Post by Laura Cheng.
I find it fascinating how sports can harmoniously unite disparate countries. That’s what my senior year thesis should have been about. Not the death of a beautiful American icon, Marilyn Monroe, but the Olympics – the optimistic antidote to the current politics in the world; the supernatural athletes delivering the cure.
Source: http://photos.denverpost.com/2012/07/25/photos-london-2012-summer-games-olympic-village/#name here
Considering the amazing feats the athletes accomplish, it’s hard to remember that they are still a human form. They are kinda like me – they spend a good deal of their time sleeping. During the Olympics, this all happens in the Olympic Village. The concept of an Olympic Village was created during the 1924 summer Olympics to allow the athletes to easily access the Games’ venues. A week before the Games, athletes, trainers and officials move into their homes. US water polo captain, Tony Azevedo, compared the event to be similar to the “first day of college”. With a little bit of nonchalant wall décor, their bedrooms no doubt resemble a college dormitory. English diver Tom Daley shared a pic of his Olympic Village bedroom on Facebook. “My room in the Olympic village all decorated :)”.
Source: http://tinyurl.com/c3sdgy8
If you can’t tell from Tom Daley’s bedroom, the beds in this year’s London Olympic Village are just 68 inches (5 feet 8 inches). That’s smaller than an American twin mattress! It’s just about the size of bed my 6 year old nephew sleeps on, complete with a Kmart-esque comforter. I was not surprised to learn that many of the larger sized competitors stay in hotels outside the Village.
Source: http://arnelpineda.ning.com/forum/topics/games-of-the-xxx-olympiad-london-england-united-kingdom?id=4880034%3ATopic%3A116275&page=12
As reported by Dan Devine on Yahoo!’s latest sports coverage:
“American hurdler Lolo Jones was hanging out with some members of the U.S. men’s national basketball team on Thursday, before the upcoming Opening Ceremony officially kicks matters off at the ‘12 Summer Games. The largest man on the team — starting center Tyson Chandler — momentarily took a load off and stretched out on one of those same Olympic Village beds. The image seemed so comical that Jones just felt she had to share it with the world, alongside the caption: ‘Ok, so run this by me again @tysonchandler, why won’t the men’s basketball team sleep in the olympic village?’”
