SPORTS NEWS VIDEO 1
Story: The reigning Olympic men’s Javelin Champion Andreas Thorkildsen says it’s gold or lose.
Duration: 3 min
Delivery format: mini DV
Online: Mpeg2
Location: Beijing, China
Language: English
The reigning Olympic men’s Javelin Champion Andreas Thorkildsen says it’s gold or lose.
The Norwegian was in a playfully relaxed mood, just days before he tries to retain his title here in Beijing. The 26 year old admitted that he does experience a few nerves before he competes but they are very quickly gone after the event gets underway. As for pressure he says there is always some but he has been at too many competitions for it to be an issue to him. The Norwegian who only managed a silver medal at the World Championships in Osaka Japan last year and threw his personal best of 91.59 in Oslo back in 2006. A throw he thinks would probably be good enough to claim the gold medal here in China. The world record for the Javelin was set by Jan Železný of the Czech Republic back in 1996 it stands at 98.48m.
SOUNDBITE: Andreas Thorkildsen
Q: do you feel extra pressure being the Olympic Champion?
A: Well there’s always a little bit of pressure but it’s the Olympics bit still it’s a Championship and this is not my first championship, I think its my eighth or ninth championship, so I’ve been here before basically and I feel confident about this Olympics.
Thorkildsen Soundbite: 2
Q: Do you get nerves before competing?
A: Well I think I always have a little bit of nerves before I throw but basically after the first round I am, well you just want to get that first one out and then no matter how it goes you use that as a reference and then just keep working. Then from second throw on there are not a lot of nerves.
Thorkildsen Soundbite: 3
Q: What do you know about the other competitors?
A: There’s always Tero Pitkämäki who is the strongest opponent, he’s the World Champion of last year. Every Championships there’s always a wild card and this year the other things I’ve done are pretty good. I’m looking good to seeing how the others compete and perform in the finals. There’s always someone who can pop out like I did last Olympics, so you are not really sure when the finals come.
Thorkildsen Soundbite: 4
Q: Would you be happy with any medal?
A: I have put in a lot of time and effort and worked really hard for this, and I’m definitely not working that hard for a silver I’m working for the gold. Anyone who has, not just me but anyone who has the capacity to win just wants to win everything else is just something else. For me it’s a gold or I lose.
SPORTS NEWS VIDEO 2
Story : World indoor long jump Champion Naide Gomes says she can jump over 7:12 in Beijing
Duration: 3 min
Delivery format: mini DV
Online: Mpeg2
Location: Beijing, China
Language: Portuguese & English with Translations on track 2
STORY:
World indoor long jump Champion Naide Gomes says she can jump over 7:12 in Beijing.
Confident Gomes only managed 4th place at the World Championships in Osaka Japan in 2007 but snapped up the Gold at the indoor championships in Valencia Spain this year so it’s anybodies guess how Gomes will perform on the day in China. Even she admits that success and a gold medal will go to the person who gets out of bed feeling great on the day.
The 28 year old from the Island’s of São Tomé and Príncipe off the coast of West Africa took Portuguese citizenship in 2001 but not before she carried the São-Tomé flag at the Sydney Olympics and competed under it in the 100 metre hurdles.
Gomes is the best athlete to have come out of her native homeland by some distance. Before changing nationality she set the current São Tomé and Príncipe records in 100 metres hurdles, long jump, high jump, triple jump, shot put, javelin and heptathlon. Having moved to Portugal at the age of 11 Gomes who now represents the Sporting Clube de Portugal became the first Portuguese athlete to jump over seven metres in Madrid last year. A distance she believes she can better her in China despite an injury to her right foot.
SOUNDBITE: Naide Gomes
Q – what changes have you made?
I change a lot of things to improve my mark I changed my jump I changed my velocity I changed many things.
SOUNDBITE: Naide Gomes
q- what do you think about when you are out on the track?
Usually I don’t think about other athlete I think only about me Naide Gomes when I go to jump I think about all aspects I think about jumping well I think about jumping more and more I think only me
SOUNDBITE: Naide Gomes
Q: Are you over the world champions?
A: This year is this year – Osaka is past. I think only Olympic Games, only Beijing. I think I’m strong this year, I’m very strong and jumping very well, I’m going to work so hard for this.
Gomes Soundbyte: 4
Q:how is your fitness?
A: I have an injury in my right foot but I think it’s ok and I am going to jump very well and not a problem. In sport I have some little problem but I think I can jump.
Gomes Soundbyte: 5
Q: how far do you think you can jump?
A: I really think that I can do the best, better than 7.12m but the Olympic Games is the Olympic Games. It is a big event and I think I can be better and being the first in the ranking doesn’t make me a special one because I’m the leader. The Olympic Games is different.
SPORTS NEWS VIDEO 3
Story MEDAL WINNER: Double gold medal winner Britta Steffen
Duration: Olympic Record breaking and double gold medal winning Britta Steffen says she swam the first 50 meters of the 100m Freestyle final with her eyes closed!
Delivery format: mini DV
Online: Mpeg2
Location: Beijing, China
Language: English and German
STORY:
Double gold medal winning swimmer Britta Steffen says she swam the first 50 meters of the 100m Freestyle final with her eyes closed! The German admitted that she did not want to be distracted by her opponents and so choose to begin the race without looking. Steffen who also claimed the gold medal for the 50-metre freestyle and set a new Olympic record for the distance of 24.06 said she was overwhelmed by the experience and she didn’t expect to win the 2nd medal. 41-year old Dara Torres competing in her fifth Olympics came in 2nd for the 50 meter freestyle event just .01 seconds behind Steffen. At Athens 2004 Steffen fell off the grandstand in a freak accident and was forced to withdraw from competition with an injured ankle.
SOUNDBITE: Britta Steffen
q- describe how you remember the 100m freestyle race?
The first 50 meters I swam with my eyes closed because I didn’t want to be distracted by the other competitors and on the video analysis I saw that I was quite far behind by that stage I was very happy that I didn’t loose my concentration, and managed to powerfully swim next to Libby Lenton and I ended up having a good final stroke to get me into first position.
SOUNDBITE: Britta Steffen
q- how did the new swim suit help?
The new adidas suit helps me a lot it helps me keep straight it helps me keep my posture and helps me have more strength for my stroke and I have a feeling it supports me. I am very happy with the new suit and I am convinced that the new adidas suit is helping me to swim better.
SOUNDBITE: Britta Steffen
What happened at the finish of the 100m freestyle final?
The first gold medal was incredible 100 meters is my favorite distance I love the 100 meters, there was a lot of pressure on me and I didn’t expect to get a chance to really break through but on the final meter I saw that I could dominate the race and once the swim was over it was very nice surprising and overwhelming.
SOUNDBITE: Britta Steffen
q- was it a surprise when you gained a 2nd medal?
At the moment I am super happy I didn’t expect to win another gold but it would appear that success brings more success and Impossible is Nothing.
SOUNDBITE: Britta Steffen
q- what will you do next?
To be honest I am really extremely overwhelmed first of all I have to take some holiday and relax, I think I would like to spend some time in Australia to train with the best athletes but I won’t make that decision until after my holiday.
PREVIEW OF AUGUST 18th ADIDAS SPORT NEWS VIDEO ADVISORIES:
SPORTS NEWS VIDEO 1 Taekwondo Preview with Antoinette Rivero (Philippines)
SPORTS NEWS VIDEO 2 Valerie Vili (New Zealand) women’s shot put Gold Medal winner
SPORTS NEWS VIDEO 3 Pole Vault Preview with Yevgeniy Lukyanenko (Russia)
SPORTS NEWS VIDEO 4 Tennis Medal Winners featuring Novak Djokovic
& possible IV with Fernando Gonzalez (TBC)
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