2009 Deaflympics Taipei

Teacher Bill here in Taipei. This is the 2009 Deaflympics, and we have track and field events, here. There’s the men, men’s Decathlon going on, also the ladies Javelin toss, and we’ve got the men’s Triple Jump. So, we’ll take a look around and see what’s happening with these events.
The brand new Taipei Stadium, and they just finished this, maybe 8 months ago. And, uh, seats about 35,000 people, at this stadium. It’s actually very nice—well laid-out stadium. Here for the Deaflympics they have it decorated in kind of an Aboriginal motif to welcome all of the Deaflympians here to Taiwan. And, uh, we’ve got the Javelin toss—it’s actually part of, the uh,--uh, I think that’s women’s Javelin toss going on down there.
And we’ve got the high jump happening down at that end—which is actually part of the men’s Decathlon. Oh!—we haven’t seen many successful jumps.
That’s actually the, uh, Olympic flame—the Deaflympic flame up there. It’s been burning up top of the tower. That’s a big drum right below that—they used that drum during the Opening Ceremonies. I’m sure they’ll use it for the Closing Ceremonies, for some music performances.
A high jump—Ohhhh! Not quite high enough.
Another good toss on the javelin.
He’s from the USA? Here’s somebody from the United States. Ohhhh! Too much gravity.
Okay, I think the Italian will be attempting the high jump. Oh, yes! Successful.
Alright, the Javelin throw—Javelin toss, make that.
Alright, the flag from China raised for the Gold. Looks like the Korean flag for Bronze. I don’t know what flag that is—the green and white, for the Silver.
Alright, the Triple Jump.
Oooh—good toss.
Ah, this is the beginning of the final event in the men’s Decathlon. The fifteen hundred, 1,500 meter race. So, I don’t know who is leading the competition—they’ve already had nine events in the Decathlon, which is the ultimate competition in the Olympics. And, um, this is going to determine the winner. Very exciting time here tonight. We’ll check back with these guys later, see how they do.
Okay, that was a Triple Jump attempt.
The guys are over there running the fifteen hundred meters.
I, there’s some High Jump going on, and there’s Javelin tosses. So, stuff going on all over the place here.
These guys have to pace themselves, don’t use up all their energy too soon.
Yeah, wow, it’s the end of the 1,500 race. Wow, that guy had a big kick at the end. Wow! What a finish.
Okay, this guy’s going for a new world record—Deaflympics record, 2.13. Ohhh!
Ah, good toss.
Okay, this is the women’s 800 meter final. They’ll go around 2 times. Okay, here they come, uh, second and final lap. There’s a guy triple-jumping, there.
800 meters women’s final. They run faster than I do.
The men’s 800 meter semifinal. We’ve got, uh, runners from Venezuela, Kenya, Greece, U.S., Spain, Russia, Russia, and Kenya. Okay.
He’s giving a report for a station, TV station—uh, sounds like Spain, or somewhere in South America.
So, it’s time for the men’s 800 semifinals.
Ah, he is actually from Columbia. So, he’ll be filing a report back to his TV station, back in Columbia.
Now, back the action—final lap of the men’s 800 meter semifinal. Oh, yeah, I use to run like that—use to.
Wow, very exciting, what an ending! Man it’s going down to the wire. Wow! What a finish. I don’t know. We’re gonna have to go to the replay. They don’t even know—the runners aren’t even sure who won.
Look at that! Four guys. Four guys right at the finish line.
Who won? I don’t know, how do you pick a winner? Four guys, that’s amazing.
They don’t even know, the runners don’t even know, the judges don’t even know. They’re gonna do it with paper-scissors-stone—that’s how they’re going to determine the winner.
Here’s the finish, of that exciting men’s 800 meter semifinal race. A four-way heat, right down at the wire. A four-way heat. Amazing!
Okay, this is the second semifinal of the men’s 800 meters race. I don’t know, we’ll see if we have, we’ll see if we have four guys finish in a tie, again.
Got the Nigerian—he’s taking off.
Okay, second and final lap in the 800 meters, and the pace-setter from Nigeria seems to be fading.
Alright, there’s the finish, the second semifinal. Oh my gosh, another guy fell—we had three guys fall in that race. I think they just, uh, fatigued—too much fatigue.