Olympics Thread
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I watched the rock climbing yesterday, was good fun, and seriously impressive. I would struggle to climb that wall at all, those guys are doing it in 5 seconds or less! Was awesome to see the Kiwi boy beat the former world champ to make the final as well. The chap from the States looks a cut above the rest though.
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@sparky said in Olympics Thread:
I find the whole celebration of Silver and Bronze at the Olympics a bit odd.
Second place is just another losing position.
It's winning that is everything!
well i have seen it all now
A bloke who posts stream of consciousness "commentary" on the threads of all manner of shit like anyone gives even a single solitary fuck about it, telling Olympic silver medalists that they are over reacting
Hurricanes fan too aren't you champ?
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Medal table:
Now that it's athletics week the US are rocking and rolling. 24 golds and 86 medals total already. What a huge population and lots of money can do (also no one wants to talk about the benefits of slavery... okay i'll take my ban now)
Australia and France having great games.Right now this is a disastrous games for NZ as we are behind the incredibly unathletic Irish on the table. Sort that shit out Team NZ.
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@mariner4life said in Olympics Thread:
Medal table:
Now that it's athletics week the US are rocking and rolling. 24 golds and 86 medals total already. What a huge population and lots of money can do (also no one wants to talk about the benefits of slavery... okay i'll take my ban now)
Australia and France having great games.Right now this is a disastrous games for NZ as we are behind the incredibly unathletic Irish on the table. Sort that shit out Team NZ.
It's up to one sailing team, the cyclists and the paddlers now
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@canefan said in Olympics Thread:
@WillieTheWaiter said in Olympics Thread:
@1kiwi said in Olympics Thread:
just to put this in further perspective - NZ are literally riding museum pieces in terms of bike tech. We're on a bike made in 2015 for Rio... all other teams are rolling around on bikes that are worth between 100k - 200k.. each!
we don't even have a bike sponsor.. only place you can get one of our bikes is second hand market and it's about $4k. Was actually having an amusing thought that we might be in breach of the rules - all bikes are supposed to be commercially available to buy!Just watched the cycling highlights and I see what you mean. The GB girls bikes looked decidedly more lightweight. The gap in bike tech seemed to go unspoken by the comms. I'd like to see the race rerun on identical bikes
Chris Hoy was being interviewed between one of the races and he talked about how the kiwis were punching on 8 year old tech. Poms are massive about their 'package' they bring to the games and what the advantage is it gives them.
Weight not really an issue on the track.. all about aero and stiffness - two biggest things that have improved over the years just in terms of advancement and rule changes allowing different profiles.
Good news is it's not really bothering them - I asked Ellesse about it a few weeks back at racing if she thought the bike was holding her back - she was 'nah I don't reckon'. And they've all at least had bar upgrades to catch them up with the rest of the world.
more than 90% of the drag is the body, and we've got our positions super dialled in - especially in the TP. But little things add up, and when you're talking about 100th's of a second..
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@canefan said in Olympics Thread:
@mariner4life said in Olympics Thread:
Medal table:
Now that it's athletics week the US are rocking and rolling. 24 golds and 86 medals total already. What a huge population and lots of money can do (also no one wants to talk about the benefits of slavery... okay i'll take my ban now)
Australia and France having great games.Right now this is a disastrous games for NZ as we are behind the incredibly unathletic Irish on the table. Sort that shit out Team NZ.
It's up to one sailing team, the cyclists and the paddlers now
And Lydia who gets underway tonight. Has the class but perhaps not the current form. Can't count her out
Also hows David Liti going? Hes a commonwealth performer but not sure how competitive he is at Olympic level?
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I could imagine that for a huge amount of the athletes that go the games they know they haven't got a snowballs chance in hell of winning a medal.
For some just getting to the games is a lifetime achievement, others winning a heat, doing a PB, making a final.
Whatever placing an athlete chooses to celebrate I'm not going to judge them on, we have no idea what they've gone through to get there, what they've given up in life to make it there or what they've suffered to get there.
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@Windows97 said in Olympics Thread:
I could imagine that for a huge amount of the athletes that go the games they know they haven't got a snowballs chance in hell of winning a medal.
For some just getting to the games is a lifetime achievement, others winning a heat, doing a PB, making a final.
Whatever placing an athlete chooses to celebrate I'm not going to judge them on, we have no idea what they've gone through to get there, what they've given up in life to make it there or what they've suffered to get there.
You just have to see how overjoyed the 2 Kiwi vaulters (who aren't Eliza) were when they knew they had made the final. In years to come, people will forget that 20 made the final instead of 12, but they can always tell the grandchildren that they made an Olympic final.
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@Bovidae said in Olympics Thread:
@No-Quarter said in Olympics Thread:
I can't believe the Olympics allows soccer to use them as a development ground. It should be either the real deal or nothing at all, or it undermines the importance of a gold medal.
While I don't think football and other pro sports like basketball should be at the Olympics it is even more strange that the men's and women's competition have different selection criteria. The mens is U23 with three over-age players while the women's has no age restriction. Add to that because the Olympics falls outside the FIFA window, clubs don't have to release players, and many didn't.
Olympic basketball has been the pinnacle for a long time even before 92 and the US sending pros.
Whatever the motivations are, we do get the best from each country and the pride of country representation at the Olympics hasn’t been higher IMO.
Football is still the World Cup and the club stuff.
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@sparky said in Olympics Thread:
@Billy-Tell said in Olympics Thread:
Long jump final. OR dates from Mexico 1968!
Bob Beamon. It was the World Record until 1991.
Worth noting that the 1991 jump still stands as the World Record, too.
Something I love about events that are impervious to technology. The Greek bloke who won last night would have only won bronze in 1988. Not many events where you can say that.
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A Greek athlete has been disqualified from the Pole Valut for failing a doping test. That's the first failed dope test I've heard about from these games.
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I think that if a sport wants to be in the Olympics it should be prioritised as one of the pinnacle events on the calendar.
For example golf and tennis, if they want to be individual sports should offer ranking points equal to say 1.5 times a major. That will mean the best will go and try to peak for it.
I wouldn't be opposed to either sport changing the format to a team event. Make it country v country rather than the same format as a regular event.
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@sparky said in Olympics Thread:
A Greek athlete has been disqualified from the Pole Valut for failing a doping test. That's the first failed dope test I've heard about from these games.
And I think there was another one?
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@Machpants said in Olympics Thread:
@sparky said in Olympics Thread:
A Greek athlete has been disqualified from the Pole Valut for failing a doping test. That's the first failed dope test I've heard about from these games.
And I think there was another one?
they only catch stupid or cheap athletes.
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@taniwharugby And both look to be cruising. Times don't matter as long as you are in the top 2.