Summer Olympics News » Odd News

German Olympic canoer Thomasz Wylenzek Fainted From Dehydration

George Manty — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 15:25:49 +0000

In the finals of the 1,000-meter canoe double race, German Olympic canoer Thomasz Wylenzek, fainted after winning the silver medal. He is being treated at a Hospital and is listed in stable condition.

The race had a very bizzare ending. At the end of the race, the German team’s canoe hit a lane marker which caused Wylenzek’s partner, Christian Gille, to fall into the water. Then Wylenzek, fainted and was taken out of the water in a rescue boat! And I thought the BMX races had crazy finishes…

Dog out but donkey still available

Jill Manty — Sun, 13 Jul 2008 12:51:58 +0000

Chinese health officials have asked restaurants likely to be frequented by international visitors during the Beijing Olympics to remove dog from the menu. However, donkey will still be available. So, if you’re headed to the Summer Olympics and were hoping to try foreign delicacies, you’ll just have to settle for a slice of donkey.

Locusts, And Algae – Many Problems Plague Upcoming Olympics In China

George Manty — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 14:05:06 +0000

We tend to focus on the positive and uplifting stories from the Olympics, so this will be one of the few negative posts you read on our Summer Olympics blog.

There have been many big issues facing the Olympics, including talk of boycotts, problems with pollution, etc. Two of the more “odd” problems facing the Beijing Olympics are the Algae and Locusts.

For those who don’t know this already, algae is covering the Summer Olympics sailing course. The algae cleanup is a big effort. Here is some video of the green algae that may prevent the sailing competition from taking place in Qingdao, China:

In addition to the algae problem, there is a real possibility that locust are going to be a problem in Beijing during the Olympics. From Bloomberg:

The northern Chinese province of Inner Mongolia has mobilized 33,000 people to repel swarms of locusts that may reach the capital during next month’s Olympics, the official Xinhua News Agency said. The locusts have come within 430 kilometers (267 miles) of Beijing and have infested an area of 1.3 million hectares (5,000 square miles), Xinhua said.

``We are aware and we’re coordinating with the relevant authorities to look into the issue,’’ said Sun Weide, a Beijing Games organizing committee spokesman, in an interview today.

The locust alert comes as 10,000 workers scoop up blue- green algae along the coast that will stage Olympic sailing and as Beijing grapples to cut pollution for the Aug. 8-24 games.

Officials aim to complete the Qingdao clean-up by July 15. Locusts in full flight may not be so easy to tackle. Inner Mongolia authorities are using 200 tons of pesticides, 100,000 sprayers and four airplanes to kill the pests, Xinhua reported.

That’s just crazy! It will be real interesting to keep an eye on the algae and locust issues. Hopefully when the Olympics start in August, we will be able to give you good news about the algae cleanup and hopefully the locust get exterminated.

We will see…

Popular Chinese Baby Name In 2008 Honors Beijing Olympics

George Manty — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 20:52:36 +0000

According to state media, more than 4,000 Chinese babies have been named “Aoyun” or “Olympic Games”. Apparently, Chinese citizens are very excited about the upcoming 2008 Beijing Olympics.

We just had a new baby two weeks ago, and I can’t imagine naming him after a sporting event. I am not sure that I would even name one of our children “Olympic Games” if we were paid a million dollars. Would you?