Can Great Britain Get Any Better?
The British rowing team worries that they will not be able to improve their medal count in 2012.
After winning six gold medals at the 2008 Olympic regatta, the most for any country in rowing, Great Britain is looking ahead to London in 2012. This year, the country where rowing flourishes earned two men’s medals, two women’s and two lightweight. This was a huge improvement from the country’s single gold medal in 1996. Since then, the country has put many efforts towards all their rowing programs along with recruiting. But the question remains, can their medal haul in 2012 outshine that in Beijing?
The British medics were busy this past year. Along with extra long practices and added off-water training came serious injuries and illness in five of the 12 crews. Coaches worry this was due to rowers taking on a full time workload. They are working on how to improve their rowing without adding more risks to injury coming into the next Olympics.
Also, a factor for the upcoming summer games is the home course advantage. Many would assume that it would give the British an up on the field, but the Chinese, who were contenders in many events, only earned two medals in Beijing. Another worry for the British is filling their coaching staff after some left for retirement.
Performance Director για Ιρλανδία
Performance Director
The Irish Amateur Rowing Union (Rowing Ireland) is seeking to appoint a Performance Director who will lead Ireland‘s High Performance programme towards the London Olympic Games and beyond.
The Performance Director will be responsible for developing and implementing a high performance plan and developing a high performance pathway from Talent Identification to Senior International Success. A key part of the job will be managing elite athletes’ annual programmes.
Knowledge and Skills
Good Interpersonal and Communication skills
Adept at planning and implementing programmes
Strong leadership and motivation
Good Analytical and Management Skills
Ability to manage budgets and achieve targets
Job Responsibilities
1. Develop and Implement a high performance plan in conjunction with a technical committee
2. Manage the plan to maximise effectiveness
3. Lead the recruitment of staff in line with organisational policies
and procedures, with input from CEO and technical committee
4. Be responsible for all programme staff including setting targets and work programmes, as well as monitoring performance
5. Planning and implementing a International Rowing programme incorporating the Irish domestic competition calendar requirements where appropriate
6. Ensuring that the programmes and systems in place allow for the continuing well-being of the athletes, and allow athletes to develop in the other important areas of life including their careers
7. Utilising all the sports science and other support services available, in an appropriate manner, to achieve the agreed targets
8. Supervising the system of talent identification and development at all levels
9. Keeping expenditure within budget, as agreed between the CEO/ Hon. Treasurer and the Technical Committee
10. Managing, accounting for and safeguarding International Rowing equipment
11. Prepare progress reports and present to a Technical Committee
12. Attend and report to four meetings of the IARU Board per annum, and submit written reports as required
13. Ensure Athlete Carding applications are completed and agreed as required
14. Select teams for International competition, in consultation with coaching staff
15. Be available to attend International Rowing activities including abroad and outside normal working hours, as necessary to monitor and report on progress
Interested Candidates should forward their Curriculum Vitae together with a covering letter to:
CEO
Irish Amateur Rowing
Tel:003531 6251130
Email:ceo@iaru.ie
Closing date for Applications:
12th September 2008.
Remember the Olympic rowing moments
Remember the Olympic rowing moments
26/08/2008
The closing ceremony of the 29th Olympiad in Beijing, China brought to an end the four year cycle around rowing’s most important event, the Olympic Games. As the curtains close on Beijing, rowing nations will reassess, rehire and reshuffle. Coaches will move. Athletes will retire. Memories will remain. A new cycle will begin.Romania’s five golder
Five gold medals from three Olympic Games. That is the tally for Romania’s Georgeta Damian-Andrunache. Andrunache, 32, has doubled up in the women’s pair and eight at the Sydney Olympics, Athens and Beijing to achieve this total. She also has one bronze after the eight finished behind the United States and the Netherlands this year.
Flag bearers
Not surprisingly Romania’s flag was carried into the closing ceremony by Georgeta Damian-Andrunache. Five gold medals from three Olympics is hard to beat in any sport, let alone in rowing.
Carrying the flag proudly for Hong Kong, China was Hiu Fung Law. Law has spent his entire rowing career in the single and rows, outside of the Olympics, as a lightweight. Law finished 20th in the men’s single and every time he would row down the 2000m Shunyi course the Chinese fans would greet him with rapturous applause. This is Law’s second Olympic Games.
New Zealand was led into the Beijing opening ceremony by a rower (Mahe Drysdale). Two weeks later two rowers held the flag at the closing ceremony. Georgina and Caroline Evers-Swindell joined a small group of Olympic elites having won two gold medals. The identical twins won the women’s double in 2004 and successfully defended it in an extremely tight photo finish in 2008.
Canadian rowers top of the top 10
When the Montreal Gazette in Canada picked out the 10 favourite Canadian stories from Beijing they chose the men’s eight at the top of their list. Here’s what the Gazette had to say; “They lived with the memory of their fifth-place finish in Athens for four years, then came out and destroyed the field in rowing's marquee event. Great rowers. Better people.”
Forty-two years young and still going strong
Estonia’s Jueri Jaanson is only improving with age. Many a competitor has commented that when they line up at the start with Jaanson in their race, the respect for him is immense. Jaanson won his first Olympic medal at the age of 37 having already been to three Games. Then, just shy of 43 years old, Jaanson won Olympic medal number two – silver in the men’s double at Beijing.
Despite spending practically his entire rowing career in the single, Jaanson proved that you can teach an old single sculler new tricks. The double, with Tonu Endrekson, worked.
Bulgaria’s lone gold
When Rumyana Neykova of Bulgaria came second to Ekaterina Karsten of Belarus in a photo finish at the Sydney Olympics, the single sculler had to come back for more. Neykova had been racing – and often losing to – Karsten for ten years. Finally, in 2008, Neykova scored the elusive Olympic gold. She also earned recognition for being the only gold medal won by Bulgaria at the Beijing Olympics.
Rule Britannia
Great Britain appears to still be in a state of shock. The country finished fourth overall on the medals table at these Olympic Games. This is a huge leap in Olympic success for Great Britain and rowing was there to help. British rowers took away six medals, two of them gold, to also claim the status of highest ranked nation in rowing at these Games.
Α Ξ Ι Ο Ι !!!
| 21/08/2008 |
| Αποθεωτική υποδοχή στους Ολυμπιονίκες μας κατά την άφιξη από το Πεκίνο |
Τους «αργυρούς» Ολυμπιονίκες μας στο διπλό σκιφ ελαφρών βαρών στην κωπηλασία, Βασίλη Πολύμερο και Δημήτρη Μούγιο, τις 6ες Χρύσα Μπισκιτζή, Αλεξάνδρα Τσιάβου στο ίδιο αγώνισμα των γυναικών και τον 10ο στη γενική κατάταξη του σκιφ, Γιάννη Χρήστου υποδέχτηκαν σήμερα σε συγκινησιακά φορτισμένη ατμόσφαιρα στο «Ελευθέριος Βενιζέλος», η Πολιτεία, η ΕΚΟΦΝΣ, συναθλητές, συγγενείς και φίλοι των αθλητών. Τα χαμόγελα, οι αγκαλιές και οι επιδοκιμασίες εναλλάσσονταν με δάκρια χαράς, την ώρα που η αποστολή της ελληνικής κωπηλασίας ξεπρόβαλλε από τις συρόμενες πόρτες στην αίθουσα αφίξεων του «Ελευθέριος Βενιζέλος». Οι κάμερες και οι φακοί των φωτογράφων στράφηκαν στους δύο σκιφίστες που τουλάχιστον μέχρι στιγμής έχουν φέρει την μεγαλύτερη επιτυχία στην Ελλάδα στους Ολυμπιακούς Αγώνες του Πεκίνου. «Μας κάνατε υπερήφανους» ήταν η φράση που ακουγόταν ξανά και ξανά. «Είμαστε ευτυχισμένες μητέρες,» δήλωσαν μ' ένα στόμα, η μητέρα του Βασίλη Πολύμερου και η μητέρα της Χρύσας Μπισκιτζή που ως συμπεθέρες υποδέχτηκαν μαζί το ζευγάρι της ελληνικής κωπηλασίας. Παρών, δεν θα μπορούσε να λείπει άλλωστε, ήταν και ο έφορος των Εθνικών Ομάδων, Γιάννης Μωυσίδης. |
GOD SAVE THE QUEEN ??? Queen???
Άντε τώρα να εξηγήσεις στο Ν. Όσβαλντ γιατί η Βασσίλισα δεν θα παραστεί στο Πανευρωπαϊκό.
38 χρόνια και μιά διοργάνωση Ολυμπιακών και δεν πήραν χαμπάρι;;;
Ή κάτι άλλο συμβαίνει;;
Το κείμενο που ακολουθεί είναι από την σελίδα της FISA εδώ
18/08/2008
The Olympics attract well known people from around the world. At the Olympic rowing venue in Shunyi, Beijing, the final day of rowing was a very busy day in the Olympic family grandstand just near the finish line.38 χρόνια και μιά διοργάνωση Ολυμπιακών και δεν πήραν χαμπάρι;;;
Ή κάτι άλλο συμβαίνει;;
Το κείμενο που ακολουθεί είναι από την σελίδα της FISA εδώ
18/08/2008
HRH Prince Frederik of Denmark has been following the progress of the Danish lightweight men’s four. Their impressive gold medal win was witnessed by Prince Frederik. Also watching from Denmark was Bryan Mikkelsen, Denmark;s Minister of Sport.
Queen Anne-Marie of Greece witnessed Vasileios Polymeros win the second ever Olympic medal in rowing for Greece. Polymeros raced with Dimitrios Mougios and picked up silver in the lightweight men’s double. Polymeros won bronze in this event in 2004.
Olympic medallist, Roland Baar of Germany watched the German women win bronze in the quadruple sculls. Baar was awarded the Thomas Keller Medal for an outstanding career in rowing in 1998 and is actively involved in the German Rowing Federation. Dr. Franz Josef Jung, the German Federal Minister of Defence also watch Germany race.
President Tarja Halonen of Finland and her husband Pentti Arajarvi got to witness a proud moment for Sanna Sten and Minna Nieminen of Finland as they won silver in the lightweight women’s double.
The surprise silver medal by the Dutch women’s eight was watched by Erica Tersptra, the president of the Dutch Olympic Committee. Tersptra is a two-time Olympian (bronze and silver medal in swimming from 1960 and 1964).
The president of the International Olympic Committee, IOC, Jacques Rogge came with his wife and were very interested in the races. Rogge was joined by members of the IOC including Thomas Bach, Rene Fasel, Kai Holm and Sir Craig Reddie. Also Urs Lacotte, the director general of the IOC.
Also enjoying the rowing finals was Premier Ferenc Gyurcsany of Hungary, Wilfried Lemke, the special adviser on sport for development and peace at the United Nations and Andrew Ryan, director of ASOIF (Association of Summer Olympic International Federations).
ΣΥΓΧΑΡΗΤΗΡΙΑ ΒΑΣΙΛΗ ΚΑΙ ΔΗΜΗΤΡΗ 2
ΚΑΙ ΟΣΟΙ ΔΕΝ ΜΠΟΡΕΣΑΝ ΝΑ ΤΟΥΣ ΑΠΟΛΑΥΣΟΥΝ ΖΩΝΤΑΝΑ ΣΤΟ ΠΕΚΙΝΟ
ΡΑΝΤΕΒΟΥ ΤΟΝ ΣΕΠΤΕΜΒΡΙΟ ΣΤΟ ΣΧΙΝΙΑ
ΡΑΝΤΕΒΟΥ ΤΟΝ ΣΕΠΤΕΜΒΡΙΟ ΣΤΟ ΣΧΙΝΙΑ
ΠΑΡΕΑ ΜΕ ΤΟΥΣ ΠΑΓΚΟΣΜΙΟΥΣ ΠΡΩΤΑΘΛΗΤΕΣ ΤΣΙΛΗ, ΤΖΙΑΛΛΑ,ΠΑΠΠΑ,ΓΚΟΥΝΤΟΥΛΑ,ΓΚΟΥΝΤΟΥΛΑ,ΓΑΖΙΤΖΙΔΟΥ,ΚΑΛΑΜΠΟΚΑ και φυσικά ΤΙΣ ΟΛΥΜΠΙΟΝΙΚΕΣ ΤΣΙΑΒΟΥ ΜΙΣΚΙΝΤΖΗ ΚΑΙ ΤΟΝ ΓΙΑΝΝΗ ΧΡΗΣΤΟΥ
| 17/08/2008 |
| Δηλώσεις των «αργυρών» στο Πεκίνο Πολύμερου, Μούγιου |
ΠΕΚΙΝΟ ΑΠΟΣΤΟΛΗ Καταξίωση των προσπαθειών τους, αποτέλεσε σύμφωνα με τον Βασίλη Πολύμερο, το ασημένιο μετάλλιο που κατέκτησε σήμερα το ελληνικό πλήρωμα του διπλού σκιφ ελαφρών βαρών των ανδρών. Ο δύο φορές, πλέον Ολυμπιονίκης μετά την κατάκτηση του χάκινου μεταλλίου μαζί με τον Νίκο Σκιαθίτη στους Ολυμπιακούς Αγώνες του Πεκίνου δήλωσε σχετικά με το πιο μετάλλιο ήταν το πιο γλυκό: «Δεν μπορώ να ξεχωρίσω. Και τα δύο είναι Ολυμπιακά μετάλλια. Βέβαια, το ένα είναι χάλκινο και το άλλο ασημένιο. Το συναίσθημα να κατακτάς ένα μετάλλιο μέσα στη χώρα σου, είναι σίγουρα πρωτόγνωρο. Κάναμε εκατομμύρια κόσμου χαρούμενους μέσα στην ίδια τους την πατρίδα. Το σημερινό μετάλλιο, αποτέλεσε καταξίωση των δικών μου προσδοκιών και του Δημήτρη που δουλέψαμε σκληρά. Φέτος ήμασταν αποφασισμένοι να δουλέψουμε όσο το δυνατόν πιο σκληρά. Από το Σεπτέμβριο δεν καθήσαμε καθόλου. Αμέσως μετά το Ευρωπαϊκό Πρωτάθλημα ξεκινήσαμε την προετοιμασία, η οποία μέρα με την ημέρα, μήνα με τον μήνα, γινόταν και πιο έντονη. Έπιασε τελικά τόπο αυτή η προετοιμασία», είπε ο Πολύμερος, ο οποίος αναφέρθηκε στον τεχνικό σύμβουλο της ελληνικής κωπηλατικής ομοσπονδίας, Τζιάνι Ποστιλιόνε: «Η ελληνική κωπηλασία από τη στιγμή που ήρθε ο κ. Ποστιλιόνε στην Ελλάδα, είχε μια νέα δυναμική πορεία και προοπτική. Κάποιοι από τους αθλητές πιστέψαμε πολύ σε αυτόν τον προπονητή, παρά τον όγκο της προπόνησης. Κάποια παιδιά το θεώρησαν τρελό και δεν ακολούθησαν τη στρατηγική του. Επένδυσα σε αυτήν την προπόνηση από την πρώτη χρονιά, με αποτέλεσμα πολύ σύντομα να έρθω πρώτος στον κόσμο, στο απλό σκιφ. Το 2006, φτιάξαμε το διπλό σκιφ, με στόχο το Πεκίνο. Τα χρόνια αυτά σκληρής προετοιμασίας, έπιασαν τόπο.» Ο Στιβ Ρεντγκρέιβ, στην Ατλάντα είχε πει ότι «αν με ξαναδείτε μέσα σε σκάφος, τότε να με πυροβολήσετε». Όχι μόνο ξαναμπήκε στο σκάφος, αλλά αγωνίστηκε και τέσσερα χρόνια αργότερα στο Σίδνεϊ. Για τον δις Ολυμπιονίκη μας, τι ισχύει; «Προσωπικά, δεν θέλω να με πυροβολήσουν. Θέλω να συνεχίσω. Όπως λέει και ο λαός, έχω ψωμιά ακόμη. Αντέχω ακόμη. Μπορώ να πρωταγωνιστήσω και σε άλλες μεγάλες διοργανώσεις, στις οποίες θα επιδιώξω να πάρω όσο το δυνατόν περισσότερα μετάλλια. Θέλω να δώσω το παρόν και στους Ολυμπιακούς του 2012 στο Λονδίνο. Είναι μακρινό πλάνο. Ας χαρούμε αυτό το μετάλλιο τώρα, αλλά είναι σίγουρο ότι θα συνεχίσω», είπε ο Πολύμερος. Σχετικά με τους Βρετανούς, που σήμερα πήραν την πρώτη θέση στο αγώνισμα, ο Πολύμερος είπε: «Ατομικά και τους δύο, τους είχα περάσει στο απλό σκιφ σε Παγκόσμια Κύπελλα αλλά και στο Παγκόσμιο Πρωτάθλημα. Στο διπλό σκιφ ήταν πίσω από εμάς και έκαναν μεγάλη προσπάθεια να μας περάσουν. Ήξεραν ότι είμαστε πολύ δυνατό πλήρωμα. Εμείς από την πλευρά μας, θέλαμε να είμαστε οι εαυτοί μας. Δεν θέλαμε να πέσουμε στο λάθος και να παρασυρθούμε στο ρυθμό. Θέλαμε να είμαστε στο γρήγορο γκρουπ, να μην παρασυρθούμε από το ρυθμό των άλλων βαρκών. Αν κάναμε την κούρσα που είχαμε αποφασίσει εξ αρχής, θα ήμασταν σίγουρα στο μετάλλιο. Πεντακόσια μέτρα πριν από τον τερματισμό, προσπαθήσαμε να αλλάξουμε ρυθμό, ενώ 250 πριν, τα δώσαμε όλα για το φίνις. Είμαστε ευχαριστημένοι από το μετάλλιο. Στο σπριντ πλησιάσαμε τους Βρετανούς, χωρίς ωστόσο να τους περάσουμε. Το μετάλλιο ήρθε και αυτό μας χαροποιεί. Δεν είμαστε μικρά παιδιά να κοιτάζουμε γύρω μας να δούμε τι γίνεται. Ήμασταν προσηλωμένοι στη στρατηγική μας και μας έβγαλε ασπροπρόσωπους». Σε ερώτηση για το αν οι δύο αθλητές θα είναι μαζί και στους Αγώνες του Λονδίνου, το 2012, ο Πολύμερος είπε ότι «ακόμη δεν μπορούμε να το ξέρουμε, αφού αυτό είναι απόφαση προπονητή. Στις δοκιμασίες που γίνονται στις αρχές της χρονιάς, καθορίζονται και τα σχήματα των σκαφών που θα προετοιμαστούν εν όψει των μεγάλων διοργανώσεων. Η αλήθεια είναι ότι μέχρι τώρα, σε τέσσερις Ολυμπιακούς Αγώνες, η σύνθεση του διπλού σκιφ ελαφρών βαρών, ήταν διαφορετική. Κάποιοι δεν άντεξαν, άλλοι για δικούς τους λόγους αποχώρησαν. Εγώ έμεινα εδώ. Το τι θα γίνει στο μέλλον, θα φανεί μέσα από τις δοκιμασίες και μετά από απόφαση του προπονητή μας». Ο Δημήτρης Μούγιος, σε πηγαδάκι που δημιουργήθηκε αμέσως μετά τη συνέντευξη Τύπου, είπε ότι λόγω των τελευταίων γεγονότων ντόπινγκ Ελλήνων αθλητών, είχε μπει σε διαδικασία προβληματισμού, αφού πιθανή νίκη θα δημιουργούσε αρκετά σενάρια από αυτούς που δεν γνωρίζουν πρόσωπα και πράγματα. «Δεν θέλω να μας θεωρούν όλους το ίδιο στο θέμα του ντόπινγκ. Μπήκα σε διαδικασία να σκέφτομαι να βρεθώ στο βάθρο, για να μη θεωρήσουν κάποιοι ότι αφού πήραμε μετάλλιο είμαστε και ντοπαρισμένοι. Δεν είμαστε όλοι το ίδιο και καλό θα ήταν να μη γίνονται τέτοια σενάρια, που προσβάλουν αθλητές και προσωπικότητες», είπε ο Μούγιος, ο οποίος νωρίτερα, είχε αποκαλύψει ότι είχε ενημέρωση για την πορεία άλλων Ελλήνων αθλητών στο Πεκίνο, χωρίς ωστόσο αυτό να τον επηρεάσει ιδιαίτερα. «Παρακολουθούσαμε από το διαδίκτυο το τι συνέβαινε. Όμως δεν επηρεαστήκαμε καθόλου. Δεν είχαμε άγχος και αυτό ίσως οφείλετε στο γεγονός ότι δεν μένουμε στο Ολυμπιακό Χωριό. Αυτό που θέλαμε, ήταν να κάνουμε την κούρσα μας. Ήμασταν συγκεντρωμένοι για να κερδίσουμε ένα μετάλλιο και το πετύχαμε.» |
| 17/08/2008 |
| Ποστιλιόνε: «Τα παιδιά έκαναν το καθήκον τους» |
ΠΕΚΙΝΟ ΑΠΟΣΤΟΛΗ Mε το χαμόγελο ζωγραφισμένο στα χείλη, εμφανίστηκε ενώπιον των εκπροσώπων του Τύπου, έξω από την αίθουσα συνεντεύξεων, ο Τζιάνι Ποστιλιόνε. Ο τεχνικός σύμβουλος της ΕΚΟΦΝΣ δήλωσε ότι το αργυρό μετάλλιο ήρθε παρά το μικρό λάθος στην εκκίνηση, ενώ δεν έκρυψε ότι έμεινε ευχαριστημένος όχι μόνο από τους κατόχους μεταλλίου από σήμερα στο Πεκίνο, Πολύμερο και Μούγιο, αλλά και από το διπλό σκιφ ελαφρών βαρών γυναικών (6ες οι Μπισκιτζή και Τσιάβου), όσο και από τον Γιάννη Χρήστου στο απλό σκιφ (10ος στη γενική κατάταξη). «Είμαι ευχαριστημένος, τόσο από τα αγόρια, όσο και από τα κορίτσια. Ήθελα ένα μετάλλιο, το οποίο το πήραμε στα αγόρια, όμως και η έκτη θέση που κατέκτησαν τα κορίτσια είναι εξίσου σημαντική και ιδιαίτερα δύσκολη. Η προετοιμασία που κάναμε ήταν πολύ καλή, τόσο στην Ιαπωνία όσο και στο Πεκίνο. Είμαι ευχαριστημένος και από τον Γιάννη Χρήστου, ο οποίος για λίγο έχασε και αυτός την ευκαιρία να βρεθεί στην οκτάδα, αγωνιζόμενος απέναντι σε μεγαθήρια της αγωνίσματος. Όσον αφορά στο σημερινό αγώνα των αγοριών, η αλήθεια είναι ότι έκαναν ένα πολύ μικρό λάθος στην αρχή. Έπρεπε να φύγουν πιο γρήγορα. Όμως λίγο η ένταση, λίγο το άγχος, τους οδήγησε στο να κάνουν αυτό το μικρό λάθος. Αυτοί είναι οι Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες. Το διπλό σκιφ ελαφρών βαρών ήταν «χάλκινο» στην Αθήνα (σ.σ. Πολύμερος/Σκιαθίτης) και στο Πεκίνο θέλαμε κάτι καλύτερο. Το πετύχαμε κατακτώντας το ασημένιο μετάλλιο. Όλα τα παιδιά έκαναν το καθήκον τους», επεσήμανε ο τεχνικός σύμβουλος της ελληνικής ομοσπονδίας, ο οποίος σε ερώτηση για το αν το χρυσό τελικά θα έρθει στο Λονδίνο, το 2012, απάντησε χαμογελώντας: «Το Λονδίνο είναι σε τέσσερα χρόνια από τώρα και δεν μπορώ αν θα μπορέσουμε ακόμη ένα βήμα παραπάνω, δηλαδή να φτάσουμε στο χρυσό. Δεν ξέρω καν αν θα είμαι εδώ». |
πού φτιάχνεται η enriched pasta ?
Guardian writer Jon Henley tries the Michael Phelps diet
- The Guardian,
- Thursday August 14 2008
- Article history
Michael Phelps in action. Photograph: Shaun Botterill/Getty Images
US swimmer Michael Phelps made history yesterday when he scooped a record-breaking 11th Olympic gold medal. He has now topped the podium five times in Beijing. After his latest victory, he revealed the secret behind his six-days-a-week, five-hours-a-day training regime: an extraordinary 12,000-calorie daily diet, six times the intake of a normal adult male. This is a typical day:
Breakfast
Phelps kick starts his day and his metabolism with three fried-egg sandwiches, but with a few customised additions: cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, fried onions and, of course, mayonnaise.
Amuse-bouche out of the way, he throws back two cups of coffee and sits down to an omelette - containing five eggs - and a bowl of grits, a porridge of coarsely ground corn. He's not finished yet. Bring on the three slices of French toast, with powdered sugar on top to make sure there's no skimping on the calories. And to finish: three chocolate chip pancakes.
Lunch
With breakfast wearing off and the hunger pangs biting, Phelps downs half a kilogram - ie a whole packet - of enriched pasta and two large ham and cheese sandwiches. On white bread with loads of mayo on top. To remove any chance that his body will run out of fuel, he washes this down with about 1,000 calories of energy drink.
Dinner
Time to load up on carbs for the next day's training. Another half kilo of enriched pasta goes down the hatch with a chaser of an entire pizza and another 1,000 calories of energy drinks. And so to bed. As Phelps told US television channel NBC yesterday: "Eat, sleep and swim, that's all I can do."
TA ΛΕΝΕ ΚΑΙ ΤΑ ΠΙΣΤΕΥΟΥΝ ΚΙΟΛΑΣ!!!!!
One of my favorite early Saturday Night Live skits was featured John Belushi as an Olympic athlete. The scene opens with clips of Belushi doing a high jump and running around a track, then cuts to a shot of him at the breakfast table. Clutching a cigarette, Belushi looks into the camera with complete gravitas and tells about his secret to staying fit: "I downed a lot of donuts. Little chocolate donuts. They taste good and they've got the sugar I need to get me going in the morning."The commercial played off the classic "Wheaties" ads, which featured Bruce Jenner. The prevailing wisdom in those days stated that top-class athletes had to eat extremely healthy foods, like whole grain cereal and skinless, boneless chicken. However, as I recently read about Michael Phelps' daily eating regimen, I was surprised to see that his diet is much closer to John Belushi's than to Richard Simmons. To begin with, the Olympian consumes approximately 12,000 calories a day, roughly six times the RDA for a man his age. Second, it is heavily skewed towards carbohydrates and fats, which most diets eschew. Given Phelps' amazing energy expenditure (in the average week, the guy swims five hours a day, six days a week!
At any rate, Phelps' average daily menu is after the jump...
Breakfast: Three fried egg sandwiches with cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, fried onions, and mayonnaise.
A five-egg omelet.
A bowl of grits.
Three slices of French toast with powdered sugar.
Three chocolate pancakes.
Two cups of coffee.
Lunch: A pound of pasta with tomato sauce.
Two large ham, cheese, and mayo sandwiches on white bread.
Energy drinks.
Dinner: A pound of pasta with tomato sauce.
Six to eight pizza slices (basically, a whole pizza!).
Energy drinks.
Looking at Phelps' diet, it makes a lot of sense. The combination of quick energy carbs and slow-burning fats probably keeps him fueled up for hours, and the huge amounts of protein help his body quickly repair muscle damage. Besides, with his amazing energy expenditure, it's not surprising that he quickly burns through the calories!
ΞΕΡΕΙΣ ΑΠΟ ΠΟΔΗΛΑΤΟ;;;;;
Houvenaghel, Romero and Kalitovska pose with their medals. (Photo credit: Julian Finney/Getty Images)
(BEIJING, August 17) -- Rebecca Romero of Great Britain became the first British female athlete to win medals in two different Summer Olympic Games sports with a gold medal ride in the Women's Individual Pursuit on Sunday.
A silver medalist in the Quadruple Sculls in Rowing in the Athens 2004 Olympic Games, Romero bested compatriot Wendy Houvenaghel to win the 3km in 3min 28.321sec.
ΣΥΓΧΑΡΗΤΗΡΙΑ ΒΑΣΙΛΗ ΚΑΙ ΔΗΜΗΤΡΗ
ΚΑΙ ΣΕ ΟΛΗ ΤΗΝ ΟΜΑΔΑ ΠΡΟΠΟΝΗΤΕΣ ΚΑΙ ΔΙΟΙΚΗΣΗ
Results
Lightweight Men's Double Sculls Final A
SY Rowing-Canoeing Park / Sun Aug 17 2008
Medals
Reports
| World Best Time: | |
 DEN RASMUSSEN Mads Reinholdt / HANSEN Rasmus Nicholai Quist Amsterdam (NED) 2007 6:10.02 | |
| Rank | Lane | NOC | Name | 500m | 1000m | 1500m | 2000m | Qual. Code | ||||||
| 1 | 3 |  Great Britain | (b) (s) | PURCHASE Zac HUNTER Mark | 1:30.67 0.22 | (2) | 3:04.45 1:33.78 | (1) (1) | 4:37.69 1:33.24 | (1) (1) | 6:10.99 1:33.30 | (4) | ||
| 2 | 4 |  Greece | (b) (s) | MOUGIOS Dimitrios POLYMEROS Vasileios | 1:30.99 0.54 | (3) | 3:05.23 1:34.24 0.78 | (2) (2) | 4:39.46 1:34.23 1.77 | (2) (2) | 6:11.72 1:32.26 0.73 | (2) | ||
| 3 | 5 | Denmark | (b) (s) | RASMUSSEN Mads Reinholdt HANSEN Rasmus Nicholai Quist | 1:31.45 1.00 | (4) | 3:05.80 1:34.35 1.35 | (3) (3) | 4:40.91 1:35.11 3.22 | (3) (3) | 6:12.45 1:31.54 1.46 | (1) | ||
| 4 | 2 |  Italy | (b) (s) | MIANI Marcello LUINI Elia | 1:30.45 | (1) | 3:06.03 1:35.58 1.58 | (4) (4) | 4:41.45 1:35.42 3.76 | (4) (5) | 6:16.15 1:34.70 5.16 | (5) | ||
| 5 | 6 |  China | (b) (s) | ZHANG Guolin SUN Jie | 1:33.13 2.68 | (6) | 3:08.82 1:35.69 4.37 | (6) (5) | 4:44.21 1:35.39 6.52 | (5) (4) | 6:16.69 1:32.48 5.70 | (3) | ||
| 6 | 1 |  Cuba | (b) (s) | BATISTA Eyder PEREZ Yunior | 1:31.92 1.47 | (5) | 3:07.98 1:36.06 3.53 | (5) (6) | 4:44.57 1:36.59 6.88 | (6) (6) | 6:19.96 1:35.39 8.97 | (6) | ||
ΜΠΡΑΒΟ ΧΡΥΣΑ ΜΠΡΑΒΟ ΑΛΕΞΑΝΔΡΑ
Results
LWT Women's Double Sculls Sculls Final A
SY Rowing-Canoeing Park / Sun Aug 17 2008
| World Best Time: | |
| CHN XU Dongxiang / YAN Poznan (POL) 2006 6:49.77 | |
| Rank | Lane | NOC | Name | 500m | 1000m | 1500m | 2000m | Qual. Code | ||||||
| 1 | 3 |  Netherlands | (b) (s) | van der KOLK Kirsten van EUPEN Marit | 1:43.34 2.97 | (6) | 3:27.30 1:43.96 1.36 | (4) (1) | 5:12.12 1:44.82 0.31 | (2) (1) | 6:54.74 1:42.62 | (1) | ||
| 2 | 5 |  Finland | (b) (s) | STEN Sanna NIEMINEN Minna | 1:41.04 0.67 | (3) | 3:26.48 1:45.44 0.54 | (3) (3) | 5:11.81 1:45.33 | (1) (2) | 6:56.03 1:44.22 1.29 | (4) | ||
| 3 | 4 |  Canada | (b) (s) | KOK Melanie CAMERON Tracy | 1:40.68 0.31 | (2) | 3:25.94 1:45.26 | (1) (2) | 5:12.81 1:46.87 1.00 | (3) (4) | 6:56.68 1:43.87 1.94 | (3) | ||
| 4 | 6 |  Germany | (b) (s) | CAROW Berit Annika DRAEGER Marie-Louise | 1:40.37 | (1) | 3:26.28 1:45.91 0.34 | (2) (4) | 5:13.11 1:46.83 1.30 | (4) (3) | 6:56.72 1:43.61 1.98 | (2) | ||
| 5 | 2 | China | (b) (s) | XU Dongxiang YU Hua | 1:41.49 1.12 | (4) | 3:29.88 1:48.39 3.94 | (5) (6) | 5:16.98 1:47.10 5.17 | (5) (5) | 7:01.90 1:44.92 7.16 | (5) | ||
| 6 | 1 | Greece | (b) (s) | BISKITZI Chrysi TSIAVOU Alexandra | 1:42.85 2.48 | (5) | 3:30.33 1:47.48 4.39 | (6) (5) | 5:17.65 1:47.32 5.84 | (6) (6) | 7:04.61 1:46.96 9.87 | (6) | ||
το δελτίο τύπου της FISA
Rowing’s final Olympic Champions
17/08/2008
Light tail wind conditions coupled with warm water meant that World Best Times were in a position to be broken at Beijing Olympics rowing regatta. The large crowd stood at the ready.
LIGHTWEIGHT WOMEN’S DOUBLE SCULLS (LW2x)
It doesn’t happen in all races that all three crews standing on the medals podium are absolutely happy. It happened today in the first race of day two at the Beijing Olympics rowing regatta.
Germany was the first to show on this second day of Olympic rowing Finals. Marie-Louise Draeger and Berit Carow. Draeger was hoping to make the 2004 Olympics, but missed out on a spot and came back to make the team this year. The Germans still had the lead with 600m rowed, but Canada was sticking tightly to them. In the semifinals Canada’s Melanie Kok and Tracy Cameron had showed that they were fast starters with the power to maintain.
Going through the half-way point Finland had joined the frontrunners. Sanna Sten and Minna Nieminen of Finland know the heartache of just missing out on qualifying for the Olympics. It was just a fraction of a second between qualifying and not qualifying in 2004. Sten and Nieminen have spent the last four years planning for this day. Rating a solid 32 stroke rate the Finns remained with the leaders through the middle of the race. Then late qualifiers the Netherlands joined in. The Dutch duo of Marit van Eupen and Kirsten van der Kolk rowed to bronze in 2004. Then van der Kolk took time off to have a baby. She got talked into coming back to top competition late last year. Meanwhile partner van Eupen has continued her rowing success by taking out three consecutive World Championship titles in the lightweight single.
With just 500m left to row, barely a bow ball separated Germany, Canada, Finland and the Netherlands. All of these crews would have to sprint for their life to stay in the medals. The Dutch kept their strokes long and controlled. Canada peaked at 39 strokes per minute. Finland followed the Dutch style using power and length. Germany went to 37 and hung on.
The Netherlands crossed the line first, hands in the air in delight a Dutch fan already getting past security to swim out. Finland crossed in second looking ecstatic. Canada and Germany waited. They had rowed to a photo finish. A minute later the Canadians felt the joy of winning an Olympic medal.
Results: NED, FIN, CAN, GER, CHN, GRE
Kirsten VAN DER KOLK (NED)
“It’s great! It’s the race we raced over and over in our heads and we did it to perfection here. We kept our heads cool. The gold shoes in the boat definitely helped. We’ve had them there since December and in every training session thought ‘Gold, gold, gold!’”
Marit VAN EUPEN (NED)
“Kirsten reminded me at the start ‘Gold shoes, golden race’.”
Tracy CAMERON (CAN)
“I thought we had the bronze – I saw the big surge. 4/100ths of a second!! We stayed efficient and effective through the middle 1000m and had a fairly effective start. We knew in the last 500m we had to dig a lot deeper. We’ve enjoyed rowing with each other – it’s been fun.”
Melanie KOK (CAN)
“I’m ecstatic – it’s an amazing result. We’ve put something on the board for Canada. Let’s keep the momentum going.”
Chrysi BISKITZI (GRE)
“We were really happy to be in the Final; we’re a very stable crew and have been finalists for the past three years. Of course we hoped for something better, but it’s hard to win the fight for medals. We’ll definitely be at the European Championships in Athens.”
LIGHTWEIGHT MEN'S DOUBLE SCULLS (LM2x)
The British double of Zac Purchase and Mark Hunter finished third at last year’s World Rowing Championships and since then have gone unbeaten. They continued this unbeatable attitude coming into these Olympic Games. This is Purchase’s first Olympic Games and Hunter’s second. Today they took off at the front of the field rating in the high 40s with Italy pressing them hard. Italy crossed the first 500m mark just ahead. But with each stroke the lead changed. Italy rated a bit higher at 36 with the British settling on 34 – 35.
By the half-way point it looked as though Italy were running out of steam. Purchase and Hunter were just getting better and better. Meanwhile Greece’s Dimitrios Mougios and Vasileios Polymeros were moving up with current World Champions Mads Rasmussen and Rasmus Quist of Denmark also taking chase.
Polymeros raced in this event at the Athens Olympics and made history by getting the first Olympic rowing medal for his country - bronze. Quist and Rasmussen also raced at Athens. They finished fourth. They had to return.
Purchase and Hunter had now moved out to a full boat length lead with only Greece in a solid challenging position. The British looked to have this race wrapped up. But there was still 500m left to row. Greece was moving. Denmark took up chase. These boats closed on the British, but the British hung on. Purchase and Hunter had done it. Polymeros confirms his positions as Greece’s most successful rower. Rasmussen and Quist get themselves onto the dais.
Going into the interview dock Hunter shows the strain, barely able to get out of his boat. Purchase shows his emotions as the British flag is raised. Their finishing time was less than a second outside of the World Best Time.
Results: GBR, GRE, DEN, ITA, CHN, CUB
Zac PURCHASE (GBR)
“We put in the hard work when it was needed, so that we could enjoy the last 250m; all according to the race plan. There was no panic. The whole British team is doing so well, with the rowing yesterday, and the swimming and the cycling, and I hope it continues in the second week. It bodes well for four years’ time.”
Dimitrios MOUGIOS (GRE)
“That was a very satisfactory race; this is my first Olympic Games and it’s great to have a medal. We had a good final sprint – if there had been 50m more left we might have won. But now we can’t say anything; GBR won and we were second.”
Rasmus QUIST (DEN)
“Of course you’re never satisfied if you’re 2nd or 3rd, but it hasn’t been working well for us this season. I guess this is the best race we’ve had this year. We had a very good first 1000m but couldn’t go any faster after that. Of course, as World Champions we are disappointed to be third. We’ve been together for 8 years already. Mads (Rasmussen) is going to take a year off and I’m going to try something else – perhaps the LM4-.”
Οι δηλώσεις λένε πολλά......
Ekaterina KARSTEN-KHODOTOVITCH (BLR) “I saw that the Czech girl went out fast with Bulgaria following her. I was trying to keep my strength for the whole race and to have enough energy for the final sprint. I did what I could. Rumyana (Neykova) was losing all season and far behind, and if she could win here then she is stronger. I never thought that Michelle (Guerette) would come second.”Μετάφραση: Πως με κέρδισε η π...........??? Δεν μπορώ να το χωνέψω. Είναι σαφές όμως το υπονοούμενο που αφήνω. Και η άλλη πως ήρθε δεύτερη? Γαμώτο, δεν ξέρω να χάνω!
Olaf TUFTE (NOR) “It was a hard race and for a while I thought I had lost it, but today I did not want to lose. I did this for my team and my family. After this I’m going to go home and get married.”
Μετάφραση: Μπροστά στην κρεμάλα που με περιμένει στα φιορδ, ο αγώνας ήταν παιχνιδάκι για μένα!!!:-))
Ondrej SYNEK (CZE) “It was good but very different...”
Μετάφραση: ??????????????????????????????????????
Drew GINN (AUS)
The Semifinal was the hardest race because I didn’t know if I could cope with the pain and then the Final. But the rhythm of the final race was perfect and made it easy to follow. We had a few hairy moments at the start of the week and haven’t rowed, apart from during the races. In the Final, I was protecting my back and my right leg wasn’t functioning properly, but I tried not to think about it.”
Σχόλιο: Εδώ δεν χωράει χιούμορ, δηλώσεις από έναν τεράστιο αθλητή και όχι τόσο διάσημο όσο άλλοι μεγάλοι. Η φράση με τα έντονα γράμματα τα λέει όλα. Σας προτείνω να επισκεφθείτε το ιστολόγιό του.
Scott FRANDSEN (CAN)
“We are very happy with the silver medal today; we’ve definitely won a silver, not lost a gold. We had nothing left so it would be stupid not to be happy with silver.”
Nathan TWADDLE (NZL)
“For the last four years we’ve put everything into this and really wanted a medal. We were confident and don’t think we panicked. We tried to go with the others, keep calm and keep driving. We pushed very hard and are happy. We’re disappointed we are not up with the other two crews we thought we were competitive with. It shows that World Championships success is difficult to transfer into Olympic success. We can learn from this - the sun will still rise tomorrow.”
Σχόλιο: Η χαρά του αθλητισμού σε όλο της το μεγαλείο. Συγκρίνετε τις δηλώσεις με αυτές της Κάρστεν.
Georgina & Caroline EVERS-SWINDELL (NZL)
“We can’t believe it right now. It was not our best start, but we got steady, kept the rhythm going and knew we were in with a chance. It probably looked pretty ugly. When we crossed the line we had no idea we’d won; we saw the Germans looking happy so thought they were first. We’ve had to wait since our heat on Tuesday for this race but we’ve done that before – it’s all part of rowing and part of the mental preparation. As for the future we don’t know. We’re just going to get our medals now.”
Μετάφραση: Τι έγινε ρε παιδιά? Πω, πω, 'ξώφαλτσα πέρασε!!!
Steve WILLIAMS (GBR) “With 200m to go we had a sniff of it; our 10 strokes to the end must have been very ugly – it was beyond skills. Primeval! All credit to Australia who are a high quality crew.”
Σχόλιο: Ένα ακόμη δείγμα υγιούς ανταγωνισμού και αθλητικού πνεύματος!
ΚΑΙ Η ΩΡΑΙΟΤΕΡΗ ΦΩΤΟ ΜΕΧΡΙ ΤΩΡΑ
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