Positives and negatives of the Olympics.

To counter the Telegraph, a lovely article about Clare Balding in the Guardian that focuses solely on her skills and not the fact that she's a woman.

LRD, that is a horrible article. What the HELL?

Oh won't someone stop them battering each others soft limbs?!

SOFT LIMBS? What the hell? Last time I checked my (relatively puny) limbs were pretty stable, not made of jelly.

And a negative: blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/andrewmcfbrown/100174361/womens-judo-its-disturbing-to-watch-these-girls-beat-each-other-up/

Clue: if you realize something might sound appallingly sexist, it probably is. So you should probably shut up.

Those costumes worn by the volleyball players--it was reported that the women don't have to play in bikinis, and they have the option of more coverage. So what have the players actually been wearing?

I thought this posting about costumes worn by Australians was interesting:
hoydenabouttown.com/20120728.12078/london-olympics-2012-how-have-mens-and-womens-uniforms-changed/

Knee-length shorts seem unnecessarily modest, though. The basketball clothing isn't much improvement versus the older painted-on style.

Cross posted, but yes, Pedros sounds like a very big positive, she credited him with saving her life, which suggests he is a pretty great person.

I've not seen the cycling ... DH is just home to watch the judo (and, erm, his president ... apparently, Boris Johnson wishes Putin to strip off and join in, which I can only describe as a thoroughly feminist-friendly statement of acceptance of homoeroticism tutored in our finest public schools ...).

But I will certainly watch the gymnasts ... I have a sense of who I think will win but I'm keeping off media as much as I can - I only sneaked back on MN because I was so excited about so many great women in the judo.

Oh, just reading about Kayla Harrison's past. I'm so glad then that she came through all that crap to win gold and that there are actually decent people like the Pedros who gave her the support she needed.

What a palava in the cycling, eh? I felt so sorry for the Chinese pair. I mean it was so marginal the overlap, I could barely see it...

LRD make sure you catch up on the individual female gymnast. It was just unbelievable and a real nail-biter at the end. The right person won, IMO, she was pretty flawless.

(Oh, and if we have to have negatives, again, what on earth is with the commentator repeatedly referring to 'girls'? I bet any one of those 'girls' could smash him onto the mat within a second!)

Oooh, I've been burning to come on this thread and have had to avoid it until now! I don't have TV so have to watch on the catch-up later ... I was really enjoying the Judo.

Of course it was lovely to see Gemma Gibbons win - and to hear about her mum supporting her so much (esp. since it's not a typically 'feminine' sport, you know?).

And I agree last and yellow, I was a little teary about Kayla Harrison, coming through all that to get gold! She truly deserved it.

I also really liked that of the women who were losing, Joo fought and won a match despite being injured, and I thought the women she beat was very honourable and really deserved a lot of respect, since it was clear she didn't want to kick at the other woman's injured leg. I thought that was very praiseworthy. And I thought the French woman who fought again after such a short time, and who was then so upset - I felt for her, but she really showed how much endurance there was in her body.

So overall I thought it was wonderful to watch and really showed what women can do.

And I loved the hug between the two finalists - nice gesture!

I feel sorry for them. Pendleton has apologised and after watching the documentary about her...I don't know, she kept saying how she just wants to make people happy and she feels so bad and guilty if she loses. So she must be gutted, how horrible for her.

They were doing so well too.

Gutted Jess and VP out. Well harsh Vicky being very philosophical about it but I bet she's gutted inside.

Dammit all this working for a living is interfering with my Olympic enjoyment. Can't wait to get home and catchup!

Wow, just read Kayla Harrison, getting over abuse and continuing to compete must have been incredibly hard. Good on her.

Watching the cycling now, the British women look incredibly cool in their get-up, like sci-fi insects.

Plus: Kayla Harrison - what a woman, what a victory!

• And yes, I was cheering on Gemma - course I was, I'm a Brit - but Kayla's personal story is incredible. What an Olympian!

Oooh Gemma Gibbons through to judo finals! Bless the male commentator for saying how well GB women are doing across the board.

Love the bumshot madness! Thanks for the link.

There was an interesting documentary about Victoria Pendleton (racing today) on the BBC a couple of weeks back. Certainly not perfect from a feminist perspective, but nice to see something exclusively about a female athlete.

Ooh! I came right on here to link to that!

Very funny.

Great link, Ennis

link fail!
what if all sports were photographed like beach volleyball

This is brilliant!!

[http://www.metro.us/newyork/sports/article/1148979--what-if-every-olympic-sport-was-photographed-like-beach-volleyball what if all sports were photographed like beach volleyball]]

Loving this thread. It's an essential part of my Olympic day. Also caught the fantastic black and white footage of the Russian woman gymnast (named below - on phone so can't see) who held the medal record until today. So many years!

The disciplines are gender split, because the training required for artistic and ryhymic gymnastics are different you can see by the difference in body shapes and also the ages. I think there is a male version of rhymic for men in some Asian countries but I think their dance styles are more martial arts based I am not sure.

It was beautiful to watch, yes.

And yes, I can see what you mean about the differences.

Do you know, do women compete at the other apparatuses in other competitions, and do men every do the rhythmic one? I'm just ignorant and curious.

Don't get me wrong both men's and women's have elements of grace and power it's just that men's leans more towards power The rings and pommel horse are great examples of that. Whilst women's leans more towards grace. But they are both equally enjoyable to watch I have always loved watching the men's and women's gymnastics.