Olympic rites most watched show in Britain

LONDON – Felix Sanchez of the Dominican Republic wept after fulfilling a promise he made to his late abuella (grandmother), who raised him, and who died four years ago, on the first day of the Beijing Olympics on Aug.8, 2008 (08-08-08). Sanchez, 34, produced a photo of himself and his abuella Lillian from inside his bib and kissed it, after winning the 400m hurdles. Wearing spikes inscribed with the world abuella, he sobbed on the podiium and said his grandmother was with him “crying tears of joy.”

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That’s the same day China’s greatest athlete, Liu Xiang, lost again in the 110m hurdles, unable to finish because of an Achiles tendon, the same injury that forced him to quit exactly four years ago Tuesday.

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China has 1,600 journalists covering the Games, of which over 300 are accredited and over 800 non-accredited. It also has two daily newspapers available to 21,000 fellow mediamen at the Main Press Center. One newspaper is in English and the other in Chinese.

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Nine out of 10 Britons – or 50 million have tuned into the Games, reports said. The opening ceremony was the most watched broadcast in the UK. In the US, NBC’s coverage was watched by an average of 40.7 million, the highest for any summer games, even eclipsing the live coverage of the Atlanta opening ceremony in 1996.

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British pole vaullter Holly Bleasdale missed out an Olympic medal but she is celebrating after her boyfriend asked her to marry him.

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Michael Phelps caused alarm when he said he had used the aquatics center pool as a lavatory. “Everybody pees in the pool. It’s kind of normal thing to do for swimmers. When we’re in the water for two hours we don’t really get out to pee. Chlorine kills it so it’s not bad.”

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The French team suspected that Great Britain’s success in cycling is due to its “magic wheels” and French cycling team boss said Team GB “hide their wheels a lot.” To which the British said, “all our bikes are made in France.”

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OIympic trivia: At the 1900 Paris Olympics, a croquet tournament featured one Belgian and nine French competitors and attracted just one competitor. France won all medals... Between 1900 and 1920, the rules of Olympic tug-of-war changed at every Games, causing controversy whenever it was played. To end the controversy, the game was scrapped…The least spectator-friendly Olympic event is 1904’s “plunge the distance” which required competitors to take a standing dive and stay as deep as possible in the water for one minute. American William Dickey won it at a depth of 19.5m.