Your Rio 2016 Summer Olympics anticipation thread!

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/c/c1/Olympia_2016_-_Rio.svg

It's definitely never too early to feel the warmth.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/81/Dilma_Rousseff_-_foto_oficial_2011-01-09.jpg/399px-Dilma_Rousseff_-_foto_oficial_2011-01-09.jpg

http://www.vecd.org/manage/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/corcova3do_overlooking_rio_de_janeiro_brazil.jpg

http://www.gayrio4u.com/images/rio/carioca-boy.jpg

http://images.thesartorialist.com/photos/10810Besokesuit1013Web.jpg

http://images.smh.com.au/2010/02/10/1109195/Rio-Beach-Copacabana-420x0.jpg

http://www.roadjunky.com/images/418.jpg

...wait, what was I talking about again?

Official homepage fun! Unofficial Wikipedia ponderings! Thoroughly typical 'OMG can we actually do this, we're already panic-stricken!' news stories!:

http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/08/12/2948182/now-to-rio-full-of-olympic-2016.html

http://www.thestar.com/sports/london2012/article/1240826--rio-de-janeiro-s-olympic-preparations-slow-off-the-mark

http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/olympics-2012/2012-london-olympics-ends-a-2016-rio-de-janiero-summer-olympics-article-1.1134557

Holy shit, this really could become the best/worst games ever:

The site of the equestrian events, a military zone in the north of the city, is thought to be dotted with explosives left over from trainings and will require a three-to-six month sweep to remove the forgotten ordnance.

"And riding for gold...um...never mind."

seems appropriate that the logo looks like a nipple

let's see how the Rio Worldcup 2014 will turn out first

http://i.imgur.com/GkGql.jpg

And really, the only clip needed. Ugh.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3-6RrRKi2KE

cant wait for the opening ceremony
ft hologram elis regina
ronaldinho and zumbi lead an army of bottleopeners against their colonial oppressors
gilberto gil shakes his dreads while a phalanx of peles do 4000 bicycle kicks

Cheery.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/13/opinion/in-the-name-of-the-future-rio-is-destroying-its-past.html

nyt homepage:

Brazil Olympics Feared as Way for Zika Virus to Go Global

By SIMON ROMERO and REBECCA R. RUIZ 4:02 PM ET

Of the visitors expected to pour into Rio de Janeiro in August, some may get infected by the mosquito-borne virus and then return home at a time of peak mosquito activity.

CANCEL

They really should.

I don't follow this stuff closely... but why start now?

Track and field's governing body voted Friday to uphold a ban on Russian athletes for this summer's Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, a ruling Russian President Vladimir Putin condemned as unfair.

http://espn.go.com/olympics/story/_/id/16282389/iaaf-upholds-ban-russian-track-field-athletes-olympics-rio-de-janeiro

Rio forecasts "public calamity"

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-36565901

financial issues...the poor and middle class will suffer but the Olympics will happen

it is ever thus

TBF, we'll all suffer once the crowds trickle back and turn zika into a global pandemic by summer's end. Bright side!

lol @ Dilma at the top of this

Remember when?

Don't think we'll be seeing Russian athletes competing anywhere soon, let alone the Rio Olympics.

pretty weird that there are matches before the opening ceremonies!

whole lotta empty seats out there

Fuck this Olympics tbh.

... of course, I'll still end up watching it.

you never know what you might see. maybe another body will wash ashore during beach volleyball.

always pumped for the olympics, dramz aside

bought a 4K tv just for it

Fuck this Olympics tbh.

― Aw naw, no' Annoni oan an' aw noo (Tom D.), Thursday, August 4, 2016 11:52 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Otm. I don't have the energy for this shit any more. Love sports, but Olympics in Rio where hundreds are killed by the police, favela's sealed off, Rio bankrupt but lending billions to build stadiums etc. Footy championships coming up in Russia and fucking Qatar with thousands of workers and many more inhabitants obstructed, enslaved, died, killed... Fuck it.

i'm not ruling out getting caught up in the sport but right now i feel very unenthused about this

So is this still going on?

no it's been cancelled

Nigeria - Japan in the football sounded like a hell of a game last night.

I caught Brazil - South Africa yesterday evening. South Africa were extremely fortunate to get a point but defended very well.

pretty weird that there are matches before the opening ceremonies!

that's been true of several of the last olympics, no?

Helpful tips!: How Olympians Can Survive Swimming in Sewage

Yeah Nigeria-Japan was wild when I was watching it and that was when it was 2-2!

Well anyway, here we go.

the CBC montage made me cry, so much.

The BBC streaming version without commentary is kinda great, because so far it's just seemed like this low-key chill for all the people running around.

I missed every opening ceremony since Athens (winter and summer), each for a reason dumber than another, pretty pumped to watch this right now.

"The Rio Opening Ceremony costs 3 Million...ony one tenth of that spent on the London Opening Ceremony!" Fuck off BBC News

totally into hearing Mas Que Nada over and over for the next two weeks.

Hope this opening ceremony goes explicitly full on about colonialism and slavery.

so far it is.

Had to miss some of it due to a phone call -- interesting, a full section on Japanese immigration, I guess?

Second country with the most japanese + Tokyo 2020 kinds of explain it? I think there was arab merchants as well?

Now that is one long strut.

Glad to be with you, Ned. Usually it's just me and Bee in the San Francisco Giants threads.

can someone just post every date/time bolt is running & phelps is swimming obrigado

Al Gore to take the mic at any moment.

I thought a Brazil piece on BBC news channel last night had a young female singer saying she was performing with Gilberto Gil and Caetano Veloso. Didn't see anything before the teams started being introduced.

I'm legit torn here, as my family has an invested interest in this olympics--a sprinter my dad coaches is competing, and my parents are there watching--but its not like I don't get (and agree with) all of the reasons this is wrong, stupid, irresponsible, etc.

I like Olympic sports but wow, opening ceremonies are dumb as hell. Go straight to the sports.

Andy Murray one fisting it there. As it were.

Can't wait for the entrance of the Refugees' Team.

Didn't know Palestine competed as its own nation, pretty dope.

Refugee team was a moment...

Truly. Was worth the wait.

Agreed.

Also FU Heatherwick, that torch is beautiful.

Quite glad it wasn't Pelé.

Yeah, the torch rules. And cool to see Gil and Veloso just continuing to do the damn thing.

God I hate NBC coverage.

Oh believe me, the way to see this is via the BBC website and VPN access. Especially since they offered a feed *without* commentary, which is what I was watching. Kinda perfect.

Meantime, I question the adverb in the headline.

http://www.sfgate.com/news/nation-world/article/USA-basketball-players-accidentally-visit-brothel-9125583.php

This is why I don't watch broadcast tv. Too many trailers for movies I could otherwise ignore.

WTF: Jim Gaffigan is in an advert for Chrysler minivans scored by "Real Human Being" from the Drive soundtrack

So Gil and Veloso did turn up? Maybe I should have stayed up and watched more of the ceremony.
Seemed pretty nice. Not that interested in the sport. Do hope refugees and Palestine get some high scores. Would be nice to see some gold but wonder if they've had as much chance to train.

Ceremony was v colorful & creative, good vibes imo

Nbc commentary lame jingoistic & dullas usual

dull as*

flame contraption was so dooooope

Enjoyed that, pretty restrained after Beijing and London but the forest section looked awesome. We turned off and went to bed sometime around the Cook Islands so I missed the refugee team and whoever ended up lighting the torch.

Caught like two minutes worth of the BBC's 'Olympic Breakfast' this morning, that was two minutes too long.

Proper coverage:

http://gawker.com/a-perfectly-legal-and-transformative-visual-interpretat-1784908618

caught up with it this morning, ended up fwding through the silly spectacle and just watching the athletes' parade. might have teared up at the refugee team (am hungover). also, the iranian flagbearer! former taekwondo competitor who was disabled in (??? forgot - bomb blast or earthquake?) and turned her focus to archery, and has qualified for both olympic & paralympic games in it :)

Early highlight in women's handball, reigning Olympic champions Norway vs World champions Brazil. Nervous opening though, and as usual Norwegian team slow out of the gate.

yusra mardini won the first 100m butterfly heat!

Watching the men's cycling road race here -- not even the first circuit at the end and this is clearly going to take out a lot of competitors before it's all over. Wonder how many will actually finish.

I'm a bit behind watching on dvr - dumoulin abandoned so early! weird that he would race if he wasn't healed up

Whew well I won't give away anything but my prediction is coming true.

water polo teams all look like the guys who stole yr lunch & stuffed u in lockers in high school

Watching these streams (table tennis and soccer) without commentator blather is great.

i need to investigate the streams

Just don't try to step in the same stream twice.

lol

I'm jumping between the four streams of women's table tennis and it's really interesting to see the different styles of play.
xp fnarrr

first Olympic gold ever for Vietnam! Hoang Xuan Vinh, men's 10m air pistol.

Big upset in tennis as Aga Radwanska loses R1 to Zheng Saisai though tbh considering Radwanska had to fly from Montréal to NYC to Lisbon to Rio in the past week thanks to a missed connection - and played like it - she was always a R1 upset candidate

OH JESUS CHRIST THAT VIDEO OF THE FRENCH GYMNAST BREAKING HIS LEG NOOOOOO

SILVER MEDAL TO DENMARK IN CYCLING! HELL YEAH!!

https://ssl.gstatic.com/onebox/media/olympics/photos/o16/live/RIOEC8613SYM1_768x432.JPG

I hope you're athletes are as funny and undisciplined as ours. Two cyclists were interviewed about the silver medal, one said it was 'fucking sindsygt (insane)', the other went 'yeah... hum... it's... fuuuuuck...' :)

Hearing the crowd completely TRASH Hope Solo every time she has the ball is one hell of a thing.

this table tennis match between the czech dude and the nigerian dude is high quality

Archery is lit. Loved watching the final between Korea and USA.

What's the big fuss about Hope Solo? Am I missing something?

Solo overreacted to Zika fears. So now the home folks are giving her their thoughts (booing whenever she has the ball and screaming "ZIKA!" whenever she does a goal kick).

Also, it IS Hope Solo.

waiting on USA basketball with stronger bated-breath anticipation than the frank ocean album tbh (even tho it'll prob be a blowout)

She can't have overreacted that much given she's at the tournament.

Hmph, my stream access was blocked for a while but is back now.

dvr lost the last 10k of the cycling finish ;_;

bruuuuutal course. poor Richie Porte! and such awful luck for Geraint Thomas. Craziness. time trials will be a welcome relef

henao - broen pelvis
porte - unconfirmed broken collarbone
nibali - broken collarbone

Great 4x100 m race by the women, glad to see a bright future for Canada Swimming.

But why are the swimming races so late?

the classic beach volleyball challenge walkoff match win

lmao reversal!
they cut into brokaws amazon piece

That was funny

That bike race looked absolutely insane, there doesn't appear to be any footage of what actually caused three riders to clatter off the road but the aftermath looked grim.

Deeply grim. The women's road race today could be just as chancy.

Catching up with tennis right now. Anything else of big interest on?

As for what caused the crashes, combination of steep descents and rapidly changing light/shade, I suspect. Commentators were saying it wasn't a case of if crashes would happen but when.

those shaded parts of roads in hotter countries can get real greasy too, which makes coming off at speed when cornering much more likely

Hearing they only do one lap of the Vista Chinesa climb, thank goodness.

Fiji, who lost 8-0 to Korea in the last game, are leading Mexico 1-0 at half time in the football.

And conceded five in the second half.

They were only one down at half-time vs Korea too, but conceded three in the space of 90sec around the hour mark. I kind of zone out of meetings after that long tbf.

yowch. that looked bad for van vleuten : /

fucking hell that looked horrific

the sprint finish of the road race was insane

Stupid Swedes, always copying what Denmark does :(

That crash did look horrific, hope it was less serious than it looked.

Yeah that crash was HORRIFIC. Anyone have further news? Hell of a run in to the end for the top four.

Enjoying some of the archery. Love how everyone's default mode is concentration combined with 'I will kill you now.'

Dutch news says that she's conscious, but in shock. Apparently.

thanks frederik. was really fearing the worst on that one, so that is good news. fingers-crossed she's okay

gold for KOSOVO!!! in their first ever olympic games. majlinda kelmendi in the women's judo 52kg. she looked completely stunned

Dutch cycling union, Koninklijke Nederlandsche Wielren Unie, has confirmed she's conscious, and has been taken to the hospital.

I love Dutch. Perhaps the only language more ugly than Danish. Thanks.

Nah

damn biles gets so much air

omg that crash was horrific

thrilling ending for a dramatic race! Great win for the Dutch, gutted for Abbott tho, sucks when you get so close & run out of gas

love too watch table tennis.

i signed up for a 7 day trial thing to watch nbc but agh the commentators. anyone care to share how they set up their vpn?

that biking course... how did it get through official inspection

drama = hoped-for ratings, more's the pity for the cyclist

19th gold for Phelps.

https://twitter.com/sarahschni/status/762489581300178944

her dad looks like alan cumming

wondering how they're going to get through the rowing program. what i saw on day 1 looked like a surf boat competition and that was apparently the day not worth cancelling due to high winds

yeah god i thought one of the single scull competitors was going to capsize at one point

one of the pairs did iirc

I'm so happy that Raisman made the 2016 squad just so I can watch her parents again.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/australias-mack-horton-chinas-sun-yang-plain-dont-like-each-other/2016/08/07/6c3ba25a-5c53-11e6-9767-f6c947fd0cb8_story.html

Mack Horton, the Australian who kicked off a promising meet for his country by winning the 400-meter freestyle, was addressing the topic of Sun Yang, the Chinese swimmer whom he beat for the gold — and who has generally perturbed him, first for testing positive for a performance-enhancing drug in 2014, then by splashing water in his lane during a training session before the Olympics began.

“I just have a problem with athletes who have tested positive and are still competing,” Horton told the assembled press.

this one too
http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/2016/08/07/finger-pointing-sets-up-us-russian-womens-swim-showdown/88381764/

The thing with Yulia Efimova is a complete farce. Implicated in the WADA-report, busted for using Meldonium (her second offence) and still allowed in at last notice. Nobody can possibly believe that she's clean.

Idk why they let Russian althetes with prior bans compete in swimming but banning people for using meldonium when you have little to no idea how long it stays in the body doesn't seem particularly fair.

What's not particularly fair is Russia having a state organized doping scheme which apparently even included using the FSB to keep doping agencies away from athletes.

The Russian athletes trying - and freaking succeeding - to use loopholes to stay in competition, when next to nobody collaborated with the investigation is shameful.

That has nothing to do with meldonium. I agree the double standard where some athletes with prior bans can compete but others can't doesn't make sense.

The meldonium question is completely pointless, is what I'm saying.

The point is that everybody knows Efimova is a cheat. She cheated before, and her country conspired to protect cheaters. And yet there she is.

Vaguely watching some men's gymnastics here. Who is the UK man bun dude?

Lewis Smith. Relatively few people expected him to compete again - he has been on the Celebrity Come Dancing circuit for the last four years.

love too watch table tennis.

i signed up for a 7 day trial thing to watch nbc but agh the commentators. anyone care to share how they set up their vpn?

― bagging area (map), Monday, August 8, 2016 2:17 AM (20 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

just started watching the olympics this weekend

i'm stateside right now so i had the displeasure of watching nbc -- good lord they're atrocious (as is their coverage as has already been stated)

anyway can i just say CBC, hats off

the best coverage i've ever seen basically

1 sign up for https://unlocator.com
2 setup dns stuff and change region to canada
3 go to http://olympics.cbc.ca/online-listing

so organized, simple to understand, easy to watch, etc

sometimes the live stream causes slight issues when rewinding because it switches to prerecorded video

but other than that it's a breeze

yeah 100% happy with CBC's coverage

so impressed with the young canadians in swimming, another medal tonight.

Going to be difficult to watch Steele Johnson compete with a straight face.

thanking u xposts

Steel Johnson: We're Already Inside Of You http://m.imdb.com/title/tt4595784/

Efimova won silver. Was booed on entering the area, sporadic booing as she received her medal. Danish news says she broke down crying at one point, which sounds good.

not sure of all the ins and outs but the IOC's handling of the RUS team seems to have been a total mess. I don't support the entire RUS Olympic squad being banned (because there are several sports, like tennis, where the athletes are much less connected to domestic programs and where the sport already has its own drug-testing procedures) but the loopholes Efimova found were ridiculous.

Ah Frederik what a shithead you are.

x-post: I don't know, afaict the problem was that the russian state put barriers in place to make the sports anti-doping procedures not work. I was thinking more that some sports, such as synchronized diving for instance, probably doesn't benefit from doping as much, and it might be unfair to ban them.

afaict, athletes who could show a clean doping record in international competition independent of Russian domestic testing were mostly cleared to compete by the individual federations. The main national punishment for state involvement is that Russian athletes with prior bans were mostly not allowed to participate, unlike athletes with prior bans from other countries.

The swimming case is mysterious, though, as they banned several athletes with prior convictions and then reversed that ban without any clear public explanation.

Unfortunately it doesn't really prove anything to not have been caught at international competitions, since doping is used mainly during training, and with the goal of the drugs being undetectable at the events. The only reliable method is to have unannounced doping controls during the training period, and those were also obstructed by the Russians, involving help from the FSB.

yes - some sports (like tennis) have independent out-of-competition testing as well. So I don't get why it ever made sense to suspend the entire RUS squad as opposed to on a sport-by-sport basis. (The RUS tennis player who has been caught taking meldonium, Sharapova, has already been suspended by the ITF.)

Yes, it varies sport by sport so some of the ones with long training periods and limited international competition have had blanket bans applied - the entire track and field team is out.

I would guess that swimming has a more rigorous international competition schedule but idk.

Well, problem is that testing really wasn't that independent. The samples were taken to the WADA lab in Moscow, where they were tampered with. FSB would distract WADA testers so they couldn't supervise the testing properly. And some athletes trained in military cities, where civilian testers would have no oversight, iirc. When British testers were put in charge of testing this spring, they reported massive obstruction. When WADA decided to retest B-samples from the Moscow lab, the samples were destroyed or tampered with. So unless the tennis athletes trained abroad - which is definitely possible - the out-of-competition testing proves nothing.

Track-and-field were banned because the original WADA reports from November and January went into details on the organized doping in exactly that sport, not because of anything with training periods and limited competition.

Most of the tennis players do train abroad, as does Efimova - she's based in the US and has an American coach iirc.

In a way, that ban is even more unfair, as the report said that athletic athletes had no choice over whether to dope or not, but were forced to do it if they wanted to be part of the national team.

Efimova has an American coach, yeah. She seems to have kept Russian doctors, though, as meldonium is not approved by the FDA...

Some swimming nerd background info: Morozov and Lobintsev (both sprinters, both on the 4x100 free team that got 4th after loud booing) were named in the McLaren report, but there was no transparency on what they were named *for*. Both train at Trojan/USC and are regularly tested by USADA, so if they had test results 'hidden' by the Moscow lab it's not exactly clear how or when. All the Kazan 2015 Worlds samples have been retested in Barcelona, all clean (or at least that's what we've been told). So that leaves the 2013 Universiade, also in Kazan (Russia dominated - Morozov 2G 1S 1B, Lobintsev 2S, Russia won all 3 men's relays). But we still have no idea what's in the report. Complete mess. Meanwhile Efimova's meldonium use is no worse than any other Russian's (though how did she get it in the US where it's not FDA approved? She's also at USC), but even if she stopped taking it on Dec 31st, she still has the 'advantage' of it in her system, training on a fitness base built on its benefits. What really riled up the swimming community though was her pitifully short ban from 2013 (for a supplement containing DHEA) that was reduced by FINA for literally no reason other than to allow her to compete in a home World Champs, and her utter lack of remorse at the time ("it's just like I've got my driving license back after speeding"). FINA will do nothing about it - they are totally in hock to the Russians (and NBC, for that matter, hence finals finishing at 1am Rio time) and will do anything for their cash. Efimova was Miss July on FINA's 2014 sodding promotional calendar during her ban, ffs! Such a shame, her technique is beautiful to watch.

With the track-and-field band there was an exception made for athletes who could prove they trained outside Russia and submitted to doping agencies in other countries, btw. Darya Klishina was allowed to compete under neutral flag for this reason. Presumably the same exemption should have been made with every other organization.

I think Klishina was exempt because she'd only ever been tested in the US?

I've concluded table tennis is my 'fallback thing to watch if nothing else immediately stands out to me' event. Some NYT piece on noisy Brazilian crowds said that apparently said noise at the venue is throwing a few of the players off because they rely on being able to hear the ball!

I think Klishina was exempt because she'd only ever been tested in the US?

Also va-va-voom.

so i know wente is not liked here but hadn't heard of semenya and the whole transgender thing

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/an-olympic-challenge-testosterone/article31317723/

intersex not trans

the article talks about both

no olympic event is more terrifying than the beam

I just have absolutely no sympathy for Efimova. Saw an interview with her, she's crying and discussing how hard it is, but not a single word about the Russian scandal. Just 'don't judge' and 'everything on the internet is shit'.

no olympic event is more terrifying than the beam

― lex pretend, Tuesday, August 9, 2016 12:39 PM (26 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

agree

omg the fencing! 41-yr-old Hungarian guy was cruising to the gold at 14-9 - wanted to end on a flourish by attacking - and let the 20-yr-old Korean kid take six consecutive points to win.

that was wild ^

Serena down a set and now down a break in the 2nd

Damn, after getting even she just missed six serves in a row to go down a break again

wow she lost :(

Ledecky <3<3<3 so dominant

no olympic event is more terrifying than the beam

― lex pretend, Tuesday, August 9, 2016 12:39 PM (26 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

agree

― Spottie, Wednesday, August 10, 2016 6:07 AM (6 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

would normally agree on sight but the road cycling events this olympics have been especially hairy

in terms of edge-of-your-seat please-don't-fall, it's up there with figure skating for me

the beam i mean

winter sports are a whole other level

21th gold for Phelps

he should donate 10 gold medals to some rando so he can be number one and the rando can tie for #2 with mark spitz

can aly raisman dunk

biles probably can at 4'8"

in terms of edge-of-your-seat please-don't-fall, it's up there with figure skating for me

― have you ever even read The Drudge Report? Have you gone on Stormfron (k3vin k.), Tuesday, August 9, 2016 7:36 PM (3 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Was trying to think of anything else in the summer olympics (sorry don't care about the road race) and maaaaybe the pummel horse? Mens gymnastics in general tho not as interesting to me (outside of the high bar) so my emotional investment isnt as deep. Beam is crazy though it claims victims on the simplest of moves.

Really enjoyed watching Travis Stevens' deep run to the silver medal in Judo today.

i think the vault is potentially more dangerous than the beam (was reading about a vault literally nicknamed the death vault - http://www.wsj.com/articles/the-vault-that-is-too-wild-for-simone-biles-1470539776) but the backflips on the beam - which seem to be a very standard move! - are heart-in-mouth like no other. it's THIS WIDE HOW CAN THEY POSSIBLY DO IT

I dream of a steeplechase x beam combined event

Tonight it's Denmark-Brazil in football. Denmark leads the group with 4 points, Brazil has only 2. Loser will probably be out of the tournament, depending on the result in Iraq-South Africa.

I didn't see the South Africa game but Denmark were terrible against Iraq. I can't see Brazil failing to score for the third consecutive game when the pressure is on.

South Korea vs Mexico should be good.

Denmark were bad against South Africa as well, except for the goalkeeper who had a lot of big saves. He had to. Brazil seems pretty bad as well, though. And they need to win, while Denmark only needs a draw.

I love that one of the cyclists is named Emma Pooley. Hope she wins.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L-J0y-gvQwg

Another silver medal to a Russian drug cheat in womens time trials. Good job to the IOC.

Though complaining about drug cheats in bicycling is pretty pointless, I guess.

was gonna say

It was hard not to be reminded of cheating when the gold medalist was named Armstrong...

that men's all-around gymnastics final! insane quality.

can't wait to watch that tonight ^

loving the sabre semi's right now, US guy Daryl Homer up right now vs Daryl Homer of Iran with a chance to get into the gold medal match

Boy I'm glad Fred was not aware of baseball doping scandals when it was at peak coverage.

Earlier, but I have to say there was a perfect moment of comedy when the BBC swimming guys were talking, the camera cut to Matthew McConaghey sitting in the stands, and one of the commentators went "It's that actor!...Mc...Mc...Mc...oh bloody hell."

hungary most golds in eu rn, <3 olympics

first day off the velodrome today, can't flipping wait

Go Lasse Norman Hansen!!

Denmark lost 4-0 to Brazil, but still made it through to the quarter finals, as Iraq and South Africa played yet another draw. I don't know, I don't really see the point of football as an olympic discipline if it's always like this.

One of the things I like about following the olympics from Denmark is that we're pretty good at sailing, and for some reason that sport is always extremely dramatic. One of the Danish sailors were disqualified in one of the races, after a complaint for something minor but true. She got really pissed off and sailed extremely well, and is now number two. It's like, every year it always goes like this, disqualifications, boats keeling over, etc. One year the Danish boat was at number 1 before the final race, but then the boat sank. So they borrowed the Croatians boat, and managed to end at exactly the point where they'd still win gold. It was insane, and kinda stupid.

My biggest edge-of-seat please-don't-hurt-yourself hangup may be in diving, when they either face the water and somersault backwards, or have their backs to the water and somersault forwards. As in, pleeease don't hit your head into the platform!

ding ning wins gold in table tennis, completes grand slam ^_^

ma long in finals, could be another china-china final for mens

xpost -- That match last night was an intense watch. Totally not surprised she broke down that much after winning, I can't imagine the mental stress levels you put yourself through.

Watched that gold medal match yesterday, great stuff

Badminton starts today. And pumped for US vs Brazil men's vball today too. Crowd is gonna be amped.

it should be mentioned that badminton is the best sport

men's doubles especially is amazing TV

Yeah doubles really does work for tv

Archery finals!

Kayla Harrison is such a badass

judging by the expression on russian gymnast aly mustafina's face when she was preparing her vault she is absolutely not to be fucked with . i like her.

It's vaguely interesting as a side note that, with most of the track and field team banned, Russia's main Olympic heroes so far - Efimova, Mudranov, Mustafina, Khalmurzaev, Deriglazova (i think), Tutkhalian, Dashidorzhieva, Timur, etc, etc are from regional ethnic minority groups.

Another great win for Korea in the women's archery.

Kayla baaaaaak to back

Mustafina kinda bombed her beam routine

13.866 ouch

that opening tumble by Raisman on the floor is absolutely insane

Fiji absolutely murdering Britain at the Rugby Sevens.

every highlight of Fiji rugby I've seen from this olympics has been dudes just absolutely trucking dudes

29-0 ... at half time

pretty awesome theyve never won a medal!!

Also hard to believe, those guys could run through brick walls.

well done Fiji. theyll be sickened they didn't keep a clean sheet

Olympic Volleyball is crazy - it's like basketball tennis

bears no relation to my painful efforts in high school, thank god

also very bro-y in offputting ways

OMG THAT 100m FINAL

sorry, never saw a dead heat of that kind.

I've managed to completely miss the Olympics so far, but they found something to rope me in...

Rogue One!!! Woooo!!!

Next up, 500 mile Olympic Death Star run

nbc color commentator for swimming is like some kind of coke-fuelled mega swimfan, it's v scary

This is pretty funny:
http://www.mtv.com/video-clips/asekhp/mtvnews-series-gymnastics-have-changed-for-the-better

Simooooooooooone!

that was for simone manuel btw

what an awesome result, wtg simone

she was so shocked, love those kind of genuine reactions.

yeah, that "omg wtf yay" between her & the Canadian was so great

i also need to say that i like watching phelps swim. he has a v graceful style imo

tho i hate the weird intensity he has when he wins. he looks so mean. but then he smiles & cries on the podium. its weird

def gonna miss phelps when he finally decides to hang it up.

for sure

Was talking to a gymnastics fan about how Biles is so amazing and comparing her to Douglas - he said Biles is way better, she's not just doing more difficult moves but operating at a level of consistency that shouldn't even be possible in gymnastics - but he prefers Douglas because she's more aesthetically elegant (Raisman is apparently the opposite of this). Which is about how I (knowing nothing about it) instinctively feel too. I really, really loved Rebeca Andrade's style! Apparently she tore her ACL last year which meant that she's confined to routines here that don't allow for huge points scoring, which is sad in front of her home crowd.

What I find amazing about Biles is that basically all of the lead-up press said, this is the greatest female athlete in the world and she will demonstrate it - unbelievable pressure on any athlete in any context let alone in your first Olympics. And then she lived up to every expectation like it was nothing.

yeah it was weird i was never nervous watching her.

if they allowed more than two per country i bet the US woulda swept the podium w gabby

Well I never thought I'd see an Olympic medallist say "Tiocfaidh ar la"

Loved Andrade's Beyonce megamix floor routine.

Huge shocker in the women's 100 free! Great for Simone and Penny but I feel for poor old Cate Campbell (thought to be almost as much a nailed-on favourite as Ledecky, finished out of the medals). The pic of Sjostrom and Ottesen helping her out of the pool was heartbreaking. Unfortunately she has the opposite mentality of Biles.

Well I never thought I'd see an Olympic medallist say "Tiocfaidh ar la"

What wait what?

O'Donovan brothers in the rowing.

Alma Ayana! and a bronze for Tirunesh <3

That women's 10 k was insane!! World record obliterated! Love when they go off super fast rather than loafing around until a sprint finish.

Four of the five fastest times ever run.

I think the top seven all beat the Olympic record.

Well I never thought I'd see an Olympic medallist say "Tiocfaidh ar la"

Some accents those lads have got.

Ah man, I missed the 10K, somehow blanked and thought athletics/track and field started tomorrow. Well, I know what I'm watching for the next week...

oh shit, teddy riner in the judo. last bout was like watching a leopard take down a wildebeest

think that gold medal match is in an hour or so? gonna watch that/

women trampoline just started. such a bizarre olympic sport but also pretty fun to watch.

Mens indoor cycle one on one sprints start today. that is must watch tv

Sweden just scored against the US in women's soccer for a 1-0 lead, thirty minutes to go in a quarterfinal. Crunch time.

what a pass

so proud of penny

Monica Puig serving for Puerto Rico's first ever tennis medal

US just tied up Sweden, pretty great goal.

Amazing scenes, Puig into the final and a medal guaranteed!!

soccer game is intense. grats to Puig!

Johnson is hanging with Murray too

US not gonna get a better chance than that

just watched the 10k, ayana looked incredible. what a stunning performance

Yeah that whole race was amazingly fast.

latepass but how are u guys watching all this stuff? no cable here

horrible call!

Yeah this match is suddenly turning insane at the death.

INTO PENALTY HELL

uggggh this crazy

i'm dying

(got the app)

Oof!

.

new gloves didn't help

Well there it goes.

honestly after solo delayed to change gloves or whatever that nonsense was I rooted for sweden to find the net

welp :(

Yeah that gloves thing was terrible, it's not like she'd be trying to catch the ball at all

:(

honestly after solo delayed to change gloves or whatever that nonsense was I rooted for sweden to find the net

― have you ever even read The Drudge Report? Have you gone on Stormfron (k3vin k.),

Reminded me of Tonya Harding's "BUT MY LACES, MY LACES"

@kbaxter11
#USWNT's Hope Solo "we lost to a bunch of cowards. The better team did not win' #Rio2016

like school in the summertime

lol what is her problem

hope solo is going to murder someone when she gets back stateside

what is she even salty about?

I assume she thinks Sweden played too defensively.

Getting more than six of their twenty seven shots on target might have helped the U.S. though.

yeah they had their chances

Lol at solo. Our opponents didn' t play in a manner that allowed us to win. Wah. It's giving me flashbacks to LFC vs Chelsea 2013-14.

i love all the volleyballs but the hugging/high-fiving after every single point is just too much

GREAT men's cycling final right now.

Goddamn, credit to the UK for that one and the world record too!

Australians really pulled a great ride out of the bag there, great battle

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CpsFrpPWAAAGtsd.jpg

siiiick

And the bronze to Denmark!

Yeah those Chinese helmets are excellent, the men have them too but with a different face

hope solo is so lame

Katinka Hosszu might become the second ever female to win 4 golds in individual events in swimming, going for 200m backstroke.

Didn't happen.

so close

DiRado was amazing there. And then Schooling for the gold and a three way tie for silver! Hey, crazy way for Phelps to bow out.

Glad he didn't win. He's the most garlanded Olympian simply because there are far too many swimming events.

He is also the greatest swimmer of all time.

there is that

I agree but there's still too much of it.

Phelps is really just the female Ledecky imo

Christ, Ledecky was indescribable there. I mean when the camera had to PULL BACK to show everyone else.

xpost the male Ledecky* haha my bad

If you don't know the words then don't mouth them.

i'd like to report that a lot of v attractive men & women are competing in olympic track events

*end report*

oh, just track?

I will second VG

track is mostly what i watched this arvo, track is what i am reporting

also i love women's shotput

https://pbs.twimg.com/tweet_video/CptBJngWYAAv3LT.mp4

http://imgur.com/a/3qMu7

picture I took while watching

http://imgur.com/a/3qMu7

Holy shit, Anthony Ervin! What a fucking sequel to have!

also i love women's shotput

me too and I hope you didn't miss the women's hammer right before, possibly the best screams of the whole games

ervin race was so great.

from wikipedia: He is currently in first place in the 50m in the 2016 Olympics, although there are still several meters to go in the race.

Just caught Michelle Carter winning there. Damn right.

i want to watch val adams in the shotput but it's not being shown here.

i am subject to network whims, so only getting shotput etc in fragments

i never know which 7 channel i should be watching at any given time but i haven't seen it on any so far.

otm. tv situation is annoying af, just trying to surf the mediocre waves as they come which means watching events 5 hrs after every already talked about them

i seem to keep getting after the event interviews with athletes or boring beach volleyball, though to be fair the swimming coverage has been good.

Well I'll tell ya, it may have just been a quarterfinal, but the Brazil/Australia women's football match just now, goddamn THAT was a crazy tense down-to-the-wire ending, extra time, penalties, sudden death. Astounding one-hand save by Barbara at the death, the fans going absolutely apeshit. Glad I was watching; after the US fuckup, I'm all in for Brazil to own it the rest of the way.

TOTES barbara was amazing there. def relieved to see marta's shot getting blocked was not their untimely demise.

Glad he didn't win. He's the most garlanded Olympian simply because there are far too many swimming events.
--Acting Crazy (Instrumental) (jed_)

Uh and because he's the greatest swimmer ever.

finally watched ledecky's swim, that was some joyous human endurance

sports that i can't seem to get jazzed about
-beach volleyball
-handball
-fencing
-archery

Man they really shoulda shown more shotput that looked like a great final

skeet shooting aimed towards a highway made me wonder

Glad he didn't win. He's the most garlanded Olympian simply because there are far too many swimming events.
--Acting Crazy (Instrumental) (jed_)

Uh and because he's the greatest swimmer ever.

― One bad call from barely losing to (Alex in SF)

Right! And. The greatest pole vaulter ever isn't going to have as many medals. Even if they were a better pole vaulter than Phelps is a swimmer.

Of course. That's the way swimming (and to an extent sprinting, gymnastics) work. Anyway most garlanded or not there are very few athletes in their respective milieus who have been as good for as long as Phelps. Begrudging him success just seems weird to me.

I don't begrudge him his success, but I would like to see other outlets for people to be celebrated by norms for smoking hella weed

bolt heat soon

did anyone watch the men's single sculls final it was insane

There's a woman racing in steeplechase named Babar :D Also a woman named Sclumpf

that is all

im clearly pulling for henry brunches

GodDAMN Murray's rally just now in the semi.

And into the final. Yeah after that rally, Jesus H.

https://twitter.com/JimmyDonofrio/status/764281540599701506

:)

Babybel's like "fuck celery!"

Handball: Denmark behind with 1 entering the final minute, an equaliser with 30 seconds to go, then Qatar loses the ball on a mistake and Mikkel Hansen scores two seconds from the end. Denmark in the quarter finals!

Team handball is the best!

i hate being told that a broadcast will include cycling only to not include cycling >:(

Russia vs Ukraine in the women's team sabre about to start.

That sounds safe

that nadal/other guy final was pretty intense

lol that other guy is a really great player who's been injured lately

Darya Klishina is out as well. 'New evidence'.

i heard! i watched the match with a buddy of mine who actually follows tennis --- i had forgotten so much about the rules/basic gameplay, it was a little embarrassing. otoh, i now think i should probably watch tennis more often??

tennis rules. should be lots of great tennis on TV the next month leading up to and including the U.S. open

Olga Kharlan fenced beautifully for Ukraine but Russia were totally dominant from the start. 45-30 in the end.

Man I want puig to win this so bad

Puig up a break in the final set

Puig gold for Puerto Rico!

PUIIIG

Sad to miss Puig -- was out this afternoon with a visiting friend -- but settled in now to see Farah hopefully do the damn thing (again).

OK. Mo Farah wins, I can go to bed now.

that was great

Just superb. All time now, what a legend.

Long jump is a nail-biter

Saw start of mo race but was snoozing for the finish :(

I know very little of Mo Farah, but he looks like the coolest person to have as a friend.

Crazy crazy long jump

Wow what the hell.

Mo farahs last lap was only 1 second slower than the last lap of that 800m heat I think

and if you have a finish like that, they really have to try and hurt you a lot earlier in the race

Glad he didn't win. He's the most garlanded Olympian simply because there are far too many swimming events.
--Acting Crazy (Instrumental) (jed_)

Uh and because he's the greatest swimmer ever.

― One bad call from barely losing to (Alex in SF)

Right! And. The greatest pole vaulter ever isn't going to have as many medals. Even if they were a better pole vaulter than Phelps is a swimmer.

― Guayaquil (eephus!), Saturday, August 13, 2016 7:36 AM (13 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

really the idea here is never to compare between disciplines.

Rudisha is so boss

Women's 100 coming up

Scorcher

Stellar. Thompson had that from the get-go.

SAFP didn't have the greatest start there

So if I understand Fraser ran with a toe injury?

Every 4 years Mo makes up for those Quorn adverts.

So long Phelps, gonna be strange without you.

this bong rip's for you my native son

i'd like to get some good quality wigs to these olympic sprinters

fraser-pryce's yellow shake-n-go hurts my heart.

The field for the women's 100 was wall to wall stone-cold killers, any of them coild have won & it would have been awesome but Thompson made it look so damn easy. Love her.

Women's 100 was so good. Really liked that simple little feature nbc did on Tori Bowie yesterday. Grats to her on the silver. English Gardner looked way intense.

Phelps will be back for Tokyo no doubt. Take a couple/few years off then itch for it again then start getting all the sponsorship offers and he won't be able to deny it. Pick a few events get two more golds for a cool 25

Yeah English Gardner seemed like she was wound mighty tight

I am v excited for the Men's 400 final tomorrow. Van Niekirk is my personal fave to win, he's so relaxed! But Merritt & James will be good watching too. All of them really. same as the 100 the field is full of killers

I can't see Phelps staying out unless he pulls some deep "gonna go be a cobbler now" business. Maybe having a kid has changed him tho, will be interesting to see

That final relay was pretty dope.

First gold medal to Denmark! Pernille Blume wins gold in 50 m freestyle. She then went on to win bronze as part of the medley team.

So pleased for the Danish women's medley team - this is Jeanette Ottesen's 4th Olympics and she's finally got a medal. The team's been tipped for a while but Pernille was always the 'weak link'; this year she's totally stepped up. Awesome!

mo farah's 10k was on some fictional chariots of fire shit

yay danish ladies!

Yeah. People had been writing stories about how the whole generation of swimmers had underperformed because they weren't getting medals at neither this olympics nor London, and then, bam, two on the last day!

xxp they kept on referring to some Kenya plan to disrupt Farah during the NBC broadcast and I was like "was the plan to let him relax for 24 laps and then let him smoke you for the last two, because if so SUCCESS!"

Also English Gardner easily the angriest looking English Gardner ever. Seriously she should probably take up a relaxing hobby like gardening.

Kenyans: we have a plan
Farah: *accelerates*
Kenyans: nvm

Great women's marathon final just now -- only could catch the end of it but Sumgong holding off Kirwa was a bravura performance, and US in sixth/seventh is pretty solid.

Russian synchronized swimming routine just now was pretty amazing

Annoying thing when you follow a bunch of Americans on Twitter, there was zero mention of who actually won the marathon, just that Americans finished top 10.

Olympic Golf, who'd've thought that would be of any interest? Down to the last hole. Stenson v. Rose. Both 17 under.

... 15 under, I mean.

OK, Stenson's blown it, gold for Justin Rose :)

Ryan Lochte, three other U.S. swimmers robbed at gunpoint in Rio

"And then the guy pulled out his gun, he cocked it, put it to my forehead and he said, 'Get down,' and I put my hands up, I was like 'whatever.'

"Just another Saturday night, amirite."

The weeping gymnasts have been the highlight of this evening so far.

Okay Murray-Del Petro is already turning out crazy just because of the Argentines vs Brazilians in terms of crowd chants.

has to be the 6th or 7th deuce in del potro's opening service game

too good from murray

The weeping gymnasts have been the highlight of this evening so far.

For sure! The Brazilian who won the silver in the floor was just in floods from the moment he finished his routine and every little event from then on triggered a fresh deluge

damn, del potro looks worn the fuck out but he is still battling back

Is this like the slowest tennis match ever? This is going to go longer than Isner/Mahut.

Yeah at this rate, track and field will finish first tonight.

Murray lost in fannying about mode.

Beginning to think del Potro might keel over and die if this goes to a fifth set.

Andy Murray, gold medal. 'Mon the Andy!

Man that was a crazy one.

del potro has been great but murray is always my favourite

first time watch velo cycling this year; i thought women's keirin was rad but i just watched men's omnium & that elimination race was pretty fun. (sidebar wtf @ cav)

oh and big ups to Sarah Robles for getting the US's first medal in 16 yrs (bronze) in weightlifting, heavyweight division

and to the Chinese gold medallist Meng Suping for lifting THREE HUNDRED AND NINETY POUNDS in her final attempt ffs

now THAT was some great tv

Well there ya go. Usain Bolt, man.

USAIN BOLT

He needs to move back up to 400 and have a bash at van Niekerk.

Quite a night. Sleep now.

De Grasse is the future.

Junior, hi

de grasse is the next generation

that 400m final was like whoa

yeah don't know why 100m is the king event, 400m is so much more entertaining and spectacular.

Bolt is reason why everyone is paying attention to 100 (and to slightly lesser extent 200) these days.

100m was always to big event.

the big event*

I think pre-Bolt, post-Lewis it was a little more even between 100 and 400 drama (partly cuz of Johnson) but it true that 100 winner is "worlds fastest person" whereas 400 is more like just another race.

100m is still an incredible visual spectacle, to see someone go so fast so quickly

Van Niekirk though! he has so much chill & poise, so thrilled to see him crush the WR and get the gold

200 my fav. 400 their form starts to break down and it looks so labored by the end (minus dude who won tonight)

My god Brazilian gymnast Arthur Mariano is a beautiful human being. he looks like a fairytale prince (hearteyes emoji)

he weeping was really something

800 is my favorite.

mine, too

Is today the last day of gymnastics for the whole competition?
Glad i got to see the womens stuff a few days ago, the floor stuff was very impressive.
How much spring is there in the floor mat. is taht all leg power or is it helped by bounce in that?

How long is a gymnast's career likely to be? Do they find themselves able to sustain doing things like that for decades or does the body have a finite stretch during which it can do things like double somersaults from momentum built up during the routine?
Just left going wow.
& thinking about Marvel films but obviously what I was seeing was being done live without harnesses.

Very short - Nastia Liukin, one of the greatest American gymnasts of the modern era, was put out to pasture at 22, i think.

Mustafina is already considered pretty old at 21.

How much spring is there in the floor mat. is taht all leg power or is it helped by bounce in that?

It's pretty bouncy and that definitely helps a lot (Biles can clear a Biles standing on top of a Biles for example).

How long is a gymnast's career likely to be?

At the highest level very short (injury is big issue) and esp. in countries with super strong programs older gymnasts tend to get pushed out very quickly. Biles OTOH is obv pretty unique. Barring injury I think she'll be back in 2020....

but we've still got Oksana Chusovitina tackling the vault of death and in the Olympic final at 41!

felt really sorry for Gabby Douglas - she was the star of the show in London, in the same position Biles is now in, and this time round she's still here but no one's talking about her except to bully her on Twitter.

(super-pleased Aliya Mustafina got her gold tho!)

I don't really watch much gymnastics.
I was noticing that most of the gymnasts this year seemed to be pretty small. With Biles even being 4' 8.
Is the small size standard?

Just watching the 2012 because i couldn't find a torrent for this year's. & was thinking that catalina Ponor looked to be taller, just looked her up and found out she's only 5' 2.

So wondering if I'm making an observation based on a too small sample.

Might get into watching a bit more now that I chanced on the Women's this year. Would like to see how the men's compares though.

Also what happens to ex-gymnasts do they go into coaching or stunts or something?

jeez, this is turning into a bit of a disaster for Ireland

Gymnasts are generally pretty short. 4'8" might be a little shorter than most (not by much though as Chinese esp. historically teeny). Biles looks to my eyes to have basically the perfect body for 3 of the 4 events (probably better to be either longer or lighter for uneven).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wlO7zr7woHc

https://youtu.be/wlO7zr7woHc

Love those guys.

always disappointed that they aren't literally throwing hammers

I'm working from home and my wife is watching dressage

What the hell

Is "dressage" French for "dicking around on a horse"?

The just called this horse "the Lebron James/Steph Curry of horses" what is happening

omg that's priceless

p sure dressage exists exclusively to reliably supply a very tiny and very wealthy population with olympic medals

like the same could be said of lots of niche sports, but dressage seems like the most blatant form of patronage

in theory i like the sports that are holdovers from the fin de siecle moment of the olympic revival

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steeplechase_(athletics)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modern_pentathlon

just for their sheer weirdness. but i haven't watched any of it.

dressage is synchro for horse and rider

main problem is not enough music, it's still better than any other sport (except synchro)

I turned dressage on the other night, it was a horse walking sideways, I turned it off

I was just watching two Russian synchronized swimmers with swimsuits tight enough that they looked like thongs from the back, wasn't sure what to make of that

http://www.clickhole.com/olympics-2016/steroid-use-in-olympic-dressage/

it would be a lot better if there was much more music and all of it was king sunny ade's synchro system. every single routine, bip-bap-boop giddit-giddit neep-neep

Okay who is this Inverdale guy again exactly?

https://www.theguardian.com/media/2016/aug/15/andy-murray-john-inverdale-olympic-tennis-bbc-williams?CMP=fb_gu

next level britishness

The spat continued the following day when Redgrave appeared to deliberately shake a wet umbrella over Inverdale.

I turned dressage on the other night, it was a horse walking sideways, I turned it off

The horse said "don't look back, you can never look back".

just watching the field hockey is making my back hurt

Yah it looks quite uncomfortable

Dressage, Pentathlon, Sailing, so many of the olympic sports were what rich people did. Since to begin with you had to be an amateur to participate, a lot was easier for rich people. I rewatched Olympia the other day, and the Modern Pentathlon segment is incredible. It's totally military officer training, everyone's rank is mentioned every time. It was really meant to be a display of military ability. The winner in 36 was a German pilot, though, don't know why he thought he needed to learn horseback riding and fencing. The Italian bronze winner later fought on the Eastern Front, and died close to Stalingrad, in one of the last cavalry charges in history.

if he hadn't learnt horseback riding and fencing he would probably not have got the gold

Inverdale apologised after using the phrase “rose-cunted spectacles” in Radio 5 Live’s coverage of last year’s Cheltenham Festival, blaming a “slip of the tongue”.

okay lol

impossible to watch the men's vault after inadvertently (auto-playing vid on FB) viewing that horrific injury from last week

The winner in 36 was a German pilot, though, don't know why he thought he needed to learn horseback riding and fencing.

i'm imagining some new/old event where the winner has to pilot a small plane onto a field, jump out of the plane, run a fast 400m, then jump upon a horse and do a dressage routine for 10 minutes. then they get out their rifle and shoot another man off of his horse at a distance of 200m.

add music, would watch

oh shit, Biles stumbles on the beam!

she's human after all

wtf cavendish

p boring day of action today :/

This event is a horrible mess and it goes on forever. Cavendish will be disqualified surely?

wait i just tuned in, why is he gonna get dq'd

(and there's no sound where i'm watching)

Nah it's fine only one korean wiped out so no harm done.

he took someone out pretty blatantly

Cav pulled hard across Park Sang Hoon, sent him into Viviani - the Italian got up to win gold, the Korean was carried out on a stretcher. In slo-mo, it looked like he took out Viviani using Park as proxy, but it probably wasn't as calculated as that - just a bad move.

spoiler alert? there's still 60-odd laps left i thought

Oops, sorry - didn't realise you had this on tape delay.

Is there a ban on sharing this or something. Just surprised things like last week's gymnastics haven't turned up on torrent sites so far.
Maybe i need to work out a proxy for i-player or something.
JUst tend to find significant things getting torrented almost immediately and I'm not seeing Rio stuff appearing so far. maybe it will come later.

& I missed seeing the Biles appearance today cos it wasn't on the Rio 2016 that it said it was and then gymnastics turned up on some bbC2 stuff that was announced as cycling

damn Trott is scary good at the elimination race

If I never hear the word Omnium again it'll be too son.(Caveat that Laura Trott is amazing)

still can't believe the 400 record got bested last night by someone that had minimal hype

Nice, it's pouring on the track and they're still going

lol hurdles in the pouring rain is a disaster

everything delayed now which sucks for that Jamaican hurdler that didn't qualify

back in action and a Brazilian dude just dove across the finish line to qualify for the next round by 1/100 of a second

Just catching up here -- yeesh at the rain from what I can tell! Still,

er, still, one night only so far. Hopefully.

Insane finish for the 400m women. Insane.

yeah that dive at the end!

Goddamn, yeah! But man if you're going to win.

back in action and a Brazilian dude just dove across the finish line to qualify for the next round by 1/100 of a second

― Spottie, Monday, August 15, 2016 7:22 PM (2 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

same thing happened at the end of the women's 400m for the gold! although it was 7/100 of a second.

That you can win a speed track race by throwing yourself over the line and ending up horizontal over the line seems.... Not good, to me. And yet the pundits are saying "she really went all out" and praising her rather than saying THAT'S BULLSHIT and it shouldn't be allowed.

its a race to the finish by any means necessary. you can jump, dive, crab crawl, slam dance, hitchhike, uber, unicycle, just get the job done.

Crap

i mean yeah you could do that too, though ive never seen anyone defecate while sprinting

I have seen it in the marathon

Pole vault is so weird but that Brazilian dreamboat, aye.

The brazilian pole vaulter Da Silva is killing it right now

Hearts-for-eyes emoticon

Shaunae Miller's post race interviews showing her to be as fake as her win was.

omg stfuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuup

No. If fake crying was an Olympic sport she'd do so well.

her body crossed the plane of the finish line first, it's not yr feet crossing a line on the ground

don't be basic

thanks for the insult. I don't think it's "basic" to not think that that jump is against the spirit of the race.

laurie hernandez is adorable. her media training seems not to have taken as much as simone biles's and she seems genuinely giddy

xpost sorry, that was unnnecessary, my apologies

but i def disagree
the rules allow for it. she ran and crossed the plane of the finish line first, regardless of how

it's well within the spirit of the race imo

It's ok. I'm being a dick a bit. I disagree with you, in this case, but always enjoy your posts. X

how can you "disagree" -- if it's within the rules, she can do it. anyone would.

that's like saying a third baseman shouldn't catch a foul ball b/c it wouldn't be polite.

I don't know anything about baseball but I think it's perfectly reasonable to disagree with the rules in this case.

U drunk bro?

aaaanyhoo

david rudisha's win for the 800 was great, cool to see clayton murphy grab the bronze too

yeah great stuff at the track tonight

Cant believe that dive! Sad for Felix

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Cp8nUOWVYAE2ovj.jpg

aw just got to the Brazilian dreamboat winning the pole vault, awesome

I haven't paid much attention to the Olympics before. I'm subsequently wondering if it is inevitable that with several events happening at roughly the same time TV coverage is going to be grab bag/omnibus sets of several events being presented together in a TV timeslot. & therefore getting coverage of a specific sport takes later editing. Which would be why the gymnastics or whatever haven't appeared as torrents yet whereas the ones for previous Olympics have.
Or if it's just a BBC thing that also seems to be done similarly by RTE. Makes it harder to catch up with things I missed though.
Plus not seeing block shows being upped either.

the omnium is probably the most impenetrable sport to understand and I include fencing in that (or perhaps just the commentators failing to explain any of it? I don't know much about gymnastics but the commentators are on point every Olympics). Didn't seem right that Cavendish could just take out a bunch of riders like that (especially one who couldn't continue) without penalty. Seems like a dick move. I had no idea at any point what any of the strategies were, why some riders went further up the track and some stayed inside or what the random sprints were about.

Didn't know diving was allowed in the sprints, surprised I haven't seen it before in that case! Was happy for Miller on the basis of always cheering for the smaller countries. In general sad I haven't seen much track & field or swimming, entirely the wrong time for UK audiences.

A US runner dived across the line for bronze in the men's 400m in Beijing, iirc. I think Miller was falling and turned it into a lunge rather than it being particularly calculated.

Talking of small Caribbean nations and diving, it was good to see Yona Knight-Wisdom of Jamaica, the first West Indian to compete in the men's springboard competition, sail through the preliminary round yesterday.

Have been waking up in the middle of the night to watch the athletics but last night I just could not rouse myself. Sad to have missed rudisha

Really wish the bbc had programmed a one hour non-partisan hardcore multi-sport catch-up show for 7am or so, really sucks having to watch that inane breakfast show garbage to try and see what happened

Diving is really a risky strategy cos you really don't want to fall face first at those speeds, rubberised track or not

I think Miller was falling and turned it into a lunge rather than it being particularly calculated.
― On a Raqqa tip (ShariVari), Tuesday, August 16, 2016 9:09 AM (1 hour ago)
>

JUst saw the clip of this on the news channel and it does look like she stumbled and turned the fall into something else.

Guess she's lucky that the rules aren't feet across finish line cos hers are a couple of feet away from it for a while. Have to rewatch to see how many other people beat her feet across the line.

It's your torso that needs to reach the line. If it was feet, we might be seeing some amazing drop kicks going on

& I've just seen the clip again and she lands a few feet across the line anyway.

To go into a drop kick from a run is probably a whole other discipline though isn't it?

it would basically be combined sprint / long jump. carl lewis would've been even more unbeatable

i was always taught that the fastest way across the line was running through as if there were five more yards to go -- that any other attempted cheaty business probably actually slowed you up

ok lol that (a) i was being taught genuine track science aged 12 in a small rural school in the early 70s and (b) never remotely likely to qualify for a competitive track event anyway

Yes, I would have thought think diving for the line would be slower than just carrying on running at full tilt.

I think she was mid stumble when she thought of a way out of actually falling. But have only seen the footage twice.
So it was an improvisation based on a mistake rather than an actual plan

Turn tumble into cartwheel, kick your nemesis in the face while in slo-mo.

Didn't seem right that Cavendish could just take out a bunch of riders like that (especially one who couldn't continue) without penalty. Seems like a dick move.

That's because it was a dick move. Cavendish pulls this shit *every single time*. He's a psychopath on a bicycle that should be banned for life.

fair to say Michael Conlan didn't take his elimination too well

https://twitter.com/duffbag/status/765564427487834112

Cav is def a go-hard, win-at-any-cost rider. He tried to pass on the inside during the elimination event of the omnium the other day, I def think there's nothing he wouldnt do. I still kinda like him? Sucks tho.

Nbc commentators said Miller def looked like she was tightening up at the very end, her arms were flailing, so she was kinda on the edge of desperation.
After rewatching I kinda think it was more of a "desperate lunge that collapsed"

Pretty much. I don't get all the outrage, this happens in track. Not super frequently because most of the time it's a bad idea and slows you down, but this time it worked.

good writeup here

http://mobile.nytimes.com/2016/08/17/sports/olympics/shaunae-miller-dive-allyson-felix-400-rio-games.html?src=twr&smid=tw-nytimes&smtyp=cur&_r=0&referer=https://t.co/7nB1X1qqzc

Yep. Seems the outrage is because a perfectly legal dive ruined everyone's storybook ending. That's what I like about the Olympics, when the narratives that NBC is building get fucked up by something like this.

One of many reasons why BBC or CBC coverage is useful to watch. When this all happened last night there was a bit of discussion about it but both commentator teams were all "Hey, it happens," said why and then moved on to the pole vault as per usual.

well even NBC commentary team at the time didnt make any reall hay out of it, the flap didnt start with them that's for sure

probably just twitter like usual

Outrage? What kind of fool gets outraged about stuff like that? The race is won by whoever's torso crosses the finish line first. She got it there under her own power. All the rest is irrelevant.

fair to say Michael Conlan didn't take his elimination too well

https://twitter.com/duffbag/status/765564427487834112

― Number None, Tuesday, August 16, 2016 8:14 AM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

it was utterly corrupt and preposterous

what happened? can't really understand him

he clearly won his bout by decision, except the judges gave the victory to his opponent. he calls out amateur boxing for being corrupt from top to bottom

nothing new then. time for him to go pro

any sport based on points being awarded by a bunch of judges is usually corrupt as fuck. ie figure skating.

pro boxing is also corrupt but it was just how egregious the decision was, just a blatant example of corruption

want to see the replay of the fight now

pro boxing is also corrupt but it was just how egregious the decision was, just a blatant example of corruption

There's usually one or two of these at every Olympics.

"the judges are all trained for this, they've analysed themselves to see they're completely fair"

^^^bbc synchro duet commentary just now

(synchro rules obviously and i have no prob with its judging, this just made me lol given this discussion)

i too have analyzed myself and found myself completely fair

better than fair, really

middling, in fact

Danish Badminton Womens Double in the final! With that medal, be it gold or silver, Denmark will get at least 10, the highest count since London 48 (and that was a bit cheating, as Denmark was one of the countries where the least percentage of young men had been killed). Sweden continues to be ahead in the official count, though, as they've won more silver medals, which at this point is kinda annoying.

As I heard it, Swedes often find Danes annoying, too.

https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/640xn/p01qjkdm.jpg

x-post: I'm not sure if that's true. Many Swedes I know don't care about Danes at all... It's a bit like in Mad Men:
http://static.celebuzz.com/uploads/2015/05/Mad-Men-Don-Ginsburg-Elevator.gif

happy ri se gwang of north korea won a gold! got to hear the national anthem as well which was pretty cool

good, so their families will be released from the labor camps.

he most likely has no family in the labour camps and is part of the elite

Bra vs Swe women soccer going to penalties

WOW SWE took out USA and BRA on penalty kicks

Those cowards how could they

There was a Russian heavyweight boxer who controversially won last night too

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/tishchenko-wins-controversial-boxing-heavyweight-gold-rio-232055413--oly.html

Zonderfeld was quite amazing getting back up on the bar and completing the routine after that fall.

Men's bar was quite great, not seen any of the other men's gymnastics this year. Need to see if I can remedy that.

Are the men also really small?

Zonderland even.

how do you mean? asian men are generally shorter, but have stronger/bigger legs than westerners; while westerners tend to have bigger torsos, chests and arms but thin legs -- there are advantages and disadvantages to all body types depending on what routine you're talking about

It turned out that the women involved in gymnastics have a tendency to be really small. I was wondering if the same was true of the men.

Oddly it sounded from what i was reading that once women gymnasts who have been training intensely all their lives stop training they can get a growth spurt. Not sure how true that is.
But seems like they tend to quite small 5ft 4 is on the large side. Biles is 4'8.

Now not sure if men involved in the sport are similar. I would assume they must start training at around the same young age to actually be really successful. But not sure if other factors involved in training would have the same result on the male body.

Was also reading that being small was in itself an advantage in terms of physical forces at play in tumbling etc and spin. Also I think in spacial awareness.

ya i think being shorter definitely helps with spins and tumbling

i'm not sure if training intensely would stunt growth though -- for men, it would seem that it actually aides it as testosterone levels would be pretty high

it also depends on if your body lends itself to perform well for that sport, right? the chinese are known for being more methodical when choosing what sport or creative path a child takes, so the athletes we see are already filtered based on an ideal

Wonder if the sample of who is likely to be ultra successful in the sport is not that representative of everybody taking part in the sport. So the really successful female gymnasts tend to be the smaller ones whereas you'd be pretty decent if you were larger just not up to the competition for a level this high.

I think the intensive training was effecting hormone release to some extent which was one reason there was some growth spurt among ex-gymnasts.

The weightlifting is getting good. Up to 233kg now - seems astonishing Rezazadeh used to be able to do 30kg more when he was competing.

Wonder if the sample of who is likely to be ultra successful in the sport is not that representative of everybody taking part in the sport.

would have to say that this is true of virtually every sport imaginable. you can be a very good/strong cyclist and not be shaped like a mantis, you can play basketball very well and not be 6'7", etc

it's only at the highest levels of competition where someone's genetically bounded dimensions are going to impair them in a way that can't be made up for with skill/training (and in the US i would say "college-level" can be included in "highest levels")

Yeah I was thinking of the basketball thing. Since it's probably one of the more visible body type stereotype things.

what a moment for danish badminton . . . whenever that happened

> i'm not sure if training intensely would stunt growth though

It does in some cases, generally if you do weight training before you've finished growing (my old swim coach often fed us a story about how Sly Stallone would have been 6ft tall if he hadn't done weights aged 14). Thing is with gymnasts though, power-to-weight ratio is so key that most of them are on calorie-control diets, which combined with constant stress on the body will likely delay the onset of puberty. I remember an article in Just Seventeen or somewhere that interviewed (British) identical teenage gymnast twins, and the one that had quit a year earlier was 4" taller than the one that was still going.

oh. three hours ago, i guess xp

reigning gold medalist Ilya Sakharov just bombed a dive...
https://twitter.com/LoveAndyC/status/765650363449999366
and he looked AWFUL in the qualifiers too

wouldn't be surprised if the judges award him the win anyway

lol they couldnt disguise that one 0.0

World record in the super heavyweight snatch section of the weightlifting from Georgia. Broken thirty seconds later by Iran.

PEDs are a helluva drug

weightlifting's a helluva sport

Derek Drouin with a gold for Canada in the high jump, solid work!

what the fuuuuck
also OW

http://deadspin.com/shit-talking-german-track-cyclist-loses-seat-during-spr-1785374671?utm_campaign=socialflow_deadspin_twitter&utm_source=deadspin_twitter&utm_medium=socialflow

Kristina Vogel, who won gold with the German team sprint squad in London in 2012, told German media: “I don’t want to accuse anyone of anything, but it’s certainly questionable. They come en masse at this high level and I have no idea how they do it.”

Team GB cycling head coach hits back at rivals questioning Olympic success

Also, GB were actually top of the medals table at the World Champs in March - not dominant to this extent, mind. I think they certainly underperformed in 2014-15 - I don't follow it that closely but I assume some of the debut medallists at this Games were still coming through at that point and the likes of Hoy and Pendleton had retired, while others were focused on road racing. Certainly, there have been massive leaps in performance (men's team sprint improved on March by over 1sec) but elsewhere NZ/Aus/US/Ger have plateaued a bit.

these photos of the athens 2004 venues were linked on the guardian live blog:
https://www.theguardian.com/sport/gallery/2014/aug/13/abandoned-athens-olympic-2004-venues-10-years-on-in-pictures

Do any of the ex-Olympic stadiums get taken on as functioning sports centres or is this the fate of everything. I saw that some photos of other overgrown ex-Olympic places were circulating a couple of weeks back. At least i assume they were other, seemed to be more taken over by wilderness/nature than those Greek ones. But I didn't really look at them.

Is a problem that places tend to be built away from main cities/places of population in order to house the athletes closer to them.
Just assuming that athletes are housed in specialist villages for the event rather than being put up in whatever cities.
& that distance from population centres means that they don't get used much.

Would be ideal if they were ideally placed to be of great use to urban populations but might also lead to accusations of favouritism?
When the Olympic ideal seems to be trying to be neutral, Not sure hwo well taht's lived up to

The main stadia are usually well-used, the ones in London, Athens, Moscow, etc, are used for football, etc. It's the peripheral ones that tend to fall into a state of disrepair - though not in London.

Does that Athens stuff count as hauntology or is it too recent to qualify?

wd like to see a bidding city go hard on the planned hauntological legacy of the games

There's few unused stadia

http://mashable.com/2016/08/10/abandoned-olympic-venues/#X7G4yX6eVqqX

why dont they just have it in the same place every year

^^^

Chowchilla

why dont they just have it in the same place every year

― jason waterfalls (gbx), Wednesday, August 17, 2016 4:36 PM (10 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

It's about prestige isn't it?
There's supposed to be kudos etc that goes with the country getting the Games.

Probably brings more tourists in too.

Plus it was about being egalitarian and international and all like that.

Well that's one way for Brazil to start a football match, I guess.

Neymar scored in the first 15 seconds !

u ok HON?

neymar is such a flopper

I'd be all for moving the Olympic games to a permanent venue. They are too damned expensive to host at a new site every time and no host country can make use of all the facilities they need to build just so they can be occupied during a two week extravaganza, then abandoned. But the current system makes too much money for the IOC for them to change it.

BMX starting up <3

Xp
Wouldn't you have to try to find a neutral place to host them. Not sure where you'd put a permanent site.
But otherwise that makes sense.

& that neutrality has been dealt with by changing the site every time. But I was aware taht there was disruption caused among some in London at the time of the Games there.

For example they wanted to block the people who were living in barges around Hackney Marshes etc from using the sites they had up until then at least during the duration of the games. Probably other similar things occuring that I didn't meet people directly affected by.

would think Greece would be the natural place to host them on a permanent basis

at this point they could just restrict it to cities that already had an olympic park

Germany vs Netherlands field hockey shootout is awesome

The main stadia are usually well-used, the ones in London, Athens, Moscow, etc, are used for football, etc. It's the peripheral ones that tend to fall into a state of disrepair - though not in London.

― On a Raqqa tip (ShariVari), Wednesday, August 17, 2016 1:21 PM (4 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

yes, the vancouver ones are put to fairly good use

drouin was pretty incredible!

and stoked about BMX!

Greece did almost get a permanent Games - they hosted the Intercalcated Games in 1906, with the idea that they'd host a somewhat more classically inspired variant of the Games every four years thereafter. 1906 was when the idea of an opening/closing ceremony, parade of nations, etc was introduced. They never did host another interim event but 1906 is credited with reviving the Olympic movement somewhat (1900 and 1904 were not considered successful).

Does that Athens stuff count as hauntology or is it too recent to qualify?

― I like it when you shoot inside me Dirk (Bananaman Begins), Wednesday, August 17, 2016 5:30 PM (2 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

^^ Underrated post.

the Athens as permanent home stuff was touted a fair bit in the run-up to these games

If it had a permanent home who'd pay for it?

&would it be likely to mean more frequent spinoff Games.
I think the 4 year thing was a significant element of the set up. Borrowed from the Ancient Greek model I think.

If it had a permanent home who'd pay for it?

Big brands, as they do already. Would spare the world the hurt of all these stadiums built for nothing.

Which was why i was wondering if t would mean more spinoffs. the 4 year interval aspect of Olympic games timing is intentional rather than logistic isn't it?

this olympics has some of the worst diving I've ever seen. plenty of belly flops, all kinda hitting the board/platforms, bad form and horrible entries... idk every time i tune in something sloppy is going on. plus the weird water turning green thing

there were huge gusts of wind turning the diving semifinals, maybe that was the cause?

you could probably continue to rotate the winter games -- the kind of infrastructure it demands is more likely to be a) already in place or b) likely to be used on an ongoing basis (with the exception of things like speed-skating maybe)

Xp I don't think it'd spawn any spin offs. Every sport already has their own WC's and plenty of tournaments to fill a years calendar to the brim. The 4 years interval is just there to make it more special than yr run of the mill yearly sports tournament iirc. Which would not be an argument against having the olympics in Athens for eternity from now on. But every city in the world wants a piece of the $ pie and attention.

Plus, where could all corrupt politicians around the globe squander public money if not on the Olympics? Think abt the poor politicians.

any exciting sports updates this afternoon? keep me informed, i'm neckdeep in excel spreadsheets

Yah the wind made for some wild dives xps but outside of that day it's been pretty whacky from what I've seen

Horst Hrubesch - Das Kopfball-Ungeheuer (the Header Beast) - is Germany's coach, alright! This is the football of course. Would be cool if Germany could demolish Brazil in front of a dumbstruck Brazilian crowd AGAIN.

i love a bit of taekwondo. kick that man in the head. go on.

Xp I don't think it'd spawn any spin offs. Every sport already has their own WC's and plenty of tournaments to fill a years calendar to the brim. The 4 years interval is just there to make it more special than yr run of the mill yearly sports tournament iirc. Which would not be an argument against having the olympics in Athens for eternity from now on. But every city in the world wants a piece of the $ pie and attention.

Plus, where could all corrupt politicians around the globe squander public money if not on the Olympics? Think abt the poor politicians.

― Le Bateau Ivre, Wednesday, August 17, 2016 9:06 PM (9 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Well what I was thinking of as spin offs would be events held in the permanent Olympic stadium during the 4 year intervals> & since they were held in the Olympic stadium they'd probably be marketed as being some form of Olympic related product.
JUst was thinking that if you had a permanent stadium/venue set up you would want to be utilising it in non Olympic time.

But other points you make there are ones I would think are recognisably currently in play.

wd like to see a bidding city go hard on the planned hauntological legacy of the games

― I like it when you shoot inside me Dirk (Bananaman Begins), Wednesday, 17 August 2016 15:31 (4 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Booming post imo

how could the IOC properly exact bribes if the games were held in the same place every time? you fools!

Yes! Brazil v. Germany final, perfect. The football, that is. Men's, that is.

Idk some Irish official got pulled away from his netflix and chill in the night for ticket fraud.

They'll get by, mayor, they test, they dig. The fraudulous officials will be ok.

Xp

http://www.news.com.au/sport/olympics/japanese-pole-vaulters-olympic-dream-crushed-by-his-own-penis/news-story/a7e70dcbd46300b7ab0f4fef16f2fbef

Japanese pole vaulter Hiroki Ogita will be ruing the size of his phallus after it caused him to foul during the qualifying rounds in the men’s event in Rio.

[...]

If the death of Julius Caesar is the ultimate story of betrayal, this is a close second.

lmao

Elaine Thompson killing it there in the 200. Hell of a double.