(And now, a little bit of drama)
Watching the Olympics last night, I felt a bit of the tabloid backlash surrounding the French swimmers. Thinking about the prospect of the French standing on that podium playing La Marseillaise actually made me somewhat excited to see the races heat up.
Let me backtrack a little so you know what I'm talking about:
Laure Manaudou, defending gold medalist in the women's 400 Free at the Athens Olympics was facing off against her biggest rival and the current girlfriend of her ex-boyfriend, Federica Pellegrini of Italy. I heard a bit about Manaudou while living in France, especially during the extensive coverage of the European tournaments and championships this past winter. Long story short, she's a huge celebrity in the French athletic world and was touted to be arguably one of the greatest French athletes if she could repeat in the Olympics.
Long story short, both Manaudou and Pellegrini slipped off the radar during that event, in which all medalists came either from Great Britain or the United States. So apparently all that off-season drama got to the European athletes' heads.
Over on the men's side of the pool, the French men's relay team was being touted as the favorite to take gold in the 400 Freestyle Relay. Adding in a bit of color, Alain Bernard told reporters that the French came to Beijing to "smash" the Americans. And while they did end up shattering the previous world record in the event by nearly four seconds, it was the American squad anchored by Michael Phelps and Jason Lezak who took home the gold.
So much for "smashing" the Americans.
I am really proud for the French though. This really puts them on the map as a world contender. And I lived there twice!
Watching the Olympics last night, I felt a bit of the tabloid backlash surrounding the French swimmers. Thinking about the prospect of the French standing on that podium playing La Marseillaise actually made me somewhat excited to see the races heat up.
Let me backtrack a little so you know what I'm talking about:
Laure Manaudou, defending gold medalist in the women's 400 Free at the Athens Olympics was facing off against her biggest rival and the current girlfriend of her ex-boyfriend, Federica Pellegrini of Italy. I heard a bit about Manaudou while living in France, especially during the extensive coverage of the European tournaments and championships this past winter. Long story short, she's a huge celebrity in the French athletic world and was touted to be arguably one of the greatest French athletes if she could repeat in the Olympics.
Long story short, both Manaudou and Pellegrini slipped off the radar during that event, in which all medalists came either from Great Britain or the United States. So apparently all that off-season drama got to the European athletes' heads.
Over on the men's side of the pool, the French men's relay team was being touted as the favorite to take gold in the 400 Freestyle Relay. Adding in a bit of color, Alain Bernard told reporters that the French came to Beijing to "smash" the Americans. And while they did end up shattering the previous world record in the event by nearly four seconds, it was the American squad anchored by Michael Phelps and Jason Lezak who took home the gold.
So much for "smashing" the Americans.
I am really proud for the French though. This really puts them on the map as a world contender. And I lived there twice!
3 comments:
oh, geezis. that "smash" comment really got everyone's undies in a bunch. i like how every single commenter asked the boys, "OMGZ, you guys really 'smashed' the french, huh? yeah, take that, france!" *sigh* silly rivalries.
I know, especially since the top three finishes shattered the previous world record... and it only was a .08 second differential between gold and silver!
And don't forget that Bernard is from your "hometown" of Antibes!!
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