London 2012 Olympics Thread

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Jun 10, 2010
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Wiggins decided Britain's women's archery team needed some help.

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Jul 23, 2009
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hrotha said:
That looks like LARPing. Give me genuine reenactment :D

:) no foam rubber in that one, a lot of the German groups also do full or heavy contact fighting, not quite Regia rules. The shield work rather windmill-ish for my liking tho, never liked forearm strapped shields much.
 
Mar 18, 2009
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Zam_Olyas said:
India sent 81 athletes and 840 officials. LOL

That is the real reason for the Olympics. The athletes are just there to bring in the money so everyone involved with the IOC, the national federations, and government funded athlete development can make a fat living.
 
Mar 11, 2009
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Wow!
France upset the apple cart and get it right.
Great race.
The World's fastest man, doesn't even win his leg.:eek:
 
Jun 14, 2010
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Mellow Velo said:
Wow!
France upset the apple cart and get it right.
Great race.
The World's fastest man, doesn't even win his leg.:eek:

in 08 the strongest swimmer and world record holder lost his leg to the weakest swimmer on the American team, having started with a huge advantage.
 
Jul 27, 2010
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Lochte is not the world's fastest man. He's not a sprinter, he's a middle distance swimmer, and FS probably isn't even his best stroke. The media should not be saying the US lost because of his "inexperience" in the relay. It's not inexperience, he's just not that fast at 100 m.

Having said that, he was probably one of the four fastest men on the U.S. team. He is one of the world's fastest at 200 m, so he can't be that bad at 100 m. I doubt replacing him with someone else would have altered the outcome. It might not have been a good idea to have him swim anchor, though.

The 4 x 100 is always the relay that is most difficult for the U.S. to win. Their prospects are much better in the other two relays. Lochte and Phelps are much better at 200 m, and they have elite swimmers in all four strokes for the medley relay, which most other nations don't have.

The brilliance of Phelps has provided a false impression that swimmers can excel at any distance and any stroke. In the past it would have been almost unthinkable that someone world class at the IM, particularly the 400 IM, could also be a top freestyle sprinter. You never saw guys like Alex Baumann or Tom Dolan swimming in FS relays. IM swimmers are generalists. They are very good at each of four strokes, but generally not world best at any one stroke, or at best maybe one stroke. Just to win one IM, let alone both, is an enormous accomplishment, and in the past would have been considered the mark of one of the best all around swimmers in the world, something like the decathlon in track (though that requires a wider variety of athletic ability than the IM). Phelps, remarkably and uniquely, is or was world class in three strokes--fly, backstroke and FS--but even in his case, only at 200 m in the latter two. Lochte is world best in the backstroke, and a strong contender in the FS, but like Phelps, only at the 200 m distance. It is asking far too much of these guys to be better than everyone else at the 100 m FS, though even then they are good enough to be on the relay.

The Hitch said:
in 08 the strongest swimmer and world record holder lost his leg to the weakest swimmer on the American team, having started with a huge advantage.

Though 2008 was an embarrassing loss for France, Lezak was not the weakest swimmer on the U.S. team. He was considered one of the strongest, that was why he was anchor.
 
Mar 13, 2009
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According to the 'swim specialists' on the NOS, including Inge de Bruijn, they were suprised that Australia failed so badly?

Also, this 15-year old Lithuanian girl is amazing. Wow.
 
May 2, 2010
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Dekker_Tifosi said:
According to the 'swim specialists' on the NOS, including Inge de Bruijn, they were suprised that Australia failed so badly?

Also, this 15-year old Lithuanian girl is amazing. Wow.

Well yes, it is a surprise that if you have the #1 & #2 ranked swimmers in the 100m freestyle that you don't even medal the 4x100.

Magnussen has gone from the missile to the pea shooter.
 
Jul 25, 2010
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I'll have to admit, despite all my doom and gloom about the Olympics, so far, everything is going well. Such a good vibe in Central London and no predicted transport chaos yet - back to work tomorrow, I'll see what it's like then.
 
Jun 16, 2009
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Zam_Olyas said:
Eyetaly leading Aus in waterpolo mens ..take that ACF :p :D ..7-3 ..4th quarter 4 mins left
Good for you! :p

Dekker_Tifosi said:
According to the 'swim specialists' on the NOS, including Inge de Bruijn, they were suprised that Australia failed so badly?

Also, this 15-year old Lithuanian girl is amazing. Wow.

The media is going beserk about the men coming 4th in the 4x100m. To be honest, the men in that team, especially Magnussen have been really arrogant and telling the media how good they are. Hopefully they will now pull their heads in.
 
Jan 20, 2011
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Dekker_Tifosi said:
According to the 'swim specialists' on the NOS, including Inge de Bruijn, they were suprised that Australia failed so badly?

Also, this 15-year old Lithuanian girl is amazing. Wow.

She's amazing! If she wins the Gold it will be one of the biggest upsets.
auscyclefan94 said:
Good for you! :p



The media is going beserk about the men coming 4th in the 4x100m. To be honest, the men in that team, especially Magnussen have been really arrogant and telling the media how good they are. Hopefully they will now pull their heads in.

That's even worse than the US in 2000 and France in 2008. Couldn't even medal.

Looking forward to the Men's 200M freestyle Final. Lochte, Sun Yang, Park and Agnel should ensure a fascinating contest.
 
Jun 16, 2009
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the asian said:
That's even worse than the US in 2000 and France in 2008. Couldn't even medal.

Magnussen is a very high chance of winning Gold in the 100m Freestyle and has a decent chance in the 50m but he would have to be dissapointed.

GB have had a poor start as well.
 
Jan 20, 2011
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auscyclefan94 said:
Magnussen is a very high chance of winning Gold in the 100m Freestyle and has a decent chance in the 50m but he would have to be dissapointed.

GB have had a poor start as well.

I was referring to the Hype regarding the Aussie 4*100 relay team. In 2000, the a US member said they were going to smash the Aussies like Guitars, and Though the Aussies won, the US at least finished 2nd.
In 2008 too the French talked big how they were going to beat the US and even they lost they at least finished 3rd. This time the Aussies finished 4th.
Both Magnussen and Roberts were pretty poor yesterday. They'll have to regain confidence pretty quickly.