Usain Bolt Finally Shows the World Everything that he can do.

The race and gold medal were in his hands. Nobody was even close to Bolt. During the 100 meter dash, he set a world record despite letting up before the finish line. This time he focused. There was more yet to be done. He kept driving, looking forward, no let up. It was time to make history.

It was time for Bolt to be the greatest sprinter ever. He blew everyone out of the race. They never had a chance once Bolt set his mind to run into history. The world and Olympic record for the 200 meter dash had stood for 12 years. That’s how long it had been since Michael Johnson ruled the 200 at the biggest stage in the world.

He is now the second man to break the 100 and 200 at the Olympics. Carl Lewis was the fastest man in the world back then. The 1984 Olympics were his stage. Twenty four years later, Bolt rules the stage. He set both world records at the Olympics, running the 200 meter race in 19.30 seconds. It was a race for the ages. He beat Churandy Martina by 0.52 seconds. That’s a full four body lengths and largest margin of victory since the 1900 race. The race was for second and third place; Martina, of the Netherland Antilles, Spearmon and Crawford didn’t have a chance.

Bolt is 6’5” and full of power and speed, certainly a different species or runner than what the other countries had to offer. “Incredible” is what Michael Johnson said after the race. Michael Phelps may have had the spotlight during the swimming competition, but it’s Usain Bolt’s turn to glow under the lights of fame.

We congratulate Usain Bolt at TicosLand.com and welcome him as the fastest man in the world, bar none. We hope that people in Costa Rica and all over the world will also welcome his amazing feats and record setting performance at the Olympics.

New World’s Tallest and Shortest Man.

Under the new set of guidelines set by the Guinness World Records, the title of world’s tallest man has returned to China’s Bao Xishun because Leonid Stadnyk from the Ukraine has refused to be measured.

Bao is 7 feet, 8.95 inches tall and held the title for a year before losing it to Stadnyk who is a purported 8 feet, 5.5 inches tall. The change arose because Bao has been measured under the new guidelines, which require the person purporting to be the world’s tallest man to be measured six times in one day while standing and then lying down. Stadnyk refused to be measure. All that he had to give him the Guinness World Record as world’s tallest man is a note from his doctor.

The Guinness World Record staff stated that due to the interest in the world’s tallest man, they could not rely on a doctor alone. Guinness has been asking Stadnyk if they could measure him since 2004, but he has said that he doesn’t want to be bothered. He doesn’t want the notoriety, fame and publicity that come from being the world’s tallest man. Guinness World Records would not go on record (pardon the pun) as saying whether that’s the real reason Stadnyk doesn’t want to be measured.

Bao, on the other hand, thrived from the fame and publicity that came from being the world’s tallest man. He often hires himself out to do publicity stunts and his wedding last year was sponsored by at least 15 companies. He was really upset when he found out he was no longer the world’s tallest man.

Not far from where Bao lives in Inner Mongolia, Guinness crowned He Ping Ping, who stands 2 feet, 5.37 inches as the world’s shortest man under the new rules. At TicosLand.com, the leading web directory in Costa Rica, we welcome the new rules established by Guinness.

Leryn Franco, Paraguayan Javelin Thrower, has Become Quite a Sensation.

How much of her 15 minutes of fame has she already used up? Leryn Franco, determined as well as beautiful spent her modeling winnings on training for the Olympics. This is already her second go around, but the first time she was really noticed. If she were from the United States, it’s likely that she would be a household name like Nastia Liukin, Jennie Find and Amanda Beard. But she is from the little South American country of Paraguay, and not many people would know right off the top where it is.

So here we are…the 26 year old finished 42^nd at the Athens Olympics. However, she continued modeling and doing pageants and actually finished as runner up in the Ms Paraguay 2006 contest, if only she were that good with the javelin.

She said good bye to the Beijing Olympics with tears in her eyes after having thrown a horrific 45.34 meters, which left her next to last in group B. “It was bad, very bad…it was a bad day. The warm-up was good. I felt good. I felt fast. I was doing warm-ups at over 50 meters. I don’t know what happened, can’t explain it,” said Franco between her streaming tears. “I am sorry, so sorry, Paraguay,” added the beautiful athlete. Even though she didn’t win much, she has won the adoration of many men and women around the world.

At TicosLand.com, the leading web directory in Costa Rica, we support Leryn Franco. The axiom has never been more appropriate, “nothing beats a try but a fail.” She didn’t fail. She qualified for the Olympics and gave it a try. It’s more than most of the people around the world can say. After all, how many of us have qualified for the Olympics?

If you have some time, visit the TicosLand.com Costa Rica Directory. It is by visiting our website, using the features and commenting on them that you will help us to grow and become better and better.

Olympic gold, Nastia Liukin and a record medal haul.

Do you remember when Indian clubs and rope climbing were Olympic events and they got you medals just in like any other sport? If you do, then God bless you because you are at least 76 if you were born on the year when they were last Olympic events. Wait a minute! God bless you even more if you remember. My earliest memories are around four or five years old. Let’s add four years to that 76, and you are 80 years old and still sharp enough to remember those good old Indian clubs being thrown about and people speeding up a rope.

That was also the last time that the United States last won 10 medals in a non-boycotted Olympics, exactly the amount of medals that they reaped in Beijing. Nastia Liukin said that the medal count in gymnastics shows the overall strength of the teams. “We went out there and showed we are the best. Going 1-2 in the all-around, that’s never been done by the United States. The Americans have never had 1-2 on beam before, either. And 2-3 on floor isn’t too bad,” added Liukin.

However, it was another story for the men. The Chinese men were incredibly strong in their disciplines. Li Xiaopeng won gold on the parallel bars, with Zou Kai getting his third gold with a great performance on the high bar. The Chinese men took home seven golds. Yes, seven! That’s every gold medal available but one. That’s a great change from Athens when they were the overwhelming favorites in almost every event and only won one gold. Only the former Soviet Union had won seven golds (1956 and 198 in a single Olympic.

All in all, it’s been a great Olympics full of drama and controversy. There is always controversy and high drama when people compete. At TicosLand.com, we wish there were a way to take the controversy from the games. The question is how to get it done? We wonder if our readers in Costa Rica and around the world have a suggestion?

Visit the TicosLand.com Costa Rica web directory and helps us grow and become better. There is a lot of information about Costa Rica on our website, including money exchange, free sms text messages, free faxes, money exchange rates and much more. We will soon be having our very first notebook pc giveaway. We will be giving away a notebook pc to one of our visitors or registered users, so go to the TicosLand.com website and fill out a free profile so that you can start receiving more information about our pc giveaway.

We are not limited to Costa Rica, though. Our reach has become global. Thank you for visiting our website and out blog and making all of our efforts worthwhile. We have added forums and blogs to our website. It is in both English and Spanish for your convenience. If you have any suggestions on how we can improve our website or blog or as to how we can better serve you, then please visit the feedback forum and let us know.

Shawn Johnson Owns the Beam.

Her score was a 16.225. She smiled from ear to ear after having nailed her routine on what might be considered the most difficult apparatus in women’s gymnastics. Even though she was a bit under the weather, she came out like a trooper and finally got her gold medal. It was the last event in women’s competition.

Johnson already had a silver in the all-around, a silver on the floor exercise and in the team event. This was her event and her time to shine. She beat out Nastia Liukin, who finished with a gold, three silvers and a bronze. It seemed like an appropriate ending. This was voiced by Martha Karolyi, who added that the United States had proved its supremacy in women’s gymnastics.

After all of the controversy, a clear winner without any controversy clouding her moment of glory emerged. The Chinese seemed obsessed with earning more medals as the US, and the United States seemed determined to once again show dominance in women’s gymnastics.

At the leading web directory in Costa Rica, TicosLand.com, this has all seemed very exciting and rewarding. Even Costa Rican runner Nery Brenes qualified for the quarterfinals in men’s track, an unexpected turn of events. We will continue to root for fair play at the Olympics.

Jennifer Aniston, Christina Applegate and Scarlett Johansson in Telethon to fight Cancer!

“Stand up to Cancer!” the upcoming telethon will give you more than your fill of stars. It is going to be a star studded event with dozens of stars at the gala event such as: Jennifer Aniston, Christina Applegate, Scarlett Johansson, America Ferrera, Charlize Theron and others. The event will take place on September 8 at Hollywood’s Kodak Theater.

This I an event aimed at raising funds to speed up cancer research, as well as raise cancer awareness. Other Hollywood heavyweights are expected including Meryl Streep and Sally Field, with Lance Armstrong, Josh Brolin, Casey Afleck and David Cook making an appearance for the men.

The telethon is set to be broadcast simultaneously on three of the major TV networks (ABC, CBS and NBC) and co-hosted by Katie Couric, Charles Gibson and Brian Williams.

At TicosLand.com, we always applaud such worthwhile efforts and hope that the telethon reaches it’s goals.  We also invite our readers to visit the leading web directory in Costa Rica.

He Kexin and Nastia Liukin Both Deserved Better at the Beijing Olympic Games.

China’s He Kexin and Nastia Liukin both scored a 16.725 for their uneven bars routines. Both had the same starting value of 7.7 and both scored execution scores of 9.025. He Kexin is known as a high-flying acrobat nicknamed the “Princess of the Crazy Uneven Bars.” Liukin is an elegant bar worker with flawless lines and extremely difficult pirouettes and grips. They were the first gymnasts to go.

Even though both scored 16.725, He Kexin won a tiebreaker over all-around champion Nastia Liukin of the United States for the uneven bars gold medal Monday at the Beijing Olympics.

As we reported on TicosLand.com, He has been at the center of an age-eligibility controversy throughout the games. We don’t know exactly how old she is, and perhaps we will never know unless she fesses up later on down the line. For now, her twists and flips went by in the blink of an eye, and she won by about that short a margin.

Nastia Liukin, who sat stone-faced for much of the competition, now has four medals, two of them silver, but she deserves better. She has been quite the Olympic champion with grace, beauty and charm. We congratulate her.

If He Kexin is 16, we offer sincere apologies beforehand.  However, both Kexin and Liukin deserve better.  Kexin deserves not to have all of this controversy swirling around her, and Liukin needs to know if someone ineligible won medals that would then be rightfully hers.

He Kexin

At TicosLand.com, we like to inform our readers in Costa Rica and around the world. We usually leave it up to our readers to comment on the things we report, but we cannot sit idly by and not make a comment on what we believe is a travesty. Even with her hair done up in Olympic style and with her make-up, she doesn’t look a day past 12. We invite you to look at her picture. In fact, we have posted a picture. Let’s stretch things. Let’s say she is actually 14 as had been officially reported. This could be almost believable. But we cannot be expected to swallow what they are feeding us. We cannot be expected to believe that she is 16. Shame on the IOC and the IGF for allowing controversy to cloud the Olympics and for preferring to remain silent on the matter in order not to offend the host country! We think the Chinese have already done enough of it themselves in prior World Games and Olympics. However, we always welcome our readers’ opinions on these matters.

Somebody was bound to capitalize on the Bigfoot news.

TicosLand.com blogged over the weekend how all of the hype about Bigfoot was just that, “hype!” Well, here comes another round for those of you who didn’t get enough the first time. Bushnell and ‘Field and Stream’ are now offering a $1 million reward for verifiable pictures of Bigfoot (or any other Sasquatch).  We know that someone is bound to come up with a picture that either is (not likely) or isn’t (probably somebody’s big dog) Sasquatch. This will go on until it all dies down and then it will start again.You can bet that the web will be buzzing now that there is a $1 million reward for the creature. We just hope that Cletus Bonehead up in whatever mountain he is currently living in doesn’t go off and shoot a hapless hunter who just so happened to get in his crosshairs. We can just imagine the interview: “Well, ah shirley ain’t knew that thar was a feller…seemed like that Bigfoot thang to me, even with that thar reflectory doo dad it must ‘a stoled offa some udder feller.”

Please, stay home, spend time with your family, save gas. Oh! And do you really think it was a coincidence that Bigfoot and Chupacabra were found around the same time? Let’s get ready for the hypervertising coming our way. So who is going to play Harry in the remake of Harry and the Hendersons?

At TicosLand.com, we love the cultural peculiarities in the United States. Don’t worry! We have our very own in good old Costa Rica. We are sure to stay tune to all of the buzz and keep our readers informed.

Michael Phelps and his date with history.

We took a break yesterday to enjoy history. We took a break to watch something that has been 6 years in the making. It was the greatest individual Gold Medal haul ever at one Olympics, but it was not done alone.

It took a team to leave him standing alone as the greatest Olympian ever; funny how things often seem to work out that way. Aaron Peirsol led off with the backstroke, Brendan Hansen, continuing his inexplicable lethargy, brought in the third fastest breaststroke leg, and it was Phelps’ turn. Now the US was trailing not only Australia, but also Japan. But Phelps dug down again. Where does he go when he puts on these Herculean surges? From where does he find the wherewithal to never give up, never give in, never give an inch?

By the time he hand off for the freestyle, the US was ahead by almost one second. But the Aussies had Eamon Sullivan, world record holder, bringing in the last leg.

Here he was cheering Jason Lezak as he brought the 400 meter medley relay in world record time. Then he said. “Everything is accomplished. I will have the medals forever.”

Of course, Phelps did his part to win his eighth gold and one up the Great Mark Spitz. Spitz has been surpassed by someone exemplifying the new generation: hip hop music lover, text messager, and backward cap wearer.

At TicosLand, we acknowledge that this is a performance for the ages. How long will it be before the next great swimmer comes along and challenges Phelps for a place in history? At TicosLand.com, the leading web directory in Costa Rica, we will be looking forward to history while we enjoy the present accomplishments which will not soon pass from memory.

World Record Tied by Phelps, Broken by Usain Bolt.

It was a race to end all races. There was a sort of stare down, rare to see in Olympic swimming. Phelps was in lane five, with cap pulled tight and goggles. In land four, Milorad Cavic, looking much like Phelps, almost staring at Phelps, both getting ready. They stepped up, the gun went off, and off they went. It was less than a minute, 50.58 to be exact, but it was a defining moment in time.

That’s all it was, a moment in time. It was a slap which Mark Spitz called “epic.” It almost didn’t happen. Milorad Cavic was ahead. In fact, Phelps was seventh going into the turn. It was awe inspiring as Phelps went deep inside and found another gear, some inner strength which helped him to gobble up the pool in long strokes, and he closed in. Cavic and Ian Crocker were ahead, almost the whole way, and then it happened. Phelps reached and touched and beat Cavic and Crocker didn’t finish in the money.

Although Phelps didn’t win in World Record time, he did tie a record that had stood for 36 years. It has been one of those mythical records that no one thought would ever be challenged, until Phelps came along and did the unthinkable. He challenged it in Athens and tied it in Beijing.

On the other hand, a track record that had been set on May 31 in New York was broken again by the very man who set the record. Could any track name be more fitting than Bolt? The Jamaican was the man once again, this time in Beijing. Even though he slowed a bit to celebrate his win, he still came in at 9.69 seconds, still below the old 9.72 that he had set earlier in the year.

What’s amazing about this man is that he has been setting records after having taken up the 100 meter dash about a year ago. Bolt happens to be a 200 meter specialist. He is the favorite in fact to win the 200 meter Gold Medal. If he gets the double, he will be the first to do so since Carl Lewis in 1988. It remains to be seen if more record breaking days are ahead in men’s track, and if there will be more glory bestowed upon Bolt.

At TicosLand.com, leading web directory in Costa Rica, we congratulate Usain Bolt, the fastest man on the face of the earth, and Michael Phelps, king of swimmers.