2008 Beijing Olympics

[Teng Ai Hui]

[quote name='Hereward' post='1474976' date='Aug 11 2008, 05.29']We have a swimming gold! :thumbsup: First female swimming win since 1964, apparently.[/quote]

It seems that you have a second gold now too -- women's cycling, road race; Nicole Cooke.

[Hereward]

That was our first and was also cause for celebration! But cycling golds are less of a surprise.

[BLU-RAY]

[quote name='Padraig' post='1474983' date='Aug 11 2008, 04.04']Got to love how NBC decided that the swimming finals must be on in the morning (China time), so they would be on prime time in the US. I wonder do they even show the races live. :)[/quote]

They do, and it's fantastic. But I imagine it kind of blows for everyone else.

[WarGalley]

I've got to watch this 4x100 Free Relay with the US and France going neck and neck. I'm hearing it was ridiculous from a bunch of different co-workers. Hopefully I'll be able to watch the interview with Lezak afterward too.

[Mack Kilimaro]

[quote name='WarGalley' post='1475390' date='Aug 11 2008, 13.52']I've got to watch this 4x100 Free Relay with the US and France going neck and neck. I'm hearing it was ridiculous from a bunch of different co-workers. Hopefully I'll be able to watch the interview with Lezak afterward too.[/quote]

Let me know if you figure out where to find that. I don't see it on NBC's website and all the hits for it I have found on youtube are gone by the time that I can click on them. I keep hearing about that race and it sounds pretty legendary and I'd really like to see it for myself even after knowing how it ends.

[SergioCQH]

nbcolympics.com

[WarGalley]

Haven't watched it yet because I don't watch videos at work, but this is the link my friend sent me.

[url="http://www.nbcolympics.com/swimming/news/newsid=194272.html#lezaks+classic+finish+delivers+gold"]http://www.nbcolympics.com/swimming/news/n...h+delivers+gold[/url]

There's a videos tab there, but I don't know if it's just highlights or the whole thing. If I find more, I'll post.

[Starkess]

[quote name='WarGalley' post='1475390' date='Aug 11 2008, 13.52']I've got to watch this 4x100 Free Relay with the US and France going neck and neck. I'm hearing it was ridiculous from a bunch of different co-workers. Hopefully I'll be able to watch the interview with Lezak afterward too.[/quote]

Definitely watch it. It was amazing! I was like pounding on my desk, jumping out of my seat at it. Yay USA!

[WarGalley]

[quote name='Starkess' post='1475499' date='Aug 11 2008, 15.13']Definitely watch it. It was amazing! I was like pounding on my desk, jumping out of my seat at it. Yay USA![/quote]

Good to hear. Even better that it came against the French. :P

[Jacen]

I'm definitely into the Olympics this year. I kinda hate how tv in the USA only chooses to cover certain events during prime time. I would like to see the tae kwon do and fencing events but that seemingly is only shown at 3 am. And they never seem to show the track and field stuff. So far all I've seen is gymnastics and swimming and volleyball. maybe those other events arent even happening now (later this week?), I have no idea.

very unrelated buy I just found this star spangled banner version:

[url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QRvVzaQ6i8A"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QRvVzaQ6i8A[/url]

I want those sunglasses.

[Scienide]

[quote name='Jacen' post='1475555' date='Aug 11 2008, 15.40']I'm definitely into the Olympics this year. I kinda hate how tv in the USA only chooses to cover certain events during prime time. I would like to see the tae kwon do and fencing events but that seemingly is only shown at 3 am. And they never seem to show the track and field stuff. So far all I've seen is gymnastics and swimming and volleyball. maybe those other events arent even happening now (later this week?), I have no idea.

very unrelated buy I just found this star spangled banner version:

[url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QRvVzaQ6i8A"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QRvVzaQ6i8A[/url]

I want those sunglasses.[/quote]

Yeah, the athletics stuff doesn't start for another couple of days yet. I'm really enjoying the CBC coverage. While they have the main broadcast that shows mostly events that Canadians are involved in, on their website, they also broadcast 6 or 7 live feeds from the other events not usually featured. These feeds don't have commentary but they show the entirety of the event. I like being able to see some of the lesser known sports like fencing and judo and things like that. Another neat thing is that since the feeds don't have anybody talking over top, you can actually hear a lot of what is going on, like hearing what the coaches are saying and what the athletes are saying to each other. It really gives a different take on what is happening.

[IheartTesla]

The Indians won their first individual gold in shooting (10m air rifle) since ....ever. Last team gold was in 1980 in field hockey, and since then there have been 3 individial medals: bronze, tennis singles 1996, bronze, womens weightlifting 2000, silver in shooting (the clay pigeon event) 2004.

Hopefully this will start a spark of a little something within a nation not that engaged with most sports. I think they [i]might[/i] get a couple more medals this Olympics; but they've already done better than their previous endeavors.

[Deedles]

It's killing me that the swimming is reversed. I want to watch it live!

Anyone see the incredible c*ck up committed by the Irish swim team? Melanie Nocker's cap wasn't regulation, so she had to change it before the swim. Her new cap didn't fit, so she had to wear her goggles over the cap. The googles fell fell after she dived in and she had to sort of stop mid race and adjust them as she couldn't see.

Seriously, how do Swim Ireland get away with this? Did they not read the regulations? Gaaaaaaaaah. I know she had no hope but that sort of thing is just ridiculous. (and yes, I know the obvious solution would have been to wear 2 hats, with the goggles in between. Sadly, I'm not a member of the team out there).

Anyway, well done Team GB on the gold and bronze!

The US / French final was fantastic.....

And I genuinely hope Michael Phelps gets those 8. Excellence should always be celebrated.

[Rhom]

[quote name='deedles' post='1475708' date='Aug 11 2008, 17.00']It's killing me that the swimming is reversed. I want to watch it live!

Anyone see the incredible c*ck up committed by the Irish swim team? Melanie Nocker's cap wasn't regulation, so she had to change it before the swim. Her new cap didn't fit, so she had to wear her goggles over the cap. The googles fell fell after she dived in and she had to sort of stop mid race and adjust them as she couldn't see.

Seriously, how do Swim Ireland get away with this? Did they not read the regulations? Gaaaaaaaaah. I know she had no hope but that sort of thing is just ridiculous. (and yes, I know the obvious solution would have been to wear 2 hats, with the goggles in between. Sadly, I'm not a member of the team out there).

Anyway, well done Team GB on the gold and bronze!

The US / French final was fantastic.....

And I genuinely hope Michael Phelps gets those 8. Excellence should always be celebrated.[/quote]

What kind of pansy stops to adjust their goggles???? I lost mine several times and you just swim through it. Its a heckuva lot faster than stopping to fix it.

[delete this account pls]

Goddamn I love the Olympics. There's something so fascinating about a sport, any sport, when Olympic medals are on the line. I find myself watching the Judo, or field hockey, and screaming my expert advise at the screen (PUT HIM ON THE MAT, or SCORE A FRICKIN GOAL ALREADY). And how great a moment was it when the Georgian and Russian medal winners in the shooting stepped down from the podium and embraced each other?

Plus, China is a great timezone for me to catch events live, and we have two channels covering it.

[IheartTesla]

[quote name='Brady' post='1475916' date='Aug 11 2008, 19.16']And how great a moment was it when the Georgian and Russian medal winners in the shooting stepped down from the podium and embraced each other?[/quote]

Yeah. While it might not have been as evocative as Lutz Long/Jesse Owens (or maybe it is, in these days of instant communication it is harder to have such moments), it is always nice to see such human interactions.

On the other hand I didnt watch the goading during the swimming, but that annoys me. It seems to go against the Olympic spirit.

[WarGalley]

[quote name='Starkess' post='1475499' date='Aug 11 2008, 15.13']Definitely watch it. It was amazing! I was like pounding on my desk, jumping out of my seat at it. Yay USA![/quote]

Holy crap, that was amazing! I love how the announcers discredited Lezak at first. I can't believe he was able to close the gap in that short of a distance. I also love the end interview and how he had lost twice before and was tired of losing. Absolutely amazing.

[IheartTesla]

Has the swimming pool been shortened? World Records are being broken almost every race (Actually I think its because of the new swimwear, and someone told me that the depth of the pools has been increased)

[Commodore]

[quote name='Ran' post='1474577' date='Aug 10 2008, 15.38']We were just reading an article in Sweden discussing how Yao Ming is more or less the product of an unofficial breeding-and-training regimen in which the Chinese government went out of its way to get the most successful male and female atheletes to hook up with one another. Apparently, Ming's parents barely knew each other when they married, but their respective coaches encouraged them and I guess the government sweetened the deal.[/quote]

[url="http://sports.yahoo.com/olympics/beijing/basketball/news;_ylt=AuGZNmUrKADx0975dL7XB6i8vLYF?slug=aw-yaoteamusa081008&prov=yhoo&type=lgns"]here's[/url] another article on how the Chinese government is destroying Yao

[quote]To watch Yao limp and flail and double over to breathe was to understand the reasons with which his sense of obligation brought him back so soon from another broken foot, another surgery. For Yao, this is his life’s lot. For his own preservation, his own crack at a career undiminished, he needs to tell a most unrelenting Chinese sports machine that its days of running him into the ground are gone.


No more summers with the national team in non-Olympic years, no more of the treatment that’s breaking down his body. The sport’s never seen an athlete of his size who is so skilled, so agile. His lower body has crumbled under the burden, with two broken feet, a broken leg and an infected toe. It breaks your heart to watch what has happened to him. As much as anyone, his body needs rest and recovery. The pounding has taken a terrible toll on him.


“They will continue to pressure him,” one high-ranking international basketball official said of Chinese officials. “The one thing they do with all of their athletes is drive them into the ground with training. The strongest survive. If you don’t, they’ll find another to come and do it.

“I mean, they don’t do little things like block out good airline seats for them when they travel. They can all be in middle seats in coach for all they care, and that’s how Yao travels with them. Whatever happens with his injuries, they’re going to insist that he keeps playing for them.”[/quote]

[Starkess]

[quote name='cyrano' post='1476121' date='Aug 11 2008, 22.47']Has the swimming pool been shortened? World Records are being broken almost every race (Actually I think its because of the new swimwear, and someone told me that the depth of the pools has been increased)[/quote]

The pool is deeper and has buffer lanes and cool designed lane lines. Plus the swimwear is getting much more advanced, and training is getting much more scientific. Good article about it [url="http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/08/11/sports/olyrecords.php"]here[/url].