I am an Olympic Tragic.

For 16 days I couldn't get enough of the Olympics. I thank the International Olympic Committee for allowing not only Channel 7 to broadcast Olympic events, but also they granted us an auxiliary broadcaster in SBS. So two channel of Olympic Games goodness to indulge in. Even sweeter was the fact that this was the first Olympics that our big screen plasma TV has been exposed to with a HD digital signal. Outstanding. Before I get into too much about the past 2 weeks, just a few notes on the respective broadcasters. Channel 7 milked the swimming to the nth degree. OMG, seriously, if I ever hear a swimmer being interviewed on the pool deck after a heat race saying, and I quote;"Yeah, nah, I was really pleased with getting a PB for the hundred fly. I was on record pace for the first split, but I pulled back for tomorrow," I will scream. I DON'T CARE! For all channel 7 concerned about themselves about for the first week was swimming. It didn't matter that we had a no-name someone in a heat who came 7th, they still had to cross to Bruce 'special' McEvaney for his expert insight. SBS meanwhile gave us something else, a viable alternative to those narcissistic swimming team interviews. They gave us archery, table tennis, football, handball, judo, boxing, kayaking...in other words, everything else that Australia wasn't a serious contender in. And that was fine with me, it didn't bother me that our boxers were all bundled out in the first round, it was great to see other countries get up and have a win. So, in no particular order, my top Olympic moments are: 1: Usain Bolt. He broke the 100m world record and wasn't even trying for the last five strides. 2: The weightlifter whose elbow bent backwards. If you don't believe me, look up Youtube; Olympic weightlifter elbow. Youch. 3: The German weightlifter who, on the last lift of the competition, managed to clean and jerk 250kg and win gold. This being after his wife died in a car accident 18 months ago and two failed lifts at 235kg and 242kg. You will not see a more pure expression of joy in your life. 4: The Kayaker from Togo who won their country's first ever olympic medal, a silver, who was so ecstatic he broke his oar over the bow of this boat. 5: The opening ceremony. The synchronicity of the people involved was astounding....but also a bit chilling. Many people likened this to Berlin 1936.