Gymnastics GOAT Simone Biles has won another gold, making her the most decorated gymnast in modern history (between Olympics and World Championships). Her individual events finish out next week so we'll have to wait until then to see how many more medals she nabs. She is the focus of a lot of national pride in America (heaven knows we could use something harmless to be proud of).
For viewers like us in Australia , New Zealand, Japan, and similar longitudes, almost all events are timed to be in the middle of the night.
For rugby, who won the gold medal for the previous two Olympic (the only medals ever to have been close to a medal ever) , I'm sure that many folk there went of special trouble into the middle of the night to watch it on TV to won that sport again. (Though I have now retired elsewhere, such mid-night viewing comes from my personal experience in Fiji, told along a whole town along the street by viewing that way, with sound of numerous viewers hearing from houses through open windows in the tropics.)
Unfortunately Fiji finished only second (silver medallist) this year, though that's still not too bad for a national population of less than one million.
I've just watched the last few minutes of the Women's Triathlon. What an amazingly gruelling event this is! It was actually very moving to watch the French woman stride along the road, many yards ahead of the next runner, flanked by thousands of her cheering, flag-waving compatriots.
Love Imagine -- LOVE it. Hugely important song. So glad it was used for these Olympics. There really was no appropriate alternative.
I've always appreciated this song. I can imagine (see what I did there) some might find it cheesy but I'm puzzled why some hate it.
Well, since I’m the one who brought it up, and mindful of the hostly admonition above, I’ll limit my comment here to the Olympic connection and say that I thought a song that invites us to “imagine there’s [sic] no countries” was an odd choice for the opening ceremonies of a massive athletic competition where athletes, who had just participated in a parade of nations, compete on behalf of their countries.
At 7.36pm Leon Marchand of France won the 200m butterfly final, setting a new olympic record. And at 9.15pm he went in the 200 breastroke final and won that, setting another. 🥇🇫🇷🥇🇫🇷
Footnote: There is a question in the original trivial pursuit that asks which female competitor in the 1976 summer Olympics was not subject to a sex test.
Or could we apply Epiphanies rules to it here? ( Please note this is not meant as a questioning of a ruling.) ETA: I am not looking for detailed discussion, just hoping others might understand the issues at play or can point me to some areas where I can get a more in depth understanding than I found at the NY Times and CBC articles.
I’m not sure where you can find the gender eligibility rules for different boxing associations (they are different which is part of the issue). Unilad has this which notes that both competitors have fought in women’s boxing for years both winning and losing against other women.
On a far less serious note, I do wish the photographers would stop making the winners bite the medals. Even if one accepts the dubious possibility that the photographic joke was ever funny, it surely stopped being funny about 50 years ago.
Anyone know if the skiff race (the 49ers) was completed today? I watched the second attempt as far as it went, which was until that also was called off for lack of wind.
As that was the actual medal race it must have been a nightmare for the contestants.
Anyone know if the skiff race (the 49ers) was completed today? I watched the second attempt as far as it went, which was until that also was called off for lack of wind.
As that was the actual medal race it must have been a nightmare for the contestants.
Sailors are not unused to hanging around and waiting to see if the wind shows up. The most miserable thing is what happened in the men's races, where the race was started, and then abandoned roughly at the end of the second leg. Twice.
Love Imagine -- LOVE it. Hugely important song. So glad it was used for these Olympics. There really was no appropriate alternative.
I've always appreciated this song. I can imagine (see what I did there) some might find it cheesy but I'm puzzled why some hate it.
This probably belongs on a different thread but as one of the self-confessed haters, I should probably answer here.
Imagine paints a picture of a bland utopia that it suggests is the highest state the world might achieve and is based on a naive optimism about the nature of human beings which is contradicted by all of human history and every-day lived experience. Chesterton described atheism as a maze without an exit. Imagine produces a similar emotional reaction in me.
Hurrah! Gold for Teddy Riner. 20-some years ago, husband en rouge was attempting rather unsuccessfully to get him to take an interest in his schoolwork. Good job he was sent off into the sports programme
Love Imagine -- LOVE it. Hugely important song. So glad it was used for these Olympics. There really was no appropriate alternative.
I've always appreciated this song. I can imagine (see what I did there) some might find it cheesy but I'm puzzled why some hate it.
This probably belongs on a different thread but as one of the self-confessed haters, I should probably answer here.
Imagine paints a picture of a bland utopia that it suggests is the highest state the world might achieve and is based on a naive optimism about the nature of human beings which is contradicted by all of human history and every-day lived experience. Chesterton described atheism as a maze without an exit. Imagine produces a similar emotional reaction in me.
Anyway. Olympics GOOD!
AFZ
Hostly Oink
As I said before, kindly knock it off with the Imagine arguments, or take them somewhere else.
Love Imagine -- LOVE it. Hugely important song. So glad it was used for these Olympics. There really was no appropriate alternative.
I've always appreciated this song. I can imagine (see what I did there) some might find it cheesy but I'm puzzled why some hate it.
This probably belongs on a different thread but as one of the self-confessed haters, I should probably answer here.
Imagine paints a picture of a bland utopia that it suggests is the highest state the world might achieve and is based on a naive optimism about the nature of human beings which is contradicted by all of human history and every-day lived experience. Chesterton described atheism as a maze without an exit. Imagine produces a similar emotional reaction in me.
Anyway. Olympics GOOD!
AFZ
Hostly Oink
As I said before, kindly knock it off with the Imagine arguments, or take them somewhere else.
And now Leon Marchand has a fourth gold, storming performance in the 200 IM with his president in the crowd. 🥇🍾👏 Team GB's Duncan Scott got the silver 🥈in the same race, while Ben Proud got silver 🥈 in the 50m free.
Team GB has added golds in the women's lightweight double sculls, trampoline and showjumping, plus a clutch of silver and bronze medals. 🥇🥇🥇 🥈🥈🥈🥉
As a somewhat lapsed club archer, I can assure you that 70m is a good challenge getting an arrow onto an Olympics-size target face, never mind getting anywhere near the gold!
Gold in the Men's eight, 🥇Bronze for the women. 🥉
Bronze for our Dressage team (without their best rider) 🥉
Bronze in Windsurfing 🥉
Bronze on the Floor in men's gymnastic individual apparatus final 🥉
And Julien Alfred has just won St Lucia's first Olympic gold by taking the women's 100m 🥇👏🍾
When we realised the team judo event was going to depend upon a single member of the team picked at random, I'm pretty sure the whole of France was sitting in front of the TV going "let it be Teddy*, let it be Teddy, let it be Teddy..." And it was Teddy! Apparently the gods are on our side today.
It also conveniently takes our minds off the fact that we currently have no functioning government
*he is one of those people who are sufficiently well loved that surnames aren't necessary
When we realised the team judo event was going to depend upon a single member of the team picked at random, I'm pretty sure the whole of France was sitting in front of the TV going "let it be Teddy*, let it be Teddy, let it be Teddy..." And it was Teddy! Apparently the gods are on our side today.
It also conveniently takes our minds off the fact that we currently have no functioning government
*he is one of those people who are sufficiently well loved that surnames aren't necessary
Like Messi, whom I am primarily familiar with due to an adorable puma with his own YouTube channel being named after him.
This is a few days old, but Bob the Cap Catcher is my celebrity crush of the Olympics. Swimmers, please lose more of your caps so I can see more of him in that Speedo.
This is a few days old, but Bob the Cap Catcher is my celebrity crush of the Olympics. Swimmers, please lose more of your caps so I can see more of him in that Speedo.
[tangent]
The cap-retrieval reminded me of one of the swimming badges I had to do at school, but in my case it was a brick. I remember being worried that I wouldn't be able to do it because I couldn't open my eyes under water (and was very short-sighted even if I could), but it turned out to be quite easy - just aim for it when you dive in, and rummage about a bit ...
[/tangent]
While googling video of his mishap (for research purposes) I noticed that this type of anatomical hindrance has been an issue multiple times before in the sport! Women might be better built for pole vaulting than men!
Drag queens have been perfecting how to prevent a bulge from getting in the way of their line of work since time immemorial. They may have a few useful pointers for the pole vaulting community.
The dance belt aims to smooth out the contours, so as to make the anatomical details somewhat less defined, rather than eliminate a bulge entirely. Bulges generally remain in evidence.
That was impressive for Ms Julien Andrew to win the women's 100m by a clear 1m of their winning margin. Even more so, that her country of St Lucia is a small island country of total population of less than 200,000 and until she was late in high school her training was on a rough football ground or just the beach. As someone that makes me inspiring from my own time on small island states. But after she won an inter-island race in the West Indies, she was invited to another country with improved facilities to train on.
Comments
For rugby, who won the gold medal for the previous two Olympic (the only medals ever to have been close to a medal ever) , I'm sure that many folk there went of special trouble into the middle of the night to watch it on TV to won that sport again. (Though I have now retired elsewhere, such mid-night viewing comes from my personal experience in Fiji, told along a whole town along the street by viewing that way, with sound of numerous viewers hearing from houses through open windows in the tropics.)
Unfortunately Fiji finished only second (silver medallist) this year, though that's still not too bad for a national population of less than one million.
I've always appreciated this song. I can imagine (see what I did there) some might find it cheesy but I'm puzzled why some hate it.
Women's coxless 4
Women's double sculls 🥉
Men's coxless 4 🥉
Footnote: There is a question in the original trivial pursuit that asks which female competitor in the 1976 summer Olympics was not subject to a sex test.
Have a wonderful retirement.🏴
As that was the actual medal race it must have been a nightmare for the contestants.
Sailors are not unused to hanging around and waiting to see if the wind shows up. The most miserable thing is what happened in the men's races, where the race was started, and then abandoned roughly at the end of the second leg. Twice.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/seine-river-ottawa-river-water-quality-1.7281648
This probably belongs on a different thread but as one of the self-confessed haters, I should probably answer here.
Imagine paints a picture of a bland utopia that it suggests is the highest state the world might achieve and is based on a naive optimism about the nature of human beings which is contradicted by all of human history and every-day lived experience. Chesterton described atheism as a maze without an exit. Imagine produces a similar emotional reaction in me.
Anyway. Olympics GOOD!
AFZ
Hostly Oink
As I said before, kindly knock it off with the Imagine arguments, or take them somewhere else.
Thank you.
Piglet, Circus host
Sorry. I missed that hostly admonishment.
Ahem.
As I said, Olympics good!
3 more UK Golds
Team GB has added golds in the women's lightweight double sculls, trampoline and showjumping, plus a clutch of silver and bronze medals. 🥇🥇🥇 🥈🥈🥈🥉
(*a little)
Answer:
Yeah. When you see the sideways shot of the parabola they fly, you realise how incredible it is.
Bronze for our Dressage team (without their best rider) 🥉
Bronze in Windsurfing 🥉
Bronze on the Floor in men's gymnastic individual apparatus final 🥉
And Julien Alfred has just won St Lucia's first Olympic gold by taking the women's 100m 🥇👏🍾
When we realised the team judo event was going to depend upon a single member of the team picked at random, I'm pretty sure the whole of France was sitting in front of the TV going "let it be Teddy*, let it be Teddy, let it be Teddy..." And it was Teddy! Apparently the gods are on our side today.
It also conveniently takes our minds off the fact that we currently have no functioning government
*he is one of those people who are sufficiently well loved that surnames aren't necessary
Like Messi, whom I am primarily familiar with due to an adorable puma with his own YouTube channel being named after him.
Or, you know, Cher.
Is there a better female athlete at the moment ?
😘
He needs a beard, though. For my tastes.
The cap-retrieval reminded me of one of the swimming badges I had to do at school, but in my case it was a brick. I remember being worried that I wouldn't be able to do it because I couldn't open my eyes under water (and was very short-sighted even if I could), but it turned out to be quite easy - just aim for it when you dive in, and rummage about a bit ...
[/tangent]
Now back to proper athletes ...
And Thea LaFond won Dominica's first Olympic medal (gold) in women's triple jump.
While googling video of his mishap (for research purposes) I noticed that this type of anatomical hindrance has been an issue multiple times before in the sport! Women might be better built for pole vaulting than men!
Drag queens have been perfecting how to prevent a bulge from getting in the way of their line of work since time immemorial. They may have a few useful pointers for the pole vaulting community.
The dance belt aims to smooth out the contours, so as to make the anatomical details somewhat less defined, rather than eliminate a bulge entirely. Bulges generally remain in evidence.