South Korea’s Shin A Lam reacts after being defeated by Germany’s Britta Heidemann (not seen) during their women’s epee individual semifinal fencing competition at the ExCel venue at the London 2012 Olympic Games July 30, 2012. Losing at the Olympics hurts. But suffering an injustice, real or imagined, is agony. Shin A-lam sat on the fencing piste, weeping, for an hour in protest at her elimination from the epee semi-final. She thought she had triumphed over Heidemann, only to see a single second put back on the clock during which she was hit, and eliminated. DAMIR SAGOLJ/REUTERS/Newscom. Find it on Newscom.com: rtrlfive410349
By the time of the Olympic closing ceremony there will be more than 2,100 medals awarded to athletes. That may sound like a ton until you realize that there are over 10,500 athletes in London most of them will be going home empty handed. The focus is on the winners, as it should be, but it is also important to remember that behind that happy joyful person is a line of people who worked just as hard but came up short. Continue reading →