New Zealand Conservative

Point Zero One. The Kiwi twins cross the line and we require German precision checking to see who had the most paint on the bow. That's what I call a photo finish, and the Evers-Swindell sisters guarantee a huge contract on Weet-Bix boxes for the next 20 years. Oh yes, they also took Gold for New Zealand in the 2000m double sculls. What an oar-some night for rowing, with a well deserved bronze by 2005 World champions Nathan Twaddle and George Bridgewater in the men's pair event, right after Mahe's huge effort. Rob Wadell and Nathan Cohen unfortunately were around 1 second off a bronze in the mens double sculls, making a great charge right at the end, but not quite enough time to catch. Nicky Coles and Juliette Haigh also missed out on a medal in the women's pair event, coming in at 5th position - still a great achievement to be in a final. Beijing Medal Table [not always current]

Wow! What absolute commitment! I just watched Mahe take bronze in the singles 2000m, and I think he may well be disappointed. There is no question in my mind though that his effort was pure gold. We know of course he's been sick this week, losing up to 4kg of weight this week. It's amazing he even turned up for the final, and we've seen him give everything he had. He's just been carried off by paramedics. Mahe, you may not have got gold today, but you did yourself proud. Fantastic effort and we all know the Gold would have been yours on another day.

TVNZ has apologised for a glitch which meant thousands of viewers up and down the country missed out on seeing kiwi swimmer Moss Burmester's epic effort this afternoon in the mens 200 metre butterfly final. A switching failure at the TVNZ headquarters in Auckland meant that viewers receiving the broadcast via satellite - either through SKY or on Freeview - missed the race. Live streaming on tvnz.co.nz - which uses a satellite feed - was also disrupted. TVNZ was quick to explain that the glitch test was a huge success and testament to all technicians involved in the trial run. "Once we confirmed we could blanket the news for the whole country we've realised that we are in fine shape for future broadcasts, where we may need to re-examine the newsfeeds and adjust according to the best interests of the public. Borrowing from China, we have a few extra tricks up our sleeves." Accordingly: * Olympic Racing Events for the 1500m may mysteriously blank for several minutes an...

As Michael Phelps cruises to his 10th career Gold Medal, we reflect on some of his secret training techniques: Speed training is an important part of a swimmers development Stick to pools with ample water And keep your lane clear And review video playback. It's amazing the inspiration potential. Related Link: Michael Phelps - Gold Plated Legend

It's Friday. Don't the Olympic Games kick off today? I found a picture of the opening ceremony. It's good they got a bright sunny day, and obviously they've now got the smog under control. About 90% of the athletes have tested positive for high levels of chemicals, but it turned out to be pollutants from the surrounding city. They are allowed to compete, if they recover in time. Stop by and drop a comment. But before you read on, warning - this 5 minute brain dump may be far too contemplative for a Friday of idle chit chat. Read it at your peril. Or are you yellow? Many people are already over the Olympics. Part of the problem is that China wanted to use them as an entree into the Western World as a new, improved, re-marketed, re-branded and re-modeled country. In many ways they are, and China is a country full of promise and potential and it's impact on the world stage in the next 50 years is perhaps going to be bigger than we can imagine. However, China...

It's a small world we live in. We've tried to separate sport from foreign affairs, foreign affairs from morals and yesterday Winston Peters tried to even separate foreign affairs from trade . So where has that got us? China spent a fair amount of effort to host the Olympics, figuring they can market the country just as well as Nike can flog products made on the back of cheap labour. They got their wish, and have, in efforts to prove how much they are improving on issues of human rights, demolished many homes and summarily turfed out citizens to make space* for the Olympic venues. They have banned factories and cars from operating in days preceding pollution measurements in efforts to assure athletes to leave the air bottles behind. When it comes to making the games go ahead, they exemplify the Nike motto; "Just Do It". But their biggest problem with the Olympic PR exercise, is that it all seems to be unraveling over the perpetual thorn in their side - Tibet....