Osaka '07: Beepin' Beijing: full circle

Finally, then, I am back to the photo that began my extended consideration of some of the results of the 11th IAAF World Championships in Athletics in Osaka, Japan several weeks ago: an image of what actually became the podium for the marathon run the last day of the championships: Kenya's Catherine the Great, the PROC's second of two women's medals (Chunxiu Zhou), and Japan's successful last hope not to become the second only host to be shutout of the medals (Reiko Tosa). I have been repeatedly chided for my penchant for the mundane (inappreciation of the allusion), but Catherine's "nodders": shooting for the stars.

Photo source: Yahoo! News/AP Photo/Anja Niedringhaus