Royals at the 2004 Athens Olympics

[saxon]

Royals at the Olympics

do the Royals hang out with each other at the Olympics?....

 

[Genevieve]

do the Royals hang out with each other at the Olympics?....

Why would they necessarily have to or want to?

I haven't seen too many pictures of royals hanging out with each other during these games. Only some pictures of Willem and Haakon together. But Frederik and Mary have kept pretty much to themselves, just like the Spanish royals. I think all the royal families are busy cheering on their own athletes to be socializing with each other. For some of the royals it is an official royal duty on their schedule. How would it look for them to be "shirking" their royal duties and partying it up with each other rather than supporting their fellow countrymen's athletes?

Is anybody from the Belgium royal family attending the Olympics? I have only seen representatives from Spain, Britain, Denmark, Luxembourg, Greece, Norway, Holland, Jordan and Sweden.

 

[winter]

I'm pretty sure they are in contact with each other. Probably at least Constantine and Sophia's families.
Also I have seen W-A and Frederik seated together at an event.
Four years ago in Sydney Felipe and Frederik went out together in a pub and we all know the result (CP Mary).
Since they know each other very well why not meet to go out for dinner or have fun?

 

[Alisa]

Usually you will only seeing royalstogether when their respective countries compete against each other(ex. Frederik and W-A, and Haakon and W-A.

 

[Mette2]

I saw King Albert of Belgium at the opening ceremony and I've read that Crown Prince Philippe and Crown Princess Mathilde are arriving in Athens today.

 

[Dennism]

"The journey is complete for Morocco's Hicham El Guerrouj

The world-record holder in the 1500m and the mile, El Guerrouj is unquestionably the greatest middle distance runner of his generation, but his legacy lacked one key element -- an Olympic gold medal. He finally won that elusive gold Tuesday night at Olympic Stadium, and needed a memorable finish to do it. "A four-time world champion who owns seven of the eight fastest 1500m times ever run outdoors, El Guerrouj lost only three races at that distance from 1996 to 2003. But two were Olympic finals. In 1996 he tripped, fell and finished 12th. After the Atlanta debacle, where he tried to break away in the final 400m only to fall in a tangle of legs, El Guerrouj hid in the stadium and wept uncontrollably. " As he sobbed inside the stadium uncontrollably, someone handed the young man a cell phone. It was King Hassan II of Morocco, who told El Guerrouj, "You are a champion in the eyes of the Moroccan people. Don't feel under pressure. Forget about this. You must persevere." in a tangle of legs, El Guerrouj hid in the stadium and wept uncontrollably.

That call, according to El Guerrouj, changed his life. He had a string of 28 straight victories leading up to the Sydney Games, and entered the event as the heavy favorite." Overtaken in the final straightaway in 2000 by Kenya's Noah Ngeny, El Guerrouj crossed the line second, sat on the track and cried. "I have lived this dream for four years and it lies in tatters at my feet," he said.

 

[tiaraprin]

I was very happy here in the U.S. to see our television networks interview King Constantine!! I was so struck also by how much his son Nicholas resembles him!!

 

[HMQueenElizabethII]

New photo of Felipe and Letizia in Greece for the OLs.

 

[HMQueenElizabethII]

Other photo of Felipe and Letizia

 

[Alisa]

"The journey is complete for Morocco's Hicham El Guerrouj

The world-record holder in the 1500m and the mile, El Guerrouj is unquestionably the greatest middle distance runner of his generation, but his legacy lacked one key element -- an Olympic gold medal. He finally won that elusive gold Tuesday night at Olympic Stadium, and needed a memorable finish to do it. "A four-time world champion who owns seven of the eight fastest 1500m times ever run outdoors, El Guerrouj lost only three races at that distance from 1996 to 2003. But two were Olympic finals. In 1996 he tripped, fell and finished 12th. After the Atlanta debacle, where he tried to break away in the final 400m only to fall in a tangle of legs, El Guerrouj hid in the stadium and wept uncontrollably. " As he sobbed inside the stadium uncontrollably, someone handed the young man a cell phone. It was King Hassan II of Morocco, who told El Guerrouj, "You are a champion in the eyes of the Moroccan people. Don't feel under pressure. Forget about this. You must persevere." in a tangle of legs, El Guerrouj hid in the stadium and wept uncontrollably.

That call, according to El Guerrouj, changed his life. He had a string of 28 straight victories leading up to the Sydney Games, and entered the event as the heavy favorite." Overtaken in the final straightaway in 2000 by Kenya's Noah Ngeny, El Guerrouj crossed the line second, sat on the track and cried. "I have lived this dream for four years and it lies in tatters at my feet," he said.

Congrats to El Guerrouj.

I saw this event on tv and I was in pleasantly surprised by the sense of brotherhood that was present between he and his fellow competitors. They all wished each other good luck before the race and they all hugged and congratulated each other after the race was over. I was very impressed and moved.

 

[tiaraprin]

I wanna say HURRAH to Carly Peterson of the USA for winning the Women's Gymnastics all around!! You make us proud!!! And Congratulations to Paul Hamm, hang in there and let the officials sort it out!!

 

[sara1981]

im so happy see the CP Felipe and Letizia at Athens,Greece FINALLY!!!!!!!!!!!

i watch Olympics that my favorites games but i watch everythings no matters! but i watch woman/man's gym, woman/man's diving, woman/man's beach volleyball and lots more by against foreign.

Sara Boyce

 

[moosey60]

I think Paul Hamm should give "his" gold medal to the rightful owner. The FIG has inadequate rules when dealing with this situation. I mean, suspending three judges isn't going to get Yang the gold...

 

[rere]

I think Paul Hamm should keep his gold medal.

The judges made the mistake. Why punish an athlete who gave his all in two routines.

Mistakes in judging sports happen all the time. Officials can't keep awarding two golds everytime a judge screws up. There are several examples were the score was low, the fans and experts disagreed, and the judges and officals won't budge. Not just in gymnastics, but boxing, synchronized swimming, etc.

If Yang had started with a 10, would he still win? No, many experts (in the U.S. and the world) say Hamm would still win.

I do agree with you about the FIG. I think they need new rules and the best judges so this won't ever happen again.

 

[moosey60]

Yang did start with a 10...the judges did it wrong and said he had a 9.9 start value.

 

[rere]

Clarification -
That's what I meant. The judges should have posted a 10 start value, not 9.9.

They screwed up big time!!!

 

[carlota]

paul hamm did his best and won that medal because of his effort. i today remember how the people started to shout to the tribunal because of the mark of alexei nemov and he was standing right there. it could be really dangerous for him to do what he did in that situation. but finally with his 9.821 he standed in the start of the pannel. he really deserved that medal.

 

[Josefine]

lets get back to the topic royals in athens

 

[Josefine]

Prince Albert of Monaco 2004 OLYMPIC GAMES, ATHENS, GREECE - 24 AUG

 

[Dennism]

They showed the Danes a few times this morning during the exciting Women´s Gold Medal match in handball. One time, Margrethe was clapping enthusiastically along with the interlude music. Great match between the top two teams of the last 20 years. Denmark won!

 

[Alexandria]

The closing ceremonies are presently airing and the cameras just panned over Siliva of Sweden in the audience with Cristina of Spain sitting in front of her in the corner. Hopefully more royals will be shown and we'll get lots of great final pictures.

Stay tuned!

 

[DKgirls]

Denmark is now 15 gold medals richer - the Danish women's handball-team won the finale today It was so exciting....they played the 2x30 minutes, and it ended with a tie! Then 2x5 minutes with another tie, and then another 2x5 with a tie!!!
And then they did penalty throws!
Denmark scored on the first ones, but the Danish gold-keaper took 2 of Korea's shots(she rocked.....she's our favorite player and it was awesome!) and then Denmark scored again and we won the game
It was just so awesome, all the girls rocked! And we now have our 3rd Olympics victory in women's handball in a row!!!!!!

Mary, Frederik, Margrethe and Henrik were there during the 2x15, but Mary and Frederik then had to leave to catch their plain home - but the other 2 were still there and cheered.....and we're really nervous in the end

 

[carlota]

i saw sophia, cristina and silvia there... does anyone saw another royal?

 

[Dennism]

Mary, Frederik, Margrethe and Henrik were there during the 2x15, but Mary and Frederik then had to leave to catch their plain home - but the other 2 were still there and cheered.....and we're really nervous in the end


I noticed that. I figured they went to greet the winners. Cool to know. I do hope they show some royals when they show the closing ceremonies here. We have to wait for prime time.

 

[liv]

There was Felipe and Letizia next to Sophia.They seemed to have fun with the baloons.I also saw Carl Philipp ,Silvia ,Carl Gustaf and Magarethe.

 

[tiaraprin]

paul hamm is the rightful owner, the other made a 2 tenths mistake in parallel bars!

I think Paul Hamm should give "his" gold medal to the rightful owner. The FIG has inadequate rules when dealing with this situation. I mean, suspending three judges isn't going to get Yang the gold...

The Judges missed an error that the Korean Gymnast made. Even giving the higher starting value, the Korean gymnast still loses due to the error--Paul Hamm is the true winner.

 

[Mandy]

lets get back to the topic royals in athens

This thread is for the discussion of Royals in Athens.

Josefine has already redirected this thread, on August 26, 2004.

Please continue to discuss and post about Royals in Athens.

Mandy
The Royal Forums Moderator

 

[ursulajohanna]

Many thanks for the information. Did you see pictures from the closing ceremony with silvia of sweden or others? Many thanks for your answer in advance.

The closing ceremonies are presently airing and the cameras just panned over Siliva of Sweden in the audience with Cristina of Spain sitting in front of her in the corner. Hopefully more royals will be shown and we'll get lots of great final pictures.

Stay tuned!

 

[Josefine]

did you miss any royals at the olympics

 

[zarzuela]

It seems that Queen Sofia of Spain had lots of fun in Athens!

1.- With her grandson Juan, watching a handball game.
2.- Laughing with German President and wife during the opening ceremony.
3.- Checking her digital pictures with former king Simeon of Bulgaria.
4.- Looking very fancy with her fan, with sister Princess Irene of Greece.
5.- With International Tennis Federation vicepresident.
6.- King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia with Spanish gold medal winners.