muggle not Posted August 3, 2012 Share Posted August 3, 2012 My favorites so far: Women's Gymnastics Women's Beach Volleyball Swimming - men and women Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kylie Posted August 4, 2012 Share Posted August 4, 2012 I haven't seen anyone mention the GB cycling scandal. Apparently one of the guys intentionally fell off his bike so the team could have a restart because he thought they didn't get off to a good start? That's as bad as the badminton teams trying to throw their games! Poppyshake, yes, we mostly only see the Aussies competing, but that's hardly surprising. Not sure why people would think we would see two random teams competing when we could watch our own athletes. We have seen plenty of other teams though. And if one has pay TV, there are apparently 8 channels dedicated to the games. And yes, they do chop and change between sports, so we only see fragments of a lot of things, although they'll go back and show us the end of the event we then missed (not live). We do see a disproportionate amount of swimming. The media here is swimming-obsessed and they never cut away from the swimming. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anisia Posted August 4, 2012 Share Posted August 4, 2012 It's the same in Romania - swimming has been broadcasted a LOT. That and fencing, although it makes sense as we did just get a silver medal last night. I wish I could choose what sports I can watch! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michelle Posted August 4, 2012 Share Posted August 4, 2012 I haven't seen anyone mention the GB cycling scandal. Apparently one of the guys intentionally fell off his bike so the team could have a restart because he thought they didn't get off to a good start? That's as bad as the badminton teams trying to throw their games! We've been watching the cycling closely, and have seen no mention of this. Do you have a link? Added: I found this http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?p=40593439 - if he really did do that, then yes, it's bad Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karsa Orlong Posted August 4, 2012 Share Posted August 4, 2012 (edited) I haven't seen anyone mention the GB cycling scandal. Apparently one of the guys intentionally fell off his bike so the team could have a restart because he thought they didn't get off to a good start? That's as bad as the badminton teams trying to throw their games! The problem, as I see it, is that what he did isn't against the rules - unlike the badminton where they were deliberately trying to lose the matches to get an easier draw in the next round - but the spirit of it could definitely be called into question. If it had been in the final and not the preliminary, I suspect there would've been more of an uproar. I suppose the most worrying thing is that we might see more of it in the future, unless they change the rules. Asked if they would look at the result, IOC communications director Mark Adams said: 'At present there are no plans to do so. Our view is that people were not deprived of a contest. I have spoken to the Union Cycliste Internaionale (UCI) and they are obviously aware of the situation. At at this stage they don't see any reason to question the result and neither do we.' The British team was allowed to restart the qualifier after German-born Philip Hindes crashed seconds into the race. The trio went on to post a world record time and later won the final against France. Hindes, 19, suggested the crash was part of a deliberate ploy because the British team had made a poor start. He said after winning gold: 'We were saying if we have a bad start, we need to crash to get a restart. I just crashed, I did it on purpose to get a restart, just to have the fastest ride. I did it. So it was all planned, really.' The International Cycling Union confirmed that the incident had been reviewed at the time and the result was not in question - so all three British cyclists will keep their gold medals. Silver medallists France said the action was not against the rules so they will not dispute the result, but they said it left a 'bitter' taste and they called for a change in the way such incidents are handled. French technical director Isabelle Gautheron told Reuters: 'The team sprint regulations should be changed. We need more clarity. But the best team won, they beat the world record twice, they deserved their victory. They played with the rules. When you crash in the team sprint, it's considered as a false start.' Last night, British Cycling categorically denied the fall was any part of a plan and said Hindes's comments were 'lost in translation' from a man who began learning English only after moving to Manchester from his native Germany two years ago. Edited August 4, 2012 by Karsa Orlong Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raven Posted August 4, 2012 Share Posted August 4, 2012 (edited) Great result in the Men's Four rowing! ETA: And another brilliant gold in the women's rowing! Edited August 4, 2012 by Raven Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kylie Posted August 4, 2012 Share Posted August 4, 2012 I feel rather out of place in this thread as it is. Aww, don't feel like that - we love to hear what everyone else is achieving - it's just that everyone seems to be loving it being in our own country. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karsa Orlong Posted August 4, 2012 Share Posted August 4, 2012 Ah, but what the badminton players did wasn't against the rules either. So neither technically broke the rules, but both definitely didn't play fair. I would argue that the same punishment should be given to both teams, but I'm not going to argue much about that on a forum full of GB supporters. I feel rather out of place in this thread as it is. You're not out of place at all, silly Point taken re the badminton. I think the rules in the cycling should be changed to say that, if one falls for any reason other than a technical problem with the bike, the other two should have to continue regardless or forefeit the race. When Vicky Pendleton and Jess Varnish were disqualified the Chinese team went on and did the same thing in the final, but they weren't disqualified, just relegated to silver medal, so the rules seem to be a bit all over the place in some regards. On another note, having just watched Zac Purchase and Mark Hunter in the rowing, I think it's such a shame that athletes from any country should feel the need to apologise for winning a silver medal. Anyone who puts themselves through everything these athletes put themselves through day after day should be applauded, imo. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
muggle not Posted August 4, 2012 Share Posted August 4, 2012 The U.S. swimmer Missy Franklin has won 3 golds and a bronze with still another event coming up. if not for all the attention being on michael phelps she would be the talk of the Olympics. Karsa, no one should even think about apologising for winning a silver. To be the second best in the world at any sport is just an amazing accomplishment. U.S. women play Canada in soccer. Should be good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Talisman Posted August 4, 2012 Share Posted August 4, 2012 If I could've chosen tickets to any of the events it would've been the cycling - it's so exciting! That's the word - I can't believe it's already a week since they were whizzing around Box Hill ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poppyshake Posted August 4, 2012 Share Posted August 4, 2012 Poppyshake, yes, we mostly only see the Aussies competing, but that's hardly surprising. Not sure why people would think we would see two random teams competing when we could watch our own athletes. We have seen plenty of other teams though. And if one has pay TV, there are apparently 8 channels dedicated to the games. Of course, showing your homeside should always take priority. I think we have a history of watching other nations here because, let's face it, in the past especially, we've been rubbish .. if we only watched our own we'd miss all the good stuff (Atlanta for instance ) I watched the women's trampolining semi's and finals earlier .. there was a Brit girl but she didn't make the final ... was amazing actually watching them artistically boinging up and down .. I didn't even know it was an Olympic sport A Canadian girl won. Probably there were other events on which may have featured Brits .. there can be anything up to four channels showing it on normal TV. Sometime I get so hooked I forget to flick. I love to watch the Gymnastics and we haven't got a very good record in it (Beth Tweddle aside) .. but this year in particular we've actually got people worth watching I wish I could see more of the sailing .. I think I must need to plug something in or pay out money to see it .. I only ever see highlights. And yes, they do chop and change between sports, so we only see fragments of a lot of things, although they'll go back and show us the end of the event we then missed (not live). We do see a disproportionate amount of swimming. The media here is swimming-obsessed and they never cut away from the swimming. We have Thorpey here of course .. do you have him also? (I was thinking he could probably do the two different shifts but then realistically .. when would he sleep? ) He's not very happy with the Australian team and he said he thought the media/people back home probably wouldn't be either .. I guess your expectations are high because swimming is such a strong event for you. We haven't done well in the pool either but we often don't so nobody's surprised (though they were getting a bit sniffy about Rebecca Adlington yesterday .. definite shades of 'could do better' in the post race summary). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kylie Posted August 4, 2012 Share Posted August 4, 2012 I was wondering earlier if trampolining was an Olympic sport...I couldn't remember. That's definitely going on my list of sports I wish I could do. I'm bummed that I missed it though, although I don't know if it was shown here because I was watching other stuff for a while. No, we don't have Thorpey. He sold out to you lot. The first I knew that he was commentating was when there was a news item here mocking his fashion choice. *rolls eyes* Talk about tall-poppy syndrome. I think Australia is a bit stunned by just how badly we're going. We usually win a ton of medals in the pool, but we won I think 1 gold, and that was a relay team. Apparently this is the first time since the 1970s that we haven't won an individual gold. The media is scandalised and has reported that 'there will be a full enquiry and heads will roll'. Why can't they just accept that we were out-swum by better swimmers? They've definitely gotten far too used to seeing lots of gold medals. They're showing Brazil vs Czech in beach volleyball at the moment. Now, maybe I'm a little cynical, but I can't help wondering if it's being shown simply because it's scantily clad women. I don't want to seem prudish, but I rather disapprove of their uniforms. I don't see why it's necessary to wear bikinis in favour of wearing shorts and a t-shirt or something. To me, it's just an attempt to sex up the sport and get men watching (which appears to work judging by a few of the comments here!) Also, is there a male version of the sport? Because I've only seen women so far. If the men wear budgie smugglers (and nothing else) I will be mildly pacified. GB blitzed the US in the gold medal cycling whatsit (sorry, I don't pay enough attention to know the technical terms)! I was also really pleased to see that Guatemala got its first ever Olympic medal! Good on them. It was a silver in the power walking thing. I also enjoyed seeing the gold-medal-winning Chinese guy having a great ol' time slapping hands and giving the thumbs up when he was still a long way from the finish line. I don't mean to stereotype, but the Chinese athletes usually strike me as very serious and more there for 'business' than to have fun (which is fair enough). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karsa Orlong Posted August 4, 2012 Share Posted August 4, 2012 The women's team pursuit in the cycling was just astonishing Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chesilbeach Posted August 4, 2012 Share Posted August 4, 2012 (edited) Kylie, I saw the trampoling yesterday but missed the women's today, but it was great to watch, and there were a few wipeouts as well, making it really exciting. Again, I have no head for heights, so I'd be rubbish! Thorpey has been great, best when actually in the aquatic centre with Mark Foster and Clare Balding - the three of them have fantastic knowledge and genuinely love what they're watching, and know nearly all of the swimmers too. I can't agree with you about the beach volleyball outfits - they're no different than what some of the athletics competitors wear, and when you consider where the sport has come from, it sort of makes sense. Having said that, I've not watched much of it, just caught one of the Team GB games the other night. There is a male version, but they do wear shorts and t-shirts. And the Team GB performance in the velodrome has just been amazing, everyone performing unbelievably well, but the women's team pursuit - six races, breaking the world record six times, and topping it off with an Olympic gold medal - TOTALLY AWESOME! Edited August 4, 2012 by chesilbeach Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poppyshake Posted August 4, 2012 Share Posted August 4, 2012 I was wondering earlier if trampolining was an Olympic sport...I couldn't remember. That's definitely going on my list of sports I wish I could do. I'm bummed that I missed it though, although I don't know if it was shown here because I was watching other stuff for a while. It's good too ... the commentator was getting so excited .. he said it was ten times more difficult than the 10 metre diving because they had to jump and somersault ten times in succession (I feel he may have forgotten how much the trampoline was helping with some of that but still .. he had a point ) No, we don't have Thorpey. He sold out to you lot. The first I knew that he was commentating was when there was a news item here mocking his fashion choice. *rolls eyes* Talk about tall-poppy syndrome. I think Australia is a bit stunned by just how badly we're going. We usually win a ton of medals in the pool, but we won I think 1 gold, and that was a relay team. Apparently this is the first time since the 1970s that we haven't won an individual gold. The media is scandalised and has reported that 'there will be a full enquiry and heads will roll'. Why can't they just accept that we were out-swum by better swimmers? They've definitely gotten far too used to seeing lots of gold medals. It's surely an incentive to do better next time and I'm sure they will. Sometimes when you peak there's only one way to go (unfortunately for the rest of us .. the Chinese and American athletes don't seem to have learned this ) and it will make the team all the more determined in their training etc. Sorry about stealing Thorpey .. I'm sure he'll be glad to get back to sunnier climes. They're showing Brazil vs Czech in beach volleyball at the moment. Now, maybe I'm a little cynical, but I can't help wondering if it's being shown simply because it's scantily clad women. I don't want to seem prudish, but I rather disapprove of their uniforms. I don't see why it's necessary to wear bikinis in favour of wearing shorts and a t-shirt or something. To me, it's just an attempt to sex up the sport and get men watching (which appears to work judging by a few of the comments here!) Also, is there a male version of the sport? Because I've only seen women so far. If the men wear budgie smugglers (and nothing else) I will be mildly pacified. There is a male version but .. surprise surprise .. they don't talk about it much and when they talk about beach volleyball they only mean the women. I'm surprised actually that they've been able to wear bikini's at all because it's more than parky here at the moment but I can't see why they have to wear them either ... only a man can tell you that and he won't have science on his side either It's Prince Harry's favourite sport .. that says it all The men wear vests and shorts as you would imagine I was also really pleased to see that Guatemala got its first ever Olympic medal! Good on them. It was a silver in the power walking thing. I also enjoyed seeing the gold-medal-winning Chinese guy having a great ol' time slapping hands and giving the thumbs up when he was still a long way from the finish line. I don't mean to stereotype, but the Chinese athletes usually strike me as very serious and more there for 'business' than to have fun (which is fair enough). I love all those sorts of stories. It's quite humbling actually when you see someone get emotional about a Bronze medal .. there was a Polish girl at the rowing yesterday crying her eyes out with happiness .. that's what it's about. I hate all that Serena Williams nonsense that if you haven't won you've lost. I can't imagine what it must be like to compete and be an Olympian much less win a medal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian. Posted August 4, 2012 Share Posted August 4, 2012 Thorpey has been great, best when actually in the aquatic centre with Mark Foster and Clare Balding - the three of them have fantastic knowledge and genuinely love what they're watching, and know nearly all of the swimmers too. Thorpe has been fantastic, in fact pretty much all of the pundits and commentators have been great. The only one who jumps to mind as being a bit weak is Cavendish but that just down to him being a fairly quiet person anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poppyshake Posted August 4, 2012 Share Posted August 4, 2012 Goodness what a night in the stadium! Jess Greg and Mo fantastic!! But I reckon I ran nearly every lap with Mo .. I'm worn out Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
muggle not Posted August 4, 2012 Share Posted August 4, 2012 (edited) and what about the 15 year old from the U.S........... American teenager Katie Ledecky pulled off a stunning upset in the women's 800 meters freestyle final on Friday, ruining Rebecca Adlington's hopes of providing Britain with their first gold medal in swimming at the London Olympics. The 15-year-old Ledecky, the youngest member of the American team, gave her rivals no chance as she led all the way to snatch the gold medal in a time of eight minutes 14.63 seconds, missing the world record in the longest event for women in the pool by half a second. Beach Volleyball is an exciting Olympic event and great skill is needed to compete. As far as attire, a person must remember that it is "Beach Volleyball" and in tune with the times. If it was played in 1922 then the attire would be very different. Edited August 4, 2012 by muggle not Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chaliepud Posted August 4, 2012 Share Posted August 4, 2012 Gutted that the men's football team went out - on penalties!!! Especially as it was poor old Studge that missed :( Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chesilbeach Posted August 4, 2012 Share Posted August 4, 2012 Goodness what a night in the stadium! Jess Greg and Mo fantastic!! But I reckon I ran nearly every lap with Mo .. I'm worn out I'm exhausted! Could barely watch the last couple of laps of Mo's race, I was so nervous. What a fantastic night of athletics. Have shed enough tears for a year in the space of today, I'm such a cry baby, but when Jess started talking to Phil, as soon as she went, so did I - have never been able to watch anyone else cry without joining in! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kylie Posted August 4, 2012 Share Posted August 4, 2012 Beach Volleyball is an exciting Olympic event and great skill is needed to compete. As far as attire, a person must remember that it is "Beach Volleyball" and in tune with the times. So why aren't the men wearing budgie smugglers? My point stands. There are double standards in that sport and the women are objectified. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poppyshake Posted August 4, 2012 Share Posted August 4, 2012 (edited) and what about the 15 year old from the U.S........... American teenager Katie Ledecky pulled off a stunning upset in the women's 800 meters freestyle final on Friday, ruining Rebecca Adlington's hopes of providing Britain with their first gold medal in swimming at the London Olympics. The 15-year-old Ledecky, the youngest member of the American team, gave her rivals no chance as she led all the way to snatch the gold medal in a time of eight minutes 14.63 seconds, missing the world record in the longest event for women in the pool by half a second. Well done to Katie Beach Volleyball is an exciting Olympic event and great skill is needed to compete. As far as attire, a person must remember that it is "Beach Volleyball" and in tune with the times. If it was played in 1922 then the attire would be very different. So what about the guys then? .. if you showed what a man might have worn in 1922 this wouldn't be far off it Edited August 4, 2012 by poppyshake Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karsa Orlong Posted August 4, 2012 Share Posted August 4, 2012 That was, without a doubt, the most amazing day for British sport I've ever seen. Absolutely, astonishingly brilliant. So, so pleased for all of them :D Going to record the highlights in a few mins and keep them for a long, long time. And to think I wasn't even looking forward to the Olympics . . . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poppyshake Posted August 4, 2012 Share Posted August 4, 2012 I'm exhausted! Could barely watch the last couple of laps of Mo's race, I was so nervous. What a fantastic night of athletics. Have shed enough tears for a year in the space of today, I'm such a cry baby, but when Jess started talking to Phil, as soon as she went, so did I - have never been able to watch anyone else cry without joining in! I was already crying when Mo won and his little girl came on and I HATE that kind of thing normally .. then Jess's interview, then Greg's, then Mo's .. would have carried on all night until they cut to the penalties ... then I was reminded I was British again Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karsa Orlong Posted August 4, 2012 Share Posted August 4, 2012 Have shed enough tears for a year in the space of today, I'm such a cry baby, but when Jess started talking to Phil, as soon as she went, so did I - have never been able to watch anyone else cry without joining in! I blamed my hayfever Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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