Olympics 2016

[Jan McNulty]

The team pursuit - OMG I couldn't breathe!  Well done GB team!

[taxi4ballet]

We are now third in the medal table behind USA and China

[Balletfanp]

I had to leave the room - couldn't watch!

[alison]

 

The team pursuit - OMG I couldn't breathe!  Well done GB team!

 

At least we won it legitimately this time around.

[alison]

 

At least we won it legitimately this time around.

 

Sorry, I think I meant the team sprint there.  It's confusing (especially when GB win so many of them )

[Jan McNulty]

Was there a controversy previously?

[alison]

Philip Hindes had a bad start, so "fell", I think, and forced a restart.  He admitted he'd only done it because he wanted Chris Hoy to get the gold.

[Jan McNulty]

Oh, I didn't know that

[Melody]

Despite some snarky comments upthread, I thought the golf was really exciting. And we got a gold! Good old Rosie - a hole in one and an Olympic gold in the same tournament, that doesn't happen every day. I hope his win isn't devalued by people saying that, well, the world's top four golfers stayed away, because he beat Henrik Stenson (world no. 5) for the gold, and Stenson is the 2016 Open Championship winner so he's at the top of his game.

Edited August 14, 2016 by Melody

[Legseleven]

Max Whitlock! Wow! And a silver for Louis Smith too.

[Balletfanp]

Max and Louis were both amazing! So happy for Max in particular.

[Tony Newcombe]

2012 had Super Saturday for Team GB. 2016 Sensational Sunday for Team GB

[Fiz]

Andy Murray has retained his Olympic title! Go Andy!

[Melody]

Gosh, five gold medals today. I didn't think we had it in us.

Edited August 15, 2016 by Melody

[Huddsballetmum]

I think this olypmics is shaping up to be even more exciting for British Sport than 2012 and I never thought I would live to say that. Second in the medal table is a fantastic result. Go Great Britain.

[Legseleven]

Could the beam gold medallist's routine have been any more boring to watch? It may have been because I hate hearing the gymnastic turns described as pirouettes (I know, it's a pet hate of mine but quite probably of no-one else's) and the routine seemed to be composed of one turns combination after another but I truly think Laurie Fernandez was robbed.

[alison]

I only came home partway through the gymnastics, so missed Wevers.  How lovely it must be to have a "disaster" on the beam and still manage to grab a bronze medal , but what was even better was to see how delighted and supportive of Fernandez's performance Simone Biles was, even after her own shock at a rare failure.

 

But, Max Whitlock - why don't we have a :not worthy: / :worship: icon on here?!

[Fiz]

Didn't you like the routine of the graceful Dutch girl that won? We did.

[Legseleven]

Graceful yes, but very tedious. And as I said, I fully appreciate that I may be the only person to feel irritated every time a gymnastics turn is referred to as a pirouette

[Fiz]

I do agree with you about the so called pirouettes, yes. It's just plain silly to call the turns that,

[alison]

They're pivots, plain and simple, unless they go on for more than 360 degrees.

 

I see yesterday's Evening Standard is reporting that Olympic sailor Dylan Fletcher is the son of former RB Principal Graham Fletcher and his wife Jane (maiden name unspecified), who used to be with LFB/ENB.

[Harwel]

He is indeed the son of Graham and Jane Fletcher. Very proud moment for them.

[bangorballetboy]

I do agree with you about the so called pirouettes, yes. It's just plain silly to call the turns that,

 

I don't know why people are getting in a fuss about this.  Words mean different things in different contexts.  Pirouette just mean "whirl".  So, yes, it has a specific meaning in balletic terms, but it also means any form of turn about the vertical axis in gymnastics.  There's also a pirouette in dressage (no plié or pointe involved there!).

[Anna C]

While I don't like the gymnastic spins with one leg held up - it's a peculiarly ungraceful movement - I must say it doesn't bother me in the least when turns are described as pirouettes.

 

Personally I've really enjoyed watching the female gymnasts from the Netherlands. They are generally less athletic and stocky in physique than the extraordinary Biles and other young gymnasts, but dance clearly makes up a decent proportion of their training and the routines are more aesthetically pleasing as a result. I really enjoyed Sanne Wevers' beam routine and thought her gold was well deserved.

 

Shame for Biles as she is supremely athletic and sparky, and generally nails her landings so solidly, but I suppose even the best athletes can suffer with nerves occasionally. I was surprised that she got the Bronze having had to put her hands on the beam but I expect her starting difficulty was sufficiently high as to negate that to some extent.

 

Sunday for me was a good deal more exciting than the overhyped "Super Saturday". Still delighted for Ennis-Hill with a great Silver, but felt for Greg Rutherford because the "Foul" that turned out not to be obviously had an effect on his mindset and I think that should have been appealed and remarked straight away.

 

And don't even get me started on the BBC not showing Murray and Del Potro's medal ceremony on BBC1 but instead going back to the Athletics stadium to show us heats and semi finals and more interminable chat. Apparently they moved the tennis medals to the Red Button, but how my set top box was supposed to know that in the middle of the night, I don't know.

[Huddsballetmum]

we can't watch gymnastics in our house because all I get is comments "Why can't they point their feet properly?"  and "what are they doing with their arms?"  The floor routines are a nightmare of comments about the quality of the more dance moves.  I've just given up trying to watch now!  Mens gymnastics only allowed in our house!!

[Balletfanp]

I must say that, phenomenal gymnasts though they are, Simone Biles and her ilk leave me cold. I hanker after the days when gymnastics (particularly the floor exercises) were something pleasurable to watch and not just a display of athletics. Last night I looked up Olga Korbut's floor exercises on YouTube, and what a delight they were to see again. Such a performer! And what a contrast to the floor exercises now. The exercises now are undoubtedly incredible in terms of what they can achieve, but I know what I would rather watch...

[Fiz]

I completely agree, Balletfanp. I do like the American Alexandra (surname escapes me at present). The power gymnastics espoused by the American women's gymnastic team right from the days of Mary Lou Retton offend my idea of what women's gymnastics should be.

[Anna C]

Alexandra Raisman, Fiz? A gorgeous performer.

 

I'm not a fan of Biles' physique but she can't do much about that, I guess. She's no Korbut for sure, but one must admire her power and speed and her tumbling is extraordinary. And in fairness, she really does perform fantastically in her current floor routine - very entertaining. Personally I'd like to see Gold for Raisman and Silver for Biles on the floor, but I suspect it will be the other way round.

[Fiz]

Yes, that's who I was thinking of, Anna. I think Simone has a very engaging personality but I just don't like her style. I far prefer the gymnasts of the 1970s and early 1980s.

[alison]

Shame for Biles as she is supremely athletic and sparky, and generally nails her landings so solidly, but I suppose even the best athletes can suffer with nerves occasionally. I was surprised that she got the Bronze having had to put her hands on the beam but I expect her starting difficulty was sufficiently high as to negate that to some extent.

Well, they keep telling us how high her difficulty ratings are

 

Sunday for me was a good deal more exciting than the overhyped "Super Saturday". Still delighted for Ennis-Hill with a great Silver, but felt for Greg Rutherford because the "Foul" that turned out not to be obviously had an effect on his mindset and I think that should have been appealed and remarked straight away.

For me too You really can't expect everyone to repeat what they did 4 years ago. But what's this about Greg's "foul"? Did they later decide that the one they'd marked as a foul wasn't? I seem to have missed that.

 

And don't even get me started on the BBC not showing Murray and Del Potro's medal ceremony on BBC1 but instead going back to the Athletics stadium to show us heats and semi finals and more interminable chat. Apparently they moved the tennis medals to the Red Button, but how my set top box was supposed to know that in the middle of the night, I don't know.

Quite. I stayed up until it was finished. I was recording it for DVD just in case it turned out to be a really good match, and since they'd already moved it over from BBC4 to BBC1 with very little warning (and my hard-drive recorder had stopped recording) I didn't dare leave it unattended in case they moved it again. After all, we know that tennis isn't really high priority at the Olympics, don't we? It's just the same problem as with Wimbledon, where they switch channels at the drop of a hat. Even recording both BBC1 and BBC2 on the hard drive, I got caught out a few times when matches were switched to the Red Button. I mean, which RB channel do you pick?

 

I completely agree, Balletfanp. I do like the American Alexandra (surname escapes me at present). The power gymnastics espoused by the American women's gymnastic team right from the days of Mary Lou Retton offend my idea of what women's gymnastics should be.

I'm not overly keen on the "power gymnastics", either, any more than I am about the very technical, but not nearly as artistic, direction in which women's ice skating has gone. I did like Aly Raisman's floor routine better than Simone Biles', although I can appreciate that hers was harder. Both were very good.

[alison]

I must say, though, last night's men's pole vault final was absolutely marvellous - and I loved the bar-height camera they had which really showed their technique vaulting over the bar so beautifully.

[Anna C]

Agreed alison, I wish the Beeb would just pick a wretched channel and stick with it. It's ok chopping and changing every half hour if you can watch live, but if you need to pause your set top box, or you're trying to record a sport, it's impossible.

 

Greg Rutherford's third? jump was called as a foul, despite his toe not touching the plasticine. I think his coach must have appealed, because they later reinstated the jump - but not until he'd finished. The appeals process seems to be taking an inordinate amount of time; Nick Skelton was (wrongly IMO) given 4 faults in the jumping this afternoon, despite the replay not showing any error, and a couple of hours later there's still no news on the appeal.

[alison]

I didn't realise that: that surely must indeed have limited him. And how do you get wrongly given 4 faults? Either you knock a pole down, or you don't - oder ...?