Posts Tagged ‘olympics’

Video: White guy mistaken for Michael Phelps

If you’re a non-Asian foreigner living in Japan, chances are you’ve been compared to a foreign celebrity at least once, and that celebrity probably looks nothing like you.

But have any of you experienced something like this:

[Via Brian in Jeollanam-do]

Angry ‘Olympic Ojisan’ leaves Beijing

Sankei/MSN reports that Naotoshi Yamada, an 82 year-old super fan famously fan known as “Olympic Ojisan” because of his energetic cheering at past Olympic games, has left the Beijing Olympics in anger.

When asked by the press about his reasons for leaving, he said that he was shocked by the bad way Chinese authorities treated visitors. Yamada claims that many Japanese fans were not allowed to attend Judo matches, despite a large number of empty seats in the arena. He attended many Olympic games over the last 50 or so years, and it was the first time he’d encountered anything like this.

Yamada was also angry about the behavior of Chinese fans at sporting events, as well as the air quality:

The booing was outrageous. There’s never been an Olympic Games like this one. They aren’t qualified to hold the Olympics. Moreover, the air was dirty, causing pain in my throat. This will be the first time I’ve gone to the Olympics and not stayed until the Closing Ceremony.

One could easily blow off Yamada’s complaints as the rantings of a loony old man, but he’s not the only one complaining about empty venues turning away fans, nor is he the only source to mention booing from Chinese fans (China’s state-controlled press has claimed otherwise). On the other hand, footage of the city and media reports show that Beijing’s smog levels are quite low compared to what had been expected before the games.

For Sale: Cars used by the media during the Beijing Olympics

Kudos to FTV for this very interesting report from Beijing about the sale of vehicles that had been purchased by international media organizations for use during the Olympic games:

Some 130 cars are being sold at the location featured in the report. The cars had been purchased new by media outlets such as the BBC, and after 2-3 months of use, they will be sold to new owners at a price cut of 3,000 to 5,000 dollars. Some of the buyers are seeking cheap new cars, while others like the idea of owning a vehicle that contributed in some way to the Olympic Games. One man even said he wanted to keep the Olympic stickers on the car he bought!

Kosuke Kitajima talks about Michael Phelps

Japanese swimmer Kosuke Kitajima, who won 2 gold medals in the 100 and 200 meter breaststroke events at the Beijing Olympics, talked to the press the other day about his admiration for American swimmer Michael Phelps and his hope that Phelps won’t try the breaststroke:

“Phelps in breaststroke? That would be the last thing I’d like to see,” said Kitajima, who won the breaststroke “double-double” in winning the 100 and 200 event for a second successive Olympics.

“I really hope not to see that happening,” he added.

After winning a record eight gold medals last week in freestyle, butterfly, individual medley and relays, the American said he planned to take up new events.

Breaststroke, however, is his weakest discipline and he is pondering taking up backstroke events and the 100 freestyle.

Kitajima, who is considering retiring from the sport, said he was in awe of what Phelps had done in Beijing.

“His achievements are just beyond description, and the whole world recognises his ability,” added Kitajima, who also won a bronze medal in the 4×100 medley relay.