Olympics 2021

[Tricycle Rider]

Nope, just a different way of accumulating medals. And diving used to be one of the big televised events in the days of Greg Louganis. It has been very scarce on TV now that the victories have dried up. I expect a similar fate in the future if Beach Volleyball no longer brings the medal haul. TV coverage on NBC is typically proportional to the quality of the Americans competing in the sport.

Good rule. It would get rid of the worst offenders right off the bat. Bye-Bye Tennis, Golf, Boxing, and Baseball.

I am not necessarily for chopping smaller sports like Weighlifting or shooting. But I would be willing to cut some of the medals given. They could probably survive with fewer weight classes and shooting disciplines.

I'm okay with cutting the golf and tennis just because here in the US we already get enough of it on any given weekend. But each nation does vary...

I like the Olympics because I get to see some sports that are not normally televised here. It's a whole different adventure.

EDIT - right now I'm watching some of that climbing stuff, it's fascinating. It's almost like running, except they have to make time/speed in a vertical fashion using their arms as well as their legs. It's fascinating indeed.

 

[Koronin]

Now I know what the rock climbing thing reminds me of. The climbing wall from American Gladiators.

 

[gunara]

If we're eliminating sports from the Olympics based on it not being the pinnacle of the sport we likely should add soccer and men's basketball to that list.

Men's basketball? I think most countries value it higher than World Championship, no?

And yes golf and tennis can go, it feels almost meaningless

EDIT:
As for cutting weightclasses in weightlifting, I think they've already done, there were several classes looked to be missing, not too mention they only gives medals to total lift, not the gratuitous 3 per classes like in many weightlifting competitions.

 

[Tricycle Rider]

And now I'm watching some flatwater kayaking - this I may know a little about because my dad used to do it and he lent me his flatwater kayak once or twice. It didn't take because I turned over in about 5 seconds flat.

If you notice the flatwater boats are very long and narrow (ergo very fast and very tippy), balance is of extreme importance in addition to being able to paddle quickly.

As an Olympic sport I say kayaking/canoeing stays!

 

[gunara]

A pretty amazing thing about Axelsen is that he cannot only beat the Chinese, he can also talk with them! As a personal challenge, he decided to learn Mandarin a few years ago. This video is a thank you to his Chinese supporters (admittedly, I don't have any clue as to his level but it sounds more than completely basic).

https://twitter.com/x/status/1422513012787740674

View: https://twitter.com/muimahmud/status/1422513012787740674

Cool, I believe his level is almost good, you don't get the tones of the language correctly by being basic (although I have no idea if he still sounds Danish or not)
I also don't know how common for badminton players to learn Mandarin, maybe it's a rather important language since China has many players and countries like Malaysia and Indonesia have lots of players of Chinese descents. I remember watching Chinese players sent farewell video to our retiring player and they just flatout spoke Mandarin to the camera, to an Indonesian.

 

[jmdirt]

If we are going to eliminate events, let's eliminate all judged events.

 

[Netserk]

Eliminate all team sports.

 

[Tricycle Rider]

Eliminate all team sports.

Let's just eliminate all sports from the Olympics, we all know how much financial debt the nations who are still willing to host them nowadays go into!

 

[BlueRoads]

I guess our comments show that we all have different tastes and the sports one of us would cut actually have fans among the others even here.

I am just not into weightlifting, I never watch it for more than two minutes, and it's a doping heavy sport. I can see that the performances are to admire from a sportive perspective, but I simply don't like it, since I mostly enjoy sports with more movement.

Shooting... although my son likes to do it, is just not a sport to me. Even less movement than in weightlifting.

I love most judged events, since they are usually the ones with a lot of grace, beauty and complex processes of movement. I know they often have the reputation of being too subjective, but I think in most cases the judging is very objective (nowadays), usually there isn't much controversy anymore about the results and as soon as a performance is done the commentators, athletes and coaches have pretty much the same opinion about it; the criteria are very clear.

I went through the list and these are the sports I would like to scrap completely in the Olympics:
Triple Jump (only produces sports invalids)
Golf (too static)
Shooting
Weightlifting
Baseball (I just don't care... Okay I just don't understand the rules... )
Modern pentathlon (horses treated too badly)

I don't know if I would get rid of sports in which the Olympics are not that important, I think these sports make a lot of people watch who otherwise wouldn't watch the Olympics and then they stay for more competitions. Also, for instance, although an Olympic medal in tennis doesn't mean that much, Zverev was very proud and happy. Messi said the Olympics were one of his best experiences. Especially in the team sports it is very problematic with so many clubs not wanting to assign their players, but I'm not sure.

Actually, thinking about it, I'm glad there are sports there I don't enjoy watching, they just belong to the Olympics.

 

[BullsFan22]

I guess our comments show that we all have different tastes and the sports one of us would cut actually have fans among the others even here.

I am just not into weightlifting, I never watch it for more than two minutes, and it's a doping heavy sport. I can see that the performances are to admire from a sportive perspective, but I simply don't like it, since I mostly enjoy sports with more movement.

Shooting... although my son likes to do it, is just not a sport to me. Even less movement than in weightlifting.

I love most judged events, since they are usually the ones with a lot of grace, beauty and complex processes of movement. I know they often have the reputation of being too subjective, but I think in most cases the judging is very objective (nowadays), usually there isn't much controversy anymore about the results and as soon as a performance is done the commentators, athletes and coaches have pretty much the same opinion about it; the criteria are very clear.

I went through the list and these are the sports I would like to scrap completely in the Olympics:
Triple Jump (only produces sports invalids)
Golf (too static)
Shooting
Weightlifting
Baseball (I just don't care... Okay I just don't understand the rules... )
Modern pentathlon (horses treated too badly)

I don't know if I would get rid of sports in which the Olympics are not that important, I think these sports make a lot of people watch who otherwise wouldn't watch the Olympics and then they stay for more competitions. Also, for instance, although an Olympic medal in tennis doesn't mean that much, Zverev was very proud and happy. Messi said the Olympics were one of his best experiences. Especially in the team sports it is very problematic with so many clubs not wanting to assign their players, but I'm not sure.

Actually, thinking about it, I'm glad there are sports there I don't enjoy watching, they just belong to the Olympics.

Sailing, BMX and skateboarding don’t make much sense either.

 

[jmdirt]

Great 400 hurdles from the ladies!

 

[gunara]

Great 400 hurdles from the ladies!

I missed the final, I skipped watching tracks and fields everytime there are heptathlon/decathlon on show, so I missed others. With respects to the multitalented athletes, the only slightly interesting or even important things about their disciplines are the points, just show us the points!

 

[tobydawq]

Sailing, BMX and skateboarding don’t make much sense either.

Lol, just because sailing is not particularly friendly to the untrained eye, it doesn't mean that it doesn't make sense...

Also, I really think most people here are selling the Olympic tennis tournament short. Okay, it's not pretty that Federer and Nadal didn't do it this year but they are getting old and careful. Usually, the level of the start list is very high and it is seen as a very big event even if the points to the world ranking aren't that high.

 

[Koronin]

Another sport I'd dump is doubles ping pong (or table tennis or whatever you want to call it). I've got enough issues with ping pong and badminton being in the Olympics in the first place. Those two sports are no different from lawn darts or horse shoes or cornhole. The badminton class I took in college the teacher gave up attempting to teach us competitive badminton when the entire class just wanted to worry about how long we could keep the birdie in a volley instead of caring about scoring points.

I'm also in the camp of dumping weightlifting. May consider dumping boxing as well.

 

[BullsFan22]

Lol, just because sailing is not particularly friendly to the untrained eye, it doesn't mean that it doesn't make sense...

Also, I really think most people here are selling the Olympic tennis tournament short. Okay, it's not pretty that Federer and Nadal didn't do it this year but they are getting old and careful. Usually, the level of the start list is very high and it is seen as a very big event even if the points to the world ranking aren't that high.

Sailing doesn’t make sense as a sport. It’s really only shown at the Olympics.

 

[tobydawq]

Sailing doesn’t make sense as a sport. It’s really only shown at the Olympics.

Let's just say I disagree. Then again, I might be biased as I personally know the woman who won gold for Denmark in the laser radial.

It's not good for spectators, but it's not a lottery at all even if one might think so upon watching a little bit of it.

 

[tobydawq]

Another sport I'd dump is doubles ping pong (or table tennis or whatever you want to call it). I've got enough issues with ping pong and badminton being in the Olympics in the first place. Those two sports are no different from lawn darts or horse shoes or cornhole. The badminton class I took in college the teacher gave up attempting to teach us competitive badminton when the entire class just wanted to worry about how long we could keep the birdie in a volley instead of caring about scoring points.

I'm also in the camp of dumping weightlifting. May consider dumping boxing as well.

Lol, you want badminton out of the Olympics because you had a bad teacher? I have seen many ridiculous opinions but this one competes for first place. My god.

Also, it's a shuttlecock, not a birdie.

 

[tobydawq]

I missed the final, I skipped watching tracks and fields everytime there are heptathlon/decathlon on show, so I missed others. With respects to the multitalented athletes, the only slightly interesting or even important things about their disciplines are the points, just show us the points!

Actually, I quite like those events. Watching the same athletes so many teams in the span of two days is quite nice, and you get to "know" them a bit better. I don't know how much I like that both events are held on the same two days now, though.

Also, watching the women run their 800m is also nice as it's the only race in all of the track and field where I have put up a result that could compete

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Agree 100% with that. They finally have to work those last 100m and the times are going to be really fast. Similar to Warholm and Benjamin in the mens race this evening. Both WRs are in peril IMO.

Well, you weren't wrong that sub-52 was needed. Femke ran a 52.03 so she nearly did improve by 2 seconds from the semi-final, and it still wasn't enough for more than bronze with the two Americans obliterating the former WR. She must feel today like Benjamin did yesterday, like, what more am I supposed to do?

As for sports that could be removed, I like the objection to judged sports, but I think gymnastics and diving in the summer Olympics and figure skating in the winter Olympics are 'traditional' enough Olympic sports to be established and difficult to justify removing. All of the extreme sports concourse events like the skateboarding, BMX freestyle, slopestyle, snowboard half-pipe etc., these are events which are better covered both in terms of medals and in terms of demographics at the X-Games and just feel like tack-ons due to the Olympics trying to be cool, rather than elite sporting disciplines. Climbing at least fits the basic criteria of needing to go further or faster to win - which is why, although I personally don't like it, the conventional race-based BMX doesn't get separated out in my comment above. At the opposite end of the spectrum, I could easily live without all the equestrian events, but then I've never particularly cared for horses the way some do, and so I don't have the ability to distinguish a reasonable performance from an excellent one, and somebody who does like the sport would immediately notice something in the horse-handling that I am oblivious to.

 

[BlueRoads]

Slovenia the big favourite in women's climbing! Unfortunately the commentator says Janja Garnbret's from Slovakia (He only said that once, the other times he got it right, but I feel for the Slovenians, that happens so often...)

I missed the final, I skipped watching tracks and fields everytime there are heptathlon/decathlon on show, so I missed others. With respects to the multitalented athletes, the only slightly interesting or even important things about their disciplines are the points, just show us the points!

I love decathlon! One of my totally favourite disciplines! I remember being in love with Dan O'Brien... well, kind of. Not a fan of Kevin Mayer, for some reason, though, don't know why exactly.
(I also like heptathlon, but I always think there's something missing... would love for the women to have 10 disciplines, too.)

 

[sir fly]

Slovenia the big favourite in women's climbing! Unfortunately the commentator says Janja Garnbret's from Slovakia (He only said that once, the other times he got it right, but I feel for the Slovenians, that happens so often...)



I love decathlon! One of my totally favourite disciplines! I remember being in love with Dan O'Brien... well, kind of. Not a fan of Kevin Mayer, for some reason, though, don't know why exactly.
(I also like heptathlon, but I always think there's something missing... would love for the women to have 10 disciplines, too.)

Iraq, Iran...

The morning's/afternoon's double encounter between Serbia and Italy went in our favour.
Wonder if the blitzkrieg water polo strategy in the recent matches is the consequence of the team's condition or a simple economy.
Considering the hardest match they've played in the group (and lost) it's a matter of economy for the rematch.

 

[Samu Cuenca]

Nafi Thiam and Katarina Johnson-Thompson didn't quite reproduce their legendary high jump competition from Rio in the women's hepathlon, but Damian Warner did put in a long jump in decathlon, that would have been good enough for bronze in the individual. He's had a great start and will be hard to beat.

Thiam is leading the women at the moment, but KJT will most likely close the gap and also overtake her in the 200 metres and increase the lead in the long jump, before Thiam takes back a bunch of points in the javelin, but the Belgian will lose a lot during the final 800 metres. Thiam probably needed a little bit better results in the high jump and shot put to be able to challenge KJT at the end, but it's obviously not over yet, especially not if she can score close to or more than 1000 points in the javelin.


Sharon van Rouwendaal surprised me by not taking another gold in the women's marathon swimming, but she did become the first women to have won two Olympic medals in the competition.
The men's race tonight could be epic.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

KJT kind of came to this competition held together with duct tape and determination, though, and that's only able to carry her so far and it looked like she had some physical trouble in the high jump, and now she's out of contention after pulling up in the 200. Thiam was far from her best, but she might not have to be in order to win with the attrition here.

I have to say though, there has been some over-zealousness with the DQs, Sara Slott (right RHD?) in the 400mH and KJT in the heptathlon have both been DQed for leaving their lane when they had crashed and fallen in the former case and pulled up injured in the latter. It's not like their results were going to matter at that point.

 

[Samu Cuenca]

I will have to fully apologise to KJT for having totally jinxed her. She lost out on a possible medal in Rio after a subpar javelin event, but this must hurt a whole lot more.

 

[BlueRoads]

I will have to fully apologise to KJT for having totally jinxed her. She lost out on a possible medal in Rio after a subpar javelin event, but this must hurt a whole lot more.

But did you say she's going to win? Did you not just want a date?