Pusarla Venkata Sindhu brought us honours ~ whole Nation celebrated – in between –
someone wrongly tweeted something to Saina, who responded gracefully. That takes to the Q what do athletes do after
Olympics (after winning or failing !) Heard
of Skeet Shooting – a sport where participants use shotguns attempt to break
clay targets mechanically flung into the air.
Paul Adams represented Australia, could not make a mark – but would
return to Operation theatre as he has just started his career as a nurse at the Redcliffe Hospital.
… .. why a photo of Bolt batting ? one
may wonder !
Athletics
is a famously lonely sport: Mo Farah has spoken of his struggles to train away
from his family, often by himself, still there is the relay race, which
exhibits team talent. In the 4 X 100
Mens, the result was never in doubt as
Jamaica’s sprint dream team of Usain Bolt, Asafa Powell, Yohan Blake and Nickel Ashmeade
dominated the event, finishing in 37.27secs, around half a second slower than
the world record. Perhaps only thing the three had to do was to handover the
baton to Bolt without confusion as the man
with 100 metres in 9.58 seconds can outsmart others. Yet the team where everyone is good were sort
of challenged most unexpectedly by Japanese, who broke the Asian record.
Given
the way they celebrated, there aren’t many things that the Jamaican men’s
4x100-meter relay enjoyed more than winning Olympic gold. On baton exchange,
USA failed once again and were disqualified, missing out the bronze medal. There is a heated rivalry between the two
teams, even with Jamaica having dominated the event at the past three Olympics
and Usain Bolt and Asafa Powell had no hesitation at taunting the USA over its
missed step. The Jamaican women team too won with ease.
Of
the four, there is another famous man – in Aug 2011 at the 13th World Championships in Athletics - in Daegu, South Korea, Yohan Blake, a fellow Jamaican outran Usain
Bolt. He became the youngest sprinter to have broken the 10-second
barrier (at 19 years, 197 days). He is
often pictured with his prized possession, a luxury watch. It is Richard Mille, a brand of luxury Swiss watches from the
company of the same name founded in 1999 by French businessman Richard Mille. Richard
Mille SA is based in Les Breuleux, in the Canton of Jura, Switzerland.
The
brand's most famous models are the Tourbillon RM 008 (chronograph tourbillon)
and the sapphire split seconds (chronograph tourbillon) RM 056. The RM 008
combines a tourbillon movement with manual winding, a chronograph
split-seconds, a torque indicator, and a power reserve indicator. Claimed to be
one of the most advanced watches in the world, it is priced from 500,000 Euro.
(3.80 Crores Indian Rupees) .. in the Olympics 100M was Yohan Blake, Bolt’s
training partner and the second-fastest man in the world, wearer of this famous
brand of luxury. There was this famous fan in the stands, luxury watch maker
Richard Mille, the same man whose name is on his new US$1 million dollar watch.
Mille signed the Jamaican to his luxury brand, which also features tennis star
Rafael Nadal, Formula 1's Felipe Massa and golfer Bubba Watson, weeks before
the London 2012 Olympics and delivered the latest hand-crafted timepiece to the
Jamaican star, just ahead of Blake's 100m heat today.
The
custom watch features white bands with green stitching, a green and gold case
with signature Richard Mille construction as well as a black bezel plus a black
dial with skeleton movements and gold accents.
"The objective was to do a
watch that was extremely resistant, light and very comfortable, we achieved
that and for him the watch is like a second skin. It feels very well on the
wrist and I like to do watches that are in one sense complex but also very
resistant and comfortable," he added. The businessman said Blake's rise as
the future of sprints, Jamaica's appeal and the athlete's personality were all
big draws and influences behind the decision to partner with the athlete. The deal was concluded two or three weeks
before the Olympic in London in 2012 and it became like a love story at first
glance.
Now to the other side of the story !! ~ Blake could not win a
medal in 100M. A disappointed Yohan
Blake hinted about switching to cricket from the coming season and his good
friend Chris Gayle is already on the job to help him get an Indian Premier
League contract. Just after finishing fourth in the 100m dash, a visibly
shattered Blake spoke about sport beyond track and field. Known as 'The Beast'
amongst his rivals, Blake was back to his cheerful self while talking about his
fast bowling abilities that may be a huge attraction to Indian teams.
"Hey, I really bowl fast. Be careful when you face
me," he said in his typical manner but in a loud and clear voice ! Asked if Blake was just kidding, like the
way he said after the London Games final in 2012, he said: "I'm serious
about playing IPL. Hopefully, you guys (Indians) will see me in action this
coming season," said Blake while sipping water from his bottle after the
100m burst in which he finished at 9.93s.
At 27, Blake still has a few years left in him in athletics.
Whether it is his love for bowling fast or wanting to sample the atmosphere in
IPL is not clear. Blake hinted that fellow Jamaican Chris Gayle is helping him
out to be in touch with the right people in India. There are any number of
franchise holders who need more star value and Blake could fit the bill. However,
there are a few technicalities which will need to be worked out in case Blake
does get an IPL contract. The first thing is that Board of Control for Cricket
in India would need a NOC from Jamaica's board before putting him in the IPL's
pool of auctions.
Is there anything to be read or learnt
!!
With
regards – S. Sampathkumar
21st
Aug 2016.
No comments:
Post a Comment