Olympics Stories- Judo Athlete Wins First Medal for Uzbekistan

Rishod Sobirov, 25, won a bronze medal for the former Soviet republic of Uzbekistan on Saturday in the 60-kg judo competition. It was the first medal of the 2012 London Olympics for Uzbekistan.

Many felt that Sobirov, the two-time defending world champion, would win gold, but he was upset in the semi-finals by Arsen Galstya,23, of Russia who dedicated his medal to the 171 people who died recently in massive floods that affected southern Russia.

Galstya also defeated Hiroaki Hiraoka of Japan, who had won silver at the last world championships for the sport, which were held in Paris.

Many psychologists have said that bronze medal winners are happier than those who go back to (in Sobirov's case) Tashkent because a bronze-winner feels he has gotten something out of the games while a silver-winner feels disappointed because he could have won gold.

This appears to be the case with the Japanese silver-medalist as he told journalists he was hoping to go back to his country with gold.

http://www.uzbekistan.org

http://www.uzairways.com

http://www.psychologytoday.com

Olympic Stories_ Domination of Italian Fencers

Valentia Vezzali (pictured top), 38, who was actually born on Valentine's Day in 1974 and is Italy's flag-bearer, won yet another Olympic medal on Saturday. At the 2012 London Olympics, Vezzali won a bronze medal while her national teammates Elisa Di Francisca (pictured below), who is also a sex symbol in Italy, won gold. The Italian medal sweep in the individual foil competition was completed with Arianna Errigo winning the silver.

Di Francisca defeated Errigo 12-11 in overtime to win the gold; Vezzali beat out the number fencer Nan Hun-Hee of South Korea for the bronze.

At the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Vezzali became the first woman to win three consecutive gold medals, starting with the 2000 Sydney Olympics, in the individual foil competition. She also won a silver at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics.

Additionally, Vezzali has won 13 golds at World Fencing Championship events with the last one coming at the 2011 championships in Catania, Italy.

An Italian male fencer Diego Occhiuzzi, 31, won bronze in the sabre competiton.

Hungarian Aron Szilagyi won a gold medal in the sabre competition to win the first gold medal for his country at the summer games.

Since American fencer Mariel Zagunis, the flag-bearer for the United States Olympic delegation, is a sabre fencer, she does not compete with Vezzali.

In the women's foil competition, American Lee Kiefer, 18, an up and coming star for the United States, was defeated by Errigo.  

http://www.valentinavezzali.com

Parade of Nations (four of four)- Estonia-Sweden

This is the final of four entries listing arbitrary countries and their flag-bearers at the Olympics. Other lists of flag-bearers can be found on our sister blog "Politics, Culture and Other Wastes of Time."

Estonia_Aleksander Tammert (track and field)

Pakistan_ Sohail Abbas (men's field hockey)

Polnad_ Agnieska Radwanska (pictured above, women's tennis)

Portugal_ Telma Monteiro (pictured below, women's judo)

Serbia_ Novak Djokovic (tennis)

Slovenia_ Peter Kauzer (canoeing)

South Africa_ Caster Sememya (men's track and field)

Sweden_ Rolf-Goran Bengtsson (pictured middle, equestrian)

Parade of Nations (three of four)_ Algeria-Ukraine

Today, we continue with the flag-bearers and their respective countries. Since there is a lot going on at one time at the 2012 London Olympics, we cannot verify if each athlete has started competing though all team-sports ranging from water polo to handball (the only sport without an American team/athlete) are under way.

Here are eight countries ranging from Algeria to Ukraine:

Algeria: Abdelhafid Benchabla (men's boxing)

India: (pictured top, Sushil Kumar, wrestling)

Israel: Shahar Tzuberi (men's wind-surfing)

Ireland: Katie Taylor (pictured middle, women's boxing- a new sport at the Olympics this year)

Qatar: Bahiya Al-Hamad (women's shooting)*

Romania: Horia Tecau (pictured bottom, tennis)

Switzerland: Stanislas Wawrinka (men's tennis)

Ukraine: Roman Hontiuk (men's judo)

*_ This is the first year that Qatar has had a female athlete competing at the Olympics, along with two other Muslim countries Saudi Arabia and Brunei. Bahiya Al-Hamad has also been getting a fair share of media attention because she wears a head scarf while competing,

Parade of Nations (two of four)- Canada to Jamaica

With continue with the parade of nations and their respective flag-bearers, starting with our neighbors to the north Canada, and then continuing in alphabetical order; there are additional entries on our sister blog "Politics, Culture and Other Wastes of Time" as well:

Canada: Simon Whitfield (pictured above, triathlon)

Armenia: Arma Yeremyan (men's taekwondo)

Brazil: Rodrigo Pessoa (men's equestrian)

Croatia: Venio Losert (pictured below, men's handball)

El Salvador: Evelyn Garcia (women's cycling)

Iceland: Asdis Hjalmsdottir (women's track and field/javelin)

Iraq: Dana Hussain (pictured middle, women's track and field)

Jamaica: Usain Bolt (men's track and field)

http://www.london2012.com

http://www.nbcolympics.com

http://www.politicscultureandotherwastesoft.blogspot.com

Parade of Nations (One of Four)- Greece to Kazakhstan

The Parade of Nations occurred during the 2012 London Olympics on Friday, and we have decided to post four entries each on two blogs (a total of eight entries) dedicated to the flag-bearers of each of the 64 countries we are showcasing.

Since Greece is traditionally the first country at the start of the parade, we are going to start with them here as well. For those of you who are visiting this blog from Turkey, please note that we mention Turkish flag-bearer Nesilhan Darnel (women's volleyball) on our sister blog "Politics, Culture and Other Wastes of Time."

Here are the first eight nations:

Greece- Alexandros Nikoladis (men's taekwondo)

USA- Mariel Zagunis (pictured above, women's fencing)

Afghanistan- Nesar Ahmad Bahawe (men's taekwondo)

Australia- Lauren Jackson (pictured below, women's basketball)

Bulgaria- Yordan Yovchev (pictured middle, men's gymnastics)

Denmark- Kim Waae Knudsen (women's canoeing)

Egypt- Hesham Nesbah (men's judo)

Kazakhstan- Nurmakhan Tinliyev (men's wrestling)

http://www.london2012.com

http://www.nbcolympics.com

http://www.politicscultureandotherwastesoft.blogspot.com

http://www.marielzagunis.com

http://www.bulgariatravel.org

Reports from the Olympic Village Via Twitter

 

We have seen various tweets tonight about the Olympics: From folks watching the games on tv in Providence, Rhode Island, to some of the actual competitors at the 2012 London Olympics.

Here are eight tweets we have collected from Saturday night; Saturday was the first official day of Olympic competition:

1) Michael Ian Black @michaelianblack: Every gymnast who doesn't break their neck deserves a gold medal.

2) Hayva @havruss: Yes! Nurden Karagox cleared 85 kg!*

3) Jason Davis @davisjsn: NBC pays billions of dollars to give us coverage about the Olympics instead of actually showing, you know, the Olympics.

4) Meghan Kathleen @mbk51: "Dude doing gymnastics for us looks like Carlton from Fresh Prince. Awesome floor routine bro.

5) Miguel Ponce @migsy312: "gymnasts and swimmers have to be some of the most pristine category of athletes on the planet."

6) Joseph Birdsong: "Every time someone younger than me wins a gold medal, I look in the mirror and whisper to myself, "I hate you."

7) Adam Fogle @adam_fogle: "McDonald's sponsoring the Olympics is like Marlboro sponsoring the Olympics" **

8) Susan Francia @zfrancia: "So awesome waking up to all the messages of support! Thank You!"***

*-The Turkish women's weightlifter Nurdan Karagoz (pictured on top) lifted 83 kilograms in the snatch and 104 kilograms in the clutch in her division for a fifth place finish. Karagoz was the only non-Asian athlete in the top six. Wang Minguan of China won gold in the event.

**-The Big Mac is MacDonald's signature burger (pictured middle) though we are not fast food connoisseurs the  views expressed by Adam Fogle are not ones we share, but one has to doubt that the likes of Jordyn Wieber, a standout American women's gymnast, eats burgers and fries on a daily basis.

***-This is an official tweet from Susan Francia, an American rower who has had a remarkable career. But, she is perhaps best known for her risque quasi-nude photos which nay 14-year-old boy can find on the web; we chose not to post them here so we can remain popular in Dubai.

http://www.susanfrancia.com

http://www.michaelianblack.net