The 2010 Winter Olympics in Verse

(Edit:  Originally, I was going to document the majority of the sports in the 2010 Winter Olympics, but I just kind of flaked and now I’ve forgotten everything that happened.  So…yeah, I just ended up writing about one of the sports–snowboarding.)

Dedicated to the memory of Nodar Kumaritashvili
Georgian luger who died in a training run hours before the opening ceremony
World-class athlete, beloved son, kind-hearted soul
Taken from the world too suddenly, too soon

2010 Winter Olympics
by Edie Montgomery-Pool

Atop trucked-in ice and man-made powder
When Vancouver’s snowfall fell short
Amidst the breathtaking splendor of Canada’s beauty
The world gathered for the glory of sport

* * * * *

Men’s Halfpipe

Twenty-one healed bones and a mountain of talent
Was what Scotty Lago brought to his bronze-medal finish
And Peetu Piiroinen took silver that day
Much to the pride of the snowboarding Finnish

Yet nothing compared to the anticipation
Of one man’s daring acrobatic flight
The unfolding legend, the King of Cypress Mountain,
The Flying Tomato, Red Zepplin, Shaun White

With razor-sharp tricks at skyscraper heights
Like a tomahawk, he sliced through the competition
Then floated to the ground as if his board had wings
Landing himself in the gold medal position

At the top of the pipe, in sheer jubilation
Knowing the coveted prize had been won
He dropped in and pulled off a Double McTwist
1260 on the final run

* * * * *

Women’s Halfpipe

Kelly Clark thought she was Kelly Clarkson
And sang loudly before each run
It must have worked because she took home the bronze
When the women’s halfpipe was done

Bright had a dark moment when she teetered and fell
Leaving the door open for others to beat her
But Torah nailed it the next time, winning gold for Oz
With the silver awarded to Hannah Teter

If you like this poem, you might also want to take a look at my Summer 2008 Olympics poem.

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2008 Summer Olympics: The Short Version – The Games in Rhyme

Are the Summer Olympics taking up too much of your time and digital recording space?  Want to get right to the nitty gritty?  Here are several sports in the 2008 Olympic games, all recapped in 17 words or less.  This is a work in progress; I’ll add more as I watch more Olympics.

2008 Summer Olympics in Verse
by Edie Montgomery-Pool

The big red dragon
From seclusion unfurled
Opening its gates
To embrace the world

Phelps swam eight times
Eight times won gold
The world in awe
Watched history unfold

Olympic gymnastics
A glorious scene
China was fantastic
But nowhere near sixteen

Nastia Liukin
Put to the test
As all-around gymnast
She proved she’s the best

A beaming smile
From balance beam‘s ace
Shawn Johnson nailed it
And took first place

Yelena of Russia
Loved by crowds
Broke another world record
Pole vaulting the clouds

Volleyball‘s queens
Won every heat
Walsh and Misty May
Unfamiliar with defeat

A Jamaican giant
With an appropriate name
Made racing look easy
And Bolted to fame

As baseball and softball
Faded from view
BMX racing
Made its debut

In Tae Kwon Do
A national disgrace
That guy from Cuba
Kicked a ref in the face

In ping pong and diving
Hardly a nation
Could compete with China’s
World domination

James DeGale
Fighter from Britain
The middleweight champ
Despite being bitten

Through ten tough sports
He fought his way
World’s Greatest Athlete:
Bryan Clay

Allstars and small stars
Played as a team
For basketball greatness
And took back the dream

Feeling creative? Add your own verses in the comments section.  To read more of my poetry, visit the Edie Montgomery-Pool poetry section of this blog.

Edit: 8/23/08 Added verse 4, re: Nastia Liukin
Edit: 8/23/08 Added verse 5, re: Shawn Johnson
Edit: 8/23/08 Added verse 8, re: Usain Bolt
Edit: 8/24/08 Added verse 1, re: China
Edit: 8/24/08 Added verse 10, re: Angel Valodia Matos
Edit: 8/24/08 Added verse 12, re: James DeGale
Edit: 8/25/08 Added verse 9, re: baseball, softball, bmx
Edit: 8/25/08 Added verse 13, re: decathlon
Edit: 8/25/08 Added verse 14, re: basketball
Edit: 8/26/08 Added verse 11, re: tabble tennis, diving

Edit: 8/26/08:  This Olympic poem is complete now.  I might tweak a few words here and there in the next few weeks, but I’ve now written about all the topics I wanted to include.  It’s a very old tradition to commemorate the Olympics in poem, dating back to B.C., so it’s my great honor to be a tiny part of that grand tradition. 

_______________

(You may reproduce this poem in part or whole, on or in a website, email, podcast, or broadcast; permission for electronic reproduction is granted on the provision that the website on which the poem is published is not a vanity publisher or a scam poetry contest which requires its “winners” to make a purchase or pay a fee before being published.  You may also reproduce this poem in print material for which net profits do not exceed $1,000.  Author name must be included in any reproductions, and author must be notified whenever this poem is, or parts of this poem are, used.  For all other uses not mentioned here, just ask and I will most likely say yes.) 🙂

Olympic Poems

Olympic poetry seems like it would be abundantly available in the midst of 2008 Olympic mania, but the only really good Olympic poet I could find was an old standby…from 476 B.C.  Here are parts of some very old yet very cool Olympic poetry, both from a poet named Pindar:

 

Olympic Poetry (1)

Water is supreme, and gold
Like fire at night stands out
Among all the subtances that heighten human pride–
But if you want to celebrate 
Greatness in games, O my soul, you’ll find
No brighter star in the vastness of space
Than the sun, no contest more glorious
Than Olympia–

 

Olympic Poetry (2)

Nikeus sent the stone
spun from the whirl of his hand
past them all, and as it passed his comrades in arms
sent a shout roaring after it.
And then the radiance
of the moon’s beautiful eye made everything shine.

I’m not sure who did the translations.  If you know, please post.  Or if you have any modern Olympic poetry favorites, you can share those in the comments section, as well.  Both of these excerpts were found at Online Newshour — Olympic Poems, where you can read more complete versions of Pindar’s original “old school” Olympic poetry.

You can also read a poem specifically about the 2008 Summer Olympics here:  2008 Summer Olympics: The Short Version – The Games in Rhyme.