Olympics Thread

JC

<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="dogmeat" data-cid="598003" data-time="1468886954">
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Both Gracenote and Luciana Barra had predicted NZ to finish 10th on the Gold Medal table with 8 and 10 respectively, although Gracenotes lasts update has us dropping one gold but still gathering a record 25 in total (7 gold, 11 silver and 7 bronze).
 
<a data-ipb='nomediaparse' href='http://www.gracenote.com/gracenote-refreshes-2016-olympic-medal-predictions-30-days-opening-ceremonies/'>http://www.gracenote.com/gracenote-refreshes-2016-olympic-medal-predictions-30-days-opening-ceremonies/â€‹</a>
 
Predicted medallists at olympicmedalsprediction.com
 
<a class="bbc_url" href="https://postimg.org/image/envxcrfqf/"><img src="https://s31.postimg.org/envxcrfqf/Medals.jpg" alt="Medals.jpg"></a>
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No love for Val Adams in that list? Surely she's odds on for a medal, if not a Gold.

mariner4life

This Olympics is probably going to be the worst ever. 
 
I read a story in the paper today with a couple of the Aussie sailors. They have been out practicing on teh course, and while the sewerage has been cleaned up, they reckon they have to stop their boat a couple of times a session to clean the rubbish off their foils. And they are constantly at risk of hitting something big enough to hole them. 
 
Rio was an appalling choice.

Smudge

No NZ-based Fairfax or NZ Herald journos attending the Olympics.
 
<div style="color:rgb(41,47,51);font-family:Arial, sans-serif;background-color:rgb(245,248,250);"><a class="" href="https://twitter.com/mark_geenty">Mark Geenty â€@mark_geenty </a> <a class="" href="

" title="5:22 PM - 20 Jul 2016">1h1 hour ago</a></div>
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Yes, it's true. Eight-strong NZ-based Fairfax team told this morning our accreditation for Rio has been withdrawn over dispute with Sky.
 
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<a data-ipb='nomediaparse' href='https://twitter.com/mark_geenty'>https://twitter.com/mark_geenty</a>
 
Update: Herald pulls out of Rio due to Sky TV fight 
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<div><a data-ipb='nomediaparse' href='https://twitter.com/tmurphyNZ'>https://twitter.com/tmurphyNZ</a></div>
 
 
Background here.
 
<a data-ipb='nomediaparse' href='http://thespinoff.co.nz/featured/18-07-2016/the-war-for-the-olympics-skys-secret-plan-to-control-other-media-covering-rio/'>http://thespinoff.co.nz/featured/18-07-2016/the-war-for-the-olympics-skys-secret-plan-to-control-other-media-covering-rio/</a>
 
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The conditions have led to a heated behind-the-scenes media fight which could affect how much Games coverage you can watch on your mobile or computer. Most troublingly, some of the disputed points are contained in the News Access Rules â€“ if journalists donâ€™t sign up they cannot be accredited as media for the games. Meaning that Sky is attempting to use its position as rights holder to circumvent New Zealand copyright law and deny other organisationsâ€™ journalists access to the games if they donâ€™t agree to its demands.
The fight reaches a critical deadline today, and if there is no progress from Sky, there has been talk within both of the NZME and Fairfax of retaliating by sending vastly scaled back teams to the games, and it remains a very real possibility that one or both organisations might respond in this way.
The long wrangle has even extended to whether general media wanting to use Skyâ€™s footage can air criticism of Sky TV commentators and if they can make Gifs of Olympic moments. Sky argues it â€˜paid dearlyâ€™ for the rights and the conditions offered to others in New Zealand are the same or better than overseas.
At one point there were moves to stop competitors showing Olympic video clips for three hours after events. Itâ€™s understood the delay now would still be 40 minutes. There are fears in media circles that the restrictions, if accepted, would be used to attempt to reduce the amount of video coverage of other top sports going forward.
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As someone who still loves READING stories, this is a genuine shame.

Smudge

NZ Herald's take on it. 
 
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The New Zealand Herald has withdrawn its reporting team from the Rio Olympics after failing to secure an agreement with Sky Television over use of Games footage on its news website. 
NZME Managing Editor Shayne Currie today confirmed the Herald has informed the New Zealand Olympic Committee of its decision which follows similar action taken by Fairfax Media last night. Neither organisation will now send reporters, photographers and videographers to Rio but will still cover the Games. 
Currie said "unduly restrictive" conditions imposed by Sky, who have purchased New Zealand broadcasting rights for the Games from the International Olympic Committee, had driven the decision.
"This has been a difficult decision but ultimately we cannot accept what we view as unduly restrictive and unnecessary News Access Rules as proposed by the New Zealand rights holder, Sky Television," Currie said. "These do not allow for fair-use of copyright material in accordance with the New Zealand Copyright Act and have the potential to impact heavily on our ability to cover the Games in a fair and meaningful way.
"We also believe that they run counter to the Olympic charter. As a result, NZME Publishing - publisher of New Zealand's biggest newspaper, the NZ Herald; one of the two largest New Zealand news websites, nzherald.co.nz; and five regional daily newspapers - will no longer be sending a team of journalists to Rio.
"Through our syndicated agencies and partnerships, plus with our award-winning sports journalists in New Zealand, we will be doing our utmost to provide the best Games coverage possible."
Fairfax confirmed a similar position with executive editor Sinead Boucher saying the conditions Sky had sought to impose around Games footage were "unprecedented".
Boucher said that the rules, as first presented, seemed designed to prevent other media from covering the Games to the level they had in the past. She added that Sky's actions were contrary to the public's interests when so much taxpayer money was directed towards the Olympics and the Games itself is a major news event.
"We are being asked to waive our rights to fair dealing under the Copyright Act," she said.
Rules that were suggested but since have been negotiated away included a requirement that news websites delay any news video highlights by three hours and to not criticise Sky's commentary. Under New Zealand copyright law, media organisations are legally allowed to provide news coverage under "fair dealing" which includes delayed video news footage of events.
Sky offered several options to media organisations in an effort to solve the impasse but Currie said that ultimately NZME was not able to reach agreement with the pay TV network.
Media organisations have been frustrated by Sky trying to not only introduce delays around when footage could be viewed on news websites but also restrictions on how they are presented and the volume of content. Having to present the footage as "news bulletins" which could only be updated as little as twice a day had been another problem area.
The media industry is also believed to be upset with the NZOC's role in the discussions, believing they should not have to negotiate access to the Olympics with a commercial rival in Sky. 
"It's pretty disappointing for Kiwis in that the news coverage won't be what it could have been," Sky TV spokeswoman Kirsty Way told Newshub.
 
"Sky stands by its news access rules that they're the most generous in the whole world and have been acceptable worldwide, but apparently they're not acceptable to our news agencies in New Zealand."
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<a data-ipb='nomediaparse' href='http://www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/news/article.cfm?c_id=4&objectid=11678777'>http://www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/news/article.cfm?c_id=4&objectid=11678777</a>

Chris B.

<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote">Rules that were suggested but since have been negotiated away included a requirement that news websites delay any news video highlights by three hours and to not criticise Sky's commentary.
 
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Justin Marshall is going as an expert commentator and will be explaining the intricate rules of diverse supports such as fencing, gymnastics and Greco-Roman Wrestling.
 
"I CAN'T AGREE WITH THAT NISBO - THERE WAS NO DOWNWARD PRESSURE".

Immenso Rapido

Not criticising commentary is a weird one. Seems petty. 
But the 3 hour delay on video is surely not a deal breaker for the papers/websites? 
Or is it that I am stuck in the mentality of days gone by of not expecting video from say a midday event until the 6pm news? Unless I watched it live on the rights broadcaster.

reprobate

sky doesn't exactly have a stockpile of public goodwill. except maybe for that insignificant percentage of the population who watch whatever the fuck shit they put on half the fucking day.

Gary

<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="Chris B." data-cid="598489" data-time="1469073140">
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Justin Marshall is going as an expert commentator and will be explaining the intricate rules of diverse supports such as fencing, gymnastics and Greco-Roman Wrestling.
 
"I CAN'T AGREE WITH THAT NISBO - THERE WAS NO DOWNWARD PRESSURE".
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that's a worry considering he doesn't even know the rules (laws for the pedantic) of the sport he played.

Bones

Oh wow.

Chris B.

<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="Gary" data-cid="598623" data-time="1469116259">
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that's a worry considering he doesn't even know the rules (laws for the pedantic) of the sport he played.
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I may have started the Justin's Olympic trip rumour. :)

Bovidae

Do Fairfax and NZME pay Sky anything to broadcast video snippets of sport on their websites? If not, they don't have any moral high ground, especially as all their videos have fuckin' ads embedded in them.
 
Coverage of the Olympics is generally much better in NZ than in other countries. I watched very little of the 2000 Sydney Olympics on NBC as they were only interested in showing events featuring US athletes. Even then it wasn't always live.

booboo

So the Athlete's Village is fucked. 
Surprised?

Paekakboyz

Wasn't that the case for the last commonwealth games? they made a big push at the end to get things sorted... in any case the athletes are going to be too busy humping to worry about flushing toilets and running water. Sheesh!

mariner4life

rubbers have to go somewhere bro

canefan

<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="mariner4life" data-cid="598235" data-time="1468969474">
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This Olympics is probably going to be the worst ever. 
 
I read a story in the paper today with a couple of the Aussie sailors. They have been out practicing on teh course, and while the sewerage has been cleaned up, they reckon they have to stop their boat a couple of times a session to clean the rubbish off their foils. And they are constantly at risk of hitting something big enough to hole them. 
 
Rio was an appalling choice. 
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They spent too much money in "gifts" and didn't leave enough to actually build the necessary infrastructure. The IOC should have moved it last year when it became apparent that things were not going well

mariner4life

The IOC do not give a fuck once the thing has been paid for. It's not like a shitty 2016 olympics will diminish the bribes for the 2028 voting.

mariner4life

NZ Olympian robbed by guys in police uniforms. This is going to go so well.

taniwharugby

article just says police, not people pretending to be police....
 
his tweet about it <a data-ipb='nomediaparse' href='

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<a data-ipb='nomediaparse' href='http://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/olympics/82437854/kiwi-sportsman-jason-lee-kidnapped-in-brazil'>http://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/olympics/82437854/kiwi-sportsman-jason-lee-kidnapped-in-brazil</a>

Kiwi sportsman Jason Lee 'kidnapped' in Brazil

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HENRY COOKE
Last updated 11:08, July 25 2016
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Jason Lee is a national Jiu-Jitsu champion.
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A Kiwi sportsman was forced into a car by armed police and made to withdraw the equivalent of NZ$850 in Rio de Janeiro in Brazil over the weekend, just 13 days before the Olympics are set to start in the city.
The police, who warned him not to report the incident and made efforts to avoid being seen, detained Jason Lee after pulling him off a highway into the city on Sunday (NZ time).
After forcing him to drive the wrong way down the highway, they transferred him into an unmarked car, then took him to several ATMs to withdraw the money.
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Kiwi Jason Lee: "I don't think I've ever felt like I could possibly die."
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They claimed that Lee was not legally allowed to drive in Brazil without his passport. Lee later found out this was not the case.


 
Lee, a 27-year-old jiu-jitsu national champion from Wellington, is not part of the Olympic delegation (Jiu-Jitsu is not an Olympic sport.)
He has lived in Rio for about a year with his partner Laura McQuillan, a journalist who works for Stuff.
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This was the worst of several bad Brazilian experiences, Lee said.
He was more scared for his life than he had ever been.
"I don't think I've ever felt like I could possibly die," Lee said.
THE FULL STORY
The experience began with what appeared to be a routine police stop.
Lee was pulled over by two police on motorbikes, each armed with a pistol.
The Police said they were carrying out a routine search for drugs and weapons.
"First he asked me stretch my arms, then patted me down. He grabbed my genital area, which was quite a surprise."
"At this point it still looked reasonably professional."
After a full search of his car and person, one of officers took his license and the registration of his rented car away to his bike for a few minutes.
When he returned he was brandishing a large book, and told Lee he was breaking the law.
"He says 'you can't drive in Brazil as a foreigner without a passport,' which I now know isn't the case at all. The rental car company hadn't mentioned that to me."
"He starts opening the book, showing me all these passages in Portuguese, which I can sort of read like every third word.
The police demanded that Lee either paid them 2000 Brazilian Reais (NZ$850) or they would arrest him and take him to the federal police. 
Lee didn't have that much cash, so the police told him to follow them to an ATM.
But instead they forced him to drive down the wrong lane of a highway, pulling off beside a concrete police bunker underneath an overpass.
"These guys have pulled me over, they have weapons. I'm not in any position to negotiate," Lee said.
At this point he feared for his life.
At the bunker, Lee was forced to swap into an unmarked private car belonging to one of the officers.
When he asked why he couldn't drive his own car to the ATM, they explain that his car doesn't have tinted windows, but they are in full uniform and don't want to be seen.
"At this point I acknowledged to myself that I've completely backed myself into a corner."
Lee had been sending voice messages to his partner on WhatsApp, and dropped a GPS pin at the location of the bunker.
"Once I realised it was corrupt stuff that made me hesitant to go towards my phone - they knew what they were doing was wrong."
One of the officers and Lee drove to a nearby group of shops where he withdrew the money from several ATMs. The officer stayed in the car to avoid the security cameras, Lee said.
The pair returned to the bunker, Lee handed over the money, and was finally released.
One of the officers warned Lee against reporting the incident. 
"He said 'you can't say anything to anyone about this, not a word.'"
Lee worried that drugs may have been planted in his car.
He immediately returned it and took an Uber home, before reporting the incident to the Tourist Police that night.
"I was umming and ahhing about whether I should even make a complaint. One of the guys I was reporting it to said 'we understand you are hesitant, because we are the Police, and that branch of the Police is so scary even we are afraid of them'."
Lee said that in the year he has lived in Brazil, things have appeared to get worse, not better.

Chris B.

Reminds me of another story - on my OE.
 
I somehow ended up going out drinking in Corfu with a bunch of loud yanks and a very pleasant and quietly spoken Brazilian guy named Fernando.
 
The yanks and I had all been travelling (not together) from West to East - but Fernando was going in the opposite direction. We'd not long come from Rome and he was headed there.
 
One guy was wanking on about the cardboard waving gypsy pickpocket kids in Rome and how he'd almost been robbed by them.
 
Fernando drew me aside, "Chris B., I am very concerned, I don't understand this story of the children with cardboard".
 
"It's no big deal, Fernando", I reassured him, and explained how they clumsily wave cardboard around your pockets and try to distract you, while another one goes for your wallet.
 
"Ahh, I'm very relieved", he said. "I think this will not be a problem for me. In my city, Sao Paulo, they come to you in the street with a gun and say give me all your money".
 
"What?", said I (shocked), "This has happened to you?"
 
"To me...in the street....Never!!!..................They come to my house!"

taniwharugby

so that story of the Military Police in Brazil is ongoing...apparently the MP turned up on his doorstep today to 'discuss' his statement to the Civil Police, but the doorman at his building had warned him they were on their way up and he locked the door and didn't let them in, called the NZ Embassy and the Civil Police who turned up.
 
Great time for some of the corrupt Brazilian authorities to surface.
 
Pretty fucked up story!

The Silver Fern

Olympics Thread