Sunday, August 10, 2008

Sweden’s First Olympic Medal – Silver to Emma Johansson

Just an hour or two ago I replied to a comment by saying Sweden still hadn’t pulled in a medal. They have now. Emma Johansson took silver in the Women's Individual Road Race. With the rain falling and in the shadow of the Great Wall she just had a silver medal put around her neck. She’s 24. I really need to step it up.

Anyway, with just a few hundred meters left she managed to finagle her way into second place. And stay there. This after about three and a half hours of riding. In the rain. For 126.3 kilometers. That’s about 78.48 miles. That’s a long ways. It is also the first cycling medal for the Swedes since 1988. Emma Johansson was four years old at the time. That meal was taken in Seoul. Swedish cyclers obviously like the Asian climate.

Emma Johansson wasn’t really expected to take a medal by most Swedish Olympic experts. In fact, she wasn’t even considered the biggest medal hope for Sweden in the race. That title went to Susanne Ljungskog. But that’s the beauty of sports. And especially the Olympics. Athletes rise to the occasion. The question now is whether this will carry over for the Swedes in the remaining cycling events. This might be just what was needed to give a little extra confidence so that Sweden can grab a few more medals than anyone expected. All it takes is a few unknowns stepping it up.

On a totally unrelated note. Yesterday morning at Centralen I saw an old hunchback cross-dresser. He/she was wearing a peach colored sweater and a purple hippie skirt. Unfortunately, for everyone involved, the purple hippie skirt was hanging down so I saw a lovely hairy plumber’s ass crack.

Welcome to Sweden. Where beautiful 24 year olds win silver in cycling, and old hunchback cross dressers show off their ass cracks. What a country.

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2 comments:

  1. Hej Hairy,

    Thanks for all the info on the Swedish part in the Olympics. I don't read Svenska, so the newspapers don't help me in this regard.

    I admit that sport is a bore to me, for the most part, but I always like the Olympics and related events. I really don't care who wins--it's just a thrill to see these young people try their best.

    Ron P

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  2. I think that's the beauty of the Olympics though, that people who might not necessarily enjoy sports so much can stil get into it on some level. Because, despite being pretty into sports, I don't usually have the slightest idea as to whats going on in the world of dressage. but the performances, and the heart, and the effort, and everything that goes into it still manage to give me goosebumps.

    especially when I see those classic moments with some background music like "o fortuna." Thats hard to beat.

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