Olympic thread ** non cycling. **SPOILERS**

DeVlaeminck

morstar wrote:

The Olympics is the reason triathlons are drafting events as they didn't think the audience liked the TT format.

Yesterdays was a good course and on such a course, the argument that it's all about the run are completely innaccurate. The bike drafting makes the swim and bike hugely critical. You have to get out the swim near the front to get the lead group on the bike. Brownlees absolutely hammer the pace at the start of the bike leg to get away from the likes of Mola and Gomez who can live with them on the run.

I agree the swim is critical but the bike isn't - I know they are all strong cyclists but the differences in ability on the bike don't pay like they do on the run. So long as the fastest runner can get out of the swim with the lead group they should win hence why when they talent spot they aren't really interested in how good a cyclist you are so long as you can swim and run.

Triathlon is meant to be a test of swim bike run but by making it a bunch race they are taking out the importance of the bike element - they need to either go back to non-drafting (which would be deadly dull but it is anyway) or change the order of the events to make it a genuine spectator sport where strong cyclists can make their strength pay the same as strong runners can. If they wanted to be really radical maybe a short run - then swim - bike - short run - anything to split the athletes up before the bike and ideally before the swim too.

graeme_s-2

I enjoy participating in triathlon and supporting friends in mass participation events, but I reckon as a professional sport it's deathly dull for spectators whether they allow drafting or not. It's just not an appealing proposition. (the Brownlee brothers are proper amazing though).

morstar

The Leeds ITU men's race was won on the bike. The women's race was being blown apart by two young brits on the bike until they eased off as they were spoon feeding the Bermudan athlete the win. They were under instruction to not get too far ahead of the higher ranked British athletes.
But it is 3 disciplines, you can't win without being good at all 3. I don't like the drafting but the order of sports isn't an issue. I wouldn't want someone running themselves into a lead and then getting chased down by a pack on the bike if the bike followed the run.

bikes`n`guns

Just watched the 50k walk ! bloody hell, 3;40 . That`s some pace.

crispybug2

Bikes`n`guns wrote:

Just watched the 50k walk ! bloody hell, 3;40 . That`s some pace.

Years and years ago when I was a decent national class athlete, I trained at Loughborough university and we had a brief session with the British walking champion( and bear in mind that he wasn't even close to an Olympic medal standard!) and we had to jog to keep pace with him, as you say it's some pace!

Pross

How can the organisers be allowed to get away without putting the necessary funding in place for the Paralympics to run properly? Surely part of the bid requires the costs to be underwritten by the Government? It's a disgrace that the IPC are being forced into scaling back the event.

awavey

morstar wrote:

and why arent triathlons run to the same distances anyway?

Not sure what you mean by this. Olympic (or standard distance) triathlons are always the same distance, 1,500m, 40K, 10K. Other events distances are available as with any sport.

in that there are sprint triathlons, olympic triathlons, half iron man triathlons, full iron man triathlons and then some really crazy triathlons, that all have different lengths of swims,bike bits and running,

like take Triathlon X, swim 2.4 miles in Lake Windemere, then chuck in all 112 miles of the Fred Whitton as the bike ride, then run a 26mile marathon to the top of Scafell Pike and back...I accept that probably doesnt work that well as a race on tv as it probably takes hours even for elite riders but Id always assumed triathlons were similar lengths, it was just the change in geography that made them harder, so I was surprised the Olympic one was a 10k run for instance.

crispybug2

Another gold medal!!!

This is definitely my wife's favourite gold so far, as she was a keen hockey player in her youth.

p.s. Also nice to see a British team win a Penalty shoot out!!

Pross

I can't recall ever seeing a team so comprehensively outplayed yet still win. Brilliant performance by the keeper though.

Stevo_666

Pross wrote:

I can't recall ever seeing a team so comprehensively outplayed yet still win. Brilliant performance by the keeper though.

Very satisfying to see our girls pip the Dutch to the gold medal

mfin

We should remove Dressage medals from our medal tally, because it's such complete and utter bollocks.

It's ridiculous having any equestrian events, it's as daft as having something like olympic sheep dog trials as an event.

I don't really mind horses, they taste quite nice.

ballysmate

Pross wrote:

I can't recall ever seeing a team so comprehensively outplayed yet still win. Brilliant performance by the keeper though.

Man U v Bayern Munich Champions League 1999

DeVlaeminck

Anyone know why we were DQed in the 4*4 yet ?

Garry H

DeVlaeminck wrote:

Anyone know why we were DQed in the 4*4 yet ?

Running in the wrong place or somthing

morstar

Didn't catch much of the hockey but we'll done to the ladies.
For me, real sporting equality in the British media would be televising and actively promoting women's hockey. A sport with high female participation levels and real strength in depth. Televising women's minority sports such as football, cricket and rugby is not promoting women's sport, it's showing minority female sports just because the men's version is mainstream.

DeVlaeminck

Garry H wrote:

DeVlaeminck wrote:

Anyone know why we were DQed in the 4*4 yet ?

Running in the wrong place or somthing

Nobody seems to know exactly who or where - still at least it gives Brazil a pass into the final :?

Pross

mfin wrote:

We should remove Dressage medals from our medal tally, because it's such complete and utter ****.

It's ridiculous having any equestrian events, it's as daft as having something like olympic sheep dog trials as an event.

I don't really mind horses, they taste quite nice.

Ah, there's always one. They usually change their mind if the try it for themselves and realise that whilst it might not need TdF levels of endurance it certainly isn't physically easy.

Pross

DeVlaeminck wrote:

Garry H wrote:

DeVlaeminck wrote:

Anyone know why we were DQed in the 4*4 yet ?

Running in the wrong place or somthing

Nobody seems to know exactly who or where - still at least it gives Brazil a pass into the final :?

Surely there must be a reason given? Did they appeal the decision?

mfin

Pross wrote:

mfin wrote:

We should remove Dressage medals from our medal tally, because it's such complete and utter ****.

It's ridiculous having any equestrian events, it's as daft as having something like olympic sheep dog trials as an event.

I don't really mind horses, they taste quite nice.

Ah, there's always one. They usually change their mind if the try it for themselves and realise that whilst it might not need TdF levels of endurance it certainly isn't physically easy.

That's not the point. It involves a horse. You might as well let motor racing in.

Pross

I'd pay good money to watch them do equestrian events without the horses!

mfin

Lutalo Muhammad's reaction to losing his Taekwondo final was funny. You got kicked to the head in the last second mate in a sport where someone is trying to kick you to the head, if it was you who did it you'd be over the moon. Love seeing people lose and have a blub.

He should be pleased, he got a silver medal.

mfin

Pross wrote:

I'd pay good money to watch them do equestrian events without the horses!

Anyone want to post an instantly predictable Monty Python image mistakenly thinking it's quick-witted?

Well, it's not physically demanding, not when you can be in the squad in this state... and this photo is 8 years ago.

Is this the kind of image that springs to mind when you think of any sportsman in his prime? No. It's the opposite, it looks like an OAP in a tracksuit.

Pross

mfin wrote:

Lutalo Muhammad's reaction to losing his Taekwondo final was funny. You got kicked to the head in the last second mate in a sport where someone is trying to kick you to the head, if it was you who did it you'd be over the moon. Love seeing people lose and have a blub.

He should be pleased, he got a silver medal.

Can't understand why he didn't just keep running away. That seems to be the usual tactic when you're leading in the last round.

mfin

Pross wrote:

mfin wrote:

Lutalo Muhammad's reaction to losing his Taekwondo final was funny. You got kicked to the head in the last second mate in a sport where someone is trying to kick you to the head, if it was you who did it you'd be over the moon. Love seeing people lose and have a blub.

He should be pleased, he got a silver medal.

Can't understand why he didn't just keep running away. That seems to be the usual tactic when you're leading in the last round.

He did cock it up it appeared yes, he could have lessened the chances of it happening. Fantastic by the other bloke though to win it. I'm not patriotic by default so didn't feel sorry for him at all, he was beaten, simple.

Pross

Tom Daly making a complete hash of the diving semi-finals. May as well have opted for the Peter Kaye running bomb.

redvee

Mo done the double double

Pross

Ballysmate wrote:

Caster Semanya presents an ethical dilemma. No ovaries and as much testosterone as a man, produced by testes. If any other female athlete had this level of hormone she would be a doper.
Where does she fit in?

http://sportsscientists.com/2016/07/cas ... ya-debate/

The way she has been treated over the years is a disgrace. She suffers from a medical condition that apparently other athletes have too but in her case what should be a private medical matter has been turned into public knowledge. She's not cheating, it's a natural condition and she is still a woman. Yes, it gives an advantage in sporting performance but there are plenty of cases where people are born with natural attributes that benefit their athletic potential. No doubt in many aspects of her life it has negative impacts on her life.

Pross

DeVlaeminck wrote:

I don't know about a sports psychologist she needs more muscle and some decent throw coaching. That javelin throw was pretty much in line with what she's been producing all season.

From earlier discussion on KJT. I think she ought to concentrate on high jump as I'm not sure she'll ever get her throwing up to a decent standard but her high jump of 1.98m was 1cm higher than the gold medal jump in the actual high jump event!

DeVlaeminck

Pross wrote:

Ballysmate wrote:

Caster Semanya presents an ethical dilemma. No ovaries and as much testosterone as a man, produced by testes. If any other female athlete had this level of hormone she would be a doper.
Where does she fit in?

http://sportsscientists.com/2016/07/cas ... ya-debate/

The way she has been treated over the years is a disgrace. She suffers from a medical condition that apparently other athletes have too but in her case what should be a private medical matter has been turned into public knowledge. She's not cheating, it's a natural condition and she is still a woman. Yes, it gives an advantage in sporting performance but there are plenty of cases where people are born with natural attributes that benefit their athletic potential. No doubt in many aspects of her life it has negative impacts on her life.

What if the medical condition is having testicles ?

I don't think she should be there - I feel sympathy for her but why can't it be that she is born with a condition whereby she is neither male or female but has traits of both and that disqualifies her from competing in female only sport.

There are a number of athletes who have had surgery for similar conditions so as to continue competing - if we open the sport up for intersex athletes then what happens if every event is won by athletes that look, run and sound like men ? Yes it's bad luck on people who are born this way but is it really wrong to say yes you are a woman but a woman born with a condition which disqualifies you from competing in elite level sport ?

DeVlaeminck

Pross wrote:

DeVlaeminck wrote:

I don't know about a sports psychologist she needs more muscle and some decent throw coaching. That javelin throw was pretty much in line with what she's been producing all season.

From earlier discussion on KJT. I think she ought to concentrate on high jump as I'm not sure she'll ever get her throwing up to a decent standard but her high jump of 1.98m was 1cm higher than the gold medal jump in the actual high jump event!

It certainly looks that way - i'm not familiar with her career but I did read one of our long jumpers (the little one) was second in the national junior high jump to KJT before becoming a heptathlete, bobsleigher and then long jumper.