Quotes of the Day

Let the Games Begin
Your cover photo of swimmer Dara Torres would also make a great cover for SPORTS ILLUSTRATED's swimsuit edition [Aug. 4]. Best of luck to her in Beijing!
C. Lin Jacobson,
Pascagoula, Mississippi

I showed my sweet little daughters your cover photo of Dara Torres and asked them to promise never to take up competitive swimming.
Dr. Joel P. Newman,
Israel

I'd like to thank Alice Park and the folks at TIME for the article on Dara Torres. As a 40-year-old father of three young ones, I have long taken pride in my training and strength. I invested a lot of time in trail-running and martial arts. However, this past November I underwent neurosurgery to remove a tumor from my spinal cord. I now need a cane to walk and have lost dexterity in my right arm. Not only will women be cheering for Dara, but us "older" guys will be stomping our canes for her as well.
Robert Zuni,
Martinez, California

I recognize that your magazine caters largely to a U.S. audience, but the over-representation of U.S. athletes in "100 Olympic Athletes to Watch" may mean that some of your readers do not focus on athletes from other countries who have fascinating stories.
Richard Barrett,
Honolulu

Of your 100 "Athletes To Watch," a mere two are Australian. No mention of Eamonn Sullivan, whose world record in the 50-m freestyle makes him the fastest man in the water in history. No mention of breaststroke world-record holder Liesel Jones or at least 20 other potential gold medalists from Australia. Considering Australia's small population, the disproportionate success of Australians at past Olympics, and the fact that Australia is expected to be fourth in the medal tally behind China, Russia and the U.S., you would have been justified in including the entire national Olympic team on your list.
Pete Dillon,
Melbourne

Lebron James as no. 1 athlete to Watch? Few nations outside the U.S. care much for basketball, let alone have LeBron on their "must watch" list. And who outside the U.S. has even heard of Dara Torres? Your parochial article was anything but an insight into the global Games.
Alex Holmes,
Toronto, New South Wales

Almost half of the athletes you profiled were American. New Zealand, which has a number of athletes with medal chances, was not mentioned. You would have better served the Olympic spirit by highlighting one outstanding athlete from each member nation of the International Olympic Federation.
Bob Howe,
Manukau, New Zealand

More than 10,000 athletes from all over the world have trained very hard for the Olympics. If they didn't compete, your 100 couldn't shine.
Adolf Mikula,
Vienna

Beijing's Obstacle Course
In "The Olympic Challenge," Pico Iyer insinuates that the world will regret awarding China the 2008 Olympics as it did with the 1936 Games in Berlin [Aug. 4]. Why even mention that established architect Albert Speer, the son of Hitler's architect, contributed to the design of the event? China is not without indiscretions, but to equate the country with the Nazi regime is reprehensibly unjust.
Winston Wang,
Princeton, New Jersey

For fourteen days the world will ignore Beijing's glaring problems in the pursuit of its gold. In other words, the Games will be business as usual.
Michael Princi,
Adelaide, South Australia

Iyer makes a common mistake in assuming that the Chinese government gives a whit about the world's opinion. It doesn't. The Olympics is a huge public-relations exercise for domestic consumption. The majority of Chinese will see on TV only happy, smiling, competitors (with no doubt a huge proportion of Chinese winners) and none of the debate regarding freedom or human right. The poor and disenfranchised will not benefit from the Games; on the contrary, many have suffered directly because of the ill-considered decision to hand the Olympics to China.
Karen Ho,
Coolum, Queensland

I was surprised by one sentence in Iyer's otherwise sharply focused essay: "Beijing even invited Albert Speer, the son of Hitler's architect, to help design a major axis." With no evidence that Speer the son was reprehensible, to draw a parallel between him and the Nazi regime his father served is thoughtless and, yes, discriminatory. Individuals are responsible for their own acts, not those of their kin. We should steer well away from shunning someone for their parent's actions or views, no matter how despicable.
Erika Eineigel,
Crescent Beach, Canada

Cheap Shots?
Your prominently displayed comment that 5,000-m runner Nader al Masri "is used to sprinting from Israeli gunfire in Gaza, where he trains," shocked me [Aug. 4]. The Israeli-Palestinian crisis causes many people on both sides stress and sleepless nights. Your comment gives the impression that Israelis actually try to kill civilians. While Palestinian terrorists usually target Israeli civilians, Israeli soldiers target the terrorists and their bases of operation. I wish Al Masri good luck at the Olympics, but I hope that in future you will think twice before making such a cynical use of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.
Dror Sharon,
Jerusalem

A Salute Seen from Many Angles
As the sister-in-law of Peter Norman, the late Australian Olympic sprinter, I was disappointed to read your story on Salute, the new documentary about Peter [Aug. 4]. You report that his son Matt, the director, seems to be "angry on his uncle's behalf" with the two athletes Peter supported in their black-power salute at the 1968 Olympics. I believe Peter would turn in his grave if he read that. He had nothing but support for Tommie Smith and John Carlos and was honored to be asked to the unveiling of the statue of their salute at San José State University. He was completely happy with the fact that he was not represented on the dais. He loved the idea that people could stand in his place and be photographed beside two great athletes. He would also agree that Smith and Carlos had done more than enough for civil rights and had spent most of their lives suffering the consequences of their brave actions.
Alison McQueen,
Christchurch, New Zealand

Obama Goes to Europe
I enjoyed Karen Tumulty's article and overseas interview with Barack Obama [Aug. 4]. As a military man who spent some 35 years on active duty or working as a contractor for the U.S. Air Force, I appreciated Senator Obama's comment on our military mission: "We still have the most valuable possible resource to get the job done — and that's our men and women in uniform." That statement, if he keeps it at the forefront, makes him qualified in my mind to be the Commander in Chief.
Sid Howard,
Midwest City, Oklahoma

Obama failed to offer much hope to the Palestinians, who were afforded just an hour of the 36 hours that he spent in Israel during his overseas trip. Even his speech in Berlin — in which he said, "The greatest danger of all is to allow new walls to divide us from one another" — fell short. Obama's true commitment to eliminating the walls that stand between nations, races and religions remains to be proved.
Saber Ahmed Jazbhay,
Durban, South Africa

McCain Takes the Gloves Off
Re Joe Klein's column "Blowing His Top": The most remarkable thing about John McCain's tirade in Rochester, New Hampshire — "Senator Obama would rather lose a war in order to win a political campaign" — was the satisfying grin he had one second after this despicable charge, as if he had been so pleased that he managed to make the whole statement without messing it up [Aug. 4]. His entire team must have breathed a sigh of relief.
Gayle Miller,
Cresco, Pennsylvania

Mamma Mia, That's Good Copy!
I haven't yet seen Mamma Mia!, but if it is half as entertaining as Richard Corliss's review, I will have spent my money well [July 28]. I just finished laughing out loud through the entire piece. I intend to use the phrase "practically a sequoia" often to describe my own 61-year-old personage. Whether I agree or disagree with his opinion of the film, I will remain grateful for an evening's amusement, at no cost and in the comfort of my sitting room.
Patricia W. Gould,
Naperville, Illinois