hey recently i've been following the olympics like everyone else.

it's such a great feeling isn't it? the honour of representing your country in such a prestigious tournament.

you see the athletes produce incredible back-breaking feats, world records, etc. and then you think of the hard work they went through just to achieve all that, and how it's all paid off for them.

you see people like michael phelps, unbelievably talented and such a confident swimmer, on course for his 8 gold medal record.

you see people like tao li, always breaking barriers. i believe she will get a medal one day. maybe in london 2012 or 2016 olympics.

you see people like dara torres, 41, a mother, who's still raring to go against the youngsters.

all inspirational stories, guaranteed headliners. but what about those who fail? is there really no place for losers in sports?

people like katie hoff the american swimmer. she was aiming to be the female michael phelps, with a target of 6 gold medals in swimming. alas, it was not to be as her first race got her a bronze medal only, her second race, she led from the 50m mark but was pipped to the end by someone else at the last 0.5m. absolutely heart breaking. the cameras paused a while from showing the winner's delight to show katie hoff. she was slumped against the wall, her face one of absolute disappointment and agony. i felt sad for her. all those years of training and preparation and leading from the start, to be beaten by what, less than a fraction of a second? but never mind. she's only 19, her best years are still ahead of her, perhaps the next olympics will be her time.

people like alain bernard, the french swimmer who was part of the french 4 by 100m relay swim. he was such a phenomenal final swimmer for the french team, he led them for about 95m of the 100m he was swimming, just about to give france a gold medal in the 4 by 100m relay when suddenly, jason lezzak(ithink that is his name) of the USA pops up and touches the world like 0.08 secs before him, to preserve michael phelps's bid of 8 gold medals goes on for this olympics. (phelps was one of the members of the USA relay team.) the winners were of course ecstatic. but the french, they were shaking their heads in disbelief, wondering how they let that gold medal slip away just like that.

i wish michael phelps all the best in his quest for olympic swimming immortality, as well as the others i have mentioned above in their remaining races.

yeah so what i want to say is that, in sports, there will always be a winner and a loser. you may try so hard sometimes, but just come up short when you almost get there. this olympics, i hope people will not just celebrate the winners like michael phelps but also the people who may not have won but have tried, all in the spirit of the olympics!

i would like to wish everyone a great time watching the olympics!

<3
mandy(:

p.s. i think you know what i'm going to do in my free time from now till aug 24th the end of the olympics right?

p.p.s. and EPL starting soon!(this sat) i'm so gonna be spoilt for choice. really!