Beijing 2008 has finally begun. The last time I watched the opening ceremony of a summer Olympic Games, I was still a university student. So much has happened since, naturally.
I love, love, love the Olympic Games. It’s the perfect melting pot of sporting excellence, thrills and spills, good-looking people, inspiration and miracles. Anything can happen at the Olympics. I love how the attention is on the athletes during the countries’ march-in during the opening ceremony, and how it is the heads of state who stand up and cheer and wave for their countrymen from the (VIP section of the) stands.
The athletes are the heroes for a change, the heads of state are proud fans, and even President George Bush manages to look popular because everyone is in such good spirits. As I type, he’s waving an American flag with a big grin on his face and the Americans look just as proud and happy to be waving to him.
I can’t wait to watch the action, hear the lesser-known stories of perseverance and inspiration, and just simply soak it all in. After all, it does come but just once every four years. And here’s a quick glance through of the Malaysian contingent; we’ve never won a gold medal at the Olympics before and hopes are high that this will be the year we take our first. I hope we do, we’ve got a friendly bet going on in the office that we’ll get a public holiday declared if Malaysia wins her first ever gold medal.
By the way, the opening ceremony was simply fabulous (well done, Beijing!) so try to catch a replay if you missed it. Gosh, I’m getting terribly excited watching all these athletes.
