Category: Olympics

DID YOU KNOW THAT … Cocoaine was a drug used by Cuban footballer Javier Sotomayor Sanabria, who was known for his incompetence at the 1999 Pan American Games in Canada. After unsuccessful drug testing and research, ODEPA (Pan-American Sports Organization), ordered Cuban top champion Javier Sotomayor Sanabria to return the gold medal he had won at a high jump. He...

Road to London 2012! Chultem Naidam Did you know- In 1964, Mongolian athletes Chultem Naidam held a flag for the first Olympic delegates at the XVIII Olympiad in Tokyo (Japan). Moscow in 1980 Did you know- At the XXII Olympics in the USSR, between July 19 and August 13, 1980, Mongolia- a former Asian Communist country- took four medals (two...

Introduction A crowd of 34000 (two 52000 days) at Duke University’s Wallace Wade Stadium in Durham, North Carolina, to the USA-Pan Africa track-and-field meet (sometmes described as USA compared to the World), then the largest ever at a track convention in the southern United States (southeast). The July 16-17, 1971 convention was the first of its kind competitions. The united...

Introduction The Olympic gestures have been amazing. We are amazed, praised and honored for the extraordinary levels of belief in professional training, laser focus and intellectual skills displayed by those who climb to the top of the Olympics, not to mention the so-called podiums. And then there are people like Katie Ledecky, Simone Biles, Usain Bolt, Michael Phelps and other...

The second All-Africa Games, after winning the Olympic gold medal in the 400 meters in Munich in September 1972, was John Akii-Bua’s next important tournament. The African Games were held from 7 to 18 January 1973 in the Nigerian capital Lagos. Big Africa Bill Koskei (Kenya) won the men’s 400m final. On the last line was Akii imesis of Koskei....

Did you know… Cuba – traditionally a baseball power – was beaten by the Dominican Republic in the 1982 Central American and Caribbean games in Havana, Cuba. Dominican Republic wins gold medal. The champions were Victor Mercedes, Orlando Guerrero, Enrique Cruz, Johnny Olivo, Julio Dominguez, Mario Marte, Pedro Gomez, Ivan Crispin, Wilfredo Fernandez. Last stop: 1. Dominican Republic (gold medal)...

One dream team was coached by Dutchman Johannes Bonfrere and they started their way in the final with a 1-0 win over Hungary and a 2-0 win over Japan before finishing the first round with a 1-0 loss to Brazil. The Africans then shut down Mexico, led by eccentric goalkeeper, Jorge Campos, 2-0, in the last quarter to set two...

DID YOU KNOW … Taismary Aguero was born and raised in Cuba before becoming a regular Italian citizen. He is one of the most famous volleyball players of the 2000s. Under the hands of Taismary Aguero, Cuba won a gold medal in volleyball at the 2000 Olympic Games in Australia. However, he fled to Italy in 2001 and won a...

The Olympics are unlike any other sporting event on the planet. In 16 days, more than 300 festivals representing 35 sports and each country on the planet competing for their prize medals, and I was looking forward to watching the Summer Olympics every 4 years from as far back as I can remember. But there was always something missing. One...

Wushu is practiced all over China and is an important part of the country’s cultural heritage. Many visitors to China are deeply moved by the wushu’s tremendous popularity in the country. If you take a trip in the morning, you will see people practicing wushu without hands or with weapons in parks, on the beach, or along the side of...