2024 Olympics

[Roller]

I haven't been watching as much as some previous games, but much of what I have seen has been fun. I've especially enjoyed witnessing Simone Biles' dominating performance and comments, including her jab at Trump's bit about "Black jobs." I have to admit, though, that it's hard to hear athletes under 30 referred to as "old."

The events seem to be going well, though the concerns about the safety of swimming in the Seine may be borne out:

https://www.cnn.com/2024/08/04/sport/belgium-withdraws-mixed-relay-triathlon-seine-spt/index.html

 

[Herdfan]

I haven't been watching as much as some previous games, but much of what I have seen has been fun. I've especially enjoyed witnessing Simone Biles' dominating performance and comments, including her jab at Trump's bit about "Black jobs." I have to admit, though, that it's hard to hear athletes under 30 referred to as "old."

She is the . And I grew up watching Nadia and Olga. If anyone remembers, for Nadia, they didn't have cards with a 10.0 on them because no one had ever done it.

The events seem to be going well, though the concerns about the safety of swimming in the Seine may be borne out:

https://www.cnn.com/2024/08/04/sport/belgium-withdraws-mixed-relay-triathlon-seine-spt/index.html

Who ever thought that would be a good idea is an idiot. Mega city rivers are to walk beside and maybe sit at a cafe beside, not swim in. France has plenty of other rivers or lakes they could have used.

As for Team USA, I am sorry, but there is no way LeBron James and Coco Gauff should have carried the flag at the Opening Ceremonies. One is a 4X NBA Champ with 4 NBA MVP's, and the other is the reining US Open Champ. Neither should be in the Olympics but for different reasons. First, go back to amateurs for basketball. While a Gold medal would be a nice addition, the USMT has a total of 14 NBA championships. Would any of them trade a NBA championship for a gold medal, I doubt it. Maybe LeBron or Steph since they have 4, but still a maybe. Same with tennis, would Coco trade her major for a gold medal, I doubt it.

The Olympics should be the absolute pinnacle for these athletes and in some sports like tennis, golf, basketball with pros, it is not. So get rid of them.

As for the flag carrier, why not Biles or Ledecky? Or some other obscure athlete who is representing the USA for the 5th time in the Olympics, yet no one knows who they are. Let the country find out.

Disappointed that Richardson didn't win Gold. She got screwed in '21. But Lyle's wins the 100M for the men.

 

[rdrr]

She is the . And I grew up watching Nadia and Olga. If anyone remembers, for Nadia, they didn't have cards with a 10.0 on them because no one had ever done it.




Who ever thought that would be a good idea is an idiot. Mega city rivers are to walk beside and maybe sit at a cafe beside, not swim in. France has plenty of other rivers or lakes they could have used.

As for Team USA, I am sorry, but there is no way LeBron James and Coco Gauff should have carried the flag at the Opening Ceremonies. One is a 4X NBA Champ with 4 NBA MVP's, and the other is the reining US Open Champ. Neither should be in the Olympics but for different reasons. First, go back to amateurs for basketball. While a Gold medal would be a nice addition, the USMT has a total of 14 NBA championships. Would any of them trade a NBA championship for a gold medal, I doubt it. Maybe LeBron or Steph since they have 4, but still a maybe. Same with tennis, would Coco trade her major for a gold medal, I doubt it.

The Olympics should be the absolute pinnacle for these athletes and in some sports like tennis, golf, basketball with pros, it is not. So get rid of them.

As for the flag carrier, why not Biles or Ledecky? Or some other obscure athlete who is representing the USA for the 5th time in the Olympics, yet no one knows who they are. Let the country find out.

Disappointed that Richardson didn't win Gold. She got screwed in '21. But Lyle's wins the 100M for the men.

Agree on the Men BB, seems like it isn't a fair competition. Although the gap between the US and other countries isn't a big as it use to be.

 

[Roller]

She is the . And I grew up watching Nadia and Olga. If anyone remembers, for Nadia, they didn't have cards with a 10.0 on them because no one had ever done it.




Who ever thought that would be a good idea is an idiot. Mega city rivers are to walk beside and maybe sit at a cafe beside, not swim in. France has plenty of other rivers or lakes they could have used.

As for Team USA, I am sorry, but there is no way LeBron James and Coco Gauff should have carried the flag at the Opening Ceremonies. One is a 4X NBA Champ with 4 NBA MVP's, and the other is the reining US Open Champ. Neither should be in the Olympics but for different reasons. First, go back to amateurs for basketball. While a Gold medal would be a nice addition, the USMT has a total of 14 NBA championships. Would any of them trade a NBA championship for a gold medal, I doubt it. Maybe LeBron or Steph since they have 4, but still a maybe. Same with tennis, would Coco trade her major for a gold medal, I doubt it.

The Olympics should be the absolute pinnacle for these athletes and in some sports like tennis, golf, basketball with pros, it is not. So get rid of them.

As for the flag carrier, why not Biles or Ledecky? Or some other obscure athlete who is representing the USA for the 5th time in the Olympics, yet no one knows who they are. Let the country find out.

Disappointed that Richardson didn't win Gold. She got screwed in '21. But Lyle's wins the 100M for the men.

The whole amateur vs. professional distinction has gotten so blurry over the years, though I agree Biles or Ledecky would have been better choices.

I watched the men's 100m final that Lyles won by only five one-thousandths of a second because his torso got to the line first. I remember when we thought winning by a few tenths of a second was close. It makes me wonder at what point these minute differences are meaningless and times within a certain small range should be considered ties.

 

[Herdfan]

The whole amateur vs. professional distinction has gotten so blurry over the years, though I agree Biles or Ledecky would have been better choices.

I don't think it is amateur vs profession since skiing and T&F have been getting prize money and endorsements for decades. But even with prize money on the regular tour, the Gold medal is still the ultimate goal.

I watched the men's 100m final that Lyles won by only five one-thousandths of a second because his torso got to the line first. I remember when we thought winning by a few tenths of a second was close. It makes me wonder at what point these minute differences are meaningless and times within a certain small range should be considered ties.

In swimming that would have been a tie since they only go to 100ths.

Was kind of surprised at the quality of the video. Think about the photo-finish camera in horse racing and how you can easily tell who won.

Agree on the Men BB, seems like it isn't a fair competition. Although the gap between the US and other countries isn't a big as it use to be.

No it isn't. I just liked seeing the college kids play that and baseball, Some of those games between the US and Cuba were great.

 

[Herdfan]

What is wrong with organizers? It seems every year the Olympic village is a train wreck. Bad beds, bad food, no A/C. They athletes train their whole lives for this moment so make the place at least as good as a Motel 6.

Which brings me to my Olympic rant.

Why do keep selecting new venues for the games? Then the host countries spend billions of dollars (which some countries don't have) for two weeks and then many of the facilities are never used again. So I say select 5 summer and 5 winter permanent venues and build great venues. But only do it in places the venues can be used for other purposes when not being used for the Olympics.

 

[Herdfan]

The events seem to be going well, though the concerns about the safety of swimming in the Seine may be borne out:

https://www.cnn.com/2024/08/04/sport/belgium-withdraws-mixed-relay-triathlon-seine-spt/index.html

Yep!

Multiple Olympics 2024 athletes hospitalised after swimming in polluted Seine

MULTIPLE triathletes have been hospitalised after swimming in the Seine at the Paris Olympics. The polluted river was used for the men’s, women’s and mixed relay triathlon events. It is…

www.the-sun.com

 

[Roller]

Yep!

Multiple Olympics 2024 athletes hospitalised after swimming in polluted Seine

MULTIPLE triathletes have been hospitalised after swimming in the Seine at the Paris Olympics. The polluted river was used for the men’s, women’s and mixed relay triathlon events. It is…

www.the-sun.com

What a stupid idea this was. Even if the organizers thought they could keep the water within acceptable limits some of the time, they knew additional rainfall beyond their control would make conditions unacceptable. When the games are over, there needs to be an inquiry, followed by civil or even criminal penalties if any of the athletes dies or suffers permanent harm. Participants are aware that some Olympic events can lead to death or serious injury, but the venue itself shouldn't be the primary cause.

 

[Herdfan]

One thing I have wondered about is how Australia and The Netherlands have ended up with uniforms that don't match their flags.

Australia's flag is Red, White and Blue, but their uniforms are yellow and green. And The Netherlands, who's flag is also Red, White and Blue have added orange to the blue.

I will say this about The Netherlands, their uniforms do stick out and are immediately recognizable.

But most other country's uniforms follow their flag colors with some black or white variations as well.

 

[ArgoDuck]

^ our (New Zealand) flag is almost identical to the Australians’, yet our sporting uniform is traditionally all black with a silver fern leaf. Our ‘Aussie’ neighbors refer to their sporting colors as "green and gold"

No idea why these choices in either case. Very little of Australia is green, for example, whereas New Zealand’s landscape is just about nothing but!

 

[Herdfan]

Did anyone see the Men's 400? All I can say is WOW! Quincy Hall came from 4th and at least 3 meters behind in the last 75 meters to pull ahead and win.

One of the greatest performances of these games.

Next up, 16 year old Quincy Wilson will run for the USA in at least the prelims of the M 4x400 relay becoming the youngest American ever to participate in T&F.

 

[Roller]

Did anyone see the Men's 400? All I can say is WOW! Quincy Hall came from 4th and at least 3 meters behind in the last 75 meters to pull ahead and win.

One of the greatest performances of these games.

Next up, 16 year old Quincy Wilson will run for the USA in at least the prelims of the M 4x400 relay becoming the youngest American ever to participate in T&F.

Yeah, that was amazing, but Cole Hocker's win in the 1500 was just as fantastic. I get short of breath just watching these athletes.

 

[Roller]

https://www.cnn.com/2024/08/08/sport/noah-lyles-covid-200m-spt/index.html

Noah Lyles ran the 200 with Covid and came in third. Although I give him props for competing and getting the bronze despite his illness, I think it was wrong for him to try. Anyone who has a transmissible disease like Covid deserves to let others who may come into close proximity that they may be at risk. Apparently, that didn't happen.

 

[Yoused]

Very little of Australia is green, for example, whereas New Zealand’s landscape is just about nothing but!

However, Australia is something like 30 times the size the Kiwiland. When you consider that area includes TAS, VIC, NSW, QLD and the tropical northern tier, I'ma guess that they have more than 3 times as much verdant property as NZ. Yeah, that does leave enormous stretches of red dust, but there is still a lot of green in the country.

Or, maybe one of their colors is green because, crocodiles?

 

[ArgoDuck]

^ Ha! You may be right

Trying to remember my trips over the years. Brisbane rained constantly. Green a bit. Frogs incessant, hard to get sleep. Perth and up the Western edge: lots of desert. But yeah, lots of green around Sydney and Melbourne. Tasmania overlaps with our Kiwi ‘Northland’ latitudes and has rain forest as well.

But elsewhere, definitely crocs. And mining. Lots of mining. Could that be the source of the "gold"?

I like to think we sport a silver fern because it’s silver medals we’re interested in. Alas, if true, we just embarrassed ourselves overnight by allowing ourselves to be beaten into - rather than out of - a couple of golds

 

[Yoused]

I like to think we sport a silver fern because it’s silver medals we’re interested in.

What about that thing with the red socks?

 

[ArgoDuck]

What about that thing with the red socks?

America’s Cup?! I forgot about that!

A personal idiosyncrasy of Peter Blake’s IIRC that caught Kiwi imaginations

Easy when there’s only a few million of us

 

[Herdfan]

A HS classmate's nephew was just awarded the Gold Medal in the T12 100M Paralympics after the winner from Turkey was disqualified.

Congrats Noah Malone!

 

[rdrr]

A HS classmate's nephew was just awarded the Gold Medal in the T12 100M Paralympics after the winner from Turkey was disqualified.

Congrats Noah Malone!

Had to look that up, and got say that is impressive! Congratulations to Noah!

 

[Herdfan]

Had to look that up, and got say that is impressive! Congratulations to Noah!

According to his uncle Marc (aka Bugsy as he was known in HS), Noah was a great athlete and on his way to college scholarships etc. Then right before HS this disease started to affect his vision to the point he had to go to the ISB to help him learn how to do basic life skills all over.

He still has a chance for a second Gold in the relay.