8.8.08

To tell you the truth I was going to give the Olympics a bye this time.

No offense to the Chinese nation (all 1.3 billion), the Bulgarian weightlifters, the Kazakh horsemen or the Indonesian mixed badminton pairs. No offense either to the other 10,000 athletes competing in 302 events in 28 sports.

However, it’s already been a BUSY SPORTING SUMMER what with the wild Euro-2008 Championship, a Wimbledon men’s final that some commentators are saying was the best tennis match ever and the inspiring British Open with Greg Norman playing the role of Don Quixote. And with August upon us, American baseball fans are getting anxious as to who might or might not make the playoffs.

Who has time for the Olympics?

However, as has been widely reported these past few weeks the Chinese have an obsession with numbers and their symbols ~ for good or ill. For example, the Olympics begin tonight at 8:08 PM and today’s date? 8.8.08. We can guess that ‘8’ is very positive number in the Middle Kingdom. Travel-China.com says this:

As a rule in day-to-day life in China, it is customary to regard even numbers as being more auspicious than odd numbers. In China, traditionally gifts are given as a part of the celebration for all occasions. Thus, guests will always give even-numbered presents. As the number two usually suggests germination and harmony, at wedding celebrations, decorations are invariably setout in pairs: a pair of red candle or a pair of pillows. 'Ba' (8) in Chinese has a similar sound to 'Fa', which means to make a fortune.

I don’t think it is wise to ignore such signs. Besides the scary number business there are countless, compelling subplots involving individuals, teams and nations. There are too many to list here.

However, I for one will be rooting for the South African swimmer Natalie du Toit who lost her leg in an accident in 2001 when she was 17. The 24-year-old student from Cape Town achieved a dream this summer when she qualified for Beijing. She just hasn’t given up. Here’s an amputee competing at the highest level of performance. What’s more she is competing in the 10km open water race ~ one of the more arduous Olympic events. Go Natalie.

I’m watching. Let’s the games begin!