Olympic chat thread 2 Gold edition.

[DesolateWaist]

What a way to start.

I was thinking rhythmic gymnastics but that is an Olympic sport and starts tomorrow or Friday.

I think the main reason the IOC will have to look at the criteria for where the games are held will be the appallingly low turnout of spectators at the Paralympics - from what I've read today there's a question about whether all the countries that are supposed to take part will be able to because the travel grants have not been paid by the organisers , apparently they reallocated the money to fix the green diving pool amongst other things .

Dolly80 - it's the gymnastics gala, they often have one but the timing depends on the schedule of events. We only see artistic, rhythmic and trampolining at the Olympics but there's more to gymnastics than just those disciplines.

Oh no Floral - that's shocking.. those poor athletes

I'm friends with a couple of paralympians and whilst one no longer competes, my other friend missed out on qualifying despite setting a new British record in his discipline in a non qualification competition. He is utterly devestated but staying positive as he knows he'll have another chance in four years. I cannot imagine how he'd feel if he qualified and was then denied the opportunity because he couldn't physically get to the Games...

That's actually utterly disgraceful and has made me both and .. I hope they sort it out and get them there.

I think there will have to be serious questions anyway given the lack of crowds, crime that has taken place on numerous occasions and fuck ups with the events such as the green diving pool!

Thanks Andro I was mesmerised by the tumbling, that should be an Olympic sport!

What amazes me about the Olympics is that I watch a sports that at any other time I wouldn't give two shits about.

Me too Desolate!

Gutted for Michael Conlon though - shocking decision by the judges for which they've been sent home & yet the result still stands & Conlon's Olympics are over (& it's looking like his opponent will pull out of the final).

I love the Olympics, but Rio has been a farce & I dread to think how terrible the Paralympics will be. The IOC organising committee should be sacked (or punished in some way).

Apparently less than 15% of Paralympic tickets have been sold so far. I know the IOC are keen to spread the Olympics around the globe and get as many viewers as possible, but surely they need to ensure that the host nation can a) afford to host the games and b) ensure decent ticket sales.

The situation with the Paralympics is appalling and there's been hardly any coverage about it. I only heard about it as I was listening to the Olympics on the radio in the car the other day.

Were Paralympics sales much better in Beijing?

Probably not but the difference is the Chinese could afford to subsidise it and probably brought people in to watch ,which the Brazilians seem unable to do . Let's face it the Rio public are not really interested because even the free to watch events like the cycling road races and the women's marathon have been badly attended .

It's kind of funny how it's laudable that the Chinese could "afford" to get people to fill stadiums..

Do you have any awareness of how the Chinese government operates?

I prefer Rio with smaller attendances, thank you.

I didn't say I agreed with how the Chinese govt works , I said they could afford to subsidise the Olympics .

and probably brought people in to watch

How do you think that's done?

It's also kind of funny to mention treatment of adversaries and the French.
It's good not sportsmanship, but neither was how they dealt with the Euro Cup final. Ahem.

I really don't know how you apologise sincerely for comparing a Brazilian audience (and not only - apparently there aren't enough of them and too many) to the Nazis.

Perhaps the French athlete should have learnt from Owen how to shut down external noise.
Pole volters often compete in the middle of stadium noise, races, etc.

I'm not condoning booing, on the contrary, but he certainly made it a lot worse with stupid comments.

I'd find it really sad if the IOC never gave the Olympics to less well off nations. Or if it would penalise other nations, or this, for smaller problems in the context of the entire Olympics or just because some events had poorer attendance.

Are the Olympics supposed to be a rich country's exclusive club?

They already are in terms of medals.

You are obviously trying to pick a fight with me which I'm not interested in , at no point did I say I agreed with what he said ( and he apologised) and I don't think you can compare a football crowd with an athletics crowd , or actually any other crowd .

I don't understand the Euro cup final comment?

What the pole vaulter said immediately after was stupid & he apologised for that but it still doesn't mean it's ok to boo him when he's receiving his Olympic medal.

I think the IOC have a responsibility to give it to a country that wants them & has interested citizens (who could then go for free & no need to 'bus' anyone).

I also think they have a responsibility to ensure the judges of events are fair - the boxing has been farcical & there really should be some form of recourse for Michael Conlon & the other boxer(s) affected. That's nothing to do with wealth & everything to do with fair play, which is what the Olympics is supposed to be about.

They also should ensure that money for the Paralympics is kept for the Paralympics & not spent elsewhere.

Has the Paralympics started already? It's normally after the Olympics isn't it?

I'm disagreeing with the comparisons to China.
Since then was that picking a fight?

And, as I said, I don't condone booing, but he exercised very poor judgement in his comments and I don't think any apology compensates for them.
Most footballers have put up with booing and worse. He sounded like a precious flower and the comparison was beyond appalling in both senses.

Interesting BBC article on the Tax charged to US athletes

I personally think the booing was too much in the medal ceremony, the French pole vaulter acted like a dick and Brazil should have risen above it. They also tainted their own country mans win. Previous booing had either been for athletes that slagged Brazil off all over Twitter before setting foot in the coutry or Argentians.

Booing in Brazil is not a compliment but in most sporting cases it's not really an insult either. At my children's sports day the oppossing teams boo each other and your team has to cheer you on even louder. So it doesn't always have the same cultural meaning. Unless it's to the president, then it does .

Paralympics don't start for a few weeks Desolate, but there were posters discussing on here yesterday & on BBC Sport how there's the risk that a lot of Paralympians haven't received their travel grants so won't be able to go - the money has apparently been spent on fixing the diving pool.

THURSDAY 18th AUGUST

Today’s GBR medal hopes
BADMINTON: men’s doubles (bronze)
SAILING: women’s 470 – Hannah Mills & Saskia Clark (gold assured if there is enough wind!
SAILING: men’s 49er – Dylan Fletcher-Scott & Alain Sign (currently in 4th position going into the medal race)
TRIATHLON: men's - Alistair Brownlee, Jonny Brownlee, Gordon Benson
CANOE SPRINT: men's 200m - Liam Heath and Jon Schofield
TAEKWONDO: women's -57kg - Jade Jones
BOXING: women's fly - Nicola Adams (a win means silver or gold - she already has at least a bronze)
Where we have a GBR competitor in the event I have put name. A name and question mark is also listed for later rounds in case they do qualify.

11:30 GOLF
women’s round 2

From 13:00 TAEKWONDO
Women’s -57kg
Jade Jones

13:23 CANOE SPRINT
Men's Canoe Single 200m FINAL

13:08 CANOE SPRINT
Men's Kayak Double 1000m FINAL^

13:47 CANOE SPRINT
Men's Kayak Double 200m FINAL
Liam Heath & Jon Schofield

14:00 ATHLETICS
Women's High Jump Qual. Round
Morgan Lake

14:00 - 15:30 DIVING
women's 10m semi
Tonia Couch

14:00 – 17:00 MODERN PENTATHLON
Women’s Fencing Ranking Round
Kate French, Samantha Murray

14:10 – 15:00 BADMINTON
men’s doubles bronze medal match
GB v CHN

14:11 CANOE SPRINT
^Women's Kayak Single 500m FINAL

14:30 – 14:45 TAEKWONDO
Women’s -57kg
Jade Jones first bout

15:00 TRIATHLON
men FINAL
Alistair Brownlee, Jonny Brownlee, Gordon Benson

15:20 ATHLETICS
Women's 4 x 100m Relay Heats
Asha Philip, Desiree Henry, Daryll Neita, Dina Asher-Smith, Bianca Williams, Ashleigh Nelson, Louise Bloor

15:40 ATHLETICS
Men's 4 x 100m Relay Heats
James Dasaolu, James Ellington, Chijindu Ujah, Adam Gemili, Danny Talbot, Nethaneel Mitchell-Blake, Richard Kilty, Ojie Edoburun, Harry Aikines-Aryeetey

15:50 – 16:30 BADMINTON
women's doubles FINAL

16:00 ATHLETICS
Men's 400m Hurdles Final

17:05 – 18:05 SAILING
470 Women’s Medal Race
Hannah Mills & Saskia Clark

17:30 – 18:33 BMX CYCLING
men’s quarterfinals
Liam Phillips

17:50 – 18:50 SAILING
470 Men’s Medal Race
Luke Patience & Daniel Grube

18:00 – 18:11 BOXING
women’s fly
Adams (GB) v Ren (CHN)

18:30 – 21:30 MODERN PENTATHLON
Men’s Fencing Ranking Round
James Cooke, Joseph Choong

18:35 – 19:05 SAILING
49er men’s Medal Race
Dylan Fletcher & Alain Sign

19:20 – 19:50 SAILING
49er FX women’s Medal Race
Charlotte Dobson & Sophie Ainsworth

19:30 – 19:41 BOXING
men's light heavyweight FINAL

20:00 - 21:15 DIVING
women's 10m FINAL
Tonia Couch?

20:45 – 22:45 WRESTLING FREESTYLE
women's -53kg FINAL
women’s -63kg FINAL
women’s -75kg FINAL

21:00 – 22:45 HOCKEY
men FINAL

00:30 – 01:35 ATHLETES
men’s shot put FINAL

00:45 ATHLETICS
Men's 1500m Semifinal
Chris O'Hare, Charlie Grice

01:10 – 02:20 ATHLETICS
women’s javelin FINAL

01:15 ATHLETICS
Women's 800m Semifinal
Lynsey Sharp, Shelayna Oskan-Clarke

01:30 – 02:15 TAEKWONDO
women's -57kg Bronze medal and FINAL
Jade Jones?

01:45 – 02:01 ATHLETICS
men’s decathlon FINAL

02:15 ATHLETICS
Women's 400m Hurdles Final
Eilidh Doyle

02:15 – 02:30 TAEKWONDO
men's -68kg FINAL

02:30 ATHLETICS
Men's 200m Final
Adam Gemili

03:59 – 04:49 BEACH VOLLEYBALL
men FINAL

Flora, I pointed out that you could hardly choose the Chinese as good examples.
You are just trying to shut down someone disagreeing with you by calling it "trying to pick a fight".

Also, I hardly ever register usernames, I just tend to reply to the ideas put on posts.
Sometimes I disagree with what people say. Shocker.

I wasn't aware that Paralympians were paid in grants by the organisers. Why aren't they paid directly by their own countries or the IOC?