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2008 Summer Olympics - Beijing, China - Page 12

post #331 of 440
8/21/08 at 5:53am
Thread Starter 

Re: 2008 Summer Olympics - Beijing, China

Quote:
Originally Posted by Patrick Sun
The outdoor volleyball match was a tight affair, but Mays-Treanor/Walsh pulled it out at the end of each set for their 2nd gold medal in the event. Congrats!

And probably their last Olympics. If that is the case, they went out on top.

And I just saw the end of the gold medal game in softball, where Japan has pulled off a huge upset over USA, 3-1. If Chicago gets the 2016 Games, here's hoping it will come back then.
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post #332 of 440
8/21/08 at 7:11am

Re: 2008 Summer Olympics - Beijing, China

Quote:
Originally Posted by andrew markworthy
The Brits also compare themselves to the Aussies, probably stemming from our traditional rivalry in cricket. It's been widely publicised in the Brit press that the sports ministers of Australia and GB have a bet on which team will end up with the greater number of gold medals.

Some Aussies have been suggesting that GB is only winning medals that involve sitting down (cycling, rowing, sailing). I guess that is their way of dealing with the humiliation of being behind the "poms".

Big upsets in the 4x100 relays. Both the US men's and women's teams dropped the baton and failed to qualify. The GB men's team (the defending Olympic champions BTW) also dropped the baton and failed to qualify. I guess it's wide open for Jamaica, which would probably have been the case anyway.
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post #333 of 440
8/21/08 at 7:15am

Re: 2008 Summer Olympics - Beijing, China

Quote:
Originally Posted by Walter C
And probably their last Olympics. If that is the case, they went out on top.

And I just saw the end of the gold medal game in softball, where Japan has pulled off a huge upset over USA, 3-1. If Chicago gets the 2016 Games, here's hoping it will come back then.

They did later mention that they would be back for the next olympics, regardless if they take a break now.
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post #334 of 440
8/21/08 at 7:42am

Re: 2008 Summer Olympics - Beijing, China

Problems in the Equestrian events since four horses have failed drug tests.

BBC SPORT | Olympics | Equestrian | Olympic horses fail drugs tests

Quote:
Four horses that contested the Olympic show jumping event have tested positive for the banned substance capsaicin.

Ireland's Denis Lynch, riding Lantinus in the individual events, has been suspended from the Games.

Norway's Tony Andre Hansen on Camiro, Brazil's Bernardo Alves on Chupa Chup and Germany's Christian Ahlmann on Coster have also been suspended.

Lynch, Hansen and Alves were all scheduled to compete in Thursday's individual competition.

Ahlmann was not entered into the event.

Lynch has been competing as an individual because Ireland did not qualify for the team competition.

If the horses' B sample tests confirm their A samples, their countries will be disqualified from the team show jumping, which took place on Monday.

The announcement throws into doubt the medal order of that competition.
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post #335 of 440
8/21/08 at 7:48am

Re: 2008 Summer Olympics - Beijing, China

deleted, sorry.
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post #336 of 440
8/21/08 at 8:56am

Re: 2008 Summer Olympics - Beijing, China

Quote:
is anyone surprised that Bolt didn't beat the world record by any more?

Johnson's record of 19.32 stood for 12 years and had not even been seriously threatened. I think Bolt did pretty darn well to shave a couple of hundredths off.
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post #337 of 440
8/21/08 at 9:06am

Re: 2008 Summer Olympics - Beijing, China

I just noticed Bolt is not in the 4x100 relays...kind of disappointing.
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post #338 of 440
8/21/08 at 10:27am

Re: 2008 Summer Olympics - Beijing, China

If Michael Johnson hadn't stumbled out of the blocks in 1996, he probably would still have the world record.
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post #339 of 440
8/21/08 at 10:50am

Re: 2008 Summer Olympics - Beijing, China

Quote:
Originally Posted by Brian Perry
Johnson's record of 19.32 stood for 12 years and had not even been seriously threatened. I think Bolt did pretty darn well to shave a couple of hundredths off.

Yeh. Isn't the second fastest time like 19.6 something?
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post #340 of 440
8/21/08 at 12:12pm

Re: 2008 Summer Olympics - Beijing, China

Quote:
Johnson's record of 19.32 stood for 12 years and had not even been seriously threatened. I think Bolt did pretty darn well to shave a couple of hundredths off.
I can believe this, no one was even close during this last race, and these are the best 9 200M runners in the world right now. It's not like they were right on his heels -- they were all grouped together far behind!

It highlights what truly exceptional runners Bolt AND Johnson are.

--
H
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post #341 of 440
8/21/08 at 12:40pm

Re: 2008 Summer Olympics - Beijing, China

Congrats to the US Women's Soccer team for a hard fought victory. And I hope Greg Ryan realizes what an idiot he was for not playing Hope Solo against the Brazilians in the WC. And you have to feel bad for Marta, always coming so close, but always coming in second. I hope she plays for the WPL next year.
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post #342 of 440
8/21/08 at 12:51pm

Re: 2008 Summer Olympics - Beijing, China

Quote:
Some Aussies have been suggesting that GB is only winning medals that involve sitting down (cycling, rowing, sailing). I guess that is their way of dealing with the humiliation of being behind the "poms".

The Times [London] published an excerpt from a long whining piece in a Sydney newspaper about how unfair it was that the Brits were getting more medals than the Aussies under the heading 'The smell of sour grapes' I can see this little spat going on for an eternity.

Quote:
The GB men's team (the defending Olympic champions BTW) also dropped the baton and failed to qualify.

They do this depressingly often. There are times when I think it would be better if the GB relay team came out onto the track in clown costumes and have done with it.

Quote:
I just noticed Bolt is not in the 4x100 relays...kind of disappointing.

Very happy to be corrected on this, but I believe the members of the relay team can be changed between rounds, so they may save Bolt for the final.
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post #343 of 440
8/21/08 at 1:13pm

Re: 2008 Summer Olympics - Beijing, China

At first I thought, what a shock that Japan beat the US in softball. Thinking in retrospect, after I had watched about 4 innings of the US's 4-1 victory the previous day over Japan, it's not so shocking.

In that game, the Japanese pitcher, Ueno, shut down the Americans. They didn't score until extra innings, and that occurred because the inning was started with a runner on second. Take one swing of the bat away, and we don't score any more that inning and Japan ties it in the bottom of the 9th. Again, with hindsight, you can see the potential for Japan to win.

And it may be the last Olympic softball game ever.

In another upset, though not of the same proportions, the US women win the gold on the soccer field. Way to guys

And as expected the US women win the Beach VB gold. I watched that match and the two 21-18 sets were a tough fight. Take away a few mistakes late in each set and Japan could have won. It looked to me like Mays and Welsh were intent on playing steady and let the pressure finally get to the other team.
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post #344 of 440
8/21/08 at 1:17pm

Re: 2008 Summer Olympics - Beijing, China

I just noticed that Russia's team has a US Born and now naturalized Russian citizen, Becky Hammon, playing for Russia. Is this a case of an athlete not making her native country's squad, or did she just choose to become a Russian citizen/

I'll show my US bias and say I have to wonder why you want to go from US citizen to Russian citizen? If this is a case of shopping for a team to play for, it's not the first time and won't be the last time. I find the practice distasteful.

Ok, I'll pose a possible answer: did she marry a Russian citizen? That's something I can wrap my mind around.
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post #345 of 440
8/21/08 at 1:22pm

Re: 2008 Summer Olympics - Beijing, China

Oh, my lord, I just read over at SI.com that Phelps was already collecting $5mil in endorsements yearly before these Olympics. According to the article he may now be at the 30, 40, or 50 million level now. Poor baby, he's not expected to outdo Tiger.
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post #346 of 440
8/21/08 at 1:28pm

Re: 2008 Summer Olympics - Beijing, China

Yup, I answered my own question. She basically felt she wouldn't make the US team so, what the heck, lets play for Russia.
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post #347 of 440
8/21/08 at 2:25pm

Re: 2008 Summer Olympics - Beijing, China

Quote:
Very happy to be corrected on this, but I believe the members of the relay team can be changed between rounds, so they may save Bolt for the final.

You may be right...I just read something that indicated Bolt will be in the finals. I didn't know you could change runners between rounds, but I guess it's good to allow teams to compete even if one guy gets injured during the earlier rounds.
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post #348 of 440
8/21/08 at 3:32pm

Re: 2008 Summer Olympics - Beijing, China

Quote:
Originally Posted by Johnny Angell
I just noticed that Russia's team has a US Born and now naturalized Russian citizen, Becky Hammon, playing for Russia. Is this a case of an athlete not making her native country's squad, or did she just choose to become a Russian citizen/

I'll show my US bias and say I have to wonder why you want to go from US citizen to Russian citizen? If this is a case of shopping for a team to play for, it's not the first time and won't be the last time. I find the practice distasteful.

Ok, I'll pose a possible answer: did she marry a Russian citizen? That's something I can wrap my mind around.

Many of the WNBA players live in Russia and play in the Russian pro league. They get paid more in Russia and the season is longer than the 3 (?) month WNBA season. I think most (all?) of them have dual citizenship. Hammon didn't feel like she was getting a fair shot and that some politics were involved. She was only invited to try out at the last minute. She declined and decided to play for Russia.
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post #349 of 440
8/21/08 at 3:39pm

Re: 2008 Summer Olympics - Beijing, China

Quote:
Originally Posted by andrew markworthy
As regards why you're still up, does anyone else find there's something strangely hypnotic about some of these events? I found myself sitting through the marathon the other night (in the UK, this was broadcast from circa 1.00 a.m.), a sporting event I normally have zero interest in. Even the UK commentators' breaking off from the main race to discuss how Paula Radcliffe was doing every 10 seconds didn't deter me.

Strangely hypnotic is a great way to describe it. Part of it for me is the chance to watch sports that I'm not normally exposed to and it is where you get to hear some of the best stories of the Olympics. Natalie du Toit, Benjamin Boukpeti, etc. Your not going to find much handball, ping pong, or field hockey on in the States. I didn't even know until today that there was men's field hockey. That could've been my Olympic sport!

May-Treanor and Walsh are just amazing. The run(s) they have had are mind-boggling in any sport.

I was glad to see the US soccer team come through and disappointed for the softball team. It'll be hard to live with the loss considering their is currently know opportunity forthcoming for them to win gold in the Olympics. This is not to take away from the Japanese team. The game before this one was epic and they are a great team. The US took two of three, but lost the one that mattered most. It is unfortunate.
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post #350 of 440
8/21/08 at 4:39pm

Re: 2008 Summer Olympics - Beijing, China

That Japanese pitcher threw more than 400 pitches in three games in the last two days. Amazing!
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post #351 of 440
8/21/08 at 4:41pm

Re: 2008 Summer Olympics - Beijing, China

Look at the plethora of Chinese ping pong players now living in other countries and playing for them (including the US)
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post #352 of 440
8/21/08 at 9:31pm

Re: 2008 Summer Olympics - Beijing, China

ESPN - IOC investigating whether gymnasts old enough to compete - Olympics

Gymnastics is long over, but the drama continues. I actually hope that an investigation confirms that they are of competition age and that everyone move on, but I have serious doubts. My eyes and the "evidence" seem to be telling a different story.
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post #353 of 440
8/22/08 at 2:31am

Re: 2008 Summer Olympics - Beijing, China

Quote:
Originally Posted by DavidJ
Strangely hypnotic is a great way to describe it.

Agreed. I was watching the 3m springboard diving the other day, which ordinarily I have no interest in. Then again, when the star performer is Guo Jingjing, it's real easy to watch Similarly the women's pole vault...

Quote:
Originally Posted by Johnny Angell
If this is a case of shopping for a team to play for, it's not the first time and won't be the last time. I find the practice distasteful.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Lew Crippen
Look at the plethora of Chinese ping pong players now living in other countries and playing for them (including the US)

It seems to have reached an extreme with table tennis, since China produces so many good players that many of them 'jump ship' to find another country to play for. Conversely, other countries 'poach' Chinese players, the most extreme case probably being, ahem, Singapore, whose entire silver-medallist ladies team consisted of China-born players. It's kinda odd when you see obviously Chinese names of players representing Netherlands, Dominican Republic, and well, yes, USA. At least for Singapore, our population is 75% ethnic Chinese to begin with anyway...
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post #354 of 440
8/22/08 at 6:02am

Re: 2008 Summer Olympics - Beijing, China

Quote:
Originally Posted by Johnny Angell
Yup, I answered my own question. She basically felt she wouldn't make the US team so, what the heck, lets play for Russia.

Chris Kaman did the same thing: decided to get himself qualified to play for the German national basketball team. I think he said he wanted to do it to honor his grandparents or something like that.
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post #355 of 440
8/22/08 at 9:49am

Re: 2008 Summer Olympics - Beijing, China

Interview with Jenn Stuczynski (silver medalist in the pole vault):

Quote:
What they didn't see, she said, was what prompted Suhr's monologue. "I went over and I asked, What did I do wrong?" Stuczynski said. "And he said what he said, and it's the truth. And I didn't have a mike, and they didn't hear it and they didn't play it."

Moreover, she says, Suhr was texting his 13-year-old son in the States to inform him of the silver medal.

So what about the cold "meat-grinder" remarks? "When I started the meet, I was off, so I had to come in earlier, so I could get in a rhythm," she says.

Those early jumps came in a part of the meet where the most competitors are jumping from 4.70 to 4.85. "It's the part of the meet that takes the longest, and we call it the meat grinder because it wears you out because you have to jump so many times. Because I was off, I had to jump those heights to ensure a silver medal."

But what about her reaction? Stuczynski explained that she'd had problems on takeoff at her previous meet in London. She suspected she'd repeated the same mistakes, and when Suhr confirmed it, she says, "I was discouraged with myself. It bothered me that I didn't jump to my potential. It wasn't anything he said. But people took that, and all of a sudden he's a bad coach, and I need to find another coach."

ESPN - ESPN The Magazine
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post #356 of 440
8/22/08 at 10:12am

Re: 2008 Summer Olympics - Beijing, China

Breaking news: the BBC has reported that there an investigation is underway into match fixing in the boxing. One of the judges has alleged that referees likely to be favourable to a particular country's boxers were being selected for certain bouts. The matter is being investigated, and nothing has yet been proved, but the fact that the judge concerned seems to be genuinely impartial (e.g. it's not that he's annoyed one of his country's boxers was hard done by) lends credence to the allegations.

If true, this doesn't of course prove that attempts to match fix are endemic, but it would nonetheless lend further support to a sizeable number of members of the Olympic governing body who would like boxing removed from the Games.

I've tried to find a web site as reference to support this, but it's such breaking news it doesn't seem to be available yet.
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post #357 of 440
8/22/08 at 10:45am

Re: 2008 Summer Olympics - Beijing, China

Quote:
Originally Posted by Andy Sheets
Chris Kaman did the same thing: decided to get himself qualified to play for the German national basketball team. I think he said he wanted to do it to honor his grandparents or something like that.

And once they play for another country they can't play for the US ever.
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post #358 of 440
8/22/08 at 6:22pm

Re: 2008 Summer Olympics - Beijing, China

Quote:
And as expected the US women win the Beach VB gold. I watched that match and the two 21-18 sets were a tough fight. Take away a few mistakes late in each set and Japan could have won.
The other VB players were Chinese, not Japanese.
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post #359 of 440
8/22/08 at 9:58pm

Re: 2008 Summer Olympics - Beijing, China

Quote:
Originally Posted by andrew markworthy
If true, this doesn't of course prove that attempts to match fix are endemic, but it would nonetheless lend further support to a sizeable number of members of the Olympic governing body who would like boxing removed from the Games.
Why do they want to do in boxing? These charges aside, the Olympics are one of the last venues where boxing is treated like the artform it is. There are what, four world heavyweight champions now? The professional sport has become a joke, and the art of boxing is being pushed out by slug matches like Ultimate Fighting on television.
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post #360 of 440
8/23/08 at 2:34am

Re: 2008 Summer Olympics - Beijing, China

Well, after the boxing come the howls of protest in the Taekwondo: Manila Bulletin Online

BBC showed some of the inspired decisions this morning and they beggar belief. As far as we Brits are concerned, the nadir came when a Brit got knocked out of the competition when she'd clear as daylight scored a winning kick against her Chinese opponent (and this follows a similar decision the day before against another Brit). It says something about how unbelievably bad the decision was that the Chinese audience booed their own competitor off. Nobody's implying corruption, just sheer incompetence. One BBC commentator suggested that standards might be improved if the judges were discouraged from taking in a book to read during the bouts they were meant to be watching. This isn't a partisan complaint, however. I think a lot of competitors have been treated shambolically and I don't think GB has been singled out.

For all that we sometimes think our team was hard done by, most officials are decent people doing their job for the sheer love of the sport and are impartial. But these guys really do make you question whether more stringent selection criteria (e.g. having normal eyesight and an IQ above single figures) ought to be applied.

EDIT: The Brit was reinstated after a protest. She lost the next bout.

Quote:
Why do they want to do in boxing?
The risks inherent in boxing like brain damage, I suppose. Don't flame me for this! As a psychologist I've got to say that professionally I can't approve of watching people hit each other on the head. But viscerally, I still find it an exciting sport to watch.
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