic venues seemed somewhat more relaxed.

At a welcome ceremony for Team China at the Paralympics Village two weekends ago for instance, journalists were able to come within an arm's length of top Chinese officials – usually a no-no.

While it is a relief that Beijing is finally less anxious about something – anything – going wrong during this Olympic season, the relative disinterest in the Paralympics has long troubled many within the disability sports fraternity and beyond.

No matter how much China's top politicians stress "Two Olympics, equally splendid", there is no denying that the Olympics was, as an academic put it to me, "the favourite son" while the Paralympics are "a distant cousin".

Even the host country's largely controlled media has been noticeably less enthusiastic about these Games compared to the Olympics for which they put out reams of stories.

A local journalist was overheard telling another that his newspaper had cut back from eight daily pages during the Olympics to one page per day for the Paralympics.

Another Chinese scribe complained to me that her sports colleagues had "disappeared" after the Olympics, leaving her, a social issues reporter, to cover these Games.

All that is hardly peculiar to China. Apart from the BBC, CCTV and a handful of broadcasters in a sprinkling of countries which have fielded large Paralympian delegations, these Games are not on television. And it is hardly unusual to find Paralympics news reports running in the 'social' or 'home news' sections of many a newspaper.

It is also true that the Paralympics has not been a magnet for protests as the Olympics was – when activists for a range of causes picked their moment to berate China.

At the Paralympics so far, only a lone Chinese streaker – who kept her bra and jeans on – struck out by dashing onto the pitch during the opening ceremony on Saturday(6sept). But if she had a cause, she was not able to shout it. She was quickly wrestled to the ground and a day later pronounced "mentally unstable" by officials.

The Singapore contingent marches out at Saturday's
Opening Ceremony with Theresa Goh as flag bearer.
ST Photo: Sim Chi Yin

At the heart of this relative lack of interest in the Paralympics is perhaps the perception that disability sport is not 'real' sport but just a means of rehabilitation, or worse, social welfare for the handicapped. Some may also dismiss the level of competition at the Paralympics as "not as high" as that at the Olympics. Others may be averse to watching imperfect bodies stretching themselves to the limit – instead of the tanned, toned ones sported by Olympians.

Thankfully for many in the fraternity, the Beijing Paralympics show many encouraging signs of a growing appetite for disability sport at the highest level.

More than 6,000 journalists applied for accreditation to cover these Games, twice the number which reported on the previous Paralympics in Athens. It probably helps that many foreign newspapers, TV stations and wire agencies already have a stable of correspondents based in Beijing, ready to cover the Paralympics even if their headquarters decided against sending an army of reporters like many did for the Olympics.

New technology is also helping. With little Paralympic action on TV around the world, the International Paralympic Committee – the mothership organisation for disability sport – is harnassing the Internet and putting live coverage of these Games on YouTube or www.paralympicsport.tv.

That may help convince many of the unconverted. One just needs to sit for a short while in the stands to watch swimmers with no arms do the Butterfly or watch a double amputee run the 100m to feel thoroughly awed by elite disability sport and the power of the human body and mind.

Covering the Paralympics for a second time now, I am reminded of what swim coach Ang Peng Siong told me in Athens in 2004, as we flew back together with the team of eight Singaporean Paralympians who had quietly done the Republic proud. It had been, for both of us, a first-time, first-hand experience of the Paralympics.

Coach Ang Peng Siong watches Theresa's strokes
closely during a training session in Beijing.
ST Photo: Sim Chi Yin

Mr Ang, a former champion swimmer who competed in the 1984 and 1988 Olympics and was head coach at the 2000 Games, said then: 'It was a real humbling experience. The Paralympics remind us of what sports is really about - challenging the human spirit. We have a lot to learn from disabled athletes. Sometimes, we, able-bodied people, are ourselves disabled - mentally."

How right he was, I thought to myself, watching and photographing Singapore Paralympic wheelchair racer Eric Ting – who is paralysed from the chest down - go through the paces in the gym late last week. With no abdominal muscles to keep his body from jerking forward like a puppet, his coach pressed his chest against the wall while Eric pumped away at the weights machine, struggling to grip the handlebars with his stiff fingers.

Eric trains with his coach in Beijing.
ST Photo: Sim Chi Yin

My own gym workouts will never be the same again.

Getting ready to race

2008-09-04T15:15:00Z

Singapore Paralympian Eric Ting gears up for his race in Beijing.

Eric Ting, 36, is a quadraplegic and is representing Singapore in wheelchair racing in the Beijing Games which kick off this Saturday. He is Singapore's only track and field athlete and is competing in the 400 metre race. His minder told The Straits Times that his blog entry may be short but it took him great time and effort as his hands and fingers are not as long or as dexterous due to his condition.

In Beijing

IT HAS been three days since my arrival now and I have settled into the life here at the Paralympics Village. The facilities and provisions have all been fantastic. I'm also very impressed by the organisation. I have finally seen the "Bird's Nest" and the "Water Cube" after watching events at these venues on TV so many times.

Wheelchair racer Eric Ting, 36, an ex-commando
who became paraplegic after a car accident, works
out in the Paralympics Village gym 4 Sept. He will
be Singapore's sole representative on the track
at the Beijing Paralympics, racing in the 400m
next week. ST Photo: Sim Chi Yin

Eric works out in the Paralympics Village gym with the
help of his coach Ann Mahakeeta. ST Photo: Sim Chi Yin

With his stiff fingers, Eric takes a while to find the right
grip on the weights machines. ST Photo: Sim Chi Yin

I'm still recovering from my flu and just started full training today. It's pretty frustrating not feeling 100 per cent physically but hopefully I'll feel better as the days go by. It'll be another week or so before my event.

It's my first Paralympics and I really hope I'll enjoy the whole experience.

Find out more about Singapore's Paralympics representatives and you can catch them in action next week.

Riding with nothing to lose

2008-09-02T08:20:00Z

Singapore Paralympian rider Laurentia Tan arrives in Hong Kong.

Laurentia Tan,28, is an equestrian dressage rider for Team Singapore. She lives in England where she trains with her horse called Nothing To Lose, also nicknamed Harvey. She was diagnosed with cerebral palsy and profound deafness as a child.

Competing with Nothing To Lose.
Handout: Laurentia Tan

In Hong Kong

Day One: August 27th

WE arrived in Hong Kong at about 3pm and was transported in a big coach meant for 49 people, to our temporary hotel for that night. After checking in, we went straight to the stables to meet Caroline (Harvey's groom) and welcome my lovely horse.

After a bit of delay, Harvey arrived but it wasn't the arrival I'd hoped for.

As soon as he went in to his stable, he was so restless and neighing really loud calling for Youri, who had been quarantined and travelling with him. He's never like this and it was rather unnerving to watch.

Arrangements were made to have Youri, his new friend from Ireland, to be stabled next to Harvey. Once they were together, both horses quickly settled down and seemed happy. It was nice to see the teams for Hong Kong, Great Britian and Ireland - with whom the Singapore Team are all familiar with - as we are stabled together in the same block.

I was very exhausted by the time Harvey arrived, especially with all the walking in the airport and getting to the stables. My trainer Penny suggested that we go back to the hotel first, but we'd missed the last 7pm coach back to the hotel. We finally sat down for dinner at 9pm!

After dinner, we went to our rooms to try on our new outfits and official attire. It's so exciting and we were like three kids opening Christmas presents... and comparing how tight our trousers are!

Day Two: August 28th

I ONLY managed to sleep for four hours, and while everyone went to the stables after breakfast, I stayed in the hotel to rest. I managed to catch up on my sleep for a bit when the news came from the stables that all was well. We then checked out of the temporary hotel to transfer to the Paralympic Village.

By the time we settled in, it was nearly 4pm and I was starting to feel exhausted again. So I opted for an early night.

No Harvey time today.

Day Three: August 29th

PENNY, my trainer, left for the stables early this morning to give Harvey a little light physiotherapy with the muscle stimulator (not with her own hands). He seemed quite tight behind the saddle. His groom Caroline walked him out around the race track and let him have a pick at some grass.

Harvey was booked-in for a ride at 4.30pm, the first since his arrival. Although he started a little stiffly in his walk, Caroline soon had him walking out really well. After a brief trot, Harvey felt a little stiff again, so we arranged for a physiotherapist to look at him at 8.00am tomorrow. Hopefully, the physio will help loosen him up.

After the ride, Harvey was taken to the misting tent where he seemed to enjoy a cool shower and a wash down with cold water. Later, he was led around the competition arena where he behaved beautifully despite all the distractions. Harvey was so calm that another competitor asked for Harvey to give him a lead round the arena which he did like a pro.

Laurentia will be blogging for The Straits Times when the Paralympics kick off on Saturday. Her events will be on Tuesday, September 9 (Individual Championship Test) and Thursday September 11 (Individual Freestyle Test).

Singapore's Paralympians arrive

2008-09-02T07:32:00Z

Sim Chi Yin captures the first moments of Team Singapore in Beijing.

In Beijing

SINGAPORE'S Palalympics contingent arrived in Beijing yesterday - including world-record-holder swimmers Theresa Goh and Yip Pin Xiu. Both are medal hopefuls at these Games.

Pin Xiu, Theresa and coach Ang Peng Siong arrive
at Beijing's Terminal 3. ST Photo: Sim Chi Yin

Wheelchair racer Eric Ting delights in the
handicapped-friendly facilities in the Paralympics Village.
ST Photo: Sim Chi Yin

The first thing Pin Xiu and Theresa do at the Village
is hang up their formal Singapore uniforms so
they don't get crumpled. ST Photo: Sim Chi Yin

Theresa gets down to business and
acclimatises to the Beijing waters.
ST Photo: Sim Chi Yin

Why no Olympic laurels for Beijing?

2008-08-29T22:00:00Z

Lee Seok Hwai discusses possible reasons for the lack of enthusiasm.

ENTRENCHED opinions, it appears, are immoveable, even in the path of the Olympic juggernaut.

People in the US, China’s current main rival, and Japan, China’s historical arch enemy, seem to be unmoved by the Beijing Olympics, according to a poll by The Straits Times. Their largely ambivalent or even negative views of China remain intact.

What can China do to improve this deep-rooted latent hostility? Perhaps the more valid question is: Should it even try?

In psychology, studies have shown that the character of a person, once it is formed in his teens, will remain stable throughout his life. It is safe to assume the same immutability of a country’s psyche – the set of beliefs and values that shape its opinions and actions.

The East-West, totalitarian-democratic, divide between China and the United States will never be bridged. On any given day, mainstream American newspapers will carry articles that are either outright critical of China, or are implicitly so. Rare is the writer who expresses sympathy for the country.

As for Japan, the roots of its Sino animosity are much more complicated, and of course, that much harder to disentangle.

The Chinese, of course, have reflected all that ill feelings back to the Japanese and the Americans.

Much has been made of Chinese rulers supposed exploitation of such hostility, when the occasion suits them. The word for it is “nationalism”.

Which brings me to a second psychological finding: That individual passions get amplified in a group setting. So a Chinese who is, say, annoyed with Japanese textbooks that glorifies imperial Japan, is likely to get seriously incensed if he joins a group of like-minded people, who will each also go from irate to furious.

At this point, pacifists will suggest doing away with national boundaries in the interest of world peace. I suggest that they sing to the tune of John Lennon’s “Imagine”.

Read Lee Seok Kwai's feature on Olympic attitudes in The Straits Times today.

What unites also divides

2008-08-29T09:46:00Z

Lin Xinyi looks at both sides of Singapore's table tennis coin.

REWIND to August 15, when most of Singapore stopped to watch the national women’s table tennis team take on South Korea in the semi-finals.

Never mind that some were not even fans of the sport.

Never mind that some could not understand how it was physical possible for South Korean chopper Kim Kyung Ah to retrieve Li Jiawei’s drives - five metres away from the table.

Never mind the opinions they had on the foreign talent issue.

They watched, they cheered Singapore on, and they witnessed history in the making as another Olympic medal was secured after 48 years of waiting.

As in the final against China, that match showed that sports can indeed bring Singapore together - the same country that has often been criticised for the lack of a sporting culture.

But the events that have since followed as the Gao Ning case unfolded showed the flipside: Sports can also divide a nation.

As the Singapore Table Tennis Association saga rumbles on, more opinions have been aired - by parties related to the incident and the average man on the street.

The Straits Times and The Sunday Times have received hundreds of emails and numerous phone calls from members of the public.

Online polls, forums and blogs have also provided Singaporeans with outlets to vent their frustration, make their points, and take sides.

But if ever there was one positive to draw from this saga, it is that the people care.

Let’s hope that the wait for Singapore’s next Olympic medal won't take another 48 years. And when that day arrives, we will be able to celebrate without reservation - or recrimination.

After Beijing

2008-08-29T01:56:00Z

Albert Sim describes lessons learned at his third Olympics.

THE Beijing Olympics have ended in a sea of pomp and pageantry, colorful costumes, songs and stunning performances, drawing a fitting closure to a Games never before seen in such scale and magnitude.

It has been a long journey. After two Olympics, Beijing is my last destination. As I reflect upon my three Olympic experiences, many things stood out.

The spirit of volunteerism in the people of China was outstanding. From the young volunteers at various competition venues to the service staff, everyone I encountered approached their tasks with bright smiles and a willingness to offer their help. Language was no barrier for them as they managed to successfully converse in a multitude of languages - English, Russian, French, German and even Italian.

Ever-ready with a smile.
ST photo: Albert Sim

The audience was simply great.

Their boundless energy and infectious cheers drew me into the performances. Through them, I not only captured each image of the athletes in action, I too captured their unfailing spirit and tenacity. The Chinese supporters cheered on relentlessly for their teams at the various events, their voices merging together and soaring as one. Theirs was truly a unity to behold.

Security was tight and smooth-running for the media at all the venues. It was the first time I did not have to go through the lengthy process of clearing check after check. Transport was very efficient.

Beijing also stood out from the previous two Olympics because I saw the Singapore flag flying high for the first time. Our table tennis girls have done well in winning the silver medal. As my lens clicked into place, I captured the moment when a jubilant Feng Tianwei ran into the arms of her coach in joy.

The experience I had in Beijing was surreal, memorable, and certainly unforgettable. I brought back with me - not only my camera - but lessons of success, fighting spirit and friendship.

"Faster, higher, stronger".

Yes, we will all remember the Games of 2008, and also look forward to London 2012.

Goodbye Beijing, Hello London

2008-08-25T01:58:00Z

Marc Lim recaps the best of Beijing 2008 and looks forward to London 2012.

AT TIMES some of us wished that the Games would just end.

There were the LONG hours - up at 8am to catch the 10am swimming, squeeze in a couple of other sports in between, work till 1am when the paper goes to bed.

There were the irregular meals - energy bars or chocolates would suffice if they wasn't proper food around. McDonalds' became the quickest food for those on-the-go.

Then there were the was the crazy weather - sunny one day, pouring rain the next.

Yet now that the Olympic flame has been doused and the Beijing Games are really over, a sense of wistfulness has overcome the many journalists who have called Beijing home this past month.

Chinese, Dutch, black, white, tall, short, man, woman, all exchanged heartfelt farewells. Some did it over a beer, others with a hug.

But in what many felt was the best Olympics ever, there was this yearning for just one or two more days. Time for us to witness one more act of athletic greatness, time for us to interact more with the omni-present and ever-friendly volunteers.

Time for us to enjoy the beautiful Birds Nest Stadium and the Water Cube just one more time.

Indeed, Beijing has left us with many lasting memories.

The Opening Ceremony set new heights, yesterday's Closing Ceremony was not far off either from being a spectacular. My only wish was that London 2012's poster boy and soccer star David Beckham could have kicked the ball with more ooompph.

But as the gathering of the planet's greatest athletes take a short break, before taking London by storm, allow me to share my lasting impressions of Beijing 2008 and hopes for London 2012.

BEST SPORTS MOMENT

Swimmer Michael Phelps was his eight golds was the story of the Games. Sprinter Usain Bolt endeared himself to many with his sprint double and on-track antics, but the what American Jason Lezak did in the men's 4x100m freestyle relay was the epitome of the Olympics for me - that sports is not always about the individual. It is often about a team, of family members, coaches, teammates who help you, like Lezak helped Phelps.

For what was probably the only time at this Olympic Games, Phelps was not the main story behind a Michael Phelps gold. Some might say he was reduced to a footnote.

In a race that will go down as one of the greatest 4x100 metre freestyle relay clashes of all time, Lezak assumed the starring role of the United States quartet which took the gold in world-record of 3 minutes 8.24 secs.

His anchor leg, in a photo-finish win over the French, is the stuff fathers will use as bedtime stories. It is what swimming coaches will use to inspire their charges. Someone will probably put it in a swimming textbook.

It was that good.

Trailing French anchor Alain Bernard, who entered the race as the 100m free record holder, Lezak turned a half-body length deficit to a 0.08 sec win. In layman’s terms, that’s a fingertip.

It was that close.

BEST FEEL-GOOD MOMENT

Afganistan's Rohullah Nikpai had won a taekwondo bronze. It was the country's first-ever Olympic medal. But the medal was the least of his concerns. Not even the US$50,000 prize promised to him by a mobile phone company mattered.

His main concern: "I hope this will send a message of peace to my country after 30 years of war."

Sport has a unique way of uniting people of different races, religions and socio-economic backgrounds. And if Nikpai's medal can go some way to changing Afganistan, it could probably be the most important medal of the more than 1,000 given out in Beijing.

BEST EYE CANDY

It's a toss up between the beach volleyball cheerleaders and the medal presenters. Both could force a smile out of journalists who could have been having the most horrid of days. My vote goes to the medal presenters. They aren't in the limelight much, but trust me, up close, they all look like Zhang Zhiyi clones - tall, pretty, almost perfect.

And they aren't your super-girly types too. I spoke to a presenter who said they have to do weight-training too. Why, I asked. She pointed to the medal tray, and the at times, more than 10 medals, they have to carry, standing upright for up to 10 minutes at the medal ceremony.

For that, they get my vote. They may also not be revealing much skin like the beach volleyball babes, but hey, sometimes, less is better.

HOPES FOR 2012

Every Games should be different and while I hope that London 2012 will be as compact as Beijing (commuting to the various areas was such a breeze with six venues within the Olympic green and the furthest a mere 40 minutes away), as incident-free, I know four years from now people will be raving about aspects unique to only London.

But here are two things I would not like to see:

One, no David Beckham. Please, even if he will draw thousands to the stadium, he should not be part of Great Britain's football team.

And: No Spice Girls reunion for Opening Ceremony.

Goodbye Beijing, Hello London.

An Olympic aftermath

2008-08-24T07:10:00Z

Chua Chin Hon asks if China's old habits will return once the Olympic flame is snuffed.

In Beijing

TONIGHT, Beijing will undoubtedly bring the curtains down on the 2008 Olympics with another spectacular show of mass display and fireworks. It will not top the stunning opening ceremony of course, but it is not expected to either.

The closing ceremony will instead be lighter in mood, allowing Beijing to let its hair down after 17-days of intense competition and global scrutiny.

But in many ways, the ceremony will mark the beginning of the real Olympics test for Beijing. The Chinese capital spent the last seven
years getting ready for the Games, building fancy new stadiums, cleaning up the air, improving public manners, and trying to live up to its pledge of greater media freedom.

But can Beijing stay the course? Or will the old problems and bad habits come roaring back once the Olympic flame has been extinguished?

No one's quite ready to take a bet on this at the moment. For one, some of the measures taken by Beijing to ensure success and clear
skies at the Games are simply unsustainable.

The government, for instance, grounded more than half of the city's cars, and ordered large swathes of factories on its outskirts and
neighbouring provinces to close in order to reduce pollution. Some fear air pollution will come back with a vengeance once these
factories are allowed to resume operation, for surely they will crank up production to make up for lost time.

Likewise, there are serious concerns that Beijing will roll back the relaxation of the rules on the foreign media and return to a more hardline way of dealing with journalists.

There's been widespread praise about the "new China" that was on display in the last 17 days. Let's hope the shine doesn't fade too soon.

Exciting moments for S'porean supporters

2008-08-22T11:46:00Z

Fans cheering for Team Singapore at the Olympics share their experiences with Melissa Sim.

WHEN the table tennis finals between Singapore and China ended, Ms Angelina Ong, cried.

But it was not because "Singapore lost, but because Singapore won a silver medal at the Olympics", said the 32-year-old PR consultant

And when it was time for the Singapore team to receive their medals, Ms Ong and her friends found themselves standing on the chairs waving the Singapore flag. The semi-finals were no different.

Ms Angelina Ong (left) and Ms Jacqueline Wang showing their support for Team Singapore at the Beijing Olympics.

Student Ammily Lim, 22, spent three hours cheering for the table tennis team on Friday, when they beat South Korea 3-2, guaranteeing Singapore’s second medal of all time.

"When they lost the fourth game, we were all quite nervous," she recalled.

"We thought we might lose the chance at a medal again."

Into the fifth game, the atmosphere was tense.

"But we started gaining more confidence when Tianwei started winning," she said.

Even the China locals sitting next to her started cheering for Singapore.

"That was the most exciting game I’ve watched here," said Ms Lim.

While only a select few have caught the games live other Singaporeans living in China have rallied around team Singapore, showing their support in other ways.

Human relations executive Esther Quek, 39, even started video-taping her television screen, when team Singapore appeared during the opening ceremony. "We were also hoping to see MM Lee, but we were very disappointed, the camera did not pan to him,"she said.

The other exciting moment for Singaporeans was catching Tao Li in the 100m butterfly finals.

Ms Shirley Sim, 29, manager of Olio restaurant in China Central Mall, said many Singaporeans frequent her outlet. And when Tao Li's final came on television, everyone stopped working and eating, just to watch her.

But watching the action on the television is nothing like the real thing.

Ms Ong, who was lucky enough to get tickets for the opening ceremony on Aug 8, said that when the Singapore contingent walked into the Bird's Nest Stadium, she started jumping up and down and waving everything in her goodie bag.

"We really needed to go to the toilet, but we were afraid we would miss the Singapore contingent," she said.

And when the team appeared?

"We told everyone around us that was our country!" said the Singaporean who has spent six years working in China.

Ms Ong even started describing the significance of the Singapore flag to the Brazilian stranger sitting next to her.

"I just wanted to share with any body who cared to listen."

"We saved the loudest cheer for Singapore," said Ms Ong.