When you are reading my Olympic coverage I sincerely hope that you imagine that my ‘voice’ sounds exactly like Morgan Freeman’s voice in the Olympic Visa commercials. I can’t speak for the other EN writers, but that’s pretty much exactly what my posts sound like.
Speaking of the EN Team, this will be the first major international team event we have covered on EN where the majority of our content is produced by other members of the Team. I’m incredibly proud and grateful that we have such an awesome team here at EN, it’s a pleasure to work with them each and every day, and never more so than during the Olympics. In turn, we are all grateful that you are joining our Olympic coverage–it is a privilege to serve you to the very best of our abilities. I also want to thank our EN sponsors and our friends in London and all of the Olympic volunteers for putting on what is sure to be a wonderful Games.
It’s prediction time and honestly I feel like making a good pick is like pinning a tail on an il-tempered British donkey. There are so many awesome pairs coming together in an event that will feature time on the cross-country and two show jumping rounds as the most important factors. It’s hard not to pick 2010 WEG champions Michael Jung and Sam of Germany, but then again who wants to pick against William Fox-Pitt on home turf or Phillip Dutton and Mystery Whisper after a nearly perfect spring? The team situation is even harder, but I think Great Britain, Germany, New Zealand, USA, and Canada to fight it out for the three podium spots. I think the Olympic format shapes up great for the dressage powerhouse Germans, but the home turf sets up well for Great Britain, and the terrain shapes up well for New Zealand and Canada.
I close my eyes and pick Michael, William, and Phillip for bronze. Great Britain gold, USA silver, and Canada bronze. Tell me why I’m an idiot in the comment section. Now it’s off for a quick bit of restless sleep before dressage starts on Saturday.
I’ll leave you with one of the favorite videos of USA’s lead-off rider–Australia’s first winter Olympic gold medal from Stephen Bradbury:
It’s the Olympics. Anything can and will happen. Go eventing.
