I started to watch the beginning of the race, but quite frankly watching a marathon from start to finish is like watching paint dry (even if the marathon takes you through places like Tiananmen Square). So I fast forwarded through the race and started watching again when the runners were heading into the main stadium at Beijing. Anyway, congratulations to Samuel Wansiru for his gold medal, and to all of those who ran the race.

At the end of the race, Usain Bolt had a gold, Churandy Martina of Netherlands Antilles had the Silver and Wallace Spearmon of the United States had the bronze. However, that didn’t last very long. First Wallace Spearmon of the United States was stripped of his bronze for stepping on the line. That means the fourth place finisher Shawn Crawford had the bronze, or so we thought. Right after showing us the footage of Spearmon stepping on the line several times during his run, NBC showed that Martina stepped on the line several times as well. The US filed a protest and won the protest, which meant that Shawn Crawford went home with a Silver medal and fifth place finisher, Walter Dix of the United States went home with a bronze. How crazy was that!

I found the whole disqualification fiasco much more entertaining than watching Usain Bolt blow by everyone in record speed. It’s what we all expected, but the disqualifications… now that was interesting….

It was kind of funny to me, because she won the gold WAY before attempting the Olympic record and then the World record. What was funnier was how bored she seemed with the opening rounds of the pole vault. She didn’t really start pole vaulting until it was at a decent height, so in the early rounds she took a nap!

She was really amazing. In fact, watching her pole vault was like watching Usain Bolt run the 100 meters… nobody even came close to beating her.

American pole vaulter Jenn Stuczynski got the silver.

So, if you’re a fan of speed on land, don’t worry. The next week will transition from racing in the water to racing on land.

During primetime Saturday night, you can watch men’s gymnastics qualifying rounds, Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh doubtless trouncing a Latvian beach volleyball team, and gold medal rounds in the men’s 400m free, the women’s 4×100m free relay and the men’s and women’s 400m IM. Michael Phelps and Katie Hoff will be Americans to keep an eye on in the swimming.

Online, you can watch women’s archery, badminton, men’s and women’s basketball, men’s cycling, equestrian, fencing, handball, field hockey, judo, rowing, sailing, shooting, women’s soccer, tennis, water polo and weightlifting.

Here’s an interview with Lopez from the track and field Olympic Trials:

1. Michael Phelps— Could potentially be one of the biggest stories of the China Olympics. Will he break Mark Spitz’s record of seven gold medals in one Olympics? Will he tie his own record of eight medals (6 gold, 2 bronze) that he set at the Athens Olympics in 2004?

2. Shawn Johnson— She just might join the ranks of other women’s gymnastic greats Mary Lou Retton and Carly Patterson, who won all-around championships at the Olympics. At 16, she is the reigning world all-around champion.

3. Dara Torres— Dara hopes to increase the oldest age of the oldest gold medalist in swimming from 33 to 41 (she set the previous record at the Sydney Olympics). She also hopes to add to her current 9 Olympic medals.

4. The Lopez Family— Steven, Mark and Diana Lopez are siblings from Sugarland, Texas who will all be competing in TaeKwondo at the Summer Olympics. Even more amazing, they’re coached by older brother Jean. They are the first three siblings since 1904 to make an Olympic team. Since they won’t be competing against each other, they could conceivably bring home three gold medals.

5. Allyson Felix— The 22 year old track and field darling will be going for three gold medals. In the current climate of track and field, where the sport is reeling from recent performance-enhancing drug scandals, Felix has signed up for the enhanced testing program to prove that she is running clean.

6. Sheila Taormina— Sheila Taormina has already set a record before she even competes in Beijing. She’s the first woman to compete in four Olympics in three different sports. At this summer’s China Olympics, she’ll be competing in modern pentathlon. Previously, she has competed in swimming and triathlon. In 1996, she won a gold medal as part of the women’s 4×200 relay team. Taormina, age 39, will be joined on the U.S. Women’s Pentathlon team by teenage phenom Margaux Isaksen, who is only 16.

7. U.S. Women’s Softball Team— The U.S. Women’s Softball team, including several familiar faces from former Olympic teams, will be going for its fourth consecutive gold medal. Team member Laura Berg was on each of the previous winning teams and hopes to add to her collection of gold medals.

8. Lopez Lomong— You MUST visit his website. Lomong has an unbelievably inspiring story. A former “lost boy” of the Sudan, Lomong escaped from the Sudan and was relocated to the United States where he attended Northern Arizon University and began running track. Lomong will compete in the 1,500 m race in Beijing.

9. Laura Wilkinson— Laura Wilkinson is one of the United States’ best chances for gold in platform diving. After winning the gold in Sydney, Wilkinson was disappointed with a fifth place finish in Athens. However, she easily made the 2008 team and is looking really strong. Although she will be quite a bit older than many of the other competitors, she is working on some extremely complex dives and plans to go out with a bang at the Beijing Olympics. She will be retiring after the Games.

10. Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh— They’ll be seeking to win the first back-to-back gold medals in beach volleyball. They’re coming into the Olympics with a 101-match winning streak and have won 18 tournaments in a row.

We only have one remote right now, but it would be even more fun if we had multiple remotes, since we could play against each other that way, as in this video:

So, if you’re looking for a fun prep for the Summer Olympics, go out and pick up Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games. If you don’t mind waiting a couple of days for it to come in, consider ordering it from Overstock. It’s $7 cheaper than what I paid at Best Buy, and shipping is only $3.

So, what can be done about Beijing’s smog issues at this point? Not a whole lot. I do believe they’re taking every possible measure to clear the air in time for the Olympics. But it seems to be a day late and a dollar short. It’s unfortunate that world class athletes have to compete under such conditions, especially as this should have been a foreseeable problem.

Here are a few links to help you out if you need ideas:

Article with really good recommendations on using unusual sports to study other cultures

Lots of summer Olympics activities

Brief, kid-friendly summary of summer Olympic sports

Scholastic Olympic research tools

Feel free to share your favorite learning ideas or educational websites related to the Olympics in the comment section.

Had he not made the Olympics, Eric would immediately have gone home and had surgery. But when he qualified for the Beijing Olympics in the 200-meter breaststroke, he faced a difficult decision. Fight on for his Olympic dreams or start the fight of his life. After doctors cleared him to compete as long as he is frequently checked to make sure the cancer hasn’t spread, Eric chose to continue his preparations for Beijing.

We wish Eric best wishes in his quest for the gold and with his health.