My top Olympic Athletes

So I should be working on my dissertation (and I have been) but I've decided to take a break, procrastinate and make this top 5 list of my favourite Olympic atheletes.

To be fair, I haven't watched much aside from beach volleyball and tennis. With a lot of the events I usually just sit there thinking "How does someone become that good at table tennis/badminton/trampolining?"

So here it goes! I'll countdown backwards to build the suspense! ;-)

5. Ricardo Santos

This guy is insanely good! Especially at blocking. He reminds me of one of those Easter Island heads (not in a bad way). He just always has this stone cold, super serious expression on his face. He means business! Let's see if him and his partner can get Brazil Olympic gold!


4. Del Potro

Del Potro made me a fan when he beat Federer in 5 sets to win the US Open in 2009, but a series of injuries kept him off the court for a while and he has just never gotten back to that same level of play he was at in 2009. He was looking so good against Federer in the semifinals, and I was hoping this would be his chance to gain more confidence, make his way back up the ranking and win some more slams. Sadly he lost to Federer 3-6, 7-6, 19-17. He looked so crushed!! It was almost as bad as Murray after losing Wimbledon. I just wanted to give him a hug afterwards (same goes for Murray). So Murray will be playing Federer tomorrow for repeat of the Wimbledon final and Del Potro will play Djokovic for bronze. I'll be rooting for Del Po just because I'd like to see him become a real threat again.

3. Keri Walsh and Misty May-Treanor

Ok, so technique they are 2 different people, but they are one team so they get lumped together. I had so much fun watching them take gold in Beijing and I am hoping they can take it again this year! (Also, I think beach volleyball looks like the funnest sport ever. Maybe I should start playing!)

2. HULK!!

Ok, this guy probably should be at number 5, or really not even on the list. I didn't even note him do anything of importance during the Brazil-Honduras football match, but come on! His name is 'Hulk'! That is awesome! I wish I had a last name so incredible!! (haha, get it?)

1. Gabby Douglas

Her performance in gymnastics was amazing! Gold with the American team and individual all -around! So impressive, and she is only 16 years old! So many little girls will look up to her and want to take up gymnastics just to be like her. I also love her quote after winning gold- “And I give all the glory to God, It's kind of a win-win situation. The glory goes up to Him and the blessings fall down on me.” What a great attitude!

***UPDATE***
I just discovered 'Hulk' isn't #2's real name. How sad =( but I should have known better. His real name is Givanildo Vieira De Sousa. He got his nickname from his dad who was a fan of the Incredible Hulk. The nickname stuck, probably because this is what he looks like!

It's still pretty cool that his jersey says 'Hulk' so I'll leave him on the list. I'm too lazy to rearrange the whole list, but he has been bumped down to #5 (in my mind anyway.)

Hope everyone is enjoying watching the Olympics!