Panama Takes A Gold In the 2008 Olympics
Aug 18th, 2008 by Don Ray
Irving Jahir Saladino Aranda, from Colon, Panama, took gold in the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, China, in the long jump. His jump of 8.34 meters was .1 meter further than the second place finisher. How great is that! The first ever Panamanian Gold Olympic medal.
I was watching it on channel 12 and it was as exciting an event as it could be. What a feat!
Don Ray:
Thanks for the post, I was looking for this particular event because I though he was going to do good, but I am surprised and happy he took the gold. It seems I missed it.
Jaime^
Hi Jamie,
He did exceptionally well over coming adversities with a bad knee. Panama should be very proud of him.
Wow!
No Joke! It is quite a finish! He will be the reigning Panamanian Hero for some time to come.
He sure will. That is an incredible feat for a small country in the long jump which is one of the most prized Olympic track and field events. I wonder if any small country has ever won it before. The worldwide significance of it is that when Bob Beaman of the USA set his incredible record in the 1968 Olympics, he was voted athlete of the year in Bulgaria.
In the modern Olympics the USA has won 22 of 26 gold medals so that doesn’t leave much room for smaller countries. It has been won by great athletes such as Jesse Owens and Carl Lewis. I’m glad you pointed it out, Don Ray, or I might have missed it.