Rio 2016 Olympics

[Asmodean_]

Disclaimer: I don't think there's anywhere else to put this. There's no sports board, after all. If there's a better place to put it could a mod move it please.

So what do you all think of the Rio 2016 opening ceremony/games so far?

[ChillerInstinct]

I've heard no shortage of horror stories about the venue. Apparently one athlete got robbed at gunpoint by the local police, there's been killer jellyfish sightings near the 10 KM swimming venue, the water quality is abysmal, the Golf Course is full of dangerous animals, and many other fun little incidents, and the event proper has hardly even started.

Rio was a mistake, is what I'm saying, and I'm praying that things don't turn into an absolute disaster before it's all over.

[Rodin]

The women's soccer is the only stuff I've watched so far. Canada game was pretty great, but unfortunately I missed the USA game.

The list of teams for both men's and women's is...weird. No Japan for the women is decidedly odd, given how much of a powerhouse they've been in recent years. For the Men's...no US. No England (although they only started competing in the Olympics recently, so not really a surprise), no Spain, no Netherlands. No France, no Italy, no Belgium. Out of all the powerhouse European nations, Sweden and Denmark of all nations made it through. The whole thing is kind of a headscratcher.

The only thing I can think is that the rules for competing in the Olympics is different from the World Cup, which must have had a dramatic effect on team composition to cause the set of teams we actually got.

I will certainly tune in for the inevitable Brazil v. Germany re-match though. Now THERE is a grudge match I wouldn't miss for the world.

------

In terms of the other sports, I just hope NBC does a better job with their online streaming than last time. There were a bunch of sports I would have watched, but the individual sports streams did not have commentary. If you watched on the actual NBC channel on your TV...sure, commentary on the action to guide you through what was going on. Online? Nothing. Just a camera pointed at the action. If you're a fan of the sport you could get by, but for watching sports you're not familiar with? Utterly impossible.

Streaming has come a long way in 4 years, so I'm hopeful.

[The New Bruceski]

The list of teams for both men's and women's is...weird. No Japan for the women is decidedly odd, given how much of a powerhouse they've been in recent years. For the Men's...no US. No England (although they only started competing in the Olympics recently, so not really a surprise), no Spain, no Netherlands. No France, no Italy, no Belgium. Out of all the powerhouse European nations, Sweden and Denmark of all nations made it through. The whole thing is kind of a headscratcher.


Last time the Brits went to an international soccer tournament they got Brexit. Probably don't want to risk finding out what else can happen.

[Asmodean_]

I really wish they'd introduce proper rugby instead of just sevens.

[Slayn82]

The golf course with alligators is true, and its exactly as intended - having the local fauna and flora was the goal of the project. Hope it works better than what happened with the "onça" - a species of Brazilian Bobcat, that was supposed to be exhibited along with the torch in part of its trajectory through the country, but the animal escaped its handlers and was sacrificed. Yeah, one of the species of the mascots of the games - good thing we got two.

The thing about Killer Jellyfish probably isn't much of concern. The water quality on the place intended for open sea events is pretty bad, but it's still used by hundreds of thousands persons per year, and the incidents are exceeding rare.

Brazilians were generally pessimistic, but the opening ceremony have lifted the moods considerably. The World Cup opening was considered very underwhelming by our festivities standards. This time people feel the event ceremony was really ours.

Despite all the drumming of local media, most people felt very alienated from the event, wasn't as easy for the average Brazilian to identify with this event as was with the World Cup. There was a huge gap in communication between popular opinion and the event organization. Won't say more because it would be political.

Now, if you want to see how hilarious was the torch journey through Brazil, I will leave this
https://youtu.be/b4LfOuPjJ8Y

[Rodin]

Oh, hey, table tennis!

*loads the feed*

*no commentary*


/facepalm



WHY IS THIS SO DIFFICULT!!?????

[Slayn82]

Hope Solo did an awful comment about the Zika epidemic back in June. Today, in the USA female team soccer match against France, every time she touches the ball, the audience screams ZIKA! Bonus points because in Brazil, since a long time, to put a Zica on someone is to give them the evil eye. That level of rivalry is usually reserved to Argentina.

Zika is a concern, but it's outbreak is very small. Dengue fever is endemic, but we aren't on season for it. If someone needs to be wary from diseases, it's Brazil. We got 2 new viruses as the World Cup legacy, and there wasn't people from the almost every country concentrated mostly at a single city.

[Artemis97]

I liked the opening ceremonies alright. Not as elaborate as some I've seen in the past (looking at you, China), but it told the story of Brazil fairly well and had an uplifting spirit to it all. Big dance party. Lots of fun. I really liked the idea they had of planting tree seeds, and I hope the 'athlete's forest' grows strong over the years.

There was quite a mean comment made by Matt Lauer to Meredith Viera during the parade of nations. He said that Philip II of Mecedon had won some awards in the ancient Olympics, and Meredith had been there to cover it, implying she was that old. Very mean spirited and out of character for Lauer. I've watch him on TV for years, and lost a bit of respect for him at that moment. I wonder if someone else wrote the joke.

The laurel award they gave to the gentleman from Kenya (I can't recall his name) was a nice touch. Very uplifting and in the spirit of the olympics. The speech the head of the olympic committee was nice, if simple, but when you have to translate it into like 3 different languages, simple is good.

I'm looking forward to the events. Swimming's always a favorite in our house. Gymnastic's usually good. If I can catch the fencing that would be great. And my fiance's family is looking forward to the Judo competition (his dad's a coach).

I really hope things go relatively smoothly. I really, truly love the olympics and all of the good it represents. I'd hate for anything bad to happen that would mar that reputation.

[Rodin]

I've been enjoying the fencing thus far, but I'm a bit lost without commentary on some of the rules. I've been able to get that when someone's helmet flashes they scored a hit, and sometimes they both score hits and get a point. But what does it mean when someone's helmet flashes and they DON'T score a point? Was there a foul? What constitutes an illegal touch?

Still good fun to watch regardless.

Edit: I was also surprised to see a lot of people wearing wedding bands on their off-hands. Okay, you're not using that hand but then we don't let people wear rings in soccer either. It just seems like a really bad idea to have a ring that could get caught on something in a contact sport.

[Artemis97]

oh I'm trying to recall what's an illegal touch or foul in fencing. It differs from style to style. With Epee fencing, which I think was today's matches, the whole body is fair game, but in foil fencing you're restricted to hits on the torso. I can't remember the rules for hitting the head. That might be a bad hit? I'm not sure. Hope that helps a little.

[Cikomyr]

Pfff.. the Men Beach Volley Ball Canada/Brazil game was rigged :smallfurious:

[Artemis97]

So I've discovered that the CBC's fencing broadcast has commentary, they might be a good alternative to NBC for those not wanting to watch raw footage. Of course, I don't know if CBC's streams will work in the US or elsewhere. I just happen to be in Canada at the moment.

[5a Violista]

I've loved the games so far! They were pretty cool. I watched most of the fencing matches (obviously I watched them. I'm a fencer; I cheered for the left-handed people because I fence left-handed) but I missed the soccer matches even though I love that sport too. I watched the last dozen minutes of the bike race, the gymnastics, some of the swimming, and the volleyball. I loved the volleyball, and the gymnastics were so powerful-looking. I wish I could do those. i love Brazil and I've lived there before and I want to be there right now to watch everything and experience everything.


I've been enjoying the fencing thus far, but I'm a bit lost without commentary on some of the rules. I've been able to get that when someone's helmet flashes they scored a hit, and sometimes they both score hits and get a point. But what does it mean when someone's helmet flashes and they DON'T score a point? Was there a foul? What constitutes an illegal touch?

So, they were doing épée (the rules are different with other swords, but I'll only explain épée's rules, for clarity). Artemis is right: the whole body is fair game with épée. If both people hit at the same time, then both lights go off and both people get a point. If only one hits the other, only one person gets a point. (You also get a point if you run the other person off the back, but I didn't see that happen.) There were no fouls from what I saw, and there are no off-target areas that don't count in épée. (With the exception of hitting the floor, of course.)
A foul would include something like: disregarding the judge-guy, continue fencing after a sword breaks, tackle the other person, or other similar things.

There was one or two times when I was watching that the lights went off but no points were scored, however; I think you're talking about what I saw. When the judge says "Halt" you have to stop fencing, back up, and no touches after that are counted.
A couple of times, when the fencers practically ran into each other, the judge yelled out "Halt" and then the sword hit, making the light go off. Because the light went off after the match was paused, it didn't count.
I think that's what you saw and are talking about.

[Rodin]

I've loved the games so far! They were pretty cool. I watched most of the fencing matches (obviously I watched them. I'm a fencer; I cheered for the left-handed people because I fence left-handed) but I missed the soccer matches even though I love that sport too. I watched the last dozen minutes of the bike race, the gymnastics, some of the swimming, and the volleyball. I loved the volleyball, and the gymnastics were so powerful-looking. I wish I could do those. i love Brazil and I've lived there before and I want to be there right now to watch everything and experience everything.



So, they were doing épée (the rules are different with other swords, but I'll only explain épée's rules, for clarity). Artemis is right: the whole body is fair game with épée. If both people hit at the same time, then both lights go off and both people get a point. If only one hits the other, only one person gets a point. (You also get a point if you run the other person off the back, but I didn't see that happen.) There were no fouls from what I saw, and there are no off-target areas that don't count in épée. (With the exception of hitting the floor, of course.)
A foul would include something like: disregarding the judge-guy, continue fencing after a sword breaks, tackle the other person, or other similar things.

There was one or two times when I was watching that the lights went off but no points were scored, however; I think you're talking about what I saw. When the judge says "Halt" you have to stop fencing, back up, and no touches after that are counted.
A couple of times, when the fencers practically ran into each other, the judge yelled out "Halt" and then the sword hit, making the light go off. Because the light went off after the match was paused, it didn't count.
I think that's what you saw and are talking about.

Ah! Yes, I'm sure that's what happened. Thanks for the detailed explanation!

[Ebon_Drake]

The women's soccer is the only stuff I've watched so far. Canada game was pretty great, but unfortunately I missed the USA game.

The list of teams for both men's and women's is...weird. No Japan for the women is decidedly odd, given how much of a powerhouse they've been in recent years. For the Men's...no US. No England (although they only started competing in the Olympics recently, so not really a surprise), no Spain, no Netherlands. No France, no Italy, no Belgium. Out of all the powerhouse European nations, Sweden and Denmark of all nations made it through. The whole thing is kind of a headscratcher.

The only thing I can think is that the rules for competing in the Olympics is different from the World Cup, which must have had a dramatic effect on team composition to cause the set of teams we actually got.

I will certainly tune in for the inevitable Brazil v. Germany re-match though. Now THERE is a grudge match I wouldn't miss for the world.

------


England don't compete at the Olympics. Great Britain do. That's not a petty distinction, in most other settings the home nations compete separately so it creates some tension when the separate organisations suddenly have to work together to field a team. I don't think other sports have the same level of difficulty with co-operating, but IIRC it took a massive amount of effort at the last Olympics to get the English, Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish football associations to agree to enter a joint team - and that was pretty much a one-off just because the event happened to be in London.

Also, I'm no expert but I believe the eligibility criteria for competing at the Olympics are somewhat Byzantine and mean countries are only allowed a small number of professional players in a squad. That tends to mess up the established order in men's football, since for example the entire Icelandic team from Euro '16 would probably be eligible for the Olympics whereas the same definitely can't be said for the likes of France or Italy. EDIT: just checked and it's actually by age, but the effect is still the same in that it restricts the number of world-class players that teams can field.

[nyjastul69]

I liked the opening ceremonies alright. Not as elaborate as some I've seen in the past (looking at you, China), but it told the story of Brazil fairly well and had an uplifting spirit to it all. Big dance party. Lots of fun. I really liked the idea they had of planting tree seeds, and I hope the 'athlete's forest' grows strong over the years.

There was quite a mean comment made by Matt Lauer to Meredith Viera during the parade of nations. He said that Philip II of Mecedon had won some awards in the ancient Olympics, and Meredith had been there to cover it, implying she was that old. Very mean spirited and out of character for Lauer. I've watch him on TV for years, and lost a bit of respect for him at that moment. I wonder if someone else wrote the joke.

The laurel award they gave to the gentleman from Kenya (I can't recall his name) was a nice touch. Very uplifting and in the spirit of the olympics. The speech the head of the olympic committee was nice, if simple, but when you have to translate it into like 3 different languages, simple is good.

I'm looking forward to the events. Swimming's always a favorite in our house. Gymnastic's usually good. If I can catch the fencing that would be great. And my fiance's family is looking forward to the Judo competition (his dad's a coach).

I really hope things go relatively smoothly. I really, truly love the olympics and all of the good it represents. I'd hate for anything bad to happen that would mar that reputation.

The funny thing about the Lauer comment is that she is only 4 years older than him.

[thompur]

I liked the opening ceremonies alright. Not as elaborate as some I've seen in the past (looking at you, China), but it told the story of Brazil fairly well and had an uplifting spirit to it all. Big dance party. Lots of fun. I really liked the idea they had of planting tree seeds, and I hope the 'athlete's forest' grows strong over the years.

There was quite a mean comment made by Matt Lauer to Meredith Viera during the parade of nations. He said that Philip II of Mecedon had won some awards in the ancient Olympics, and Meredith had been there to cover it, implying she was that old. Very mean spirited and out of character for Lauer. I've watch him on TV for years, and lost a bit of respect for him at that moment. I wonder if someone else wrote the joke.

The laurel award they gave to the gentleman from Kenya (I can't recall his name) was a nice touch. Very uplifting and in the spirit of the olympics. The speech the head of the olympic committee was nice, if simple, but when you have to translate it into like 3 different languages, simple is good.

I'm looking forward to the events. Swimming's always a favorite in our house. Gymnastic's usually good. If I can catch the fencing that would be great. And my fiance's family is looking forward to the Judo competition (his dad's a coach).

I really hope things go relatively smoothly. I really, truly love the olympics and all of the good it represents. I'd hate for anything bad to happen that would mar that reputation.

That was Kip Keino. He's one of the first Olympic athletes I remember watching as a kid. It was the 1972 Munich games. He made his living at the time as a police officer, so my dad called him 'Kip Keino the Kenyan Cop'. He had a wonderful personality, so he was one of the track stars. The other two stars I remember are Russian gymnast Olga Korbut, and American swimmer Mark Spitz.

[Liquor Box]

I really wish they'd introduce proper rugby instead of just sevens.

You'd struggle to fit a decent tournament into two weeks because you need downtime between games.

[Ninja_Prawn]

There certainly have been a lot of disasters, huh? That cycling course was way too dangerous for a start, and the problems with the water and the rowing leave me worried about how the sailing will go. That's one of my favourites to watch, so I hope it's not too badly affected.


the rules are different with other swords, but I'll only explain épée's rules, for clarity

So, I don't know if Rodin was watching the men's foil yesterday (painful one for GB :smallfrown:), but there's a lot more of the 'lights with no point scored' going on in that. What puzzles me is how the judges determine right-of-way. I think I understand the principle, but how can you tell who's attacking when you watch it? So often, both fencers launch an attack at the same time. It's clear that the fencers themselves usually don't know who has the right...

[5a Violista]

For the people who don't understand fencing, I'll briefly explain a simplified explanation of it:
*) Remember, it's judged by a human and so is dependent on the judge's understanding and what they see.
*) With foil, hitting off target never gets you a point. Imagine a vest: hitting there is on-target; hitting elsewhere is off-target. Hitting off target pauses and resets the match at a set distance from your opponent.
*) Unlike epee, only one person is awarded a point at a time in foil.
*) Running the other person off the back still gives you a point.
*) If only one person hits, that hit is counted - whether it's off target or on target. If both people hit at the same time, the touch that is counted is the one with right-of-way. If the judge is unsure about who has right-of-way, then the judge can say "Nope, it was unclear. No points awarded."

So, right-of-way, simplified:
1) The person who clearly begins their attack first has right-of-way. In foil, an attack is pretty much defined by "extending your arm followed by doing things"
2) If the attacker hesitates or fails to threaten their opponent, they lose right-of-way.
3) If the attacker is blocked (parried), the defender gains right-of-way and the attacker loses right-of-way.

It's slightly more complicated than that (insufficient parries, compound attacks, preparations, beat attacks...), but this gives the idea.

In essence, this is what the judge is looking for:
First, watch who fully extends their arm first
Second, if the attacker hesitates
Third, if the defender parries
Fourth, if the light goes off, and what color it was (generally, yellow = off-target; red or green = on target)
in that order.

[Ninja_Prawn]

2) If the attacker hesitates or fails to threaten their opponent, they lose right-of-way.

I'm sure I saw the British guy lose a point because of this yesterday. It seems harsh - if you attack first and hit first, why should it matter that you stuttered slightly in between?


First, watch who fully extends their arm first

This is probably the main thing I'm missing as a non-fencer watching the Olympics. Probably if you spend a lot of time watching, you'd see this sort of thing without thinking. You know, they should put fencing on TV more often. I'd watch!

[Asmodean_]

You'd struggle to fit a decent tournament into two weeks because you need downtime between games.

Loads of tournaments have had matches before the opening ceremony (e.g. the women's football). The 16-day window of the games proper only have to have, maybe, the quarter, semi and finals.

[Ninja_Prawn]

Loads of tournaments have had matches before the opening ceremony (e.g. the women's football). The 16-day window of the games proper only have to have, maybe, the quarter, semi and finals.

Yeah. The cricket community has been talking for years about getting a T20 tournament into the Olympics. If there's room for cricket, surely there's room for rugby union?

[tomwalker154]

That's okay. It's even hotter than Pokemon Go :D

[Ruslan]

The women's soccer is the only stuff I've watched so far. Canada game was pretty great, but unfortunately I missed the USA game.

The list of teams for both men's and women's is...weird. No Japan for the women is decidedly odd, given how much of a powerhouse they've been in recent years. For the Men's...no US. No England (although they only started competing in the Olympics recently, so not really a surprise), no Spain, no Netherlands. No France, no Italy, no Belgium. Out of all the powerhouse European nations, Sweden and Denmark of all nations made it through. The whole thing is kind of a headscratcher.

England is not an Olympic nation. Britain is, but the four different British football associations (England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales) are too busy maintaining their own national pride to put a British team together. Only at London 2012 could they be forced to make an exception - and only because it was a home Olympics.

[Ruslan]

The funny thing about the Lauer comment is that she is only 4 years older than him.
Fun fact: women on average live 5 years longer than men. "Young" Matt is likely to die before "old" Meredith.

[The New Bruceski]

Fun fact: women on average live 5 years longer than men. "Young" Matt is likely to die before "old" Meredith.

Longer than 5 years when the men make comments like that.

[Liquor Box]

Loads of tournaments have had matches before the opening ceremony (e.g. the women's football). The 16-day window of the games proper only have to have, maybe, the quarter, semi and finals.

True, I suppose that could work

It would be good to have rugby league in there as well.

[mike201689]

True, I suppose that could work

It would be good to have rugby league in there as well.

It may be in the future. If I am not mistaken that every four years the Olympics added a sport.

[Ninja_Prawn]

It may be in the future. If I am not mistaken that every four years the Olympics added a sport.

From Wikipedia (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/2020_Summer_Olympics), regarding sports to be added in 2020: "On 28 September 2015, organisers submitted its shortlist of five proposed sports to the IOC: baseball/softball, karate, sport climbing, surfing and skateboarding. The five proposed sports were approved on 3 August 2016 by the IOC"

[Douglas]

If you ever feel useless just remember that someone is a lifeguard at the olympics swimming event.

-- some Facebook post

:smallamused::smallamused:

[The Glyphstone]

Wouldn't that be useful? As in 'at least you're more useful than an olympic swimming lifeguard?'

[Douglas]

Wouldn't that be useful? As in 'at least you're more useful than an olympic swimming lifeguard?'
That's the point.

[Rodin]

The final for the men's individual epee was pretty excellent. And, bonus! There was actually commentary. It was really interesting from a storytelling point of view - a guy who was at his first ever Olympics competing for his country's first ever epee gold medal, vs. a 41 year-old "Rocky" style competitor aiming for the gold after his only medal (a bronze) received 20 years ago. Fantastic stuff.

Edit: Oh, and in the lead-in music to the final? The Imperial March. Kudos, Olympics, kudos.

[Ninja_Prawn]

The final for the men's individual epee was pretty excellent. And, bonus! There was actually commentary. It was really interesting from a storytelling point of view - a guy who was at his first ever Olympics competing for his country's first ever epee gold medal, vs. a 41 year-old "Rocky" style competitor aiming for the gold after his only medal (a bronze) received 20 years ago. Fantastic stuff.

I think the epee is my favourite weapon to watch. The sabre is just too quick - each point is a few seconds and most seem to consist of both fencers lunging at each other as fast as they can - and the foils are so thin and silly-looking. Also I like that you can hit anywhere on the body with an epee. That makes things more interesting.

[Rodin]

After praising the coverage while discussing the kayaking earlier today, NBC has managed to flush their reputation with me right back down the crapper. After seeing that Brazil V. Denmark was going to be an important match, I decided to go on and watch it. It's on the mobile app - great. Exceeeeeeeeptt......the commentary is solely in Spanish. No English option available. Wut?

So I decide to go to the main website, under the soccer tab, to see if they have a different stream. And there, plastered across the front page, is the result of the game.

GENIUS! Because nobody in the history of ever will want to come and watch the match anything but live! Let's spoil everything and remove the point of actually WATCHING the sport!

Disgusted, I decide to at least see if I can get an English stream and watch the goals. I finally dig 5 levels down into the website to find the game...and get "Coverage not available at this time".

...

...


This is why I hate American sports broadcasters. They have not got the slightest clue about spoilers. There's this obsessive need to plaster the scores of everything everywhere. The regular Premier League stuff is no better - I've actually got a notecard taped to the top right corner of my screen during the season so I can flip it down over where they broadcast all the spoilers.

Just...ugh. So disgusted with them right now.

[Ninja_Prawn]

After praising the coverage while discussing the kayaking earlier today, NBC has managed to flush their reputation with me right back down the crapper. After seeing that Brazil V. Denmark was going to be an important match, I decided to go on and watch it. It's on the mobile app - great. Exceeeeeeeeptt......the commentary is solely in Spanish. No English option available. Wut?

So I decide to go to the main website, under the soccer tab, to see if they have a different stream. And there, plastered across the front page, is the result of the game.

GENIUS! Because nobody in the history of ever will want to come and watch the match anything but live! Let's spoil everything and remove the point of actually WATCHING the sport!

Disgusted, I decide to at least see if I can get an English stream and watch the goals. I finally dig 5 levels down into the website to find the game...and get "Coverage not available at this time".

...

...


This is why I hate American sports broadcasters. They have not got the slightest clue about spoilers. There's this obsessive need to plaster the scores of everything everywhere. The regular Premier League stuff is no better - I've actually got a notecard taped to the top right corner of my screen during the season so I can flip it down over where they broadcast all the spoilers.

Just...ugh. So disgusted with them right now.

If it's any consolation, I've been disappointed with the BBC's coverage as well. I find the interface hard to use and the media player buggy. And, great as Clare Balding is, she can't carry the entire Olympics games single-handed. It's not a patch on what they did in 2012 - maybe home-field advantage extends to media coverage too? Perhaps we should all try using Brazilian broadcasters?

[digiman619]

Is it bad that I straight up am rooting against Phelps? I enjoy the Olympics because of the stories, because of who is competing, not so much "watch them go fast!". Things like Fiji getting their first medal (bonus for it being gold) in their national sport interest me, not "can they defend their Olympic gold?" I'm sick of Phelps because he's Superman. Other than maybe the relays (in which he needs to rely on 3 other swimmers), has there been an Olympic competition he was in during the last 4 Games where he wasn't the odds on favorite? Or at least expected on the podium? I don't care that he upstaged Le Clos, who was badmouthing him. We get it: he's the be-all end-all of swimming. We got that 4 years ago. Go away.

[MikelaC1]

Is it bad that I straight up am rooting against Phelps? I'm sick of Phelps because he's Superman. Other than maybe the relays (in which he needs to rely on 3 other swimmers), has there been an Olympic competition he was in during the last 4 Games where he wasn't the odds on favorite? Or at least expected on the podium? I don't care that he upstaged Le Clos, who was badmouthing him. We get it: he's the be-all end-all of swimming. We got that 4 years ago. Go away.

Im with you on this one.

And how in the world did they decide how they were going to honor the winners of the womens 100? The American anthem was played first, the American flag was raised higher...in fact, the idiotic arrangement of the flags meant that the Canadian flag was lower than the third place Swedish flag, instead of at least having them side by side. Lets not offend the USA boys, crap on Canada, they don't count.

[Kitten Champion]

My issue with Phelps is more that the Olympics has a ridiculous number of very similar swimming events to rack up so many medals using essentially the same skill, whereas someone else who's equally superb in another sport which just has a singular event is only going to win a single gold in every Olympics throughout his/her active career and is never going to have that opportunity a champion swimmer has.

It's a small and petty complaint I realize, more to do with the emphasis on the medal count than anything else, but it just feels like a lot of ways of expressing the same thing... he swims good.

[Ninja_Prawn]

My issue with Phelps is more that the Olympics has a ridiculous number of very similar swimming events to rack up so many medals using essentially the same skill, whereas someone else who's equally superb in another sport which just has a singular event is only going to win a single gold in every Olympics throughout his/her active career and is never going to have that opportunity a champion swimmer has.

It's a small and petty complaint I realize, more to do with the emphasis on the medal count than anything else, but it just feels like a lot of ways of expressing the same thing... he swims good.

I feel this, too. Swimming and cycling both have too many events where one person can win them all. How many stadia has Brazil had to build/repair to host the football? And there are just two gold medals on offer (I know they've got the world cup in 2018, but still).

[Ruslan]

Rio Olympics Gold Medals Table - top 12

1 USA minus Michael Phelps..................12
2 China............................................. ..11
3 Japan............................................. ...7
4 Great Britain......................................6
5 Australia......................................... ...5
6 South Korea.......................................5
7 Germany........................................... .5
8 Hungary........................................... ..5
9 Michael Phelps....................................4
10 Russia............................................ ....4
11 Italy............................................. ......3
12 France............................................ ....3

[The Glyphstone]

Michaelphelpsistan is the 9th leading gold medal-winning country in the Olympics.

[MikelaC1]

USA finally out in womens soccer. Payback for the travesty of the last Olympics. Guess you didn't bribe the refs enough this time out.

[Bobb]

@Mikela, could we please dial down the hostility?

It strikes a little cognitive dissonance when you cheer that the US soccer team, who are in an event with few awards, are eliminated because the US is winning events with multiple awards.

Actually, it's weird to boo anyone who hasn't cheated or publicly bad mouthed anyone.



As to the flag arrangements I would be shocked if there were not a "flag placement procedure in place of a medal tie" section in the rule book as there have been tons of ties over the years for all medals in the olympics. Bit tacky to jump straight to the Americans as bad guys.

[MikelaC1]

Actually, it's weird to boo anyone who hasn't cheated or publicly bad mouthed anyone.
.

Check out Solo's comments after the match.

[Ninja_Prawn]

Check out Solo's comments after the match.

I'm not a fan of cheering against people (and I haven't seen the comments you mention), but I will concede that Hope Solo is a very difficult person to like. I was certainly backing Germany from the start.

[Bobb]

Check out Solo's comments after the match.


Looked that up. Yeah, that was classless and derisive. I'm not going to defend that.

But the same article I found it in said the rest of the team lost with grace and you made no mention of Solo in your approval of their elimination. So I'm still deducting points from your sportsmanship score. You'll need a good performance in tomorrows final to be guaranteed to bring home a medal. :smallwink:

[Bobb]

Michaelphelpsistan is the 9th leading gold medal-winning country in the Olympics.

Keep your eyes on the dark horse Texas as well. The double punch Simone team shows promise.

[Traab]

When it comes to phelps im a little ambivalent. Mainly about his retirement. That whole will he wont he mess. On the one hand, I certainly understand wanting to retire at the pinnacle of your ability. He has broken a record that stood for over 2000 years. He has a massive medal total and has established his dominance in a way that wont end until he ages out of the system. On the other hand, he clearly hasnt started to slip downwards yet. I honestly wonder if he could pull off one last summer olympics game without being embarrassed. I could see not wanting to ruin your rep by going to the well one last time and walking away with a single bronze instead of 4+ golds, but how likely is it that he would suddenly suck at the next games? Maybe he wouldnt dominate every event, but even grabbing one more gold would pad his record that much more. Eh, either way its up to him. He deserves to be extremely proud of his accomplishments. And I honestly wonder what path his life will take without professional swimming. Think he might be a spokesman for something? He could probably grab a few decent paychecks before his fame fades to live off of.

[Wardog]

If it's any consolation, I've been disappointed with the BBC's coverage as well.

They also seem to be getting really sloppy about identifying countries.

In the opening ceremony, the announcer read out the description for Cambodia when Cameroon came on. And there was another event a day or two ago where they introduced the Japanese competitor as Chinese (or vice versa).

[Rodin]

They also seem to be getting really sloppy about identifying countries.

In the opening ceremony, the announcer read out the description for Cambodia when Cameroon came on. And there was another event a day or two ago where they introduced the Japanese competitor as Chinese (or vice versa).

They also played the wrong national anthem for one of the countries. Still doesn't beat the 2012 Olympics though, when for North Korea's first football match they unveiled the national flag...of South Korea.

[J-H]

Wow, Hope Solo has a terrible attitude. What a jerk.

[Asmodean_]

Ledecky had an amazing performance in the women's 800m freestyle. Beat her own world record by two seconds and everyone else by twelve. I really hope she wasn't doping because otherwise people won't be able to have any more good performances without the dope card getting played.

[Ninja_Prawn]

Ledecky had an amazing performance in the women's 800m freestyle. Beat her own world record by two seconds and everyone else by twelve. I really hope she wasn't doping because otherwise people won't be able to have any more good performances without the dope card getting played.

The doping issue really does hang over the games now, huh? I seem to recall that, when the whistle got blown on Russia, the whistleblowers made it clear that Russia was the tip of the iceberg and that a lot of other countries were doing the same thing... did anything ever come of that?

[MikelaC1]

If Ledecky and Phelps hooked up and had kids, they would be dolphins

[Traab]

About the injuries this year. Is it worse than in previous summer olympics? I mean, we have had several gymnasts breaking bones or otherwise hurting themselves. A dutch bicyclist who crashed and got three spine fractures, another cyclist who crashed at the same spot and broke his collar bone, a weight lifter or two who have damaged themselves badly, it just seems like there are a lot of injuries this year. Is this normal?

[MikelaC1]

About the injuries this year. Is it worse than in previous summer olympics? I mean, we have had several gymnasts breaking bones or otherwise hurting themselves. A dutch bicyclist who crashed and got three spine fractures, another cyclist who crashed at the same spot and broke his collar bone, a weight lifter or two who have damaged themselves badly, it just seems like there are a lot of injuries this year. Is this normal?

High level athletics and injuries go hand in hand. Sure athletes train their bodies to avoid them, but they are pushing themselves beyond normal limits and things are just going to happen. At least no one is dying, like happened at the bobsled/luge tracks of Vancouver

[tomandtish]

About the injuries this year. Is it worse than in previous summer olympics? I mean, we have had several gymnasts breaking bones or otherwise hurting themselves. A dutch bicyclist who crashed and got three spine fractures, another cyclist who crashed at the same spot and broke his collar bone, a weight lifter or two who have damaged themselves badly, it just seems like there are a lot of injuries this year. Is this normal?



High level athletics and injuries go hand in hand. Sure athletes train their bodies to avoid them, but they are pushing themselves beyond normal limits and things are just going to happen. At least no one is dying, like happened at the bobsled/luge tracks of Vancouver

There have always been nasty injuries at the Olympics. Are there more? Unsure. But with the 24/7 coverage, as well as all the other coverage out there, you are much more likely to hear about them.

We had one nasty weight lifting injury this Olympics, and had one 8 years ago? 12? I do remember watching that one. They were slow on the cutaway so saw it live. Very ugly.

But the difference between now and 12 years ago is that if something happens, Twitter, etc. makes sure it is all over the world 30 seconds later.

[Forum Explorer]

High level athletics and injuries go hand in hand. Sure athletes train their bodies to avoid them, but they are pushing themselves beyond normal limits and things are just going to happen. At least no one is dying, like happened at the bobsled/luge tracks of Vancouver

Did that happen during the Games? I was under the impression that it was an afterhours sort of thing by some (relatively) amateur athletes. Or am I thinking of another incident altogether?

[MikelaC1]

It was during practice/training runs...they had to shorten the track so that section was taken out.

[Rodin]

There was a separate incident where a bunch of Darwin Award types snuck in and went down it on a sled or some such, and I think at least one of them was killed.

[Spacewolf]

So how are medals counted I most peoples countries he in the UK it's rated Gold, Silver, Bronze rather than by total medal count. So even though the UK is behind China in total medals it's in Second place on the score board due to having an extra gold. I've always assumed it was the same in most places but considering the impact it can have on your countries position I wouldn't be surprised if different countries vary between total medal and the Gold, Silver, Bronze scoring system to improve their position.


Also I'm not one to take pride in something someone else has done but it is quite impressive that such a small country is doing so well, in quite a wide array of sports as well.

[Lethologica]

I prefer the medals/GDP ratio. :smallamused:

[Spacewolf]

Yea that is a good point but I was more comparing to the UKs most readily comparable nations I.E. France and Germany. Although I suppose with the higher population density the Geographic size doesn't make a huge difference either considering.

[MikelaC1]

Its supposed to be total medals, with number of gold as the tie breaker, but depending on which media outlet you subscribe to, they might rank number of golds as being the decider.
As for a country doing really well, check out Australia, with a population of 24 million, they have hauled in 22 medals. Hungary also has a great ratio of medals to population. Not to crap on China, but their medal/population ratio is terrible.

[The Extinguisher]

Hey, I'm just happy Canada is doing so well. 13 medals going in to week 2 is amazing for the Summer games.

[Iruka]

So how are medals counted I most peoples countries he in the UK it's rated Gold, Silver, Bronze rather than by total medal count. So even though the UK is behind China in total medals it's in Second place on the score board due to having an extra gold. I've always assumed it was the same in most places but considering the impact it can have on your countries position I wouldn't be surprised if different countries vary between total medal and the Gold, Silver, Bronze scoring system to improve their position.


Also I'm not one to take pride in something someone else has done but it is quite impressive that such a small country is doing so well, in quite a wide array of sports as well.

The standard in Germany is the ranking by Gold, Silver, Bronze. During every Qlympic Games (usually when german athletes fail to get any Gold :smalltongue:) the debate starts anew about how unfair that is and different rankings are proposed, like giving points to the Top Ten in a competition, only to be forgotten very soon and using the traditional system again when the next Games come around.

[Asmodean_]

I swear it's supposed to be gold=3 silver=2 bronze=1 and then add up the points?

[Iruka]

I swear it's supposed to be gold=3 silver=2 bronze=1 and then add up the points?

There is no correct way since the IOC does not give a method, is even forbidden by its charta to provide a ranking. Their medal table does however list the participating countries in the G-S-B order.

[Ruslan]

Spain-Turkey in women's basketball, what a thriller!

[Spacewolf]

You know I think there are too many swimming medals, a quick look and it seems like there are more than thirty medals. About half that number seems like it would be enough to cover the various styles without to much difficulty.

[Ruslan]

Rhythmic Gymnastic judging is weird. The girl from Cape Verde did what seemed to me a passable routine. Not great by any means, not deserving of a high place, but okay. Not only was was she judged to be in the last place, but the point difference between her and second-to-last place is actually greater than the difference between second-to-last place and first place. I don't get what was so horribly bad about that routine.


You know I think there are too many swimming medals, a quick look and it seems like there are more than thirty medals. About half that number seems like it would be enough to cover the various styles without to much difficulty.
Actually, there are opportunities for even more medals. They could take a page from tennis and hold mixed relays (2 men, 2 women) :smallbiggrin:

[Traab]

You know I think there are too many swimming medals, a quick look and it seems like there are more than thirty medals. About half that number seems like it would be enough to cover the various styles without to much difficulty.

Yeah thats come up before when people talk about phelps and his medal total. Basically, unless you are a swimmer, or you compete in both summer and winter olympics, you arent ever going to beat his medal count because of how events are setup.

[Sholos]

Rhythmic Gymnastic judging is weird. The girl from Cape Verde did what seemed to me a passable routine. Not great by any means, not deserving of a high place, but okay. Not only was was she judged to be in the last place, but the point difference between her and second-to-last place is actually greater than the difference between second-to-last place and first place. I don't get what was so horribly bad about that routine.

It could be that her routine was a lot lower in difficulty than the others. So while she may have performed it flawlessly, she didn't have as many points to earn in the first place.

[Kitten Champion]

Whenever I hear the expert commentators critique a diver/synchronized swimmer/gymnast/figure skater's performance my overwhelming reaction is...

https://images.follownews.com/1217/1217547/onepunch-man-saitamas-ok-face_1.jpg


Unless they obviously just belly flop or land on their butts, I've nary a clue where they're getting any of the things they're saying. I do kind of get the impression that some are obviously better than others, but it's vague and often I'm told otherwise.

[digiman619]

Yeah thats come up before when people talk about phelps and his medal total. Basically, unless you are a swimmer, or you compete in both summer and winter olympics, you arent ever going to beat his medal count because of how events are setup.

That or Gymnastics, as #2 & #3 were Russian gymnasts (Larisa Latynina (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Larisa_Latynina) with 9 and Nikolai Andrianov (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nikolai_Andrianov) with 7).

[Traab]

Now that I mention it, I really want to see a double threat. Someone who has skills on par with phelps or bolt in both summer and winter games. Someone capable of winning enough medals that they could melt them down and build a life sized statue of themselves out of solid gold. :smallbiggrin: Is there a similar chain of sports in winter olympics like swimming in summer that could give a single athlete the ability to grab an absurd number of medals in each set of olympics? Speed skating maybe? I know they have a number of length races.

[Kitten Champion]

Now that I mention it, I really want to see a double threat. Someone who has skills on par with phelps or bolt in both summer and winter games. Someone capable of winning enough medals that they could melt them down and build a life sized statue of themselves out of solid gold. :smallbiggrin: Is there a similar chain of sports in winter olympics like swimming in summer that could give a single athlete the ability to grab an absurd number of medals in each set of olympics? Speed skating maybe? I know they have a number of length races.

Cross country skiing, speed skating, and the biathlon are the Winter Olympic events with the athletes who have the highest overall medal count. Though they're far, far fewer Winter athletes with an inordinate number of medals compared to the Summer games. Even within those you have to dominate the sport for years before you can accrue as much as a gymnast or swimmer can earn in one or two Olympics.

[J-H]

Our Toastmasters club meeting today was Olympic-themed.

Canada has fielded one guy who competed in an equestrian event at every Olympics from 1972 until 2012, except 1980 (boycotted by Canada). 1 silver medal.

Only 4 people have 6 or so medals in the winter olympics. Don't remember sports, but I think one of them was long-distance skiing or biathalon.

I got asked what summer olympics sport I would prefer one of my kids to do, if he/she was going to be an Olympian. I picked "modern pentathalon." Fencing, shooting, equestrian, running, and swimming. 3/5 are useful skills, and the other two are fun.

The original olympics was all combat sports, or related: Track, field, wrestling, boxing, etc. Modern olympics has moved away from that to a lot more "games" that are just played for silly fun.

[cobaltstarfire]

I'd like to hear you say that to an Olympic Ping Pong player :smalltongue:

Maybe it's just the news playing it up, but they sure are sensitive to changes to their equipment allowances, and angry about it.

[Rodin]

I'd like to hear you say that to an Olympic Ping Pong player :smalltongue:

Maybe it's just the news playing it up, but they sure are sensitive to changes to their equipment allowances, and angry about it.

Apparently the thing that got them really riled up was the changes to the balls. The old balls were made of something that had to be transported in hazardous materials trucks, and somebody (can't remember if it was the IOC or Rio) didn't want to shell out for it, so they used cheaper balls made of a safer substance.

The result was balls that spun wildly and unpredictably, and on many occasions simply shattered when hit.

I can see a group of people that prepared for 4 years for the biggest day of their lives to be a tad peeved about that.

[cobaltstarfire]

And the Olympics before that, enough of them were having fits because the "speed glue" was banned, because the fumes are bad for you.

The article I read about the balls this year did point out that they are more than a little...poor. But it did mention that they had time to acclimate to the way they bounce also.

At the same time it also pointed out that right now other than the size tolerance balls for ping pong haven't been standardized. So this time around I guess at least they're probably just perpetually on edge.

I can understand, given how twitchy a sport high level ping pong is, but they always get characterized as very very very serious and angry about things.


About the only Olympic coverage I've gotten is news articles about whatever is wrong there though, I enjoyed the description of the pool area "smell[ing] like farts".

[Asmodean_]

So apparently some US athletes smashed up a petrol station and pretended that they'd been robbed to cover it. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ It's interesting that the initial reaction was what a country brazil is! must be horrible if they even try to rob Olympic athletes! let's talk all about this! and as soon as it was revealed they faked it it turned to oh that's old news stop talking all about this

[MikelaC1]

I would really like to see this sham of "amateur" athletics removed, and just open it up to the pros. First of all, the major team sports like hockey and hoops already are. Second, the sham of amateur is really a joke, these gold medalists cash in big time on endorsements and such, or in the old Soviet Union, they were "members" of the army (Tretiak was a colonel at one point, despite never having been in the field) so while they arent technically paid for their sport, they really are.
But heres my biggest beef. Coubertin made it amateurs when he revived the games because the ancient Olympics were competed for by amateurs, werent they? The only point is, they were not. The guys who competed in the 100 or 200, they were the guys who earned a living running messages between noble houses in the city. Remember, they didnt have phones or texts, you wanted to send a message, it had to be written down and run over. The distance runners, they were the guys who ran messages between cities. Theres a reason the Olympic marathon was set as the distance from Athens to Marathon. Javelin, well, obviously the army boys who were in javelin corps, same for archery. Boxing and wrestling, another obvious choice. Even the prestige of being the noble house that sponsored more gold medal winners, that was payment for wins. Get rid of this amateur foolishness, its an old fashioned idea that isnt even founded in fact.

[The Glyphstone]

So apparently some US athletes smashed up a petrol station and pretended that they'd been robbed to cover it. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ It's interesting that the initial reaction was what a country brazil is! must be horrible if they even try to rob Olympic athletes! let's talk all about this! and as soon as it was revealed they faked it it turned to oh that's old news stop talking all about this

Have you not been paying attention to the internet at all? Ryan Locke is getting hammered in the court of public opinion for Lockegate. The other two aren't looking so good, but they're at least still in the country instead of running away, and they're ratting out their buddy to save themselves from the rather irate Brazilian authorities.

FWIW, they allegedly broke down a door, rather than smashing up an entire petrol station.

[Traab]

Have you not been paying attention to the internet at all? Ryan Locke is getting hammered in the court of public opinion for Lockegate. The other two aren't looking so good, but they're at least still in the country instead of running away, and they're ratting out their buddy to save themselves from the rather irate Brazilian authorities.

FWIW, they allegedly broke down a door, rather than smashing up an entire petrol station.

Also, there actually have been multiple robberies and such over the course of the olympics and before they started as the athletes showed up early. So it makes sense that people were willing to accept this story on face value right away and lump it in with the others.

[The Glyphstone]

Also, there actually have been multiple robberies and such over the course of the olympics and before they started as the athletes showed up early. So it makes sense that people were willing to accept this story on face value right away and lump it in with the others.

Well yeah, that's why they were able to get away with it, it was sadly plausible amidst all the background noise.

[Kitten Champion]

I think countries should maybe consider a temporary ban on drinking - or recreational drugs in general - for their athletes during the two weeks stint of the Olympics. Not that being drunk really vindicates vandalism and filing a false crime report to police to cover it up, but it seems like a prudent precaution to mitigate the possibility of such mindlessly reckless behaviour in an event with hyped-up (mostly) young people who are nevertheless in something of a representative position for their homeland.

[Iruka]

I would really like to see this sham of "amateur" athletics removed, and just open it up to the pros. First of all, the major team sports like hockey and hoops already are. Second, the sham of amateur is really a joke, these gold medalists cash in big time on endorsements and such, or in the old Soviet Union, they were "members" of the army (Tretiak was a colonel at one point, despite never having been in the field) so while they arent technically paid for their sport, they really are.
But heres my biggest beef. Coubertin made it amateurs when he revived the games because the ancient Olympics were competed for by amateurs, werent they? The only point is, they were not. The guys who competed in the 100 or 200, they were the guys who earned a living running messages between noble houses in the city. Remember, they didnt have phones or texts, you wanted to send a message, it had to be written down and run over. The distance runners, they were the guys who ran messages between cities. Theres a reason the Olympic marathon was set as the distance from Athens to Marathon. Javelin, well, obviously the army boys who were in javelin corps, same for archery. Boxing and wrestling, another obvious choice. Even the prestige of being the noble house that sponsored more gold medal winners, that was payment for wins. Get rid of this amateur foolishness, its an old fashioned idea that isnt even founded in fact.

Isn't Olympia a pro thing by now? Boxers are professionals starting this year; Golf, Tennis, Soccer - all pros and have been for some time. A lot of german athletes are state-employed as "sport soldiers" ...

[Traab]

I think countries should maybe consider a temporary ban on drinking - or recreational drugs in general - for their athletes during the two weeks stint of the Olympics. Not that being drunk really vindicates vandalism and filing a false crime report to police to cover it up, but it seems like a prudent precaution to mitigate the possibility of such mindlessly reckless behaviour in an event with hyped-up (mostly) young people who are nevertheless in something of a representative position for their homeland.

Many nations actually do have those rules in place. I think I recall reading stories from a couple of nations punishing their athletes for being drunk or whatever during the games. But these are big big bad super athletes, worse, they are super athletes who probably just finished their own events and are going to blow off steam no matter what the rules are. Hence the knee deep piles of condoms in every olympic village since they started stocking them for the games. But in addition, they are going to go out and party and what are you going to do about it? Send them home? They already did their events, they likely dont care.

[Agrippa]

MikelaC1: There's more to that. Ancient Greek athletes, the ones eligible to compete in the Olympic Games, were paid a stipend on top of their normal wages and had professional trainers. In addition, the winners of any one event were promised riches and free meals for life from their home city state.

[digiman619]

MikelaC1: There's more to that. Ancient Greek athletes, the ones eligible to compete in the Olympic Games, were paid a stipend on top of their normal wages and had professional trainers. In addition, the winners of any one event were promised riches and free meals for life from their home city state.

There's even evidence that some of them got endorsement deals out of it.

[Liquor Box]

So how are medals counted I most peoples countries he in the UK it's rated Gold, Silver, Bronze rather than by total medal count. So even though the UK is behind China in total medals it's in Second place on the score board due to having an extra gold. I've always assumed it was the same in most places but considering the impact it can have on your countries position I wouldn't be surprised if different countries vary between total medal and the Gold, Silver, Bronze scoring system to improve their position.


Also I'm not one to take pride in something someone else has done but it is quite impressive that such a small country is doing so well, in quite a wide array of sports as well.

Here they are always published medals per capita. Quite self interested because we are a small country and that ranking method consistently leaves us in the top few.

[tomandtish]

I would really like to see this sham of "amateur" athletics removed, and just open it up to the pros. First of all, the major team sports like hockey and hoops already are. Second, the sham of amateur is really a joke, these gold medalists cash in big time on endorsements and such, or in the old Soviet Union, they were "members" of the army (Tretiak was a colonel at one point, despite never having been in the field) so while they arent technically paid for their sport, they really are.
But heres my biggest beef. Coubertin made it amateurs when he revived the games because the ancient Olympics were competed for by amateurs, werent they? The only point is, they were not. The guys who competed in the 100 or 200, they were the guys who earned a living running messages between noble houses in the city. Remember, they didnt have phones or texts, you wanted to send a message, it had to be written down and run over. The distance runners, they were the guys who ran messages between cities. Theres a reason the Olympic marathon was set as the distance from Athens to Marathon. Javelin, well, obviously the army boys who were in javelin corps, same for archery. Boxing and wrestling, another obvious choice. Even the prestige of being the noble house that sponsored more gold medal winners, that was payment for wins. Get rid of this amateur foolishness, its an old fashioned idea that isnt even founded in fact.


Isn't Olympia a pro thing by now? Boxers are professionals starting this year; Golf, Tennis, Soccer - all pros and have been for some time. A lot of german athletes are state-employed as "sport soldiers" ...


They opened up to professional athletes in 1986, so it's been that way for 30 years.

But for many of the events you have to define what professional is. Some of them are pretty obvious (take basketball and soccer). But a lot of them are really not well-known. For example, this article (http://www.indystar.com/story/sports/2014/06/23/pro-track-athletes-make-little/11282551/) indicates that there are only 10 US track stars who earn more than the NBA minimum salary of $490K. (And it's unclear, but a lot of this earning is also endorsements, so not actual winnings). Usain Bolt may be worth millions, but most of that is endorsements.

So a lot of events are going to have "amateurs" competing because there's not the money out there for people to go "pro' in the first place, with a few exceptions.

[monomer]

Now that I mention it, I really want to see a double threat. Someone who has skills on par with phelps or bolt in both summer and winter games. Someone capable of winning enough medals that they could melt them down and build a life sized statue of themselves out of solid gold. :smallbiggrin: Is there a similar chain of sports in winter olympics like swimming in summer that could give a single athlete the ability to grab an absurd number of medals in each set of olympics? Speed skating maybe? I know they have a number of length races.

So there are only 5 people who have won medals in both the Summer and Winter Olympics (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_multiple_Olympic_medalists#In_the_Summer_a nd_Winter_Games), and the most successful are the two Cycling/Speed Skaters. As you said, Swimmer/Speed Skater (especially if they compete in both short and long track) would probably have the best shot at amassing a large chunk of medals.

[Ruslan]

So there are only 5 people who have won medals in both the Summer and Winter Olympics (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_multiple_Olympic_medalists#In_the_Summer_a nd_Winter_Games), and the most successful are the two Cycling/Speed Skaters. As you said, Swimmer/Speed Skater (especially if they compete in both short and long track) would probably have the best shot at amassing a large chunk of medals.
Spinter/Bobsledder would be good at this. It's pretty much the same skill set, and there are several sets of medals to win at both disciplines.

[Ninja_Prawn]

Spinter/Bobsledder would be good at this. It's pretty much the same skill set, and there are several sets of medals to win at both disciplines.

...but aren't bobsledders usually built like tanks? From what I recall from the last winter games, a significant number are former (or even current) players of rugby-football, American football or Aussie rules.

Perhaps the new summer/winter combo to watch out for is rugby sevens/bobsleigh?

[monomer]

...but aren't bobsledders usually built like tanks? From what I recall from the last winter games, a significant number are former (or even current) players of rugby-football, American football or Aussie rules.

Perhaps the new summer/winter combo to watch out for is rugby sevens/bobsleigh?

There is definitely a trend of Bobsleigh bringing on sprinters to get fast starts (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_athletes_who_competed_in_both_the_Summer_a nd_Winter_Olympic_games). Not many medals in Bobsleigh to go around, though.

[Ruslan]

...but aren't bobsledders usually built like tanks? From what I recall from the last winter games, a significant number are former (or even current) players of rugby-football, American football or Aussie rules.

Perhaps the new summer/winter combo to watch out for is rugby sevens/bobsleigh?
The notorious Jamaican bobsled team was made mostly of track athletes who narrowly missed the selection for the summer Olympics. They recorded the fastest push time in the Calgary Olympics.

[nyjastul69]

The notorious Jamaican bobsled team was made mostly of track athletes who narrowly missed the selection for the summer Olympics. They recorded the fastest push time in the Calgary Olympics.

That might be why they failed to qualify for the medal round. As neat a story as it was, they sucked at bobsledding.

[Ruslan]

They failed to qualify because they didn't have anyone in Jamaica with the experience of driving a sled. As for pushing a sled, they did an amazing job. But you only need *one* driver. The rest only need to be very good at pushing.