R. W. BLAH

          In the 1976 Montreal Olympics, a Russian athlete named Boris Onischenko, or dishonest chenko was going to compete in the modern day pentathlon. Pentathletes swim, run, shoot pistols, ride horses, and fence. Onischenko won the team gold in 1972 and the single silver twice.           This would likely be Onischenko’s last Olympics, as he was already 38 years old. Many assumed he would leave the Olympic games with yet another medal, as the Russian team was fourth with their strongest skills still to come. The second day was the fencing competition, with a round robin tournament spread around 46 matches in 12 hours. The aim was to win 70% of the matches, which would award a point bonus.           The Russians played the British early that day. Onischenko beat Danny Nightingale, Adrian Parker, and then Mike Proudfoot, who called an official to inspect the Russian’s fencing equipment. The offi...

picture was found  here           The Olympic motto: Faster, Higher, Stronger. This couldn’t seem further from what happened in the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games, where Eric “The Eel” Moussambani, a 100m freestyle swimmer representing Equatorial Guinea, almost drowned in his attempt.           Eric Moussambani didn’t start swimming until high school. At the time, there was no standard swimming pool in Equatorial Guinea, nor a swimming program. So he practiced in a hotel pool in the open hours and at other times in the river or by the beach. He asked fishermen for advice, but the fishermen taught him only how to stay afloat, not how to swim quickly. Despite the fact that Moussambani was a layman in the swimming world, he was given a chance to compete at the Olympics.           When Moussambani arrived at the Sydney Olympics, he had never seen a 50 meter pool before. He sat by the pool and watched ...

                The high jump changed forever in the Olympic games of 1968 in Mexico city. It all started in the early 1960s when Dick Fosbury was still a lousy jumper. His hero Valery Brumel continued to break records while all he broke was his hand. His friend had bet that he couldn’t jump over a chair and he couldn’t. His coach tried to help him with the western roll, but with little success. His highest jump stayed at 1.63 meters, 60 centimeters off the world record at the time.           In 1963, while striving to break his personal record, Fosbury tried something different. He lifted his hips and pushed his shoulders back, which got him a new personal high. After that, he converted from sitting on top of the bar to laying flat on his back. This way, he could soar over the bar while his center of mass stayed below the bar. The innovative technique dramatically improved his personal best by almost 15 c...

                    Just a couple weeks ago, I feasted my eyes on the oldest tree in Illinois while eagles and blue herons flew around me, a snake swam near me, and a fish jumped over my canoe. This all happened in the Cache River, a 92 mile long wetland that provides a habitat for more than 100 endangered species. It used to be a floodplain, but when the Ohio River took its present course, the Cache River became a swamp.                     When I visited the Cache River, I went canoeing in a route that would take us to eagle pond, which is an open pond surrounded by ancient bald cypress trees. The majestic eagles were flying around the beautiful pond as I drank in the scene. We would then go to see the champion cyprus. This 1000+ year old living bald cypress tree lays in a small secluded area branching off of the Cache River. This tree is so old that you aren’t even ...

The seas of the Antarctic The freezing panoramic King penguins are swimming But that’s just the beginning The beach on the horizon away A daunting challenge underway King penguins have hungry chicks They must take unnerving risks Leopard seals lie just ahead They don't like being unfed Slipping, jumping, and diving It’s a game of surviving Next come the elephant seals A maze! What an ordeal Waddle, slide, and sway Penguins made their way Finally back to home land Where million chicks stand Singing a familiar song Brings them to their young Greeting with nourishing Hugging, kissing, and laughing The father knows how hard he tries Just to bring the sweet prize