Olympics 2016

[Picturesinthefirelight]

We found that often children & adults train together.

[Balletfanp]

Yes, our classes are mixed adults and juniors - only under 7s have their own class.

[Sunrise]

Yeah my manager goes to a families class with her son. I like her but I think might try to find another class to go to :-)

[Sunrise]

Aw Tom Daley, what happened??!!

[Sunrise]

I did think the commentators were being very optimistic after 3 poor dives. The pressure to score 100+ for his very last dive after a run of poor or less than perfect dives was too much to hope for.

[Balletfanp]

He is my local Olympian here in Plymouth (or he was) so he will be splashed over the local paper headlines - poor Tom. Of all the times to have a bad day - I feel terrible for him. Used so see him and his dad doing the weekly shop in our local supermarket quite often.

[orchidblue]

Doesn't it just go to show though that it all comes down to performance on the day. So many fantastic sportsmen/women there that on any other day could have won, came 2nd etc. It must be heartbreaking for Tom not to reach the final but really anyone who has reached the Olympics is already a shining example to us all.

[alison]

This was Auto-Saved last night, so clearly it didn't post the first time around:

 

Has it been raining in Rio again, or do they actually leave the hockey pitch with some water in it, perhaps to cushion falls a bit?

 

 

At least Tom Daley has his medal from the synchro, so won't leave Rio empty-handed.  But I hope he keeps off social media for the next few days - it's likely to be really unpleasant.

 

The one I feel most sorry for, though, is Martyn Rooney.  Admittedly, he was responsible for messing up his race in the 400 m, but he anchored the 4x400 m relay team to a very good win in the semi/heat, before they were disqualified on what appears to have been a technicality more than anything else

[LinMM]

I feel for him too Alison.

 

I know rules are rules etc.....but did his infringement impede anyone else or gain advantage for GB team? Some interpretations are a little harsh I think.

[LinMM]

Actually it wasn't Rooney but the third leg runner Hudson Smith who had "part of his foot" ( not even a whole foot) over the take over line before he started running.

Some referee saw it but because the video evidence is inconclusive the referee has been given the benefit of the doubt so to speak ( not the team)

Personally I would say if the video evidence doesn't back up the referee absolutely then the team should get the benefit of the doubt.

 

Interesting that Brazil now go through!! ( just saying!)

[Picturesinthefirelight]

The hockey pitch is a new type of Astro that uses water instead of sand. It makes the ball move faster.

[porthesia]

Oh? Where was Ashton Eaton?

 

Ashton Eaton came 4th in the pole vault but won the Decathlon overall

[Balletfanp]

I'm probably biased, but I have been so impressed with the sportsmanlike behaviour demonstrated by the Taekwondo contenders, winners and losers, Team GB and others - proud to be a Taekwondo martial artist. They are all winners ✊.

[porthesia]

I have been really impressed with the comradeship and sportsmanship of the contenders, encouraging each other, congrtulaions etc.  Not so the crowd in the Womens hockey finals. Boos during taking penalty shoots was a bit off i thought

[Balletfanp]

There has been too much uncalled for booing during these games - really not on.

[Jan McNulty]

Mo Cho didn't stand a chance last night in the bronze bout; even to me looking on TV the atmosphere seemed intimidating.

[tabitha]

Did anyone watch the rythmic gymnastics? The hyperflexion freaks me out a bit but the fluidity of movement and skill with the apparatus is amazing.

Yes the hyper-flexibility is freaky, but the whole performance utterly mesmerising! The commentator said they do 3 hours of ballet and 3 hours of gym training. I felt so sorry for Yana - she is clearly the most amazing performer and one small mistake cost her the gold.

[Quintus]

 

In fact the WTF (World Taekwondo Federation) is about to rebrand itself as just World Taekwondo, the acronym WTF having a rather unfortunate meaning in terms of abbreviated text speak...☺

 

 

'WTF' is entirely appropriate for Olympic taekwondo as far as I am concerned...  They've taken a functional martial art and turned it into Riverdance.  I believe the ITF rules are more similar to karate competition rules, with head punches, sweeps etc.  I just pray that when karate makes it into the 2020 games, the IOC doesn't mess that up too.

[alison]

Goodness, rhythmic gymnastics has moved on hugely since last time I watched it - not sure when that was, but it was obviously some considerable time ago.  The Russians performing to The Rite of Spring?!

 

 

But once again I find myself wishing that the BBC wouldn't devote about 2/3 of its 3-hour-plus Olympic review programme to athletics.  I'm still feeling I missed out hugely on other sports   The mountain biking was fun, though.

[Balletfanp]

I wouldn't count on that...!

 

Yes, ITF sparring is much more interesting to watch, I think, more dynamic with much more use of the hands.

[RuthE]

Goodness, rhythmic gymnastics has moved on hugely since last time I watched it - not sure when that was, but it was obviously some considerable time ago.  The Russians performing to The Rite of Spring?!

 

I didn't get that far.  Started watching it last night on iPlayer, and my musical sensibilities overrode my visual curiosity when it got to the routine (very early on) set to part of an awful souped-up version of La traviata, and I gave up and switched off!

[Jacqueline]

I didn't get that far.  Started watching it last night on iPlayer, and my musical sensibilities overrode my visual curiosity when it got to the routine (very early on) set to part of an awful souped-up version of La traviata, and I gave up and switched off!

I tried to watch the rhythmic gymnastics but didn't stick it for long. The hyper flexibility used to be a thing of wonder and beauty but much like the artistic event, most of the music is terrible, either loud to the point of distortion or inaudible and bearing little to no relation to what the gymnasts are doing. I much preferred the olden days when routines were performed to a usually well chosen piano accompaniment as well as being artistically and technically pleasing to the eye and more like a sporting event than big top style acrobatics.

Now it is all spangly leotards, glittery faces and aggressive, repetitive choreography. The degree of difficulty is much higher of course, but the old artistry has been largely lost. I am glad I was able to see Tourisheva, Saadi and co in the 70s. 

[alison]

In case you *are* wondering just how Team GB managed to come away from Rio with quite so many medals, here's the answer:

 

http://www.msn.com/en-gb/sport/olympics/why-team-gb-has-won-so-many-medals/ar-BBvEkOd?ocid=MSN_UK_NL_F_NO_18AUG16

 

It's clearly very effective, but I still have my reservations about the whole process.

 

And GB are 2nd in the medal table only based on the higher number of golds: if you take total medals as the basis, China go ahead of us.

[JulieW]

But that's how the medal table always works Alison, plus we had more silvers so I'm happy to accept "our" 2nd place on the table :-)

 

I'm not a "sporty" person in any sense of the word but have grown to love the Olympics especially since 2012 I suppose. I'd love to find a sport I enjoy doing but haven't had much luck on that front, however I've recently gone back to doing agility with my 2 spaniels and am loving that. I'm exhausted after 2 hours training in 2 classes on a Monday evening, so need to get fitter. I have an exercise (spinning) bike at home, and free weights, and a son who's a personal trainer - you'd think I'd be OK!!!!

[penelopesimpson]

Aw Tom Daley, what happened??!!

I always thought things might go bad for Tom.  He has courted publicity, spending endless hours on Twitter, and I doubt the media circus can have been helpful to his development.  I have always wondered if it is actually celebrity he wants rather than an Olympic medal.  Whatever, it was a shock to see him crash and burn and I feel for him.

[Balletfanp]

He still trains extremely hard, despite the media involvement. And it was obvious from the preliminaries that he is on great form generally speaking. I know I have days when training when my balance is all over the place, I forget things, and I am just generally rubbish. No reason particularly - just an off day. It looked to me like Tom had the most unfortunately timed off day, nothing to do with lack of training.

[Fiz]

Considering he set an Olympic record in the semi final, he has to have been working hard. I was very upset for him.

[Hull]

As I was reading the last few posts on Tom Daley, my daughter came in to show me Tom's most recent post on Instagram. (He is very popular with her dancing friends and his diving at the Olympics was watched and enjoyed at a recent summer school she attended).

 

He is publicising his latest workout video on his YouTube channel. I won't be viewing it, but I imagine many will be!

[alison]

But that's how the medal table always works Alison, plus we had more silvers so I'm happy to accept "our" 2nd place on the table :-)

 

That's how *we* always have it, Julie - other authorities put it the other way around.  I've not paid enough attention to know whether it's always the countries it benefits who do it that way

[JulieW]

I had wondered the same Alison

[capybara]

But, if you count Golds as three points, Silvers as two points and Bronzes as 1 point, GB also comes out ahead of China.

[alison]

But who does that?

[LinMM]

Back to Daley....I do feel for him as I think at this level it is a fine line between a brilliant and just very good performance. He said himself that although he felt good etc on the day somehow his brain wasn't quite connecting to his body ....probably some sort of bio rhythm thing....but I definitely recognise that disconnect in ballet. You just cannot understand how you cannot get anything right and yet you can feel fine at beginning of class and similarly you can be feeling not so good before class and somehow everything pulls together. Very strange. He probably just peaked in the qualifying round so it is a shame for him.