So, the 2012 London Olympics is here! The largest sporting event in the world kicked off last Friday, 27th July. I’m sure, I was amongst the millions of people who stayed up to watch the opening ceremony live on TV (yes, it was 4 a.m, and I managed to keep my eyes open enough to watch the opening ceremony from start to finish!). For those who missed it, you can watch a replay on the Olympic channel on Youtube.
The London Olympics 2012 will be held from the 27th July – 12th August 2012. An estimated 10,500 athletes from over 204 nations are participating in the games. The Malaysian London 2012 Olympics team has about 30 delegates competing in 9 sports from Badminton, Swimming, Diving, Shooting, Cycling, Archery, Sailing, Fencing and Athletics. (Check out this site for more updates).
Malaysia first participated in the Olympic games as ‘Malaya’ back in Melbourne 1956, Rome 1960 and finally competed as Malaysia at the Tokyo 1964 Olympic games. Throughout history, the majority of Malaysia’s medals have come from the game of Badminton. Hence why this sport is such a celebrated game in Malaysia! With the Olympics going on, this certainly would be a good time to get active. Checkout our sports collection here. (Go ahead and pick up a badminton racket and some matching sports attire!)
This year, 2012 I’m supporting Team Malaysia’s efforts in going for gold! Here are several athletes who’ve been the talk of the town:
1. Lee Chong Wei : He’s a recent medal winner who at the last Beijing 2008 Olympics, won the Silver medal for Men’s Singles. He’s a shoo-in to win a medal for Malaysia in the Men’s Badminton.
2. In diving, we have Ms. Pandelela Rinong, dubbed ‘The Diving Queen’. Malaysia’s rooting for her to bring back the Gold for diving and might I add that she made history as Malaysia’s first female flag bearer at the Olympic games! Bravo!
3. Bryan Nickson Lomas just like Ms. Rinong, is no stranger to the world of diving, having won two silver medals at the 2010 Asian games. Lets hope for a repeat at the Olympics!
4. For cycling, we have Azizulhasni Awang, who’s also a Gold medal prospect in this years Olympics. He is also three-times World Cup winner in Keirin (I just found out myself what Keirin is! I always used to think the cyclists helmets looked quite sci-fi-like too). In June, Azizulhasni was also recently inducted into “Team Visa,” along the likes of other athletes such as gold medalist swimmer Micheal Phelps, pole vaulter Yelena Isinbayeva and shot putter Valerie Adams.
Regardless of what sports or whom you choose to follow during the London 2012 Olympic games, lets all get together in cheering on the Malaysian team this year. GO TEAM MALAYSIA!!