Author Archives: Kathryn
Olympics: athletics, day 8
How the sport works Athletics, what North Americans call track & field, includes a variety of running, jumping, and throwing events. I won't explain every single event here, but you can generally assume the winner completed the event the fastest, highest, or furthest. Men's pole vault final Defending gold medalist and Olympic record … Continue reading
Olympics: men’s 10k marathon swim
How the sport works Twenty five competitors swim six laps approximately one mile each, totaling 10,000 meters. The first one to slap the finish board after completing the distance wins. The marathoner in me takes issue with a race shorter than 26.2 miles being labeled a marathon, but swimming for ten kilometers has … Continue reading
Olympics: women’s football final
I actually did something cultural and independent of sports today! I saw War Horse, which was every bit as good as all the hype had led me to expect. But back to the Olympics! How the sport works I'm just going to trust that you know how soccer/football works. It was a pretty … Continue reading
Olympics: athletics, day 5
A bunch of us went to see an exhibit about the history of the Olympics at the Royal Opera House. Since seeing two British runners and meeting the men's Aussie volleyball team over the past two days, I've had my eyes pealed for athletes. So guess what–I spotted Juventina Napoleao, the penultimate finisher of the … Continue reading
Olympics: athletics, day 4
How the sport works Athletics, what North Americans call track & field, includes a variety of running, jumping, and throwing events. I won’t explain every single event here, but you can generally assume the winner completed the event the fastest, highest, or furthest. I was never supposed to be at this athletics session. … Continue reading
Olympics: men’s volleyball
How the sport works The first team to score twenty five points in three sets wins the match. This was still a preliminary round so there were no medals awarded. I was eager for the Australia-Poland match up. In general, I love the Aussies and am happy to cheer for them, but I'm … Continue reading
Olympics: athletics, day 3
How the sport works Athletics, what North Americans call track & field, includes a variety of running, jumping, and throwing events. I won’t explain every single event here, but you can generally assume the winner completed the event the fastest, highest, or furthest. Please note the official description of the weather conditions… … Continue reading
Olympics: women’s marathon
How the sport works You run 26.2 miles. Pretty straightforward! I’ve run a few marathons and have decided I prefer to cheer on the marathoners rather than be one myself, so that’s exactly what I did at the women’s marathon this morning. Being summer in London, I put on sunblock as soon … Continue reading
Olympics: athletics, day 2
How the sport works Athletics, what North Americans call track & field, includes a variety of running, jumping, and throwing events. I won’t explain every single event here, but you can generally assume the winner completed the event the fastest, highest, or furthest. Men’s 400 meter hurdles semi finals I was lucky enough … Continue reading
Olympics: men’s team table tennis
How the sport works In team table tennis, each team has three players. The first team to win the best of five games wins the overall match. Each game is played to eleven points. The first, second, fourth, and fifth games are played one-on-one while the third game is played doubles (that is, two players … Continue reading