Did you watch the Olympics? 
We watched the coverage most evenings, but the most exciting by far was the marathon which was the final competition before the closing ceremony last night.
It was an amazing race run through temperatures starting at 24C (75F) with 52% humidity when the race began at 7:30 a.m. It heated up steadily through the morning, reaching 30C (86F) by the finish.
This race was dominated by Africa. By the 30-kilometer mark, the lead pack had dwindled to three runners -- Samuel Wanjiru of Kenya, Deriba Merga of Ethiopia and Jaouad Gharib of Morocco.
Samuel Wanjiru of Kenya pulled away over the final few kilometers to become the first Kenyan in the running history of that nation to win an Olympic marathon.
The 21-year-old negotiated the 42.15-kilometer (26.2-mile) course through Beijing streets in bright Sunday morning sunshine in an Olympic record of 2 hours, 6 minutes, 32 seconds.
I held my breath throughout most of the race, cheering for Deriba Merga of Ethiopia as he and Wanjiru ran neck in neck. He led for much of the race but dropped into third place towards the end. We still cheered as he held onto the bronze medal position.
Then as Wanjiru entered the stadium to claim the gold medal followed closely by Gharib to claim the silver, we saw Merga, close to claiming his bronze. The runners had to do one lap around the stadium to finish, but just as Merga started his lap he was overtaken by Tsegaye Kebede Wordofa also of Ethiopia.
My heart broke for him as he lost his medal by only 100 metres or so. The pain etched on his face was palpable. He ran such an incredible race only to have lost it so close to claiming his prize.
He was the only runner to stay with Wanjiru past the 40th kilometre, finished second in 2:06:50, also under the previous course record of 2:06:51 set by Atsushi Fujita in 2000. It was a huge personal best for Deriba which knocked more than six-and-a-half minutes from his previous best, set in Paris earlier this year.
At the end, the closing ceremony were nothing short of spectacular.
Beautiful fireworks, great music, mind boggling acrobatics which all joined to provide a visual spectacle for those who watched.
Bravo Beijing for an exciting few weeks for sporting enthusiasts!
We watched the coverage most evenings, but the most exciting by far was the marathon which was the final competition before the closing ceremony last night.
It was an amazing race run through temperatures starting at 24C (75F) with 52% humidity when the race began at 7:30 a.m. It heated up steadily through the morning, reaching 30C (86F) by the finish.
This race was dominated by Africa. By the 30-kilometer mark, the lead pack had dwindled to three runners -- Samuel Wanjiru of Kenya, Deriba Merga of Ethiopia and Jaouad Gharib of Morocco.
Samuel Wanjiru of Kenya pulled away over the final few kilometers to become the first Kenyan in the running history of that nation to win an Olympic marathon.
The 21-year-old negotiated the 42.15-kilometer (26.2-mile) course through Beijing streets in bright Sunday morning sunshine in an Olympic record of 2 hours, 6 minutes, 32 seconds.
I held my breath throughout most of the race, cheering for Deriba Merga of Ethiopia as he and Wanjiru ran neck in neck. He led for much of the race but dropped into third place towards the end. We still cheered as he held onto the bronze medal position.
Then as Wanjiru entered the stadium to claim the gold medal followed closely by Gharib to claim the silver, we saw Merga, close to claiming his bronze. The runners had to do one lap around the stadium to finish, but just as Merga started his lap he was overtaken by Tsegaye Kebede Wordofa also of Ethiopia.
My heart broke for him as he lost his medal by only 100 metres or so. The pain etched on his face was palpable. He ran such an incredible race only to have lost it so close to claiming his prize.
He was the only runner to stay with Wanjiru past the 40th kilometre, finished second in 2:06:50, also under the previous course record of 2:06:51 set by Atsushi Fujita in 2000. It was a huge personal best for Deriba which knocked more than six-and-a-half minutes from his previous best, set in Paris earlier this year.
At the end, the closing ceremony were nothing short of spectacular.
Beautiful fireworks, great music, mind boggling acrobatics which all joined to provide a visual spectacle for those who watched.Bravo Beijing for an exciting few weeks for sporting enthusiasts!
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