Thank you Bruno Julie !

Judex Lefou was the first mauritian sprinter to become No 1 in the African continent in 110m hurdles race more than a decade ago.

Richard Sunee was the first mauritian boxer to obtain a gold medal in the Commonwealth games.

Then in year 2000, two other athletes Stephen Buckland (200m race) and Eric Milazar (400m race) were the first mauritians to run an Olympic final in Sydney. They didn't get an olympic medal but they were able to show the world that Mauritius also has its place in sports at international level.

Although Mauritius has a small population with limited sports ressources and facilities compared to other countries, we have great hope that one day, one of our citizens will finally break that psychological barrier to become an olympic medalist.

And our national boxer Bruno Julie did it two days ago in Beijing... Words are not enough to describe the feelings of every mauritian about this amazing performance.

CONGRATULATIONS Bruno !!!

Alain Fok

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The gold medal 'trap'

A sports woman who was relatively 'unknown' to the public won the gold medal in her sports discipline four years ago at Athenes Olympic Games.

It was a great but wonderful suprise for her and for her surroundings. She became a hero for her country because she was among the first woman to win the supreme reward in a sports discipline which is traditionally 'dominated' by other countries.

But she deserved to be the Olympic champion at that time because she was really the best. She worked very hard for so many years and she was consistent in her progression. She never give up...

Four years after, she was still there at Beijing Olympic Games to defend her title. She was considered by the media to be one of the favourites but this time, she had serious competitors to challenge her No 1 status.

The pressure, the stress was so big that she failed this time. She was not even able to win a bronze medal. She feels very depressed now !!!

Hard Hard to remain at the top of the pyramid...

Alain Fok

The BIG day for Beijing Olympic Games 2008

After years of preparation and intense media pre-coverage, we just have to wait some more hours to watch the opening ceremony of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games tonight.

A great global sports event which will be followed by almost 4 billions of people around the world.

This year, athletes from more than 200 countries will participate in the olympics (a record).

Apart from the sports aspect of the event which is characterised by competition, the joy of winning, the deception of losing, the desire to run faster, to jump higher and move further,
once again it will be a rare opportunity to bring together people of different cultures, beliefs, race etc... in a spiritof unity, fairness and brotherhood.

It will also be an opportunity for the Republic of China to expose its vast and rich millenium culture to the world and to show its organising skills for mega planet events.

We should not also ignore the economic and political impact for the country in organising the Olympic games.

China has all the ingredients to make this event a successful and memorable one provided that some issues such as air pollution in the capital, language barrier, freedom of expression etc... are tackled properly.

Today is Friday 08/08/08 (the figure 8 'EIGHT' is the symbol of Prosperity for the chinese).

I wish everybody a nice Beijing Olympic Games 2008 !!!

Alain Fok

Raphael Nadal, an example to follow

I'm not a great fan of tennis but this guy is really incredible. He is already a confirmed champion of 'clay surface' with his numerous victories at Rolland Garros Tennis Tournament but never won at Wimbledon because the soft grass surface is not his cup of tea.

But this young guy challenged himself that one day he will win the Wimbledon Cup. He tried and failed several times BUT this year was his year.

Being inspired by his large victory on Roger Federer (the current world tennis champion)recently in Rolland Garros final and may be also by the victory of hiscountry Spain at the European Football Cup (after 44 years), Raphael Nadal gave 200 % in the final against the same Roger Federer (the master and unbeatable Wimbledon champion for the past 5 years).

After more than 4 hours of intense battle, his perseverence and persistence finally paid up. Raphael Nadal won the game in 'extra time' in one of the best tennis final we have ever seen and thus accomplished his 'dreams'...

What an inspiration for all of us...

Alain Fok