Maybe it's as simple as the difference between hello and goodbye.
But the emotions inside churn so differently when one watches an opening ceremony and a closing ceremony at the Olympic Games. And it doesn't seem to matter where they're held.
The opening is filled with grandeur and hope and wonder about the magic to come. The closing, at least in these eyes, rings with a bit of sadness for the end of something special but mixed with memories that figure to endure for many years afterward.
Ask the athletes and most will place the opening ceremony near the top of their personal Olympic highlight reel (assuming they were a part of it). The closing? That's a well-deserved party after so many weeks and months of sacrifice leading up to this moment.
For many of them, Olympic withdrawal figures to last for a little while yet.
"You've been to Disneyland for a month," Canadian gymnast Kyle Shewfelt told the CBC's Mark Kelley in an interesting 'what's next' feature earlier tonight. "Then you get home and there's no more Mickey Mouse."
Memories? We've had a few. No doubt we won't soon forget the performances of Michael Phelps and Usain Bolt, the two undisputed biggest stars of Beijing 2008. Canadians will embrace their 18 Olympic medallists, most notably the golden men's rowing eights, wrestler Carol Huynh (a genuine, lovable champ) and equestrian Eric Lamaze, whose incredible tale of redemption figures to be movie material soon enough.
Mostly, though, these Games were about China, a historically reclusive nation that has now officially opened its doors to the world. We read and heard many tales of the friendliness of the people in the host country and if this is China's true face, then the rest of the world is better off today for being introduced to it.
Here's hoping that the rest of the world has made an impression on China, too, and that these Olympics will be a springboard to a better, harmonious future for us all (a naive thought, yes, but it's always nice to dream).
For the first time in Olympic history, China topped the gold-medal list at the Summer Olympics. It is a rather safe bet that this is just the beginning of their dominance.
Now, though, another emotion: Excitement. The next Olympics are ours, the Winter Games of 2010 in Vancouver-Whistler. Yes, the summer torch was officially passed to London 2012 at tonight's closing. But before then, in less than 18 months, the flame will be lit one more time in one of the planet's most beautiful cities. It should be a source of great Canadian pride.
Don't know about you, but I can't wait to welcome the rest of the world to the place we call home.
This blog takes a well-deserved rest for a bit, and thanks to any and all who joined us for the ride. But we'll be with you on the road to Vancouver every now and then. Tag along with us on the way there, won't you?
Sunday, August 24, 2008
The Torch Is Passed
Au revoir, CBC. Bonjour TSN, Rogers Sportsnet and CTV.
Tucked among the many retrospectives aired tonight during CBC's final telecast from the Beijing Games was a tribute to CBC's Olympic coverage over the years. With images from Tokyo 1964 all the way to this week, it almost played like a farewell concerto.
As most of you no doubt know, CBC's grip on Olympic rights ended this evening. When the five-ring circus opens for business again in less than 18 months — yes, Vancouver, that's how close the 2010 Winter Games are now — you'll see broadcast coverage presented by a CTV Globemedia/Rogers consortium that most prominently features TSN, CTV and Sportsnet. They'll be back two years later to do it all over again in London for the 2012 Summer Olympics.
We've said it before but it bears repeating once more. While many across our land have lobbed bombs (and justifiably so, at times) in the CBC's direction for some of its bungles in recent years, its Olympic work is generally worthy of our acclaim. They took it to a new level in Beijing, presenting the first full high-definition Games and offering Canadians a wealth of viewing options online.
Tonight's tribute video featured a number of CBC voices we've come to know so well over the years including, interestingly enough, Brian Williams and Chris Cuthbert, now CBC alumni who will be back on the Olympic job in Vancouver. Maybe their appearance was a subtle way of passing the broadcast torch to their competition.
Beijing 2008 introduced us to some new Olympic TV faces, including Diana Swain and Ian Hanomansing — two anchors brought over from CBC's news side who acquitted themselves admirably. It'll be interesting to see if some of the CBC talent, both new and old, employed at the Olympics over the years might find a home with the other guys from now on.
The word is CBC intends to push hard to regain Olympic rights in 2014, the next Games still available (in Sochi, Russia). If Chicago wins the 2016 Summer Olympics, those broadcast rights figure to become much more pricey.
That's a story that still remains to be told. For the CBC, though, it's farewell to the Games.
We'll see soon enough how much they'll be missed. And if and when they'll be back.
Tucked among the many retrospectives aired tonight during CBC's final telecast from the Beijing Games was a tribute to CBC's Olympic coverage over the years. With images from Tokyo 1964 all the way to this week, it almost played like a farewell concerto.
As most of you no doubt know, CBC's grip on Olympic rights ended this evening. When the five-ring circus opens for business again in less than 18 months — yes, Vancouver, that's how close the 2010 Winter Games are now — you'll see broadcast coverage presented by a CTV Globemedia/Rogers consortium that most prominently features TSN, CTV and Sportsnet. They'll be back two years later to do it all over again in London for the 2012 Summer Olympics.
We've said it before but it bears repeating once more. While many across our land have lobbed bombs (and justifiably so, at times) in the CBC's direction for some of its bungles in recent years, its Olympic work is generally worthy of our acclaim. They took it to a new level in Beijing, presenting the first full high-definition Games and offering Canadians a wealth of viewing options online.
Tonight's tribute video featured a number of CBC voices we've come to know so well over the years including, interestingly enough, Brian Williams and Chris Cuthbert, now CBC alumni who will be back on the Olympic job in Vancouver. Maybe their appearance was a subtle way of passing the broadcast torch to their competition.
Beijing 2008 introduced us to some new Olympic TV faces, including Diana Swain and Ian Hanomansing — two anchors brought over from CBC's news side who acquitted themselves admirably. It'll be interesting to see if some of the CBC talent, both new and old, employed at the Olympics over the years might find a home with the other guys from now on.
The word is CBC intends to push hard to regain Olympic rights in 2014, the next Games still available (in Sochi, Russia). If Chicago wins the 2016 Summer Olympics, those broadcast rights figure to become much more pricey.
That's a story that still remains to be told. For the CBC, though, it's farewell to the Games.
We'll see soon enough how much they'll be missed. And if and when they'll be back.
Beijing Blows 'Em All Away
With one day to spare, the Beijing Olympics have become the most-watched event in American television history.
NBC Universal reports its total audience for these Games hit 211 million through Saturday, pushing it past Atlanta 1996 as the all-time leader for Olympic viewership south of the border. The aggregate number 12 years ago was 209 million for 17 days. Beijing's total has yet to include today's programming, which included the men's basketball final and the closing ceremony.
Perhaps even more impressive: 86% of U.S. households tuned in to at least some part of Beijing 2008.
Audiences got a huge boost in the opening week of the Games, when American swimmer Michael Phelps made his historic charge to an unprecedented eight gold medals in a single Olympics. NBC Universal also spread its coverage over nine networks, with its cable outlets combining for a record 86 million viewers.
While Winter Olympics ratings tend to be stronger in Canada, the opposite is true for a neighbouring country that is traditionally a Summer Games powerhouse. Four of the five most-watched Olympics ever in the U.S. were summer affairs, with Lillehammer 1994 (carried by CBS) the lone exception. We don't need to get into why.
NBC Universal reports its total audience for these Games hit 211 million through Saturday, pushing it past Atlanta 1996 as the all-time leader for Olympic viewership south of the border. The aggregate number 12 years ago was 209 million for 17 days. Beijing's total has yet to include today's programming, which included the men's basketball final and the closing ceremony.
Perhaps even more impressive: 86% of U.S. households tuned in to at least some part of Beijing 2008.
Audiences got a huge boost in the opening week of the Games, when American swimmer Michael Phelps made his historic charge to an unprecedented eight gold medals in a single Olympics. NBC Universal also spread its coverage over nine networks, with its cable outlets combining for a record 86 million viewers.
While Winter Olympics ratings tend to be stronger in Canada, the opposite is true for a neighbouring country that is traditionally a Summer Games powerhouse. Four of the five most-watched Olympics ever in the U.S. were summer affairs, with Lillehammer 1994 (carried by CBS) the lone exception. We don't need to get into why.
Saturday, August 23, 2008
Finish Line Clearly In Sight
It is the most traditional of Olympic events and, in recent years, has come to symbolize the five-ring circus is about to pack up and move on to the next big stop.
Men's marathon time means it's definitely almost closing time for the Beijing Olympics, with the closing ceremony at the Bird's Nest stadium now less than 10 hours away. Sure, there's still a basketball gold to be decided (which matters a great deal, I suppose, to the country to the south of us) and some boxing finals to be held (talk about a sport that's flown right under the radar in these parts, which might be expected when you send a one-man team to the Games).
But really, once the marathon is over, you know the extinguishing of the flame isn't too far away.
What a historic run it was. Hard to believe that, until tonight, Kenya — the nation which has been a long-distance terror at the Olympics for 40 years, going back to the legendary Kip Keino in Mexico City — had never produced a marathon winner.
Consider that little blip on the Kenyan radar erased after Sammy Wansiru's sizzling 2:06:32 run on an oppressively hot Beijing day. The 21-year-old ran the fastest marathon in Olympic history, blowing away the previous best by nearly three minutes (the old standard, set by Portugal's Carlos Lopes, had stood up since 1984).
For the second straight Games, Canada had no entrant in the event. Kenya, meanwhile, had literally hundreds of prospects to choose from for its Olympic roster. Mark Lee, CBC's voice at the track, pointed out that in that African nation, "more than 500 (athletes) have run a 2:20 marathon. In Canada, we have two."
"It is a mind-boggling depth and strength," added CBC analyst Dave Moorcroft.
*****
Wouldn't be nice if all athletes shared their stories as honestly as Adam van Koeverden?
The Canadian paddler, who was stunned by an eighth-place finish in the K-1 1,000-metre final on Friday, battled back for a silver medal earlier today in the 500 — the distance at which he struck gold four years ago in Athens.
After the race, Van Koeverden bluntly admitted his confidence needed a serious rebuild after the crushing result in the 1,000. It was a sentiment he repeated once more during a studio interview with CBC's Scott Russell on Olympic Prime, saying that he was "still worrying and terrified" about an hour before the 500-metre final.
"That self-doubt was definitely there and very prominent for the last 24 hours," said Van Koeverden, one of the most insightful athletes you'll ever meet. "That's the story of my Olympics, coming back from something as devastating as that."
Men's marathon time means it's definitely almost closing time for the Beijing Olympics, with the closing ceremony at the Bird's Nest stadium now less than 10 hours away. Sure, there's still a basketball gold to be decided (which matters a great deal, I suppose, to the country to the south of us) and some boxing finals to be held (talk about a sport that's flown right under the radar in these parts, which might be expected when you send a one-man team to the Games).
But really, once the marathon is over, you know the extinguishing of the flame isn't too far away.
What a historic run it was. Hard to believe that, until tonight, Kenya — the nation which has been a long-distance terror at the Olympics for 40 years, going back to the legendary Kip Keino in Mexico City — had never produced a marathon winner.
Consider that little blip on the Kenyan radar erased after Sammy Wansiru's sizzling 2:06:32 run on an oppressively hot Beijing day. The 21-year-old ran the fastest marathon in Olympic history, blowing away the previous best by nearly three minutes (the old standard, set by Portugal's Carlos Lopes, had stood up since 1984).
For the second straight Games, Canada had no entrant in the event. Kenya, meanwhile, had literally hundreds of prospects to choose from for its Olympic roster. Mark Lee, CBC's voice at the track, pointed out that in that African nation, "more than 500 (athletes) have run a 2:20 marathon. In Canada, we have two."
"It is a mind-boggling depth and strength," added CBC analyst Dave Moorcroft.
*****
Wouldn't be nice if all athletes shared their stories as honestly as Adam van Koeverden?
The Canadian paddler, who was stunned by an eighth-place finish in the K-1 1,000-metre final on Friday, battled back for a silver medal earlier today in the 500 — the distance at which he struck gold four years ago in Athens.
After the race, Van Koeverden bluntly admitted his confidence needed a serious rebuild after the crushing result in the 1,000. It was a sentiment he repeated once more during a studio interview with CBC's Scott Russell on Olympic Prime, saying that he was "still worrying and terrified" about an hour before the 500-metre final.
"That self-doubt was definitely there and very prominent for the last 24 hours," said Van Koeverden, one of the most insightful athletes you'll ever meet. "That's the story of my Olympics, coming back from something as devastating as that."
It's All About The Spin
When kayaker Adam van Koeverden emerged from the K-1 500 metre final with a silver medal early this morning at the Shunyi canoe/kayak venue, it signalled the final podium trip for a Canadian at the Beijing Olympics.
(although Gary Reed gave it his best shot in the 800 metres on the track at the Bird's Nest stadium, with the reigning world silver medallist finishing an agonizing fourth).
So the final medal count for Canada reads like this: Three gold, nine silver, six bronze. A grand total of 18, which rates six better than Athens 2004 and matches the second-best total ever for Canada at a non-boycotted Summer Olympics. We brought home the same number of medals from Barcelona in 1992; the number grew to 22 four years later in Atlanta.
Sports Illustrated predicted 15 Canadian medals at these Games. The majority of pundits probably weren't willing to go beyond that, given what transpired in Athens four years ago.
Were these Games a success for Canada? Based on the improvement over Athens, you'd have to give our gang in China a passing grade. Especially given the fact that the majority of amateur sport funding is being directed to winter athletes at the moment, with our country mere hours away from being officially on deck for the Vancouver 2010 Olympics.
The stated goal before Beijing 2008, according the Canadian Olympic Committee, was a top-16 finish in the medal standings. If one goes by the total medal count — and, as we've said here earlier, it should be that way — then the COC can boast about a tie for 13th with Belarus. The official Beijing Games site, though, ranks countries by golds won, which drops us down to a tie for 19th, and outside of the COC's target.
A successful Summer Olympics or not? We'll be interested to see how the powers-that-be in Canada spin this one.
(although Gary Reed gave it his best shot in the 800 metres on the track at the Bird's Nest stadium, with the reigning world silver medallist finishing an agonizing fourth).
So the final medal count for Canada reads like this: Three gold, nine silver, six bronze. A grand total of 18, which rates six better than Athens 2004 and matches the second-best total ever for Canada at a non-boycotted Summer Olympics. We brought home the same number of medals from Barcelona in 1992; the number grew to 22 four years later in Atlanta.
Sports Illustrated predicted 15 Canadian medals at these Games. The majority of pundits probably weren't willing to go beyond that, given what transpired in Athens four years ago.
Were these Games a success for Canada? Based on the improvement over Athens, you'd have to give our gang in China a passing grade. Especially given the fact that the majority of amateur sport funding is being directed to winter athletes at the moment, with our country mere hours away from being officially on deck for the Vancouver 2010 Olympics.
The stated goal before Beijing 2008, according the Canadian Olympic Committee, was a top-16 finish in the medal standings. If one goes by the total medal count — and, as we've said here earlier, it should be that way — then the COC can boast about a tie for 13th with Belarus. The official Beijing Games site, though, ranks countries by golds won, which drops us down to a tie for 19th, and outside of the COC's target.
A successful Summer Olympics or not? We'll be interested to see how the powers-that-be in Canada spin this one.
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