The Olympic Year of the Ox
A year ago (roughly), we were ushering in the Year of the Rat. From an Olympic perspective, the Rat promised to be memorable indeed, including as it did the Beijing Games.
Now those 2008 Games have come and gone, proving memorable in virtually every regard, and, according to the Chinese Zodiac, the Rat gave way Monday to the Ox.
Hard to get as excited about the Ox, maybe. But the Ox holds its own promise, what with the October election of the 2016 Summer Games.
The Chinese Zodiac runs in a 12-year cycle and, as the Associated Press noted in a report Monday, the animal of one’s birth is believed by adherents to dictate individual destiny and personality, maybe even influencing events throughout the year.
In that spirit, and courtesy of “When Sport Meets the World Over Five Rings,” a 2007 book published by one of the most resourceful individuals in the Olympic movement, South Korea’s Kang-Ro “Rocky” Yoon, here are the Zodiac signs of the International Olympic Committee presidents present and past.
Dr. Jacques Rogge, born in 1942, Year of the Horse.
Juan Antonio Samaranch, born in 1920, Year of the Monkey.
The current IOC executive board, referring once more to the Zodiac signs as detailed in the Yoon book, consists of four tigers, two sheep, two rabbits and a single snake, cow, pig, money, mouse and dragon, all led of course by a horse.
Draw whatever conclusions seem apt.