Olympic 2020(1) Thread

Frankly, if Britain’s wealthy elites can’t boss the World at Horse Polo, boat malarkey or Posh stabbing and shooting events, then they are of no effing use whatsoever and we should have a revolution immediately.

 

You mean the Wenlock Olympics

https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20210711-the-uk-town-that-inspired-the-olympics

 

Indeed, they mention it in the podcast!

 

I've been there, it's very interesting.

 

Much.

 

No, I'm not missing the point.

My initial reason for posting was that coming 4th is not necessarily a "failure" as initially implied. It most certainly could be if someone really underperformed in a final, but if they've done their best, then it may merely be a step.

Question. "Did you reach your target?"

Answer. "Not yet."

Funding is a different issue. But it wouldn't surprise me if the publicity that surrounds the Olympics has a net beneficial effect to the nations health, in terms of motivation for millions, than other ways of spending money. And much of the funding comes from the Lottery, where everybody knows that a good proportion goes to UK sport. A hundred Tom Deans or Alex Yees must be worth more than a single Andre Gray or Troy Deeney in motivating our young people.

 

Perhaps they should decamp to Skibbereen. A town of about 3000 inhabitants. There must be something in the water.

https://www.irishtimes.com/sport/ot...stops-ahead-of-olympic-rowing-final-1.4633089

 

4th isn't a failure, but when the 'creme de la creme' of your team, in this case the coxless fours, is not at it even in the heats, then gets out-powered by a very plucky Irish four in the next lane, then your male counterparts have severe issues even steering the boat in the latter stages, then big questions need to be asked. The quad sculls is a great example of an unfancied crew really going for it and reaping the rewards. What did they do so differently compared to the underperforming medal "favourites" (well pre-tournament anyway).

The GB triathletes performed to the best of their ability at that time. 2nd and 5th in the men's , 2nd, 9th, and 13th in the women's in atrocious conditions, with the silver medallist also dealing with the adversity of a punctured tyre. Now that was magnificent.

 

Perhaps the fencing could have a new shorter blade, close-quarter, urban division. Possibly combine it with judo. The loser being the one who's Gi turns completely red first.

 

Unfortunately, the BBC will have minimal field event coverage with the Partridge-esque monosyllabic Steve Backley and excessive celebrity 'chat' in-between the inconvenience of showing some actual coverage. At least the always excellent Micheal Johnson will be among the pundits to counteract the awful clothes-horse, walking fashion show, the daughter-in-law of the late Tom O'Connor, Denise Lewis. Her, "can't he be allowed to compete with novovirus if he asks the other athletes if they mind" guff in Rio had to be seen to be believed.

Recently, the BBC broadcast the European Team Athletic finals with no commentary and no cliche-ridden studio punditry hand-holding, and b0ll0ck-speak post-race interviews. Just a live broadcast feed so you got to see everything, warts and all. Very refreshing. Shame we don't get the option in this Olympics.

 

The term 'amazing bar work' conjures up images of Fri/Sat evenings/nights when I was younger.

 

You might have enjoyed the commentary when the woman from India was on her way to a weightlifting gold medal last week. She apparently had a "...powerful but efficient looking snatch".

 

What is this Russian Olympic Committee Team thing all about?

I thought that Russian athletes were only supposed to be allowed to compete in international sport as independent athletes, so why are they being allowed to compete in team competitions?

It is a complete farce as they are clearly competing as Russia, which they are supposedly not allowed to do so under the current ban!!!

 

Better than Putin jerking off every time they run the flag up the mast. Interestingly my spellcheck just briefly suggested I meant Luton when I typed Putin!

 

Should be able to get an ethnic minority fully on board for that one.

 

According to one of the winners (Fintan with the beard), a load of porter/Guinness has now been chucked into the 'Skibbereen waters' which they'll be "rowing through for some time yet".

Ireland. Don't ya just love the place?

 

Ders mor to Ireland dan dis

 

Why should funding cuts be inevitable? Surely, if we've done relatively well in recent games then the reasons why we haven't done so well this time are the things to address rather than automatic de-funding. Bailing out and throwing in the towel won't look good particularly in one of the blue riband disciplines of these games (along with swimming and gymnastics and just behind athletics).

It would hardly be 'when the going gets tough, the tough get going' would it? What would the Aussies have to say about that? Laugh at the nancy-boy Poms is what.

 

Because they've got so many other sports and promising future champions challenging for the funding. One of the things I remember from the 'Going for Gold Seminars' was that they had a vision of nuturing 'future excellence' not past glories. I heard on the radio that the guy (age 72) originally in charge of the rowing said that he wouldn't commit to the Paris games so he was defenestrated shortly after Rio...

 

My solution to this would be to increase funding across the board. To give more to the new worthies as opposed to taking it from the previous stalwarts. The national lottery can decide to do whatever it likes with its cash. I know it's an easy thing for me, of a socialist persuasion, to argue for a bottomless pit in the coffers. But, on this occasion, I really do think it would be a retrograde step to chuck the baby out with the bathwater on the back of one bad year.

There is a degree of angst that continues in this nation around the loss of an empire, Brexit and wondering what our continuing, global role might be.

And every four years the Olympics comes around and provides us with a real 'feel good' factor (somewhat compromised by covid this time around admittedly) and we should continue to fund it to the hilt.

We're still sixth in the medal table out of 200+ nations. What's not to like?

 

Good post but maybe just allow athletes to be junkies and quit worrying about it? That's the way the wind's blowing in wider society.

 

Anyway, are we sure that we've had our best start to an Olympics ever? In the face of the substandard rowing that seems unlikely to me.

 

Commiserations by the way, losing one of a pair can be quite unnerving.

Saying that, I've been dead since 2008, and I still feel on top piano banging form.

 

I think rowing has got a bit of an image/perception problem not helped with images of the Henley regatta, the Oxbridge boat race, and the posh boy braying of the BBC commentary teams. It comes across as a posh elitist sport, like the equesterian events, but it shouldn't be, as most people live near water, and being in a boat should really be second nature. Even Ricky has an aquadrome but it doesn't look like there are any rowing clubs for beginners, juniors or adults locally (just checked britishrowing.org). Curreently, I'm near Cambridge in the East of England, with loads of local rowing clubs, but you need to start looking for talent in the urban areas otherwise the same issues will continue.

 

I'm aware of the rugby bloodgate scandal but not the Spanish one. There was the Spanish 2000 Paralympics basketball scandal:

"Spain won the basketball ID event at the 2000 Paralympics, however, it was later discovered that 10 of the 12 players had no disabilities whatsoever, and had deliberately failed IQ tests before the Games. The medals were stripped from the Spanish team and all events for athletes with intellectual disabilities were subsequently removed from the next two Summer Paralympics as a result." Is this the one you meant?

I think they should still keep the dodgy athletics world records and asterisk them, like they used to do, for records set at altitude etc but also include the world best records since this time and have them as the "official" world record. The dodgy ones still need to be there so they can eventually be legitimately bettered, which eventually they will.

I also remember the 1993 Stuttgart World Athletics Championships where Chinese Women athletes won a good portion of the middle/long distance medals under the tutelage of Mao Dezhen and his authoritarian training camps, potions of "special herbs" and sagacious advice from banned former GDR coaches.

 

Male gold does sound quite illicit. Cover me head-to-toe in female gold sounds even dodgier.

 

Water-skiiing on Batchworth Lake and sailing on Bury Lake. I doubt the Colne would be up to rowing ....

 

Well, hopefully, the cycling 'medal factory' can redress the balance. So the start has been obtained without one velodrome medal, which does mean it is a good start.

 

I remember seeing the odd bit of ski jumping at the Aquadrome. The only local sporting excitement in my youth before GT arrived in Watford.

 

Right, the last 4 rowing finals. Let's see if there is any salvation.

 

Unlucky, in the women's single sculls. Finished 4th.

James Cracknell is a prize tool. "The Austrian has gone out too fast, she's not going to feature". Lo and behold, she finishes with a creditable bronze.

Meanwhile, on the red button, the Athletics has started. Steve Cram, who's not bad at commentating, is offset by simpering tax-avoiding exile Paula 'p1ss my pants and quit if I'm not going to win' Radcliffe. Why the BBC has to enrich the finances of anyone from the UK who decides not to contribute some of their significant wealth to the UK economy is beyond me. I assume she's not doing it for free.