London 2012 Olympics Thread

[auscyclefan94]

Remember how everyone was sneering at the communist Chinese for filling empty seats at the Olympics with soldiers and students. I am sure that sort of thing would never happen in a "free" state.

It is getting really hard to figure out who the bad guys are in this world.

I find that story hard to believe and even if it did really happen, to compare China and Britain in that way is just plain stupid. What happened in Beijing Games was a lot different to what has happened in the London or Sydney Games.

 

[Magnus]

I never understood that. Even in the 100m, it looks like they slow down before they cross the finish line. I would have imagined that, in order to get the best time, you'd run at max speed through the finish, as if you were running 110m.

Is it just an illusion or do they actually slow down? Also, what part of the athlete's body needs to cross the line for the timer to stop? Front foot, head, chest back foot?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/100_metres#Mid-race

 

[LugHugger]

It's quite simple. Bolt already owns the records so he's only going for he medal. Once he sees he's got it in the bag he can slow down and start enjoying. The US 4x100m on the other hand didn't have the records so they went all out to the very end.

Correct. However, according to reports this is Bolts last Olympics. He had the opportunity to lower at the very least his OR and extend his 'legend' legacy. He blew that opportunity. And denied the Olympics and his fans of another milestone. With Blake improving at the rate he is at the moment, Bolt's self proclaimed legend looks likely to fade pretty quickly from the record books. 15 minutes, 4 years, yes. A lifetime? Not likely. Bolt is no Owens.

 

[Alpe d'Huez]

BMX racing was a dud if you ask me. I watched every heat, every semifinal, and finals, both men and women. In every single race, except one semifinal, the rider who made it first through the first turn won. The only reason to watch after that was to see the crashes.

 

[FoxxyBrown1111]

I find that story hard to believe and even if it did really happen, to compare China and Britain in that way is just plain stupid. What happened in Beijing Games was a lot different to what has happened in the London or Sydney Games.

Yeah, let´s lower the once high standards of the so-called "Free World" b/c other countries are still worse.

 

[FoxxyBrown1111]

BMX racing was a dud if you ask me. I watched every heat, every semifinal, and finals, both men and women. In every single race, except one semifinal, the rider who made it first through the first turn won. The only reason to watch after that was to see the crashes.

LOL. Sounds like Formula 1 racing. Only that the mess takes 1 1/2 hrs there. But the crashes are better in auto racing, at least in CART or whatever it is named now.

 

[Alpe d'Huez]

The thing is, I actually like BMX some times. But the course needs to be challenging, and good enough to make it a race. They made this course "fast", which served little purpose, outside of a few impressive crashes.

Yeah, not a fan of F1 anymore for the same reason.

I don't know if CART (ChampCar) still exists in name, but it's height was in the 90's, and open wheel racing was huge in the US at that time. When Tony George said that the Indy 500 would no longer be part of CART, and the IRL (now IndyCar) formed to race only on oval tracks, it slowly killed CART, and brought down all open wheel racing with it (including IRL) which opened the floodgates in popularity for NASCAR. Today Indy Car is financially sound, but nowhere near as popular as CART once was.

(Sorry for the diversion!)

 

[simo1733]

Yeah, let´s lower the once high standards of the so-called "Free World" b/c other countries are still worse.

You must be joking.They 80,000 at 2 pf the womens soccer matches and nearly 1 million(est) at the mens road race.No Olympics gave had crowds that big.
Beijing had one man and his dog for the road race.

 

[The Hitch]

We were only talking about Robert Heffernan yesterday in the doping thread and the way he spoke out against Alex Schwazer. He done one hell of a performance today in the 50km walk finishing 4th with a new PB and beat the previous Irish record by over 7 mins.

Huge Chapeau to everyone who completed that gruelling event. The British guy was on the final lap thanking the crowd, and again loads came out.

 

[The Hitch]

Female 20k walk was epic. Defending champion caught in the last 100m by 19 year old compatriot. World record broken, olympic record shattered.

Kaniskina the defending champion looks devestated andbroken, but i think she will be ok over time as she has a gold from Beijing and her husband just won the 50k.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

One of the most numpty Olympic events is on tonight...The 50km walk!

I love the race walk. Real endurance event. Yes, it has some silliness, pure subjectivity on when illegal steps are called and when they're not, and a cycling-like drug problem. But if you watched the end of the women's 20k and felt no tension, I'm not sure you understand sport.

BMX racing was a dud if you ask me. I watched every heat, every semifinal, and finals, both men and women. In every single race, except one semifinal, the rider who made it first through the first turn won. The only reason to watch after that was to see the crashes.

It's the same with Ski Cross, which gets big positive reactions from many Winter Olympics fans. First to gate 1 wins. How that crap is an Olympic sport I don't know. I find the Individual Pursuit pretty boring, but how that isn't medal paying and BMX is, is preposterous.

I don't know if CART (ChampCar) still exists in name, but it's height was in the 90's, and open wheel racing was huge in the US at that time. When Tony George said that the Indy 500 would no longer be part of CART, and the IRL (now IndyCar) formed to race only on oval tracks, it slowly killed CART, and brought down all open wheel racing with it (including IRL) which opened the floodgates in popularity for NASCAR. Today Indy Car is financially sound, but nowhere near as popular as CART once was.

CART ceased to exist after 2003, I think, when it was declared bankrupt; the series continued as a phoenix from the flames in the form of the Champ Car World Series/CCWS until 2007. It was right on the cusp of the 2008 season when the plug was pulled and it unified with IRL. "Unified" is a bit of a fallacy though; it was a hostile takeover. They did the last Champ Car event in Long Beach in 2008, on the day after the final non-unified IRL event at Motegi. Will Power earnt himself an official reprimand and suspended fine from the league for saying that after testing the Indycar, getting back in the Champ Car Panoz would "feel like a rocketship in comparison".

Personally I think they should have gone, that first season, with the Panoz for the road courses and the Indycar Dallara for the ovals (the Panoz wasn't safe for ovals in 2007, don't know if that had changed for 2008). As it was, the old Champ Car teams found it hard to compete and now are there either in name only as pack fodder or have split. That guys like Derrick Walker are nowhere to be seen in the modern Indycar Series is testament to just how stupid it got, though thankfully since kicking Tony George out once and for all they've got it back on a firmer financial footing - just wish they'd have sorted out the gimmickry they were having to resort to to try to build the audience back up (many former Champ Car fans boycott it to this day) before it killed someone.

 

[The Hitch]

.Russia having an incredible last day. Gold mens 50k gold women's 20k gold women's high jump gold 800 silver 4 by 4 medal presentation of.hammer gold.from yesterday.

 

[jens_attacks]

Female 20k walk was epic. Defending champion caught in the last 100m by 19 year old compatriot. World record broken, olympic record shattered.

Kaniskina the defending champion looks devestated andbroken, but i think she will be ok over time as she has a gold from Beijing and her husband just won the 50k.

+1
epic stuff indeed and crazy race because i understood that kaniskina attacked right from the gun.the finish was

that's 5 golds for mother russia in a single day

what else did i like?

jamaica shattering the world record big time

mo farrah although no surprise

trinidad winning gold at javelin lol helluva surprise

usa girls getting close also to the WR set by USSR,sadly they lacked another world class athlete in the team.allyson awesome once again

 

[FoxxyBrown1111]

Yeah, Usain Bolt´s training group again beat the sprinters of the whole world. What a fantastic display of superiority.

Yeah, not a fan of F1 anymore for the same reason.

Wow, you watched F1, when having had the great CART Series? To say the least, i am surprised.

You must be joking.They 80,000 at 2 pf the womens soccer matches and nearly 1 million(est) at the mens road race.No Olympics gave had crowds that big.
Beijing had one man and his dog for the road race.

You got me wrong, may b/c i didn´t say it directly. I criticized how GB and the western countries in general more and more become 3rd world countries with all their surveillance of the innocent and cutting the freedom, while only pleasing the freedom of the rich. The "Parkinson guy" is just a minuscule example.

... just wish they'd have sorted out the gimmickry they were having to resort to to try to build the audience back up (many former Champ Car fans boycott it to this day) before it killed someone.

Chapeau. I wish cycling fans had done the same, b/c that´s the only way to show the running organisations who pay the bills.

Anyway, can´t hold my cynism back, it was a great show at Vegas speedway last year. Up to that day i almost forgot that US open wheel racing (which is lightyears better than the F1 boredom) still exists.

 

[The Hitch]

I think with 4x 4 and the diving, and 2 basketball finals to come, USA may be now sprinting away from China for the title of greatest sporting nation (with a big laugh at those morons in Spain who think Spain deserves that tiltle because of temporary success in the male version of 1 sport)

 

[Miburo]

Can't wait to see USA vs Spain.

 

[SergeDeM]

It's the same with Ski Cross, which gets big positive reactions from many Winter Olympics fans. First to gate 1 wins. How that crap is an Olympic sport I don't know. I find the Individual Pursuit pretty boring, but how that isn't medal paying and BMX is, is preposterous.

Yeah, BMX had that issue with the very fast track. They could've made it more technical so it wasn't over by turn 1 and hopefully this will be improved upon in Rio. Anyway being Colombian it was incredibly exciting for me with Mariana getting the country's only gold and Oquendo getting the bronze in the men's race. Incidentally, Oquendo was last coming into turn 1. You had to look behind first place for the shuffling around.

I like that BMX is medal paying. It shows recognition for what is popular even if it's recent, just like MTB.

 

[BroDeal]

Winning an Olympic medal is exciting.

 

[simo1733]

Winning an Olympic medal is exciting.

Yeah.Where us our BMW's

 

[The Hitch]

I never realized that Allison Felix in terms of world championship medals already has as much as Carl Lewis and can become all time best next year in Moscow.

 

[Parera]

15 minutes, 4 years, yes. A lifetime? Not likely. Bolt is no Owens.

 

[SergeDeM]

Bolt's self proclaimed legend looks likely to fade pretty quickly from the record books. 15 minutes, 4 years, yes. A lifetime? Not likely. Bolt is no Owens.

I'd say he's been legen... dary for more than that already. My counter started in Beijing

 

[The Hitch]

Omg kiprotich

 

[jens_attacks]

also nice sandbagging armstrong alpe 2001 move by kiprotich.loved it

 

[The Hitch]

Russia another 3 golds in the last half hour from what i see.

I think they have like 12 in the last 2 days. Amazing.