Olympic Limericks

Behdad Salimikordasiabi

He's drawn super heavyweight, Iranian fame

And crumbled the uneasy challenger's claim.

Assertive and burly,

He began training early

By carrying the ponderous weight of his name.

Four years ago I wrote three Olympic observations in the form of limericks. Oddly enough, they still apply this year. So I dusted them off and am putting them back on the blog shelf. Then I added a couple more in honor of all the hours we've spent watching the games...and Geiko geckos and a conspiracy to get us to watch upcoming Bourne movies...and inarticulate Chevy truck owners...and other advertisements ad nausea... oh well, Olympics, I said.



Men's Gymnastics--The Chinese

They're doing remarkable things
On the horse, on the bars, on the rings
Their leads are commanding
They stick every landing
They've balanced their Yangs and their Yings

Michael Phelps

His perfect, elongated torso
has been featured as never before, so
When his swimming suit slips
Down toward his hips
The length of it seems even more so.

Badminton Scandal

These famous badminton abusers
Looked much more like cruisers than bruisers
Their plays were so lame
They were kicked from the game
For trying to be the best losers

Gabby Douglas

The smile is as big as the girl
With a twist and a leap and a whirl
She swings and she soars
While the crowd stands and roars
For their fabulous, high-flying squirrel



Shelly-Ann Fraser

The 100 is no piece of cake-a
You cannot afford a mistake-a
Just a cool running leap
for a clean medal sweep
It's Jamaica, Jamaica, Jamaica!


Ok, readers, if you want to add your own, send them to me in a comment and I'll post them...

Here's one from Carina:

In London the people are running
And swimming and boating and gunning,
But here I'm just beat
Walking out in the heat
Only watching and cheering and sunning








Then I wrote one for the runners:

Though chased by a feverish pack...
a Kenyan in front and in back... 
Tirunesh Dibaba...
from Addis Ababa...
took off with the first gold in track!



   This one's from Matthew

There once was a runner from Wales,
Who trained with his dogs on the trails.
When his races were run,
He didn't win one,
"I'm sorry I only chase tails!" 



And another from Carina

There was a young lady from Perth
Who knew from the day of her birth
She was born to compete
Flying fast on her feet
Could she be the next fastest on earth? 










Here's one to celebrate golds for Phelps, Franklin, Ledecky

We don't, in one night, as a rule
Make such a big splash in the pool
But Phelps took a gold
Then was followed, I'm told
By two girls not yet out of school 

 And one for the hours of diving...

There were few dives the diving team wouldn't do
And fewer than that that they couldn't do!
So, fearless and brash,
They made a big splash
Which is precisely what they shouldn't do 

 

For Beach Volleyball

Remarkable cheering, I'd say
For Kerri Walsh and Misty May
Whose volleyball shorts, 
quite the barest in sports,
Add meaning to "hip-hip hooray!".






Trampoline

They snickered when China's young Dong Dong
Was announced, but his program was strong strong
His daring routine
On the high trampoline
Beat them all, so they didn't laugh long long




Granada's First Gold

And, speaking of Olympic names
We can't forget Kirani James
Who ran for Grenada
As hard as he otta'
And earned the most famous of fames.



Here's one from Rinkly Rimes...who lives in Australia

Two sailors from my local area
Have beaten Taiwan and Bulgaria
The hopes of us all
Were pinned to their 'wall'.
Though others were quite a bit hairier.



To David Boudia (who beat the Chinese world champion to win a gold)

In the platform semi’s he nearly lost out

But Boudia’s grand final we all talked about

When the flawless Chinese

Began feeling the squeeze

And his gold-medal smile soon succumbed to a pout

 The Fastest Man
 

Like lightning, he bolted, then chattered

Of every world record he’d shattered

The mighty Usain

Left them all in the rain

And, to him, that’s the one thing that mattered

 

 

Wardrobe Malfunctions

When the suits of the polo teams

Are held on the body with strings
It's hard for them all
To keep watching the ball
Cause' they're worried about other things

And finally…I write one to all the Olympians

Alas, the Olympics are over

Say goodbye to the white cliffs of Dover

And to every athlete

Who went down in defeat--

All those who are not “in the clover”

No camera was trained on your face

No multitudes cheered for your race

Yet you ran in a manner

That would honor the banner

Of the country that gave you a place

And as fame is obscured by the years

So also, your pain and your tears,

Will yield to the glory

Of a much larger story

Olympians, you share the cheers!