tragedies: the Hungarian weightlifting accident & tennis upsets

Have you seen this? Can you see how his arm is twisted in the photo above? Ouch! I actually saw this photo and a video of the accident last night but couldn't get myself to make a post out of it because, to be frank, it made my head spin, almost to the point of puking!

I have always been amazed at the strength of weightlifters, how they can lift weights even beyond their own body weight. The strenght in their arms and legs must be awesome, I always thought. And women in the sport amaze me even more. However, after seeing this accident, I don't think I have the stomach to watch another weightlifting session in the near future, or look at the sport in the same way again.

I tried to look for the video I saw last night. Unfortunately, it has been removed due to copyright issues. Too bad i cannot share it with you. However, I found the following clips that will have to suffice for the mean time.

The other tragedy (for me at least) in the 2008 Beijing Olympics lately was the loss of Roger Federer to James Blake. His long slump continued and the bid for his first Olympic singles medal ended Thursday when he lost in straight sets. For many of his fans, this is terrible news for we were counting on a gold medal to end his long string of losses this year and avenge his sorry losses to the new number world number one, Rafael Nadal.

So began an upset parade in the quarterfinals. Serena Williams then lost to Elena Dementieva of Russia, and as the clock approached midnight, Venus Williams was beaten by Li Na of China. The sequence of surprising results came in a tournament that had gone mostly according to form through three rounds. But upsets have long been the norm in Olympic tennis—since 1988, no top-five player has won the gold medal in men’s singles.

The elimination of Federer means no rematch in Sunday’s final against Nadal, who won in epic fashion when they met for the Wimbledon title. There will be no rematch of the Wimbledon final between the Williams sisters for a gold medal, either. I am now pinning my hopes on another favorite to win the gold in the men's side, Novak Djokovic. On the ladies side, I wonder who'll end up winning?

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