London 2012 Olympics Thread

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Phelps lost because he had an awful finishing touch. He came out wrong. Otherwise he still would've won. He simply had to do nothing for 1 stroke.. a repeat of 4 years ago, but back then he was the lucky one

 

[Merckx index]

Phelps lost because he had an awful finishing touch. He came out wrong. Otherwise he still would've won. He simply had to do nothing for 1 stroke.. a repeat of 4 years ago, but back then he was the lucky one

Yes, but in the past he has always won the 200 fly easily. At Beijing, his goggles cracked and leaked in the final, and he still won by a large margin and set a new WR. The close race in Beijing you are referring to was the 100 fly. Phelps is not a sprinter and he has always been vulnerable in this shorter race. It was expected to be close, the most difficult of his individual events to win.

Bottom line: he led at the 150 mark by more than half a second, and couldn't hold the lead coming down the stretch. The old Michael Phelps never would have given up a lead like that.

That said, his time in the relay suggests he may be about as fast for shorter distances as he was in the past, so that gives him some hope for the 100 fly.

 

[roundabout]

Pretty cool that al-Attiya has a medal now. I didn't even know that these are his 5th Olympics.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Yes, but in the past he has always won the 200 fly easily. At Beijing, his goggles cracked and leaked in the final, and he still won by a large margin and set a new WR. The close race in Beijing you are referring to was the 100 fly. Phelps is not a sprinter and he has always been vulnerable in this shorter race. It was expected to be close, the most difficult of his individual events to win.

Bottom line: he led at the 150 mark by more than half a second, and couldn't hold the lead coming down the stretch. The old Michael Phelps never would have given up a lead like that.

That said, his time in the relay suggests he may be about as fast for shorter distances as he was in the past, so that gives him some hope for the 100 fly.

Yeah ok. Our swimming experts (both ex-swimmers) on dutch TV suggested that his speed on the short distance is still ok, but somehow his endurance seems to be gone these olympics

 

[jens_attacks]

ye shiwen was awesome again,love her although she seems to not even care about his wins lol,amazing athlete

weightlifting was cool too with the chinese toying with the competition and maneza getting another gold for vino's homeland

1 China (CHN) 12 6 4 23
2 United States (USA) 9 8 7 24
3 France (FRA) 4 3 4 11
4 South Korea (KOR) 3 2 3 8
5 North Korea (PRK) 3 0 1 4
6 Kazakhstan (KAZ) 3 0 0 3

pretty impressive

romania also had an unexpected good day

 

[Merckx index]

The US won the 4x200m freestyle relay. Phelps got the gold he wanted. Lochte done a brilliant opening leg to set it up.

Some splits:

Lochte: 1:45.15 (very slightly slower than in 200 m final. This is directly comparable, because he was the lead swimmer, going off at the horn. Confirms my feeling that he didn't swim that 200 m final wrong, he was doing about as well as he could).

Phelps: 1:44.05 (but this is with relay start, so add about half a second. Confirms he is as about as fast at this distance as Lochte/Park/Sun, not as fast as Agnel. If he had not dropped the 200m FS, he might have medaled in it, would not have won it)

Agnel: 1:43.24 (vs. 1:43.14 in 200 m final, but add about half a second. Still the fastest time of the night. And France was locked into 2d when he took off, they weren't going to catch the U.S., nor was Germany or China going to catch them)

Sun: 1:45.55 (add about half a second, so more than a second slower than in the 200 m final. And this was despite having to chase down the German swimmer for the bronze. Suggests to me that he swam the race of his life in the 200 m final)

Sun is having a great Olympics, though. Gold in 400 FS, silver in 200, the strong favorite to win the 1500. Plus this relay medal. For a distance swimmer, that is about as good as it gets. I'm particularly impressed that the WR holder in the 1500 has enough speed to take silver in the 200. Not common.

 

[Alpe d'Huez]

The amusing thing is that on the surface, it appears to have worked. The Japanese got the ruling, and leapfrogged from 4th to 2nd, over the impoverished Ukrainians, and giddy British. I still question even with slo-mo that they got the call right. Then again, I don't like any judged sports. But at least this time it did appear the Chinese were the most consistent. The US men, despite all their talk, and favorite status, tanked.

Getting tired of swimming about now. Let's have a few track events, show some other odd stuff, a better closing ceremony, and call it done.

 

[ElChingon]

Is it me or are the Olympic cameras obviously avoiding showing any exposed part of the athletes physiques? (sports where they have only... underwear coverage of naughty parts) To the point where the camera view is angled in an extreme way? I mean, they're athletes so what's the big deal? Will they eventually only show the medal presentation where they're dressed in sweat suits?

 

[thrawn]

Yeah ok. Our swimming experts (both ex-swimmers) on dutch TV suggested that his speed on the short distance is still ok, but somehow his endurance seems to be gone these olympics

Phelps now breathes on every stroke in the butterfly. If my memory serves me well (it may not) in previous Olympics he was breathing every second stroke.

 

[Mellow Velo]

Doubt if anyone is much interested in Badminton, but the sight of China and South Korea "tapping" serve after serve into the net had the crowd booing and the umpire issuing out a warning. 4 strokes was the longest rally.

Not that it bothered the Chinese much. They were heard to say: "so what, we've already qualified"...................or have they?
http://www.cbc.ca/olympics/badminto...n-federation-china-south-korea-indonesia.html

http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/...ayers-face-matchthrowing-charges-7997235.html

The Chinese top seeds are also the best at losing, apparently.

 

[The Hitch]

Some splits:

Lochte: 1:45.15 (very slightly slower than in 200 m final. This is directly comparable, because he was the lead swimmer, going off at the horn. Confirms my feeling that he didn't swim that 200 m final wrong, he was doing about as well as he could).

Phelps: 1:44.05 (but this is with relay start, so add about half a second. Confirms he is as about as fast at this distance as Lochte/Park/Sun, not as fast as Agnel. If he had not dropped the 200m FS, he might have medaled in it, would not have won it)

Agnel: 1:43.24 (vs. 1:43.14 in 200 m final, but add about half a second. Still the fastest time of the night. And France was locked into 2d when he took off, they weren't going to catch the U.S., nor was Germany or China going to catch them)

Sun: 1:45.55 (add about half a second, so more than a second slower than in the 200 m final. And this was despite having to chase down the German swimmer for the bronze. Suggests to me that he swam the race of his life in the 200 m final)

Sun is having a great Olympics, though. Gold in 400 FS, silver in 200, the strong favorite to win the 1500. Plus this relay medal. For a distance swimmer, that is about as good as it gets. I'm particularly impressed that the WR holder in the 1500 has enough speed to take silver in the 200. Not common.

Why is relay start +0.5?

 

[thrawn]

Why is relay start +0.5?

Because you are reacting to what you can see your teammate doing, as opposed to relying on reactions to a sound. This saves you approximately half a second.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

dutch medal candidates flying out faster than the speed of light...

 

[Waterloo Sunrise]

We're on the board now, watch out Korea.

 

[Mellow Velo]

First rowing final, first ever British women's rowing gold.

 

[taiwan]

Chinese an S.Korean badmindon players got DQ'd. Harsh.

 

[Bala Verde]

We're on the board now, watch out Korea.

First rowing final, first ever British women's rowing gold.

What are your/UK's (supposed) best events?

 

[DominicDecoco]

Chinese an S.Korean badmindon players got DQ'd. Harsh.

Harsh? They were bang out of order.

Such a great showup at Wembley the last couple of days. They spend money to watch this and then they have to witness such farce. And it's not the first time they do this either.

However, someone really have to take a look at that group system. Either quit or reconstructure it. It doesn't work.

 

[Mellow Velo]

What are your/UK's (supposed) best events?

.........Losing.

Chinese an S.Korean badmindon players got DQ'd. Harsh.

Disagree.
It was an appalling "display" from both teams.
The officials couldn't let such blatant disregard slide.
They had to show precedent, simply to avoid this farce reoccurring.

 

[Bala Verde]

.........Losing.

The dutch are giving you some fierce competition for those honors

 

[kurtinsc]

Because you are reacting to what you can see your teammate doing, as opposed to relying on reactions to a sound. This saves you approximately half a second.

This. From experience, relay splits other then the first leg are always faster (if you do them right). You are actually anticipating when the guy in the water will hit the wall rather then waiting to see him touch. A perfectly timed relay start will have the person on the blocks fully extended into their dive with their toes still touching the block when the person in the water touches the wall. You can't anticipate in a regular start (not without false starting a whole lot). I'm not 100% sure about half a second, but it's a decent enough estimation for a swimmer with a good relay start.

 

[taiwan]

Harsh? They were bang out of order.

Such a great showup at Wembley the last couple of days. They spend money to watch this and then they have to witness such farce. And it's not the first time they do this either.

However, someone really have to take a look at that group system. Either quit or reconstructure it. It doesn't work.

Disagree.
It was an appalling "display" from both teams.
The officials couldn't let such blatant disregard slide.
They had to show precedent, simply to avoid this farce reoccurring.

I'm inclined just to blame the system. If I understood, they were trying to lose so they got an easier draw in the next round. Thing is what they were doing made tactical sense in terms of the whole tournament. Just don't make them play matches where there's a disincentive to win.

 

[RedheadDane]

Just a question about the splits in the swimming relay:

Has there ever been a (less experienced) swimmer who accidentally jumped too early and landed on top of their teammate?

 

[taiwan]

T-Mart maximising his forward momentum with a low cadence there...

 

[Merckx index]

Getting tired of swimming about now. Let's have a few track events, show some other odd stuff, a better closing ceremony, and call it done.

Haha, if it's any consolation to you, Alpe, there are NFL officials who believe that (American) football has a serious chance of becoming an Olympic sport. There are so many problems/obstacles with that idea I don't know where to begin, but you and Foxy should be drooling at the prospect. "And Rodgers throws a 70 yard bomb to Calvin Johnson to win the gold medal!"

Just a question about the splits in the swimming relay:

Has there ever been a (less experienced) swimmer who accidentally jumped too early and landed on top of their teammate?

In lower levels of competition I'm sure it's happened, probably not at this level. But there are certainly times when a relay swimmer takes off too soon, resulting in a DQ. In 2007, the year before he won 8 gold medals in Beijing, Phelps should have won eight in the WC. He won seven, because one of the relays was DQd for this reason. As kurtinsc said, they try to time it perfectly, and if you cut it too close, you run this risk. In yesterday's 4 x 200, the U.S. was so dominant that I'm sure they were giving away a few tenths of a second here and there, just to be sure. No need to risk a DQ when the race is not close. But you can be sure China and Germany were pushing the envelope, because being DQd is not much worse than finishing fourth.

Who’s the best swimmer of these Games? Here are four candidates among the men:

Lochte: Despite some disappointments, has two golds and a silver, and a good chance to pick up two more golds Thursday. If he does, he might be the first swimmer to win two individual golds in the same night. Phelps and others have won an individual gold and a relay gold in the same day, but I don't think anyone has done an individual double like this, though I could be wrong. It won't be easy, he will have just 30 minutes between the two races. Anyway, I think he’s the only male swimmer in position to win three individual golds, and probably, four overall.

Phelps: One gold, two silvers. Likely to get another gold in the medley relay, and a good chance to pick up medals of some color in the 200 IM and 100 fly. That would give him six medals overall, and for the third straight Olympics, that would probably be the most of any swimmer, if not of any athlete. Not bad for a guy in the decline. And let's not forget he had the fastest split on the team in both FS relays.

Sun: One gold, one silver, one bronze, and favored to win another gold in the 1500. If he does, it would have to be one of the best performances by a distance swimmer in Olympic history. The 200-400 double is common, and so is the 400-1500 double. Medalling in all three is quite unusual.

Agnel: Two golds and a silver, and a favorite in the 100 m FS, though after his poor semifinal time, I don’t know what to think. I'm very curious to see what he does in that race now. Might possibly pick up another medal in the medley relay. If he were swimming for the U.S., he would win three gold medals in the three relays, and maybe five golds overall. But until he becomes world class in another stroke besides FS, he can't be compared to Phelps or even Lochte.