Rio women's sports, starting with rugby 7s

4th place was a woman too. Laura Graves of US.

Felas I've heard it argued that women's hip joints are more flexible than men's and therefore more easily able to move with the horse rather than against them. It's previously been used as a counter argument to men's dominance as jockeys

I didn't rate dressage til I watched it live in 2012. Valegro is a cut above. It's incredible to watch, amazing athleticism and control in both horse and rider.
Interesting actually that women dominate in a sport where I can't see why either sex would have a competitive advantage

Just watched the final of the individual dressage. About as "showy offy" as you could get and very enjoyable it was.

Charlotte Dujardin of GB won with
Germany's Isabell Werth and Kristina Broring-Sprehe taking silver and bronze. respectively so all female winners.

Yeah, John Inverdale tends to forget that women are people too.

I'm glad to see Andy Murray speaking up for women (Serena and Venus Williams) who have won more tennis Olympic gold medals than him.

www.telegraph.co.uk/olympics/2016/08/15/andy-murray-gives-brilliant-response-to-john-inverdale-gaffe-abo/

I would say there is a certain degree of arrogance with all top level athletes

Actually thinking of it I'm not entirely sure that "showing off " doesn't apply to most of it - "look at me, I'm better than anyone else"

I really can't see body shaming in this observation; these women are supreme athletes with bodies that are at their physical peak, just like the men. I just don't see that silver eyeliner enhances that. I am also uncertain that "showing off" is what the Olympic ideal is about

I don't know what the Olympic ideal might be but for me all of the activities which have no objective measure of success such as fastest, highest, furthest, heaviest, most goals scored etc seem to be entirely about showing off. I don't have a problem with that.

I find these activities are far more interesting to watch than the objectively measurable ones. They are performances in a theatrical sense.

Are top notch circus performers athletes? I'm not talking about tired old Billy Smart's style circus but modern alternative circuses. The skills are the same, the physical strength is the same (in fact often greater especially for female circus performers) and more dangerous e.g aerial performances are done at heights far exceeding Olympic equipment and with no safety harness or nets and very little, if any, floor padding.

Really hoping that Jess Ennis-Hill and KJT can perform to the best of their abilities, and that I can stay awake to watch it all unfold.

referred to her team-mates as 'girls' several times in the post-match interview.

So did all the cycling pursuit team members about their team mates, and so did Clare Balding just now about the pentathletes :/

And the hockey team just beat the Yanks 2-1 with the kind of dogged teamwork that some English/British teams can only dream of. Oh, and Crista Cullen won her 100th cap tonight, and referred to her team-mates as 'girls' several times in the post-match interview. Is that infantilising or disrespectful?

Why talk down the women's gymnastics? They do something different and it must be inferior "prancing about" because men don't do it.
I don't think I was talking down the gymnastics. Just noting the difference. I think the women's gymnastics has been amazing.
I do hate ballet though, whoever is dancing, which may have led to the "prancing" remark.

It would be nice to recognise some of the achievements of the women in the games. Just watching the track cycling, what fantastic athletes. ridiculous power and stamina in different events.

If you want mixed sport, go for the sailing. Clothing is 100% practical there so all are in wetsuits. Same for men and women, no one has to wear anything cropped or cut so high you can see what they had for lunch. Sailors don't have time to pull clothes out of body orifices!

Lass, I think that's such an interesting question and one reason I'm glad that gymnastics has moved away from the idea that perfection is attainable and towards the idea of ever increasing physical challenge - it roots it more firmly in the 'sport' category rather than 'art form/entertainment' camp.

But for gymnastics is borderline as even being a sport. I was at this show today.

Driftwood | Dance, Physical Theatre and Circus | Edinburgh Festival Fringe
tickets.edfringe.com/whats-on/driftwood.

It was beautiful and stunning and brought gasps of astonishment from the audience. Is it dance, physical theatre, circus acrobatics, gymnastics ? The 2 young women looked very feminine but their physical strength was astonishing. (Thankfully burlesque seems to have had its day at the Fringe and has been replaced by stunning circus/ physical theatre acts)

I'm completely with Fela re elegance, grace and artistry.(I love the dressage) I have zero interest in simply how fast someone runs or swims or rows or in team sports.

I'm nit picking really because I do love these sports. I'm a perfectionist though so I always want to see a perfect move, not necessarily a harder move!

The Chinese female divers have it all imo, maximum difficulty and beautiful execution. No one can beat them at the moment. I've enjoyed watching Aly Raisman in the gym. She's a very stylish gymnast I think.

Although if she slowed down, some of the things she achieves wouldn't be physically possible.

It's interesting the way people react to the changes in women's gymnastics and I guess it comes down to each individual's idea of what gymnastics is for - ie sport or art, for want of a better dichotomy. Physically more amazing, or more enjoyable/lovely to look at. I'm in the former camp, so I'm thrilled the way the sport has developed, but I get that not everyone is.

I suppose I said women just because I prefer and so watch mores women's gym (diving is my favourite though!) But in all those sports, a competitor can move very fast, not be make particularly well formed shapes or have particularly good height and do better than competitors because of higher difficulty. I suppose I'd prefer to see execution rewarded higher than difficulty. I'd rather watch someone do a simpler move perfectly than a harder move less well myself. Simone is amazing. I wish she would slow down a bit though.
Anyway I've gone totally OT

For all the diving/trampolining/gymnastic sports I prefer to see the women looking elegant and artistic in flight, sometimes the pursuit of high difficulty takes away from that I think.

Why just the women?

For me, the Olympics (and sporting, rather than artistic, disciplines) are about the increasing pursuit of physical excellence and ability. What Simone Biles does may not be the most graceful/balletic but gymnastics has never been amazing at that, frankly. I don't watch it for the artistic interpretation, I enjoy watching dance if that's what I'm after.

It's a sport - the goal is physical attainment rather than artistic interpretation. But what Biles does is extraordinary in terms of what she is able to make her body do, the mental and physical control she has to push at the boundaries of what the laws of physics allow the human body to do. The physics of what she does (and other gymnasts do) is enthralling in and of itself. And the changes in the gymnastics scoring have enabled that to be pursued in modern gymnasts. Stronger, higher, and often faster. To me, that is an awful lot closer to the Olympic ideal than 'prettier'.

I was having this conversation today and said exactly this- yes, I would like very plain leotard type things. Why must women be objectified /displayed / 'beautified' all the time? They are athletes, performing at the peak of human limits.
As I read this it sounds as though I believe the women are forced to do this and, I assume, most are not...other than by the prevailing culture in which we live.

I am concerned at the obvious differences

If women are constricted by the rules, a la Sepp Blatter's idiotic utterances, then I agree. If they can wear outfits that are functional, comfortable, safe and optimised for performance, then surely decoration and it's appeal is in the eye of the beholder. Back in the 70's it seemed that leotards were all of a muchness apart from national colours. Would you rather they went back to this? I suppose the sensible thing is to ask the athletes themselves. If they said they were in favour of sequins, eyeliner etc., would anyone still object?

The showing off comment was from an athlete. I guess you'd have to take it up with her. Mind you, how many of us with an Olympian gymnast's physique wouldn't want to show off a bit?

I am not saying that sparkly is inferior; I am concerned at the obvious differences. I'm making a not too dramatic assumption that the fact the women's outfits are always the ones that seem to put a premium on appearance AS WELL AS performance seems to be part and parcel of women as defined at least in part by their looks. I really can't see body shaming in this observation; these women are supreme athletes with bodies that are at their physical peak, just like the men. I just don't see that silver eyeliner enhances that. I am also uncertain that "showing off" is what the Olympic ideal is about.

I completely agree Fela I don't find Simone Biles that interesting to watch.

I also agree with Grim I don't like the assumptions that because there are differences between the men's and the women's gymnastics it's the women's which is automatically wrong and inferior.

Men do wear sparkly , bright costumed in ice-skating and ice dancing competitions.