London 2012 Olympics
- Thread starter Forostar
- Start date
Albie
Keeping an open eye on the Weeping Angels.
Have to admit - Jessica Ennis as tiny as she is - totally dominated the Heptathlon. And as expected, if the event requires you to sit down, the Brits dominate (rowing/cycling).
Today, however, I got the chance to see the football at Wembley. The first time at the new Wembley (went to old one a few times) and I saw the quarter final of Mexico (4) v Senegal (2). A really fantastic day. AND, I have tickets for the Paralympic athletics in a few weeks as well.
Today, however, I got the chance to see the football at Wembley. The first time at the new Wembley (went to old one a few times) and I saw the quarter final of Mexico (4) v Senegal (2). A really fantastic day. AND, I have tickets for the Paralympic athletics in a few weeks as well.
Tron
Trooper
I assume we are only replacing the species and keeping the genus so classifying Phelps as Homo Fish? Better not tell Kanye West...
anyone? anyone?On a serious note, pleased with the British performance today pushing up into third place overall from 22nd a few days ago, not bad going. Was great when Jess Ennis recieved her medal to the whole stadium singing the national anthem
The cycling we've been destroying records for fun, i dont know how we suddenly got this cycling skill before beijing but when life gives you lemons. And thank some deity that the male football teams out, watching them play is like being stabbed, its an adrenaline rush but its not going to end well.
Black Wizard
Pleb Hunter
Oh wow, that was simply stunning.
It's being called the "Greatest Day in British Olympic history" but I will go as far to say that it's the greatest day in British sporting history. Can that ever be topped? Six gold medals, a silver and a world record in less than twenty-four hours, with two more silver medals guaranteed in the tennis for tomorrow.
The rowing has, as usual, been a rich source of success for the British competitors. That was the fourth consecutive gold in the men's coxless four, and Sophie Hosking & Katherine Copeland's crushing win was the third female rowing gold for British females at this games and in fact ever. Those girls were in shock after crossing the line then were in floods of tears during the post-race interview and medal ceremony. Spare a thought though for poor Mark Hunter and Zac Purchase who lost the gold to the Danish boat in the final 10om of their race. Afterwards they needed Steve Redgrave to help them out of the boat because they were so exhausted and they felt that they had let everybody down which is a horrible way to think of their amazing efforts. Rowing must be one of, if not the, most brutal sports around. One only had to see Alan Campbell after marginally winning bronze in the single sculls to see that. He was sitting down mumbling replies during his interview and after Steve Redgrave helped him to the medal ceremony he broke down in tears after receiving his medal.
The contrast in emotions at the cycling was huge however. Dani King, Joanna Rowsell and the adorable Laura Trott just knew they were going to win and were ecstatic after their race. The result was never in doubt but the amazing thing was that they have set a sixth consecutive world record for the team pursuit. I have no idea what UK Cycling feed that lot but it can't be legal!
Jessica Ennis had so much to live up to. She truly was the "Face of the Games" as her face was everywhere, be it a billboard or a TV advert. All the pressure and expectation was on her but you wouldn't have thought it after watching her perform. From the first event she dominated the heptathlon and in the end she won emphatically. How many times have we seen sportspeople cave in under pressure? Not Ennis, that was a phenomenal performance. I had a suspicion that she would take on the 800m and win it in style. (I do feel sorry for the Lithuanian woman was in second before the 800m. She dropped to fourth after a terrible race and collapsed after crossing the line.)
The long-jump gold was unexpected. Triple-jump world record holder Jonathan Edwards said that the competition is "rubbish" this year, which I think was a bit harsh from the BBC's new canoe slalom expert. Anyway, I think it's a major sporting cliché to say that the crowd helps a competitor along but in this case I think they really did. Greg Rutherford's longest jump came immediately after Ennis won the Heptathlon so he must have been pumped-up after the crowd's reaction.
Mo Farah's run in the 10,000m was pretty awesome. I've never particularly enjoyed distance running but last night was totally different. The race was tense and built up to a fantastic crescendo when Mo Farah left the usually dominant East Africans for dead on the final lap. Never before has a British athlete won a world title at that distance (Paula Radcliffe has come oh so close though) and on top of that the runner-up was his training partner, a white guy from America! That race is my highlight of the 2012 games so far. It'll take another record breaking performance from Usain Bolt to get close to the 10,000m in my eyes.
The motto of the London Olympics was to "Inspire a Generation". It's corny and clichéd I know, but can yesterday really do anything but inspire the next generation of sporting talent in the UK? Unfortunately I am a lost cause so I'll have to leave it to others to take up the oars or reins or whatever.
(I must add that I was actually happy to see the UK football team lose on penalties to South Korea as I object to Olympic football on principle and I was against the inclusion of a UK football team).
It's being called the "Greatest Day in British Olympic history" but I will go as far to say that it's the greatest day in British sporting history. Can that ever be topped? Six gold medals, a silver and a world record in less than twenty-four hours, with two more silver medals guaranteed in the tennis for tomorrow.
The rowing has, as usual, been a rich source of success for the British competitors. That was the fourth consecutive gold in the men's coxless four, and Sophie Hosking & Katherine Copeland's crushing win was the third female rowing gold for British females at this games and in fact ever. Those girls were in shock after crossing the line then were in floods of tears during the post-race interview and medal ceremony. Spare a thought though for poor Mark Hunter and Zac Purchase who lost the gold to the Danish boat in the final 10om of their race. Afterwards they needed Steve Redgrave to help them out of the boat because they were so exhausted and they felt that they had let everybody down which is a horrible way to think of their amazing efforts. Rowing must be one of, if not the, most brutal sports around. One only had to see Alan Campbell after marginally winning bronze in the single sculls to see that. He was sitting down mumbling replies during his interview and after Steve Redgrave helped him to the medal ceremony he broke down in tears after receiving his medal.
The contrast in emotions at the cycling was huge however. Dani King, Joanna Rowsell and the adorable Laura Trott just knew they were going to win and were ecstatic after their race. The result was never in doubt but the amazing thing was that they have set a sixth consecutive world record for the team pursuit. I have no idea what UK Cycling feed that lot but it can't be legal!
Jessica Ennis had so much to live up to. She truly was the "Face of the Games" as her face was everywhere, be it a billboard or a TV advert. All the pressure and expectation was on her but you wouldn't have thought it after watching her perform. From the first event she dominated the heptathlon and in the end she won emphatically. How many times have we seen sportspeople cave in under pressure? Not Ennis, that was a phenomenal performance. I had a suspicion that she would take on the 800m and win it in style. (I do feel sorry for the Lithuanian woman was in second before the 800m. She dropped to fourth after a terrible race and collapsed after crossing the line.)
The long-jump gold was unexpected. Triple-jump world record holder Jonathan Edwards said that the competition is "rubbish" this year, which I think was a bit harsh from the BBC's new canoe slalom expert. Anyway, I think it's a major sporting cliché to say that the crowd helps a competitor along but in this case I think they really did. Greg Rutherford's longest jump came immediately after Ennis won the Heptathlon so he must have been pumped-up after the crowd's reaction.
Mo Farah's run in the 10,000m was pretty awesome. I've never particularly enjoyed distance running but last night was totally different. The race was tense and built up to a fantastic crescendo when Mo Farah left the usually dominant East Africans for dead on the final lap. Never before has a British athlete won a world title at that distance (Paula Radcliffe has come oh so close though) and on top of that the runner-up was his training partner, a white guy from America! That race is my highlight of the 2012 games so far. It'll take another record breaking performance from Usain Bolt to get close to the 10,000m in my eyes.
The motto of the London Olympics was to "Inspire a Generation". It's corny and clichéd I know, but can yesterday really do anything but inspire the next generation of sporting talent in the UK? Unfortunately I am a lost cause so I'll have to leave it to others to take up the oars or reins or whatever.
(I must add that I was actually happy to see the UK football team lose on penalties to South Korea as I object to Olympic football on principle and I was against the inclusion of a UK football team).
Crimson Idol
Caveman
Agree with the rest of your post as well but thought I'd comment on this particularly. Whilst the majority of sporting events have regular international competitions they are nothing like the scale of World/Euro cups so I agree. Rugby/Tennis are next in line for size imho. I have watched the Hockey and am even on the fence with that.
Wrote out a rather long rant but I can't really put to words why I think some sports are okay and others aren't so.... I also think that whilst Beckham did a lot to get the olympics here, people are too obsessed with him - there were objections that he both didnt play ('its the last chance he'll get' .. that applies to lots of people) and that he didn't light the torch (no, but he drove it on a boat for how far?).
national acrobat
Ancient Mariner
Incredible day yesterday for the UK team. Congratulations to Jessica Ennis, dominating under a lot of pressure; it was great to see her sprint in the last event so she crossed the line first even though it was all sewn up by then. Also winning the decathalon or heptathalon is surely the most impressive of all athletic events.
I'm not really sure what countries are strong in remaining events, but is there an actual possibility that Great Britain could finish in third place?
I'm not really sure what countries are strong in remaining events, but is there an actual possibility that Great Britain could finish in third place?
Black Wizard
Pleb Hunter
You're absolutely right Crimson Idol. The Olympics are meant to be the pinnacle of sport but for football and tennis that is not the case. If the UK football team had won a medal then I wouldn't have looked at that as being the highlight of Ryan Giggs' career, that would be winning the treble with Manchester United. David Beckham won the treble too plus titles with Real Madrid. Nobody cares about an under-23 tournament that pales in comparison to the events on the track in the main stadium and the World Cup. It's more important to me that Dundee United stay in the SPL season after season than it is that a contrived UK team do well in the Olympics. Footballers are highly paid and get their chance to shine week after week, the Olympics are not for them.
Tennis is also a major sport worldwide with four annual events that are the backbone of the sport. Those four Grand Slams are the events that all tennis players want to win, but the Olympic tournaments are just some random bonus every four years. I'm happy for Andy and Laura that they've managed to guarantee themselves silver medals, and I'll be even happier for them if they manage to win. However, I don't think I'll watch their matches because Olympic tennis just doesn't feel right. It's not the same spectacle as the real Wimbledon Championships.
Basketball is another sport I am uneasy about. The American "Dream Team" are highly paid in the NBA, which is the pinnacle of Basketball, and are just so far ahead of other countries that the Gold medal is a forgone conclusion before the tournament starts. I suppose that the basketball tournament does give people who don't often get the chance to see decent quality Basketball the opportunity to see some good matches and also allows rubbish Basketball countries, such as the UK, the chance to get thrashed by the rest of the world. Hockey isn't too bad though. It's not a major sport (although might be in Pakistan) so it gets its chance on the biggest stage and I have actually come to appreciate it as a very difficult and exciting sport.
Don't get me started on fucking Golf's introduction for the 2016 Olympics in Rio!
Other sports (or "sports") which I don't think should be in the Olympics:
Table Tennis
Synchronized Swimming
Equestrian
Volleyball
Handball
Water Polo
BMX
Hopefully Rugby will never get in, even in Sevens form. There's barely fifteen countries with a team worth mentioning, and three and a quarter of them are us!
Albie
Keeping an open eye on the Weeping Angels.
Understand, but I would love to see Seven's in the Olympics - and I understand it is to be introduced in Rio (though I could be wrong). More teams compete at a high level in Sevens than in 15-a-side, so it would be a good competition. And it will all be wrapped up in a weekend. I would hazard a guess that the amount of top quality teams at 7's is almost as much as there are top quality Hockey teams.
They could never, ever get a full Rugby tournament over 16 days or so of competition (you would barely get two or three games per team) so it will never get included.
Golf is just plain stupid.
The Flash
Dennis Wilcock did 9/11
Damn we suck ass at Olympics. Zero medals so far, I'm ashamed. I knew our sports programmes are horrible but still. I hope we'll get some medals in wrestling, at least. The years have passed and Turkish people are still only known as strong, as you can see in our Olympic history. Damn.
Ariana
Black-and-white leopard
Yeah, I feel pretty much the same way. I've wanted to share some info about the success of Bulgarian athletes, but apart from two fifth places in weight lifting, there is nothing really worth mentioning. 
Oh, the volleyball team has already qualified for the quarter-finals but I'm not sure how much further they can go.
My biggest hope for a medal remains in women's wrestling but that's pretty much all there is.
Oh, the volleyball team has already qualified for the quarter-finals but I'm not sure how much further they can go. My biggest hope for a medal remains in women's wrestling but that's pretty much all there is.
Rotam
Night and day I scan horizon, sea and sky
I disagree. Sports are Olympics for different reasons as sports have different conditions and aspirations among themselves.
For individual sports, of course the Olympic medal is the pinnacle of the sport. Like swimming.
For teams sports, they have their own supreme event (the World cup), so the Olympic venue is not the pinnacle, but it's not supposed to be so. They are in the Olympics because they are the most recognizable sports in the World. That is the case of Football, and it should be always an Olympic sport. The only thing is incomprehensible is the absence of the best players, i'll give you that.
I agree though that in most cases maybe the Olympic tournament of most teams sports should be altered, and try not to copy the model of the Continent\World Cup events.
Tennis is also an Olympic sport. It's widely spread and it's a very popular sport. It has not the same prestige of the Grand Slam tournaments for the simple reason it was dropped of the Olympics after 1924 until 1988. Otherwise, it was also a significant event.
Voleyball, Handball and Basketball should be Olympics too. That doesn't make any sense. The group stages should be dropped for a more competitive type of event.
For instance, the only reason greco-roman wrestling it's an Olympic event is because of prestige as an old sport, not because is worldwide popular. Archery and Shooting are Olympics because they defies Human capabilities. Like Weightlifting. Not because of their popularity.
Ah, i disagree also with Table Tennis, probably the most important asian sport (much like football for Europe and South America and Basketball for North Americans and running for Africans). It's like taking away (one of) their foremost sport, and Olympics are all about eclecticism, not elitism. I really don't understand why the quotes in those sports.
The Flash
Dennis Wilcock did 9/11
Sorry but I think removing sports from the Olympics just because they have more popular/important events on themselves is nonsensical. Olympics is the biggest sporting event in the world, nothing can top that. Football teams may not care about it (and they do actually) but the U23 system was put into force to keep the competition level high and it IS high at the moment.
I'm pretty sure most of the athletes would prefer an Olympic medal to a grand slam victory or a World Cup (football) medal. Lots of money goes on in sports industry, Olympics doesn't have any of that, Olympics is the basic of sports and that's why it's the most important.
I'm open to almost every "real" sport in Olympics, that includes Rugby. Just because a nation, a country or a race is superior in one sport, doesn't mean it shouldn't be there, that wouldn't be fair to the superior nation, country or the race.
For example, Jamaica and United States dominates the 100 M race in athletics. Should we get rid of it too ?
I'm pretty sure most of the athletes would prefer an Olympic medal to a grand slam victory or a World Cup (football) medal. Lots of money goes on in sports industry, Olympics doesn't have any of that, Olympics is the basic of sports and that's why it's the most important.
I'm open to almost every "real" sport in Olympics, that includes Rugby. Just because a nation, a country or a race is superior in one sport, doesn't mean it shouldn't be there, that wouldn't be fair to the superior nation, country or the race.
For example, Jamaica and United States dominates the 100 M race in athletics. Should we get rid of it too ?
I agree - professionals should be invited to the Olympics. It should be the best sporting competition in the world. It's horrifying to me that athletes don't want to play in the football tournament. The other huge professional sport leagues that have Olympic games send their athletes (hockey and basketball), and those athletes are all looking forward to the opportunity, constantly. In both basketball and hockey the greatest players of the day strive to compete for their country. I don't understand why football should be any different.
The fact that the players are paid a lot of money to football already is irrelevant. If you love the sport, you should want to represent on the biggest stage there is. I know football politics in the UK is very strange, but it seems to me that such things should be put aside. And given that this very well could be the last summer Olympics where Scotland is part of the UK, it would have been nice to have seen a proper team put on the field for the sport the UK most wants to win. I find it utterly foolish that such hasn't happened. I also find it insulting to the sport.
The fact that the players are paid a lot of money to football already is irrelevant. If you love the sport, you should want to represent on the biggest stage there is. I know football politics in the UK is very strange, but it seems to me that such things should be put aside. And given that this very well could be the last summer Olympics where Scotland is part of the UK, it would have been nice to have seen a proper team put on the field for the sport the UK most wants to win. I find it utterly foolish that such hasn't happened. I also find it insulting to the sport.
Forostar
Ancient Mariner
I agree wholeheartedly with the two posters above. And I wish baseball would not have disappeared from the Games (for the subjective reason that my country is f**'n good at it ;-).
Now something else: Dorian van Rijsselberghe won the gold with windsurfing. After LA 1984 again a Dutchman doing this. These were the first (1984) and the last (2012) gold for this discipline. It's the last because windsurfing will be replaced by kitesurfing on the next Olympics.
But this time it's extra special. He secured gold before race 10 and medalrace. Such domination is unheard of in these Games. All he has to do is start last 2 races. Unreal!
Now something else: Dorian van Rijsselberghe won the gold with windsurfing. After LA 1984 again a Dutchman doing this. These were the first (1984) and the last (2012) gold for this discipline. It's the last because windsurfing will be replaced by kitesurfing on the next Olympics.
But this time it's extra special. He secured gold before race 10 and medalrace. Such domination is unheard of in these Games. All he has to do is start last 2 races. Unreal!
Albie
Keeping an open eye on the Weeping Angels.
I see your point, but for the Scots/Welsh/N Irish - they see a united GB team as a break up of the four oldest FA's in the world. It would not happen, but that was their greatest concern. Trivial I know, but I respect their point.
Also, if the polls are correct, Scotland will remain part of the UK for the foreseeable future. Alex Salmond's dream of an independent Scotland I really do not think will happen. That said, I'm not sure how Salmond would of coped with Murray not only winning the gold, but singing the national anthem!
Also - need we forget Ben Ainslie getting Gold in the sailing. That means he has his 5th medal in 5 consecutive Olympics - Silver, Gold, Gold, Gold and Gold. Not quite Redgrave, but respect to him for that. The problem is, his achievement has almost been overshadowed by the whole effort of the UK team.
The Flash
Dennis Wilcock did 9/11
Here I am again feeling ashamed.
Our minister of sport was interviewed about our candidacy for 2020 Olympics. He said "The name of the Olympics comes from Mount Olympos which is in Antalya (a city in Turkey), you have to get the Olympics back to its birthplace."
Yes, he said that. I thought it came from Mount Olympos in Greece, which was the home of 12 Olympian Gods in Greek mythology. I guess I was wrong, our minister of sport knows the best.
Greek press is now making fun of us, deservedly so...
Our minister of sport was interviewed about our candidacy for 2020 Olympics. He said "The name of the Olympics comes from Mount Olympos which is in Antalya (a city in Turkey), you have to get the Olympics back to its birthplace."
Yes, he said that. I thought it came from Mount Olympos in Greece, which was the home of 12 Olympian Gods in Greek mythology. I guess I was wrong, our minister of sport knows the best.
Greek press is now making fun of us, deservedly so...
I very much doubt that. I'm sure Murray would rather have won Wimbledon than the Olympics.
Speaking of tennis, I'm happy to see Del Potro doing well again. Hopefully he'll get back into the mix for Slam titles. If Murray can hold on to his current form, the USO could be really interesting.