Mongolia won its first Olympic gold and China its second of the games after two Japanese contenders crashed with first-round losses on the judo mats Thursday.
Mongolia got its first Olympic gold from Tuvshinbayar Naidan, who defeated Kazakhstan's Askhat Zhitkeyev in the men's 100-kilogram class.
"The first thing I thought of was my parents and my coach," said Naidan, who bolsters his judo with elements of traditional Mongolian wrestling. Mongolia has won medals in wrestling, boxing, shooting and judo in previous games, but never a gold.
The Olympic victory touched off celebrations by thousands in the central square of Ulan Bator, Mongolia's capital. Fireworks boomed, car horns blared and people celebrated by downing vodka. Mongolia has won medals in wrestling, boxing, shooting and judo in previous games, but never a gold. Gundegmaa Otryad won a silver medal in women's pistol shooting Wednesday.
Naidan marked a big upset over Athens Olympic champion Keiji Suzuki of Japan in his opening bout. He scored a waza ari with just under two minutes remaining in the final, then added on two yuko to seal the victory...for full story
Congratulations!
I thank you for the praises you proclaimed about our project, "Kalam," the first Kapampanganovela in Philippine broadcasting history. Even though it is rooted on Kapampangan, we'd like to stress that's it's a national call. We are trying to send the message to different regions - Cebuano, Hiligaynon, Ilocano, Waray, etc. -- MANILA is not doing its part in promoting unity among Filipinos by respecting our cultural and linguistic diversity. I dream of the day when we could watch one another's TV dramas and films, and listen to one another's songs... too bad Manila only favors Tagalog and English. Have you seen the preview of our first episode? It's in kalamtv.blogspot.com . We went to UP Diliman days ago. We screened the first episode and lectured them about cultural diversity through mass media -- something which Manila doesn't practice, yet it claims to be "Filipino" (in truth, it's only Tagalog).
ReplyDeleteOf course, some debated about having only one language, etc. But they can go to hell. No one can discourage us from loving our own heritage.
Mayap a aldo!
Thanks that's my dream too - Filipinos from different ethnolinguistic groups sharing each other's cultural products like TV dramas, music etc. Our country is full of talented people yet our television networks don't represent it well. I wish you the best in your endeavor and I hope some young Ilonggo filmmaker will be inspired by your work and present our unique culture on TV too.
ReplyDeleteI really admire your initiative and can do spirit Jason.
Never in a million years did I expect Jason Paul Laxamana to drop by here. It's been an honor. Thank you for coming by.