Olympics 2024
Comments
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GB have no other chances of a gold on the track, I reckon.
"Science is a tool for cheaters". An anonymous French PE teacher.1 -
Yep, they both had to run that race, Kerr needed to go with Ingerbrigtsen and can’t be too disappointed with a national record. It opened up beautifully for Hocker but fair play, awesome sprint.
Pinno, מלך אידיוט וחרא מכונאי2 -
Matt Hudson-Smith in the 400m has a good chance, he was very impressive in the SF earlier.
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If Ingebritsen had been less concerned with what was over his right shoulder there’d have been no room for Hocker up the left.
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Yep, fastest time this year and looked very comfortable winning his semi. Might have to run a new European record to win it but capable.
Pinno, מלך אידיוט וחרא מכונאי1 -
I feel sorry for Lizzie Bird in the steeplechase. Eurosport all over the French woman for breaking 9 minutes, but no mention of the GB athlete who must have broken the national record.
"Science is a tool for cheaters". An anonymous French PE teacher.0 -
Hocker actually had to slow a bit at they came off the bend and nearly went into the back of Ingebritsen. Very impressive that he managed to recover and accelerate so well when the door opened.
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Dina Asher Smith and Darryl Nieta first and second in the didn’t get a medal race.
"Science is a tool for cheaters". An anonymous French PE teacher.0 -
Maybe a bit pissed off about getting blocked in and got an adrenaline rush? 😉
The above may be fact, or fiction, I may be serious, I may be jesting.
I am not sure. You have no chance.Veronese68 wrote:PB is the most sensible person on here.0 -
As well as Hudson-Smith the women’s 4 x 100m has an outside chance with Jamaica having their stars ‘injured’ and the US sometimes being hit and miss on getting the baton around.
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This whole mess the IBA has created for the two women boxers feels pretty unforgivable. The press conference they gave to ‘clear it up’ was farcical with different senior officials giving different ‘facts’ and the CEO confirming that the tests in 2022 and 2023 were inconclusive for the ‘chromosome thing’ as he put it and also saying he didn’t understand the information the medical officer gave.
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It’s boxing, with officials who are likely ex-competitors who’ve been smacked in the head a few thousand times.
Why would you expect any sense from them?
Open One+ BMC TE29 Seven 622SL On One Scandal Cervelo RS0 -
I just have a feeling that Hudson-Smith will be leading at 300m, but not at 400m.
Hope that I am wrong.
"Science is a tool for cheaters". An anonymous French PE teacher.1 -
They want the Olympics boxing to be chaos as they have been de-recognised as the official body. Can't see why boxing would be brought back in for 2028, it's currently not on the schedule.
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It needs to be left out. There have been some very odd decisions in bouts as usual.
Mixed race walk relay now, WTF? Why are these relays needed for gender equality? Just have a men’s and women’s event.
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They reinforce dominance of the big countries. No reason for them at the Olympics.
Do they have anything that actually stops all the competitors breaking the rules all the time at race walking yet?
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This is a mess of the IOC's making, with their removal of chromosome-based eligibility criteria, against the wishes of circa 80% of the female competitor base.
I think the madness will eventually end. Despite the IOC's best efforts (*) to push the line that Caster Semenya is a female with abnormally high levels of testosterone, the truth eventually came out, via work done by World Athletics that Caster is a male with a chromosome abnormality (5ARD - a "DSD" ("Intersex" in previous terminology) who has undergone male puberty, with perfectly normal male testosterone levels and has in fact fathered two children. So in athletic terms Caster is a mediocre male athlete.
And boxing is a very high profile hill on which to choose to die by the IOC to defend the participation of males in female sport, given it's a contact sport where blows to the head are actively encouraged.
(*) Sad bit part 1 - The Rio 800m saw all the medals taken by males. The coach of the 4th-placed athlete (Melissa Bishop of Canada) raised the issue with the Powers That Be and was threatened with legal action, loss of coaching credentials if he made a formal complaint. Similarly, Lyndsey Sharp, who came 6th, and was the 3rd female to finish suffered death threats (amongst other sorts of threats) for speaking out. And of course, all three "medallists that weren't" lost out financially, Melissa Bishop especially as her shoe contract had very large bonuses included for winning the OGs.
Sad bit part 2 - For people born with DSD conditions, life can be very difficult, and they deserve to be supported and helped to adjust to their new life as it emerges at puberty, not exploited by self-interested coaches and governing bodies.
Though if you like ironies, to participate in a restricted weight woman's category in boxing at the OGs, one has to weigh in before each bout to prove weight eligibility, but you can self-ID with regards to being a woman.
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This is likely a logistical issue. To have separate single-sex teams would require extra competitors (assuming 4 per team) which would cause issues with the overall headcount limits. Mixed-sex teams can be made up of two guys and two girls from the competitor base for the individual events.
Plus mixed relays give lesser nations more of a chance if the mixed 4*400s on the track are anything to go by. e.g. Ireland cobbled together a very competitive quartet for the World Relays with a world class female (*) a very good female, and a couple of decent guys. Neither the male or female 4*4 teams are competitive. Likewise Netherlands, though with Bol on board, their women's 4*4 team is quite good too.
(*) Sadly, Adeleke gave the mixed a miss at the OGs to concentrate on the individual 400, so the Irish mixed team was an also-ran.
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He ran 20.56 for the first 200, which would have qualified him for the individual 200 semis via the repecharges!
He needs to back off a bit, to avoid the scenario you outline.
Caveat - Very easy to say as an armchair coach!
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For once, my random attempts to talk meaningfully about elite sport were quite accurate!
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Saw some footage of Mondo on Swedish breakfast TV yesterday. I assume it was Swedish TV as Mondo was speaking gobbledygook to my ear, which must be Swedish.
He was charitably described as being "hungover" but to my untutored eye he had a few hours to get to the hungover stage as he was still clearly legless. Go Mondo!
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I think it's a bit different when it's the triathlon where there is one gold medal for men, one for women and then they add another for relay, rather than a different distance for individuals.
The running and swimming mixed relays aren't there instead of another event. The race walk relay seems to have replaced the 50km but frankly who cares?
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What's the point? This is a pretty random point from my one minute watching the walk.
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I have to that I am surprised that nobody has remarked upon Team GBs tracksuits. I know that we have a history of designing some pretty horrendous garb, but for me, this one wins hands down.
It’s a cross between a 1980s Michael Jackson outfit and a spacesuit. The black elastic bottoms make them ride half way up the calves.
Utterly disgusting.
"Science is a tool for cheaters". An anonymous French PE teacher.2 -
Shame re the podium tracksuits as the race kit for athletics etc. looks really good.
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But the relays are only there to introduce a combined male / female event. There weren't walking relays or triathlon relays at all previously. They feel pointless in an endurance sport.
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He does seem to have stepped up a level this year so hopefully he can go one better than the WC. He ran 44.04 last night and jogged the last 30m so he obviously has the speed. Like you say, it is about pacing it correctly.
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I'm not convinced it isthe IOC at fault in this situation. If you listen to that mess of press conference the IBA arranged their head said the two women had tested for elevated levels of testosterone whereas the CEO was stating the tests were for the 'chromosome thingy' (his phrase) but both said the tests carried out in both 2022 and 2023 were inconclusive. If they were inconclusive why ban them from the worlds in 2023 but not 2022? They then made the whole thing public just before the Games to stir up shit, it's obvious that the whole thing is some kind of revenge for being booted out as the governing body for Olympic boxing.
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The triathlon relay is an insanely good event to watch, given the way things ebb and flow. It would work well as a single sex relay but as a relay was only added in 2020, a mixed version was the obvious way to go.
Likewise, the swimming mixed medley relay is very good. There are mixed freestyle relays at World Champs, but these don't work as well, as the mixed medley allows for having the guys lined up alongside the girls (in freestlye, racing any order other than MMFF is insanity) which introduces a fascinating element as - for example - if your female backstroker is relatively better than your male backstroker, she should lead off, but then has to deal with rough water, and the second leg swimmer will be going in a long way behind.
Can't comment on walking as I never watch it.
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We may have to respectfully disagree on this. The IOC is the driving force behind promoting the inclusion of males in the women's categories at the OGs. For some reason, they really want this to happen. If the IOC said "No males in the women's categories" and reintroduced the chromosome-based sex-testing that female athletes widely support, then the problem would end overnight. The IOC has "gaslighted" the public for years that Caster Semenya and the other medallists in Rio in the women's 800 were female, when they knew perfectly well they were male.
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