procrastinationchronicles.com

New and notable in the week ahead, procrastinator picks are underlined.

Monday

• Terminator: SCC (Fox, 8pm) Season Premiere - Sarah and her son John moving in time to try to stop things before they go awry, and stay alive, though the leads are both a little stiff, as the supporting cast and stories were developed so was the interest (though I might have to lose it in this time slot against GGirl and Chuck).
• CMA Music Festival (ABC, 9pm) - Fans and country stars are shown from this four day music festival.
• Dr 90210 (E, 10pm) Season Premiere - This reality follows a doctor in Beverly Hills I assume.  

Tuesday

• Fringe (Fox, 8pm-replays Sun) Series Premiere - 95 minute start of the JJ Abrams series (Lost, Alias, Felicity) brings us what’s being most closely compared to the X-files, as an FBI agent investigates “phenomena” with the help of old science guy and son (Dawson Creek’s Joshua Jackson).
• Privileged (CW, 9pm-replays Sun) Series Premiere - Cute Joanna Garcia (Reba) is introduced to the world of the spoiled as a live in tutor.
• Fashion Rocks (CBS, 9pm) - Denis Leary hosts this mix of fashionable rockers and rocking fashions.
• The Rachel Zoe Project (Bravo, 11pm-repeats) Series Premiere - Follow real life celebrity fashion stylist and her posse as they style the celebrities.

Wednesday

• Greatest American Dog (CBS, 8pm) Season Finale - The final three dogs compete, and I admit that I’ve dropped off this show but the difference in dog’s (and owners) performance on the different kinds of challenges was fun to see.
• ‘Til Death (Fox, 9pm) Season Premiere - This Brad Garrett and others show about two couples, one jaded, one not, has never made it to my watched list.
• Do Not Disturb (Fox, 9:30pm) Series Premiere -Jerry O’Connell plays the general manager of this hip hotel with apparent staff shenanigans.
• Real World/Road Rules Challenge (MTV, 10pm-repeats) Season Premiere - I honestly don’t think I’ve ever seen this show which starts its 16th season of competition.

Thursday

• MTV’s Top Pop Group (MTV, 10pm-repeats) Series Premiere - Music acts compete as Mario Lopez hosts.
• Comics Without Borders (Show, 10pm-repeats) Series Premiere - This looks like a standup comedy showcase.

Friday

• 2008 Alma Awards (ABC, 8pm) - Eva Longoria Parker hosts the Latino Awards with recipients like America Ferrera
• Don’t Forget the Lyrics (Fox, 9pm) Season Premiere - And the lyric singing continues.

Saturday

• Action Sports (Sat/Sun NBC, USA) - The Toyota Challenge takes us to Salt Lake City as the guys get closer to winning the Dew Cup my favorite is still the vert skate and though Bucky’s in the lead it’s anyone’s game.
• Coco Chanel (Life, 8pm) - Shirley MacLaine plays fashion icon Chanel in this tv movie of her life.
• MADtv (Fox, 11pm) Season Premiere - Jerry O’Connell guests as this skit series returns.
• SNL (NBC, 11:30) Season Premiere - Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps hosts and hopefully doesn’t embarrass himself with Lil Wayne performing.

Sunday

• Catch up on tivo or replays of premieres of Fringe and Privileged, I love when they replay starters to give you some time to catch before you settle into a season.

New and notable in the week ahead, procrastinator picks are underlined.

Monday

• Gossip Girl (CW, 8pm — repeats Sun/6pm) Season Premiere - What has become of split couples Blair/Chuck and Serena/Dan? Something tells me someone will be doing it as we greet our gang in the Hamptons before we return to school.
• Prison Break (Fox, 8pm) Season Premiere - This two hour premiere continues the ridiculous brothers and others criminal chase, now apparently they’re working for homeland security… loved this show first season and can’t tune in now.
• One Tree Hill (CW, 9pm - repeats Sun 7pm) Season Premiere - I think that Lucas is still deciding between Brooke and Peyton and some other girls.
• The Middleman (ABC Fam, 10pm) Season Finale - I actually found this show pretty enjoyable with its mix of comicy humor and sarcastic fun as the Middleman and his trusty sidekick Wendy fight the weird.
• Raising the Bar (TNT, 10pm- repeats 9/2) Series Premiere - This courtroom drama is getting average reviews, but if courtroom dramas are you thing it might not be all bad with Mark-Paul Gosselaar, Gloria Reuben, and Jane Kaczmarek.

Tuesday

• 90210 (CW, 8pm - repeats Th/8pm) Series Premiere - This two hour event returns us to beloved West Beverly Hills High School along with a returning principal and his transplanted family, and Brenda is on for at least 4 eps and Kelly is the guidance counselor, apparently they’re more mature now.
• The Shield (Fx, 10pm - repeats) Season Premiere - This final season starts with more drama, I have yet to catch this cop series but it’s in the queue as folks say great things.

Wednesday

• America’s Next Top Model (CW, 8pm - repeats Sun, 8pm) Season Premiere - The latest ladies (and one preop transgender gal) are cast in the two hour launch for another round of ridiculous drama and surprisingly engaging modelicious challenges that always promise to bring out the fierce.
• Bones (Fox, 8pm) Season Premiere - This show returns with a two hour premiere as Booth and Bones do their special forensic anthropologic fbi investigations in England, promises lots of good fun.
• Ghost Hunters/Destination Truth (Sci fi, 9/10pm) Season Premieres - Ghost hunting and paranormal mosques oh my.
• Sons of Anarchy (Fx, 10pm- repeats) Series Premiere - This one hour+ show starts out with family issues and rival motorcycle gang hijinks.
• Top Design (Bravo, 10pm - repeats) Season Premiere - This 75 minute starter has the gang designing a loft, of course with limited time and money.

Thursday

• Kitchen Nightmares (Fox, 8pm) Season Premiere - Gordon takes two hours to revisit kitchen’s he’s harassed before.
• Republican National Conventions (Various channels) - The convention wraps up its Minneapolis coverage that started Monday.

Friday

• Stand Up to Cancer (ABC/CBS/NBC, 8pm) - A big gang of celebs support cancer research (and oppose cancer).
• Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader (Fox, 8pm) Season Premiere - Kathy Ireland and the State Superintendent of Georgia meet the new 5th grade class in the 2 hour premiere.
• Samurai Girl (ABC Fam, 6/8pm - Sa/Su 8 and various times) - This six-part miniseries follows a girl whose marriage is interrupted and must avenge her family’s honor, or something like that.

Saturday

• Cops/America’s Most Wanted (Fox, 8/9pm) Season Premieres - The folks they are criminals and must be gotten.
• US Open Tennis (USA, throughout the week, CBS Fri-Sun) - The gang raps up this hard court run with a champ Saturday and Sunday.

Sunday

• Hole in the Wall (Fox, 8pm) Series Premiere - This is the one where contestants have to shape their bodies to fit through holes they’re thrust through.
• America United: Support of Our Troops (ABC, 9pm) - Folks like Pam Anderson and Jessica Simpson honor the troops.
• MTV VMAs (MTV, 9pm - repeats) - Host Russell Brand keeps it moving, we hear no Britney but I’m sure the Jonas Brothers will show.
• True Blood (HBO, 9pm) Series Premiere - Alan Ball of Six Feet Under takes another pass at tv with this vampires live among us but they’re drinking synthetic blood, or are they, series based on books by Charlaine Harris.
• Entourage (HBO, 10pm) Season Premiere - The guys are back as Vincent Chase and buddies deal with business and pleasure.

Check your local listings for final times and repeat showings.

New and notable in the week ahead…

Monday

• Deal or No Deal (NBC, 8pm) Season Premiere - Don’t ask me how they can make people randomly picking briefcases filled with money last an hour.
• America’s Toughest Jobs (NBC, 9pm) Series Premiere - From the creator of Deadliest Catch and Iceroad Truckers real folks get a dose of overly tough reality in this multi job competition.
• Saving Grace (TNT, 10pm) Summer Finale - What will we do until Grace comes back?
• Exiled (MTV, 10:30) Series Premiere - So apparently the over indulged previously shown celebraters from My Sweet 16 are now being sent to see how the other half lives.

Tuesday

• Gavin & Stacey (BBCA, 8:40pm) Series Premiere - A comedy following a couple from England and Wales who try to mix their lives.
• Greek (ABC Fam, 9pm) Season Premiere -I’m excited for this fluffy college show to return, though Casey should get over Evan and Kappie.
• Janice Dickenson Modeling Agency (Oxy, 10pm) Season Premiere - This season models new and old, the oldest being Janice, move in together.

Wednesday

• Shear Genius (Bravo, 10pm) Season Finale - The final cuts are in.

Thursday

• Democratic National Convention - Starting Monday through Thursday the convention can be seen on many a channel at many a time… check your local listings.

Friday

• Grizzly Man Diaries (Anim Pl, 6pm) Series Premiere - An eight part series documenting the life of Timothy Treadwell (from the creepy Grizzly Man movie) in the decade before his death.

Saturday

• Starter Wife (USA, 9am) - A little marathon of the start of Debra Messing’s freshly single series.

Sunday

• US Open Tennis (USA starting Mon, CBS Sa/Su) - So what are the chances the final will be Nadal (1) vs Federer (2) and Ivanovic (1) vs Jankovic (2)… let’s see how this goes.

New and notable in the week ahead…

Monday

• Thank You, Mr. President: Helen Thomas at the Whitehouse (HBO, 9pm) - She quips about her tenure in the press corps with many a president.
• The Hills (MTV, 10pm) Season Premiere - This is that ‘reality’ show where ‘regular’ people have become ‘celebrities.’
• Busted (MTV, 10:30pm) Series Premiere - More reality but this time it’s kids who get arrested.
• Olympic Roundup - NBC primetime coverage includes women’s individual gymnastics events, trampoline final, track & field, and women’s beach volleyball semis. 

Tuesday

• Making the Band 4 (MTV, 9pm) Season Premiere - The bands promote what I’m sure are hot hits.
• Olympic roundup - NBC primetime coverage includes men’s and women’s individual gymnastics events, track & field, diving, and new event: bmx cycling.

Wednesday

• Architecture School (Sund, 9pm) Series Debut - Can you pick the hot new architect who will combine a great aesthetic and a realistic single family home? 
• Olympic Roundup - NBC primetime coverage includes gymnastics exhibition, track & field, bmx cycling, and women’s beach volleyball finals.

Thursday

• Glam God with Vivica A Fox/The Cho Show (VH1, 10/11pm) Series Premieres - Folks compete to be a celebrity stylist, then we get to follow comedian Margaret Cho around.
• Jacked: Auto Theft Task Force (A&E, 10pm) Series Premiere - It’s like Cops but with carjackers.
• Tabatha’s Salon Takeover (Bravo, 10pm) Series Premiere - Some chick from Shear Genius tries to turn salons around.
• Olympic Roundup - NBC primetime coverage includes track & field, women’s diving, and men’s beach volleyball finals.

Friday

• Discovery Project Earth (DSC, 9pm) Series Premiere - Can scientists come up with the way to save the earth, hear what they have to say here.
• Who Are you Wearing (TLC, 10pm) Series Premiere - I think this is kind of like Project Runway.
• Jeffrey Ross (Com, 11:30pm) - A comedy central special of Ross doing No Offense Live from New Jersey.
• Olympic Roundup - NBC primetime coverage includes men’s diving and track & field.

Saturday

• Olympic Roundup - NBC day and evening overage includes women’s basketball finals, women’s volleyball finals, rhythmic gymnastics, synchro swimming, boxing, canoe/kayak, men’s marathon, track & field, and diving.

Sunday

• Law & Order: CI (USA, 9pm) Season Finale - This is actually the one of these I don’t watch, though I like Mr. Big better than D’Onofrio.
• Generation Kill (HBO, 9pm) Miniseries finale - Does this mean the war is over?
• Olympic Roundup - NBC day and evening coverage includes men’s waterpolo finals, rhythmic gymnastics, boxing, men’s volleyball finals, and the Closing Ceremonies.

New and notable in the week ahead…

Monday

• Sesame Street (PBS, 7am) Season Premiere - Feist and Jack Black hang out on the street, I’ve always wanted to visit the street.
• Greek (ABC Fam, 6pm) - For those of you who may have missed out on this fun light show about some folks in the fraternities and sororities you can catch a first season ep every night this week at 6 starting with the pilot.
• The Mole (ABC, 10pm) Season Finale - I’m sure I noted when this show started up again but I didn’t realize this show was still on.
• Olympic Roundup - NBC evening coverage has medals for swimming, men’s team gymnastics, and men’s synchro 10m diving, as well as some prelim beach volleyball.

Tuesday

• Samantha Who? (ABC, 9/9:30pm) - For another funny show that you may have missed, catch Christina Applegate waking up with amnesia from the start.
• Olympic Roundup - NBC evening coverage has medals for swimming, women’s team gymnastics, and women’s synchro 10m diving, as well as some prelim beach volleyball.

Wednesday

• Olympic Roundup - NBC evening coverage has medals for swimming, men’s individual all around gymnastics, and men’s 3m synchro diving as well as some prelim beach volleyball and women’s road cycling.

Thursday

• Olympic Roundup - NBC evening coverage has medals for swimming and women’s individual all around gymnastics as well as beach and indoor volleyball.

Friday

• Star Stories (BBC, 9:20pm) Series Premiere - Comedians reenact the stories behind the stars stories.
• Olympic Roundup - NBC evening coverage has medals for swimming, men’s shotput, as well as track and field, beach and indoor volleyball.

Saturday

• Instant Beauty Pageant (Style, 9pm) Season Premiere - This is where The View’s first young one Debbie is… regular gals do a pageant in the mall.
• Olympic Roundup - NBC coverage of basketball, cycling, rowing, badminton, water polo, beach volleyball, trampoline, track and field, diving, and of course swimming.

Sunday

• Skins (BBC, 9/10pm) Series Premiere - It’s a coming of age story…
• Bob Saget Roast (Com, 10pm) - Get ready for lots of inappropriate Mk and A Olsen jokes.
• Kung Fu Killer (Spike, 10pm) Miniseries - Did someone say David Carradine and Kung Fu? this two part series wraps tomorrow night.
• Olympic Roundup - NBC coverage of cycling, rowing, badminton, table tennis, equestrian, indoor and beach volleyball, track and field, diving, and individual gymnastics events.

Well I like to think that the amount of time I sit in front of a television could qualify me for my own Olympic event, but I hear it actually just makes me sound pathetic. So sometimes to make me feel more athletic I watch sports. I should be in really good shape after three weeks of Olympic coverage.

There seem to be three kinds of watchers: Watch it All, Watch Favorites, and the Dabblers (who just seem to turn on the tv when they’re around and watch whatever sport happens to be on). Well as much as I long to be a Dabbler I get engrossed in a sport and then somehow think I’m going to miss out if I don’t watch 24/7.

The sports that I do tend to seek out are swimming, diving, gymnastics, and beach volleyball. Of course the fun of the Olympics is more about some of the sports that folks toil over year round that most people don’t follow like archery, table tennis, or synchronized swimming.

So no matter what you’re planning to watch you might need to do a little planning to watch it. NBC proper will typically show the most ‘popular’ sports but with a block of 8 and then 4 hours of coverage on this Saturday alone tivos will be getting pretty full pretty fast.

The NBC Olympics site has pretty detailed breakdowns by day and by sport. You can drill down each day to see what sports are on in shorter blocks of time as well as which time blocks are finals vying for medals. And in this day and age of course you can find videos online. There may be too much planning involved on this even for me so I guess in the meantime I should clear off a little more space on my tivo.

* Full coverage includes NBC, MSNBC, CNBC, USA, Universal HD, Oxygen, Telemundo, and apparently NBC Olympic Basketball Channel and NBC Olympic Soccer Channel

New and notable in the week ahead…

Monday

• The Recruiter (HBO, 9pm) - This week’s special focuses on an army recruiter in a time where recruiting is probably not the easiest thing.

Tuesday

• Eureka (Scifi, 9pm) Season Premiere - Another season of the wacky weird science geniuses getting out of control accidentally or on purpose and the sheriff who tries to keep it all together.

Wednesday

• Lewis Black’s Root of All Evil (Com, 10:30) Season Premiere - Who is more evil, ultimate fighters or bloggers?

Thursday

• Hopkins (ABC, 10pm) Season Finale - I guess it’s more on the patients and staff of Johns Hopkins, but really I don’t believe the commercials that this is what the cast of Grey’s is watching now.

Friday

• Dr Who (Scifi, 8:30pm) Season Finale - The fourth season wraps up featuring characters from spinoff shows The Sarah Jane Adventures and Torchwood.

Saturday

• X Games (ABC, sa/su 12pm and ESPN/ESPN2 various times starting Thurs) - Skateboard, bmx, moto x, and rally car this year in LA, but will Jake Brown try the mega ramp again, it should happen on Thursday.

Sunday

• Girl on the Loose/Sunset Tan (E!, 10pm) Series Debut/Season Premiere - And another reality show where we learn more… this time it’s Pam Anderson, then apparently a show I’ve somehow missed where celebrities go get tan, I sense a crossover episode on the way.
• The Factory (Spike, 10pm) Season Finale - You can catch up, if you want, with a mini marathon starting at 7:30 to see what these guys have been up to.

So a few years after getting cable and stumbling on the Lance channel (now Vs-Versus previously OLN-Outdoor Living Network) where they seemed to show Lance Armstrong riding his bike 24 hours a day for weeks, I have become a bit hooked on the Tour de France. It’s actually quite interesting once you learn some of the basics and once you figure out what parts of the tour you can fast forward through (no one should watch 3-6 hours of cycling a day). I’m still figuring it out but here’s where I’m at.

The Basics

The tour typically takes 23 days with two rest days. The route changes each year but circles the country popping in and out of other countries at times along the way with a finish in Paris. There are about 20 teams invited to the tour with 9 riders each. Each stage covers roads that range from flat to mountainous, with usually a few days in each of the Alps and the Pyrenees. All of the riders start together on these stages except for the couple stages that are time trials where the riders have staggered starts and must ride against the clock. Some tours include a team trial where the team as a whole rides together for time. Unfortunately at the end of the day, not all the riders finish due to injury on crashes, not finishing within the appropriate time (usually a percentage of the winner’s time), abandoning the race, and of course being kicked out for drug use. Though a few riders are still caught doping we’re hoping the fact that they’re caught means that the system is working.

More Than One Way to Win

So we all learned that yellow was good as we watched Lance roll into Paris wearing the yellow jersey (a record number seven times) which is awarded for the overall cumulative fastest time, the competitors for this are often referred to as the GC (General Classification). But that’s not the only jersey awarded, there’s the white for the best young rider (under the age of 25) with the best cumulative time, green jersey for sprinters who win points for their place in overall finishes and various points in the stages, and the polka dot jersey awarded for winning points on the mountains. And of course the winner of each stage. There are also a few other claims to fame including the overall leading team and most aggressive rider awarded for a day’s performance.

Really a Team Sport

So though individuals often receive the glory it really is a strong team that can make the difference in the race. There is a tremendous amount of strategy used within a team to make sure that their individual contenders have the best shot at their win. Cyclists draft off one another but they also may do things like move to the front of the peloton (the main pack of cyclists) and set the pace, chase down breakaways (those trying to go faster than the peloton), lead out sprint stages to set up for the win, and go back for water to bring to the front riders. Phil and Paul, two of the best sports commentators there are, try to explain all this and more during the many hours of coverage. Vs usually has a a live show at the crack of dawn and replays throughout the day in edited formats with a primetime show hosted by Craig and Bob (Al used to hold Craig’s spot but we think he’s too busy in an Olympic year).

Who’s On Top

So we’ve wrapped up the major mountain stages where the ride is so hard that it’s usually where the GC guys win or lose the stage, but the last men standing are still surprisingly close together. The next couple of stages aren’t thought to allow a break by anyone competitive overall and it’s thought that the final time trial on Saturday might be what determines who will finish up first. The final stage into Paris is almost never challenged by the GC guys and left for the sprinters to make their push for the line. The top four riders, Sastre, Schleck, Kohl and Evans, are all separated by less than two minutes which is potentially enough for things to change. All eyes are on Evans who is great in the time trial and is theoretically able to beat current leader Sastre by one to two minutes, but will he have the legs this Saturday? Time will tell.

New and notable for the week ahead… live times are noted as pst, always check your local listings. 

Monday

• The Bachelor (ABC, 8pm) - Where are they now? Or you can look it up on tvguide.
• The Closer (TNT, 9pm) Season Premiere - I have been watching reruns of this on TNT and just realized that they are skipping episodes and not showing the whole seasons, now I’m debating whether trying to netflix just the episodes I missed which is kind of a pain, they are doing a marathon throughout the day.
• Saving Grace (TNT, 10pm) Season Premieres - I’ve been looking forward to season two of Holly Hunter drinking and sleeping with inappropriate men and dealing with her angel Earl.
• China’s Stolen Children (HBO, 9pm) - The latest special…

Tuesday

• The Cleaner (A&E, 10pm) Series Premiere - Benjamin Bratt is a now clean but not problem free addict who helps others get clean, and for some reason has a crew of folks to help him out.
• From G’s to Gents (MTV, 10pm) Series Premiere - Can they make these bad boys go good, a new reality competition was definitely needed to answer that.

Wednesday

• Project Runway (Bravo, 9pm) Season Premiere - I think the whole gang is back for the new crew of competition.
• Dog the Bounty Hunter (A&E, 9pm) Season Premiere - This guy is apparently back with a vengeance.
• Celebrity Circus (NBC, 10pm) Season Finale - Wee man, Stacey Dash, and Antonio ‘actor” Sabato Jr. compete for… circus bragging rights.
• Family Foreman (TV Land, 10pm) Series Premiere - Apparently we need to see more of George Foreman in this reality series.

Thursday

• The Gong Show (Comedy, 10pm) Series Premiere - Dave Attell (?) hosts the new version of this classic hit of wacky acts.
• Reality Bites Back (Comedy, 10:30pm) Series Premiere - What could follow the Gong Show better than comedians competing in classic game show feats from gladiators to smarter than a 5th grader. 

Friday

• Monk (USA, 9pm) Season Premiere - Tony Shaloub plays a nutso phobic private detective.
• Psych (USA, 10pm) Season Premiere - A particularly observant guy pretends to be psychic and solves crimes with a buddy.

Saturday

• Action Sports Tour (NBC, sa/su 1pm - also on USA sa/su 12am) - The Right Guard Open is the Cleveland stop of the Dew Tour.
• Beach Volleyball (NBC, sa/su 11:30am) - The AVP Crocs Tour shows us the finals from Brooklyn.
• Skateboarding (CBS, 12pm) - The Maloof Money Cup Championships from Costa Mesa, Ca.
• And of course you could catch up on more of the tour de france, moving right along…

Sunday

• High School Musical: Get in the Picture (ABC, 8pm) Series Debut  - Nick Lachey hosts this competition for kids to get into the action of the High School Musical franchise, and I think the winner gets shown in the closing credits.
• ESPYs (ESPN, 9pm) - Justin Timberlake hosts as they recognize sports achievements throughout the year.

Now he’s also a great athlete and apparently his feet are so big they act as flippers but… In catching some of the US Olympic Trials getting all geared up for the Olympics I couldn’t help but think he has somehow beat the system by picking the right sport.

First there is the injury factor, of course a swimmer could get injured, but not like these other sports. After watching those little gymnasts’ limbs snap like twigs I wondered if it was all worth it. Picking the team wasn’t just about picking the best gymnasts it was about predicting the future of kids held together with tacks and tape. How long will it take them to heal, how long will it take them to get back into shape? At the end of the day will they be the best?

And then of course there are the sports where you have to depend on someone else? Team sports like soccer and even the pairs of beach volleyball. Counting on someone else can bring an incredible camaraderie. But what happens when they have shoulder surgery and may or may not be ready for the event that comes once every four years. (#1 beach volleyball team member Carrie Walsh looks great with or without a 100% shoulder by the way)

Then there is the nice calm race factor where everyone stays in their own lanes and the competition is completely about how well you race your race.  No one is getting in your way, like those track people where they all smush together in the same lane, this one guy in track literally elbowed his way out of the pack to move forward, or cycling where people can actually crash and take you down with them (brings to mind speed skating of the winter Olympics).

And, I can barely imagine competing at world class level under any circumstances, but if you add random weather into the equation I might melt. Why Phelps he just dives into the water that is kept at whatever the appropriate world record setting temperature is. What could be easier?

Now I look at all of these things and already think he’s made the right call. Now add on to that the fact that he’s competing in a sport where it is possible to compete in a bunch of different events and win a bunch of different medals. This six time gold medalist (plus two bronze) has the possibility to get eight more at the 2008 games. He’s competing in five individual events, four that he holds the world record in and one that he beat the world record holder at trials, and then three relays.

Makes you almost feel sorry for those people who only win one gold medal…. Though who I won’t feel sorry for is a woman who is putting me to shame, can I no longer use my age as my reason for not being in great shape? 41 year old Dara Torres won the 100 and 50 free in the trials. Though she already has nine Olympic medals from her four previous Olympics, four of them gold. See what I mean. It’s almost like they’re cheating.