Did you know that there are thirty-three (33) sports events in the 2008 Summer Olympic Games in Beijing? Here are the 33 events:
1) Track & Field 18) Wrestling
2) Badminton 19) Diving
3) Baseball 20) Water Polo
4) Basketball 21) Modern Pentathlon
5) Boxing 22) Softball
6) Canoe/Kayak 23) Taekwando
7) Rowing 24) Tennis
8) Cycling (BMX, Mountain, Road, Track) 25) Shooting
9) Equestrian 26) Table Tennis
10) Fencing 27) Archery
11) Soccer 28) Triathlon
12) Gymnastics (Artistic & Rythmic) 29) Sailing
13) Handball 30) Volleyball
14) Field Hockey 31) Beach Volleyball
15) Judo 32) Weightlifting
16) Swimming 33) Trampoline
17) Synchronized Swimming
The 2008 Olympic track and field program comprises 26 running events, three walking events, 16 field events, the decathlon and heptathlon, all of which will be contested over a span of 10 consecutive days. With noted exceptions, the following events are contested by both men and women:
Sprints
100m
200m
400m
Middle distance
800m
1,500m
3,000m steeplechase
Distance
5,000m
10,000m
Marathon
20km walk
50km walk (men only)
Hurdles
110m hurdles (men only)
100m hurdles (women only)
400m hurdles
Jumps
High jump
Pole vault
Long Jump
Triple Jump
Throws
Shot put
Discus
Hammer
Javelin
Multi-events
Decathlon (men only)
Heptathlon (women only)
Relays
4x100m relay
4x400m relay
In your “honest to goodness” opinion, where would you think the Pinoys could have a greater chance to excel in these sports event so that we could win our First Olympic Gold Medal?
In 2012 Summer Olympics, ultramarathon running will be a “demonstration” sports event which eventually will become a regular sports event in 2016 Summer Olympics.
This is how our country is described in the Olympics Tradition:
Has won nine Olympic medals, five of them in boxing, including a light flyweight silver by Mansueto Velasco in Atlanta. It was the second consecutive medal for the Philippines in that event.
The Philippines first competed in 1924 and boycotted the 1980 Games in Moscow. Did not win a medal in Sydney or Athens.
On the positive side, this is how we are described in the incoming 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing:
Light flyweight boxer Harry Tannamor won silver at the 2007 World Championships and could win a medal in Beijing. Flyweight Tshomlee Go has an outside medal chance in Taekwondo.
Hawaii residents Christel Simms and Daniel Coakley have chosen to represent the Philippines in swimming, but neither are medal contenders.
Good luck to our Olympians!!!
“The most important thing in the Olympic Games is not to win but to take part, just as the most important thing in life is not the triumph but the struggle. The essential thing is not to have conquered but to have fought well”—Olympic Creed by Pierre De Coubertin
Bald Runner 