There are exactly three days, 14 hours, 10 minutes and 13 seconds between this instant and the beginning of the Olympic Games. By the time you read this, the Games will be even nearer! Keep yourself entertained while annoying the crap out of everyone around you with this online Olympic countdown.
Here’s your latest news, the majority of which is of the Olympic variety, yay:
Strange but true Olympic trivia: “Horse long jump” is among the extinctions listed in Time‘s “9 Really Strange Sports That Are No Longer in the Olympics.” The event only lasted one go-round, the Paris Games of 1900. The winning leap of 6.10 meters was taken by Belgium’s Constant vs Langendonck riding the horse Extra Dry–a length that pales in comparison to the world record for long jump by a human: 8.95 meters. Other discarded sports on the list include distance plunging, live pigeon shooting, tug-of-war, rope climb, solo synchronized swimming, croquet, roque, and dueling pistols.
Tiana Coudray used to be a successful competitive Irish dancer. No kidding. What other dark secrets fun facts could be lurking in Tiana’s past? Check out this article on the soon-to-be-Olympian from her local paper, the Ventura County Star.
Last-minute South African Olympic eventing shake-up: South Africa has one Olympic eventing spot, and it’s still up in the air. After Paul Hart was selected to represent South Africa in Olympic Eventing, an appeal was filed by Alexander Peternell on the grounds that he was more qualified for the position as he is ranked significantly higher on the FEI rider rankings. The world’s top court for sporting disputes, the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne, Switzerland, over-ruled South Africa’s selection of Hart, leaving South Africa to revisit its selection and nomination procedures just days before the Games begin. [Horse Talk NZ]
Get your Olympics here: The USEF’s “Live from London” webpage is up and running, featuring interviews with riders and U.S. team personnel.
Intrigue! Inspiration! Ambition! NBC is already working on its equestrian Olympic story lines. Do some pregame reading here.
Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum will be taking the place of Philipp Weishaupt on the German Olympic show jumping team. Phillip’s horse contracted an infection and won’t be fit to travel. Meredith will be riding Bella Donna 66, a 9-year-old Holsteiner mare with whom she has been competing for the past two years. [COTH]
Top of the Tweets: From our friends at SmartPak: “@SmartPakEquine is bringing you non-stop coverage: blogs, photos, videos, tweets, Facebook updates & even a nightly broadcast on the @USEFNetwork!” Find out how to follow SmartPak’s Olympic coverage at the SmartPak Blog.
That’s one way to get people out to the races: Minnesota’s Canterbury Park hosted an “Extreme Race Day” on Saturday featuring camel races, ostrich races and a track announcer, Paul Allen, randomly taking hits of helium while calling the races. Thank you, Deadspin, for bringing this event to our attention. Check out the complete footage, including an ostrich race helmet cam, over at Horse Nation.
Best of the Blogs: Valerie Vizcarrondo is “lovin’ Loch Moy,” where she recently introduced her fresh-off-the-boat Irish import Fernhill Whatever to the wonderful world of American eventing. [Blue Clover Eventing] And… Lauren Lambert blogs about eventing in the rain. [PRO]
It was eventers vs. show jumpers, vs. the mechanical bull at a charity fundraiser at Hickstead. The eventers won, of course. The top bull-riding honor went to Georgie Spence, who stuck tight for an impressive 59 seconds. [Horse & Hound]
[via Hit Air UK]
