11th August 2008 - Olympics Go!

Mon, 08/11/2008 - 00:00
Editorials

Olympic Games usually pacify me to such a level of laziness that I'm glued to the sofa for two weeks just watching Olympic coverage on Belgian, Dutch, British tv-channels, flipping from one network to another. All of a sudden, specific disciplines that normally don't interest me a become a passion. Swimming, gymnastics, athletics, even judo fascinate me to such an extent that I sit through all the heats and finals only to finish with the medal ceremony.

I must confess, watching the beautifully trained bodies of swimmers contribute to the eye-catching factor of the sport! The swimmers' muscles have the nicest shape: nicely toned, strong, but not to exaggeration like those of sprinters or male gymnasts. The power and speed of athletes that race to the finish are exhilarating. The elegance of perfection of the performances of gymnasts are Art with a big A. The Olympic Games brings out the best in athletes.

With affiliated reporters and photographers on the scene sending through information and photographs, I chose to cover the Olympics from my sofa at home. I can easily watch Anky van Grunsven, Isabell Werth and other top performance riders on television and comment on their class from my living room with a noisy, overheated laptop burning my thighs.

The American TV-channel NBC has come to the rescue and announced that it will be streaming the equestrian Olympics live on their official website. However their broadcasting is discriminatingly only for U.S. citizens (IP account in the U.S.A). So NBC is absolutely no use to us and I'll have to be flipping channels again to catch the Olympic equestrian action.

-- Astrid Appels