Tomorrow the competition begins in earnest. What do I mean by in earnest? Well, there will be hockey, beach volleyball, traditional volleyball, shooting, handball, basketball, fencing, swimming, table tennis, gymnastics, water polo, boxing, badminton, weight lifting, judo, and cycling.

Have I forgotten anything? Oh yes, the equestrian competition (that’s with horses) will begin and the first gold medal will be awarded as well – in the women’s triathlon. That involves a 1.5 kilometre swim, a 40-kilometre bicycle ride and a 10-kilometre run. The Australian women are heavily favoured in this event and nothing but a gold medal will satisfy the home country supporters.

Last week, we looked at the Thai boxers. Experts say they have the best chance of winning Olympic medals. This week, I want to focus on some Olympic events where Thai athletes have only an outside chance of achieving a medal.

Swimming is one of the glamour events of the Olympic Games. That means it is certain to receive a lot of attention. It begins tomorrow in Sydney’s magnificent Aquatic Centre. I had a chance to visit the centre two years ago and I was impressed at what a fun place it is. More than half of it is devoted to swimming for the whole family. There is even a sort of artificial river flowing through it.

You will probably only see the Olympic pool on television, however, and that should be exciting enough. The crowd will be an enthusiastic one since the Australian team has a good chance of winning the most medals. Their top rival will be the United States which has traditionally been the strongest swimming power.

Alexander Popov — REUTERS

Swimming is largely a sport for individuals and there are some wonderful individual dramas to watch for. Russian swimmer Alexander Popov, for example, is trying to win both the 50 and 100-metre gold medals for a history-making third time.

Dutch swimmer Inge de Bruijn is favoured to win three gold medals. That would cap a remarkable year in which she has already tied or broken six world records. What a change her career has taken since 1996 when she was forced off the Dutch team for lack of motivation.

There is no question that the swimmer receiving the most attention will be 17-year-old Ian Thorpe of Australia. He is so big and so fast that he has been nicknamed the "Thorpedo" after the long, narrow and very fast underwater weapon known as the torpedo.

He holds the world records in the 200- and 400-metre freestyle events and is so powerful that even his strongest rivals admit they have little chance of winning against him. Watch his feet when he swims. They are unusually large – size 18 – and he uses them like flippers to propel him through the water.

The eight Thai swimmers competing in Sydney are not expected to go very far, but 18-year-old Torwai Sethasothorn has a chance of making it to the semi-finals in the 400-metre individual medley. A secondary school student in California, he placed third in that event in the US National Championships. Even so, his time was almost 10 seconds behind the winner, American Tom Wilkens.

Of all the swimmers in Sydney, the Australians are under the most pressure. That is the subject of the first story in the middle section.

I must admit that I pay attention to athletics more than any other sport. That’s because I competed for many years as a 400-metre runner. I even ran against the Olympic champion once. (I lost.)

Michael Johnson — AFP

The Athletics competition begins on September 22 and runs for 10 days. Once again, the United States is expected to field the strongest team. Perhaps its best known member is Michael Johnson who won an unprecedented 200-metre and 400-metre double at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta. This year, injury problems have confined him to the 400 metres.

Marion Jones — AFP

At the beginning all eyes will be on Marion Jones who is aiming to win five gold metals. She has been the world’s fastest woman for several years now and everyone expects her to win the 100 and 200 metres events for sure. Her weakest event is the long jump and many experts will be surprised if she wins. Her other two events are relay events in which the US team is favoured.

I’ll be watching two non-US athletes very closely because they have interesting personal stories. The first is Australian Cathy Freeman who is the world’s number one in the women’s 400 metres. She is an Aborigine and very proud of it. Just about everyone in this part of the world is hoping that she will become the first indigenous (native) Australian to win Olympic gold. She won’t have an easy time, however, since she is competing against the Atlanta champion, Marie-Jose Perec of France.

Hicham El Guerrouj crosses the finish line of the men's mile, July 1999, to set the new world record of 3 minutes, 43.13 seconds. — AP

The second athlete has an even more compelling story. He is Hicham El Guerrouj, the fastest and most successful 1,500-metre runner of all time. Just about the only championship that he hasn’t won is the Olympics and that is why his story is so interesting.

He was favoured to win in Atlanta and he was in excellent position to do so when the race entered its final lap. Then, disaster struck. He accidentally became entangled with the eventual winner, Algeria’s Nourredine Morceli, and fell to the ground. Moments later a photographer took a picture of El Guerrouj who was crying uncontrollably. That has become one of the most famous sports pictures of all times.

The young Moroccan keeps a copy of the photo in his room. He says he hopes to soon replace it with a happier one from Sydney.

The Thailand team celebrate after winning the 4x100M relay men's final in Jakarta 31 August 2000 in a new record time of 38.8. — AFP

The best Thailand can realistically hope for is an appearance in an Olympic final. Here the 4X100 relay team has a good chance, having run under 39 seconds. That is only about a second away from the Olympic record.

Trecia Roberts — SAROT MEKSOPHAWANNAKUL

The talented, but inexperienced, Trecia Roberts could also surprise in the 100-metre hurdles. She should easily break the 13-second barrier in the Olympic 100-metre hurdles and that could get her past the first round and perhaps even into the semi-finals.

Below you'll find two stories that will bring you up to date on the final preparations of some the Athletics gold medal favourites.

Here’s a sport where Asian athletes will win medals. They always do. In fact, Asians won 14 of the 15 badminton medals in Atlanta.

The competition begins tomorrow and, as usual, Indonesia and China will field powerful teams. But so will Denmark and there is much interest in whether the traditional Asian dominance is beginning to slip away.

The men’s singles competition will be especially interesting. Here, world number one, Indonesian Taufik Hidayat will likely come up against former number one, Denmark’s Peter Gade Christensen. Christensen has been preparing very hard for the Games and many experts believe he will win.

Interestingly, Hidayat is only 19 years old. Indonesian fans, particularly young females, treat him like a rock star. He is followed by crowds wherever he goes. Thus, he will have a lot of pressure on him at Sydney.

Thailand is also sending a strong team to Sydney. The final story in the middle section will give you some interesting details.

Olympic nerves showing on Australian swimmers Melbourne, Reuters Australia's world champion Ian Thorpe (left) and compatriot Grant Hackett look to the scoreboard after Thorpe's win in the men's 200 metres freestyle at the grand prix meeting in Melbourne. — REUTERS Australia’s top swimmers are starting to show the first real signs of nerves as the Sydney Olympics rapidly draw closer. The national swim team, which includes world record holders Ian Thorpe, Michael Klim and Susan O’Neill, is under enormous pressure to provide the bulk of the host-nation’s expected Olympic haul. For most of the past year the team has been able to shrug off the weight of public expectation with a swagger and a smile but, with the start of the Games rapidly approaching, the strain is definitely starting to show. Few are under more pressure than 17-year-old Thorpe, who is expected to win at least three gold medals in the pool less than 10 minutes’ drive from his family’s suburban home. Thorpe holds the world record for 200 and 400 freestyle but is desperately trying not to think about what lies ahead. O’Neil is preparing for her third Olympics but says she is feeling the pressure a little more this time. As the reigning Olympic and world champion and world record holder for the 200 butterfly, O’Neill is considered a certainty for at least one gold medal. She is also ranked number one in the world for 200 metres freestyle and is a vital member of the 4X200 freestyle relay which is also ranked number one. bulk the largest part of shrug off to show a lack of worry swagger a proud, confident way of walking Greene sounds Olympic warning Berlin, Reuters American sprinter and world record holder Maurice Greene celebrates after his 100 metres win in the Golden League meeting at Berlin Olympic Stadium. Greene clocked 9.86 seconds. — AFP World sprint champion Maurice Greene sent a clear warning to his rivals for the Olympic 100 metres title by clocking the fastest time of the year at the Berlin Golden League meeting on Friday. Greene, who had suffered a rare setback by finishing third in Gateshead on Monday, restored his supremacy with a convincing victory in 9.86 seconds in his last race before the Sydney Games start on September 15. The 26-year-old world record holder produced a sensational finish to overhaul training partner Jon Drummond, who finished second in 9.96. "It was a great run," said the muscular Texan, who will go for two gold medals in Sydney, where he should anchor the intimidating American 4X100 relay also featuring Drummond. Morocco’s Hicham El Guerrouj again looked unbeatable in winning the 1,500 in a time of 3:30.90. Sprint queen Marion Jones was as impressive as fellow American Greene as she cruised to a comfortable win in the women’s 100 metres in 10.78 seconds, equalling the fastest time this year she had set in London. Michael Johnson confirmed the hamstring injury he sustained at the US trails last July no longer bothered him by outclassing the field for a straight-forward one-lap victory. supremacy control; dominance anchor to run the last part of a relay intimidating causing fear hamstring a long muscle at the back of the leg Freeman strides to fastest 400 Monaco, Reuters Australian sprinter Cathy Freeman wins the 400 metres in 49.48 seconds in the Golden League. — AFP With the weight of Olympic expectation growing in her native Australia, Cathy Freeman strode to the fastest 400 metres time of the year at the Monaco golden league meeting on Friday. The world champion, Australia’s only realistic hope of a track gold at the Sydney Olympics, clocked 49.48 seconds after pushing hard for the first half and maintaining her form over the second 200 metres. The performance was clearly significant for the Olympic favourite after she pulled out of the London grand prix on August 5 with a leg strain. "I was very nervous tonight because of the injury," she said. Coach optimistic about his players’ Olympic chances Shuttlers set for surprise results Yvonne Bohwongprasert National coach Sompol Kukasemkij is confident of good performances from the six Thais to have qualified for the Sydney Olympics after a relatively successful performance by them at last month’s World Grand Prix event. Their final competition before Sydney was the Malaysian Open which was a last-ditch attempt by the national squad to pick up valuable competitive experience prior to the Games next month. The players include rising teenage sensation Boonsak Polsana, an 18-year-old with a calm and collected personality who, after beating World No 2 Fung Permadi last year at the Japan Open, has given a number of top 10-ranked players a run for their money. Top female shuttler Sujitra Ekmongkolpaisal is also in fine form and is very keen to do well in Sydney. She has put her education on the backburner to prepare with the team in Udon Thani. Then there is veteran doubles specialist Pramote Teerawiwat and the worthy replacement for his retired partner Siripong Siripool, the solidly-built Tesana Panwisawas. Pramote’s years of experience and the powerful shots of Tesana are a lethal combination that Sompol believes will make an impression. The Kingdom’s mixed doubles duo of Kunakorn Suthisote and Saralee Thungthongkam have also burst onto the scene with solid performances coming from them throughout this year. To prove that the badminton association means business, these six shuttlers have been putting in long hours of training in Udon Thani for the past month with Siripong imparting his experience to the players. Sompol said that his team of coaches, which includes China’s You Gong Li, have left no stone unturned in regards to the well being of the players, both mentally and physically. give …a run for their money to provide very strong competition put on the backburner to delay in order to do something else lethal very powerful left no stone unturned done everything possible

FOLLOW-UP Obviously, I hope you use the information you learned today over the next two weeks. Follow what happens in the three events to see how the people and teams I mentioned perform. And have some fun doing it. After all, the Olympic Games are supposed to fun. TEACHER'S NOTE Like last week, this week’s lesson is forward-looking. It features information your students can use to make their viewing of the Olympic Games more enjoyable. Since there is a lot of reading for your students to do, I suggest you divide it up by having different groups of students focus on different events. They can then share the information they learned with the class. This is a busy time of year, so much of this can be done outside of class if necessary. Divide your class into three sections. In a class of 45, this would mean there would be 15 students in each section. Have each section break up into three groups. Each group would focus on one Olympic event. The group should read the information and make a list of the key points. When each group is finished, have them meet in their section. Each group will tell the other students in their section what to expect when the competition begins. Be sure to encourage your students to take advantage of the Olympics to learn some English. This means looking at the Bangkok Post as well as some of the international TV channels such as CNN, ESPN and BBC if they are available. Next week: A really good tip!! (suggestion) Go back to the top