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

mrfpb
mrfpb Posts: 4,569
edited August 2016 in The cake stop
A thread to offer support, views and predictions.

Cycling is well covered on the Pro race thread

I'm hoping for a Nadal v Murray men's tennis final. Nadal has just picked up a men's doubles gold and seems to be on good form.
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Comments

  • Pross
    Pross Posts: 40,216
    Any rowers out there wh can enlighten me as to why the men's 8 didn't have their oars arranged in alternate order but had two pairs on the same side one behind the other?
  • mfin
    mfin Posts: 6,729
    Our four did it too, R/L/L/R
  • Pross
    Pross Posts: 40,216
    British Rowing's version of marginal gains?
  • tangled_metal
    tangled_metal Posts: 4,021
    Bets on Ennis Hill?
  • verylonglegs
    verylonglegs Posts: 3,949
    Pross wrote:
    British Rowing's version of marginal gains?

    Something like that, Pinsent explained it in his pre-race piece but I can't remember the exact theory.
  • Pross
    Pross Posts: 40,216
    Going to be tough but I think she's been working hard on her javelin. Her jumping has let her down a bit. I think she's going to sneak it in the 800m though, I suspect the Belgian girl might crack under pressure given her inexperience. KJT to get edged out of bronze by Theisen-Eaton though.
  • Pross
    Pross Posts: 40,216
    Pross wrote:
    British Rowing's version of marginal gains?

    Something like that, Pinsent explained it in his pre-race piece but I can't remember the exact theory.

    Yeah, someone just mentioned it's a bio mechanics thing and I've seen some other crews have done the same. I would have thought it increases the risk of clashing oars but I guess they're a bit above that though!
  • redvee
    redvee Posts: 11,922
    Bets on Ennis Hill?

    It seems she's odds on being the peoples choice but I would like to see KJT come good and Mo to retain his title.
    I've added a signature to prove it is still possible.
  • Pross
    Pross Posts: 40,216
    KJT needs a sports psychologist if she ever wants to win a major championship. I know it has only been two competitions so far but she seems prone to cracking badly when the pressure and expectation is on. OK she is young but Thiam is younger and look what she achieved, despite an elbow injury and the pressure she put everything into producing just one huge throw in the javelin that effectively out gold out of reach for Jesse and put together six (I think) PBs.

    Rutherford slightly unlucky, he couldn't have come closer to a clean jump that may have taken gold.

    Great run by Farah after chewing track but he definitely had to work for it which might affect his 5k chances.
  • DeVlaeminck
    DeVlaeminck Posts: 8,718
    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.
    [Castle Donington Ladies FC - going up in '22]
  • Pross
    Pross Posts: 40,216
    Just watching the post event lap of honour now. She does lack muscle mass but Thiam isn't much bigger (though very tall). It will always be a compromise in multi event competition and your build will suit some events more than others. Jesse probably loses out due to lack of height in several events. The key is getting the points in the events that suit you which, neither Brit really managed other than KJT in the high jump, then minimising your losses in the others. I'm no expert but I think that was quite a low total for a gold.
  • Pross
    Pross Posts: 40,216
    So, if a cox gets a medal in rowing does the caddy get one in golf?
  • Pross
    Pross Posts: 40,216
    One hell of a day so far. Who would have thought, 10 years ago, that GB would take 2 golds and a silver in a day at the gymnastics? If you were lucky you caught a slight glimpse of a Brit in the qualifying round before they got eliminated and went home. Highlight though was the reaction of the Brazilians to their medals.
  • redvee
    redvee Posts: 11,922
    The Scottish bloke is still British after winning gold again in the hitting a ball over a net sport.
    I've added a signature to prove it is still possible.
  • Pross
    Pross Posts: 40,216
    Murray made much harder work of that than he should have given Del Potro's lack of tennis and how much he was obviously struggling with fitness but he seemed far more nervous and emotional than he has for a few years. His reaction suggests he genuinely cares about winning the Olympics.

    I know some people have doubts over Bolt but so glad he managed to beat Gatlin who shouldn't be allowed anywhere the Olympics.
  • vimfuego
    vimfuego Posts: 1,783
    I agree about Gatlin, but I do find the whole unquestioned love-in around Bolt quite tedious. OK there's no proof of anything so far as I can tell but when has that stopped anyone pointing the finger at *insert name of cyclist here*. Cycling has a dark past yes, but athletics isn't exactly as pure as the driven snow.

    This from an article on the BBC website: "We are used to Usain Bolt pulling off the impossible" And yet there's nary a question raised in the media. Despite the dodgy federation in Jamaica. The fan boys at the BBC keep pointing out that he's never failed a test (I think I heard that one about a certain cyclist too) and it's clearly no issue that everyone else he's beaten seems to have had "issues" in the past (again, where have I seen that before?) 'cos hey "it's good vs evil" right. And his form went through the roof between 2007 (fairly average times) and 2008 (basically stopped running in the Olympic final and still smashed the world record). Don't get me wrong, I hope he's clean I really do. Maybe he's just an outlier, a "freak". But.....


    In other news; cycle helmets should be compulsory etc etc ;-)
    CS7
    Surrey Hills
    What's a Zwift?
  • tangled_metal
    tangled_metal Posts: 4,021
    I get your point but it's interesting clean athletes sometimes get accused and spend their time fielding people without evidence making accusations. It's unfortunate that you can't tell cheats.until they're caught but there's an argument to let the anti doping authorities catch the cheats on and the rest of us just enjoy the ride. We can All say "I told you so" afterwards if you want but until they're caught...

    P.S. Froome is doing very well of late, came good quickly and winning the main tour a lot. Must just be a freak or has what bolt does.

    BTW aren't they all freaks? Outliers? If not we'd all be queuing up to compete. Instead I'm fat couch potato casting aspersions without evidence. BTW I'm not fat but I am spending too long on.the couch watching the Olympics. I too doubt any Jamaican sprinter. Especially bolt who IIRC had that guy known as "the beast" for a training partner. He's banned I believe for doping. Guilt by association to add to unbelievable performance. Guilty without trial out evidence.
  • orraloon
    orraloon Posts: 12,608
    edited August 2016
    Yohan Blake aka The Beast went out in round 1 of 100m heats, placed 6th. [Edit, total boxxox, not woken up yet]

    He has suffered recurrent injuries in past several years, and looked rather subdued this time around, no posing for cameras.

    He did get a 3 month ban back in the day. [These bits correct]
  • laurentian
    laurentian Posts: 2,372
    Pross wrote:
    So, if a cox gets a medal in rowing does the caddy get one in golf?

    No they don't but, should a caddy fail a drugs test, the golfer will have his medal withdrawn even if the golfer himself is clean. ( or so I read at the weekend )
    Wilier Izoard XP
  • laurentian
    laurentian Posts: 2,372
    Van Niekerk beating Michael Johnson's 400m record was pretty incredible . . . especially from Lane 8. Johnson was cheering him from the BBC studio because Michael Johnson is a class act . . . I'd say the best sports pundit on the BBC (although Hoy is pretty damn good too)
    Wilier Izoard XP
  • tangled_metal
    tangled_metal Posts: 4,021
    Michael Johnson is a real student of athletics. Always was and always will be. Does he coach? I reckon he'd be great at that. He is an absolute legend. One of my all time favourites with sir Steve Redgrave. Sneaking admiration for Pinsent too. Hoy is growing on me as a pundit.
  • mrfpb
    mrfpb Posts: 4,569
    Pross wrote:
    Murray made much harder work of that than he should have given Del Potro's lack of tennis and how much he was obviously struggling with fitness but he seemed far more nervous and emotional than he has for a few years. His reaction suggests he genuinely cares about winning the Olympics.
    That match was exhausting to watch, I thought they were going to collapse over the net at the end.

    What a campaign for del Porto, beating Djokovick and Nadal. I thought he might make it a hat trick against Murray.
  • kingstongraham
    kingstongraham Posts: 26,130
    Has anyone been out with a tape measure on that track? There must be something that makes it quick around the bends for the records that have fallen to go by so much.
  • lostboysaint
    lostboysaint Posts: 4,250
    Michael Johnson is a real student of athletics. Always was and always will be. Does he coach? I reckon he'd be great at that. He is an absolute legend. One of my all time favourites with sir Steve Redgrave. Sneaking admiration for Pinsent too. Hoy is growing on me as a pundit.

    Does he coach? Go and google. He runs a performance centre that works with athletes from all sports who want to work on their speed. There's many, many top flight sports stars in the NFL, NBA, track athletes and others that have come through his centre.

    The good news is that he loves working for the BBC as much as we love listening to him - he is a truly great analyst and remains a legend in athletics.
    Trail fun - Transition Bandit
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  • graeme_s-2
    graeme_s-2 Posts: 3,382
    Pross wrote:
    So, if a cox gets a medal in rowing does the caddy get one in golf?
    If a cox gets a medal, then why doesn't the Team Pursuit coach get one (the one who walks the line trackside)? I guess to make it really comparable they'd have to be pulled round the track in a trailer. Now that I'd like to see! :mrgreen:
  • kingstongraham
    kingstongraham Posts: 26,130
    Michael Johnson is a real student of athletics. Always was and always will be. Does he coach? I reckon he'd be great at that. He is an absolute legend. One of my all time favourites with sir Steve Redgrave. Sneaking admiration for Pinsent too. Hoy is growing on me as a pundit.

    Does he coach? Go and google. He runs a performance centre that works with athletes from all sports who want to work on their speed. There's many, many top flight sports stars in the NFL, NBA, track athletes and others that have come through his centre.

    The good news is that he loves working for the BBC as much as we love listening to him - he is a truly great analyst and remains a legend in athletics.

    Agree with all that, one of the true greats. Just a shame his high performance centre is so closely associated with a tainted brand like Nike.
  • joe2008
    joe2008 Posts: 1,531
    Every time I turn the Olympics on, I just see Clare Balding talking...
  • graeme_s-2
    graeme_s-2 Posts: 3,382
    Yesterday really was amazing. I remember the Barcelona Olympics in 1992 as being a low point for GB at the Olympics (not sure if that's statistically the case, but I was 11, and my recollection is we were generally rubbish). At Barcelona, we won 5 gold medals during the entire games. We won 5 gold medals yesterday.
  • kingstongraham
    kingstongraham Posts: 26,130
    Graeme_S wrote:
    Yesterday really was amazing. I remember the Barcelona Olympics in 1992 as being a low point for GB at the Olympics (not sure if that's statistically the case, but I was 11, and my recollection is we were generally rubbish). At Barcelona, we won 5 gold medals during the entire games. We won 5 gold medals yesterday.

    Atlanta 1996. A gold medal for Redgrave and Pinsent and that's it. Fifteen other medals in total.

    National Lottery funding for elite sport began in 1997.
  • graeme_s-2
    graeme_s-2 Posts: 3,382
    Graeme_S wrote:
    Yesterday really was amazing. I remember the Barcelona Olympics in 1992 as being a low point for GB at the Olympics (not sure if that's statistically the case, but I was 11, and my recollection is we were generally rubbish). At Barcelona, we won 5 gold medals during the entire games. We won 5 gold medals yesterday.

    Atlanta 1996. A gold medal for Redgrave and Pinsent and that's it. Fifteen other medals in total.

    National Lottery funding for elite sport began in 1997.
    Even though it was more recently I don't remember watching that Olympics. I probably remember Barcelona because we did have some high profile success in the athletics, and it stuck in mind that we didn't win much else.