London 2012 Olympics Thread

[The Hitch]

Golden hour for the republic. Win 2 gold medals, including the very first one in the Olympic stadium.

Also great performance from Dibaba. Defends the most brutal event on the tack. She deserves a lot of respect for that.

I was delighted when El Guerrouj won his gold medals in Athens. I remember when he fell in the 1500m final in Atlanta(which Morceli won and someone who I was a big fan of as well) and he got silver in Sydney. It would of been a shame had his career ended without an Olympic Gold.

I was a 1500m runner at school so i saw it as my distance, and since i always watched athletics during the summer and Heg was the greatest at that discipline, i was a big fan, so him winning the 1500 anyway (never saw the 5000) was something i remember.

 

[manafana]

anyone else think their should be standard bike for the track cycling.

 

[auscyclefan94]

Does anyone else find it annoying that when the Olympics is on, people who clearly have no idea about some of these sports start lecturing people who actually watch the sport not just during the Olympics?

 

[The Hitch]

Today, the greatest track and field athlete of the last decade, and soon to be greatest long distance athlete of all time, makes his return to the sport, and possibly last appearance, in the distance he has dominated, since 2003.

 

[Zam_Olyas]

Does anyone else find it annoying that when the Olympics is on, people who clearly have no idea about some of these sports start lecturing people who actually watch the sport not just during the Olympics?

Yes very annoying.

 

[Zam_Olyas]

Is badminton one of the bigger sports in Denmark?

 

[Hawkwood]

I think it's unfair these US and British swimmers only having events in metric distances to compete in, shouldn't there also be races in imperial distances, 100,200,400,800 yards etc? That way they'd have a decent number of medals to compete for.

 

[FoxxyBrown1111]

The real medal count without the inflated left, right, up, down same winners in swimming. Aka grown up, but no kids standings:

1. China 16 gold-11 silver- 6 bronze (33)
2. Korea 9-0-5 (14)
3. GB 8-5-6 (19)
4. USA 7-2-6 (15)
5. Germany 5-9-6 (20)

 

[auscyclefan94]

Yes very annoying.

People who have no clue about cycling and only watch the tdf are trying to lecture me and others on the tatics of a road race of track event.

 

[Zam_Olyas]

People who have no clue about cycling and only watch the tdf are trying to lecture me and others on the tatics of a road race of track event.

Oh C july is long this year, eyh?

 

[The Hitch]

The real medal count without the inflated left, right, up, down same winners in swimming. Aka grown up, but no kids standings:

1. China 16 gold-11 silver- 6 bronze (33)
2. Korea 9-0-5 (14)
3. GB 8-5-6 (19)
4. USA 7-2-6 (15)
5. Germany 5-9-6 (20)

Yeah, lets totaly eliminate swimming from the Olympics but.keep those classic Olympic.events, ping pong badminton and women's weightlifting.

 

[FoxxyBrown1111]

Yeah, lets totaly eliminate swimming from the Olympics but.keep those classic Olympic.events, ping pong badminton and women's weightlifting.

The bold is pretty new. And all the other clown sports too (BMX, trampolin, etc.).

Come on, you know that swimming is inflated. Do a cycling event like that, and you have Cav as at least 8 time gold medalist.

There are so many high skilled (thus less afected by clinic issues) sports that are not included. Baseball is played everywere outside europe, cricket too, billards in very different but beautiful styles, rugby is played over the world, golf, squash, whatever. I am no fan of most of the mentioned sports. But they are quite more interesting than stupid straight ahead power swimming by boys/girls with differences in stroke only...

 

[Magnus]

The bold is pretty new. And all the other clown sports too (BMX, trampolin, etc.).

As is table tennis(included since '88) and badminton(included since '92), where China get lots of medals, which I think was Hitch's point.

 

[FoxxyBrown1111]

As is table tennis(included since '88) and badminton(included since '92), where China get lots of medals, which I think was Hitch's point.

My point is: In, taking your examples, table tennis (very high skilled) you can win max 2 events (single and double). Same is true with badminton: High skilled, max 3 wins there (add the mixed double). And please spare me with fixing scandal. All pro sports have this disease. Only that the badminton players were stupid enough to not know how to hide a fix. They should have gone to school with soccer players before.

 

[Magnus]

My point is: In, taking your examples, table tennis (very high skilled) you can win max 2 events (single and double). Same is true with badminton: High skilled, max 3 wins there (add the mixed double). And please spare me with fixing scandal. All pro sports have this disease. Only that the badminton players were stupid enough to not know how to hide a fix. They should have gone to school with soccer players before.

I thought your point was that US only looks good in the medals ranking because of swimming. Looking at the 2008 Olympics US got 12 gold 9 silver 10 bronze. In table tennis, badminton and women's weightlifting China got 11 gold 4 silver 5 bronze.

When didn't I spare you with the fixing scandal

And I don't think badminton is really that high skilled. Didn't Lin Dan for instance only start when he was 19?

 

[FoxxyBrown1111]

I thought your point was that US only looks good in the medals ranking because of swimming. Looking at the 2008 Olympics US got 12 gold 9 silver 10 bronze. In table tennis, badminton and women's weightlifting China got 11 gold 4 silver 5 bronze.

When didn't I spare you with the fixing scandal

And I don't think badminton is really that high skilled. Didn't Lin Dan for instance only start when he was 19?

That was the beginning and then we went on in the discussion... at least i thought.

I tought someone might come up with the fixing, so i tried to shut it down beforehand.

About badminton, well, one tough sport to do. Every sport that requires hand eye coordination coupled with the need of springiness, talent of motion & perfect technique is hard to do at a high level. You need true talent. BTW, Hendry started snooker at 16 and then destroyed the competition. Those guys would have prevailed in any other high skilled sport.

In contrast take cycling, swimming or running: you learn it at the age of 2-6, the rest is endurance...

In other words: Let the best runner in the world meet one high skilled ballsport athlete. I bet house & life, that the runner will look real bad in the technique sport, while the ball player will come pretty close in running. Here we go: Jerry Rice (in his age) runs vs. Bolt. Not that big difference. Now let Bolt try to catch passes between defenders, cut left right, catch the hard thrown ball just with the fingertips while the feet dancing just inbounds the sideline. He couldn´t do it....

 

[Merckx index]

Come on, you know that swimming is inflated. Do a cycling event like that, and you have Cav as at least 8 time gold medalist.

Like a Grand Tour, where Cav walks off with half a dozen stage wins? All accomplished in exactly the same manner, by riding easy for 200+ km, then outsprinting someone in the last 200 m? For Cav, a GT is like an Olympics where every third race is set up so that someone of his narrow range of skills can win it.

Talk about one-dimensional. If you wanted to make it analogous to swimming, you would have Cav competing at various distances, none of which beyond 200-500 m he would win, and at various slopes, none above 2-3% would he win.

If you knew more about swimming, you would understand that very few swimmers are world class at more than one stroke, or at more than two distances (say, 100 and 200 m). In fact, all four 100 m events by the men had winners different from those in the corresponding 200 m events, and even medaling in both was not that common. AFAIK, no one on the U.S. team even qualified for both distances in the same stroke—except Phelps in the fly, which again speaks to his remarkable versatility.

Yes, swimmers have the possibility of getting more medals than athletes in most other Olympic sports, but they also have to work harder than other athletes to bring those possibilities to fruition. Like Lochte racing two finals within 30 minutes. Would Cav like to try two finishing sprints in that fashion, both against fresh competition? Would Bolt, for that matter, race both the 100 and 200 m if he had only a few minutes to rest between them?

Let the best runner in the world meet one high skilled ballsport athlete. I bet house & life, that the runner will look real bad in the technique sport, while the ball player will come pretty close in running. Here we go: Jerry Rice (in his age) runs vs. Bolt. Not that big difference. Now let Bolt try to catch passes between defenders, cut left right, catch the hard thrown ball just with the fingertips while the feet dancing just inbounds the sideline.

I think you’re looking at this biased. As an NFL fan, you appreciate the relatively subtle things a world class WR does to get open and catch the ball. What you do not appreciate is the enormous amount of talent and hard work it takes to improve your speed by tenths of a %. Lots of guys can run 90% as fast as Bolt. Virtually no one can run 99% as fast as he can.

Btw, remember Reynaldo Nehemiah? Did pretty well as a WR for an Olympic hurdler. Or Michael Carter for that matter, took silver medal in the shot put, then anchored the 49ers defensive line. Or Bob Hayes. Think his success as a WR didn't have a great deal to do with the fact that no one on the field could match his speed?

 

[FoxxyBrown1111]

Like a Grand Tour, where Cav walks off with half a dozen stage wins? All accomplished in exactly the same manner, by riding easy for 200+ km, then outsprinting someone in the last 200 m? For Cav, a GT is like an Olympics where every third race is set up so that someone of his narrow range of skills can win it.

Talk about one-dimensional. If you wanted to make it analogous to swimming, you would have Cav competing at various distances, none of which beyond 200-500 m he would win, and at various slopes, none above 2-3% would he win.

If you knew more about swimming, you would understand that very few swimmers are world class at more than one stroke, or at more than two distances (say, 100 and 200 m). Yes, swimmers have the possibility of getting more medals than athletes in most other Olympic sports, but they also have to work harder than other athletes to bring those possibilities to fruition. Like Lochte racing two finals within 30 minutes. Would Cav like to try two finishing sprints in that fashion, both against fresh competition? Would Bolt, for that matter, race both the 100 and 200 m if he had only a few minutes to rest between them?

So far so good until the bolded part. Not to mention Armstrong said this too (you know it´s a running gag nowadays, maybe tiring too). It´s wrong. Outside the world of soccer, everybody trains as long and as hard as swimmers. Ballplayers, cyclists, runners, billard players, etc.
AFIR Carl Lewis did it in 1984 (jumping, then sprinting twice inside a couple of hrs), cyclists have their tiring demanding 7 hrs 5 hills stages and so on. And, i wouldn´t see it as a positive sign that swimmers can do the... (ok, here i´d need to go clinic).

I think you’re looking at this biased. As an NFL fan, you appreciate the relatively subtle things a world class WR does to get open and catch the ball. What you do not appreciate is the enormous amount of talent and hard work it takes to improve your speed by tenths of a %. Lots of guys can run 90% as fast as Bolt. Virtually no one can run 99% as fast as he can.

Btw, remember Reynaldo Nehemiah? Did pretty well as a WR for an Olympic hurdler. Or Michael Carter for that matter, took silver medal in the shot put, then anchored the 49ers defensive line. Or Bob Hayes. Think his success as a WR didn't have a great deal to do with the fact that no one on the field could match his speed?

Ok, wrong sport. Take badminton instead...

Now, was Nehemiah a talented ball player first who used his speed to sprint (as Ron Brown, Willie Gault, Joe Capel, and so on) or the other way around? Of course he was a ball player. Hell, take Bo Jackson. He´d look very good vs. Bolt, but Bolt would look stupid w/a baseball bat or on the gridiron.
Same with Carter, who went to college with a football scholarship not b/c of track. And even then, shot putting is more technique than just swimming or running adamantly straight ahead.
If Bob Hayes couldn´t catch and get separation, his speed would have been useless.
They tried to convert trackies in players before. Failed miserably. The most ugly try was to put Frank Emmelmann (world class sprinter) on the field.

 

[Cancellator]

Why is there a rerun of trampoline on Eurosport instead of live track cycling? I'm confused

 

[Mellow Velo]

Great race between USA and Australia in the womne's TP.
Oz over a second up on GB's WR, parked up in the final km and the USA took it by a hair.
3 seconds off their NR.

GB then break their own WR for the 5th consecutive race.

 

[The Hitch]

So far so good until the bolded part. Not to mention Armstrong said this too (you know it´s a running gag nowadays, maybe tiring too). It´s wrong. Outside the world of soccer, everybody trains as long and as hard as swimmers. Ballplayers, cyclists, runners, billard players, etc.
AFIR Carl Lewis did it in 1984 (jumping, then sprinting twice inside a couple of hrs), cyclists have their tiring demanding 7 hrs 5 hills stages and so on. And, i wouldn´t see it as a positive sign that swimmers can do the... (ok, here i´d need to go clinic).

d.

He didn't say swimmers train harder than other athletes. He said that to win multiple golds a swimmer has to train so.much harder than the swimmers they face.

Armstrong only has to beat ullrich both do the same race fresh. Lewis only has to beat Johnson same race fresh. Haile only had to beat tergat same race fresh. Same distance same event mano a mano, better one wins.
Phelps meanwhile has to take.on 1 group of swimmers in 1 event and another fresh group in the next. So he has to be so much superior in the 2nd event that even taking into account the time loss from entering the race very fatigued, he can still win.

That's why the -swimmers have so.many medals is a bit flawed. Its not like when bolt runs 10 seconds, does a few arrow signs then rests for 3 days before facing the exact same people in the 200.

Its like doing the giro tour double. From the outside 1 can say that cyclists are lucky to have the opportunity to win multiple gts but we know that only someone who is heads ashoulders above everyone else, and capable to beat 2 groups of gt contenders, and at least
one.from way below form is going to be able.to.give it a try

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Today, the greatest track and field athlete of the last decade, and soon to be greatest long distance athlete of all time, makes his return to the sport, and possibly last appearance, in the distance he has dominated, since 2003.

This is more like it.

 

[FoxxyBrown1111]

He didn't say swimmers train harder than other athletes. He said that to win multiple golds a swimmer has to train so.much harder than the swimmers they face.

Armstrong only has to beat ullrich both do the same race fresh. Lewis only has to beat Johnson same race fresh. Haile only had to beat tergat same race fresh. Same distance same event mano a mano, better one wins.
Phelps meanwhile has to take.on 1 group of swimmers in 1 event and another fresh group in the next. So he has to be so much superior in the 2nd event that even taking into account the time loss from entering the race very fatigued, he can still win.

That's why the -swimmers have so.many medals is a bit flawed. Its not like when bolt runs 10 seconds, does a few arrow signs then rests for 3 days before facing the exact same people in the 200.

Its like doing the giro tour double. From the outside 1 can say that cyclists are lucky to have the opportunity to win multiple gts but we know that only someone who is heads ashoulders above everyone else, and capable to beat 2 groups of gt contenders, and at least
one.from way below form is going to be able.to.give it a try

I can´t answer properly as i want, b/c it would go deep into clinic stuff.
Of what i can do is: Lewis beat a whole lot different guys in 200 and jumping, and mostly different in 100.

 

[FoxxyBrown1111]

Now that was cool. Elimination race in cycling. Never seen it before. I loved it. Didn´t even now that the road sprinter Viviani is doing it.

 

[FoxxyBrown1111]

why not? 48.19 isn´t bad... i bet he makes the cut

Edit/Actualization: Still in after 2nd heat