XXXth Olympiad - London

[Holdfast]

I can't believe she fell on her butt during the first attempt, but you know, a silver medal ain't so bad. One quality I don't admire about some of these athletes, including Phelps himself, is the sense of hyper competitiveness. To them, they either win a gold medal or they don't. I suppose a lot of that has to do with pride or arrogance. I could see Maroney was really soured by the outcome, but she had only herself to blame. Whereas Danell Leyva was happy with getting a bronze in the individual all-around, Maroney was so unhappy she was reluctant to even congratulate her winning opponent. I think a lot of these errors have to do with nerves.

Well, I suspect that at Olympic level, if you're in with a shot at a gold medal (and especially if you're expected to get the gold) you have to hyperfocus on that goal to the exclusion of everything else in order to be able to stay totally motivated.

I'm sure once a month or two passes, they'll be able to appreciate their "minor" medals for what they are. But for now, it's case of "what if", and that's really painful. I think I'd be pissed off too, even more so if you know it's because of a stupid mistake you'd never normally make. It's self-recrimination more than poor sportsmanship.

 

[Yoda]

Nice header from my girl Alex Morgan... though pull it together USA, can't struggle that much with people who drink milk from a bag.

 

[Locutus of Bored]

One quality I don't admire about some of these athletes, including Phelps himself, is the sense of hyper competitiveness. To them, they either win a gold medal or they don't. I suppose a lot of that has to do with pride or arrogance.

I have to disagree on Phelps. He's actually seemed pretty laid back throughout the games, even when he didn't get gold. It's the commentators (especially the horrible Andrea Kremer in the poolside interviews) who make them feel like failures who let down their country because they "only" came in second or third in the world. They build a narrative around "redemption" if someone has a "disappointing" appearance and gets a silver, and then the athletes have to play along and answer their inane questions.

Even the winning swimmers get raked over the coals with awkward negative questions. Volmer won gold and all Andrea Kremer seemed to care about was the distraction caused because she lost one of her caps in the pool, like it mattered since she still won. She seemed unsure how to deal with it, because Kremer was fixated on the stupid cap.

 

[eastman23]

Poor refereeing is a constant in football. Over the course of a season it balances itself out. Unfortunately in tournament play, it doesn't get the time or the chance to level itself.

Great game to watch either way.

Maybe that's why I don't watch it. It was an ok game I guess (refereeing aside). But you can't give up a lead 3 times in the course of a game and expect to win in any sport.

though pull it together USA, can't struggle that much with people who drink milk from a bag.

Is that supposed to be an insult or something?

 

[Gryffindorian]

One quality I don't admire about some of these athletes, including Phelps himself, is the sense of hyper competitiveness. To them, they either win a gold medal or they don't. I suppose a lot of that has to do with pride or arrogance.

I have to disagree on Phelps. He's actually seemed pretty laid back throughout the games, even when he didn't get gold. It's the commentators (especially the horrible Andrea Kremer in the poolside interviews) who make them feel like failures who let down their country because they "only" came in second or third in the world. They build a narrative around "redemption" if someone has a "disappointing" appearance and gets a silver, and then the athletes have to play along and answer their inane questions.

Even the winning swimmers get raked over the coals with awkward negative questions. Volmer won gold and all Andrea Kremer seemed to care about was the distraction caused because she lost one of her caps in the pool, like it mattered since she still won. She seemed unsure how to deal with it, because Kremer was fixated on the stupid cap.

Good point. The reason I even mentioned Michael Phelps as an example is that he didn't look too happy when Chad Le Clos of South Africa beat him by 0.05 seconds in the 200m butterfly. Even when the camera focused on Debbie Phelps and Coach Bob Bowman, you could see the expressions on their faces, like "Oh, no!!! Michael didn't get a gold medal!" There's no denying that Phelps was at least disappointed by the outcome of that event. Another Olympic swimmer would've just thought, "Holy cow! I got a silver medal!!!"

Then again, maybe Michael was really under a lot pressure, being that these were his last Olympics. Andrea Kremer is probably an idiot anyway. I'd like to push her into the water and see if she could actually swim.

 

[tomalak301]

The thing I liked about Phelps last week though is it seemed more relaxed as the week went on. Of course winning will do that, but he was smiling, looked like he was have a great time, and seemed genuinely appreciative of his teammates. That whole thing with Le Clos though I think was him mad at himself. When I watched the announcers made a point that Phelps made a mistake that he would never make.

 

[Mr. Adventure]

The thing I liked about Phelps last week though is it seemed more relaxed as the week went on.

And he retired right? I wonder what Mike might do to relax?

 

[Locutus of Bored]

The thing I liked about Phelps last week though is it seemed more relaxed as the week went on. Of course winning will do that, but he was smiling, looked like he was have a great time, and seemed genuinely appreciative of his teammates. That whole thing with Le Clos though I think was him mad at himself. When I watched the announcers made a point that Phelps made a mistake that he would never make.

I forget, was the race with Le Clos the one where it came down to Le Clos having a better reach in the last stroke? I think that was it. Had Phelps reached more and hit the pad with more urgency he might have won. I can understand if he was frustrated because of that. But overall, even afterward he seemed pretty cool with it and he congratulated Le Clos on the win.

 

[tomalak301]

The thing I liked about Phelps last week though is it seemed more relaxed as the week went on. Of course winning will do that, but he was smiling, looked like he was have a great time, and seemed genuinely appreciative of his teammates. That whole thing with Le Clos though I think was him mad at himself. When I watched the announcers made a point that Phelps made a mistake that he would never make.

I forget, was the race with Le Clos the one where it came down to Le Clos having a better reach in the last stroke? I think that was it. Had Phelps reached more and hit the pad with more urgency he might have won. I can understand if he was frustrated because of that. But overall, even afterward he seemed pretty cool with it and he congratulated Le Clos on the win.

Yeah it was, happened earlier in the week.

 

[Gryffindorian]

Yeah, I also read that later on after that event (the 200m butterfly?), Michael was all choked up when his coach said that Le Clos, as a young swimmer, looked up to him and was inspired by him. Phelps has really matured a lot over the years. He did seem more laid back after his first few days in London. It's also been observed that he showed more emotion, or at least he wasn't holding back any feelings (except when they were playing the U.S. national anthem during one of the medal ceremonies).

In hindsight, maybe it's not about ego. Or maybe it is. But one thing to remember is that athletes are human beings, too. They make mistakes just like everyone else, and they show feelings both negative and positive.

 

[Dorian Thompson]

McKayla's not a bad sport. She was mad at herself. She gave tons of interviews after the final and stated flat out, "I didn't deserve a gold if I fell on my butt, end of story." She wasn't mad at Izbasa. That's just her steely competitive nature; her father was a quarterback at Purdue, you know. She grew up in a football family. Everyone expected Maroney to get gold because she is that much better in form than every other vaulter in the world. They average the scores. To get a silver medal when you fall on a vault is unheard of. She has NEVER fallen on a vault in competition.....before yesterday. She was in shock. She didn't come off as a crybaby in the interviews. She wasn't bemoaning her fate.

It's a shame she looked so surly because she really is a good kid; she was just bitterly disappointed and very, very angry at herself. It's quite remarkable that she retained her form from last October's worlds. She's grown 2 inches since then and sprouted hips.; her center of gravity changed and the old adage is true--the longer you are, the slower you rotate. Her body has changed noticeably. Usually it takes a female gymnast a year to adjust to that. Perhaps that threw off her balance just a little on her second vault. That's the only explanation I can think of.

 

[Gryffindorian]

I know next to nothing about McKayla's background (or any of the other gymnasts ) apart from the fact that she's part of Team USA. I have a better understanding now of the way athletes react to certain situations. They cry, they laugh, they smile, they frown, they stick their tongue out. In other words, they're human. It's easy for some viewers to lose sight of that fact sometimes.

Edit:

Poor Gabby, she made an obvious mistake in her unparallel bars routine. I don't know anything about gymnastics moves, but it was clear she hesitated and just froze in midair and switched hands during the routine.

Those Russians were prematurely celebrating Mustafina's victory while Gabby was still performing. Not very classy.

Edit:
Yet another example of an older gymnast is Jovtchev of Bulgaria. He's 39, although those grays make him look much older. He's still awfully strong and flexible.

 

[Angel4576]

Mustafina's routine wasn't perfect, she just got lucky that both Tweddle and Douglas both made bigger mistakes in their routines. Tweddle would have won it if it hadn't have been for her dismount. The rest of the routine had been perfect. Ah well, bronze is better than nothing.

 

[Deckerd]

That woman is a fanstastic marvel but I don't think her presence does not mean 20 is *starting* to get old for a gymnast.

Only 2 of the top 8 vaulters (finals) are over 20, and even overall only 7 of 18 vaulters are older than 20.

In the all-around only 5 of 32 are older than 20, the three medalists were under 18. The oldest in the all-around is 26.

The British bronze medallist yesterday in the uneven bars is 27.

 

[Angel4576]

Blimey, our local council aren't hanging around;

Compliments of Anna Watkins' double sculls success. Cheers Anna!

 

[iguana_tonante]

To get a silver medal when you fall on a vault is unheard of.

Indeed. Let's just say the judges were quite a bit... generous with her.

 

[Deckerd]

About that cycling

A tweet from his [Baugé’s] team-mate François Pervis revealed another level of French thinking: "La sodomie continue."

 

[Angel4576]

From the Independent last week, after our 'slow start';

President Francois Hollande has had a dig at David Cameron by jokingly thanking Britain for "rolling out the red carpet" for French athletes to win Olympic medals.

Mr Hollande was getting his own back on Mr Cameron for comments in which the Prime Minister said he would roll out the red carpet for French businesses fleeing the 75% top rate of tax proposed by the Socialist president.

The French leader also hinted that a French city could bid to host the Olympics in 2024, after Paris lost out to London as venue for this year's Games.

Mr Hollande joined Mr Cameron at the Olympic Park yesterday to watch France take on Spain in the handball, and gave the PM a few tips about the rules of the game.

Speaking to the French press later, he could not hide his delight at the fact that France has so far outshone the UK at the London Games, notching up three gold medals, one silver and three bronzes by the end of yesterday, compared with Britain's one silver and two bronzes.

"The British have rolled out the red carpet for French athletes to win medals and I thank them very much," quipped a smiling Mr Hollande.

"But the competition is not over. I talked to David Cameron and he has great hopes in swimming and athletics. We will see the totals at the end."

Mr Hollande also joked that British sports fans could be heartened by seeing their medals as part of the European tally.

"In the end, it's the European total which counts," he said. "We will put the French medals in the European bag, and that way the Britons can be happy to be Europeans."

I'm guessing that Francois is now wishing that he'd kept his pie-hole shut.

 

[Deckerd]

Yes well London's Mayor should have kept his shut even more.

 

[Angel4576]

Yes well London's Mayor should have kept his shut even more.

Boris, keep his yap shut? Unlikely. This is the fella that went to Beijing, addressed a stadium full of Chinese, and told them that we, not they, invented table-tennis!