I know many Swedes are disappointed that Sweden did not win a gold medal at the Beijing Olympics. 2008 marks the first time in 20 years that Sweden has not captured the gold in Olympic competition. Sweden won 4 gold medals in 2004, 4 in 2000, 2 in 1996 and 1 in 1992. At the 2008 games, Sweden earns 5 medals, 4 silver and 1 bronze (2 in cycling, 1 in tennis, 1 in sailing and 1 equestrian medal).
The media loves to hype the medal count. Call me a sentimentalist, but the Olympics are not about how many medals you win. The games are about world competition, putting your best athletic performance out there and enjoying every moment of it. For all of the disappointed Swedes out there, I'd like to share one of my favorite Olympic moments of all time. No medal is clinched in this moment.
My friends sometimes roll their eyes when I tell them one of my favorite movies is Cool Runnings, based on the true story of the first Jamaican bobsled team and their Olympic journey in 1988, the same year that Sweden last went without a gold medal in (summer) Olympic competition. The Jamaican bobsled team did not win a medal, but their story shows us true Olympic spirit.
I found this video to briefly share their story with you....
No gold for Stefan Holm in Beijing. He does not repeat as champion, does not win a medal in the high jump, finishing 4th. Sweden's Carolina Klüft will go for the gold on Friday after qualifying for the women's final in the long jump today.
Two stars in the world of track and field hope to bring home the gold for Sweden today. In the men's high jump, Stefan Holm will try to repeat as Olympic champion while Carolina Klüft will pursue the gold for Sweden in the women's long jump.
At the Beijing Olympics, Sweden enters today's competition with 3 medals overall. Sweden would hold 4 medals at the Beijing games if not for the fact that Ara Abrahamian was stripped of his bronze medal in wrestling for unsportsmanlike conduct, after he refused the medal during the awards ceremony in a scoring dispute protest. Sweden's 3 medals, all silver, come from cycling (the men's time trial, Gustav Larsson, and women's road race, Emma Johansson) and tennis (men's doubles, Simon Aspelin and Thomas Johansson).
Check out this video of one of Olympic champion Holm's jumps...
Not much time to blog this week, but there's always time to microblog. Here are some of the past week's headlines with original story links from this blog's microblog on Twitter and Jaiku:
"All people who are hunting their dreams and goals in life. Nothing happens unless you first have a dream." The words of Sweden's first medalist at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, when asked, on her website, "Who do you respect the most?"
Sweden continues to celebrate the silver medal effort of Emma Johansson. The 24-year old cyclist from Sollefteå, who turned pro three years ago, finished the Olympic Women's Road Race second to Great Britain's Nicole Cooke. The riders endured downpours of heavy rain Sunday in the mountains south of Beijing, in a 126 kilometer competition that saw many crashes.
Learn more about the adventures of silver medalist Emma Johansson, as she follows her dreams, on her website, http://emmajohansson.com
(Photo of Emma Johansson courtesy of Wikimedia Commons/Eriohm)
Favorite Sweden photo of the day #282: Ice Skating, Kungsträdgården, Stockholm (cc photo courtesy of Erzsèbet)
