The Olmypics thread *spoilers*

clarkey cat

Not me - I'm built like Winston Gordon.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/olympics/201 ... 315ee9464d

Paulie W

Team GB (sic) seems to have underperformed so far - lots of early exits in events like Badminton, Judo and Archery where we had outside chances of a medal; less that stellar times in the pool. It may all 'come good' in the next few days when we get to the business end of the rowing and the track cycling starts up, but i wonder whether the presence of a British team in sports such as Handball, Volleyball, Basketball as group whipping boys/girls is partly responsible for the mythical 'momentum' (or rather lack of). I understand some of the logic of having a Team GB in these events - increases public interest; stirs interest at the grass roots level in these sports - but the news f yet another resounding defeat for our Handballers or our Basketball players becomes a bit wearing (at least on me!). I'm also thoroughly unconvinced of the impact Olympic participation will have on these sports even in the short term: we won Hockey gold in 1988 and that didn't do much for the sport beyond the building of a few new pitches/stadia!

TheStone

Paulie W wrote:

Team GB (sic) seems to have underperformed so far

Seems like the rowing's going well and Wiggo hot favourite tomorrow, but I wouldn't expect the track cyclists to get anywhere near '08.

Becky in the 800m and Mo on the track have really good chances. I think Jess has a very hard task.

I'm not sure those random, unexpected medals exist any more.

rick_chasey

Assuming Cancellara is OK post crash he should be favourite.

Given it's taken an edge, I'd say it should be a pretty close battle.

The farmer looks out of it TBH.

cjcp

Greg66 wrote:

Paulie W wrote:

Ye is a world champion and is only 16 so big jumps forward are not outside the realms of possibility but her time for the freestyle leg of the medley is insane and 'unbelievable' in the fullest sense of the word.

That is exactly my view. One of those factors is credible; the other isn't, and together they really don't look good. I am also (I suspect) predisposed to prejudice after having seen Ma's army of Chinese distance runners appear, smash world records, then recede under a doping cloud.

+1. It was jaw-dropping. People scratch their chin at jaw-dropping moments in a bike race (i have Ricco (on Super-Besse?) In mind), so other sports should receive the same treatment.

el_presidente

Rick Chasey wrote:

Assuming Cancellara is OK post crash he should be favourite.

Given it's taken an edge, I'd say it should be a pretty close battle.

The farmer looks out of it TBH.

Betfair has Wiggo at 1.56, Martin 5.8 and Cancellara 8.2. Seems like the market doesn't agree with you Rick.

TheStone

Rick Chasey wrote:

Assuming Cancellara is OK post crash he should be favourite.

Had a bet on Canc last night at 9/1.
Wiggo was 4/6

I want Wiggo to win, but those odds were too much.

greg66_tri_v2.0

el_presidente wrote:

Rick Chasey wrote:

Assuming Cancellara is OK post crash he should be favourite.

Given it's taken an edge, I'd say it should be a pretty close battle.

The farmer looks out of it TBH.

Betfair has Wiggo at 1.56, Martin 5.8 and Cancellara 8.2. Seems like the market doesn't agree with you Rick.

Think those odds for Bradley are a touch too short. I bet that Saturday took more out of him that it did Martin or Spartacus.

rick_chasey

el_presidente wrote:

Rick Chasey wrote:

Assuming Cancellara is OK post crash he should be favourite.

Given it's taken an edge, I'd say it should be a pretty close battle.

The farmer looks out of it TBH.

Betfair has Wiggo at 1.56, Martin 5.8 and Cancellara 8.2. Seems like the market doesn't agree with you Rick.

UK bookies?

Martin looked really cooked when I saw him by box hill.

Canc looked veeery easy but that was pre-crash.

We shall see, but I think it'll be reasonably tight.

el_presidente

Rick Chasey wrote:

el_presidente wrote:

Rick Chasey wrote:

Assuming Cancellara is OK post crash he should be favourite.

Given it's taken an edge, I'd say it should be a pretty close battle.

The farmer looks out of it TBH.

Betfair has Wiggo at 1.56, Martin 5.8 and Cancellara 8.2. Seems like the market doesn't agree with you Rick.

UK bookies?

Martin looked really cooked when I saw him by box hill.

Canc looked veeery easy but that was pre-crash.

We shall see, but I think it'll be reasonably tight.

UK gamblers, Rick. BF prices are purely set by the market. FWIW I agree Wiggo is too short.

rick_chasey

el_presidente wrote:

UK gamblers, Rick. BF prices are purely set by the market. FWIW I agree Wiggo is too short.

You've got to assume there's an awful lot of money on Wiggins and that's pushing the odds for Martin and Canc. up so that they get more of a hedge.

I think it'll be a good one. Wiggins has never won a worlds TT - the other two have.

I think reading too much into the Tour TTs would be a mistake, given even the first one happened after 8 days of TdF racing.

el_presidente

Agreed that patriotic money is depressing Wiggin's price. I will lay him I think, unless he is the last starter (although presumably it's no radios or chalkboards so not as much of an advantage?).

rick_chasey

el_presidente wrote:

Agreed that patriotic money is depressing Wiggin's price. I will lay him I think, unless he is the last starter (although presumably it's no radios or chalkboards so not as much of an advantage?).

Don't think it makes much difference.

I imagine he'll know where he is.

If cars have no radios they'll have megaphones blaring out the car chat.

Or if you guys who stand by the side of the road can write a big whiteboard with the times

TheStone

el_presidente wrote:

Agreed that patriotic money is depressing Wiggin's price. I will lay him I think, unless he is the last starter (although presumably it's no radios or chalkboards so not as much of an advantage?).

I think it's a tiny market too, which exaggerates small patriotic bets.
I got on Canc at 9.6 or 9.8 yesterday.

Paulie W

Rick Chasey wrote:

el_presidente wrote:

Agreed that patriotic money is depressing Wiggin's price. I will lay him I think, unless he is the last starter (although presumably it's no radios or chalkboards so not as much of an advantage?).

Don't think it makes much difference.

I imagine he'll know where he is.

If cars have no radios they'll have megaphones blaring out the car chat.

Or if you guys who stand by the side of the road can write a big whiteboard with the times

Didn't Wiggins just ride to a power meter at the Worlds with no input from the car after things had gone a bit wrong at the Vuelta with feedback.

rick_chasey

No idea.

Wouldn't be surprised.

Last time I remember him doing well in a one off TT he had a little tantrum.

Doubt that'll happen tomorrow.

el_presidente

TheStone wrote:

el_presidente wrote:

Agreed that patriotic money is depressing Wiggin's price. I will lay him I think, unless he is the last starter (although presumably it's no radios or chalkboards so not as much of an advantage?).

I think it's a tiny market too, which exaggerates small patriotic bets.
I got on Canc at 9.6 or 9.8 yesterday.

£150k matched, of which £116k is on Wiggins

tailwindhome

cjcp wrote:

Greg66 wrote:

Paulie W wrote:

Ye is a world champion and is only 16 so big jumps forward are not outside the realms of possibility but her time for the freestyle leg of the medley is insane and 'unbelievable' in the fullest sense of the word.

That is exactly my view. One of those factors is credible; the other isn't, and together they really don't look good. I am also (I suspect) predisposed to prejudice after having seen Ma's army of Chinese distance runners appear, smash world records, then recede under a doping cloud.

+1. It was jaw-dropping. People scratch their chin at jaw-dropping moments in a bike race (i have Ricco (on Super-Besse?) In mind), so other sports should receive the same treatment.

Bit of context from the BBC site

Suspicions over Ye's performance were heightened when it was pointed out that in the final 50m of her race she swam faster than the winner of the men's race, Ryan Lochte.

However, her world-record time was still 23 seconds slower than Lochte's winning time, and several of Lochte's competitors were faster than her over the final 50m.

Chinese officials also pointed out that Lochte was easing to the finish, comfortably in the lead, whereas Ye had to battle to the end to take first place.

tailwindhome

TheStone wrote:

Paulie W wrote:

Team GB (sic) seems to have underperformed so far

Seems like the rowing's going well and Wiggo hot favourite tomorrow, but I wouldn't expect the track cyclists to get anywhere near '08.

Becky in the 800m and Mo on the track have really good chances. I think Jess has a very hard task.

I'm not sure those random, unexpected medals exist any more.

So it's Becky, Wiggo, Jess and Mo.

Sounds likes a CBeebies programme to me.

rick_chasey

Who cares. Cav's co-presenting the track cycling.


Mumble mumble mumble something outrageous mumble mumble love the team mumble great guy mumble mumble.

TheStone

TailWindHome wrote:

So it's Becky, Wiggo, Jess and Mo.

Sounds likes a CBeebies programme to me.

I'd say
Becky - 90%
Mo - 75%
Wiggo - 50%
Jess - 40%

evil_breakfast

Rick Chasey wrote:

Who cares. Cav's co-presenting the track cycling.

He'll be looking for David Bond then....

mattsaw

el_presidente wrote:

Agreed that patriotic money is depressing Wiggin's price. I will lay him I think, unless he is the last starter (although presumably it's no radios or chalkboards so not as much of an advantage?).

There's not much difference these days since the market is so small, Betfair is global so their odds influences most markets.

jonny_trousers

Although I really like both John Mcenroe and Michael Johnson should we really have a couch solely made up of foreign pundits on BBC1's Olympics tonight? It just seems so silly to have Gabby Logan talking about medals "we" might win to them.

Oh, and to those being negative about Brad's chances of winning gold later today, I look forward to seeing egg on face.

cjcp

TailWindHome wrote:

TheStone wrote:

Paulie W wrote:

Team GB (sic) seems to have underperformed so far

Seems like the rowing's going well and Wiggo hot favourite tomorrow, but I wouldn't expect the track cyclists to get anywhere near '08.

Becky in the 800m and Mo on the track have really good chances. I think Jess has a very hard task.

I'm not sure those random, unexpected medals exist any more.

So it's Becky, Wiggo, Jess and Mo.

Sounds likes a CBeebies programme to me.

I must confess, after all the hype about home advantage and getting ready for the home Olys etc that I've heard over the past couple of years, I was expecting a few more medals by now.

The men's 200m breaststroke looks like being a great race.

MonkeyMonster

The roads today were even quieter... and marleybone sorted itself out somehow to not be chocka all the way.

Sharkyssurfers

does anyone know if traf sq has a big screen quite fancy watching the road tt, as our tinternet here is slower that a snail in a reverse race.

jonginge

\o/

pangolin

JonGinge wrote:

\o/

+1

\o/ \o/

essex-commuter

Good warm up routine here, might want to watch it from home though and not the office.

http://vimeo.com/45784191


Apologies if posted before!