Beijing Olympics 2008

[Za 164]

So in Vancouver, eh? Yeah, I think the Canadians are going to do pretty well.

[patriots_1228 51]

http://sports.espn.go.com/oly/summer08/gymnastics/news/story?id=3534544

if china gets away with that as well i will be furious.

[Za 164]

Forget two post for a second...

I just knew she couldn't be as old as me, let alone a year older... Bela Karoli himself basically said that there was no way they were how old they said they were. Unfortunately, questioning their ages means direct questioning of the Chinese government, and in that case, there's really little that we can do.

[hym 358]

So China has admitted to lyp-syncing the little girl singing. Admitted that it faked the fireworks show by staging some of it a day before the ceremonies. And now there are allegations that at least one of its athletes is underage. That pretty much destroys any last interest I had in the Olympics.

[belfastuniguy 18]

So China has admitted to lyp-syncing the little girl singing. Admitted that it faked the fireworks show by staging some of it a day before the ceremonies. And now there are allegations that at least one of its athletes is underage. That pretty much destroys any last interest I had in the Olympics.quote>

They aren't exactly great news events. But thus far I'm very pleased TEAM GB has been doing well thus far and with the Olympics in general. If those three incidents has completely shattered your entire interest in the Olympics then obviously that interest was not that great to start with.

[coolotter88 2]

I thought the giant footstep fireworks were really there, but the TV footage was CG because no one wants the pyrotechnics to blow up a helicopter.

[Easy Bakes 253]

USA Basket ball whiped Greece today. 92-69

[Za 164]

Easy Bakes: men or women? Sorry to the Aussies, but go Soni! Can't wait for the women's gymnastics individuals tonight. Gosh it's going to be late.

Edit: Finally, the American national anthem will be played at that arena. Great performance by the Chinese, Russians, and Romanians as well

[Easy Bakes 253]

Originally posted by: Za Easy Bakes: men or women? Sorry to the Aussies, but go Soni! Can't wait for the women's gymnastics individuals tonight. Gosh it's going to be late.

Edit: Finally, the American national anthem will be played at that arena. Great performance by the Chinese, Russians, and Romanians as well quote>

 

Mens. They play Spain saturday.

Womans team is doing well too , they are undefeated as well and also play Spain today.

I think that ball they use is just awefull looking.

BTW is Michal Phelps related to Former British Olympian( Diveing gold in 62 and 66) Brian Phelps? ( I actulay heard that name on a monty python Episode  

[Simtastico 0]

http://edition.cnn.com/2008/SPORT/08/14/olympics.roundup/?iref=hpmostpop

Have you guys noticed this? I am Swedish so it concerns me a bit.. just wanted to know what you think about it since I might be the wrong man to say if it was right or wrong. Background is, he got penalized for something that he felt he didn't do. As a result of the lost point he lost his chance to go the match for gold. I don't know enough of the rules to say if the ruling was warranted or not.. so, what do you say?

[krbe 193]

I think his main problem is a sense of fixed games (I think the Norwegian article about it said that all the referees were Italian), and that this had been a continious problem (he had to be talked in by his friends to even appear in the last match).

However, this belongs in the Beijing thread next time.

[Micah 16]

*Moved to Beijing Olympics 2008*

[TV-VCR 14]

Phelps has 7 gold now. It was amazing. It looks like the dude next to him has got the victory secured, and then BAM! He just needs one more to hit 8.

[Red1530 1]

Originally posted by: TV-VCR Phelps has 7 gold now. It was amazing. It looks like the dude next to him has got the victory secured, and then BAM! He just needs one more to hit 8.quote>

When I saw that race I thought that Phelps has lost.  When I saw that Phelps come in first I was shocked.  He beat Milorad Cavic by .01 seconds.  He tried to file a formal protest but the protest was rejected.

[TV-VCR 14]

Originally posted by: Red1530

Originally posted by: TV-VCR Phelps has 7 gold now. It was amazing. It looks like the dude next to him has got the victory secured, and then BAM! He just needs one more to hit 8.quote>

When I saw that race I thought that Phelps has lost.  When I saw that Phelps come in first I was shocked.  He beat Milorad Cavic by .01 seconds.  He tried to file a formal protest but the protest was rejected.quote>

I know. I was shocked too.

And I do kind of feel bad for Cavic. I'd be upset too.

[beebs 129]

Yay, Canada's won three medals now! The drought is over!

[Hampi 54]

Yeah a silver medal for Sweden in the tennis double! Fell so proud over them now! Especially since none tought they would get to the final!

[Meg 368]

Originally posted by: Easy Bakes

BTW is Michal Phelps related to Former British Olympian( Diveing gold in 62 and 66) Brian Phelps? ( I actulay heard that name on a monty python Episode )quote>

  

I'm not sure but I don't think so.   As I understand it, Michael's father bailed out on parenthood when Michael was a little kid.   His mother got him into swimming and his coach became the stable male role model. 

 

Originally posted by: Red1530

Originally posted by: TV-VCR Phelps has 7 gold now. It was amazing. It looks like the dude next to him has got the victory secured, and then BAM! He just needs one more to hit 8.quote>

When I saw that race I thought that Phelps has lost.  When I saw that Phelps come in first I was shocked.  He beat Milorad Cavic by .01 seconds.  He tried to file a formal protest but the protest was rejected.quote>

As I understand it, they reviewed the replay videos and decided the protest was unwarranted.   It sure did look close.   If Michael's arms were a half inch shorter, he would have won the silver.

Edit:  you can see the finish frame-by-frame here 

/end edit

Originally posted by: Simtastico http://edition.cnn.com/2008/SPORT/08/14/olympics.roundup/?iref=hpmostpop

Have you guys noticed this? I am Swedish so it concerns me a bit.. just wanted to know what you think about it since I might be the wrong man to say if it was right or wrong. Background is, he got penalized for something that he felt he didn't do. As a result of the lost point he lost his chance to go the match for gold. I don't know enough of the rules to say if the ruling was warranted or not.. so, what do you say?

quote>

 

I missed that.  I was at the beach for a few days.  (and found a few muscles I didn't know I had after riding a jetski but that's another story. )    I don't know enough of the rules either.

There can be political nonsense (the figure skaters come to mind).    Some sports are objective and you can measure that someone ran so fast or jumped so high or scored so many goals.   Others are subjective and it becomes an issue of judgment.   They try to get solid metrics into it -- diving and gymnastics have numerical degrees of difficulty for instance -- but judgment enters into a lot of the sports which can lead to bias.

Still, there are procedures for protesting these things.  I imagine the wrestlers have the right to have the replays reviewed just like the swimmers do.  I would think that filing a formal protest and getting a video review by a third party who knows the rules would be more effective than what he did.

[cheese91 9]

The US beat New Zealand in women's hockey 4-1. Woo!

[belfastuniguy 18]

Golden Britons sparkle in Beijing

Video - Wiggins wins individual pursuit gold

British Olympians have claimed four gold medals, a silver and four bronze medals on "Super Saturday" in Beijing.

Bradley Wiggins and Chris Hoy stormed to track cycling victories, with Ross Edgar earning silver, and bronze medals going to Steven Burke and Chris Newton.

Rebecca Adlington began the day with a stunning swim to win the women's 800m freestyle in world record time.

The men's rowing coxless four surged to gold, while Britain also claimed bronze in the men's and women's double sculls.

Team GB now occupy sixth place in the medal table with seven gold medals, three silver and seven bronze.

Saturday's haul of nine medals equalled their best day in the last 100 years, although they won two silvers and three bronze on 21 August 2004.

Of Britain's gold medal opportunities on Saturday, only heptathlete Kelly Sotherton failed to reach the podium, finishing fifth despite an impressive javelin performance and strong 800m run.

British sailors will have to wait for the medals they had expected on Saturday, with two GB boats seeing their races postponed until Sunday.

Video - Britain strike gold in coxless four

Ben Ainslie, in the Finn class, and the Yngling trio of Sarah Ayton, Sarah Webb and Pippa Wilson were all frustrated as a lack of wind affected the medal races in Qingdao.

All four are guaranteed silver medals when they do complete their races, and both boats occupy the lead in their events.

Adlington kicked off "Super Saturday", so named for the 30 gold medals and numerous British opportunities on offer, in a world record 800m freestyle time of eight minutes 14.10 seconds.

That performance handed the 19-year-old her second gold medal of the Games, following her 400m freestyle success on Monday.

"I absolutely can't believe that has happened. I knew when I touched I had won and that was a great thing because I was just going for gold," she said.

"This is just everything I have ever dreamed of and I'm so glad the hard work has paid off."

Success inside Beijing's Water Cube gave way to more medals at the Shunyi rowing lake, as the men's four battled back to pip Australia to gold.

"I don't know where that last 250m came from. I was in so much pain - I've never been in that pain in my entire life," said victorious GB crew member Andy Hodge.

Video - Adlington overwhelmed by second gold

The win handed Steve Williams, the only remaining member of the Athens coxless four, his second Olympic gold medal.

Hodge, Peter Reed and Tom James are at their first Games.

Women's double Elise Laverick and Anna Bebington and men's duo Matthew Wells and Steve Rowbotham both took bronze.

Britain's track cyclists picked up where the rowers left off, Newton adding Britain's fifth medal of the day in the points race at the Laoshan Velodrome.

Steven Burke won in the individual pursuit bronze race, dismantling Russia's Alexei Markov with his second expertly weighted ride of the day.

Video - Hoy leads GB one-two in keirin

Wiggins, following on in the individual pursuit's main event, had to fight for his title as New Zealand's Hayden Roulston proved a tough challenger.

But Wiggins ultimately earned his fifth career Olympic medal by some distance, accelerating gradually as the contest went on.

"It's been a long build-up - it always is for the Olympic Games, but then it comes round so quickly," Wiggins told BBC Sport.

"I'm just pleased it's over. This is just the first one of three."

Hoy, widely expected to blow apart the field in the keirin final, lived up to his billing with a consummate performance to add Britain's fourth gold of the day.

Edgar, however, surprised his rivals with a staggering final lap to steal a silver medal behind Hoy.

I don't know how to sum it up," Hoy told BBC Sport. "It's just beyond expectations, and it's a day we'll remember for a long time.

BBC OLYMPICS BLOG There can be few better ambassadors for British sport than Chris Hoy BBC Sport's Simon Brotherton

"I'm very emotional, but I'm trying to keep a cap on it because I've got another race to go."

The achievements were saluted by Lord Coe, the London 2012 chairman, as an important signpost ahead of the Olympics coming to Britain in four years' time.

"It's been fantastic, every moment the phone has been going with news of another medal," he said.

"What I think we've finally understood as a nation,and it's taken a while, is that you don’t get excellence on the cheap. You have to target and resource.

"There's been increased levels of funding, from Sydney to Athens through to now, and its been targeted really well on coaches."quote>

[Za 164]

Originally posted by: cheese91 The US beat New Zealand in women's hockey 4-1. Woo!quote>

 

And I could hardly believe it when we beat Croatia in water polo; they're supposed to be the best

Edit: looking back on that comment I can't help but thinking, "yep, I was on that team"

[Hamish 1,369]

Well, Saturday was a good day for New Zealand. 2 golds, 1 silver, 2 bronze.

Doesn't sound that good, but these were the first medals we have won since the games started.

[Meg 368]

Originally posted by: hamish

Well, Saturday was a good day for New Zealand. 2 golds, 1 silver, 2 bronze.

Doesn't sound that good, but these were the first medals we have won since the games started.quote>

I think 2 golds, 1 silver, and 2 bronze sounds pretty darn good.  An Olympic medal, of any color or quantity, is nothing to sneer at.   

Which is why there are headlines like Wrestler who discarded medal is expelled from Games.

Actually, I believe he was expelled because he showed a lack of sportsmanship, which is part of what the games are supposed to be about.   Sorry, Simtastico, but I do agree with the decision that, if he can't behave better than that, he gets to go home.

But, getting back to hamish's point . . .  yes, people do like to play "my country has more medals than your country" but that is not a fair game.   Usually, at the end of it all, there is a comparison per capita, which makes more sense.    One such chart (after the Athens games?) declared Bermuda to be the global winner because they had the highest number of medals per capita.

[Easy Bakes 253]

Team USA Basketball gives a 37 point Drubing  of Spain 119-82.

Their not fooloing around this time.

Womans won friday 93-55

[Jazzmaster 716]

Michael Phelps just stomped Olympic history by earning his 8th gold medal.  That was truely awesome and inspiring to watch!

Let's hear it for the USA!!

[Haljackey 17,302]

Well done Phelps and the US team. 8 gold for him... a new Olympic World Record. No one has done that before!

Also, Canada won a bronze in the event before Phelps' event during the men's 1,500 meter freestyle. Our first in the Water Cube!

[cheese91 9]

The men's US swim team did amazing today. Watching the race was so exciting. Michael Phelps with 8 gold medals...truly outstanding. And seeing Phelps' mother cheer and cry in the stands during/after the race was so touching...how proud she must be!

[Yoman3 5]

Just watched that race, then watched Bolt get 9.69 in the 100 meter dash. He was way out in front. And I just knew those Chinese gymnasts were like 7 give or take a few years

[beebs 129]

Bolt's 100m was incredible by itself.. nevermind that he wasn't really sprinting after 75.. and he had an untied shoelace?

Jeepers.. this guy is great.

[Haljackey 17,302]

beebs: Donnathan Bailey stated that if he actually sprinted all the way instead of "Coasting" after 75m, he could have got a time under 9.6 seconds.

But hey, you gotta imagine what's going through his mind. Nevertheless, its a new world record in the Olympics' biggest event!