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A new sport: Olympic Web surfing
SYDNEY -- Greetings from the Surf Shack at the athletes' village here in Sydney. The Shack is the computer haven athletes drop by to build their own Web pages and design personalized T-shirts based on their likes, dislikes, hobbies and answers to a set of standard questions. The answers range from touching to trite and from serious to zany, with a few we can't quite figure out. For the next two days, we'll be sampling some of the highlights from Web pages created at the Shack. First, a few selected answers from U.S. athletes: Sandra Bacher, judo: I started competing in the sport because ... "my little brother started and I couldn't let him get tougher than me." Michael Bennett, boxing: I started competing in my sport ... "to stay in shape while I was incarcerated." Ricardo Juarez, boxing: My favorite thing about Sydney is ... "being there, because I've never been there." My one wish is ... "to be king of the world." Anna Kozlova, synchronized swimming (27-year-old, Russian born): If I could have one wish it would be ... "to go to an American high school for a year." Lisa Leslie, basketball: If I could have one wish, it would be ... "to end racism, because I believe we're all God's children made in his image ... human." Jason Morris, judo: If I could have one wish it would be ... "to host Saturday Night Live." Jimmy Pedro, judo: If I could have one wish it would be ... "to give my wife an Olympic gold medal on Sept. 18, which happens to be her birthday." If you've ever traveled abroad and tried to speak or write in an unfamiliar language, you can appreciate the "points for effort" we award the Armenians for the following replies. Wrestler Haykaz Galstyan says his favorite music is "rocen rol," his favorite artist "Selen Dion." Boxer Artur Gevorgian listed his favorite food as "steig" and his favorite activity as "densing," but he had no problem spelling his favorite television show (or in this case, network): MTV. Swimmer Yuliana Mikheeva says that when she isn't training, she's "sliping." Wrestler Arshak Hayrapetyan said his favorite food is "banan," his tune of choice "klasik." His film of choice, "Mafia," made it through the spell-checking police. Here are some more: Arek Olczak, Australia, wrestling: When I'm not training ... "I drink beer." Dmitri Kalinbovsky, Belarus, swimming: When I am not training I am ... "drinking vodka." Taip Ramadani, Australia, team handball: After the Olympics, I am going to ... "drink all the free Coke I'm stealing from the village. I am married to Catherine and plan to have many children (with her permission). I would like to thank my family for being perfect and my brother for using me as a punching bag (he always said,'you'll thank me one day for this.') and my sponsors (this space when they come)." Sarah Stratton, Australia, beach volleyball: I like being an Olympian because ... "I have the best office in the world." Magomed Ariphajiyev, Azerbaijan, boxing: If I could go anywhere in the world I would go ... "where there are many women." Ruud Kuijten , Belgium, badminton: After the Olympics I am going to go to ... "Memphis to meet Elvis." Constantin van Rijckevorsel, Belgium, equestrian: I am quite proud ... "to defend the Belgium flag, but when I look around I still believe we've got the most ugliest uniform I've ever seen." Isabella Morales, Brazil, synchronized swimming: I started competing in my sport because ... "I was young and I didn't know what I was getting into." Ivan Angelov, Bulgaria, swimming: I started competing in my sport because ... "I am crazy." Esther Mvondo, Cameroon, track and field: My training for the Olympics included ... "No sex." Michelle Buckingham, Canada, judo: I advise aspiring athletes to ... "ignore what other people tell you and just follow that little voice in your head. Unless of course you start talking back to the voice. Then you should see a specialist." Benoit Gauthier, Canada, canoe/kayak: I would like to thank my parents for ... "their excellent genetic pool." Sandy Newsham, Canada, softball: My training for the Olympics included ... "throwing at the rookies in the batting cage." Julia Rivard, Canada, canoe/kayak: I started training in my sport because ... "I thought the coach was cute. I eventually married him." Tomeaka McTaggart, Cayman Islands, sailing: After the Olympics, I would like to ... "not live out of a bag." SI writer-reporter Brian Cazeneuve, the magazine's Olympics expert, is
already in Australia gearing up for the Games. Check back daily to follow his
behind-the-scenes reports.
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