Palestinians Take Hard Route to Beijing
Palestinians Take Hard Route to Beijing
JERUSALEM (Reuters) - For the two Palestinian swimmers traveling to the Beijing Olympics, simply being at the Games will be an achievement. Hamza Abdu can sometimes train in a 25-meter pool but there are no Olympic standard (50-meter) pools in the Palestinian territories. Israeli travel restrictions prevent team mate Zakaya Nassar from training in Nazareth. Abdu is looking forward to experiencing the Olympic spirit in August but knows the Games could be a chastening experience. “We must represent ourselves in the same way that other countries do. I expect to do my best,” Abdu, a diminutive 17-year-old, told Reuters. Palestinians first flew their flag symbolically at the 1996 Games in Atlanta but there were no athletes. They had two representatives in Sydney in 2000 and three in Athens in 2004 and, despite modest performances, got a rapturous welcome. None of the four current Palestinian team members have attained the minimum qualifying standard to compete in…
Jim McKay, 1921-2008: A sports announcer, sociologist and legend who understood the meaning of motorsports
Jim McKay died Saturday, June 7, at the age of 86, and while tributes come from all corners of the wide world of sports, many recalling his Olympics coverage and especially the tragic Munich games, I write about Jim as a friend–and what he meant to…