Let me say, there is something about watching the Olympics that gets me every time. Watching the athletes that have put in so much work over the last four years for this one moment makes me almost gives me goosebumps. What these athletes have committed to for those years is amazing and I think sometimes we overlook that! My favorite ultimate thing to watch (no surprise) is the marathon, track & field, and swimming. In that order too. Plus, did any of you watch the Women's Olympic Marathon? I didn't get to see it this year and I'd love to get a link somewhere so I can watch the FULL two hours of it.
In honor of the Olympics and my love for running, I looked up on Runner's World the top most remembered moments of Olympic history in distance running and I found the AMAZING story of this guy:
His name is Emil Zatopek and he is a guy who came up with Interval Training. When asked by reporters on how he trains, he replied that he did many sprints and "Interval Training".
Zatopek's punishing workouts-sprint after sprint with little rest-made
the Czechoslovakian army captain the pre-eminent runner of his era and
arguably of all time. By the autumn of 1948, he'd broken every Czech
distance record, and at that year's Games in London, he took gold in the
10,000 and silver in the 5000. At this point in his career, he'd
already gained a Jekyll and Hyde reputation: humble, self-effacing,
engaging off the track; fierce, uncompromising competitor on it. SOURCE
And READ this:
While at the Helsinki Olympics, the 29-year-old Zatopek did not taper
his training. Several times before the 10,000, he did workouts of 5 x
100 meters, 20 x 400, then 5 x 100-twice a day-followed by six miles of
easy recovery running. Two days after the 10,000, Zatopek ran a heat of
the 5000, and two days after that he raced the 5000 final against
several top contenders, including Mimoun.
Three days later, Zatopek entered the marathon, an event he'd never
tried, nor had he trained for it. Well, not formally anyway. In the
military, he'd done 20-milers in army boots. Zatopek's only strategy
going in was to follow the favorite, Jim Peters of Great Britain, who'd
set the world record of 2:20:43 six weeks before. So he introduced
himself to Peters at the start. SOURCE
And you know what? He WON that marathon after running the 10,000 and the 5,000 meters. He is the only runner to achieve this- running the 10,000 (which he recieved gold in), 5,000 (which he got silver in), and the marathon (which was also gold). Freaking wow.
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Do you have a favorite Olympic moment? (from this year or other years)
Being able to watching Micheal Phelps win and make history as being the most decorated Olympian and seeing the women's 10,000 meters this year.
Who was your favorite Olympic athlete (of any sport) THIS year?
I'm going to say Micheal Phelps for swimming and Shalane Flanagan in the marathon.
What did you think of the opening ceremony of London this year?
