Olympics today

[Iudex Fatarum]

So the opening ceremony is today 08/08/08 and starts at 8:08 PM. Any one as excited as me. I actually don't have a TV so have to go to someone else's house to watch it, but things here are crazy. I will probably see less of the olympics now that I am in a country hosting them than ever before.

[InABanana]

I am pretty excited too. Im gunna go to a friends and watch it on his plasma.

[dish]

Hiya Dull Oddity: (Chinese) husband and I are preparing to watch the ceremony now. I've cooked, and sent him out for beer!

What about the rest of you round the world?
Who'll be watching every minute of it?
Who'll be trying to pretend it isn't happening?
And who might watch a few of their favourite events, but not much more?

[Tragic_Comedian]

Who'll be trying to pretend it isn't happening?


Me. I personally think we should have boycotted it, but that's just me. I wouldn't have watched anyway. Sports ain't my thing. I might watch the opening ceremonies, though. I love rituals.

[Nychta]

I might be watching it soon.

[smellie_hippie]

I'll try to follow them as best as my time allows. I get more into the Winter Olympics... but this year they have BMX.

Alright for star atheletes riding Huffy's for Gold!! :smallamused:

[Mr. Mud]

Olympics!!! Woooo! Phelps for the gold!! [/crazy]

But, seriously though, they should be really interesting... That Liu character has the whole country riding on his shoulders... 1.3 billion countrymen watching his every move for 13 seconds as he hurtles down 110 meters... And Phelps, going up against Spitz old record, trying to become the best olympic athlete ever. Ever. And the 'Redeem' team of USA basketball? since the last few tries resulted in an Epic Failre of USE n basketball... With Dwight Howard, Kobe, LeBron, and Mello, amng other greats? Unstopable. :amused:

[13_CBS]

I'm watching the opening ceremonies as of this post. :smallbiggrin:

[Mr. Mud]

:smallconfused: I have to wait till tonight to watch.... are you in Japan or Australia? Cause I think its nightfall there. Either way you're lucky really lucky, or don't gloat or My avatar will use his mob connections. :smallbiggrin:

[CrazedGoblin]

ill probably watch some of the events but not the opening ceremony got too many things to do

[llamamushroom]

I watched until the atheletes started coming on - it was EPIC! So many people... they must have covered up the stadium for the later rehearsals, as there's no way they could've practised anywhere else (though they've been going at it for 5 months at least).

I just feel really sorry for London.

[Mr. Mud]

Why?!? London gets to host it next year right? (Hell, I might go to that) I'm waiting for the USA to host the summer games again... It will be Epic.

[llamamushroom]

I'm sorry, but there is no way it could be as epic - it could be showier, but not epic-er.

[CrazedGoblin]

Why?!? London gets to host it next year right? (Hell, I might go to that) I'm waiting for the USA to host the summer games again... It will be Epic.

in 2012 not next year hehe:smallbiggrin:

[Mr. Mud]

Not epic-er just as epic. And showier And I could get tickets. That makes it infinitely more epic.

@V: Yea, Yea, Technicalities? What's 3 years? :smallbiggrin:

[Killersquid]

I've been debating whether or not to watch it. I love the Olympics, but I wanted to boycott it. I feel like if I watch it, I'll be giving money to China :smallfrown:

[Mr. Mud]

I've been debating whether or not to watch it. I love the Olympics, but I wanted to boycott it. I feel like if I watch it, I'll be giving money to China :smallfrown:

Nonsense squid. They have so much money it doesn't mater if you watch it. And we need to cheer on USA to Victory! And if USA wins, it doesn't matter how much money China get, they'll still be really pissed. :smallbiggrin:

[Castaras]

Oh, it's olympics today?

Meh. Didn't know, didn't care. Not really ignoring it, just don't want to watch it.

[Agamid]

the opening ceremony was pretty cool, if echoing the sydney one in several obvious ways... am now waiting for the australian team to march, unfortunately because of the fact that they're coming out in chinese alphabetic order Oz is something like 3rd last... *sigh*

[WalkingTarget]

I don't generally watch the opening ceremonies for the simple fact that I find it uninteresting (I find most ceremonies somewhat tedious, so it's not the Olympics' fault).

I'm no athlete, and I don't even follow sports normally, but I like the Olympics. I tend to go in for the older and more objective events (track and field, swimming, etc).

The big draw for me for the last two outings (and this will be the third) has been archery. Vic Wunderle (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vic_Wunderle) was from my hometown (and was only a few years ahead of me in school) and his family did archery demonstrations every once in a while. He won the individual silver and team bronze in 2000 and lost to the eventual gold-winner in the quarter finals in 2004 (the team ended up with 4th that year).

[13_CBS]

FYI, the number 8 is considered to be lucky in China, so China set the Olympics on 8/8/08, 8 PM. :smallbiggrin:

I just saw most of the countries' intros and presentations. HOLY CRAP America has a lot of athletes :smalleek: 637!! It took forever for the next country to march into the stadium.

[randman22222]

The big draw for me for the last two outings (and this will be the third) has been archery. Vic Wunderle (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vic_Wunderle) was from my hometown (and was only a few years ahead of me in school) and his family did archery demonstrations every once in a while. He won the individual silver and team bronze in 2000 and lost to the eventual gold-winner in the quarter finals in 2004 (the team ended up with 4th that year).

*Jaw drop.*

Are you an archer too?

[zeratul]

I generally find the winter Olympics far more interesting, but theres a few things I'll be checking out. Fencing definitely, and perhaps the jumping related ones. Probly more too

[Gwyn chan 'r Gwyll]

Canada had a large procession too.
500!
I swear, we must have had the largest Olympic Athlete to Civilian ratio in the world!

Oh, and Van Koeverdan was awesome, and still is.

[An Enemy Spy]

USA! USA! and what the hell,
canada too if we aren't against them. I'll probably watch whatever doesn't coincide with football

[dish]

That was supposed to be the best British team of recent years. But it was tiny. (Well in comparison to Canada, Italy or Germany.)

Now it's coming up to time to light the Olympic flame. They've been keeping who'll do it a secret.

(According to one Chinese internet rumour it's going to be a panda they've been training for 6 months! That would be so cool, but sadly is quite unlikely.)

[13_CBS]

Hee hee, I just saw the big ceremony where they light the big Olympic fire :smallbiggrin:

I will say only this:


Wire.

Fu.

[Mauve Shirt]

The summer olympics are much more boring than the winter ones.

[dish]

Hee hee, I just saw the big ceremony where they light the big Olympic fire :smallbiggrin:

I will say only this:


Wire.

Fu.



Have to say that was really quite impressive. Sadly, it wasn't a panda. But, yeah...they only got away with that because Li Ning was an Olympic gymnast. If he'd been a former weight-lifter that could never have happened.

[Rare Pink Leech]

Didn't watch the opening ceremonies. I would have had to get up 3 hours earlier than I'm used to, and I find them overly long anyway. I'll watch the recap later on the news.

The Olympics are somewhat of a paradox for me. I generally don't care too much for them - I don't particularly like them, but I don't dislike them either. Yet for the next two weeks I'm going to have them playing pretty much all the time I'm awake, even if they're only in the background. I do enjoy watching them, but I don't have to see any particular event (other than ice hockey during the winter Olympics). I agree that in general the winter games are better than the summer games.

[Lupy]

I'll be watching the Opening Ceremony, but you have buy some sort of special channel to see the events. :smallannoyed: Does anyone know when the ceremony comes on in the Eastern U.S?

[WalkingTarget]

*Jaw drop.*

Are you an archer too?

No, it would be neat though.

Username came from an CoH character I played and I just decided to go literal for the avatar.

[Trog]

What with all the smog that seems to be in that city from every recent picture I have seen I can't wait for the coughing-up-a-lung olympic competition to begin. :smalltongue:

[Ethdred]

We got to watch it at work (though with the sound down so those not interested could work). Fantastic. Not seen one of these before, so apologies to Sydney and Athens if they were better, but I thought it was incredible - some real coups de theatre. Obviously too many cute kids, but otherwise fine.

We were discussing what London will do in 2012 to represent British culture as well. The smart money was on the world's largest ever collection of Morris Dancing followed by a pitch invasion from Stella-swigging hoodies.

[Gwyn chan 'r Gwyll]

Vancouver is going to be fun too.

Oh, and for dinner tonight, we're going to the Tibetan restaurant, figuring that it will be the only restaurant not playing the Olympics.

[skywalker]

I'll be watching the Opening Ceremony, but you have buy some sort of special channel to see the events. :smallannoyed: Does anyone know when the ceremony comes on in the Eastern U.S?

8 PM in the Eastern US. You actually don't need to buy anything special to see the "big-time" events. Swimming, Athletics and Gymnastics will all be live in prime-time on your local NBC affiliate(the same channel as the ceremony). I know the athletes complained because it means they have to get up really early(China Time).

I don't get Universal HD either, which sucks, because I used to :smallmad:

I get all the other channels, tho.

[Lupy]

Whoa. The events are live. And I guess this means I don't get to watch anything good. Stupid mainstream networks. :smallannoyed: On the other hand, I can probably watch the events on youtube later. :smallsmile:

[de-trick]

missed canada's entrance, won't watch the entire thing but will keep informed about it, really want to watch the longdistance runs, and the wrestling matches

for the Vancouver Olympics i might end up going to watch them, depends if im in school or not

[Rare Pink Leech]

I just caught a bit of the full replay on TV. More specifically, I saw the "movable type" sequence, and all I can say is wow. That they were able to synchronize that so perfectly is beyond comprehension.

[Crow]

I won't be watching any of it for idealogical reasons...except baseball.

[playswithfire]

I'll be watching the Opening Ceremony, but you have buy some sort of special channel to see the events. :smallannoyed: Does anyone know when the ceremony comes on in the Eastern U.S?

Or if you're willing to have a flexible sleep schedule, you can catch many things online (nbcolympics.com). I'm waiting for judo to start at midnight; nothing I'm too interested in on right now; flipping between handball, sabre and weightlifting

[Winter_Wolf]

Just finished watching the opening ceremony. I have to say I'd have enjoyed it about a hundred times more without the idiot NBC announcers speaking and all the commercials. Holy crap I think I saw more commercials during the ceremony than actual ceremony.

I did however make a mental note of all the advertisers during the thing, just so I know whose products I won't be buying in the foreseeable future. My wife was the lucky one, got to watch it live (on tv), in China, without the craptastic interruptions and stupid comments.

That said, the show itself was pretty interesting, especially the giant painting and the taiji quan performance.

[de-trick]

i cant wait to see who comes up top, but cant be bothered to watch every minute of it, another thing i really want to know if either anomounous, tibet, or a terriorist group will make a uprising during the games, but really cant wait to see the games in 2010, really wish winter games took place in noc-dec, cause then id be free to go, the winter games start in Feb, ehh? if so I'd be missing the first couple of weeks of my last term in high school, but i wouldnt think they would care, it would be a once in a life time experience

[ForzaFiori]

I plan on watching as much as possible. Yay for TiVo! lol.

Also, in 2012, at the next summer olympics, a friend of from school will probably be competing in hurdles. Currently she's 4th in the world under 18. She qualified for the team this year, but didn't make the age requirement in time.

[playswithfire]

Thank you for reminding me to look up the when the US women's field hockey team games are; girl from my high school class is on the team this year.

[de-trick]

well i decided to look up the athletes for canada and found out there is one that doesnt belong

which one is not like the others (http://www.cbc.ca/olympics/story/2008/07/22/olympics-theolympians.html)

also does canada have a volleyball team

[North]

Scanning it I cant tell which doesnt belong:smallconfused:

[de-trick]

look where they are from

[Killersquid]

You don't have to live in the country to represent it. Some countries have taken people of lineage from their country or emigrated from there.

Edit: "Caitlin Lever of Morristown, New Jersey, U.S.A. " WOOT GO JERSEY!!

[Crow]

You don't have to live in the country to represent it. Some countries have taken people of lineage from their country or emigrated from there.

Unless you're Becky Hammond (or whatever her name is), who is an American who has no ties to Russia at all, other than signing up for a Russian Pro league (after failing to qualify for the U.S. team) just so she could be eligible to play for Russia in the Olympics.

[Mirrinus]

I remember when it was first announced that Beijing would host the 2008 Olympics. I was in China at the time, and the joyous outcry that arose instantaneously at the announcement was deafening that night, with fireworks going off everywhere and whatnot. It was truly an amazing moment.

It feels awesome to be watching the opening ceremony today. I'm normally not that big on national pride, but today I couldn't help but feel ecstatic and proud.

[Killersquid]

I was watching the ceremony, and it was gorgeous, no matter what you say about the government, those people have a lot of pride for their country, and you could hear it in their cheers.

[Rogue 7]

USA! USA! USA! USA!

Now that that's out of my system, it should be fun to watch. The torchlighting ceremony was quite good.

[Killersquid]

USA! USA! USA! USA!

Now that that's out of my system, it should be fun to watch. The torchlighting ceremony was quite good.

It was cool, but you can't beat the flaming arrow igniting the torch. That was awesome.

[skywalker]

I know this has nothing to do with the opening ceremony, but did anyone else see the men's 4x100 freestyle relay just now?

Lezak(the last guy for USA) swam the fastest split EVER!

[Lupy]

WE WON THE 4X100!!! W00t!!! :smallbiggrin:

EDIT: And we shattered the World Record :smallsmile:

[Jayngfet]

Honestly I'm bummed I missed the opening. Oh well, that's what they made youtube for.

[Arlion]

Argentina!Argentina!

we have to keep the gold on football and basquetball :smallsmile::smallbiggrin::smallsmile:

[dish]

I know that each country tends to concentrate on its own athletes, and to ignore events it has no hope in, but still...

Yesterday I was hoping to see the women's gymnastics, and China tends to dominate in that, so I was sure it would be on. It was, but they only showed the Chinese girls. They showed every single exercise the Chinese girls did, but not one other gymnast. No Americans, Brits, Russians...anything. Gah!

However, they have got the men's synchronised diving on now, and they are showing everyone - even though the Chinese have got it sewn up. I just saw the two British boys, and the Americans did a very nice dive...

[Eldred]

Yesterday I was hoping to see the women's gymnastics, and China tends to dominate in that, so I was sure it would be on. It was, but they only showed the Chinese girls. They showed every single exercise the Chinese girls did, but not one other gymnast. No Americans, Brits, Russians...anything. Gah!
That's weird... it might have depended on when you watched it.

I watched Sub-Division 2 of the women's gymnastics live to cheer on the British team and Marissa, who I'm friends with, and they showed all four of the countries in that division (G.Britain, Italy, USA, and Russia[?]). Maybe because China was hosting the games they focused on their team in Sub-Division 1?

I dunno :smalleek:

[dish]

I'm sure it also depended on where you watched it. You watched in the UK on BBC, who are generally quite polite about showing athletes other than our own competing. (Must admit, if they only showed the British athletes it would be an incredibly boring Games!)

I watched in China on CCTV7. And the thing is, the Chinese can actually get away with showing only their athletes because they've got so many who are so good.

Oh well, maybe I'll get to see more during the gymnastic finals next week.

(And already I am so tired of the volleyball and basketball which are being shown continuously on at least three different channels. How much longer till it's over?)

[Tenadros]

I respect Tank Man too much to have anything but utter revulsion for the Olympics this year.

[expirement10K14]

All I can say is MICHAEL PHELPS FTW!!!

I have been watching the swimming, as if Phelps wins all of his events he has the most golds in a single Olympics ever (eight) and if he loses one than he is tied. He also has a shot at breaking eight world records, he's broken all those that he has been in so far.

[Paragon Badger]

All I can say is MICHAEL PHELPS FTW!!!

I have been watching the swimming, as if Phelps wins all of his events he has the most golds in a single Olympics ever (eight) and if he loses one than he is tied. He also has a shot at breaking eight world records, he's broken all those that he has been in so far.

My friend said she met the guy once; he was a cocky jerk. :smalltongue:

Is it just me, or did the chinese absolutely NOT deserve the two 10.0s (Among many 9s and 9.5s) they got last night on synchronized diving? Even I noticed that one of the swimmers was late with straightening her arms towards the end.

[dish]

At least they're showing all the competitors in the men's gymnastics team final now.

(I'm watching on a different channel from before, so maybe that has something to do with it.)

[Mr. Mud]

The American team is pulling along in gymnastics... Although, China just DESTROYED on Rings... like DESTROYED... I'm banished from saying pwned... but that Chinese guy pwned. :smallbiggrin: Okay, never again.

Anyhow, The rely last night was amazing.... it might've been the best race I've seen in my life... and I used to be a very hardcore swimmer... and that race blew my mind... Phelps is gonna break the record this year at this rate, I can feel it :smallamused:.

[shadowxknight]

MICHAEL PHELPS

Did anyone watch the 100m butterfly?
0.01 second faster than the second guy.
x_x

I hope he can get that 8th gold tonight.

[Edan]

MICHAEL PHELPS

Did anyone watch the 100m butterfly?
0.01 second faster than the second guy.
x_x

I hope he can get that 8th gold tonight.

As much as I want to bring up antihype statements, that man deserves everything he earned. I really agree with what was stated earlier today during an interview with a former olympic swimmer, it was destiny. Seriously, one of the greatest athletes in history a great moment in sport and olympic history and we got to witness it live.

My jaw literally dropped and I was like oh...my...gosh. I didn't believe it happened because of that half stroke he did. The best part was his mom's reaction when she fell down from excitement.

[Occasional Sage]

MICHAEL PHELPS

Did anyone watch the 100m butterfly?
0.01 second faster than the second guy.
x_x

I hope he can get that 8th gold tonight.

I found a Sports Illustrated/CNN photo set (http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/multimedia/photo_gallery/0808/oly.phelps.sequence/content.1.html?eref=T1) of the win and the seconds leading up to it, taken by an underwater camera at the finish line. The pics are gorgeous.

[shadowxknight]

Even if you look at the pictures, you really can't tell who came in first :smalleek:

Hundredth of a second.....
No wonder the Serbian guy got mad and decided to challenge the call.

[Occasional Sage]

No, you can't. What impresses me is the amount of catchup Phelps played there.

One hour, 12 minutes until the relay starts....

[Copacetic]

That really was a amazing finish by Phelps. And he might even get his 8th gold!

[Occasional Sage]

That really was a amazing finish by Phelps. And he might even get his 8th gold!

Since I'm not superstitious, I'll say it's likely. The US team is highly favored, being the reigning team and having placed first in the qualifiers iirc. For them to *not* take gold would be quite the coup for another team.

I'm not gonna say it would require the release of USivore sharks in the pool, but it's a solid bet.

EDIT: ARG!!! Delays!

EDIT EDIT: That's eight for Phelps.

[skywalker]

Well, he got it.

Wow.

It's one of those things you never believe till it happens.

Lezak did some work again. You could tell all those guys left it completely in the pool.

That's crazy.

[Xyk]

Phelps FTW! I am amazed.

[SurlySeraph]

Good for Phelps.

I'm getting angry at NBC. They're the only channel I get here, and so far they have shown:
Some of the marathon.
Some water polo.
Swimming. So very, very much swimming.
Huge amounts of synchronized diving.
Huge amounts of beach volleyball.
Can they please put on some other sports? Just one wrestling match? Some discus? Maybe archery? Just anything that doesn't have to do with water?

Also, I'm annoyed that fencing is getting so little coverage. The U.S. swept the medals in women's saber (making history), and got silver in women's foil (which we've never done before). We just beat Russia in men's saber in the semi-finals by one point. And yet, none of the networks are paying any attention to it.

[Occasional Sage]

Good for Phelps.

I'm getting angry at NBC. They're the only channel I get here, and so far they have shown:
Some of the marathon.
Some water polo.
Swimming. So very, very much swimming.
Huge amounts of synchronized diving.
Huge amounts of beach volleyball.
Can they please put on some other sports? Just one wrestling match? Some discus? Maybe archery? Just anything that doesn't have to do with water?

Also, I'm annoyed that fencing is getting so little coverage. The U.S. swept the medals in women's saber (making history), and got silver in women's foil (which we've never done before). We just beat Russia in men's saber in the semi-finals by one point. And yet, none of the networks are paying any attention to it.

NBC has a fair amount of live online coverage, which iirc includes a fair amount of fencing.

[skywalker]

Good for Phelps.

I'm getting angry at NBC. They're the only channel I get here, and so far they have shown:
Some of the marathon.
Some water polo.
Swimming. So very, very much swimming.
Huge amounts of synchronized diving.
Huge amounts of beach volleyball.
Can they please put on some other sports? Just one wrestling match? Some discus? Maybe archery? Just anything that doesn't have to do with water?

Also, I'm annoyed that fencing is getting so little coverage. The U.S. swept the medals in women's saber (making history), and got silver in women's foil (which we've never done before). We just beat Russia in men's saber in the semi-finals by one point. And yet, none of the networks are paying any attention to it.

My NBC station showed all of the marathon, I was actually quite bored. The reason swimming and diving get coverage is because they're fun to watch for normal people. Also, and this is the reason why we get so much beach volleyball, Americans tend to do better at those sports than stuff like weightlifting or wrestling *shrug*.

As for fencing, I know I watched the women's sweep of saber. The only problem with televising those is, they can't be shown live because they come on(the medal matches) during prime morning show hours. I watched them tape-delayed, tho. A lot of Americans can't stand that when they could just know the results.

I'm pretty sure discus just started along with the rest of Track and Field. Plus, it doesn't get very good ratings.

I watched archery, most of the shooting sports, judo, water polo, some handball(:smallyuk:), and fencing(including the victory of which you speak) all online, all streamed live. For free. Tis a beautiful thing, I think.

EDIT: What I'm trying to say is, with the exception of prelims for gymnastics, swimming, and the track and field stuff, you can watch every piece of sport you can't see on TV *live* at NBC Olympics.com (http://www.nbcolympics.com/tv_and_online_listings/online.html). For free :smallbiggrin:

[shadowxknight]

Good for Phelps.

I'm getting angry at NBC. They're the only channel I get here, and so far they have shown:
Some of the marathon.
Some water polo.
Swimming. So very, very much swimming.
Huge amounts of synchronized diving.
Huge amounts of beach volleyball.
Can they please put on some other sports? Just one wrestling match? Some discus? Maybe archery? Just anything that doesn't have to do with water?

Also, I'm annoyed that fencing is getting so little coverage. The U.S. swept the medals in women's saber (making history), and got silver in women's foil (which we've never done before). We just beat Russia in men's saber in the semi-finals by one point. And yet, none of the networks are paying any attention to it.

Ya NBC is doing a pretty crappy job.
Since they have exclusive coverage and only have 1 channel, they can barely fit anything on.
Heck, half the things they show aren't even in real time :smallannoyed:

[ShadowHunter]

NBC's online coverage is actually pretty solid, but their TV coverage is(was)the Michael Phelps song and dance + Misty May and Kerri Walsh's collective superbutt show

About the finish with Cavic, that SI article frame by frame is helpful but still ambiguous, apparently they actually have a TEN THOUSAND frames per second camera (which that underwater one clearly isn't unless Phelp's arms are breaking the sound barrier) above the lanes which is what the judges actually consulted and showed the Serb team when they protested

Truth be told, those sensors are accurate to a millisecond, not just a hundredth. You just can't build pools that perfectly, give or take a few microns in lane length and that shaves a few milliseconds off someone's time, so they record the times to the hundredth. I know the difference between a hundredth and a thousandth is nearly imperceptible to us, but it's still a whole order of magnitude, a whole factor of 10

[shadowxknight]

Arggh
Dara Torres almost got the gold in 400m relay :smallannoyed:
Put up hell of a fight being 41 and all.

Michael Phelps is on next....

[Raiser Blade]

Michael Phelps...

Michael "****ing Amazing" Phelps.

So awesome.


Also I don't understand why womens beach volleyball isn't more popular.

I mean damn.

:smallbiggrin:

[Occasional Sage]

*snip*
About the finish with Cavic, that SI article frame by frame is helpful but still ambiguous, apparently they actually have a TEN THOUSAND frames per second camera (which that underwater one clearly isn't unless Phelp's arms are breaking the sound barrier) above the lanes which is what the judges actually consulted and showed the Serb team when they protested
*snip*


For my purposes, I don't need the pics to show me proof of the win. I just think they're tupping gorgeous. Artsy, even.

[shadowxknight]

He Did It!!! He Did It!!!!

Michael Phelps!!!!!

Usa!!usa!!!usa!!!

[Raiser Blade]

He Did It!!! He Did It!!!!

Michael Phelps!!!!!

Usa!!usa!!!usa!!!

U.S.A! U.S.A!


Woooohooo! We may very well never have as great an olympic champion as Phelps. I'm just glad I am alive to see it.

[shadowxknight]

Phelps isn't even done yet.
He's 23, so he's got 1 or 2 more Olympics ahead of him.

Meanwhile the men's 100m sprint was insane. Bolt broke the 100m record and made it look easy.

[UnChosenOne]

Having watched those that Jamacan guy run's. It looks like he dosns't even try to run so fast than he could run. Some of Phelps gold are form team-swiming but still ****ing good swimmer is he. Well and local television show's olympics them on two chanel.

[Miklus]

Yeah, whatshisname Bolts stopped running before the finishline and still set a world record! If that dumbass has just kept running he could have shaved even more off the record!

In other news: Denmark wins gold in the 49'er sailing boat class despite breaking the mast, shoving up several minutes late for the start and capsizing twice... :smallbiggrin: Ok, they only finished seventh in that race, but had enough points saved up already to take the overall win anyway. That was some race.

Denmark won gold in rowing too (the four man one). Denmark rules the waves!

EDIT: The jury is still out on that boat race. Denmark might be disqualified.

[Emperor Tippy]

Yeah, whatshisname Bolts stopped running before the finishline and still set a world record! If that dumbass has just kept running he could have shaved even more off the record!

But this way he can go and break his old world record at the next meet.

[SDF]

A high school friend of mine, Nick Symmonds (http://www.usatf.org/athletes/bios/Symmonds_Nick.asp), is running the 800m race. Also, his mom was the hardest English teacher I've ever had.:smalleek: Nick just won the time trials in Oregon. It makes it pretty exciting actually knowing someone who is competing.

[skywalker]

A high school friend of mine, Nick Symmonds (http://www.usatf.org/athletes/bios/Symmonds_Nick.asp), is running the 800m race. Also, his mom was the hardest English teacher I've ever had.:smalleek: Nick just won the time trials in Oregon. It makes it pretty exciting actually knowing someone who is competing.

I know a guy who trains with Phelps and missed going to Athens and Beijing by 1/100th of a second. USA swimming trials are vicious.

As for Phelps swimming again, he's specifically said that he's not going to train as hard ever again, London will probably be his last Olympics, and he's never going to swim as hard as he did in Beijing again.

[SurlySeraph]

A high school friend of mine, Nick Symmonds (http://www.usatf.org/athletes/bios/Symmonds_Nick.asp), is running the 800m race. Also, his mom was the hardest English teacher I've ever had.:smalleek: Nick just won the time trials in Oregon. It makes it pretty exciting actually knowing someone who is competing.

My sister is acquainted with a few members of the fencing team, especially Emily Cross (who just got silver in foil). I've only seen them in person once or twice each myself, but it's kind of cooling knowing that I've seen them fence before.

[PlatinumJester]

Woo GB is now 3rd amazingly. We're also gonna have the best ever handover ceremony since JIMMY PAGE is playing (still haven't got over this news).

Congratulations to D'yer Maker for winning the 100m men and woman's.

[dish]

I feel sorry for Liu Xiang. 1.3 billion people is an awful lot to disappoint simultaneously.

Oh, an GB is third because our cyclists are stunningly good.

[happyturtle]

Trampolining is a very weird event.

[dish]

Oh, I adore the trampolining. But it is so rarely shown.

[happyturtle]

There was about 5 minutes of it on. It makes me wish I had a trampoline.

I have a hard time wrapping my head around events that are judged though. They are beautiful to watch, but non-experts like me can't see the difference between the winning and losing performances. I like nice objective sports with finish lines better.

[Rawhide]

Sorry all you Canadians! Australia has just knocked you out of the medals for women's softball.

[Rare Pink Leech]

I must admit that I've become more entranced by the Olympics than I would have thought. Like I mentioned on the first page, they're pretty much on all the time in my house, but I've found myself more interested in actually paying attention and following certain events, especially the swimming races, diving, and beach volleyball. I've also enjoyed the gymnastics, athletics, and boat races.

[8ronte]

yay aussies just won a gold in pole vault!

[shadowxknight]

A Cuban Taekwondo athlete just kicked a ref in the face after he lost :smalleek:

[Dallas-Dakota]

Did the dutch win anything shiny and golden?:smalltongue:

[shadowxknight]

Nope, but they got a silver though.

[Meynolds]

A Cuban Taekwondo athlete just kicked a ref in the face after he lost :smalleek:

The real sad thing is that he's a former Olympic gold medalist (2000 Sydney 80kg division).

He's banned from the sport for life now, so he's probably going to regret it.

Sadly, in a few years, this will be the only thing people remember about Tae-Kwon Do at the Olympics from 2008. :smallannoyed:

EDIT: Just watched the full version off of the full feed, and he was likely threatening the judge before he did it. If he had about 5 more seconds, he might have continued the match too.

[shadowxknight]

*snip*
Sadly, in a few years, this will be the only thing people remember about Tae-Kwon Do at the Olympics from 2008. :smallannoyed:

*snip*

Well that, and Michael Phelp's amazing 8 gold medal performance:smallwink:

[Meynolds]

Well that, and Michael Phelp's amazing 8 gold medal performance:smallwink:

That's swimming not TKD. :smallwink:


. . . about Tae-Kwon Do at the Olympics from 2008. :smallannoyed:

[skywalker]

Nope, but they got a silver though.

Netherlands has seven gold medals...

As for the TKD incident, I think that ref kinda deserved it. He didn't warn the guy that he was going to restart the clock, and then he didn't even defend himself or hit back. Any TKD practitioner would have. IMO, if you don't(or didn't) play the sport, you don't have any business judging.

But handing the other guy a match the Cuban was clearly winning... for him sitting on the ground too long... Just bad judging form regardless of whether or not he's a current or former "player."

[Meynolds]

As for the TKD incident, I think that ref kinda deserved it. He didn't warn the guy that he was going to restart the clock, and then he didn't even defend himself or hit back. Any TKD practitioner would have. IMO, if you don't(or didn't) play the sport, you don't have any business judging.

I'm assuming you meant start rather than restart. The judge didn't have to warn Mr. Matos (the athlete in question), because the clock is always started for injuries. Admittedly, he was (in my opinion) too hasty in ending the match, and should have waited 5 more seconds.

I don't think he entirely expected to be kicked. Note how he stumbled backwards some distance after the strike.

If he had struck back, it would have been even more of an incident in my opinion. Especially considering one of the core tenants of TKD is self control.


But handing the other guy a match the Cuban was clearly winning... for him sitting on the ground too long... Just bad judging form regardless of whether or not he's a current or former "player."

The judge was just following the rules. You get 1 minute for injuries; longer than that is a DQ. Though I disagree with following that rule so strictly.

[skywalker]

The judge was just following the rules. You get 1 minute for injuries; longer than that is a DQ. Though I disagree with following that rule so strictly.

When I watch it, I see the clock stopping(apparently you aren't supposed to stop it?) for the injury 16 seconds into the video. Then, 50 seconds into the video, the clock expires and the match is given to the Kazakh fighter. So only 34 seconds elapse between injury and DQ.

You're right, he probably wasn't expecting to be kicked, and he probably shouldn't have struck back, but if you watch that guy, he's not having a martially trained reaction to that attack.

[Meynolds]

When I watch it, I see the clock stopping(apparently you aren't supposed to stop it?) for the injury 16 seconds into the video. Then, 50 seconds into the video, the clock expires and the match is given to the Kazakh fighter. So only 34 seconds elapse between injury and DQ.

I just re-watched that portion of the (formerly) live feed. He got the full minute. 2:19:18-2:20:18 on the feed. There's a cut in the video just of that portion despite it looking natural.


You're right, he probably wasn't expecting to be kicked, and he probably shouldn't have struck back, but if you watch that guy, he's not having a martially trained reaction to that attack.

OK, so he doesn't practice martial arts. Most people who practice TKD can't judge a match. (I know from experience)

[skywalker]

I just re-watched that portion of the (formerly) live feed. He got the full minute. 2:19:18-2:20:18 on the feed. There's a cut in the video just of that portion despite it looking natural.



OK, so he doesn't practice martial arts. Most people who practice TKD can't judge a match. (I know from experience)

I see. I'm too lazy to find the live feed. It does look incredibly seamless...

I suppose we agree to disagree on whether non-practitioners should be allowed to judge? It's strange, part of my martial arts training(which was traditional Korean, far-flung from TKD) beyond a certain rank was required training judging sparring matches.

[shadowxknight]

Haha my bad Meynolds, good catch.

As for practicing before judging, most people I know who practice martial arts only learn it as a form of self-defense(in one case to be closer to his native culture).

Edit:Gah, I got ninja'd

[Meynolds]

I see. I'm too lazy to find the live feed. It does look incredibly seamless...

Yeah, it is a nice piece of editing.


I suppose we agree to disagree on whether non-practitioners should be allowed to judge?

We can agree to disagree on this. I'm fine with non-practitioners judging so long as they know what their doing. I would prefer, in martial arts at least, for someone who practices to be doing the judging though.


It's strange, part of my martial arts training(which was traditional Korean, far-flung from TKD) beyond a certain rank was required training judging sparring matches.

Learning to judge is actually optional in TKD. I'm one of maybe 30 (out of 250 or so) from my Dojang who are officially qualified to judge.



Haha my bad Meynolds, good catch.

It's all right.


As for practicing before judging, most people I know who practice martial arts only learn it as a form of self-defense(in one case to be closer to his native culture).

Edit:Gah, I got ninja'd

Same here on the self-defense bit. Though I know a few people who practice mostly for sport (And they actually went to Worlds last year as competitors).

[dish]

So, the main event is all over.

Thoughts on the handover:
1) Boris Johnson :smallsigh:
2) You can tell David Beckham is incredibly popular in China.

[Rare Pink Leech]

I heard that an athlete left deliberately his medal at the podium, but that's all I caught and unfortunately I haven't heard anything about it since. Did anyone else hear about this? What was it all about?

[DraPrime]

Well I've liked only one thing about the closing ceremony. Jimmy Page!!!!

[skywalker]

I heard that an athlete left deliberately his medal at the podium, but that's all I caught and unfortunately I haven't heard anything about it since. Did anyone else hear about this? What was it all about?

It was greco-roman wrestling, he was upset about only getting bronze, so he left the podium during the ceremony, dropped the bronze on the mat, and the IOC kept the medal. I don't think he's allowed to have it back, if I understand correctly.

Of course, apparently, the USA is still entitled to the silver medals our basketball team refused in 1972, so maybe he can have it once he calms down?

[St.Sinner]

I heard that an athlete left deliberately his medal at the podium, but that's all I caught and unfortunately I haven't heard anything about it since. Did anyone else hear about this? What was it all about?

If you're thinking of the wrestling guy, he threw his medal away on the podium. He was the world champion, and he got bronze but he wanted gold, so he threw his bronze medal down on the mat and left it. Bit of unsporting behaviour there.

Edit: Ninjaed.
An afterthought, there's been some unsporting attitudes at these Games. Not too much on the whole, but throwing away a medal, kicking a referee(!), coaches complaining about gymnasts' ages, even Usain Bolt's showboating is rather unsporting I feel.

[Jade Falcon]

First to say I´m an absolute fan of the Olympic games. The basic idea of it is awesome.

I´ve had good times the last two weeks, but .. I don´t know ..

China spend 29 billion US-Dollar for the whole event :smalleek: That is simply way too much for a sport event.

[chiasaur11]

If you're thinking of the wrestling guy, he threw his medal away on the podium. He was the world champion, and he got bronze but he wanted gold, so he threw his bronze medal down on the mat and left it. Bit of unsporting behaviour there.

Edit: Ninjaed.
An afterthought, there's been some unsporting attitudes at these Games. Not too much on the whole, but throwing away a medal, kicking a referee(!), coaches complaining about gymnasts' ages, even Usain Bolt's showboating is rather unsporting I feel.

Well, he was cheated of the medal by the judges according to an official commitee, so, there's that.

[skywalker]

What coach complained about a gymnast's age?

I've seen the media complain, but no coaches...

[Rare Pink Leech]

To skywalker and St.Sinner: thanks for the info. I thought the athlete left the medal behind for something exciting, like protesting China's human rights record or something, but I guess if that was the reason it would have been all over the media.



An afterthought, there's been some unsporting attitudes at these Games. Not too much on the whole, but throwing away a medal, kicking a referee(!), coaches complaining about gymnasts' ages, even Usain Bolt's showboating is rather unsporting I feel.

I'm not sure that Usain Bolt was showboating so much as he was just overcome by excitement (you're talking about the end of the 100m dash, correct?), but it is a fine line.

Regarding unsporting behaviour, I think considering all the thousands (tens of thousands?) of athletes involved in so many events, that the amount of sore losers is quite low, although you'll never get rid of it considering different personalities and that many athletes are so driven to win that they cannot accept losing.

I'd also like to add a Canadian athlete, kayaker Adam van Koeverden, to the list of sore losers. After he didn't even finish on the podium at a race he was favoured to win, he went off on a rant that painted most of his fellow athletes in a very unfavourable light.


Well, he was cheated of the medal by the judges according to an official commitee, so, there's that.

Which is further reason for me not caring for the judged sports overall, preferring empirically decided events at the Olympics.


What coach complained about a gymnast's age?

I've seen the media complain, but no coaches...

As far as I can tell the only coach who complained was the Eastern European former coach who now works as a commentator for NBC, which would place him in the media, I suppose.

[dish]

What coach complained about a gymnast's age?

I've seen the media complain, but no coaches...

Somebody lodged an official complaint which lead to the first IOC investigation (the one where the Chinese government provided passports to prove how old the girls were). The general public don't know who that was, since they did it professionally and privately rather than going to the media, but we can presume it was an official or coach from one of the other teams.

Then the Chinese girls won the gold, and the media wouldn't give it up. This seems strange when you consider that an upstanding country like China with no history of doing this kind of thing before (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yang_Yun) would be far too sporting and moral to falsify official documents in order to give their athletes an unfair advantage. :smallannoyed: The media and various online (http://strydehax.blogspot.com/2008/08/hack-olympics.html)activists unearthed several Chinese news stories, and a variety of spreadsheets from the Chinese Gymnastics Federation and Chinese Sports Federation, all of which listed the girls as being aged 14 or younger. (They also noticed how quickly said documents vanished from the internet as soon as the facts were reported.)

Finally, the IOC opened a second investigation. Whether this was prompted by media pressure or by a second official complaint by coaches from another team - we don't know.

Will anything come of it? Probably not.

[skywalker]

Yeah, Bela's (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B%C3%A9la_K%C3%A1rolyi) pretty vigorous in his support of USA gymnastics. I think it's kinda one of those situations where he sees communism and that sort of thing as something he escaped to the "promised land" of the USA, so he's pretty much a complete USA cheerleader.

But I don't think all that stuff he said was shown outside the US, was it?

[dish]

Yeah, Bela's (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B%C3%A9la_K%C3%A1rolyi) pretty vigorous in his support of USA gymnastics. I think it's kinda one of those situations where he sees communism and that sort of thing as something he escaped to the "promised land" of the USA, so he's pretty much a complete USA cheerleader.

But I don't think all that stuff he said was shown outside the US, was it?

No, I certainly didn't hear any of it. As I said, we can presume that some team officials did lodge a complaint in a professional and private way to the organising committee. But apart from that all complaining has been done by the media.

[St.Sinner]

Yes, I was thinking of that Bela guy. I mistakenly thought of him as a coach. His ardent support of US gymnastics lies beyond captivation with the American dream though; actually his wife is the team coach. I should think his remarks were reported internationally, at least I got to hear about it. Quite the John McEnroe of gymnastics, isn't he.


First to say I´m an absolute fan of the Olympic games. The basic idea of it is awesome.

I´ve had good times the last two weeks, but .. I don´t know ..

China spend 29 billion US-Dollar for the whole event :smalleek: That is simply way too much for a sport event.

I wonder if that includes the 1 million yuan shelled out by the government for each gold medal won. Or the training and financing of the athlete teams. I must say that the stadium and the swimming arena are the most beautiful sporting venues ever, but I do agree with you. Surely some of that money would have been better spent in other parts of China.



I'm not sure that Usain Bolt was showboating so much as he was just overcome by excitement (you're talking about the end of the 100m dash, correct?), but it is a fine line.


I can't help wondering if he hadn't begun celebrating before the finish line, whether he might have shaved a few tenths of a second off his time. 9.69 is simply an astounding time, but maybe? Perhaps he just wanted to leave room to break his own record in future?

[Rare Pink Leech]

Yeah, Bela's (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B%C3%A9la_K%C3%A1rolyi) pretty vigorous in his support of USA gymnastics. I think it's kinda one of those situations where he sees communism and that sort of thing as something he escaped to the "promised land" of the USA, so he's pretty much a complete USA cheerleader.

But I don't think all that stuff he said was shown outside the US, was it?

The Canadian media (as far as I can tell) didn't cover it. I only knew about it because I also watched the NBC broadcasts of the Olympics.


I can't help wondering if he hadn't begun celebrating before the finish line, whether he might have shaved a few tenths of a second off his time. 9.69 is simply an astounding time, but maybe? Perhaps he just wanted to leave room to break his own record in future?

I have no doubt he would have broken the record by a greater margin. Bolt visibly slowed down those last 20 metres or so, and by raising his arms his simultaneously added wind resistance and stopped pumping his arms, which helps sprinters move faster from what I gathered when watching broadcasts.

[skywalker]

Yes, I was thinking of that Bela guy. I mistakenly thought of him as a coach. His ardent support of US gymnastics lies beyond captivation with the American dream though; actually his wife is the team coach. I should think his remarks were reported internationally, at least I got to hear about it. Quite the John McEnroe of gymnastics, isn't he.

He's actually still in some capacity part of USA gymnastics, altho I can't find any info about that capacity on his wiki article.

I still think it's mainly a "we left communist Romania to get away from this crap," type of thing. Some of the most ardent detractors of government screwjobs are people who used to live in similar situations.