While Rubio was busy catching up with fellow Spaniard Pau Gasol, Kobe intervened, asking the two if they were talking about the upcoming Summer Games in London.  That led to the following exchange between the two:

Kobe: “You talking about London?”

Gasol: “Oh yeah.”

Rubio to Kobe: “You gonna be there?”

Kobe: “Of course.”

Rubio: “You know you’re gonna get the silver medal, right?  You know that!”

Kobe: “Sheeeet.  I’m taking bets.  If I win I get the key to Barcelona.”

Rubio: “I’ll bet what you want.”

Kobe: “I’ll take it.”

Spain to beat the USA for the men’s basketball gold medal at the 2012 London Games?  That’s quite the bold statement from Ricky.  We’ll see if he and his Spanish teammates can back that up come July 27 when the Summer Olympics kick off.

In the meantime, you can watch the entire exchange between the two international stars in the video below.

J.J. Jegede

In an effort to promote the all new London 2012 MINI Cooper models – which feature the symbol for the games on the roof and a Union Jack sport stripe running down the length of the car – Jegede leaped over three MINIs, which were parked side-by-side.

In case you were wondering, Jegede had to jump approximately 6.5 meters in order to clear the cars, and he did so easily, with a jump of well over seven meters.  As for the MINIs, the company plans to make only 2,012 of these models, but only three of them can say that they have been leaped over by England’s long-jump champion.

Here is a look at Jegede’s jump.

Hat Tip – [Discovery Channel]

These Olympics marked the first time that professional baseball players were eligible to participate and represent their countries.  However, since the Games took place during Major League Baseball’s regular season, no active professionals took part in this tournament.  Both the Americans and Cubans cruised through the round robin, compiling identical 6-1 records to reach the semi-finals.  The United States defeated South Korea 3-2 to reach the finals, while Cuba defeated Japan 3-0 in the other semi-final.

Future Major Leaguer Ben Sheets was given the assignment of starting in the gold medal game for the United States.  Sheets did not disappoint, as he threw a three hit complete game shutout, giving up just three singles.  The loss ended Cuba’s 21 game winning streak in Olympic play.

Here are the final two outs from the gold medal game.

Notable Birthdays

Mike Schmidt, MLB – Born September 27th 1949 (age 62) in Dayton, Ohio

Jon Garland, MLB – Born September 27th 1979 (age 32) in Valencia, California

John Lannan, MLB – Born September 27th 1984 (age 27) in Long Beach, New York

Louganis suffered a concussion after hitting his head on the springboard while performing a reverse 2 1/2 pike during the preliminary round.  However, the injury would not keep him out of the competition, as he would not only complete the preliminary round, but he would go on to attempt a similar dive in the finals, en route to the gold medal.  It would be the third gold medal of his Olympic career, and he would earn a fourth in the 10-meter platform competition a few day later.

Louganis would finish his diving career with four Olympic gold medals, five World Championship gold medals, and six Pan-American Games gold medals, but the highlight that sticks in the minds of most of his fans came on September 19, 1988, when he hit his head on the diving board.

Here is a look at the incident.

Notable Birthdays

Joe Morgan, MLB – Born on September 19, 1943 (age 68) in Bonham, Texas

Jim Abbot, MLB – Born on September 19, 1967 (age 44) in Flint, Michigan

Rick DiPietro, NHL – Born September 19, 1981 (age 30) in Winthrop, Massachusetts

This race marked the beginning of a wonderful Olympic career for Lewis that saw him win nine gold medals and one silver.  Carl entered the 1984 Olympics with very high expectations for himself, as his goal was to match Jesse Owens who had won four gold medals at the 1936 Olympic games.  After winning the 100 meter race, Lewis easily won the gold in the men’s high jump to reach the halfway point of his goal.  He would set a new Olympic record in the men’s 200 meters for his third gold and finally he won his fourth gold when the 4 X 100 meter relay team finished in a time of 37.83 seconds, setting a new world record.

Carl Lewis’ nine gold medals tied him with Mark Spitz and Paavo Nurmi for the most in men’s Summer Olympic history.  The record stood until 2008 when fellow American Michael Phelps won eight gold medals to push his career total to 14.

Here is the men’s 100-meter race.

Notable Birthdays

Maurice Richard, NHL – Born August 4^TH 1921 in Montreal, Quebec

John Riggins, NFL – Born August 4^TH 1949 (age 62) in Seneca, Kansas

Roger Clemens, MLB 0 Born August 4^TH 1962 (age 49) in Dayton, Ohio

The 1980 Summer Olympic Games are most remembered for being boycotted by the United States and 64 other countries due to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.  However, some athletes from countries who boycotted the games still participated, but they did not officially represent their countries.  Instead, they would represent the “Olympic Flag”.  The Soviet Union easily won the most gold medals with 80 and also finished with 195 total medals, 69 more than runner-up East Germany.

The 2014 Winter Olympic games will be held in Sochi, Russia.  Since it is very unlikely that any country will be boycotting these games, expect the host country to have a lot more competition than they had in 1980.

Here is a clip of the 1980 Summer Olympic Closing Ceremonies.

Notable Birthdays

Marcel Dionne, NHL – Born August 3^rd 1951 (age 60) in Drummondville, Quebec

Troy Glaus, MLB – Born August 3^rd 1976 (age 35) in Tarzana, California

Tom Brady, NFL – Born August 3^rd 1977 (age 34) in San Mateo, California

It’s hard to call any Olympic athlete a “flash in the pan.” First off, they clearly had a lot of success to get to the Olympic games. Secondly, the inability to achieve Olympic success doesn’t necessarily mean that one hasn’t achieved lot of success in other venues. However, there have been plenty of athletes that have failed to meet expectations set, either by failing to medal, or by failing to repeat their performances, despite a strong pedigree. So here are a few examples of athletes that achieved success, but not quite as much as they would have liked.

9. Kim Zmeskal

Zmeskal was the poster child for the Barcelona Summer Games, having graced the covers of both Time and Newsweek in the days leading up to the Olympics. In the years before, the Houston native had absolutely rocked the World Championships in both Paris and Indianapolis. However, the weight of the Olympiad may have proven too much for her. Her stellar performances were peppered with mental errors, stutter steps and slip ups. Sadly, after only scoring a bronze in the team category, it was revealed that Zmeskal had a stress fracture in her ankle. However, considering most of her errors were mental, that doesn’t fully explain her inability to live up to expectations.

(Source)

8. and 7. Dan and Dave

Again in Barcelona (the 1992 Summer Games seem to have been the year of the hype machine), high expectations were set for two gentlemen who were competing for America in the decathlon. The expectations here created not by experts or the athletes themselves, but rather by Reebok, which was looking to create some buzz around their newly-launched “Pump.” Seeing as how the decathlon is supposed to be an all-around test of athletic prowess, the shoe company asked which one would prove to be the world’s greatest athlete in Barcelona. It turns out neither. Dan O’Brien didn’t even qualify for the games after falling short on the pole vault in the qualifier, while Dave Johnson placed third for the bronze. While that’s no small potatoes, it’s hard to argue that any bronze medal winner is the world’s greatest athlete. He retired shortly thereafter and people went back to not caring about the decathlon.

6. Bode Miller

It’s hard to not root for party animal Bode Miller. The American downhill skier medaled twice in SLC in 2002, but his ways caught up with him in Torino, where he appeared out of shape in a 5th-place finish and even overslept to miss an early-morning course inspection. There are few personalities more marketable than Miller’s but without a level of success, he came across as a loud-mouth drunk that was more interested in parting at the games than competing in them.

(Source)

5. Michelle Kwan

Any athlete that is capable of getting to the Olympics is capable of being disappointed by not scoring the goal. So Michelle Kwan’s Olympic performances, no matter how “competent,” would always seem to fall short should she never get the gold. She fell short to the next entry on this list, as well as America’s Olympic sweetheart Sarah Hughes in 2002. Kwan has walked away known as the United States’ most decorated skater, but still without an Olympic gold. Which is a bit like being called “the most beautiful person in the world, except for their face.”

4. Tara Lipinski

I understand that calling a gold medal winner a “flash in the pan” could be construed as a little misguided. Although less than stellar athletes can achieve the highest levels of success given the right circumstances (see Redskins QB Mark Rypien), Lipinski’s fleeting fame just boils down to misfortune. After upsetting Michelle Kwan for the gold in 1998, just three months later she suffered a torn labrum and injured hip that forced her to retire.

(Source)

3. 2004 US Men’s Basketball Team

The Men’s US Basketball squad is supposed to win the gold. That’s just how it is. When the pros were allowed in back in 1992, expectations were set. After all, given the talent pool the US has to choose from, there’s no excuse for anything less than the number one spot. I guess the 2004 team didn’t get the memo. They lost three games, more than they had ever lost in a single year, let alone in a single Olympiad. They ended up with the bronze, which for any other team would have been a great achievement. But for the US team, it was an outrageous embarrassment.

2. Sergei Bubka

If winning a gold medal in your event can still qualify you as being a “flash in the pan,” then I’m sure a lot of athletes wouldn’t mind finding their way on this list. But Sergei Bubka (USSR/Ukraine) was perhaps the most dominant participant in any track and field event during his career, but he managed to score only one gold medal (in Seoul in ’88). Of course, it’s not like there are eight different pole vaulting events to choose from every four years, so if you have a bad go of it, there aren’t any other avenues to find your way to gold. He set and broke the men’s pole vaulting record a staggering 35 times during his reign, despite having only one gold to show for his dominance.

1. Stacy Dragila

Bubka isn’t the only pole vaulter that failed to repeat their success in the Olympics. Dragila took the gold in 2000, but, despite maintaining dominance following the 2000 games (she holds 8 outdoor world championships), but she was unable to even advance to the medal round in 2004, finishing seventh, not overall, but just in her group. Despite garnering another gold at the world championships in 2005, she never found her way back to the Olympics. Not exactly a sob story, but not the dominance one would have expected.

I have always admired the work of our firefighters in North America, but this video of the French Firefighter Olympics has led me to believe that nowhere in the world is a flame’s life in greater danger than when it is in France.

Check out the following clip to see for yourself.

Hat Tip – [Brobible]

Well I guess weightlifters in Russia have a similar motto:  “If you can lift a human, you can lift a weight.”

This guy can clearly lift a human.  In fact, he can easily lift two humans.  So I guess that means he can lift a heck of a lot of weight.  This technique may help explain Russia’s success in Olympic weightlifting.  Perhaps the rest of the world should take notice.

Hat Tip – Reader Vic

A few years back we introduced you all to Leryn Franco, the Paraguayan athlete whose looks pierced out hearts much like her javelin throws pierce the ground on which they land.  Well it appears as though Franco is back and looking better than ever as she showed off that incredible body and beautiful face for Sports Illustrated’s Swimsuit Issue.

You may have to buy the magazine if you want to see all of the pictures (or you can see them here), but we have something even better for you below – video footage of Franco’s photo shoot, which took place in the beautiful outdoors of Banff, Canada.

Here are three clips for you all to ogle.  Enjoy!

Hat Tip – [Sports Illustrated]