Saturday - August 09, 2008

Olympic Miracle #1

Don’t expect much blogging on the Olympics from me. I’ve got a very jaundiced view of everything that has to do with communist China. And I am bothered by many things about the Olympics, from the inclusion of activities that have to be scored subjectively by a team of biased judges, to allowing highly paid professional athletes to compete, to the petty politics of the IOC. However ... there is an Olympic sport that gets almost no television coverage because it can’t be seen on TV. It is one of the sports that is entirely amateur. It has been a sport in the modern Olympics since they began. And Americans generally suck at it. Big Time. But not this time ...

BEIJING — Mariel Zagunis stood proudly atop the podium, the first American to do so at these Olympics.  A former president was in the front row — and three red, white and blue flags were rising to the rafters.

“It was a dream come true,” Zagunis said.

Zagunis won the first U.S. gold medal of the Beijing Games, leading an American sweep Saturday in women’s saber fencing. Zagunis took the gold with a 15-8 victory over Sada Jacobson, who won the silver. Becca Ward took the bronze.

Before the fencing medals were awarded, the Americans had been shut out of Olympic medals, trailing the likes of Cuba, North Korea, Taiwan and Uzbekistan in the overall standings. Then the saber trio went to work, moving the U.S. to the top of the table with three medals.  And to make the night even more memorable, former President George H.W. Bush was in the front row for the medal ceremony, just to the side of where the three flags were lifted.

“It was amazing. It was emotional. It was such a dramatic moment,” Bush said. “To win all three was simply magnificent.”

You can thank that Title IX stuff for this. As recently as 15 years ago women were not allowed to compete in this fencing discipline. This was a man’s sport ... with good reason. Getting hit with a 30” long steel whip moving at a hundred or so mph can hurt like hell. Getting a hit that wraps the blade behind your head can knock you cold. Been there, done that ... I lived for fencing all through college. Saber moves so fast you can’t see the blades even from a couple feet away. Which is why it gets such poor TV coverage. There’s really nothing to see. You have to be right on the edge of the strip to see the sparks flying.

Zagunis was also saber champion in 2004, when she became the first American in a century to win a fencing gold. Now, the U.S. is a legitimate powerhouse — in women’s saber at least. These same three women are seeded No. 1 for the team competition on Thursday.

See? Told you we haven’t been very good at this since ... forever. This article’s title is rather optimistic too. These young ladies will probably medal in the team event, but I’d be amazed if any of our men fencers got any prizes. Not that I’ve been following them ... it’s just that the europeans are just so damn good and always have been.

Posted by Drew458     on 08/09/2008 at 11:30 PM   
Filed Under: • Miscellaneous •  
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