South African Double-Amputee “Blade runner” Oscar Pistorius Named to 4×400 Olympic Team

Blade Runner headed to the London Olympics …

Oscar Pistorius, the South African double amputee runner has been selected to the South African Olympic track team in the individual 4×400 meter race and relay. Pistorius will be the first amputee track athlete to compete in the Olympics. South Africa’s Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee said Pistorius was picked for the London Games because of athletic achievements, not because he is the world’s most famous disabled athlete. That may not be entirely true seeing that the committee changed their minds despite the fact that he just missed out on the country’s strict qualifying criteria.  Kudos to Pistorius, hey if you can qualify for the Olympics, there is no reason why one should not be able to compete. Also, call me sentimental and having participated in volunteering for the Special Olympics, but I think it is a tremendous accomplishment for a double amputee to be an Olympic athlete.

Double-amputee runner Oscar Pistorius is going to the London Olympics after being selected for South Africa’s 1,600-meter relay team.

Pistorius is set to become the first amputee track athlete to compete at the games after South Africa’s Olympic committee picked him Wednesday as one of 13 athletes on the team initially selected last month.

“Today is really on of the happiest days of my life! Will be in (at)London2012 for both the Olympic and Paralympic Games!” the multiple Paralympic champion said on Twitter. “Thank you to everyone that has made me the athlete I am! God, family and friends, my competitors and supporters! You have all had a hand!”

Daily Commentary – Tuesday, February 23rd, 2010 – Not Impressed by US Hockey Win Over Canada

• Dana’s not convinced of all the hubbub. Olympic hockey in many respects has just become another venue for professional athletes to strut their stuff.

Daily Commentary – Tuesday, February 23rd, 2010 – Not Impressed by US Hockey Win [1:36m]:  | Download

Winter Olympic: Miracle on Ice … 30 Years Later … The USA Beat the Soviet Union, Where were You!

MIRACLE ON ICE … WHERE WERE YOU!!!

“Eleven seconds, you’ve got ten seconds, the countdown going on right now! Morrow, up to Silk. Five seconds left in the game. Do you believe in miracles? YES!”

Before the Internet, before cell phones and before  24 hour cable, there was the 1980 Winter Olympics and a story of the USA hockey team for the ages. Never again will such a story and game ever be played as it transcended sports.

It was February 22, 1980 the day the world stood still when the USA hockey team beat the Soviet Union 4-3 … where were you? It was the greatest game and greatest sports upset in USA history. The story of “Miracle on Ice” is one of the greatest uplifting, feel good stories of all time. A cast of college kids put a nation on their shoulder when we needed it most.

It is 30 years later but to watch highlights of the game from the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, NY still brings a smile, pride and a tear to my eye after all these years. It was more than just a hockey game, it was a piece of the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Unions played out on a sheet of ice. It was a bunch of college kids against the Soviet hockey machine that was invincible. The Russian Red team had taken down the NHL’s best teams preceding the Olympics, how could a team of college kids even compete.

The rest is things that dreams and miracles are made of.

USA VS USSR: Mike Eruzione goal – The shot heard Around the World

Having grown up a Cold War kid, Miracle on Ice represents such a special moment in time. We deal with the threat of terrorism today, but that is a much different feeling than to wake up and wonder whether there would be nuclear annihilation. It was such a different time. I can remember being glued to the TV watching every second recovering from surgery. When the USA won, I jumped up and down, split my stitches and cried like a baby.

For those who are not old enough to appreciate the moment in time, you have to go back to 1980 and think of the following. The United States was gripped in a terrible economic plight, double digit unemployment, interest rates and inflation. So many people were out of work and gas was rationed. The USSR was occupying Afghanistan and American hostages were being held in Iran.

Do you believe in Miracles … YES!!!

It was a grim time in the US and everyone thought that the USSR was going to dominate the Winter Olympics and do a show of force on the World stage. We now know why that why they play the game.

These Olympic hockey kids made America remember that any thing is possible and miracles do come true. The feeling that this moment in time provided was beyond words.

Tell us what you were doing and your thoughts … 30 years later.

Tragedy Strikes Vancouver Winter Olympic Games … Male Luger from the Former Soviet Republic of Georgia Dies After Training Crash

The Vancouver Olympic Luge track has been billed as the worlds fastest. Sadly, it is now known as the deadliest.

Their is  sad news to report from the Vancouver Winter Olympic Games. Nodar Kumaritashvili, a male luger from the former Soviet Republic of  Georgia crashed and died today during a training run. Before the opening ceremonies even started tragedy has struck the Winter Olympics.  Kumaritashvili lost control of his sled, went over the track wall and struck an unpadded steel pole near the finish line at Whistler Sliding Center. Unpadded poll, oh dear Lord what were these people thinking?

Click on pic to see crash

A men’s luger from the former Soviet republic of Georgia died Friday after a crash during training, an Olympic official with direct knowledge of the situation said. The death cast a shocking pall over the Olympics hours before the Vancouver Games were to open.

The official told The Associated Press that the International Olympic Committee received confirmation of Nodar Kumaritashvili’s death. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the 21-year-old luger’s family hadn’t been notified yet.

VIDEO can be seen here (Warning Graphic) We have dnot to link to the pics, just too graphic. They are easily found on the web. God rest this sliders soul.

Training was suspended following the terrible incident as track officials are investigating the crash. Rescue workers were at the Luger’s side within seconds providing chest compressions and mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. The 21 year old Nodar Kumaritashvili  was then quickly airlifted to a trauma center in Whistler where he would later die from his injuries.

Our sympathies go out to the family and loved ones of this Olympic athlete.

UPDATE I: Olympic Probe: Track Didn’t Cause Luger’s Death

Hmm, if the track did not cause the death of the Georgian luger, why are they making changes to it? Obviously, the IOC is playing semantics and parsing words here. It was not the track, in the sense of the sliding area that caused the sad death of Nodar Kumaritashvili, a male luger from the former Soviet Republic of  Georgia; however, it was the non-padded steel pole that did. That will eventually need to be addressed as a negligent issue in the death of the Georgian luger. 

WHISTLER, British Columbia – Fast and frightening, yes. Responsible for the death of a luger, no.

Olympic officials decided late Friday night against any major changes in the track or any delays in competition and even doubled up on the schedule in the wake of the horrifying accident that claimed the life of a 21-year-old luger from the republic of Georgia.

They said they would raise the wall where the slider flew off the track and make an unspecified “change in the ice profile” — but only as a preventative measure “to avoid that such an extremely exceptional accident could occur again.”

“N”oBama … No Olympics … IOC Snubs Barack Obama’s Bid for Olympics, RIO Wins 2016 Olympic Games

Obama loses the newest game to the Olympics … Game of Olympic Chicken.

Let us just say first, Congratulations to RIO. Now let’s discuss Barack Hussein Obama and his naive armature involvement in the Olympic process.

An International and Olympic sized embarrassing loss for the Obamamessiah who is supposed to be loved by the International community. After all the Obama speeches overseas apologizing for the actions of the United States, what did America get for it? Nada, niet, nothing! Ouch, this is going to leave a mark as Barack Obama wins the first ever Olympic gold medal for the “egg of face” toss.

Via Drudge Report

In the long run, interjecting himself into the Olympic bidding process should make us all question Obama’s judgment. There is a reason why no President has ever done this before. Mark my words, now that Obama has Olympic egg on his face, there will never be another after. This involvement by Obama harkens back to when “The One” put himself center square in the Cambridge, MA police, Gates, Crowley situation where the President said “they acted stupidly.” Both situations were beneath the office of the President, but not for a community organizer.

Barack Obama fails to win 2016 Olympic Games for Chicago as Rio de Janeiro wins the 2016 Olympics Games. During Obama’s months as President he has been very good at blaming George W. Bush for everything the he presently faces. With this embarrassing loss on the International stage, will Obama BLAME IT ON RIO! Sadly, Democrats are even blaming the Chicago loss of the Olympics still on GWB. These people take credit for nothing and frankly, the American people are growing weary of this gutless leadership. Maybe, just maybe, the folks from RIO did a better job than Barack Obama. Is that a possibility in Obamaland?

OK, so it wasn’t health care, climate change or war. Still, President Barack Obama’s high-profile failure to win the Olympics for Chicago could feed negative narratives already nipping at his heels — that he’s a better talker than closer, more celebrity than statesman.

And this could hamper his efforts on the weightier issues.

Despite Obama’s fabled charm and powers of persuasion, his in-person plea for Chicago to host the 2016 Summer Games fell flat. It was a hugely embarrassing defeat. His adopted hometown — considered a front-runner heading into Friday’s voting — didn’t just lose, it took last place, shocking nearly all by getting knocked out in the first round while the remaining three contenders moved on.

What was President Barack Obama thinking? Why would any involve them self in such an event that was beneath their office where the risk/reward was off the charts on the side of risk. How does this speak to his future involvement in negotiations?  Does Barack Obama actually believe his press clippings that he is so adored Internationally that his mere presence would sway the IOC into picking Chicago to host the 2016 Olympic Games over Madrid, Tokyo and Rio?

Going before the IOC in a beg for the 2016 Olympics games was a lose-lose scenario. How could anyone be so foolish and naive to put so much political capital on the line for a game of chance?  Talk about your back fires. This Olympic failure will only add to the doubts that people already had regarding Obama’s presidency as who struggles with Obamacare, the economy, unemployment and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.  

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