Chilean Results at 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics
The Chilean athletes at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games returned home with just one Olympic medal.
Silver in Tennis
Fernando González won the silver medal in singles tennis after falling to Spain’s Rafal Nadal in the final.
Four years ago in the Athens Olympic games, the Chilean tennis players, González and Nicolás Massú won gold in doubles. Massú won gold and González bronze in singles competition.
In Beijing, they both played in doubles and lost in the first round to a Russian pair. Massú lost in the 2nd round of singles play.
That left González as the only Chilean to return home with an Olympic medal from Beijing.
Chilean Results
The majority of Chilean athletes failed to advance past their semifinal rounds. Nevertheless, here are a few examples of excellence and will power on the part of the Chileans at the Beijing Summer Olympic Games:
Roberto Echeverría finished the marathon 49th out of 97 participants despite severe cramps that forced him to collapse upon reaching the finish line.
He described his strong determination thus: “I didn’t come here to give up.”
Swimmer Oliver Elliot, although he didn’t make it to the semifinals, notched a new Chilean national record in the 50 meters freestyle and won his heat.
See you in London
I hope Chile can have a stronger showing at the 2012 Olympic Games in London!
Posted August 25th, 2008 in In the News | Add Your Comment »