Olympic gymnasts slangin’ Ortega Taco products rather awkwardly.

Why does this commercial almost seem like a parody of athletes endorsing products? It reminds me of an 80’s ad. I don’t feel comfortable.

Cuban Taekwondo participant faces lifetime ban after kicking referee in face.

CNN/SI

BEIJING (AP) — A Cuban taekwondo athlete and his coach were banned for life after Angel Matos kicked the referee in the face following his bronze-medal match disqualification.

Cuban coach Leudis Gonzalez offered no apology for Matos’ actions during the men’s over-80 kg (176 pounds) match.

Matos was winning 3-2, with 1:02 in the second round, when he fell to the mat after being hit by his opponent, Kazakhstan’s Arman Chilmanov. He was sitting there, awaiting medical attention, when he was disqualified for taking too much injury time. Fighters get one minute, and Matos was disqualified when his time ran out.

Matos angrily questioned the call, pushed a judge, then pushed and kicked referee Chakir Chelbat of Sweden. Matos then spat on the floor and was escorted out.

“He was too strict,” Gonzalez said, referring to the decision to disqualify Matos. Afterward, he charged the match was fixed, accusing the Kazakhs of offering him money.

“This is a strong violation of the spirit of taekwondo and the Olympic Games. The sanctions are the following and are effective immediately: Lifetime ban of the coach and athlete in all championships sanctioned by the (World Taekwondo Federation) and at the same time, all records of this athlete at the Beijing Games will immediately be erased,” said the announcer, reading a WTF release.

In his first match, Matos defeated Italy’s Leonardo Basile, then beat China’s Liu Xiaobo 2-1 in the quarterfinals. But he lost to South Korean Cha Dong-min in the semis to land in the bronze-medal match.

“To me it was obvious he was unable to continue,” Chilmanov said. “His toe on his left foot was broken.

Usain Bolt celebrates a bit early during his world record 100 meter dash.

Wow….this guy’s confident, but at least he can back it up.  More power to him.

Unseen 2nd camera angle proves Michael Phelps is a total jerk.

Thanks to MagicHugs.com for retrieving this previously unseen 2nd camera. Michael Phelps isn’t such a good sport. Video evidence that there’s some sort of cover-up going on here…..

Office Badminton

Catch the Olympic Spirit.

Why I Didn’t Make the Olympics

Spanish Tennis Team Also Photographed Posing with Slant-Eyed Gesture. Spanish Basketball Team Wants Credit for Starting the Trend.

Spain, in its continued quest to show the world how collectively insensitive it is, provided another example courtesy of their Olympic tennis team. Not to be outdone by the Spanish National basketball team the national tennis team is vying for Dumb Jocks of the Year award. The picture below was taken in February after the Spanish women’s team defeated Italy in the Federation Cup. Next up for the women’s team was the Chinese team in April. The picture below is still featured on the Spanish Tennis Federation’s website with the caption as of 8/14/08. The picture is still available here and amongst other Spanish team photos here. The caption below the picture reads:

“Estamos preparados para China”, which translates as “We are prepared for China”.

Hungarian Olympic Weightlifter dislocates elbow during competition

From The Daily Mail

This is the moment Hungarian weightlifter Janos Baranyai’s first Olympics ended in agony when he dislocated his right elbow in the ugliest moment yet of the Olympic weightlifting competition.

Baranyai was trying to snatch 148kg in his third lift in the men’s 77kg division, when his elbow popped out of its socket.

No longer able to support the weight of the barbell, his right forearm bent backward. The 24-year-old Hungarian fell to the floor in shock, shaking and crying out in pain.

Hungary’s coaching staff and competition officials rushed to Baranyai’s aid as he lay trembling on the floor, his arm limp and twisted out of position.

Baranyai was carried off the platform on a stretcher and taken by ambulance to a local hospital for evaluation and treatment, said Benny Johansson, a technical controller at the event.

It was not immediately clear how serious the injury was.

Spanish National Basketball makes a gesture that could dampen the Chinese collective goodwill

The Spanish National basketball team, pictured above, seems to be going out of its way to offend the host nation of this year’s Summer Olympics.  The team appears to be making a slanted-eye gesture in an advertisement that just ran in a Spanish paper.  What do you think?  Even if it wasn’t an overtly deliberate racist gesture, it doesn’t say much for the common sense of the team or pretty much anyone associated with Spanish basketball.  Was there not even 1 person who might’ve said, “Hmmm…uh, guys, I’m probably TOTALLY overreacting here, but this might, and I’m just saying *might*, be considered just a touch insensitive.  Maybe? ”

From The Guardian

NBC’s “The Office” introduces a new Olympic Sport