The 29th Summer Olympics officially closes tonight. It could the proximity of the Games, or zero time difference, or the emergence of new media tools and the efforts by traditional media owners like MediaCorp and SPH to step up coverage to counter new media threats. Singaporeans seemed to be particularly engrossed with the Olympics that is less than 5,000 km away from us.

I casually joked on air that I aspire to be MediaCorp’s representative for the London Games coverage, but I think 4 years is too short a time for me to fulfill this goal… Unless Qiu Shengyang trains me the way China trains their athletes.

Anyway, we did a poll on Friday morning and asked WRM listeners who their favourite athletes were, or who created the deepest impression. (No point asking who they thought had the best performance since no one came close to the achievements of Michael Phelps. )

While consolidating the votes for 奥运万人迷, I was tempted to choose Guo Jing Jing, for I totally agreed with what Mark Richmond said on Today in Beijing, “She only has to stand there, and she’ll get at least an 8 (without executing any dives).”

In the end, my choice was Zou Kai, 20 year old gymnast from Sichuan, China.

It was reported that no one expected the youngest member of the team, affectionately known as 小眯哥, to grab a gold in his debut. Not only did he ascend on the podium with his mates for the team category, he went on to claim two individual golds. With Michael Phelps dominating the medal tally with 8 golds, 4 other athletes trail behind with 3 golds each. Zou Kai is the only Chinese and Asian in that elite list this year, alongside Stephanie Rice (Australia) , Chris Hoy (Britain) and Usain Bolt (Jamaica).

The intensive training he received translated into extended periods away from home. When the 512 Earthquake hit his hometown, Zou Kai desperately wanted to return from Beijing. It was only after his coaches and family repeatedly told him that he had “more important things to accomplish“, that he continued his training. Poor boy.

In Athens 2004, Liu Xiang was named National Flag Bearer for the Closing Ceremony because of his breakthrough in the 110m Hurdles event. Will Zou Kai hold Chinese’s Flag this evening at the Bird’s Nest as the most bemedalled Chinese Athlete this year? We’ll find out tonight. The Ceremony will be shown ‘live’ on Channel 5 from 8pm.

Possibly Related posts:

1. Colours of the World
2. Michael Phelps
3. Beijing Olympics Opening Ceremony
4. Liu Xiang pulls out!!!
5. Weightlifting Accident at the Olympics

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This entry was posted on Sunday, August 24th, 2008 at 3:32 pm and is filed under Beijing Olympics 2008. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.