A thread for your stupid Olympics questions

[FriendlyNeighbourhoodAccountant]

If you have any "stupid" questions about the Olympics here's the place to ask them. Hopefully some knowledgeable people will know the answers.

At this temperature it's too hot for me to walk my dog but the horses are participating in the jumping events. Does the heat not impact them in the same way? Is it because they're bigger? Is it just because they're horses?

Fencing commentary. It might as well be Greek as far as I understand.

The horses go into a cooling area afterwards with water mists and sprays where they are vet checked

What’s trap shooting?

Why is the coach by the barres in the gymnastics?

Why was a man allowed to punch a woman in the boxing ring?
Sorry, couldn't resist. ☹️

To hand up snacks if necessary.

Basically clay pigeon shooting aka a stag do activity as Olympic ‘sport’

Horses sweat so can self regulate their temperature. I was at Versailles yesterday and saw them enjoying being walked down their lovely long cool avenues of shady trees, cool as a cathedral. I imagine riders and grooms would have been fighting over who got to do those walks. Cooling contraptions in their stables too… those temporary structures often heat up something terrible!

Lots of spectators were passing out btw, and I came home with heat stroke. It was way too hot for spectators. How the riders managed in their ridiculous dressage getup is beyond me… saving grace for them is it was only for ten minutes at a time and they were probably catching more breezes than we were in the tribunes.
But, rest assured, the horses were all OK!

To catch them if they fall. It's dangerous.

The horses are so well looked after and yes unlike dogs they can sweat.

They have water misters and fans after their rounds. The 3 day event horses after the cross country have the cool down of real athletes including ice baths for each leg in tube type things, fans and water misters, massages etc. it's quite something!!!

What's in the boxes that the medalists get along with their actual medal

How do the backstroke swimmers know when it's time to turn at the end of the pool?

I think they all know exactly how many strokes they take at race speed from one end to the other. It would be quite an error for them to turn over early, potentially even leading to disqualification.

It’s a poster. What an anticlimax!

A poster of Paris (I think based on the design from the 1924 Olympics but I may have got that bit wrong), with either a gold, silver or bronze border.

I think it's great that they have got something more useful than some of the other random stuff medalists get - they can easily frame it and have it on their wall forever.

A print of the Paris 2024 Olympic poster apparently

www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/articles/c897n9d8dldo.amp

There are different coloured markings on the lane dividers - when they get to a red one they are 15m from the end of the pool. I imagine that acts as a sighter and they know when to turn from there.

What a great thread.

Why are runners disqualified entirely for false starts? I was reading about Zharnel Hughes barred from Tokyo after a false start.
Seems terribly harsh punishment for what could be nerves or anxiety.

Backstrokers - yes they know they are 15 from the wall and know how many strokes they do (obvs varies by swimmer) until they need to turn.

How do they get all the water going down the canoe thing and what is their electricity bill for doing so ?

False starts are very disruptive to all athletes, so I think the rules were changed to attempt to eliminate them. They used to be very common indeed.

The rule change seems to have worked as there are hardly any now.

Athletes train extremely hard on all the technical aspects of racing, and getting the start right will be one of those things (like the relay baton changeover).

I thought that was a new name for clay pigeon shooting. Am I wrong?

Oh thanks. I get they are disruptive but imagine losing 4 years of effort. I was watching "Sprint" on Netflix and even the great Alyson Felix said it was easy to false start
Another sprint question: why are the top male sprinters so tall and the women so small? Usain Bolt and Zharnel Hughes vs Shellly Ann Fraser Pryce and Shacarri Richardson?