Lesley Jackson checks the date and time as she realises that the Olympics have really crept up. So it is with a Ni Hao we greet China as in a few days we head off to Beijing to watch one of the greatest sporting shows on Earth.
Lesley Jackson checks the date and time as she realises that the Olympics have really crept up. So it is with a Ni Hao we greet China as in a few days we head off to Beijing to watch one of the greatest sporting shows on Earth.
On your marks, get set, GO! Crikey, is it that time already? Yes folks, it is only a few days until the 8th August and the whole televised world will be watching Beijing as the opening ceremony starts for the 29th Olympiad. It looks like it is going to be an interesting games, both from a sporting point of view as well as looking at China’s new found modernity and how they present themselves to the world. We have all seen the crazy criss-cross stadium; with some of us wondering at what cost, both financial and human. However, putting all of the political, financial and environmental wrangling aside, you cannot help getting excited as we anticipate the biggest show on Earth.
Each Olympics gets bigger and bigger as each city sets to outdo the previous one and this looks to be no exception. There are 200 competing nations with a total of 10,700 athletes taking part. Team GB consists of 313 athletes of which 169 are men and 144 are women. There are 28 sports and 308 events in all of which I am sure we are all anticipating the result of the synchronised swimming as much as I am; readers, I am joking! Of course gentlemen, I’m sure you won’t forget about the women’s beach volleyball. Apart from martial arts, strong British sports to look out for where we are most likely to pick up gold medals should be; cycling, sailing, equestrian and rowing and if we get lucky and America mess something up, we might get something in the athletics. Another sport to look out for will be the diving as it seems that Great Britain have some strong contenders in there, with our youngest competitor being 14 year old Tom Daley with a ferocious talent in platform diving.
Team GB Martial Arts
Of course, here at Martial Edge what we are really looking forward to are the combat sports. Within Team GB, we have 21 martial artists taking part in Taekwondo, Judo, Fencing and Boxing. Greco Roman and Freestyle wrestling are also included in the games where Britain is not currently represented. It looks to be a strong team this year but names to look out for will be Sarah Stevenson in the Ladies over 67kg Taekwondo who at only 23 years old is already experiencing her third Olympics. She is currently considered one of the best in the world in her Olympic weight division and so is in strong contention for a medal. In the Judo, Winston Gordon in the Men’s Middleweight came within a hair’s breadth of a medal in 2004 so hopefully he can convert that into a shiny disc this time round. Finally, it is always worth keeping an eye out in the boxing, as who can forget in Sydney 2004 when a seventeen year old Amir Khan took a silver, kick starting his blistering future boxing career.
So without anymore further ado, here is the schedule of the Olympic combat sports that readers will find have a martial ‘edge’ to them!
Taekwondo: all qualifying and finals take place on 20th - 23rd August
Judo: all qualifying and finals take place on 9th - 15th August
Fencing: all qualifying and finals take place on 9th - 17th August
Boxing: qualifying rounds take place on 9th – 20th and 22nd August, finals take place on 23rd and 24th August.
Freestyle Wrestling: all qualifying and finals take place on 12th – 14th August
Greco Roman Wrestling: all qualifying and finals take place on 16th – 21st August.
Lesley Jackson checks the date and time as she realises that the Olympics have really crept up. So it is with a Ni Hao we greet China as in a few days we head off to Beijing to watch one of the greatest sporting shows on Earth.
going to be an interesting games, both from a sporting point of view as well as looking at China’s new found modernity and how they present themselves to the world. We have all seen the crazy criss-cross stadium; with some of us wondering at what cost, both financial and human. However, putting all of the political, financial and environmental wrangling aside, you cannot help getting excited as we anticipate the biggest show on Earth. 
(0 vote)
