Olympics 2024
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Cyclocross confirmed as an Olympic sport for 2030.
Belgians were so jealous the Dutch had such a strong winter sport they just had to get cyclocross in.
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2030 is a winter year
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Winter and in the French alps
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Boxing continues to bemuse me. The woman from Newport seemed to do far more work and the Pole got a point deduction but somehow lost.
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I’ve just sat through several minutes of “Women’s Street” skateboarding, in which a bunch of teenage slackers failed to complete almost all of their”tricks”. I am just gobsmacked that this is Olympic level sport. Any local council skate park has dozens of kids that can do this shit.
Open One+ BMC TE29 Seven 622SL On One Scandal Cervelo RS1 -
Hadn’t realised the Dutch had selected a convicted paedo in their squad. Not sure I buy the argument that he’s done his time, the sentence seems to have been ridiculously light.
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MTB course looks very artificial but still fairly challenging (or would be for my limited technical skills). The artificial feel seems normal for Olympic courses though. Hopefully 2028 will make real use of the hills around LA.
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PFP flying and the medals already look decided.
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Dutch system is primarily focused on rehabilitation.
Rehabilitation doesn’t work if you can’t do things like that if you behave well
(Why I think labour will struggle to reform prisons)
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He's married with a child now, and a professional sportsman I think. Does rehabilitation necessitate representing one's country on the world stage?
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It depends if you consider the punishment part important, right?
For the system to work, the logic is the punishment can’t put people off reforming.
Avoiding the “what’s the point” logic
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He was actually sentenced in the uk wasn't he - served a year of 4 over here then returned to the Dutch who released him after a month.
In terms of rehabilitation it's hard to argue against his sentence given he seems to have reintegrated with society , whether it was sufficient in terms of deterrent or punishment is maybe more questionable. I don't think it's the place of the Olympics to impose further punishment though.
[Castle Donington Ladies FC - going up in '22]0 -
Can I point out the slight tension between this perspective and your "fuck'em" approach to police violence?
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I’m not saying I agree tbh. Just explaining the logic.
And where am I saying “fuck em” to police violence?
fucking hell no wonder you can’t read a fucking chart
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Fair enough. Fwiw, I agree, but only to the point where it's unfair on the team members. There's at least one bloke who would be having more of a dream Olympic experience if he had another team mate.
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Can tell it's the Olympics - I became fully invested in the Mexico archery team. Three matches today, and very pleased for them to get a bronze.
Absolutely no reason why.
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Final was a belter too.
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There is something that I notice more and more, and that's the chat about "sacrifice" and "choices". I used to think it meant just spending an awful lot of your working day in genuine agony as you really push your body to the limit. I increasingly think it's code for being a selfish bastard and really putting your work before everything else.
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I don't think there is any doubt there is a large element of being a selfish buss-tard about it. Most professional athletes across all sports will admit they put their career ahead of all else, missing family events, not seeing friends, nightmare for their partners because they have a set routine pretty much 24/7 all year around.
I think it is probably worse if you are in a low interest, low funding type event you mainly see at the Olympics where your full focus has to be on performance all the time. I guess if you are say a top level boxer who fights once or twice a year and earns millions, you can have downtime in between.
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For the first time in recorded history, an interview in the mix zone had something genuinely interesting last night. Adam Peaty was saying how the work is the same when you are young or when you are older, but when you know no life outside of swimming, training, hanging around with swimmers etc, you aren't really sacrificing anything to be dedicated to your sport. Now he has a family, he genuinely feels like he has to miss out on something and make a choice to train enough to compete.
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I do wonder if he'll reflect and ask himself the obvious question of whether it's worth it, even if he did really get a lot out of coming back from darker places and enjoying the experience.
A lot of the professional musicians I know who decide to retire properly are happy not to have the draining routine of daily practice, especially as it gets harder just to maintain performance as one ages.
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Wandering around Paris and they really don’t seem to have put much effort in compared to London. If not for fans in team t-shirts and the security you’d hardly know the Games were on. We did go to a fanzone outside the Hotel D’Ville but there’s very little branding.
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They always do leave Paris in the summer holidays en masse.
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Meh, Chris Joslin.
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I think most of them were at the swimming pool yesterday here in Samoens.
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That’s no longer true.
Mass exodus is usually the last week in July. Most are back in Paris before August is out.
"Science is a tool for cheaters". An anonymous French PE teacher.0
