Once upon a time, the Beijing Olympics was 5 years away, 2 years away, 1,000 days away, 489 days away.

All of a sudden, of course, it's three days from now. I've been to the Opening Ceremony rehearsals¹ and so I feel it's actually here. So therefore, let me share with you some Olympic notes to gear you up for the occasion.

First of all, 更快、更高、更强 is not a Chinese invention. The somewhat petty idea of 夺取金牌，为国争光 (Winning gold to make your country proud) is (I wonder if someone ever tells all athletes that by representing China, they are making their country proud, winning or losing. But then again, this is perhaps telling too much and besides, looking past the perks² of mega-bucks that comes with winning today is perhaps not so healthy after all – at any rate, it is more difficult of accomplishment³ than winning the medals). The idea of更快、更高、更强 is not. It is, instead, a transliteration of the universal Olympic motto of Faster, Higher, Stronger (Citius, Altius, Fortius in Latin).

Here are some Olympic notes I've collected for share, event by event:

ARCHERY

Ancient Chinese poem:

When the archer⁴ shoots just for fun he has all his skill.

But when he shoots for score he finds his hands trembling, his breath uneasy.

And when he shoots for a grand prize he becomes mad and blind.

His skill did not diminish.

The vision of the prize changed him.

ATHLETICS⁵

Jesse Owens (1913-80), black American:

Although I wasn't invited to shake hands with Hitler, I wasn't invited to the White House to shake hands with the President either.

BADMINTION

Tip:

So many Chinese play this sport that it's perhaps useful to offer something practical. When you hit (or rather mishit) the shuttle with the frame of the racket, it's called a wood shot because in the olden days the badminton racket was made of wood.

It's a legal shot.

BASEBALL

Woody Allen, comedian⁶:

When we played softball (a junior version of baseball), I'd steal second base, feel guilty and go back.

BASKETBALL

Michael Jordan:

I've missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I've lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I've been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed... I've failed over and over and over again... And that is why I succeed.

BEACH VOLLEYBALL

Perhaps this is reassuring⁷ to the small man/woman who wants to play the two-a-side sandy version of volleyball:

You don't have to be tall or as fast as other sports. You just have to have the skills (Misty May-Treanor, American, 2004 Olympic champion).

BOXING

Muhammad Ali:

I am the greatest. I said that even before I knew I was.

CANOE (KAYAK)

Yes, this is an Olympic sport:

A whalebone and driftwood frame, with a sea-lion skin stretched tautly⁸ over it and waterproofed⁹ with whale fat, hardly suggests a budding Olympic sport. Yet the kayaks that meant life to the Inuits in the Arctic for centuries have become the racing¹⁰ kayaks of the modern world - even if the building materials have changed.

The link was 19th century British barrister John MacGregor. He studied the ancient kayaks, designed a similar boat and disappeared into the rivers and lakes of Europe's wilderness¹¹ to become a noted¹² travel writer of his time. When others copied his boat, he founded the Royal Canoe Club, and canoe regattas began a year later in 1866.

Canoe/kayak, consisting solely¹³ of the sprint¹⁴, was a demonstration¹⁵ competition at the 1924 Olympic Games before gaining full-medal status in 1936.

(Credit: IOC)

CYCLING

Diane Ackerman, American writer, naturalist¹⁶:

When I go biking, I repeat a mantra of the day's sensations: bright sun, blue sky, warm breeze, blue jay's call, ice melting and so on. This helps me transcend¹⁷ the traffic, ignore the clamorings of work, leave all the mind theaters behind and focus on nature instead. I still must abide¹⁸ by the rules of the road, of biking, of gravity. But I am mentally far away from civilization. The world is breaking someone else's heart.

DIVING

Guo Jingjing, on winning more medals on home soil:

"I feel no particular pressure because I will only be competing with myself."

EQUESTRIAN¹⁹

Pat Perelli, American advocate of natural horsemanship:

"If your horse says no, you either asked the wrong question, or asked the question wrong."

FENCING

Moliere:

"The essence of fencing is to give, but by no means to receive.

FOOTBALL (SOCCER)

Bill Shankly, Scottish:

Some people think football is a matter of life and death. I assure you, it's much more serious than that.

GYMNASTICS ARTISTIC²⁰

Plato:

Let us describe the education of men. What then is the education to be? Perhaps we could hardly find a better experience of the past which expresses the body than gymnastics. I believe, in gymnastic, for the body and music for the mind.

GYMNASTICS RHYTHMIC²¹

Differentiation²²:

Artistic (艺术) gymnastics (体操) is not what we call艺术体操. Rhythmic (韵律) gymnastics is. Rhythmic gymnastics, an Olympic item since 1984, was also once (during the mid-20th century) called "modern gymnastics."

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