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Whether you're into football, athletics, tennis, golf or cricket, join the dicsussion on our Sport forum.

Women’s gymnastics team final

171 replies

PurpleDaisies · 27/07/2021 10:30

I am so excited about this. I’ve got coffee in. I’ve got snacks in.

Anyone else?

OP posts:
TowandaForever · 27/07/2021 15:15

@PurpleDaisies

We thought the same as you. All the channel hopping was poor.

FeatheredHope · 27/07/2021 15:15

I nearly lost my shit with the appalling BBC coverage

PurpleDaisies · 27/07/2021 15:16

They probably thought they would switch channels then to the red button.

Why though? If it was going to the red button, why not put viewers from bbc two straight to the red button?

It is effectively like having an advert while you’re finding it again,

OP posts:
RunningFromInsanity · 27/07/2021 15:19

Yes, it’s different from previous Olympics. Discovery channel bought the rights to show the Olympics, and are only allowing the BBC to show 2 live events at a time, hence why they keep skipping between all the sports and channels.
It’s ridiculous.

Meltinthemiddle · 27/07/2021 15:27

It's so bloody annoying trying to pick up the right feed in the red button and then they switch again! I player is rubbish and slow anyway.

PolkadotsAndMoonbeams · 27/07/2021 15:38

I think on most televisions there's actually a red button channel (I think it's 601 on Freeview and 991 on Virgin Media). I've found that much easier than actually going through the red button.

ElizabethTudor · 27/07/2021 15:43

[quote TowandaForever]@PurpleDaisies

We thought the same as you. All the channel hopping was poor. [/quote]
Totally agree. Happened yesterday with the men’s team event too. So I’m fully expecting it to happen with both men’s and women’s individual finals over the next few days. It so bloody frustrating.

AndyMurraysCat · 27/07/2021 16:28

Well I watched live on Eurosport & they barely showed any coverage of our team or the Belgian team for that matter. I think it’s sad if you’ve managed to make it an Olympic final and then you don’t even make it onto the TV.

SummaLuvin · 27/07/2021 16:53

The TV coverage of gymnastics is the same across the world with different commentary over the top. It's typically this approach for all gymnastics competitions in qualification, team finals, and all around finals where there are multiple routines happening at once - for the first few rotations they try to show a variety, but as the competition starts to draw to a close the coverage focuses in on the top of the leader board, as people want to see the routines from the top team the most.

In this final there ended up only being 0.832 between GBs 3rd place finish and France in 6th, so you can see for the people deciding what routines to show it was basically a guess as to who would end up in bronze, they guessed Italy who had been in 3rd place for much of the competition. Wrong in the end, but you can't hugely fault their logic.

Something the BBC did differently today which I think was a mistake is typically when the teams rotate between apparatus and warm-up they take the opportunity to show routines from GB that didn't make the international coverage cut. Today they favoured going to the studio to talk to Beth Tweddle, not my preference.

On the BBC Olympic coverage in general sadly their hands are very much tied with the horrible situation of only being permitted two live streams, they are always going to upset someone and they need to be dynamic, to show a variety of sports and British medals. I'm angry as we didn't just lose the bid, it was a closed door deal and BBC were not even given the opportunity to keep the coverage. For me making it so inaccessible goes against the spirit of the Olympics, and is very sad for our athletes who aren't getting the coverage they should.

HelenaRavenclaw · 27/07/2021 16:53

Simone Biles confirmed to have withdrawn from gymnastics team final because of mental health, not physical injury: www.bbc.com/sport/olympics/57982665

Wishing her all the best and hoping she will still be able to make it back for the individual finals in a few days, but of course her health and safety come first. She is a tremendous inspiration for us all. Flowers

ElizabethTudor · 27/07/2021 18:32

It’s really interesting what she’s said, particularly about athletes speaking up helping.
She’s absolutely right though, if she’s not fully 100% trysting herself, for whatever reason, then she did the right thing. No-one wants to see any athlete injured.
Absolutely @HelenaRavenclaw - she’s is totally inspirational. I hope she is able to compete in some / all of the individuals. But for her. And if she doesn’t, she’s had a fantastic career to date, and that’s her decision to make.

ElizabethTudor · 27/07/2021 18:33
  • trusting herself, obviously
AngeloMysterioso · 27/07/2021 18:41

It’s the right thing to do, but I can’t help suspecting that “I have to focus on my mental health” also means “I have to focus on my individual competition”.

KittenKong · 27/07/2021 18:48

Poor Simone. Can you imagine training and then just not being able to go through with it (remember that if she wasn’t 100% she could really do herself an injury with her routines)?

SummaLuvin · 27/07/2021 18:49

Worth bearing in mind the inherent danger of gymnastics. Simone performs the most difficult moves that exist in the sport, if they go wrong she could literally die, if she wasn't there mentally she absolutely made the right call to sit out. She said she felt that she wouldn't be performing well and impact the teams score regardless of the risk to her physical health. She knew the other 3 girls are great all arounds so would be able fill in for her, not quite as high as her usual scores, but they are all very talented.

I'm personally scared what the narrative will be if she does compete in the upcoming finals. It will either be a triumphant redemption. Or framed like “selfish Simone does for herself what she refused to do for the team”. I truly believe that if Simone felt she could have performed today, she would have done.

KittenKong · 27/07/2021 18:58

I saw her ‘gravity defying’ move recently - my god... we saw her performing live at an exhibition where she landed on her face after doing an amazing tumble. It must have bloody well hurt - and when she was interviewed after she said that she had been so excited to perform, apologised for messing up the land, was joking about the move being one that to can choose how you land (so she decided that her face would be an interesting option), etc. The audience went wild for her.

I can’t imagine how you could perform of your mind wasn’t in the game. You could break your neck.

Meltinthemiddle · 27/07/2021 19:06

I have huge admiration for simone! She had a shit start in life and then the abuse of her doctor someone she's supposed to trust is awful. She has always said part of her ritual before performing is to look for her adoptive parents in the audience to keep focused and sadly due to covid she couldn't do that.

Snog · 27/07/2021 19:45

So annoying that there was virtually no coverage of the GB team. I'm totally fed up with the poor quality of BBC olympics coverage. So hard to get into it this year and I feel sorry for the athletes too. Having to put on their own medals, no audience cheering etc

taliopolis · 27/07/2021 19:46

@Snog

So annoying that there was virtually no coverage of the GB team. I'm totally fed up with the poor quality of BBC olympics coverage. So hard to get into it this year and I feel sorry for the athletes too. Having to put on their own medals, no audience cheering etc
It's not the BBC's fault, it's the way the IOC have sold the rights.
ElizabethTudor · 27/07/2021 20:07

And they’re putting their own medals on due to Covid. And the same goes for the no crowds. Better that and having the Olympics, than no Olympics at all.
I think though, as we heard in the women’s gymnastics today, it’s great how the team sports are cheering each other on, in the absence of the crowds.

Serenster · 27/07/2021 20:49

@AngeloMysterioso

It’s the right thing to do, but I can’t help suspecting that “I have to focus on my mental health” also means “I have to focus on my individual competition”.
See, I genuinely don’t have a problem with that, and am really pleased that the powers-that-be in her team management supported her. The team medal gold: very nice to have, obviously. The bigger prize for both her and the US federation: the individual all-around gold and individual apparatus finals. It’s their responsibility to look after her as a person to give her the best chance to achieve that.

(You see this pragmatic attitude in other disciplines, like swimming, more often I guess? So in the case of the UK swimming squad, they sent out a team to qualify for the 4x100 freestyle relay yesterday morning. On paper it should have included Duncan Scott and Tom Dean - they would certainly have been subbed in for the final. But the Team GB swimming management decided to prioritise the individual 200m freestyle race for both of them, and so the team that was entered into the qualification round wasn’t our strongest. It came 9th fastest, and so didn’t make it to the final. Tom and Duncan won gold and silver in the 200m free earlier today, however. So, clearly, it was the right call. You can only guess whether the result would have been the same had they both had the stress on both body and mind of an extra race the day before, but their bosses decided their individual chances took priority).

PamDenick · 27/07/2021 20:51

It’s a shame the GB & NI women aren’t getting better press. Such an amazing achievement!

AND FairPlay to Simone. YES, she withdrew BUT she was still part of the team. Her vault score still counted (I think) and she remained to cheer her team mates on, AND she went over to congratulate the gold medalists. And YES, such a dangerous sport - one heavy fall and your ankle is broken or much much worse...

Serenster · 27/07/2021 20:56

Oh, and yes to the amazing achievement of the Team GB women’s team! I grew up avidly watching Olympic gymnastics in the decades when the very idea of any of our teams ending up on a podium would have been simply laughable. I am so delighted to have seen the sustained rise of our gymnasts over the last 10 years, it’s such an amazing achievement! The trailblazers like Beth Tweddle and Louis Smith are so admirable.

PamDenick · 27/07/2021 21:00

Let’s not forget Amy Tinkler - individual bronze on floor...
and the Downie sisters...

MoltenLasagne · 27/07/2021 21:20

Thanks for the explanation of what's going on with the coverage - how frustrating.

Agree with PPs that gymnastics can be so dangerous if your head's not in it. I hope Simone feels recovered/refocused in time for the individual events. For her to completely change her vault tumble, presumably mid-air, could have gone so scarily wrong.