An American in Lima

A recent article in El Comercio, summarized in English by reporter Israel Ruiz, exposes why Peru performs so abysmally in international sporting events like the Olympics.
Here’s Ruiz’s complete story published today in Living in Peru:
Peruvian sports are trapped in time, said reporters for El Comercio, explaining there were records in the Andean country that had not been [...]

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The Beijing 2008 Summer Olympics are officially over, the winners have scurried home with their medals, and the losing athletes are either chastised, pitied or forgotten by most of the world. No laurel wreath, no glory, the Olympic equation goes.

Not on this blog, however.

In the same spirit of honoring athletic excellence that inspired the first [...]

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As I’m writing this post, Peru’s long-distance runner Constantino León is racing the last five kilometers of the Men’s Marathon (42.15 km), in Beijing’s National Stadium. Out of the 95 runners who began the race, only 82 remain, and León is 63rd at the 35-km mark.
The first-, second- and third-place winners have just crossed the [...]

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Peru’s original field of 13 Olympic contenders is now down to one athlete: marathon runner Constantino Leon.
Leon will compete Saturday, August 23, starting at 6:30 p.m. (Beijing time), in the Men’s Marathon. For fans in Peru, that translates to Sunday, August 24, starting at 7:30 a.m.
Thus far, no athletes representing Peru have won a medal in the [...]

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The first week (August 10 – 16) of competition at the Beijing 2008 Olympics saw some encouraging efforts by Peruvian athletes but no medals. Here is a roundup of how Peru’s 13-member Olympic delegation has performed so far, along with buzz about the athletes from English-speaking media, bloggers and fans. (Plus blog reactions by Peru [...]

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The ultra-hip cevicheria Pescados Capitales, one of Lima’s finest seafood restaurants, plays on the Beijing Summer Olympics theme in its current “Pescados Olímpicos” (Olympic Sins) menu.

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I was feeling rather forlorn about Peru’s small Olympic delegation of 13 athletes. Then I stumbled upon Mashable’s “18 Smaller Olympic Countries to Root For.”

Sean P. Aune writes:

It’s easy to get wrapped up in all of the big name countries that go to the Olympics, such as the United States or Russia, but have you [...]

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Peruvian wrestler Sixto Barrera trounced Lithuanian Valdemaras Venckaitis, ranked 3rd in the world, in the first qualifying rounds of Men’s Greco-Roman 74 k, in Beijing, on August 12.

Barrera then went against China’s Chang Yongxiang in the quarter finals and lost.
Chang Yongxiang advances to the finals with Georgia’s Manuchar Kvirkelia.
This will be China’s first-ever medal in wrestling. 
Here [...]

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I’m going through Olympic detox, here in Lima, where not even the cable channels broadcast the Games during regular day or evening hours. I’m still trying to figure out when I can actually view some extended programming; El Hijo claims there’s coverage at 1 a.m., but I’m not staying up to test his theory.
Help me, [...]

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