Torvill/Dean & Michelle Kwan with the Olympic Torch (Separately) | Golden Skate

Torvill/Dean & Michelle Kwan with the Olympic Torch (Separately)

she is the luckiest girl...i can see Torvill and Dean as they are uber famous Brit olympians...surprised MK is doing this in summer olympics. great freebie track outfit! well, i wish London, a city I love dearly wonderful luck. It will be great to see the Thames, The Tower...I'm looking forward to the fluff more than the sports. Gymnastics, swimming...how many more medals can Phelps win? There will never be another like him, he will be the face of the Olympics until they are no more. I'm in bed in agony, wishing I were back in a place I loved! God save the Queen! (MK of course! please send good thoughts to me...I am alone...but I can enjoy the forum....and dream I am an equestrian taking the big jumps...I will start a cafe thread, or can we have it in?he edge, Paula? Mods? to discuss TV alerts as the games fluff ramps up? It is mid summer already...I personally would hate to miss Gymnastics, the showjumping (princess Zara Philips is on the team-lucky spoilt girl! and the swimming to see how many more phelps gets. I lost track, already.

Britain is so poor, this and the Royals seem to uplift the people. Any GSers headed to London? I wonder how much gymnastics tix go for, for all event pass?
 
Last edited:
MK cannot take a bad pic. She is 32? Our disney princess? What a blessed life. Jane Torvill looks fabulous and fit. Her legs look like she still skates every day. With Kurt doing choreo for now little SOI, I wonder what Jane and Chris do? Do they coach at all? Together or separately? Chris and Jill's kids are fairly young, I think. I don't know if Torvill has kids-I imagine they are grown as she has had a long marriage.

I imagine there is a website that tracks the flame...had the torch been travelling continuously since the Vancouver big flame goes out? Does it get a rest or is it eternal? That makes me sad a bit, as I think of the only eternal flame I know, that of the slain President, John F Kennedy.

The story of the torch in modern times must be fascinating...if only the torch could speak. A great book would be the torch speaking in first person, telling the story of its handlers so to speak, the routes, the photos of the most famous Olympians and what they did to earn the honor. I hope the Olympic movement truly has spawned better relations between nations, common people, and is not just an elite thing for the fittest, strongest ad those who can afford to attend. I am most happy for the special olympians and hope MK's fame brings it to the forefront. These are the stories that need to be told, as disabled athletes are the truest profiles in courage, to steal a book title from Profiles in Courage.

I hope the Shriver children carry on with gusto the work of the amazing, loving Eunice Shriver, one of my female true heroines.
 
seniorita said:
Skateluvr I havent missed any gymnastics Olys on tv since 1988:points:, i ll watch too!
Click to expand...
Well we will have a folder so people can post alerts in their time zones. I wonder what the Chinese team will look like this year. It seems like yesterday Nastia was the one. I know little, so I look forward to the folder. Aunt Joyce covers all thing gymnastics in a funny way. I remember has a wee little girl, the amazing Soviet Olga Korbut with her little pigtails. I hope our USA team is strong. Why 5 instead of 7, tho?
 
Skateluvr, Eunice Shriver is one of my heroines too. She was a force for good from the word go. When she died, I read with some amazement in her obituary that she majored in something like sociology in college. I'm not sure most of Joseph Kennedy's female children were even encouraged to go to college (they went to convent schools; the men were supposed to do well and the women to marry well), let alone major in a nitty-gritty field like sociology. She was a pioneer and a hard worker from start to finish, and she and her husband (Sargent Shriver, who founded the Peace Corps, the Job Corps, and other important programs for President John Kennedy, his brother-in-law) did more than their share of good in the world. I believe that all of the Shrivers' children and especially Anthony are hugely committed to the Special Olympics.

As for the Paralympics, which is held at about the same time as the regular Olympics, I've noticed that in this country at least, that event has gained prominence in recent years. One ad on TV features athletes from both Olympics in equal prominence, including an archer in a wheelchair who shoots with his feet.

By the way, if you will permit a correction of one of your statements, I don't think Zara Phillips can be called spoiled--she earned her place on the British equestrian team fair and square. Both her father (Mark Phillips) and her mother, Princess Anne, were champions and Olympians. Mark Phillips earned a team gold in 1972, a team on which Princess Anne would have been (she was either European or world champion that year), but her horse was injured, and you train with your horse. Princess Anne was on the team in the Montreal Olympics of 1976. The advantage that Zara had was the income needed to train for this expensive sport. In every other regard, she does the same hard work as any other team member--including mucking out the stables. Three day eventing is a dangerous sport (the one that injured Christopher Reeve, as a matter of fact), and ironically it's one of the few in which men and women compete together.

I did some research on the sport for something I was writing for fun once. I found out to my amazement that until sometime after World War II, the teams of many (maybe all) countries were made up exclusively of members of the cavalry. (And were all male at that point, of course.)

In addition to all of its other reasons for popularity, the Olympics is a wonderful source of enjoyment for history geeks! I just love finding out the background not just of the athletes but of the sports. I'm going to be in pig heaven for the next month or so. I can't wait until we all get to watch it together!
 
Last edited:
Very nice post Olympia, per usual. Yes, I know Zara had to qualify like her parents but it ain't called "the sport of Kings" for nothing. One has to be from a wealthy riding family, and sghe was to get to Olympic level. I find the royals very spoiled, though I am interested in their lives. I guess it began with Diana. There I'd be at the CVS waiting for a script and could not help reading the People Mag or the Tabloids. Then after she died, i seemed to have read all the books. She was a loss, as she was stunning to behold, and always running afoul of the crazy palace people! I loved her and think her wild Harry inherited her streak for being a commoner tho she was as blueblooded as Charles. I still have not forgiven Charles nor Camilla.

Anyway, it is a charmed life when you ride horses all day from an early age. Princess Anne was very crafty. Neither of her kids have a royal title, so they don't have to do the royal duties, and can live as ordinary folks, but still have the perks of being the queens grandchildren. They say Zara is the favorite, as she is so horsey. Nice little diamond Tiara she worse to her wedding. I like her, she comes across quite down to earth, despite growing up in the huge Gatcombe park estate.

Spoiled does apply, but yes, I agree, she had to prove she was worthy of the team. I loved horses, so she lived a life of fairytales. I like her new hubby, too. My things have changed...Poor Diana had to prove virginity, and was expected to just accept that princes and kings had mistresses. Here is a tidbit-Charles has someone who puts the toothpaste on his toothbrush. It was against all these servants that Diana fought to have her boys be normal, or somewhat normal, especially William.

Well, now Kate is the obsession, looking far too thin to get pregnant. I wonder if she can still be beheaded if no child comes forth? LOL, he clearly loves her, and they are a great match. I love to hear how Elizabeth drove around London in WW2. She was quite feisty then.
 
Last edited:
skateluvr said:
..had the torch been travelling continuously since the Vancouver big flame goes out? Does it get a rest or is it eternal?
Click to expand...

I think they put it out after the Olympics and then kindle it anew for the next one. Here is the flame lighting ceremony for the London games, which took place a couple on months ago in Greece. The new flame is kindled by vestal virgins directing the sun's rays with mirrors. (The first Olympic torch was the one that Prometheus used when he stole fire from Zeus to give to the poor benighted humans.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x-sT_aryigg

This year the torch route was just through England and started 70 days before the games begin. Here is the flame arriving from Greece at Land's End in Cornwall by helicopter (brought to you by Coca-Cola :) )

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P4ZyPt8eCB4

The torch actually went out on the third day, but they bring along spare flames lit from the same mother-flame in Greece to re-light it when this happens. I read that the torch bearers can buy their torches afterward as souvenirs if they want to.
 
The lady who asks Appolo for his help to light the fire is supposed to be Hera 's virgin, cause Hera as the wife of Zeus was the head of family and ruled Olympia:cool:
In reality the lady is always a high profiled choreographer or actor that serves the post for years and the ladies around her are actors and or dancers.
Here is a video of this year torch relay.
 
seniorita said:
The lady who asks Appolo for his help to light the fire is supposed to be Hera 's virgin, cause Hera as the wife of Zeus was the head of family and ruled Olympia:cool:
In reality the lady is always a high profiled choreographer or actor that serves the post for years and the ladies around her are actors and or dancers.
Here is a video of this year torch relay.
Click to expand...

Thanks so much, Seniorita! I never knew any of that. One of my favorite aspects of the Olympics is that Greece is given a prominent role in all Olympics, summer and winter. Also, it's so cool that the torch lighter and her "court" are actors, dancers, and other members of the arts. I think the original ancient Games also celebrated the arts, didn't they? There were performances and poetry readings and such. I know there's an affiliated arts program these days—at least with the Summer Games—but it's not as central to the proceedings these days.

One sad change from ancient times: In the original Olympics, wars were actually suspended for the Games. In the modern era, the Games have several times been suspended for wars (1916, 1940, 1944).
 
Olympia, your post conjured up those movies of seeing Jesse Owen win all, be the fastest man on Earth, wit Hitler looking on. I know little of his story but it was heartbreaking. Would it not be a sign of the 1000 years of peace Revelation alludes to if everyone fighting anyone on this Earth dropped their weapons as in those ancient days? I guess that fact you share says we are not (men anyway-sorry guys!-forgive me if I sound wrong) more civilized as human beings. While women can be warlike, not many are if they lose a son, or he loses his leg. The Olympics was supposed to bring peace through international sport. I have not read much about the IOC but If MK and YuNa can really lead and use their resources for this, then it gives me hope.

Somehow I think Yu-Na may be president one day. I hope she is a bright girl. When one considers "Arnold" as Gov of California was in charge of the worlds sixth largest economy, I can see Yu-Na being anyone she wants in Korea. Somehow this girl is destined for great things. I am not Korean, but I hope Yuna sees a big role for herself in peacemaking. I think Michelle may be a congresswoman one day. Jill Stein for Prez! I hope Michelle goes green! Oops, political slip. ;)
 
Last edited:
The Olympics always, always gives me hope, because despite all the chaotic and greedy stuff, the Games remain a forum for international gathering. Sport is like the arts and like science: an arena (in the larger sense) for people with similar skills to transcend national boundaries. I think YuNa could very well end up in a position of national or even international prominence in Korea. She seems to have a strong sense of mission. Michelle could go into either politics or diplomacy as well. With her degrees in international affairs, she could be a real asset. She has more substantial academic achievement than YuNa so far, but there's a ten-year age difference, and YuNa is still in her active skating career.

Several prior Olympians have already made their marks helping others. Look up Kip Keino, Kenya's first great runner. He runs a farm for orphans and has spent his life and fortune taking care of the kids there. Benjamin Spock, the doctor whose books about baby and child care were the leaders in their field, was also an antiwar activist during the Vietnam era. (He was on a gold-medal-winning rowing team in the 1924 Olympics, the famous "Chariots of Fire" Paris Games.) And of course the real Eric Liddell was a missionary in China who helped keep morale up in a prison camp during World War II.
 
Dr Spock? I had no idea...what an underachiever. LOL. Let's see, skating alone can claim two women olympians who were doctors. There must be some male skaters who went this route.
 
^ Olympia I think we have a thing with movies!:laugh: I watched Chariots of Fire just on Sunday!It came with the Sunday newspaper -probably in the ocassion of London 2012-and I was curious and watched it. Then I read their stories on internet!I did not know the story and I was really excited. I dont know why it is called Chariots of Fire though, our title is Roads of fire. Amazing film. My fav part was when they run around the yard of school when the time was 12.
 
Chariots of Fire is a really amazing film, I watched long time ago. The soundtrack is very beautiful and famous. I can't wait London! I deeply admire the Olympic heros, like Phelps, Spitz, Usain Bolt, Nadia Comaneci etc. :bow::bow:
 
skateluvr said:
Well we will have a folder so people can post alerts in their time zones. I wonder what the Chinese team will look like this year. It seems like yesterday Nastia was the one. I know little, so I look forward to the folder. Aunt Joyce covers all thing gymnastics in a funny way. I remember has a wee little girl, the amazing Soviet Olga Korbut with her little pigtails. I hope our USA team is strong. Why 5 instead of 7, tho?
Click to expand...

Korbut and Comaneci Gymnasts that changed gymnastics
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vrsGaFUkXz8&feature=related
:bow::clap:
 
Korbut was actually supposed to take a 10.0 for her event final in uneven bars but judges didnt this time, if they had done she would have been the first with the perfect ten before Comaneci.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

rabidline
Shoma Uno
105 106 107
Replies
2K
Views
41K
Figskater23
F
S
Figure skating and Artistic roller skating cross paths
3 4 5
Replies
85
Views
23K
Anna K.
A
GoneWithTheWind
Ashlie Slatter & Atl Ongay-Perez
2
Replies
35
Views
9K
Silevril Ilumire
Silevril Ilumire
Q
Make-your-own-blades?
Replies
4
Views
2K
Query
Q
L
Let's focus on the GOOD of this Olympic competition--share here!
2 3
Replies
52
Views
6K
BlissfulSynergy
B
Back
Top