OLYMPICS 2021

[Star555]

Haven't found a thread for Olympic sports discussions so I'm starting one. This thread is only for discussions of the actual sporting events as they happen over the next few weeks, not the unfairness of IOC's rules/philosophy (e.g. allowing a male athlete to declare himself a woman and compete in the women's category...which is immoral, unscientific, and wholly unjust, but that topic already has multiple separate threads).

Although this will be an Olympics like no other, I'm excited for the opening ceremony tomorrow. Looking forward to seeing gymnastics and swimming especially!

[quote Quartz2208]@SCMocha I am not sure I would even use the word a bit! De Grasse's were very revealing![/quote]
Do you think he looked in the mirror when he was given that kit?!

@Ekofisk

My MIL used to crew for FIL.

Someone had to explain to MIL that the big sail at the front was just called a “spinnaker” rather than a “fucking spinnaker”.

FIL was a bit competitive.

Love it!

Thanks everyone, that's really interesting.

Do you think he looked in the mirror when he was given that kit?!

I did wonder! I don't know if the other Canadian runners had the same kit, or if it was his own choice..
I'm sure he will have seen the TV pictures at some point (wasn't he in the 100m too? I don't remember seeing such revealing pictures then!!).

I'm just watching the skateboarding. It was definitely better than last weeks. I thought the british girl SKy Brown sounded American...?

Her mum's Japanese, her dad's English and she lives in California. The other Team GB skater, Bombette Martin, also lives in America.

I thought the british girl SKy Brown sounded American...?

She is American, I think she qualifies as British through a parent or maybe both parents. There was another British skater who didn't get as far in the competition who was also American but had dual citizenship.

Ah ok. Thanks for explaining!

Why did they describe the american girl as a 'unicorn'?

Sorry that was vague of me! The American Skateboarder was described as a unicorn.

Bryce Wettstein

Was really looking forward to the women's 10m diving but after watching pretty much on and off all day ( and getting up at 7 ) there was no mention of it. Such a shame. Fred Sirieux's daughter apparently has got through for team gb to the semi finals at only 16. I wonder how they decide who to focus on.

Meant to say no mention on the beeb.... haven't got discovery.

Sky Brown qualifies for GB through her dad who is British but moved to the USA in his teens . He met her mum who is Japanese in Japan and they are based in both Japan and the US , her primary language is apparently Japanese . So not very British .

i'm amazed that these 10k swimmers can drink while on their backs! Are surrounded by waves, too, so easy to choke.

and also amazed at how hot the water is! I know it's 33-34 degrees air temperature at the max during the day, but the water is almost that hot as well, up to 30 degrees, which is surprising. And must feel very odd to swim in!

It does — I've been on holiday somewhere that has a very sheltered shallow bay and air temperatures in the mid-thirties. It honestly wasn't refreshing to swim in at all. It felt more like being in the bath.

@Floralnomad

They mentioned during the BBC commentary for Sky Brown that she had looked at both the programs for the Japanese and British teams, and I'm paraphrasing but it was something about the Japanese program seemed more rigid and intense but the British seemed more flexible/fun or something so she went with them. She's a Pro and maybe the GB program was just the best fit.

I’m quite multi national with which sports people I support so it’s not that I’m particularly pro British but I actually take a bit of a dim view of people representing countries for convenience etc

@Floralnomad my DCs were born in foreign countries and are entitled to the nationality of the country in which they were born, however they're very proudly British & if they were good enough, would absolutely represent Team GB over the country they were born in.

That said, if they didn't make the cut or the training regime of the alternative country suited them better, then I'd fully support them representing whichever country meant they could do their best.

Saw on Instagram that Hector Pardoe got hit in the head during the 10k swim - cut and bruised around his eye 🤕

GB women looked good in the relay heats.

I signed up to 1 month of Discovery as was getting frustrated by what I was missing on BBC. Still watching it for the chit-chat and Michael Johnson in particular.

I love discovery plus. I don't miss the pundits at all, I thought I would but its lovely just to watch as much of each sport as you want.

Diving on red button now, and the Chinese divers are amazing - perfect 10s from one of them at least twice, and the other one also doing amazingly. I do not see how they can do a handstand on the end of the board like that! I know their core strength is beyond incredible, but even still, the balance that must be needed for that. I can't even stand steadily on the end of a stair in that position, let alone do a handstand. I wonder if anyone has lost balance in competition and fallen when trying.

The chinese athletes are always really good at tumbling type things, whether diving or gymnastics or whatever

@Bryonyshcmyony

I love discovery plus. I don't miss the pundits at all, I thought I would but its lovely just to watch as much of each sport as you want.

I agree, the inane chit chat, especially on Olympic breakfast is not missed at all.

Enjoyed the women's diving, (although I'd also make it a 16+ age limit) the Chinese winner was another level.

I agree, the inane chit chat, especially on Olympic breakfast is not missed at all.

I agree with this and I don't.

I can see the appeal and purpose of a show like the BBC1 that flips and flops between sports to give a real variety, and showing loads of British athletes and medals, the discussions can be very interesting too. I think if you are not super into any one sport it would be really interesting, and I have enjoyed it.

However, it is infuriating when there is a live sport you want to watch and they are chattering on instead of showing it. I have switched to Discovery+ in this scenario, and it's fine, better than nothing, but the standard of commentary and pundits are so far below BBC IMO. I'm someone who really enjoys commentary and gets alot out of it, especially in sports that I am new to and have little to no understanding of rules. For example in the gymnastics they consistently referred to Swiss gymnast (who has been competing for over 10 years and medaled in Rio) Giulia Steingruber as 'SteinBURGER", and they seemed to have limited understanding of scoring, it's an embarrassment.

I just wish that BBC hadn't been blindsided by the sly bid from NBC, as their coverage for Rio was the perfect mix of selecting a variety show like they have on BBC1, or sticking to dedicated coverage for individual sports. Shame that it's probably going to be more of the same in Paris 2024.