[The Horrible Esthete]

I don't have the same zest for the games as I did as a young'un, but there's already been one event that got me fired up: last night's Men's 400m relay (swimming).

The French were favored, and anchor Alain Bernard, who declared that his French team would "smash" the Americans prior to the event, had a body-length lead going into the final leg. But American anchor Jason Lezak chased him down to give the US the gold and a new world record.

Sweet.

[downie_24]

That was definetly a helluva race. With 50m left The French still had a 1.15s lead on the US and they were able to fight back. Canada actuall gave me hope for the 1st 100m...they were third for a bit, but unfortunately our boys just couldn't compete.

[skippy the wonder dog]

We'll wait for the results of the drug testing.

[d_alex_d]

That was definetly a helluva race. With 50m left The French still had a 1.15s lead on the US and they were able to fight back. Canada actuall gave me hope for the 1st 100m...they were third for a bit, but unfortunately our boys just couldn't compete.

As disapointing Canada was, and has been in verything thus far, in that race they finished 6th, the top 5 aheadd of them all beat the World Record time. So I guess you could say they raced well, just couldnt compete with the rest of em.

But yes, one hell of a great race for the Americans.

[mrlayance]

Best gallery yet :thumb:

<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/olympics/chi-bush-olympics-pg,0,2573573.photogallery">http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/ol ... otogallery</a><!-- m -->

[d_alex_d]

Best gallery yet :thumb:

<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/olympics/chi-bush-olympics-pg,0,2573573.photogallery">http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/ol ... otogallery</a><!-- m -->

[NegPhil]

I love the Olympics which is kind of weird because I'm not a big sport fan. It was really exciting watching Jason Lezak win the gold.


God I hate this guy. At least he's made it clear who he works for and it's not USA USA USA!!!

[laliber]

Map (sort of) showing # of medals Countries have won in the summer games <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2008/08/04/sports/olympics/20080804_MEDALCOUNT_MAP.html">http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2008 ... T_MAP.html</a><!-- m -->

[The Horrible Esthete]

Not even a single medal for Canada yet?

What's up with that, neighbor?

Geez. Even Togo has one.

[The Horrible Esthete]

God I hate this guy.

I think you've made that crystal clear.

[Tthip]

Ouch !!!

[NegPhil]

Wow, look at that perfectly formed.....sign. What's with all the devil signs?

[tigerthelion]

The Olympics are a waste of time if you ask me. I'm all for zero government aid for the athletes. But, hey, that's just me.

[grimes]

Not even a single medal for Canada yet?

What's up with that, neighbor?

Geez. Even Togo has one.

Meh...we've never really excelled at the summer games. Given our climate most of our elite athletes are drawn to winter sports. Plus we're hosting in 2010, and all the training and development money is being directed towards the goal of finishing first in the medal standings there, so expectations for Beijing aren't particularly high.

The real question is whether Canada as a whole will exceed the medal total of one individual (That Phelps guy). In terms of total medals I think we'll have him beat when's it's all said and done, but I can't imagine us getting 8 golds.

[tommygunn]

Another OUCH!!

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