Three beautiful things from this past Olympic week:
1. Michael Phelps seems to be part eel. Nearly every time he gets in the pool, a record breaks.
2. Because I was a volleyball player in high school and college — and a remarkably sucky server — I am always so impressed by the jump serve. You throw the ball up two stories in the air with sufficient English to keep it near you, run forward several steps, and then jump up and hit the ball with your hand hard enough to make it fly forward over the net (and hopefully into a spot not occupied by an opponent).
3. The Chinese men perform on the gymnastics rings as if they’re standing on the floor. Their moves are fluid and, as Rudi points out, you can just watch the different muscle groups kick in as the gymnasts swing from one move to the next.
I actually WATCHED the olympics last night and they analyzed phelps body. he has short legs. he’s 6’4 but has the legs of someone who is “just” 6’0. that’s apparently good for kicking? and his arms? he has the arms of someone who is 6’8 which is helpful for obvious reasons. haha and his hands are big too so he can push water. during this segment, i was all “can we stop treating him like a specimen?? seriously!” but i will agree with you that he is part eel. haha
Comment by laura 08.15.08 @ 7:16 am@ Laura – I saw that, too, and thought it was bizarre (and more than a little creepy) that they had done such an in-depth breakdown of his body. I did laugh, though, when they very quickly made a reference to his “flat bottom” and then moved on.
Comment by Sarah 08.16.08 @ 9:19 am