2016 Summer Olympics

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2016 Summer Olympics

Post by bookworm »

They start in just three weeks!
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Who else is excited? \:D/

Share thoughts as the Games approach and reactions to the events once they start here! Readers be aware that there will be spoilers due to time zone stuff.

I've also set up a Chatroom channel as is customary for major sporting events. I'm not sure if it will work out since the Olympics are broadcast weird so with time zones and different networks there will be issues with spoilers and people won't all be seeing the same things, but I figured there's no harm in at least creating a channel so it's available if anyone wants to try using it. If no one does that's fine, we'll discuss developments here in the thread as usual. But if anyone is interested you can join #Olympics for real time, if not live, discussion.



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Post by snubs »

I wouldn't say I'm "excited", but I am interested. I will likely just check in every now and then if there is something interesting I want to see.
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Post by Catspaw »

I'm more of a winter Olympics fan, based on my sports interests, but the Olympics are usually fun to watch no matter what! I just saw today that Milos Raonic, a top Canadian tennis player, is joining the list of those who have pulled out citing Zika concerns. Several high-profile golfers have also announced their non-attendance, among others. I can't blame people for having concerns, though I think it's a lot easier for people in sports that have money and prestige outside of Olympic events (like golf and tennis) to make that choice.
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Post by bookworm »

Yes, it is very disappointing that is having such an impact on things.
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Post by Dredge »

I mostly watch three sports: Running, swimming, and gym. In running, I think America made the right choices on both the men's and women's sides. You can't have a swimming team without Michael Phelps, despite his, er, extrarespitory habits, and I think he'll be a contender for gold right up to the end.

Now, about gymnastics. I mostly watch women's gym, because there's just something that doesn't feel right when I see a bunch of otherwise masculine males in leotards, flippin' around. So I'll only comment on the ladies' side of competition.

The team is conroversial. OK, controversial might be a bit of a stretch, because Simone Biles, Laurie Hernandez, and possibly Aly whats-her-name were no-brainers. Madison Koinan, though a rough choice, was also a safe pick for Americans who wanted to bring home the gold. But, Gabby Douglas? She's gettin' old and her performance shows it. She's not confident like the Top Three (not even a humble confidence, like Hernandez), namely Simone Biles (...), she is likely more of a liability then her chief rivals, who are younger and mentally tougher, and never in the history of the Trials has one fallrn of the balance beam twice and made it ANYWAY.

OK, something tells me the replies to this comment will force me to delete that part about controversial being a stretch, but when you lay out all the facts, Gabs couldn't beat the competition at home. Abroad will be a mess...
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Post by bookworm »

I can't believe Phelps is still going, didn't he retire after London? I'm very excited to see what he'll do. I vividly remember watching him make history in Beijing. What an experience!

I haven't paid attention to who made or missed any of the teams, but I know our gymnastics performances have been disappointing of late. Specifically the men's. As I recall, last time they completely imploded and couldn't even buy a medal. :|
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Post by SirWhit »

I'll be interested in watching, or at least keeping up with golf, being a golf player myself, but apart from that I don't think I'll make it a priority to tune in and watch.
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Post by bookworm »

The IOC decides not to levy a complete ban on the Russian delegation. I didn't think they would have the nerve to send such an extreme message, even though it was absolutely warranted.
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Post by Catspaw »

Yes, that is a big deal! I guess it isn't surprising, though it was a little disappointing. It's the state-sponsored part that makes me think that a ban wouldn't be too much, but it would be a very big step to do it. Hopefully there will at least be some positive things coming out of this, though cheaters always try to find a way to just be sneakier about it.
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Post by bookworm »

I understand the concern about not wanting to punish athletes that weren't involved, but this was such a huge deal I think sending the message would have been more important.

But I guess their track athletes, who were known for sure to be part of it, were given a blanket ban so I guess that's something. And it sounds like the committees for each sport can still choose to impose individual bans if they wish, but I doubt any will.
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Post by Stop Wooton' Around »

Bookworm told me to post...

As an avid US Women's soccer fan, I have caught their first two games. Some takeaways...

Mallory Pugh seemed to have some nerves in her first Olympic game, but with her speed she has a great future. With that being said, I do believe Crystal Dunn should start as she did tonight against France.

No surprise that we beat New Zealand, but the French squad definitely looked good. The French were the better team in the first half and had Hope Solo not been Hope Solo, not sure we would have won that game.

Speaking of Hope Solo...some say the crowd is being childish for yelling Zika, but Solo certainly was not being real adult either. Regardless, it's not going to phase Solo. She even said in an interview that she is glad that the fans are having fun, even if it is at her expense.

Now that we have beaten our toughest competition in the Group Stage, we should be all set to move ahead.
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Post by bookworm »

USA wins the first gold of the Games! \:D/


I haven't seen any soccer yet, but I heard about the zika chant and thought it was hilarious. :p
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Post by Catspaw »

I missed hearing about the Zika chant but I know that Canada won their first soccer game. \:D/

I watched the opening ceremonies last night, which was pretty good, and then a few things today. I watched Eugenie Bouchard's first tennis match, which she won, a bunch of different swimming events and qualifiers, including Canada's first medal, a bronze in women's 4 x 100 relay :D and a little of this and that throughout the day. There's just something fun about having so many high-level sporting events available to watch all day, plus I like cheering, even in events where I don't know anything about the sport or the competitors. :cheerleader:
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Post by bookworm »

It's sad we've witnessed the end of an era in the dissolving of the greatest volleyball team of all time Misty May and Kerri Walsh. These Games won't be the same without them out there. Became the only team to win repeat golds, then after Beijing I thought they were done because they both had to take time off, Misty for injury and Kerri for family, but they got back together and resumed as dominant as ever culminating in a third straight gold in London. And even more unbelievably only losing one single set on the way to those three medals! Then I was sure it was over because Misty retired and Kerri had an injury of her own, but amazingly she came back and got a new partner and is here at Rio! It is really neat the legacy is still continuing with Kerri now with April Ross. Who was actually on the team she and Misty faced in the final in London. I'm very eager to see how they do here. They've been dominant in AVP competition together.
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Post by Catspaw »

Wow, I remember watching them play in previous Olympics! I am so amazed by the determination and perseverance of athletes like that. (Edit: I just realized that Misty May's name might sound extra familiar because I think she was on Dancing with the Stars a long time ago...) :anxious: Today I watched the women's 3m synchronized diving event, and the Chinese team that won had one woman who won her fourth Olympic gold in that same event! :thud: Talk about being at the top of your game to win gold in it for four consecutive Olympics! They were easily the top team - it wasn't even close.

I had lots of fun watching women's rugby sevens - Canada beat France 15-5 in a crazy match! I'm not used to watching rugby, but it sure looks like a tough sport!

I had a tremendously joyous time watching Canada defeat the US in men's indoor volleyball three sets to zero. \;D/ It's just one match, but still, to take down a higher-ranked team like that was lots of fun to see, and the crowd was very enthusiastic. Lots of back and forth and high level of play.

I'm going to watch the swimming events on tonight - should be a good time! :yes:
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Post by bookworm »

Catspaw wrote:I just realized that Misty May's name might sound extra familiar because I think she was on Dancing with the Stars a long time ago...
Yes she was, after Beijing. In fact that was where she suffered the injury I alluded to that took her out of competition for a year; it wasn't from a game, she ruptured her achilles during practice for the show.


I like rugby, especially sevens, and was excited to hear it was added to the Games, but haven't been able to watch any yet. The women's matches will be more compelling than the men's I'm sure. They should probably just give New Zealand those medals now. They're so far out of everyone else's league it's not even fair.


US men's gymnastics is just as painful to watch as I remember. Direct quote from the pommel horse commentary: "That's an epic mistake right there." "It's London redux." >_> When the TV people are calling them out you know it's bad. They need to get it together for the final.


Did you see that German gymnast come back from injury on the floor exercise and power through his pommel horse routine to keep his team alive? Amazing.


Absolute heartbreak in women's cycling; US rider out in front at the end ahead of a pack of three but they catch and pass her at literally the final turn to not only grab away the gold, but push her entirely off the podium! :(
The same thing happened at the end of the men's race, but there it was only two in the group so at least the guy who was passed still got bronze.
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Post by Paula »

I don't know if any of y'all are into Gymnastics or not, but if you are...The one to watch is Simone Biles. The Gold AA is practically hers...I mean, her scores are untouchable =o
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Post by bookworm »

First time replay challenges are allowed in Olympic volleyball and already there's major controversy. Double controversy in fact.

On the match point for China against Switzerland the Swiss were given the score. China challenged that they had gone into the net. Replay clearly showed that in fact both teams had touched it, so it should be a double net fault which means the first touch is the one called, which was China. So though the fault was missed, the Swiss point was actually correct.

But somehow, the review comes back as a successful challenge and gives China the point, and the game. Switzerland argued emphatically and the point was eventually reversed which no one thought was a possibility once replay review returned a decision. It caught NBC off guard, they had to quickly cut away from a featurette to go back to the match.

China still ended up winning in the end, and replaying the match point was the right thing to do because the replay official clearly got it wrong, but there's bound to be an uproar over whether it should have been able to happen, right or not, because everyone thought the review was supposed to be the final word.
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Post by Catspaw »

bookworm wrote:
Catspaw wrote:I just realized that Misty May's name might sound extra familiar because I think she was on Dancing with the Stars a long time ago...
Yes she was, after Beijing. In fact that was where she suffered the injury I alluded to that took her out of competition for a year; it wasn't from a game, she ruptured her achilles during practice for the show.
Oh yeah, I think I do remember that, but I don't think I realized how long it kept her out of competition.


bookworm wrote:Did you see that German gymnast come back from injury on the floor exercise and power through his pommel horse routine to keep his team alive? Amazing.


Absolute heartbreak in women's cycling; US rider out in front at the end ahead of a pack of three but they catch and pass her at literally the final turn to not only grab away the gold, but push her entirely off the podium! :(
The same thing happened at the end of the men's race, but there it was only two in the group so at least the guy who was passed still got bronze.
I didn't see more than a couple minutes of men's gymnastics, but that does sound like a great moment!

I saw the replay of the cycling incident - after riding for almost four hours, being passed with seconds to go must be so painful. :(

I loved watching Penny Oleksiak, a 16-year-old Canadian, win silver in the 100 m butterfly! She didn't realize she got a medal right away, and there was a great shot of her looking up and realizing how well she did! Awesome!

Michael Phelps was looking great for the US team in the 4 x 100 relay. He went second and put his team way out in front, and nobody caught up after that. The whole team looked strong, but he just was dominant.
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Post by bookworm »

Catspaw wrote:the Chinese team that won had one woman who won her fourth Olympic gold in that same event! Talk about being at the top of your game to win gold in it for four consecutive Olympics!
And it's not just the four, now five, in this event, they said all competitions included she's undefeated, 14 golds in 14 appearances! And that's with multiple partners. Impressive isn't even the word; she's simply perfection.


I was so sad to hear this is Marta Karolyi's last Olympics! Seeing her and Bela up there coaching is one of my earliest Olympic memories and has been one of my favorite parts of the Games every four years since. They're both such great people and personalities.


It was so great to see the US women dominate the team gymnastics like they did. I really needed that. Watching the men implode makes me so disappointed and frustrated I almost get jaded on the whole thing, but the women living up to expectations gets me through it.


Oksana Chusovitina in her seventh Olympics here. That's insane. For an athlete in any sport; but for a gymnast it's unthinkable.


World records being set in the pool all over the place! I love it.


I'm really into Lilly King calling out Yulia Efimova. Can't wait to see how that plays out medal wise.


Michael Phelps continues to make history. What else can you say about it at this point. So great.


Cody Miller celebrating his bronze more than Peaty did his world record gold was awesome. :p


Déjà vu in the team competition. A British gymnast was seriously injured during her floor exercise but came back out to do her vault to keep her team alive.
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