SPORTS

- reported by Osiris.

The 2006 Jungle Olympics concluded on yesterday night with a few surprising results.

Lion King and his pride of powerful big cats won the overall competition again with a 66% winning rate, but it was their opponents who impressed well.

In the swimming category, Lion King, with his team of fast-swimming lions, took the gold for the 6 X 50m triple stroke relay, where the competitors had to swim freestyle, butterfly and breaststroke in each lap. The lions' rivals, the chimpanzees, lost the race by a narrow margin of 33.9s. The average age of the ape swimmers were under 33, compared to the average of 48 years of the lions. Although visibly diasppointed by the loss, captain of the chimpanzee swimming team Simon Lorez was still pleased with the results.

"Yes, we have lost. But inside the hearts of all of us, we are very proud of our achievements because although we fielded a young and inexperienced team, we have still managed to lose by a relatively small margin. Not to forget, we were fighting with the king [ lion king ] himself, so this was really a good experience for the swimmers and we would definitely come back to compete in the next olympics. We also would like to thank our supporters who had come all the way from Africa to support us in our competition. Without their continuous support, we would not have been able to come this far."






Simon Lorez, captain of the chimpanzee swimming team, thinking about his team's performance in the swimming competition.














Lion King proud of his team's win in the swimming tri-stroke relay.


















The 6 X 400m relay on the track was also won by the big cats. The team, comprising of the fast-paced cheetahs, won the hyenas by 31.3s. Team captain Terence C. Hunt was delighted on winning the race and attributed the win to both his team-mates and the supporters who came down to the stadium to cheer the runners on.



Captain Terence Hunt in action during the relay.














Captain Damien Long ( right ) of the hyena team consoles young team member Edmund Owen after their loss in the relay.









The big cats won another 6-member event, the 6-a-side rugby competition. This was the biggest victory achieved by the big cats in the 6-member events, with the tigers scoring 76 tries while the buffalos could only manage 23. Captain Ken Boris Watson of the Tigers was jubilant after thrashing the buffalos and congratulated his team on their magnificent performance.




Captain Ken Boris Watson.








"It's been a great day for the team. We played well, both in attacking and defending. The strikers were able to take our opponents by surprise in the early stages of the game and after we had scored twenty tries, we had already crippled the opponents' morale. And we defended good enough to prevent any hopeful counter-attack by the opposition. Another job well done."


The buffaloes dismayed by their team's loss at the rugby event.










Now to the 5-member events. The big cats once again crushed their opponents' hopes of attaining any gold medals by winning the ice hockey, gymnastics, basketball and 5 X 200m track relay competitions. In particular, the basketball match was a very tense one with both sides playing well. In the end the pumas won the chimpanzees by a narrow scoreline of 56 to 44.


Puma Linda H. Hadley attempts to shoot a 3-pointer.








Sharon Lohan, captain of the chimpanzees' basketball team, was happy that the team could put up a tough fight against their stronger opponents. She said that it was the 'determination and concentration' of the team which evolved into a remarkable result. However she also lamented that her team was wasteful at times when they should have scored more points. The chimpanzees' commendable effort has given Lohan a chance to win the 'best captain' award. Despite their loss, the chimps have vowed to compete in the basketball competition again in the next Olympics.




Captain Sharon Lohan vows to 'fight back' in the next Olympics.












Out of the nine individual events, the big cats only lost two, and those were the events which they had not won in the past Olympics as well. Chimpanzee Lawrence T. Knight beat Jaguar Eugene Laker 6-2, 6-3 in the tennis singles to secure his fourth consecutive Olympic gold medal. In table tennis, despite preliminary cunning play by Leopard Simon Y. Pean, he was outwitted by Wolf Clarence S. Tree with his slow and patient counter moves which left Pean in a state of confusion and impatience as he tried again and again to attack Tree with killer moves. Scores: 21-14, 21-16, 21-15. Tree won retained his gold medal for the sixth consecutive Olympics.


Chimp Lawrence Knight readies himself for the tennis match.












Jag Eugene Laker hiding himself from the cameras after his loss in the tennis match.













Leopard Simon Pean is distraught after his second loss to Wolf Clarence Tree in the table tennis event.









A jubilant Clarence gives his victory call after winning his sixth gold medal in the table tennis event.









Here are the scores for the rest of the events:

Bowling: Lion Thomas H. Poll beat Gazelle Liam H. Dean

Canoeing: Panther Gregory K. Yeltson beat Fox Shawn Connelly

Fencing: Lion Craig S. Sorano beat Chimpanzee Titus B. Shannon

Ice-skating: Tiger Michael Yang beat Wolf Sade K. Timonthy

Javelin: Lion O' Alfred Harry beat Fox Lionel C. Wade

Sailing: Jaguar Harry P. K. beat Chimpanzee Paul L. Good

Shooting: Lynx Sean H. Trump beat Hyena Yang Y. Wiltord.

Comparing this year's Olympics to the previous prestigious sporting event in 2001, it is noticed that although the big cats have won the majority once again, their opponents are beginning to close up the gap, especially seen in the basketball match. Is this a sign that the big cats are faltering? Sports analyst James Ray of the Penguin Parade gives us his verdict.

"I don't think the big cats are experiencing a drop in their performance. Rather it's the other teams who have improved tremendously since the last Olympics. Especially the chimps, they have shown character and leadership while they compete in the sports with quality skills and I think in the next Olympics, we would see a fiercer competition than this year. Hopefully the rest of the teams will be able to win a few more medals from the big cats."





James Ray from the Penguin Parade, before leaving on a voyage.

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