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 ever thought about those countries that don’t have as much money for a team or only have a few athletes who qualify? My family has a tradition of picking one or two of the smaller countries that can only send one or two athletes to the games, and sort of “adopting” them for…

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 is my professional opinion about Barrera’s loss: Argggh!

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, people, I’m suffering here. I need my Olympics fix. As I mentioned in an earlier post, I enjoy the pageantry and the overt competitiveness of the Games. I’ve watched them since I was a kid in the United States, and now that I’ve moved to Peru, I’m happy to transfer my allegiance south of…