WOW...great day for the Olympics

It is very late and I have to get up early in the morning so I'll make this quick. Just a few thoughts on tonight's Olympic competitions:

• Dara Torres - What else can I say but amazing? She's 41 years old and won three silver medals in these Olympics. What is even more impressive is how incredibly graceful she was throughout the entire process...congratulating those who beat her, stopping the start of a race so that a competitor could change her torn swimsuit, etc. She exhibited the best sportsmanship I have ever seen. Especially after losing the individual gold medal in the 50 free by just .01 seconds. I'm going to be completely honest and say I don't think I could have been as gracious as Torres was after that.
• Michael Phelps - Karl and I were just marveling at how we might never see another Olympian in our lifetime win eight gold medals in one Olympic Games. What an awesome accomplishment for him. I think the most memorable of his races for me was gold medal #2 in the relay when the U.S. just barely, barely beat the French team. I really wanted him to shed some tears up there on the medal stand though. It was obvious that he was overcome by several emotions, and understandably so...I just wanted to see him cry because I can't imagine becoming the best Olympian EVER and not letting the tears flow.
  
• Women's Marathon - I was happy to see the Romanian woman win the gold medal in this race for a few reasons. First, she is 38 years old and beat a LOT of younger runners. Good for her! Second, when have you ever heard about a good runner from Romania? I know that I never have. Third, I just like Romanians, plain and simple. I think it's because when I was 12 we had the junior national Romanian gymnastics team come to our gym for a week and they were the sweetest and most appreciative girls I've ever met. They definitely left me with a positive impression of Romanian athletes.
  
• Men's 100m Finals - I was so mad at Jamaican runner Usain "Lightning" Bolt for beginning his victory celebration with at least 15 meters to go. Who knows what kind of record he might have set if he had remained focused for the entire race!?! What a talented runner.
  

That's all for tonight. Gymnastics individual event finals start tomorrow...men's floor and pommel horse, and women's vault and floor. I can't wait! :)