Rio Olympics 2016

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BigMac

BigMac

Jun 10, 2013
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Re: Re:

Armchair cyclist said:
gooner said:
Obviously cycling but other than that, athletics, a bit of football(men and women), might take in the triathlon this time, swimming, and boxing to see how some of the Irish lads do. I fancy a couple of medals there.
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I'll watch the athletics intermittently, and take the chance to look at a bit of the sports I don't normally see at all, but only for as long as curiosity demands it, so not to the final stages in all likelihood. I'll watch the Road Race, and a fair bit of the track. But much of my interest will be in the Modern Pentathlon, as my nephew, a very promising 1500m runner (3:54 at 15 years of age) has gone over as training partner for Ireland's entrant in the event.
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Awesome!
 
The Hitch

The Hitch

Jun 14, 2010
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Re:

Robert5091 said:
Aussies predict end of the Olympic games
http://www.smh.com.au/sport/the-fit...end-of-the-olympic-games-20160728-gqgaee.html
Hands up, now, who has confidence in the integrity of both the IOC and the Russian athletes?

OK, let me count, that's just about none of you. And now hands up who has confidence in an IOC president, who, just last year, swore the IOC would have "zero tolerance" for drug cheats? As I thought, a human sea of folded arms. For after all the evidence presented of all the systemic, state-sanctioned, doping pursued by Russia, who can have any confidence that any Russian gold medallist is clean?

The repercussions will go on for years, as the stories will inevitably emerge of outrageous cheating, just as they did with East Germany. As to whether Rio itself can cope with the influx of athlete and visitors, we will see, but certainly no Olympics has ever had a more shambolic lead-up and the reports from AOC Chef de Mission Kitty Chiller this week on the disgraceful state of the Olympic Village were sobering to say the least
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Umm who has any confidence in any gold medalist being clean. I understand that some of them might, but here on CNF at least, lets not pretend that doping is just something Russia organized while everyone else is trying to respect the spirit of the games or whatever.
 
B

BullsFan22

Jun 22, 2010
4,998
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Re:

Robert5091 said:
Aussies predict end of the Olympic games
http://www.smh.com.au/sport/the-fit...end-of-the-olympic-games-20160728-gqgaee.html
Hands up, now, who has confidence in the integrity of both the IOC and the Russian athletes?

OK, let me count, that's just about none of you. And now hands up who has confidence in an IOC president, who, just last year, swore the IOC would have "zero tolerance" for drug cheats? As I thought, a human sea of folded arms. For after all the evidence presented of all the systemic, state-sanctioned, doping pursued by Russia, who can have any confidence that any Russian gold medallist is clean?

The repercussions will go on for years, as the stories will inevitably emerge of outrageous cheating, just as they did with East Germany. As to whether Rio itself can cope with the influx of athlete and visitors, we will see, but certainly no Olympics has ever had a more shambolic lead-up and the reports from AOC Chef de Mission Kitty Chiller this week on the disgraceful state of the Olympic Village were sobering to say the least
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Oh please. Talk about a yawn! What, you think the Russians discovered doping? Why do you sound so 'outraged' of hearing of widespread doping in world of professional sport? Doping, cover-ups, collusion/omertà has been going on for decades. Russia is hardly the first. Perhaps the only reason this is a story is because it's the Russians. The US was caught doing the same thing from the 80's to the early 2000's, when their own head of anti-doping said what he saw, us authorities involving themselves in wiping away hundreds of failed doping tests and making sure those doped athletes still competed at the Olympics. Most of those went on to win medals. The Spanish authorities have done similar work. Just look at Operacion Puerto. Do I need to go into detail regarding that scandal? How convenient, that the statute of limitations expired a couple months ago. Too bad about that. We'll never get to see the real truth about Nadal, Fuentes, Barcelona, Real Madrid, the Spanish National Team, Track and Field, etc.

Why do you sound shocked at all the corruption?
 
Robert5091

Robert5091

Mar 29, 2016
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Eh? WTF?
http://www.bbc.com/sport/olympics/36934760
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) says a three-person panel will have the final say on which Russian athletes can compete at the Rio Games.

Last week the IOC said individual sports' governing bodies must decide if Russian competitors are clean amid claims of state-sponsored doping.

But it now says the newly convened panel "will decide whether to accept or reject that final proposal".
 
Gigs_98

Gigs_98

Feb 18, 2015
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I'm looking forward to it although the whole organization is a catastrophe. The cycling race will probably good, athletics are always relatively exciting and stuff like Tennis, Football, Rugby and Volleyball are also always entertaining.
 
B

BullsFan22

Jun 22, 2010
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Robert5091 said:
Eh? WTF?
http://www.bbc.com/sport/olympics/36934760
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) says a three-person panel will have the final say on which Russian athletes can compete at the Rio Games.

Last week the IOC said individual sports' governing bodies must decide if Russian competitors are clean amid claims of state-sponsored doping.

But it now says the newly convened panel "will decide whether to accept or reject that final proposal".
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The 'always clean' American and British delegations probably didn't like what they saw from the IOC, so they felt like going through another round of keeping the Russians out of the olympics.

The Olympics start in 5 days. It's pretty pathetic that they are still deciding on what to do. Will they also keep deciding while the games are on?
 
M

Merckx index

Jul 27, 2010
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I’m partial to individual sports, and particularly those in which winning is determined by time, so I follow swimming and track the most. In the former, Phelps’ attempted comeback is a big story. Most would say he has nothing left to prove, but there is one record he doesn’t have that he could match or exceed—most consecutive Olympics won a Gold in the same event. Al Oerter won the discus four Olympics in a row, and Carl Lewis won the long jump four times in a row. There may be someone else in there, not sure.

Anyway, Phelps has won the Gold three times in a row in the 100m fly and 200m IM, and has qualified for both of those events, so he has a shot at winning two events four times in a row. He also has a chance to win a Gold for the fourth straight time in the medley relay, and he just misses a shot at the 200 fly, which he also qualified for, having won Gold in 2004 and 2008, and missing Gold by just 0.05 seconds in 2012. Not very likely, though, that he will win any of these individual events this time around, even medalling will be difficult. A year ago his times were among the best in the world, now he’s definitely showing his age. He will surely win a medal, and has a good shot at Gold, in the medley relay, and maybe in one of the FS relays, but beyond that, all bets are off.

Phelps' extended Olympic success is all the more remarkable when you consider that he was really born at the wrong time. He qualified for his first Olympics at age 15, but only in one event, and he didn’t medal. A year later he won that event in world record time at the world championships, and the following year he broke the world record in the 400 IM, and was close in the 200 IM. So if he had turned 17 in an Olympic year (like Ian Thorpe, e.g.), he probably would have won Golds in two or three individual events, and at least one relay, with other medals likely in two or three other events. At the next Olympics, at age 21, he could have won the eight Golds he won at age 23 (at age 22, he won seven Golds at the WC, and the only reason he didn’t win eight is because the U.S. medley relay was disqualified). At his third Olympics, at age 25, he could very well have competed for another eight Golds; the only thing stopping him would be wanting to cut down on events to rest. And at age 29 he still could have won several Golds (last year, at age 30, he swam the fastest times in the world in three individual events).

I’d say in that scenario he could have won more than twenty Golds, before he was 30, and nearly thirty medals total.
 
leftover pie

leftover pie

Jul 13, 2010
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I love the Olympics, love seeing people do battle in sports I don't normally get to see on TV, fencing, whitewater canoe and kayaking, handball, archery, athletics like high jump, middle distance - all that sort of stuff

unfortunately though being in Australia and being too cheap to pay for TV all I'll get on TV is swimming, swimming, swimming followed by highlights of swimming and interviews and background stories on swimmers.
 
S

sienna

Jul 25, 2010
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Merckx index said:
I’m partial to individual sports, and particularly those in which winning is determined by time, so I follow swimming and track the most. In the former, Phelps’ attempted comeback is a big story. Most would say he has nothing left to prove, but there is one record he doesn’t have that he could match or exceed—most consecutive Olympics won a Gold in the same event. Al Oerter won the discus four Olympics in a row, and Carl Lewis won the long jump four times in a row. There may be someone else in there, not sure.

Anyway, Phelps has won the Gold three times in a row in the 100m fly and 200m IM, and has qualified for both of those events, so he has a shot at winning two events four times in a row. He also has a chance to win a Gold for the fourth straight time in the medley relay, and he just misses a shot at the 200 fly, which he also qualified for, having won Gold in 2004 and 2008, and missing Gold by just 0.05 seconds in 2012. Not very likely, though, that he will win any of these individual events this time around, even medalling will be difficult. A year ago his times were among the best in the world, now he’s definitely showing his age. He will surely win a medal, and has a good shot at Gold, in the medley relay, and maybe in one of the FS relays, but beyond that, all bets are off.

Phelps' extended Olympic success is all the more remarkable when you consider that he was really born at the wrong time. He qualified for his first Olympics at age 15, but only in one event, and he didn’t medal. A year later he won that event in world record time at the world championships, and the following year he broke the world record in the 400 IM, and was close in the 200 IM. So if he had turned 17 in an Olympic year (like Ian Thorpe, e.g.), he probably would have won Golds in two or three individual events, and at least one relay, with other medals likely in two or three other events. At the next Olympics, at age 21, he could have won the eight Golds he won at age 23 (at age 22, he won seven Golds at the WC, and the only reason he didn’t win eight is because the U.S. medley relay was disqualified). At his third Olympics, at age 25, he could very well have competed for another eight Golds; the only thing stopping him would be wanting to cut down on events to rest. And at age 29 he still could have won several Golds (last year, at age 30, he swam the fastest times in the world in three individual events).

I’d say in that scenario he could have won more than twenty Golds, before he was 30, and nearly thirty medals total.
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There are too many medals up for grabs in swimming - that one swimmer can accumulate so many is testament to this. :Neutral:
 
The Hitch

The Hitch

Jun 14, 2010
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There are a lot of medals available in swimming but one also has to appreciate that with someone like Phelps, he has to try and win them all at once. Not jus the 8 finals but also qualifying rounds for the individual events, all packed into an 8 day period. While time after time facing people who only focus on one or two events and can therefore rest and prepare for that.

People like michael johnson cry that bolt is more impressive because swimming is easy, but come back to me when bolt can win the 100m on a Monday and do the 400m heats the same day then win the 400m the next day.
 
M

Merckx index

Jul 27, 2010
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The Hitch said:
There are a lot of medals available in swimming but one also has to appreciate that with someone like Phelps, he has to try and win them all at once. Not jus the 8 finals but also qualifying rounds for the individual events, all packed into an 8 day period. While time after time facing people who only focus on one or two events and can therefore rest and prepare for that.

People like michael johnson cry that bolt is more impressive because swimming is easy, but come back to me when bolt can win the 100m on a Monday and do the 400m heats the same day then win the 400m the next day.
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I think an equivalent accomplishment in track would be to win five Golds. There are certainly quite a few possibilities for a sprinter: 100m, 200m, 400m, 110m hurdles, 400m hurdles, long jump, and perhaps triple jump. Plus the 4 x 100m and 4 x 400m relays. AFAIK, no one has even attempted to compete in five track events, just as, prior to Phelps, no swimmer had attempted to win eight events. You need some luck, and help, to get Golds in all three relays—the U.S. is about the only country in the world that even has a shot at doing that—but you also have to compete in five individual events. Three is usually the limit for even great swimmers, four is pushing it. In addition to Phelps and Mark Spitz, the only swimmer I know of who medalled in four individual events in one Olympics was Matt Biondi, though I think some other men and women have qualified in four events on the U.S. team.

Swimming is set up under the assumption that competitors will enter certain groups of races. E.g., the 100m and 200m events for any one stroke are well separated, because many swimmers will enter both. Same with the 200m and 400m IM, and the 400m and 1500m FS. But given that schedule, conflicts frequently arise for swimmers who can compete in more than one stroke.

E.g., in his prime, Phelps was one of the best in the world at the 200m backstroke; in 2004, he would have been a virtual lock at a Silver, with a decent shot at Gold. But it conflicted with one of his other races, the 200 IM; not only are the finals for those two events within about 30-40 minutes of each other on the same day, but the qualifying and semifinals for both are all on the previous day. Instead, he swam the 200m FS, where the conflict was not quite as bad; the final in that event was on the same day as the qualifying/semis in the 200 fly, but he didn’t have to go all out in the preliminary heats. But he had no chance of winning the 200m FS, and was lucky to get bronze. At Beijing, he did the same, and by then, he was good enough in the 200m FS to win it, but had there been enough time between events, he might have won the 200 back as well.

In fact, Ryan Lochte did swim both the 200 back and 200 IM, at both Beijing and London. He medalled in both events both times, but only won one of them. His performance was almost certainly compromised by having to swim on short rest. In 2008 he won the backstroke, which comes first, but then finished a somewhat disappointing third in the IM. In 2012 he finished third in the back—maybe because he was trying to save something for the IM—but still finished second to Phelps in the latter.

Phelps has been a little fortunate in that his best stroke is the fly, which doesn’t conflict with the IMs (except that the 100m fly qualifying and semifinals are the same day as the 200 IM finals). All of his individual Gold medals but one are in those four events, the 100m and 200m fly and the 200m and 400m IM. Lochte’s best stroke is the back, and as a result he hasn’t been able to maximize his talents. Not only are the 200 back and 200 IM on the same days, but the 100 back conflicts with the 200m FS (qualifying and semifinals on the same day, finals on the same next day), which he also swims. Not being able to compete in the 100 back not only takes him out of an individual event, but means he can’t compete for a spot on the medley relay, either.
 
Robert5091

Robert5091

Mar 29, 2016
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https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2016/aug/01/rio-2016-olympics-boxing-corruption-allegations
Senior figures within amateur boxing have warned many bouts, including those to decide medals, could be fixed at the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro amid widespread concern about corruption and financial malpractice at the sport’s global governing body, the Guardian can reveal.

Horrified senior officials within the sport believe a cabal of officials are able to use their power to manipulate the draw and the judging system to ensure certain boxers will win.

One senior figure said there was “no doubt” some of the judges and referees in Rio “will be corrupted”. He alleged a group of referees get together before major championships to decide how to score certain bouts.
 
S

Singer01

BANNED
Nov 18, 2013
2,043
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Merckx index said:
The Hitch said:
There are a lot of medals available in swimming but one also has to appreciate that with someone like Phelps, he has to try and win them all at once. Not jus the 8 finals but also qualifying rounds for the individual events, all packed into an 8 day period. While time after time facing people who only focus on one or two events and can therefore rest and prepare for that.

People like michael johnson cry that bolt is more impressive because swimming is easy, but come back to me when bolt can win the 100m on a Monday and do the 400m heats the same day then win the 400m the next day.
Click to expand...

I think an equivalent accomplishment in track would be to win five Golds. There are certainly quite a few possibilities for a sprinter: 100m, 200m, 400m, 110m hurdles, 400m hurdles, long jump, and perhaps triple jump. Plus the 4 x 100m and 4 x 400m relays. AFAIK, no one has even attempted to compete in five track events,
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Marion Jones won 3 Gold and 2 Bronze at Sydney.
 
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