I got to watch the final. It was a fantastic game between two really good sides, and needless to say I enjoyed the result very much. As for the coverage here...well, it's been the usual pathetic fare from our "Olympic broadcaster" (as they like to refer to themselves). There's a blink-and-you-miss-it screen occasionally to tell the viewer what's on and on what channel, but unless you happen to be watching at the right moment you're reduced to channel surfing. The parochialism is (as usual) off the charts, the commentators are pathetic (one especially cringeworthy example from the aforementioned rugby sevens: "These girls can really tackle!!" ), and it's very much a case of occasional bits of sport momentarily interrupting a tsunami of adverts for their range of idiotic "reality" shows and assorted other crap they'll be screening "after the Olympics". Perhaps the most pathetic bit is that between 5pm and 7pm on our east coast, there's no Olympic coverage whatsoever. So around the time of day people are getting home from work and might want to catch up on what's happened, there's...nothing. I didn't expect much from the mob concerned and they've certainly lived down to my expectations.
The U.S. women's gymnastics team continues to do a wonderful job, with Biles taking the gold and Raisman the silver in the Individual All-Around. Anthony Irvin is 35, and it'll be interesting to see how he does in the Men's 50m Freestyle final. Phelps and Lochte, 31 and 32, respectively, could still compete in Tokyo. And Simone Manuel becomes the first African-American woman to get a gold medal in swimming! I didn't realize until the medal ceremony that she tied with Canada.
I woke up just in the morning to watch the races and events I have missed in the night. Discus thrower Robert Harting out of competition because he suffered from lumbago. Anthony Ervin winning gold in the 50 freestyle final was a great moment. I went through a lot in his past, almost killed himself and returned. Great moment, indeed.
If he can still grab the gold at 35, perhaps Phelps and Lochte should compete in Tokyo. Granted, it was 50m, but still quite an achievement. Kudos to Ervin!
At least Lochte wants to keep on swimming.... German swimming, alas, is a disaster....... Swimmers were unrelaxed and nervous. A lot of crying faces. Only few personal bests and a lot of dissappointments. The German Olympic team is unlikely to reach the same level of medal count like London 2012. The only consequence I can see is that the will cut fundings again. Which will lead to even fewer medals in 2020. While Phelps and Bolt live in mansions, German top athletes hardly can make their living. The local educational system is another reason for the recent disaster. The Germans are also great in worshipping heroes instead of being relaxed and mentally strong.
The correct term is football. Do pay attention. Really disappointing to see our women footballers go out on penalties, particularly with the Brazilian keeper advancing so far off her line for every one of our shots. So much for the laws of the game. The less said about the American keeper, her gamesmanship during that shootout and her pathetic post game remarks about the opposition being "cowards", the better.
You do your term and we'll do ours. At least we can agree that it's spelled "colour", right? Yeah, she seems like a completely unpleasant person.
Tonight was the conclusion of the swimming events, with Team USA winning additional gold medals, adding to Phelps' collection. He's had a great career, and I don't think we'll ever see another swimmer like him. He's #Aquagod.
Even if yours is wrong. Absolutely. I suppose there'll be the usual hysterical post mortem about the performance of our swimming team but that happens after every Olympics and for the most part is best ignored. Media beat-ups and ludicrous expectations never help and seeing Cate Campbell - who along with her sister Bronte is refreshingly sane, unpretentious and gracious and has a far better grasp on reality than the vast majority of sportspeople from this country - so downcast about her performances was pretty sad stuff. Hopefully they can go on to Tokyo.
Swimmers were pissed when people like Efimova and Sun Yang won medals..... FINA - the world swimming association - is corrupt. And WTF is up with all the "we are all friends here" talk?
Love the olympics. My parents brought us up watching it along with cycling races (Tour de France, Giro d'Italia, Tour de Catalunya) and all football matches, when we we're younger we used to have a mini olympics in our back garden. I love watching the track and field and the cycling (road race and velodrome). I stayed up till 2 o'clock this morning to watch Mo Farah win gold but it was all worth it.
This was 'interesting' ! http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...-drags-motorcycle-robber-car-shoots-dead.html
The first rule of mugging is never mug Chuck Norris. http://www.fx-sabers.com/forum/index.php?topic=33860.0
Brilliant photo doing the rounds of Usain Bolt grinning as he qualified for the 100m final while the other blokes in the pic look like they're undergoing some sort of torture. What an extraordinary athlete.