This year’s 2008 Beijing Olympics was full of drama, heartache, surprise, and hard work paying off in the form of solid gold!  Here’s part deux of my recap.

Before I had an opportunity to view any Track & Field events I had already heard the stories about this Jamaican guy that blew away the Men’s 100M sprint record but I could’ve never imagined how it.  Not since the late Florence Griffith-Joyner in the 1988 Seoul Olympics can I personally remember a track athlete engagin so many people who don’t follow track sports.  Even before the race it was very apparent that Usain Bolt, who owns one of the greatest track names ever, was either going to smoke the field or embarass himself severely with his aloof overconfidence before the race began.  His untied shoe and untucked shirt served only as cursors for the already obvious.  The 6′5″ runner was mentally defeating most of his competition who’d heard or seen his pre-Olympics hype.  With only 20 meters left in the race, Bolt had already begun to slow up and extend his arms in defeat of the world’s fastest runners and still managed to scorch the earth with a 9.69 time.

One athlete who got buried under the Track & Field and Gymnastics coverage is Keeth Smart.  Keeth was a member of the US Sabre fencing team who went through adversity more painful than a stab from a blade to gain his silver medal in Beijing.  Earlier this year he competed at a tourney in Algeria and returned to discover he’d contracted a rare blood disorder called ITP.  Doctors expected he could die within hours of his diagnosis.  After weeks of ICU care to overcome his severe ailment his mother lost her battle with colon cancer.  One would imagine anyone should be an emotional mahjong puzzle after so much difficulty.  However, Keeth used the opportunity to lead the 7th-seeded American team to victories over 2nd-seeded Hungary and 3rd-seeded Russia who featured 5x world champion Stanislav Pozdnyakov.  Since the Olympics’ end, Smart has decided to retire from the Olympics to focus on his pursuit of a post-graduate degree at Columbia University this Fall.  We wish him well.

For every happy Olympics outcome there’s always one on the opposite end of the spectrum.  Lolo Jones found herself caught at the wrong end of that spectrum.  With a commanding lead in the Women’s 100M hurdles, Jones’ foot caught on the 9th of 10 hurdles causing her to partially fall.  That one miniscule mistake removed her from medal contention as Jones staggered to a 7th place finish.  Her sister and mother watched in horror as they saw Lolo’s lead vanish along with her dreams of gold.  This after years of working odd jobs despite her Economics degree at LSU and depriving herself of A/C in the Louisiana heat to save money all to pursue her Olympic dreams.  The true tragedy in it all was that Lolo gave NBC a very composed interview only minutes after having her dream snatched.  NBC returned the favor by stabbing her in the back and showing footage of Jones crying under the bleachers immediately after her interview.  I don’t (and wouldn’t) expect them to be the most scrupulous group of people but that shot was beyond low.

Check back for the final chapter in this Beijing Olympics recap where I’ll cover US Men’s Boxing, the US Women’s B-ball Team, and the Redeem Team.