Olympics 2012 - Tickets 2012
Are you looking to go to the London 2012 Olympics games? Well ticket prices, times, dates and sessions have now been announced.
Olympics 2012 - Tickets 2012
One Direction - Little Things (Lyric Video)
Video Clips. Duration : 3.62 Mins.
One Direction - Little Things (Lyric Video)
'Little Things' -- Taken from the brand new album 'Take Me Home' released 12th November in the UK / 13th November US & Canada. Pre-order TAKE ME HOME Now: iTunes: smarturl.it Amazon: amzn.to Official Store: myplay.me Music video by One Direction performing Little Things. (P) 2012 Simco Limited under exclusive license to Sony Music Entertainment UK Limited
One Direction - Little Things (Lyric Video)
One Direction - Little Things (Lyric Video)
One Direction - Little Things (Lyric Video)
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Brazilian Swimsuits and See Through Bikinis - What Should Big-Busted Women Know Before Buying One?
When large-busted women shop for swimsuits or bikinis, they oftentimes don't look forward to the task because they feel that due to their body shape and size, they won't be able to find a flattering style.
Brazilian Swimsuits and See Through Bikinis - What Should Big-Busted Women Know Before Buying One?
One Direction - Little Things (Lyric Video)
Tube. Duration : 3.62 Mins.
One Direction - Little Things (Lyric Video)
'Little Things' -- Taken from the brand new album 'Take Me Home' released 12th November in the UK / 13th November US & Canada. Pre-order TAKE ME HOME Now: iTunes: smarturl.it Amazon: amzn.to Official Store: myplay.me Music video by One Direction performing Little Things. (P) 2012 Simco Limited under exclusive license to Sony Music Entertainment UK Limited
One Direction - Little Things (Lyric Video)
One Direction - Little Things (Lyric Video)
One Direction - Little Things (Lyric Video)
No URL One Direction - Little Things (Lyric Video)
London 2012 Olympics: The Kingdom of Tonga - An Olympic Nation in the South Pacific
Discovering Olympic Countries: Tonga
London 2012 Olympics: The Kingdom of Tonga - An Olympic Nation in the South Pacific
One Direction - Little Things (Lyric Video)
Video Clips. Duration : 3.62 Mins.
One Direction - Little Things (Lyric Video)
'Little Things' -- Taken from the brand new album 'Take Me Home' released 12th November in the UK / 13th November US & Canada. Pre-order TAKE ME HOME Now: iTunes: smarturl.it Amazon: amzn.to Official Store: myplay.me Music video by One Direction performing Little Things. (P) 2012 Simco Limited under exclusive license to Sony Music Entertainment UK Limited
One Direction - Little Things (Lyric Video)
One Direction - Little Things (Lyric Video)
One Direction - Little Things (Lyric Video)
No URL One Direction - Little Things (Lyric Video)
Scholarships for African Women in 2012-2013
Here are available scholarships for African women to study for Postgraduate and Undergraduate programmes. Some of these are niche scholarship programs specifically for women. You can also apply for other international scholarships that are not gender specific. The scholarships aim to encourage women to further education in several fields of study.
Scholarships for African Women in 2012-2013
One Direction - Little Things (Lyric Video)
Video Clips. Duration : 3.62 Mins.
One Direction - Little Things (Lyric Video)
'Little Things' -- Taken from the brand new album 'Take Me Home' released 12th November in the UK / 13th November US & Canada. Pre-order TAKE ME HOME Now: iTunes: smarturl.it Amazon: amzn.to Official Store: myplay.me Music video by One Direction performing Little Things. (P) 2012 Simco Limited under exclusive license to Sony Music Entertainment UK Limited
One Direction - Little Things (Lyric Video)
One Direction - Little Things (Lyric Video)
One Direction - Little Things (Lyric Video)
No URL One Direction - Little Things (Lyric Video)
London 2012 Olympics: Edwin Vasquez Cam - The Greatest Peruvian Athlete of All Time!
Despite being known as a football-loving nation on the world stage, the republic of Peru, a Spanish-speaking country on the South American continent since the 1820s, has won the Olympian glory thanks to its international shooters, who have picked up a total of three medals in the Summer Games between 1948 and 1992. According to these results, unequivocally, the greatest Peruvian athlete is Edwin Vasquez Cam, an Olympic gold medalist.
London 2012 Olympics: Edwin Vasquez Cam - The Greatest Peruvian Athlete of All Time!
One Direction - Little Things (Lyric Video)
Tube. Duration : 3.62 Mins.
One Direction - Little Things (Lyric Video)
'Little Things' -- Taken from the brand new album 'Take Me Home' released 12th November in the UK / 13th November US & Canada. Pre-order TAKE ME HOME Now: iTunes: smarturl.it Amazon: amzn.to Official Store: myplay.me Music video by One Direction performing Little Things. (P) 2012 Simco Limited under exclusive license to Sony Music Entertainment UK Limited
One Direction - Little Things (Lyric Video)
One Direction - Little Things (Lyric Video)
One Direction - Little Things (Lyric Video)
No URL One Direction - Little Things (Lyric Video)
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Edwin Vasquez Cam
London 2012
London 2012 Olympics: Edwin Vasquez Cam - The Greatest Peruvian Athlete of All Time!
Edwin Vasquez Cam was born on July 28 1922, in Lima, Peru's capital city. Encouraged by his father, who was a former shooter, he competed in several shooting competitions in Lima and other Peruvian cities. Over the next years, he spent several hours with his father, Mr. Gonzalo Vasquez, his coach and best friend. By 1938, Edwin won a school championship, but that was only the beginning.
London 2012 Olympics: Edwin Vasquez Cam - The Greatest Peruvian Athlete of All Time!
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When Edwin was only 18 years old, he finished first in the Gildelmeister Cup, a traditional event in Lima, defeating many veteran athletes. Since then, Edwin's ambition was to become one of top shooters on Peruvian soil. The following year, he was crowned as the "best shooter" in a major contest. By latter the mid-1940s, Edwin won a gold at the Bolivarian Games at home after winning the Continental tournaments.
With limited international experience, by 1948, Edwin Vasquez and his fellow athletes made a travel to compete in the Olympics in the United Kingdom. The South American delegation competed in seven sports: athletics, men's basketball, boxing, cycling, fencing, shooting, and weightlifting. In the British capital, on the other hand, nine shooters participated for Peru: Edwin, Cesar Injoque, Raul Valderrama, Wenceslao Salgado, Luis Mantilla, Froilan Tantalean, Enrique Mendizabal, and brothers Enrique and Guillermo Baldwin.
Peru's champ Edwin Vasquez Cam became the first non-American/European shooter to win an Olympic title when he captured a gold in the Games of the XIV Olympiad in London, UK's capital. In that day, on August 2, 1948, surprisingly Sweden's marksman Torsten Ullman was beaten by Mr. Vasquez Cam. Ullman, gold medalist at the 1936 Olympics and four-time world champ (1933, 1935, 1937, & 1947), had been the favorite to win the gold in the free pistol in the Olympic Shooting Championship, a sporting event traditionally dominated by the United States and Western Europe since its inclusion in the First Games in 1896.
Edwin won with 545 points, followed by Switzerland's Rudolph Schnyder (silver medal) and Ullman (bronze), both with 539 points. It was a day of national pride not only to Peru but also to the continent. Upon Vasquez's win, the country became one of the first five Latin American republics to win an Olympic gold medal in the 20th Century, alongside Cuba, Uruguay, Argentina, and Mexico. But within few years he was forgotten despite his status like an Olympian winner.
Peru did not win any other Olympic medal until 1984 when Edwin Vasquez's successor, Francisco -known as "Pancho"- Boza surprisingly was runner-up at the Los Angeles Olympic Games. Prior to the international Games, he had been trained by Konrad Wirnhier, an Olympic gold medalist in 1972, in the Federal Republic of Germany.
Pan American Champion
Mr. Vasquez, upon winning the global title in Britain, helped his nation's Olympic team to win a gold medal at the 1951 Pan American Games in Buenos Aires (Argentina), a world-class competition in the Western Hemisphere. In addition to these awards, he also earned many international contests.
Despite being one of the most high-profile athletes in Latin American and the Caribbean at that time, unfortunately, Mr. Vasquez and other members of the Peruvian squad, among them Julia Sanchez Deze (Pan American gold medalist in 1951), could not go to Helsinki (Finland) to participate in the Olympiad in 1952. For absurd reasons, Peru's then-dictator Manuel Odria refused to send a national delegation to Scandinavia.
An Unknown Olympic Champion
Historically, Peru's Olympic champ Edwin Vasquez is the only shooter from Latin America to have won an Olympic gold medal. In the last sixty years, the continent sent some notable shooters to the international Games, but none of them captured the Olympic glory. From 1972 to 1984, Helmut Bellingrodt -Colombia's most outstanding athlete in 1974-- won two silvers. In the meantime, Mexico's Olegario Vasquez, upon winning a gold medal in the 1975 Pan American Games and set a new world record, failed to earn the Olympic competition at the 1976 Montreal Games. By 1988, Chile's Alfonso de Iruarrizaga finished second in the Olympiad in Asia. At the 25th Olympiad in 1992, Peru's athlete Juan Giha, whose coach Bruno Sarti did not go to Spain due to a lack of resources, came in second place.
Despite being the greatest Peruvian Olympian in history of this country's sports, Edwin Vasquez Cam, unfortunately, is still a sporting figure unknown for millions of Peruvians. On March 9, 1993, unfortunately, he passed away. Ironically, his death was largely unnoticed by the national media. In a country that has not had an Olympic champ since 1948 and never world winners, he should be an important model for Peru's boys and girls, paving the way for a new generation of champions.
London 2012 Olympics: Edwin Vasquez Cam - The Greatest Peruvian Athlete of All Time!
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Google Anita Borg Memorial Scholarship for Women in Africa, Europe and the Middle East
London 2012
Scholarships for African Women in 2012-2013
Google aim to encourage women from the international community to excel in computing and technology through the Google Anita Borg Memorial Scholarship offered for women in Africa, Europe and the Middle East. The scholarship is for female Undergraduate and postgraduate students.
Scholarships for African Women in 2012-2013
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PEO International Peace Scholarship
The PEO International Peace Scholarship Fund provides scholarships for selected women from other countries for graduate study in the United States and Canada. P.E.O. aims to help qualified women who desire higher education and are in need of financial assistance.
Fondation Rainbow Bridge MBA Scholarship
The FRB enables young women scholars to enrich their academic background by obtaining an HEC MBA in France. Women applying for the Scholarship Award must come from an African country affected by a natural disaster, drought or famine.
Deutsche Bank Scholarships for Women at London Business School
The Deutsche Bank scholarships are awarded to MBA and Masters in Finance female students in the AMOUNT of £20,000 each.
Fellowships for Women Scientists in Developing countries and Africa
The Third World Organization for Women in Science (TWOWS) with funds generously provided by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida), has instituted a fellowship programme for female students from Sub-Saharan Africa and Least Developed Countries (LDCs), who wish to pursue postgraduate training leading to a Ph.D., at centres of excellence in the South (developing countries), outside their own country.
Canon Collins Trust South Africa scholarship programme
Canon Collins Trust awards postgraduate scholarships for southern African Students including Angola, Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland, Zambia and Zimbabwe- to study in South Africa. The Trust offers Full Scholarship for study in South Africa are for women of rural origin under the Graça Machel scholarship scheme.
Global Fund for Women Grants
The Global Fund for Women supports women's groups that advance the human rights of women and girls. The Organization strengthen women's right groups based outside the United States by providing small, flexible, and timely grants ranging from 0to ,000 for operating and program expenses.
AAUW Scholarships and Grants for Women -Postgraduate Fellowship in USA
American Association of University Women (AAUW) Educational Foundation Fellowships and Grants is available for women who are not US citizens or Permanent resident in the United States. Priority is given to students from developing countries including African Students.
IFUW International Scholarship for Women-Fellowships and Grants
The International Federation of University Women offers a limited number of international fellowships and grants to women graduates for postgraduate research, study and training.
Nestle MBA Scholarships for Women in Developing Countries
The Nestlé Scholarship for Women was initiated by a group of IMD- Switzerland- MBA (Masters in Business Administration) participants who desired to encourage women to take the MBA courses. Preference is given to women from developing countries. Accepted female candidates must demonstrate financial need.
This is a good place to start. Get a more comprehensive list of scholarships for African women for 2012/2013 from the link below.
Scholarships for African Women in 2012-2013
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Officially known as the Kingdom of Tonga (also known as the Friendly islands), the archipelago lies in the Western South Pacific, between Niue (overseas territory of New Zealand) and the island-nation of Fiji, being one of Oceania's last monarchies and among the smallest states in the region. The tiny nation consists of a chain of 170 volcanic islands. There are more than 100,000 inhabitants. On June 4, 1970, the archipelago became the world's youngest state when it gained full independence from the United Kingdom. Nuku'alofa is the national capital and largest city.
London 2012
London 2012 Olympics: The Kingdom of Tonga - An Olympic Nation in the South Pacific
Politically, it is an ally of America's administration since the early 1970s. Furthermore, Tonga is a member of the Commonwealth of Nations. Like most of Oceania's island-nations, this land possesses picture-postcard beaches and rich marine life. On the economic side, it is one of the least-developed places in the region. On the other hand, Tonga's long dream of competing in the Summer Olympics occurred in 1984 when it sent a group of fledgling athletes to Los Angeles (CA).
London 2012 Olympics: The Kingdom of Tonga - An Olympic Nation in the South Pacific
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Sport in Tonga: From Rugby to Football
Sport was influenced in large part by the United Kingdom when the archipelago was a Briton protectorate. With the exception of rugby, the island's Olympic sport has a low profile on the continent of Oceania since 2000.
There are five popular Olympic sports on the South Pacific island-nation: soccer (or football), athletics, boxing, weightlifting, and tennis. In recent decades, water sports are a favorite outdoor activity on the island, from aquatics to sailing. Netball is other important sport, especially among women. Nonetheless, the islanders have a "big passion" for rugby -certainly a Briton legacy--- having qualified for the international meets. Since then, this European sport is the country's national pastime as happens in most of Oceania's independent states and dependencies. In fact, football has become a favorite sport for the island's population, who are avid soccer watchers when the men's national football team of Tonga plays, especially during the pre-Cup World tournaments (at home and abroad).
Tonga's major Olympic heroes are Tevita Taufoou and Peae Takaunove Wolfgramm (both boxers). The nation's Olympian athletes majority have been boxers, weightlifters, and sprinters. Like Swaziland's Olympic delegation, the national athletes sometimes wear traditional dresses and "leis" - it is made of flowers (orchids & jazmine) strung together-- as necklaces during the Parade of Nations. Aside from attending the Summer Olympics, the Tongan Olympic Committee competes in the Olympic-type South Pacific Games, and other multi-sport events such as the World University Games and the traditional Commonwealth Games (an event for entries from Anglophone countries).
Tonga At the Summer Games
Most of Tonga's population seem to have an athletic type for sports such as judo, wrestling, weightlifting, boxing, and field events (and American football, of course), Curiously, they are taller and stronger than the other islanders of the Pacific South. Due to this, there are some interesting performances in boxing despite being a sport without international experience.
On the global stage, the first Olympic islanders were who participated in the Games of the 23rd Olympiad in 1984 in Southern California, America (where there is one of the largest Tongan communities outside the archipelago). Its long-awaited international debut was interesting especially when its national star, the fighter Tevita Taufoou, was able to qualify for the first rounds and then to emerge as one of the world's top five boxers in the heavyweight category (91kg/120lbs). He was a key member of the nation's seven-male delegation at Los Angeles '84, an Olympiad boycotted by the Kremlin and its Soviet proxies. Once back on Tongan soil, Tevita was a focus of national pride in Nuku'alofa.
In California, Tevita was one of the most prominent athletes from Oceania in the Olympic Boxing Championship, paving the way for future fighters on the island of Tonga, which just occurred in the mid-1990s when an islander, of German heritage, put the Tongan flag on the sporting map of the world after becoming Olympic silver medalist.
By 1988, a handful of athletes made a trip to Korea to attend the Summer Games, the second Olympian participation by a Tongan squad. In Far East, Siolilo Vao Ikavuka was the first Olympic sportswoman to represent Tonga, a country which was a pioneer in the women's rights when the legendary Queen Salote Tupou III came to power in the first half of the 20th century. It was a milestone in the history of Tonga's sports. Prior to her participation in the women's discus throw in South Korea, where placed in 21st (last), Miss Siolilo defeated many other hopefuls for the chance to become Tonga's first Olympic sportswoman.
Exactly four years on, a handful of national champs were invited to attend the 1992 Summer Olympics on Barcelonese soil, competing in track-and field and weightlifting.
Peae Takaunove Wolfgramm: A National Hero
Without a doubt, the Island's finest hour came during the Atlanta Centennial Games in July 1996 as Tonga became the third nation from Oceania (among 18 independent states and dependencies), behind only Australia and New Zealand, to gain an international status as an Olympic medalist on the global stage upon capturing a boxing medal with Mr. Wolfgramm. No other Tongan had ever won a major medal on the global stage. Tonga sent only five representatives to America, competing in athletics, boxing, and weightlifting.
Wolfgramm came to America promising to compete with Olympic spirit and giving the island something to be proud of itself. He was runner-up to Ukraine's national champ Vladimir Klitchko in men's super heavyweight category in the 1996 Boxing Championship, after beating notable fighters in the first rounds and semis respectively and teaching the world a lesson of Olympic spirit. Aleksei Lezin of Russia and Duncan Dokiwari from Nigeria were bronze medalists in the Global Tournament, respectively. Because of Wolfgramm's single medal, the Anglophone nation was one of the 61st most important Olympic delegations at Atlanta'96, surpassing Mexico, Puerto Rico, and India.
Few days prior t the 1996 Atlanta Games, the Wall Street Journal's sportswriters Roger Thurow and Jonathan Buck wrote an interesting article about Tonga's hope Olympics on Georgian soil and putting Wolfgramm as the nation's main athlete. Following his triumph at Georgia, Wolfgramm was to become a national celebrity by Tonga's people, who had watched only achievements of Fiji's golfer Vijay Singh or when Guam's national delegate, Kimberley Santos, was crowned as the 30th Miss World at London in November 1980.
At the 2000 Australia Games, there were Olympics from Tonga. The national team's September 2000 trip to Sydney was the island's fifth participation in Olympian history. From 2004 to 2008, the English-speaking nation was represented by eighth entries --- almost all were eliminated in the first rounds at 2004 Athens and Beijing 2008.
Tonga will attend the London 2012 Games with a handful of athletes. Because of its poor performance in the pre-Olympic meets, however, most of the island's representatives will be invited by the International Olympic Committee. Ana Po'uhila, a shot put thrower, is the most remarkable athlete, having won two medals (gold and bronze) at the 2011 South Pacific Games on New Caledonia.
London 2012 Olympics: The Kingdom of Tonga - An Olympic Nation in the South Pacific
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Large-busted women need to find suits that provide enough upper body support, while still being able to wear the latest fashion trends like see through bikinis and Brazilian swimsuits.
London 2012
Brazilian Swimsuits and See Through Bikinis - What Should Big-Busted Women Know Before Buying One?
Swimwear that has a built-in bra normally consists of a bra cup that is firm rather than flimsy. However, if you're fond of the see through bikini style, you would have to make sure that the suit had a built-in underwire that would support your large breasts.
Brazilian Swimsuits and See Through Bikinis - What Should Big-Busted Women Know Before Buying One?
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A very stylish Brazilian swimsuit consists of a halter top with wide straps. That's definitely an advantage if you have a large bust because those types of suits normally already have built-in support.
What you're mainly looking for is swimwear that holds and properly supports your bust inside the thin fabric that bikinis are made of. Halter tops cover a large portion of your bust area, which makes it an attractive selection.
Another factor to consider is what the bikini's fabric is made of, since the best fabric choice for your body type is Lycra. It is strong enough to support your large bust, yet it's stretchy enough to flatter your curves.
As with all fashion trends, colors can accentuate or minimize various parts of a woman's body. Thus, if you buy a bikini that's made of a dark-colored fabric, your bust line will appear smaller since black, brown, and deep colors of blue tend to minimize body features. Also, if your swimwear of choice happens to have armholes that are cut high, you will find more support for your larger busts.
Brazilian Swimsuits and See Through Bikinis - What Should Big-Busted Women Know Before Buying One?
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You can virtually apply for unlimited tickets & sessions, but whatever you get approved for you will legally be obliged to buy, so you will need to think carefully and have a strategy in mind when buying tickets.
London 2012
Olympics 2012 - Tickets 2012
When applying for tickets as each family member can apply for them, then why not try a few different strategies e.g. one of you applies for lots of low priced tickets, and one of you applies for lots of high priced tickets.
Olympics 2012 - Tickets 2012
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Applying this across a family of four then you should find yourself with a good chance to get at least some of the seats for some of the sessions that you apply for.
Tickets will not be allocated on a "First to apply gets them" basis. So you will stand just as much chance if you apply on the first day of the tickets application as if you do on the last. I hope this is true and London 2012 organisers stick to this policy.
The major problem is actually if you have a lot of money to spend. Some of the premium tickets with hospitality included will cost up to £4,500 each plus 20%VAT. The problem is you have to buy them 10 at a time. So even if you just want one £4,500 ticket you will have to get that VISA card out and buy ten, and then it is not clear how you can sell the other 9 tickets as yet.
Also note that you will need a VISA card to buy your tickets as they are the London 2012 card sponsor. This may as yet prove controversial with many people in the United Kingdom not being eligible to get a credit card, or thinking "I already have a credit card, so why do I need another one?". In addition applying for a credit card these days can take several weeks, and even when approved you may have to wait two or three weeks to get your card, and with a potential deadline of March 15th this may yet prove to be a thorn in the side for people applying for tickets.
So best of luck with your ticket applications. If you want to keep up to date with the latest London 2012 news then please visit the authors link below.
Olympics 2012 - Tickets 2012
Sunday, October 14, 2012
London Fog All-Weather Coats
London Fog All-Weather Coats
A black London Fog all-weather coat with its zip-out inner lining holds up well when the temperature drops in the Fall and then whenever ice and snow covers the ground. The inner lining provides added warmth. When, the weather turns to Spring the inner lining is removed.
London Fog All-Weather Coats
London Fog All-Weather Coats
London Fog All-Weather Coats
London Fog All-Weather Coats
The London Fog all-weather coat looks great with a long silk scarf hanging down the front of it from underneath the coat's collar.A scarf pin is used to secure it into place on windy days and then knotted at the ends. Plus, a pair of leather or suede gloves adds a sense of elegance to the all-weather coat's style.
The all-weather coat's fabric is water repellent and they are designed to go with urban wear in the form of shorter pea coats to wear over a pair of jeans or in the more classic tastes of a trench coat to protect dresses, a pair of wool dress pants or even a tailored suit.
The London Fog company established itself in nineteen twenty-seven and now has updated itself for the twenty-first century with an e-shop to order their latest styles and rain wear accessories. The prices are very reasonable and ordering online saves time from having to browse through the racks of a department store plus the cost of shipping is less that filling up the car with a tank of gasoline.
Caring for the all-weather garment is easy. First, unzip the all-weather coat's inner lining carefully working the loop attached to a button on the inside of the left coat's pocket. The washing machine cycle is set on hand-wash using the cold water wash and rinse cycle. Add about one-fourth cap of cold water detergent concentrate setting the permanent press cycle to let the machine wash it. Use the air-dry cycle on the clothes dryer for about ten minutes hanging the coat upon a clothes hanger to let it finish drying. The coat is pressed on a medium-low setting with a steam iron to smooth out any wrinkles. After attaching the coat back onto the left pocket and zipping the lining back inside it, the all-weather coat is once again ready to wear without the expense needed for a dry cleaning bill.
London Fog All-Weather CoatsTuesday, September 25, 2012
London 2012 Olympics: Taiwan - Report An Olympic Land: 1960-2012
London 2012 Olympics: Taiwan - Report An Olympic Land: 1960-2012
The Power of the X Chromosome: Chi Cheng
London 2012 Olympics: Taiwan - Report An Olympic Land: 1960-2012
London 2012 Olympics: Taiwan - Report An Olympic Land: 1960-2012
London 2012 Olympics: Taiwan - Report An Olympic Land: 1960-2012
London 2012 Olympics: Taiwan - Report An Olympic Land: 1960-2012
If 1968 was the year that put Taiwan back on the sporting map, Chi Cheng was the face that place it there. In that Olympian year, she was one of the world's three top hurdles by earning bronze in the women's 80-meter hurdles during the track-and-field competition in the Mexican metropolis --staged at 7,349 feet above sea level. The event was dominated by Eastern Europe and the States.
After securing her country's second Olympian medal and becoming the first Asian woman in history to accomplish that feat, she gained a special status in her homeland and her name was immortalized on national stamps by the island's rule. Indeed, it was an important success for the small nation that had not won a medal since 1960. Women's sport was relatively rare among Asian states during this period (with the exception of Japan).
Over a sporting career that spanned more than seven years, she won a number of international medals inside and outside Taiwan and her "biggest fans" were boys and girls in those wonderful years. From the beginning, she easily broken the national records.
Due to her perseverance,discipline,talent,and patriotism, this California-based sprinter received high praises from internationasl experts and Olympian journalists. By 1971,they crowned Chi Cheng as the "Best Athlete of the world" (surpassing Edson do Nascimento, the top-class footballer from Brazil).
Unequivocally, Chi Cheng was one of the two most popular women on the island, alongside former First Lady Soong May-ling (or Madame Chiang-Kai-shek), an American-oriented woman who had won important financial aid to her country during the early decades of the Cold War.
In Asia, Africa, Latin America, only 15 countries have had world record holders--- among them China, Cuba, Brazil, Ethiopia, Haiti, Kenya, Iran, Mexico, Panama, South Africa, South Korea, Tanzania, Uganda, and Taiwan. On July 12, 1970, Chi Cheng, a born-hurdler, confirmed her international stature by breaking the women's 200-meter record in the Federal Republic of Germany, with a time of 22.44 seconds, becoming the first sprinter from Asia to do so (up to now) and reviving flashes of Taiwanese's brilliant past.
Throughouther his athletic career, this track star produced six national/continental records in different events at home and abroad. Incredibly, she set four international records in the space of 17 days -No other sportswoman from that continent had ever established 4 regional marks in less than three weeks. On July 12, 1970, she enhanced her growing fame when she had a new Asian record of 12.93 seconds in the women's 100m hurdles, becoming one of the Planet's top hurdlers at that year. In the same day, she generated a new mark in the 200 meter-dash. Less than a week after, by Jul. 18, Chi Cheng followed that with other historic record in the 100 meter-dash with a time of 11.22 seconds (which still unbroken). Nearly two weeks after, by the end of July, she caused a plash by establishing another record in the 400m race with a mark of 52.56 seconds. Besides all that, the world record holder also had regional marks in the long jump and 80m hurdles. On the other side, she also was part of the country's 4x100-meter team.
By the end of 1972, the nation's second greatest athlete was the highest hope for a medal in the Games of the 20th Olympiad in Munich ( Federal Republic of Germany). Chi Cheng had been named as one of the members of the country's Olympic national team. Soon afterwards, she, however, did not take part in West Germany. Around this time, the world record holder announced her retirement from sports after some injuries. For a brief time afterward, by 1975, in the International Year of the Woman, Chi Cheng was widely regarded as one of the world's most prominent sportswomen, alongside Martina Navratilova, Liudmila Tourischeva, Shane Gould and other world-class champs.
Dark Horses
After Chi Cheng's Olympian experience on the Latin American continent, the Asian republic has produced high-profile Hollywood figures such as Ang Lee and Tsai Ming-liang, or Nobel Prizes as Lee Yuan-tseh and Daniel C. Tsui, but it can not produce world titles and global records in spite of being one of the most powerful economies on Earth and one of the Continent's major liberal democracies.
Gone are the days when the country's athletes established world records. Fortunately, however, there is an important athletic potential that should receive major attention -for example: The national youth side gave Taiwan a shock win over the USSR (now Russia) at the 1989 Women's Volleyball Junior World Cup in Lima, on Peru's Pacific coast).
Country Background. Education: A Key To Taiwan
The entire Asian country is little bigger than Maryland (U.S.). It is located between East and South China seas. Its capital is Taipei, one of the most modern and spectacular cities in the continent. Twenty-five million people live on the island.
Owing to its status as an unrecognized country by United Nations since the early 1970s, the Asian republic has had many hurdles as a member of the global community. On the international stage, it is only recognized by 23 states from Latin America, sub-Saharan Africa, and South Pacific. Traditionally, the island has a rocky relationship with the Chinese mainland.
Under an ambicious and multi-billion educational project backed by its Constitution ("Expenditures of educational programs, scientific studies and cultural services shall not be, in respect of the Central Government, less than 15 percent of the national budget..."), this East Asian country paved the way for a prosperous society. Following over two decades of troubles, the project began to pay off as Taiwan to become one of the most influential and dynamic economies in Far East after having been one of Asia's poverty-ridden countries throughout the 1950s.
Unequivocally, the building of its education system has been one of Taiwan's biggest success stories. In fact, its educational program and economic model has inspired most of the republics of the Third World and other regions on Earth, from Botswana and Mauritius to Chile and Thailand.
Since the year 2000, it is a democracy (one of the world's newest democracies) following a period of authoritarian regimes. On the other side, women's rights on Taiwan are among the most advanced in the West Pacific.
Taiwan At The 1960 Italy Summer Games
For the 1960 Games, the national contingent arrived in Rome to begin its participation, but the delegation was the center of controversy when was forced to compete under the banner of Formosa (a name designed by Portugal's explorers in 1544) instead of the "Republic of China". Since then, this changed of name was subjected to worldwide criticism. During the Parade of Nations of the Games of the XVII Olympiad, the country's Olympic Committee also protested.
After a good performance in the early 1960s, the national delegation made a trip to Japan to take part in the 1964 Games. On that occasion, its ill-equipped team did not win medals. From 1964 through 1968, it participated under the banner of Taiwan. Then, by 1972, the anti-Marxist state appeared as the Republic of China (ROC). Since 1984, nonetheless, it competes with the name of Chinese Taipei after an agreementing between Beijing, the island and the International Olympic Committee (IOC), marking the end of Taiwan's isolation in the global sports arena.
Upon snaring a bronze in the world's greatest sporting event in the United Mexican States four years earlier, the island's sporting officials sent a 22-person delegation to Munich'72, participating in ten disciplines: aquatics (3 entries), archery (1), athletics (8), boxing (1), cycling (1), judo (4), sailing (1), shooting (1), weightlifting (1), and wrestling (1). Expectations weren't high for the nation's Olympian squad after Chi Cheng's retirement.
Swimmer Hu Tung-hsiung was one of the 39 entries, among them Mark Spitz of the States, from 27 countries -from Singapore and Colombia to the Philippines and East Germany/German Democratic Republic (GDR)-who competed in the 200m butterfly. Before taking part in the multi-sport event, most of Taiwan's sportsmen and women had attended the 1970 Continental Games in Southeast Asian nation of Thailand, where was one of the 12 top contingents.
Yang Chuan-Kwang: Breaking Stereotypes In The 20th Century
By the beginning of the 1960s, Taiwan produced a great champion in a time when the island --shapped like a tobacco leaf-was just one of the poverty-stricken countries on the Planet (with per capita GDP equal to most of Africa's black republics) and also among Asia's most unstable nations. His name: Yang Chuan-kwang, who represented most Taiwanese's hopes for an Olympic medal in those years.
By 1963, this sportsman was focus of the attention of the world press: he was one of the first individuals from Asia to establish a world record with 8,089 points in the men's decathlon, breaking the stereotypes of what makes a great decathlete.
Throughout most of his athletic career, Yang Chuan-kwang set several international records on the island and foreign soil, but he reached his peak as Chinese-Taipei's decathlon champion when, on September 6, 1960, he won the nation's first Olympian medal (and first medal in track) upon finishing second in the world's greatest sporting event on Italian soil, after an epic showdown with America's Rafer Johnson (who won the James Sullivan Memorial Trophy that year). That day, the audience had all eyes on Taiwanese Yang Chuan-kwang. In fact, his popularity throughout the 1960s added to Taiwan's international fame. On the other hand, he was one of UCLA's top athletes.
Historically, Yang Chuan-kwang was considered by several experts and sportswriters to be the island's greatest native-born athlete. Furthermore, the islander was one of the first Aboriginal athletes to win an individual Olympic medal, along with Jim Thorpe of America. Curiously enough, the nation's greatest sportsman was member of the Ami Indigenous tribe, one of Taiwan's ten major tribes, well-known for its matrilineal society and their unique pottery.
Montreal 1976 Olympics: Stolen Dreams
The island was scheduled to participate in the quadrennial Games at Montreal (Quebec, Canada) in the mid-1970s. From the beginning, it had expressed its interest in competing in North America after being expelled from the 1974 Continental Games in Iran, but by July 1976, the Asian republic had difficulties to attend the Montreal Olympics when Canada's Premier Pierre Trudeau -Beijing's Cold War ally-refused to issue visas to the national delegation under the name of "Republic of China".
Overnight, inexplicably, the Canadian rule defended its position in the face of criticism from Washington's administration and Taiwan's Latin American diplomatic partners. Owing to this, on July 17, 1976, the island's uncontested leader, Chiang Ching-kuo, cancelled the Olympic participation rather than compete with the banner of Taiwan; just when some Taiwanese representatives had already arrived in North America.
Notable athletes lost the opportunity to compete in the multi-sport event in Quebec, such as regional champs: Tan Wwang (1500m), Tai Shih-jan (110m hurdles), Chen Chin-long (triple jump), Chen Ping-huan (javelin throw), Lee Chiu-hsia (800m, 1500, and 3000m), Lin Yet-hsing (100m hurdles and long jump), and Chen Fu-mei (400m hurdles).
Track and field Tai Shih-jan was one of the finest members of the country's national squad in the Second Athetics Asian Championships, by June 1975, when he was two-time gold medalist by defeating national-class hurdlers from Malaysia, Japan, and Kuwait in the finals.
Throughout the 1970s, Tai Shih-jan was the top Taiwanese in the men's 110m and 400m hurdles. Meanwhile, Lee Chiu-hsia was the Tournament's most outstanding female athlete in Korea upon capturing three Asian golds following a hard battle against Masae Namba of Japan in the women's 800m. Trying to qualify for the 1976 Montreal Games, Taiwan's would-be star finished the event in 2 minutes and 8 seconds. Upon her wins as one of the greatest middle-distance runners from Asia in 1975, her fame spread beyond the nation. At the time, from 1974 through 1978, she was bitterly disappointing when the Asian Olympic Committee refused to allow athletes from Taiwan to attend the Asian Games in Iran and Thailand.
Lee Chiu-hsia had a great potential of becoming a world champ in athletics. Nevertheless, toward the end of the 1970s, her career was hit again when her dream of competing at the 1980 Moscow Summer Olympic Games did not come about. Why? The nation's sports administrators refused to take part in the multi-sport event with the name of Chinese-Taipei.
A Tortuos Path: Taiwan Faced An International Boycott
In practice, Taiwan is viewed as a "hostile province" by Beijing since 1949 when the government of the Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek established the island as the seat of the Republic of China. Under China's pression, Taiwan's international status as an Olympian nation was uncertain at the turn of the 1970s. The Asian republic was banned from international sports competitions around the globe, becoming an isolated nation on the sporting map, alongside Rhodesia's racist regime (present-day Zimbabwe), South Africa's white minority rule, and the Vietnamese-occupied Cambodia.
At the beginning of the 1970s, the Chinese administration on Taiwan was ousted from the world community of nations when it was replaced by the People's Republic of China as a member of the United Nations. Throughout the 1970s, over 60 states severed diplomatic ties to Taipei's rule, including Japan (on September 29, 1971), Thailand (on July 1, 1975), and Washington (on January 1, 1979). Also, the island was on the Kremlin administration's black-listed of states where the Soviet athletes could not compete, alongside Pinochet's Chile, Stroessner's Paraguay and Park Chung Hee's South Korea.
Unequivocally, the People's Republic also banned its competitors to visit Taiwan until the early 1990s when two mainland Chinese basketball squads departed for Taipei to play local teams.
Within a span of two decades, the Taiwanese representatives were not allow to attend the Asian Games (Tehran' 74, Bangkok '78, New Delhi' 82, and Seoul '86). Although three countries --Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand-made common cause with Taipei, by September 1973, the island was excluded from the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA). It sent its top Olympic leaders to the OCA to argue their case, but they failed. Twenty years earlier, by the beginning of the 1950s, South Africa's apartheid and Taiwan were considered "pariahs" by the International Table Tennis Federation.
By 1974, in Mexico City, the FIVB -the world volleyball's governing body- was one of the major sporting organizations to break ties to Taipei after China's admission. Inexplicably, the island was expelled by a vote of 54 in favor, 18 against, and 3 abstentions. In spite of these hurdles, the country's sporting officials sent many athletic contingents to Taiwan's diplomatic partners throughout the world. Within these years, for example, a swimming team -integrated by seven locals and five American-trained athletes- departed for Latin America. During their tour, they astonishingly gained a Buenos Aires meet, upon capturing twenty-two events. A couple of years earlier, the islanders came in third place at an Uruguay meet by bagging nine medals -behind America (40 trophies) and Argentina (15).
In anti-Communist times, the Taiwanese capital hosted the William Jones Basketball Cup; over 50 basketball teams, including Britain, Sweden and Bolivia, were offered an all-expense paid trip o Taipei to attend the international meet. Chinese-Taipei was also one of the first states in Asia to maintain close ties with the Spanish-speaking world. At the time, for example, two national coaches headed for La Paz to train the Bolivian national team for the 1977 Bolivarian Games.
Overcoming Obstacles
In an attempt to isolate the island, the Communist China had boycotted the Games in the space of three decades to protest Taiwan's Olympic participation. But during Los Angeles 1984 Olympics, it -after an absence of 12 years- and the People's Republic marched for the first time in the Parade of Nations. Thereafter, Taiwan was a pariah no longer.
By 1984, the Chinese mainland made its Olympian debut and the island its ninth appearance after competing at Los Angeles'32, Berlin '36 - where the Taiwanese anthem was honored as the world's best piece- London '48, Melbourne '56, Rome'60 (debut with the name Formosa), Tokyo '64, Mexico '68, and Munich'72.
In California, its international return this year could not have been better: Surprisingly, Taiwan won its first medal since 1984 as it was medalist in the weightlifting competition with Tsai Wen-yee. Unequivocally, he was the key figure behind Taiwan's return.
As well as snaring a medal in the weightlifting event, the nation's baseball got the bronze in the Demonstration Tournment. On this occasion, Kuo Tai Yuan became one of the top baseball players in Southern California.
To prepare for the 1984 Olympiad, Chinese Taipei's baseball entered many international meets. A year earlier, they finished third at the 1983 Intercontinental Cup,which was held in Belgium, after having participated in the 28th Seoul World Tournament. Around this time, the baseball team departed for the Caribbean to attend a Cuba meet. On the other hand, this baseball-mad nation earned the Junior 1983 Global title - the nucleus of the country's baseball squad at the 1992 Spain Olympics.
During the Los Angeles XXIII Games, Taiwan's Olympic team was represented by 59 élite competitors (51 sportsmen and 8 women). On that occasion, there were islanders in more than a dozen disciplines: archery (6 entries), athletics (10), baseball (20), boxing (2), cycling (2), fencing (2), judo (5), modern pentathlon (1), sailing (2), shooting (3), swimming (5), tennis (1), weightlifting (4), and wrestling (2). Likewise, the national delegation was accompanied by thirty sports officials.
Following Taiwan's participation at Los Angeles'84, the Asian athletes began its return to global sporting events, attending the Men's Volleyball World Cup in Paris (France), between September and October 1986, where the national side placed 15th by defeating heavily favored Venezuela (runners-up at the South American Cup in Caracas) with a score of 15-5, 12-15, 15-10, and 15-3. Subsequently, the women's basketball team headed for Moscow - the capital of the Soviet Empire-- to attend the Global competition despite a troubled history between the island and the Kremlin. Soon afterwards, the hockey national squad was one of the competitors in the World Cup in Colombia. Likewise, for the first time a Taiwanese was medalist in the Junior IAAF Global Athletics Tournament in Canada when the up-and-coming Hui-Fang Nai got the bronze in the men's long jump with a mark of 7,77m.
Summer Olympics in South Korea
At the 1988 Seoul Games, many Asian nations won individual medals (for example: Mongolia, Philippines, Thailand, and the Islamic republic of Iran), but not Taiwan-one of the most disappointing results in its history. Its once flourishing athletic system had been in decline. Fortunately, however, its fighters, Chin Yu-fang and Chen Jiun-feng, obtained medals, gold and bronze, in the Taekwondo competition, which was introduced as a demonstration sport in the 1988 Olympiad.
In Korea, the baseball squad narrowly missed the bronze when they were one of the four best teams, among eight competitors in the demonstration event. By 1984, they got the bronze in the under-20 World Cup on Canadian soil and climbed even higher at the Senior Global Championship two years later, capturing the silver medal.
On September 25, 1986, the Taiwanese Olympic Committee was readmitted to the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA), after withdrawing 13 years earlier. Four years on, the sports leaders announced that the rule will allow their athletes to compete in mainland China with the name of "Chinese Taipei". Shortly afterwards, on September 17, 1990, a 200-member contingent departed for the People's Republic for the nation's first attendance of the Asian Games since 1970. Then, there were 186 islanders at the First East Asian Games at Shangai. By 2001, Chinese Taipei's 106 élite athletes departed for Beijing to attend the World University Games.
Chinese Taipei's Baseball At The 1992 Barcelona Olympics
By 1992, the international governing organization for baseball ruled that professional players were eligible to participate in the Summer Games on Barcelonese soil. This decision favored to many countries with professional athletes abroad, among them Taiwan. In team sports, for the first time the nation won an official berth in the Olympiad when the baseball national squad won the right to represent Asia in the Barcelona Games in the Continental Olympic Qualification Tournament.
Throughout Taiwan's national passion, baseball --which was introduced by America- Chinese Taipei had one of its most memorable Olympics when it advanced beyond the first round and gained silver medal in the First Baseball Tournament in the 1992 Games, remembering the golden years of Taiwan's baseball (1970s).
In Spain, they lose to Cuba (a long-standing competitor in the baseball world) in the gold-medal game-Taiwan's first medal during Post Cold War (and team sports). Since then,the country's baseball players majority had played in top clubs in the States. Liao Ming-hsiung was one of the most gifted players of the silver-medal-winning baseball team.
Prior to participating on Spaniard soil, this baseball-mad nation won several trophies, special awards, and medals in the Western Hemisphere, from the United States and Cuba to Canada: the Little League World Series twice in 1990 and 1991 after being runner-up in 1989 and winning the international title for the third time in a row (1986, 1987 and 1988). Aside from that, by the beginning of the 1990s, the islanders obtained a pairs of medals in the Intercontinental championship and the Junior World Cup. Thus, the Taiwanese contingent was regarded as one of the top contenders on Barcelonese soil.
Baseball is at the top of Taiwan's list of favorite sports, followed by taekwondo. There are more than 720 baseball stadiums on the island. In fact, one of the most notable moments of the country's baseball occurred in the early 1970s when the Asian republic became the second country to win back-to-back the Little League World Series.
Taiwan: Democracy & Sports
In spite of having one of the top Olympic centers in Far East -Tsoying National Sports Training Center and the Northern National Sports training Center -- there was a lack of athletic progress in the Centennial Games staged in Atlanta, U.S. On that occasion, the nation's sports administrators sent seventy-four islanders -among Taiwan's largest delegations in the 100-year-history of the Modern Olympic Games-- but their sporting squad only earned a silver when, on July 30, 1996, Cheng Jing, a former sportswoman from the People's Republic, was second in the women's table tennis singles, the nation's first individual medal since 1984.
In the XXVIII Summer Games in Australia in 2000, Taiwan's sport had a good performance after receiving five individual medals (one silver and four bronze)-just at a time when Taiwan abandoned its 50-year-old anti-Communist style one-party state. On this occasion, about 80% of the nation's total medal count came from female Olympians.
Chinese-Taipei's 2000 Olympic delegation was represented by a 74-member team with entries in a dozen disciplines: archery, athletics, badminton, diving, cycling, sailing, softball, swimming, table tennis, taekwomdo, tennis, and weightlifting. On this occasion, the Asian republic did not take part at the Olympic Baseball Championship for the first time.
Taiwan: A Sleeping Giant in the World of Weightlifting
In Sydney 2000, the Taiwanese delegation won two weightlifting medals in the women's Olympic tournament. On September 18, once more a sportswoman put the national flag on the Olympic stage as Li Feng-ying was runner-up in the women's 53-kilogram category after beating Sei Indrayi of Indonesia. The next day, on September 19, the world-class lifter dominated the front-page headlines in Taipei. In the meantime, her fellow countrywoman Yi Hang-kuo earned a bronze in the 75-kilogram category. A few years ago, the women's national squad made history in the 68th World Weightlifting Cup in Chiangmai, Thailand, when they were second with total of 817 points, behind only China (1,309 points).
The Asian republic took two taekwondo bronze medals in Oceania: Chih-Hsiung Huang, placed third in the men's 58-kilogram category behind Greece's Michail Mouroutsis and Gabriel Esparza of Spain (silver), meanwhile Shu Ju-chi was medalist in the women's event. Aside from that, the island's table tennis star Jing Chen came away with a bronze in the women's singles, behind Nan Wang and Ju Li, both players from the People's Republic. Chen had been medalist foru years ago.
Chun Mo-yen: A New Star In The Taiwanese Sky
At the Games of the 28th Olympiad in Athens, the 2004 national delegation picked up a total of six medals in two disciplines-Taiwan's best performance in the 108-year-history of the Modern Olympics. On this occasion, sportswomen won two medals.
The island's sports czars sent a 87-person contingent to Greece and competing in the following disciplines: archery, athletics, badminton, baseball, cycling, judo, rowing, shooting, softball, swimming, table tennis, taekwondo, tennis, and weightlifting.
Chinese-Taipei' long dream of winning an Olympian title was realized at the 2004 Athens Olympics by gaining a pairs of individual golds with Chun Mo-yen (men's flyweight) and Chen Shih-hsian (women's flyweight), both titles were won in taekwondo competition. In fact, an important milestone in the development of Taiwanese sport. Through two major medals, they also contributed to give the island's athletes more respect on the Planet. Historically, Taiwan is a powerhouse in taekwondo on Earth, having amassed 73 medals (14 gold, 23 silver, 36 bronze) during the World competitions -behind only South Korea and Spain.
Of the country's eighty-seven elite competitors at Athens 2004, Chun Mo-yen was one of the favorites to capture a gold after capturing a gold in the 2003 Taekwondo World Cup. It was one of the most memorable moments of his life when the gold medal was placed around his neck, becoming the first male from Taiwan to win that honor. Immediately, there were celebrations on the island. Chun Mo-yen was a respect figure in the group of talented fighters that flourished in the first years of the 21st century. In fact, he is already national hero in his home nation.
The nation's best previous finish in the Games were silvers at Sydney 2000 (women's weightlifting), Atlanta 1996 (women's table tennis) and Barcelona 1992 (men's baseball).
Like in Azerbaijan (shooter Zemfira Meftakhetdinova), Colombia (weightlifter Maria Isabel Urrutia), Costa Rica (swimmer Claudia Poll) and the former Soviet republic of Estonia (cyclist Erika Salumae), a womam (Chen Shih-hsian) had the distinction of being the first individual from Taiwan to earn the Olympic title, paving the way for new titles.
In 2004, the baseball national side came in 5th in the Olympic Championship, behind Cuba (gold), Australia (silver), Japan (bronze),Canada (fourth) and ahead of Holland (sixth), Greece (seventh) and Italy (last) -having won the right to do so by capturing a berth in the Asian Tournament. The team was represented by star pro players, who had placed second at the 2002 Busan Asian Games after losing to Japan in the finals (4-3). A year ago, the national side obtained a bronze at the 34th Baseball World Cup. In Far East, this land is producing more talent players than any other nation after South Korea. Chinese-Taipei's professional pitcher Wang Chien-Ming, who played for the New York Yankees, was one of the best players in the early 2000s.
London 2012 Olympics
During Beijing's bid to host the 2008 Olympics, Taipei's rule supported the Olympian project with sports exchanges with the Chinese mainland. By 2008, Chinese-Taipei's sporting administrators sent élite competitors to Beijing. On that occasion there were national delegations in archery, athletics, badminton, baseball, cycling, judo, rowing, sailing, shooting, softball, swimming, table tennis, taekwondo, tennis, and weightlifting.
Its women's national side was one of the eight competitors in the Softball Olympic Competition at Fengtai Sports Center, site of the Beijing Olympic softball events. The Asian Republic also gained an Olympian berth in the Baseball Tournament, alongside America, Canada, Cuba, Japan, Netherlands, South Korea (winner),and the host nation. In team sports, however, the women's basketball team of Chinese-Taipei failed to qualify for the Beijing Games in the Continental Olympic Qualification Tournament.
Chinese-Taipei's 2008 Olympian squad earned only four bronzes: Chen Wei-ling and Lu Ying-chi (women's weightlifting), and Chun Mu-yen and Sun Yu-hi (men's taekwondo). Chun Mu-yen became one of the first national competitors to bag medals in two Olympics. On the other hand, Lai Sheng-jung was named as the flag bearer of the national contingent at the Opening Ceremony.
Two years earlier, the Asian republic had finished 10th in the medal count at the Continental Games in staged Doha (Qatar), ahead of Malaysia, Singapore, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, and Hong Kong.
Taiwan's 2012 Olympian squad at London will be represent by elite athletes in more than a dozen disciplines: aquatics, archery, badminton, cycling, fencing, gymnastics, judo, martial arts, rowing, sailing, shooting, table tennis, tennis, track-and-field, weightlifting, and wrestling. By contrast, Chinese-Taipei will not compete in team sports after failing in the Continental pre-Olympics in basketball, field hockey, handball, soccer, and volleyball. Best medal chances are likely to come in disciplines such as archery, badminton, martial arts, and weightlifting.
At last year's worlds in South Korea -the indisputed capital of taekwondo-- Western Europe, the nation won a handful of medals with top-class competitors such as Wei Cheng-yang (taekwondo), Cheng Shao-chieh (badminton),and Huang Shih-hsu (weightlifting). In women's singles, Taiwan's would-be star Cheng Shao-chieh lost to China's badminton player Wang Yihan in the gold-medal match at the BWF World Cup in England in August 2011. In the past months, the athletic delegation also obtained several trophies on home soil and abroad.
The 2012 Olympic delegation also might win medals in judo, shooting and table tennis. On the other side, at the Asian Games in Chinese mainland, a couple of years earlier, the national representatives amassed 67 medals (13 gold, 16 silver, 38 bronze), finishing 7th in the medal count. They were the nucleus of he country's Olympian squad at the 2012 London Olympics.
In today's globalised society, Taiwan has not foreign-born athletes on their Olympic delegations, being one of the few industrialized nations without foreign-born athletes on the Olympic stage.
London 2012 Olympics: Taiwan - Report An Olympic Land: 1960-2012Friday, September 7, 2012
What to Do in London During the 2012 London Olympics?
What to Do in London During the 2012 London Olympics?
The 2012 Olympics will be hosted in London, England. The Olympics is the largest sporting event in the world and attracts millions of fans worldwide and many more millions will be watching events live on TV. The Official countdown clock for the upcoming 2012 London Olympics has been unveiled this week.
What to Do in London During the 2012 London Olympics?
What to Do in London During the 2012 London Olympics?
What to Do in London During the 2012 London Olympics?
What to Do in London During the 2012 London Olympics?
Just 24 hours after its initial launch just countdown clock experienced technical difficulties and stopped working. These problems have been fixed now and the clock is counting down to the event.
London 2012 Olympics tickets
The 2012 London countdown clock marks the 6 weeks when the tickets go on sale. To purchase tickets for the London 2012 Olympics you will need a Visa card. London winning the Olympic bid will hopefully be big for London and the UK, with a lot of money being spent by tourists when they come to the country and also by advertisers who are sponsoring the event.
Although the main stadiums for the events will be in London there are also events in the south coast of England as well as in Glasgow, Scotland.
Football events These are just some of the football stadiums that will be used in the 2012 Olympics:
Old Trafford, Manchester Wembley Stadium, London Millennium Stadium, Cardiff St James' Park, Newcastle
Tourists who are planning on visiting London during this time might be wondering what else that can do while in London?
Apart from the main Olympics events there are also many Galleries and Museums which can be visited. A lot of these museums such as the Science Museum in South Kensington or the Natural History Museum (which conveniently is just around the corner) are both free to the public. Famous landmarks such as Big Ben, Buckingham Palace, The Tower of London and the London Eye (which gives you a fantastic view of the Thames and London) are always tourist favourites.
So what else is there to do in London during the 2012 Olympics?
As well as museums and art galleries such as the Tate Modern and the Tate Britain in London there are always a lot of popular Plays showing at the London Theatre. Sightseeing bus tours can also been booked for large groups of people. These tours will take you around central London passing major landmarks.
The events schedule for the 2012 Olympics
The events schedule is now available to download as a PDF document from the official London 2012 Olympics website. This will guide you through the events.
Getting around London
To get around London, you will most likely be travelling by Bus or Tube, for this it's definitely worth buying an Oyster travel card. This means travel should be cheaper than a standard ticket. The Oyster card can then be topped up at newsagents and at Tube stations. To use it you simply need to touch in and touch out at the barrier.
What to Do in London During the 2012 London Olympics?Monday, August 20, 2012
Visiting London During The 2012 Olympic Games
Visiting London During The 2012 Olympic Games
The 2012 Summer Olympics are going to be held in London, England from July 27 to August 12, 2012. London was the host to Olympics Games twice before: In 1908 and 1948. The City of London is the capital of England, and extends along the River Thames. London is full of historic landmarks, memorials, theaters, archives, galleries, parklands, gardens, and more. It has the oldest underground railway system in the world, knowned as the London Underground. The architecture of the buildings is positively stunning, and comes in many architectural styles.
Visiting London During The 2012 Olympic Games
Visiting London During The 2012 Olympic Games
Visiting London During The 2012 Olympic Games
Visiting London During The 2012 Olympic Games
While you are visiting London for the 2012 Summer Olympics, you will want to take full advantage of the many places to visit and things to do in the area. Make your visit to London a trip you will not soon forget. Some of the places that you may want to see are the Tower of London, Kew Gardens, Westminster Palace where you will see Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, St. Margaret's Church, Buckingham Palace, the London Eye (a giant observation wheel), London Aquarium, Madame Tussauds' Wax Museum, London National Gallery, London Natural History Museum, Piccadilly Circus, St. Paul's Cathedral, Tower Bridge, Trafalgar Square and Wembley Stadium.
One convenient way to get around to see many sites in a day is to ride one of London's Double-Decker buses. Take advantage of The Original Tour; a sightseeing tour that will take you on your choice of three routes that are offered. The tour makes stops at 80 locations and a ticket for these tours are good for 48 hours. You can get information about these tours at The Original London Visitor Center in Trafalgar Square, London, just seven miles from Olympic Stadium.
If you would prefer to go out on your own to see the sights you may want to visit Big Ben which is located at Westminster Palace, also known as the House of Parliament. No trip to London would be complete without seeing the 315-foot, Gothic Revival style tower that houses the largest chiming clock in the world. There is one clock face on each of the four sides of the tower. Each clock face measures about 23 feet in diameter.
Also, quite interesting, would be watching the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace, the home of the Queen of England. At 11:30 a.m. every other day during fall and winter, on the forecourt of the Palace, the changing of guard takes place. As one soldier replaces the other, a military band plays music. Buckingham Palace has 775 rooms, including 78 bathrooms. The Queen of England is not in the Palace during the months of August and September, and visitors are allowed to see some of the State Rooms in the Palace during that time.
If you like the relaxing, beauty of nature, arrange to stroll along the paths of the 275-acre Kensington Gardens, one of the Royal Parks of London, located outside of Kensington Palace. Among the trees and ornamental flower beds you will find fountains, a lake, wildlife, playgrounds and statues. You will even find a a bronze statue of Peter Pan. During the dates of the 2012 Olympics, Kensington Gardens will have a free event called "Africa House." "Africa House" was put together by the Association of National Olympic Committees of Africa in conjunction with The Royal Parks. It will enable all to experience African culture and art. Every evening, after the Olympic events, African medal winners will be at Kensington Gardens. It is exciting to think that you may meet a medal-winning Olympian in person.
Start making your plans now for what you are going to do and see while attending the London 2012 Olympic Games this summer. You will want to make the most of this opportunity of a lifetime.
Visiting London During The 2012 Olympic GamesWednesday, August 1, 2012
Fencing London 2012
Fencing London 2012
In January of 2009, The Royal Mint launched a nationwide competition, inviting the British public to create designs for a new series of 50p coins intended to commemorate the 2012 Summer Olympics Fencing London 2012.
Fencing London 2012
The 30,000 entries that were submitted have been narrowed down to the best design for each of the 29 featured sports to create lasting mementos of the 2012 Olympic and Fencing London 2012 Paralympics Games. Each coin features the unique sport-specific pictogram with the London 2012 logo on one side, making them a perfect collectible keepsake for any fan of the games!Fencing London 2012
- Copper & nickel alloy coin
- Measures approximately 1" in diameter
- Authentic currency
- Limited edition collectible
- Collect all 29 coins
- Imported
- Officially licensed London 2012 product