Ella Learning Log: September 2012

Astel Writing Test

What I did well: Entertaining, Clear Understanding of character, Good flow and introduction
Next Learning steps: Proofread for accurate spelling, Complex punctuation

Homework Part C

Indonesian Badminton Team’m doing my report on the Indonesian Badminton team who were disqualified from Olympics for throwing matches. I think they had a poor example of fair play.

I think they had a poor example of fair play because they were throwing matches in order to receive a more favorable placing in the playoffs. The Badminton World Federation investigated the doubles players from Indonesia, finding them guilty of not playing their best to win a match.

The Indonesian’s were booed by spectators as they repeatedly hit shots wide or served into the net. The referee, Thorsten Berg, warned the players over their conduct. In round one they lost heavily against South Korea. There were no rallies of more than four shots in the match.

Before the charges were laid, the former Olympic silver medalist Nathan Robertson of Great Britain urged badminton chiefs to take action against matches being thrown after the furor at the London Games.

South Korea head coach Sung Han-kook said two of his pairings had attempted to throw their matches against the Indonesian team but failed to do so.

In conclusion I think that match throwing is cheating and that people should not do it I think you should just try your best and never give up.

Homework Part B

Part B:

Oscar Pistorius

Oscar Leonard Carl Pistorius was born on 22 November 1986 in Johannesburg, South Africa. His hometown is Pretoria, South Africa. I choose Oscar Pistorius because he really inspired me because he has a lot of determination and represents all 5 values in the Olympic values.

When Oscar was 11 months old he had his double below-knee amputated. He has congenital absence of the fibula in both legs. At the age of 16 Oscar took up track running to aid his rehabilitation and began training under the guidance of Coach Ampie Louw at the Sports Science Institute at the University of Pretoria.

After a few months in the gym, Oscar took part in his first track session on New Year's Day, 2004. Three weeks later he entered a school 100 meters race on the prompting of one of his teachers and won in a time of 11.72 seconds. After the race his father looked up how Oscar's time compared to the best in the world and He discovered that his 17-year-old son's time was faster than the existing Paralympic world record of 12.20s.

Eight months after first stepping onto the track, the South African created a sensation in the athletics world by winning the 200m gold medal at the Athens Paralympics, breaking the world record with a time of 21.97s. He also returned home with a bronze medal in the 100m and overnight was propelled onto front and back pages around the world.

I think Oscar displays all of the 5 Olympics values. I think he displays Pursuit of Excellence because he has gone over and above his disability to compete with average athletes. He also displays Joy and Effort because he has challenged himself to do the impossible against all odds. He displays Fair play because he plays fair when he is running and doesn’t use drugs to help him win. He has respect for others because in the London Olympics even though he did not win the 400m final he still congratulated everybody who he was competing against and had a very positive attitude toward his performance. Balance between Mind, Body and Character by using his Mind, Body and Character he is running like an able bodied human and is not using is disability as an excuse.

In conclusion I think Oscar Pistorius is a very inspiring man and symbolizes all the Olympic values and is a great person.

Olympic Values Inquiry Part A

Part A:

Joy and Effort

New Zealand has a long history of attending the Olympics but at the beginning we were just glad to be there. As New Zealand progressed we were happy with just winning a bronze medal however now as demonstrated in the latest Olympics we are not only happy to be there and win A few medal, we are beginning to be more focused and competitive and punching above our weight we are clearly targeting sports that we excel in and we are getting more medals. We are looking at other countries and copying there success’s. My Inquiry will compare New Zealand’s history in the Olympics from when they first went to the Olympics and where they are today.