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Good enough for PBS - "Stylianos Kyriakiades: The Journey of a Warrior" narrated by Sam Waterson. Cypriot Greek Kyriakiades represented his country in 1936 Berlin Games as a marathon runner...a fact which saved his life during the Nazi occupation of Greece...He felt his mission was to run...Run to give Greece hope...After WWII, Greece became enbroiled in a Civil War, further burying the country in misery...Stylianos vowed to run for his country...During the Berlin Games, he met American runner Johnny Kelley, who invited Kyriakiedes to run in the Boston Marathon...Stylianos first experience in Boston was miserable as he made the mistake of wearing brand new shoes, which caused his feet to swell and bleed...In 1946, emaciated and worn, Kyriakiedes pledged to run in the Boston Marathon once again,, this time to call attention to the plight of his country...Finishing the Marathon in his weakened condition would have been a major achievement...but he went far beyond just finishing...He won! His friend Kelley, who was an established star runner at the time, could not keep up with Stylianos final surge to the finish...This "Miracle Marathon" helped Kyriakiedes raise $3 million for food, medicine, and clothing for the people in Greece...in 1946 that was an amazing amount of money...
This story is in book form, "Running with Phidippedes..." and will soon be a movie.
Girl Power!! Woman Power! Team! Team! Team! --- USA Softball, Basketball, and Soccer Teams had a combined 22 wins, 0 losses, and 1 tie (in soccer) during these Games.
Closing Ceremony stats - 230000 balloons will be handed out to the audience as well as 70000 hankies.
Appropriate commercial - "Alexander" the movie opening soon
Medal count - Egypt's 1 Gold, 1 Silver, and 3 Bronze earned 400 points in NBCOlympics.com/Sandbox Games "Medal Madness" Fantasy Game. My long shot pick, Bolivia earned no medals...I finished 406th out of 7000? entries.
Alas, still no medals for Djibouti
My favorite faces of these Games: Courtney Koupets, Misty May, Kerrie Walsh, Hicham El Guerrouj, Mia Hamm, Fani Halkia, Lisa Leslie, Vanderlei Lima, Natalie Coughlin, Jenny Finch, Ancient Olympia, Gianna Angelopoulos-Daskalaki.
Something not missed during these Olympics - Bud Collins on tennis, his insightful "ooooh!, Ohhh!, oooohhhh!" commentary
Beijing 2008 preview portion - Legs, Hair, and Smiles- Wow!!!
plus the precious little girl on top of the giant lantern
The Olympic Hymn never fails to move me when performed by full orchestra and chorus
Simple but beautiful - extinguishing the Olympic Flame by a child blowing it out, yet the light continues in the hearts of children and they carry and spread it across the world.
Lookalikes - Greecian singer Sakes Rouvas -Young Antonio Banderas - Adrian Zmed (TJ Hooker) - Young Tony Danza
Lookalikes - Greek singer Anonius Remos - Young Alec Baldwin - Old David Cassidy
Great Lighting Effect (Coincidental) - Jenny Finch interview -beautiful in blue light, then changed to "natural" light and she was gorgeous.
Thank You Athens and NBC -- Wonderful Games
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