Olympics: 5 Athletes + WTF?!....by pemora

As promised, I was all excited about the Opening Ceremonies last night. In truth, I was a bit bored at first and ended up focusing on and then buying an amazing pair of shoes while doing some online shopping. But I slowly got caught up in the excitement, despite having to deal with 150 Mary Poppins flying through the air. Cool, I get it. Still lame but I get it.

What really caught my attention was the commentary during the Parade of Nations. I don't really know Bob Costas but some of his comments were, in my opinion, offensive. Several times, he mentioned that a certain country had, "no chance of winning a medal but are just happy to be here"

Huh? WTF?

And then when Djibouti entered the arena...."Djibouti, a country's name that just makes you smile"

Helpmelordjesus.

Whatever. I need to move on because then I start hating people.

Here are the five athletes that I am most excited to watch. Feel free to comment on hotness at your whim.

1. Tim Morehouse (Fencing)

Yes, we went to high school together. Yes, I already mentioned him. But this is, seriously, one of the nicest guys I know. When he returned from China, he even let me wear his medal! How can you not love a dude who shares his medal? (I tried to convince him to let me wear it out drinking but he wasn't down with that. Sadness). Did I mention he's from the Bronx? Yeah, BX represent.



2. Lia Neal (Swimming)

Lia is half-black/half-Chinese and is only the 2nd African American female swimmer to make it to the Olympics. She's only 17....what the? What was I doing at 17? Definitely not competing in the freaking Olympics. And she hails from Brooklyn. Gotta love my NY'ers.

3. John Orozco (Gymnastics)

Another Bronx boy, John is only 19. His parents truly sacrificed for him to compete in gymnastics as a child. I read that John and his brothers got jumped once on their way home from church (church?! seriously, that is just horrendous) and one of his brothers ended up seriously injured. John speaks often of wanting to provide for his family and move them out of the Bronx to his new home in Colorado.








4. Javier Culson (Hurdles)

Several people mentioned Javier on twitter last night, so I had to look him up myself. Javier was the flag bearer for Puerto Rico and is coming into these Olympics undefeated. Apparently, he is THE man to beat for gold. Go 'head, Boricua!

5. Maria Espinoza (Taekwondo)

Another person that was mentioned several times on my TL, Maria was Mexico's flag bearer. She won gold in China, becoming the 2nd woman from her country to do so. Maria is having a shaky year but is still considered to be one of the people to beat for gold. Her whole town is waiting to throw a mega party for her!





Update:
Tim Morehouse - had a great run and made it to the quarterfinals in individual sabre
Lia Neal - won bronze in the freestyle relay
John Orozco - had a great showing in his 1st rotation