Where Have All of the American's Gone?
Julien Abalson Defends his Gold in MTB at the Bejing Olympics
Wow! That's all I have to say about Julien Abalson, this guy can fly on a mountain bike. But, Where have all the American’s gone? As I watch this race, I’m in amazement.
First, by the fact that my view is as good as being there in Bejing. And, I’m sitting at my desk watching it on my laptop. The quality of the video is excellent and the multiple cameras follow the entire race. Never before have we had this opportunity to watch an entire race with such quality online. Even when races have been covered on TV, we only catch highlights. And, XC has traditionally been hard to watch because the racers are in the woods.
Second, we are watching a sport that was born in the USA on a USA network (NBC), but there is not one American that even finished the race! American’s Todd Wells and Adam Craig competed in the finals, but did not finish.
Third, the course looks challenging, but certainly not too challenging for us not to have someone in the top 10. Where have all the American mountain bikers gone? Back in the day we had John Tomac, Ned Overand and Tinker Juarez, today there is no one.
You have to give it to France’s Julien Absalon though, once he decided to break, he was gone and they couldn’t catch him. Otherwise, the Swede's looked good and Italy's Marco Fontana.
If you haven't seen the race, you owe it to yourself to watch it. You may have to download the video player and fill out some crap, but it's well worth the effort. Here's the link:
http://www.nbcolympics.com/video/share.html?videoid=cy1h-bj-sd35-082308-145502
Julien Absalon completely dominated the race after about the 2nd lap and won his second consecutive Gold medal. His teammate, Jean Christophe Peraud, finished second earning the Silver, but he was over a minute behind. Christoph Sauser won Bronze finishing 2:28 behind Absalon.
It was too bad that they didn't have Downhill or 4x at the Olympics, but what can you say. Mountain bikers, Jared Graves, ACC and Jill Kintner all made the mains in bmx. It's great to see these athletes crossing over and remaining competitive in both sports.
You can see some pics and read some more about the olympics at http://www.atbmx.com/
Go USA!
Barry Page
http://www.atbmx.com/
Saturday, August 23, 2008
BMX in the Olympics
USA Wins Silver and 2 Bronze in BMX in Bejing Olympics
It's been a long time coming, but BMX (bicycle motocross) finally made it into the Olympic Games. Amazingly though, it barely made it on TV, you had to stay up late to catch it. However, you can watch it all online nowadays, which is way cool.
Watch the BMX main events at the Bejing Olympics
http://www.nbcolympics.com/video/share.html?videoid=0821_HD_CBB_EN167
If you are from the United States and you've been involved with BMX for a while like I have, then you were probably a little disappointed that USA did not win the Gold. We did capture Silver and Bronze, but somehow that just doesn't seem right. I mean BMX was born here and kids have bee racing here for 30 years now, just waiting for the day.
It was good to see Donny Robinson win a medal, even if it was Bronze. Watching this kid grow up and fight all his life to win, you have to respect him. You see, he's always been much smaller than his competition, and even after pumping iron to beef up and get where he is today, he still stood almost a foot smaller than the other medal winners on the podium.
Mike Day looked super smooth in the prelims, and looked like he might win, but had to settle for the Silver. Mike has come on strong in recent years and had been practicing hard to prepare for this race.
Now the Gold medal. Who is this guy Maris Strombergs from Latvia? I mean maybe I've been sleeping under a rock, but I had never heard of the guy before the Olympics. Okay, I haven't raced in a couple of years, but seriously, Latvia? A quick search on the 2008 NBL pro points list shows him at number 30 in the NBL, just behind Mike Day. He didn't make the list from 2007. And I couldn't find him on the 2008 ABA list. His bio from the Olympics says he's the World Champion, but that's about all. Anyway, he was flyin' in Bejing and now he owns the first ever BMX Gold medal.
Some of my other favorites to watch were Jared Graves and Anne-Caroline Chausson. These guys are mountain bikers and oddly enough they were showing the most bmx style. Jared looked good all the way through the qualifiers, but wound up 6th in the main. ACC took the Gold in the chrased filled women's main.
Jill Kinter, USA's favorite girl took the bronze. A few years ago, Jill couldn't be beat on a bmx bike, and lately she's been unbeatable on the mountain bike. But, her time away must have taken away some of her twenty inch skills. Either that or it was ACC, who is also unstoppable on the big wheels.
Unfortunately, Kyle Bennett and Cristian Becerine did not make the mains. They both looked good in the qualifiers, but some spills took their toll on them. Hopefully, Kyle's shoulder will heel up before the NBL Grands where his number 3 and Cristian is leading in points.
That's it from the 2008 Bejing Olympics (at my desk). Be sure to watch the BMX races online at http://www.nbcolympics.com/video/share.html?videoid=0821_HD_CBB_EN167 You may have to install the player and fill out some information, but it's worth it. The quality is primo considering it is the internet.
Ride on,
Barry Page
www.atbmx.com
It's been a long time coming, but BMX (bicycle motocross) finally made it into the Olympic Games. Amazingly though, it barely made it on TV, you had to stay up late to catch it. However, you can watch it all online nowadays, which is way cool.
Watch the BMX main events at the Bejing Olympics
http://www.nbcolympics.com/video/share.html?videoid=0821_HD_CBB_EN167
If you are from the United States and you've been involved with BMX for a while like I have, then you were probably a little disappointed that USA did not win the Gold. We did capture Silver and Bronze, but somehow that just doesn't seem right. I mean BMX was born here and kids have bee racing here for 30 years now, just waiting for the day.
It was good to see Donny Robinson win a medal, even if it was Bronze. Watching this kid grow up and fight all his life to win, you have to respect him. You see, he's always been much smaller than his competition, and even after pumping iron to beef up and get where he is today, he still stood almost a foot smaller than the other medal winners on the podium.
Mike Day looked super smooth in the prelims, and looked like he might win, but had to settle for the Silver. Mike has come on strong in recent years and had been practicing hard to prepare for this race.
Now the Gold medal. Who is this guy Maris Strombergs from Latvia? I mean maybe I've been sleeping under a rock, but I had never heard of the guy before the Olympics. Okay, I haven't raced in a couple of years, but seriously, Latvia? A quick search on the 2008 NBL pro points list shows him at number 30 in the NBL, just behind Mike Day. He didn't make the list from 2007. And I couldn't find him on the 2008 ABA list. His bio from the Olympics says he's the World Champion, but that's about all. Anyway, he was flyin' in Bejing and now he owns the first ever BMX Gold medal.
Some of my other favorites to watch were Jared Graves and Anne-Caroline Chausson. These guys are mountain bikers and oddly enough they were showing the most bmx style. Jared looked good all the way through the qualifiers, but wound up 6th in the main. ACC took the Gold in the chrased filled women's main.
Jill Kinter, USA's favorite girl took the bronze. A few years ago, Jill couldn't be beat on a bmx bike, and lately she's been unbeatable on the mountain bike. But, her time away must have taken away some of her twenty inch skills. Either that or it was ACC, who is also unstoppable on the big wheels.
Unfortunately, Kyle Bennett and Cristian Becerine did not make the mains. They both looked good in the qualifiers, but some spills took their toll on them. Hopefully, Kyle's shoulder will heel up before the NBL Grands where his number 3 and Cristian is leading in points.
That's it from the 2008 Bejing Olympics (at my desk). Be sure to watch the BMX races online at http://www.nbcolympics.com/video/share.html?videoid=0821_HD_CBB_EN167 You may have to install the player and fill out some information, but it's worth it. The quality is primo considering it is the internet.
Ride on,
Barry Page
www.atbmx.com
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