Olympics All Format Spoiler Thread

JimD666

I've really enjoyed the Climbing. Any broadcasters usually carry it throughout the normal season?

ddraver

webboo said:

jimmyjams said:

The points system in the climbing can produce radical changes in the final scores. If the last lead-climber, the Korean Seo, had slipped 1 or 2 grips earlier, the Austrian, Pilz, would have taken bronze. But because Seo got that tiny bit further, Pilz only finished 7th.
I can't decide whether I like the system for the unpredictability it brings, or not.

Good that the only one who is retiring is going out with a medal though - the bronze one.

As there will be no more speed, bouldering and lead combined competitions, the scoring system will no longer matter.

Good thing, It's all about the lead climbing for the spectacle

JimD666

ddraver said:

webboo said:

jimmyjams said:

The points system in the climbing can produce radical changes in the final scores. If the last lead-climber, the Korean Seo, had slipped 1 or 2 grips earlier, the Austrian, Pilz, would have taken bronze. But because Seo got that tiny bit further, Pilz only finished 7th.
I can't decide whether I like the system for the unpredictability it brings, or not.

Good that the only one who is retiring is going out with a medal though - the bronze one.

As there will be no more speed, bouldering and lead combined competitions, the scoring system will no longer matter.

Good thing, It's all about the lead climbing for the spectacle

Weird. I loved the speed and the bouldering most.

ddraver

JimD666 said:

I've really enjoyed the Climbing. Any broadcasters usually carry it throughout the normal season?

Think it's even harder to find than MTB.

I hear EpicTV did a watch along...thing...for proper climbers so maybe they carry the World Cups..?

webboo

JimD666 said:

I've really enjoyed the Climbing. Any broadcasters usually carry it throughout the normal season?

It’s on the world cups are on Eurosport. You can usually find a link to other comps on either UKBouldering or UKClimbing forums.

yorkshireraw

JimD666 said:

Laura Muir gets a cracking Silver in the 1500m

Great effort. Her first outdoor medal at world level.

Her coach is a mate of mine from Uni. Really pleased for them both.

N0bodyOfTheGoat

So nearly a gold in the 4x100m mens relay, pipped by our nemisis nation of the year, Italy.

RichN95.

If you think British TV coverage is bad, Jamaican TV showed the Lottery numbers in the middle of the Women's 4x100m

salsiccia1

delete

yorkshireraw

RichN95. said:

If you think British TV coverage is bad, Jamaican TV showed the Lottery numbers in the middle of the Women's 4x100m

Think the German rider in the Pentathlon defo bought a losing ticket.

just seen it on tv - what a farce. Spend 5 years training for the Games and it all goes out the window due to an uncooperative Dobbin.

JimD666

yorkshireraw said:

RichN95. said:

If you think British TV coverage is bad, Jamaican TV showed the Lottery numbers in the middle of the Women's 4x100m

Think the German rider in the Pentathlon defo bought a losing ticket.

just seen it on tv - what a farce. Spend 5 years training for the Games and it all goes out the window due to an uncooperative Dobbin.

It was painful to watch. Really did feel for her, even though GB rather benefited from it.

First.Aspect

Lanterne_Rogue said:

JimD666 said:

If we're really after stuff that's relevant to the "Modern Officer", then I'd suggest you'd need to look no further than tests on Etiquette. Perhaps with a little wine tasting thrown in and follow it up with the ability to shirk responsibility when things go pear shaped while taking full credit for stuff that had nothing whatsoever to do with them.

Just dawned on me that the Olympics are - of course - an amateur competition. And what can be more reliably amateur than the purchasing decisions of the MOD?

"And next to go in this round of the £50B purchasing decision is Sir Rupert Chumley-Backhander. He's shown some promising cost overruns in the world championships, so let's see what his opening moves are. And here we go:

Double BAe Systems, world-beating frigate class, slight misstep on specifying an existing radar suite there, recovers by specifying a British yard..."

There should be a paddling the granny in an inflatable down a flooded Wiltshire high street race.

jimmyjams

webboo said:

jimmyjams said:

ddraver said:

I kinda assumed everyone had gone to the US system post Free Solo

webboo said:

The only people who use the UIAA grading system are the Germans, the rest of Europe including the UK use French grades for sport climbing.

I think a lot of central Europe still uses the UIAA grading system, not just German-speaking areas (Germany, Austria, over half of Switzerland, northern Italy) but also places like Slovenia, Czechia, Slovakia, Bulgaria, and Montenegro.
And when I wrote “I've never understood why there isn't a universal system“, I wasn't referring to sport climbing, where I know the French system prevails, rather to mountain/rock-climbing in general.

The UIAA system was once much the same, but nowadays a second grading is often given for a route, based on a scale which considers the length of the route, how secured it is, the quality of the rock and various other factors, like hazards, ease of finding the route, escape options, and the average difficulty of the climb (as opposed to the hardest pitch). So a bit like the British system (addressed above in a post by Lanterne_R yesterday) which with its two gradings tries to indicate both the technical difficulty of the hardest pitch, and also the average difficulty of the whole climb and its degree of exposure.

The reason there isn’t a universal grading system in climbing is because climbers can never agree about grades. Go on any climbing forum and there will be several threads about grades, ideas for new grading systems. I climb with someone who is over 6 foot, I’m 5ft 7” so my 6B moves are different to my mates. Hence the difficulty in getting agreement.
The problem with British system is the technical grade doesn’t work at the top end I.e. above 6C.
That’s why people often use a French grade to describe how sustained something and font grade for how hard the moves are.

Thanks for your reply, webboo. I know about the lack of agreement, and the discussions about equivalence, especially when the discussions get into talking about fixed placements, etc, and what is exactly meant with 'difficult' or 'severe'. About a decade ago, there was a long article published by the Italian School of Mountaineering addressing all this, which I saw then.
But I still don't see why some universal system can't be strived for instead of the multitude of systems now. Every now and again someone does come up with some 'new' system, meant to be universal; offhand I can remember a Belgian, Koen Hauchecorne, presenting one about 15 years ago, but it was, I thought, too complex, requiring about 10 different factors to be considered, even including rucksack weight (although I know that can be important sometimes).

jimmyjams

webboo said:

jimmyjams said:

The points system in the climbing can produce radical changes in the final scores. If the last lead-climber, the Korean Seo, had slipped 1 or 2 grips earlier, the Austrian, Pilz, would have taken bronze. But because Seo got that tiny bit further, Pilz only finished 7th.
I can't decide whether I like the system for the unpredictability it brings, or not.

Good that the only one who is retiring is going out with a medal though - the bronze one.

As there will be no more speed, bouldering and lead combined competitions, the scoring system will no longer matter.

Bouldering and lead will still be combined in Paris, I think; still could produce unexpected results.
Don't know whether the World Cup events are also abandoning the 3-event combined title.

pblakeney

TheBigBean said:

I liked the French guy in the skateboarding who wasn't in school uniform or knee pads.

Did you see the S.A. entrant Dallas Oberholzer?
"Only" 46.



PS - How Keegan Palmer normally skates, no pads or helmet as required for the Olympics.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A3BxgtDjiqk

jimmyjams

JimD666 said:

ddraver said:

webboo said:

jimmyjams said:

The points system in the climbing can produce radical changes in the final scores. If the last lead-climber, the Korean Seo, had slipped 1 or 2 grips earlier, the Austrian, Pilz, would have taken bronze. But because Seo got that tiny bit further, Pilz only finished 7th.
I can't decide whether I like the system for the unpredictability it brings, or not.

Good that the only one who is retiring is going out with a medal though - the bronze one.

As there will be no more speed, bouldering and lead combined competitions, the scoring system will no longer matter.

Good thing, It's all about the lead climbing for the spectacle

Weird. I loved the speed and the bouldering most.

I like the lead-climbing most but also enjoy the bouldering a lot, because there is no set route like there is in lead, instead the competitors have to think it out for themselves, so it is not just technical ability/agility/strength. Occasionally some lateral thinking also helps.

When the route-planers design the boulders, they have in mind that the boulder can be solved by following certain moves, and it is then interesting to see how many competitors find and follow their solution, and how many find another solution.

In the women's final today, at the first boulder, Jaubert and I think one other successfully used a different method from what the route-planers envisaged to reach the zone, while all the rest tried with mixed success the method of the route-planers' idea.
Then, at the second boulder it was the reverse, only one woman, Pilz, used the method the route-planers envisaged to reach the zone, although 2 or 3 were successful with their own thought-out methods.

No_Ta_Doctor

For the modern pentathlon, surely we have the skillset in e-sports already?

Lanterne_Rogue

jimmyjams said:

But I still don't see why some universal system can't be strived for instead of the multitude of systems now.

Because fundamentally they're tuned for different styles of climbing (and climbing ethics) that need different information to be conveyed. It's why the British system (as above) more or less becomes useless at the highest technical grades, because there's little reason to distinguish between degrees of certain death. If God had intended man to climb E10 he wouldn't have invented pubs to go drinking in instead.

Back to the actual Olympics, and I agree with JJ - it's quite fun watching the climbers find a solution that clearly wasn't intended and abuse the heck out of it. I'm not sure the same lateral thinking doesn't apply in the lead climbing though - it's just that the context means you're not looking (as a viewer) for those smart moves so much. If you pay attention to when people reach for the next clip, find places to rest etc then there's still a lot of variation going on, but the emphasis is much more on "how many moves have they made".

Lanterne_Rogue

JimD666 said:

yorkshireraw said:

RichN95. said:

If you think British TV coverage is bad, Jamaican TV showed the Lottery numbers in the middle of the Women's 4x100m

Think the German rider in the Pentathlon defo bought a losing ticket.

just seen it on tv - what a farce. Spend 5 years training for the Games and it all goes out the window due to an uncooperative Dobbin.

It was painful to watch. Really did feel for her, even though GB rather benefited from it.

Rewatched it, and the horse the German had actually looked a decent jumper. Because she was panicking about the time penalties (and everything else) she was pushing the pace even when it did get going, and that meant it was set up totally wrong for pretty much every jump. The horse managed to bail her out several times by making jumps it really had no right to before chucking the towel in, and I really can't blame it when it did.

Give her a pony rather than a horse and it would have been lying down and rolling all over her before she got anywhere near a jump with it. Ponies (in my limited experience, and certainly by reputation) are much more evil.

RichN95.

Lanterne_Rogue said:

Rewatched it, and the horse the German had actually looked a decent jumper. Because she was panicking about the time penalties (and everything else) she was pushing the pace even when it did get going, and that meant it was set up totally wrong for pretty much every jump. The horse managed to bail her out several times by making jumps it really had no right to before chucking the towel in, and I really can't blame it when it did.

Give her a pony rather than a horse and it would have been lying down and rolling all over her before she got anywhere near a jump with it. Ponies (in my limited experience, and certainly by reputation) are much more evil.

The bit where the horse started to do the moonwalk was a bit much though

Lanterne_Rogue

RichN95. said:

Lanterne_Rogue said:

Rewatched it, and the horse the German had actually looked a decent jumper. Because she was panicking about the time penalties (and everything else) she was pushing the pace even when it did get going, and that meant it was set up totally wrong for pretty much every jump. The horse managed to bail her out several times by making jumps it really had no right to before chucking the towel in, and I really can't blame it when it did.

Give her a pony rather than a horse and it would have been lying down and rolling all over her before she got anywhere near a jump with it. Ponies (in my limited experience, and certainly by reputation) are much more evil.

The bit where the horse started to do the moonwalk was a bit much though

Would have scored serious points in the dressage, mind.

RichN95.

It is imperative that GB don't win anymore golds. They're up to 18 which was my guess in the work prediction competition (they've already surpassed my total medal guess). And it wouldn't hurt for the US to pull their fingers out a bit.

mrb123

RichN95. said:

It is imperative that GB don't win anymore golds. They're up to 18 which was my guess in the work prediction competition (they've already surpassed my total medal guess). And it wouldn't hurt for the US to pull their fingers out a bit.

Got to stay ahead of the Aussies though and preferably the cheating Russkies too.

First.Aspect

mrb123 said:

RichN95. said:

It is imperative that GB don't win anymore golds. They're up to 18 which was my guess in the work prediction competition (they've already surpassed my total medal guess). And it wouldn't hurt for the US to pull their fingers out a bit.

Got to stay ahead of the Aussies though and preferably the cheating Russkies too.

Imperative to sour their best ever Olympics by being behind the Poms' worst since 2004.

rick_chasey

Holland 9th in the medal table 🤯🤯

DeVlaeminck

Lanterne_Rogue said:

JimD666 said:

yorkshireraw said:

RichN95. said:

If you think British TV coverage is bad, Jamaican TV showed the Lottery numbers in the middle of the Women's 4x100m

Think the German rider in the Pentathlon defo bought a losing ticket.

just seen it on tv - what a farce. Spend 5 years training for the Games and it all goes out the window due to an uncooperative Dobbin.

It was painful to watch. Really did feel for her, even though GB rather benefited from it.

Rewatched it, and the horse the German had actually looked a decent jumper. Because she was panicking about the time penalties (and everything else) she was pushing the pace even when it did get going, and that meant it was set up totally wrong for pretty much every jump. The horse managed to bail her out several times by making jumps it really had no right to before chucking the towel in, and I really can't blame it when it did.

Give her a pony rather than a horse and it would have been lying down and rolling all over her before she got anywhere near a jump with it. Ponies (in my limited experience, and certainly by reputation) are much more evil.

I bow to anyone that has ridden a donkey on Skegness beach as far as this stuff goes but it did look very panicky even before it got going - it had a sweat on - and apparently both riders that had it were eliminated.

On the other hand yes the rider didn't seem to be in a great state of mind to calm the horse down.

N0bodyOfTheGoat

What happened in the modern pentathlon for the German conclusively shows Explosion W won that GB the other day.

tailwindhome

Not convinced about the stacking up of medals in similar events as a measure of who the greatest Olympian is

I'd be minded to say Redgrave with 5 Golds across 5 Olympics is GBs greatest Olympian

Dunno if Wiggins golds in 2 disciplines over 4 Olympics is superior... It's close though

elbowloh

mrb123 said:

RichN95. said:

It is imperative that GB don't win anymore golds. They're up to 18 which was my guess in the work prediction competition (they've already surpassed my total medal guess). And it wouldn't hurt for the US to pull their fingers out a bit.

Got to stay ahead of the Aussies though and preferably the cheating Russkies too.

bbbbut Russia aren't at the Olympics. The IOC were courageous in their stance against cheating.

elbowloh

hypster said:

No one has mentioned fencing yet. That is the most ridiculous sport that I can imagine. It should be called "lunging". Stewart Granger or Errol Flynn would have easily won gold with their parry and reposte.

Just to go back to this as I'm watching highlights of the pentathlon now.

It's because they're using the epee, which has a point, but no blade as such and you can only score with the point.

Even though I went to a shitty comp, we actually occasionally did fencing at school as our deputy head used to be coach of the Irish national team or somesuch.