2008 Olympic Bloopers and Spills in Pictures

 
[Welisson Silva of Brazil during the men's 69 kg group C weightlifting event.]

Trust me – I’m not poking fun at the misfortune of others but when you are watching an event where almost all of the participants are operating at such a high level of excellence, it’s nice to know they are human too.  Here’s a look at some of the “unplanned moments” at the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympic Games.

Katie McVean of New Zealand took a fall when her horse refused to jump a fence.

More after the jump!

Poland’s Kamil Kuczynski and Theo Bos of the Netherlands fell during the men’s track cycling team sprint qualifiers.

Jiang Yuyuan of China fell on the vault during the women’s individual all-around artistic gymnastics final.

Ronald Brouwer of the Netherland’s and Richard Mantell of Great Britain fell during the men’s field hockey match.  Look at the height Brouwer got!

Hiroyuki Tomita of Japan tumbled to the mat after he slipped during his dismount from his rings routine in the men’s individual all-around artistic gymnastics final.

Chinese basketball superstar, Yao Ming, took a fall and ended up among the reporters during the men’s preliminary round group B basketball match against the United States.

image credit: Newscom