Word: sports
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...finally made it to beach volleyball. Many of my male journalist friends had been studiously covering the sport in Beijing. One of these colleagues even caught a cold from his assiduous following of the rainy women's final between the red bikinis - a.k.a. China - and the white bikinis - a.k.a. the U.S. (The lighter-hued bikinis prevailed.) Friday was gloriously sunny, so I figured it would be a good time to check out the vibe at the men's gold-medal match between Brazil and the U.S. Sure enough, the radio reporter in front of me was broadcasting shirtless. (In case...
...British Olympians scoffed, as it turned out, at the sheer modesty of the 35-medal target set out by UK Sport, the body that distributes government cash to athletes. And they laughed in the face of UK Sport's hope for an eight-placed finish in the 2008 medal table. In short, their ambitions proved most un-British-like. "The performance of 'Team GB' in the Olympics is moving beyond the sublime and towards the ridiculous," said an editorial in Britain's Daily Telegraph. "We are British, for heaven's sake - how are we supposed to cope with such...
...think we missed a big opportunity to support women's sport," says Pound. "We were getting the best athletes in the sport, unlike baseball. We're getting athletes that are subject to a very good anti-doping program, unlike baseball. And we're trying to create a balance on the program between men and women. So I think, unfortunately, softball got caught up in the shotgun blast against baseball." A few seconds after Pound spoke from the stands, American Crystl Bustos hit her sixth home run of the tournament, a rocket into the right field seats. The capacity crowd roared...
...After the game, Finch, 27, makes one more pitch. "Over 140 countries play this game," she says. "You know, you don't have to be six-four [Finch is 6-ft. 1 in.] You don't have to be 200 pounds. We have all different shapes and sizes. The sport tests so many athletic abilities, from hand-eye coordination, to speed, to agility, to quickness. We're finally at the pinnacle, we've finally been established. Please don't take this away...
...didn't throw, but the loss still stings. Plus, Finch is feeling guilty about U.S. softball's demise. Really? Finch, who has spent more time promoting her sport than anyone on the planet? She blames herself for some of this mess? "I do," she says. "I hold that responsibility. Being an Olympic softball player, what more can I do? Lisa Fernandez, Dot Richardson, the many greats, they've done so much, and now it's our turn. And what did we do with the torch? So yeah, you do feel let down. Those many girls, they don't look...