It's a holiday here in the UK today so I'm taking a holiday from electronics distribution with my favourite three stories from the Olympics - not Bolt, not Phelps, slightly more unsung heroes.
1. Matthias Steiner, a German weightlifter who lost his wife in a car accident last year. He dedicated himself to winning the Gold medal in her memory - and he did it with his last, momentous lift. He carried her photograph on to the medal podium - and if you weren't alternately cheering and shedding a tear with this guy you have a heart of stone.
2. Natalie du Toit, a top class swimmer who had a serious motorbike accident which caused the amputation of her left leg below the knee. Finished? Not on your life. She was back in the pool training and last week took her place in the Ladies 10km open water swim. She finished 16th after over two hours in the water, which might just be the achievement of the Beijing Games.
3. This final story comes from Richard Moore a journalist with UK Sunday newspaper, The Observer. Chris Hoy is a triple Gold medallist for the Great Britain cycling team, and he shared a taxi back to the Olympic Village with Ari Taub, a Canadian Greco Roman wrestler whose Olympics we can charitably say was not quite so successful. No matter. Neither Hoy nor Taub had a clue about each other, and Richard Moore had to tell Taub of Hoy's achievements because the Brit is a classy guy who wasn't going to play the Big Time Charlie. Moore leaves them chatting and he is struck by this wonderful encounter where two athletes at opposite ends of the success spectrum forge the bond which marks true Olympians. Read the full story at www.guardian.co.uk/theobserver/sport
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