Asafa Powell, Lolo Jones in the Olympics’ Best Of Us Challenge

 
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) just launched The Best of Us Challenge, a global competition in which ordinary individuals compete against their peers and Olympic athletes such as Asafa Powell, Lolo Jones, pole vaulters Steve Hooker & Yelena Isinbyeva and multi-eventer Carolina Kluft.  Yes, it even includes Michael Phelps!

It’s all for a good cause to get kids excited about sports. Child obesity is increasing at an alarming rate.  Just getting them off the sofa and moving is a good thing.  Dancing, jumping, throwing, anything!

Also, there are several notable bloggers (not me, of course!) which have opted to take part including Veronica Belmont of Revision3’s tech-centric show Tekzilla, and Sarah Austin of Pop17.

Maybe I should challenge Asafa Powell in the standing Triple Jump?  (Ray Ewry would be proud of me)  Because I’m sure he’ll blow me out of the water with a standing long jump with all his power.

The Grand Prize winners will receive a trip for two to the upcoming Winter Olympics in Vancouver for four days and three nights, and a chance for bragging rights to beating an Olympic athlete at, well, anything.

Top Prizes #1

• Trip for Two to Vancouver 2010 Olympic Games
• 4 days/3 nights
• Access to one wave of events
• Logistics
• Randomly selected from approved video submissions
• Contest period: 10/1/09 until 11/15/09 (because of the cut-off date for obtaining a Visa to Canada)
• If winner is under the age of 18, s/he must be accompanied by a guardian

Top Prize #2

• Trip for Two to Singapore/Youth Olympic Games
• 4 days/3 nights
• Trip from August 20th, 2010 – August 23rd
• Logistics
• Randomly selected from approved video submissions
• Contest period: 11/16/09 until 2/28/10 (end of Vancouver Games)
• If winner is under the age of 18, s/he must be accompanied by a guardian

Athlete Challenge Prizes

• Gold – Olympian signed t-shirt, TBoU poster, Olympic video game
• Silver – TBoU poster, Olympic video game
• Bronze – TBoU poster
• Selection Process/Logistics
• Contest period: 10/1/09– 2/28/10 (end of Vancouver Games)
• Each athlete challenge is its own “category”

Prizes/winners are awarded based upon actually beating or coming closest to beating the Olympic athlete

For example, in the Lolo Jones challenge “category,” if a participant does 35 hand-clap push-ups (which is 3 more than Lolo performs) and no other participants surpass 35, the person with the 35 claps wins “gold”

Then the next highest number of hand-claps gets “silver” and then “bronze”

• If no one is actually able to beat the athlete’s challenge, then the “gold,” “silver,” and “bronze” place winners will be those participants who come the closest to beating the athlete
• A participant can enter as many times as s/he would like
• On a category level, no participant may win more than one prize level (e.g. a participant cannot win both gold and silver; just gold)

Good Luck to all!