Meares was simply stronger imo. Tactics only gets you so far.
XXXth Olympiad - London
- Thread starter MacLeod
- Start date
Meares was stronger at the end, because she forced Pendleton into taking the initiative with 2 laps to go. By the time they came into the final lap Meares had far more left in the tank. Tactically, very well done.
Either way, two fantastic riders in their final Olympics, and both have golds. Awesome.
Either way, two fantastic riders in their final Olympics, and both have golds. Awesome.
True, great final.
Pure domination. Phenomenal race, wow.
Even though the other guy got in front for a very short while, Hoy had the inside track, and you knew the burst of acceleration around the last bend was coming. Utterly brilliant from Hoy, all the way through the heats, and the final.
Very, very pleased with our overall performance in the velodrome. Expected us to do well, but I don't think many envisaged this domination in their wildest dreams. Well done all.
Very, very pleased with our overall performance in the velodrome. Expected us to do well, but I don't think many envisaged this domination in their wildest dreams. Well done all.
Brilliant rides, particularly the latter one.
This is one of the most ridiculous olympic buzz I've ever read. Really.
Something different : I wish we had an indoor velodrome somewhere in Paris.
On the other hand, I always try to catch the Olympic womens floor routines; it's perenially entertaining. The young Raisman girl put it in such a powerful & precise performance. I'll be surprised if anyone beats that but we'll see. Some of those tumbles were eye-poppingly perfect.
We just have seen. She won, and quite deservedly so. Great routine! Anyone else see it?
Congrats to Ali Raisman for winning a gold in the Women's Floor Exercise and a bronze in the Balance Beam final. The American men, however, didn't medal. But I was watching my guy Sam Mikulak when he did the vault last night. He was such a good sport right after it was determined who the winner (South Korea?) was in that competition. He even hugged the other guys and congratulated them. That's the spirit!
Well, apparently there are exceptions. As mentioned earlier, McKayla Maroney was visibly upset when she lost a shot at a gold medal the other night and wouldn't congratulate her opponent. But that's all in the past.
Yep! Luckily, after her poor reaction on the podium, Maroney caught up with Izbasa and Paseka after VT finals during media time in back, hugged them, and apologized. Through one of her coaches, she was able to have a decent little chat with Paseka. From what I hear, things between the Russians and Americans were much more cordial and warm this year, with 2010 and 2011 getting pretty ugly. However, I think Maroney learned her lesson and knows to be more gracious when it counts in the future.
You want some bad sportsmanship? Beam finals! Sui Lu got beaten by a tenth by her teammate, Deng Linlin, and she was sobbing hard throughout the rest of the final and medal ceremony. You'd think she'd deal with it a lot better, given that Sui is far more inconsistent than Deng, they went 1-2 on beam (what a feat!), and they've been training together since 2007. I'm sure Chinese Gymnastics is going to have a very firm talk with Sui about her comportment.
I agree, Gryffindorian, Mikulak is a class act when he's down on the floor or general podium. He always finds time to cheer on and encourage other athletes, even if they aren't American, and he makes a point of congratulating and respecting ALL the athletes he's in a rotation or final with after each of their performances.
Aly Raisman was awesome. She very deservedly won her gold medal. I'm so proud of her. She rocks. 
Now Wieber's in a walking boot. Turns out she has a stress fracture in her leg. That would explain the tentative landings on floor since trials. Bless her heart. It's perfectly fair and that's part of the sport, but it's a shame. Sometimes injuries happen at heartbreaking times. It obviously affected her in qualifying. She may or may not have beaten Douglas in the AA. We'll never know. Douglas competed and earned her gold medal. I would have dearly loved to have seen a healthy Jordyn and Gabby go head to head in the AA. That would have been an awesome competition. Wasn't meant to be.
Now Wieber's in a walking boot. Turns out she has a stress fracture in her leg. That would explain the tentative landings on floor since trials. Bless her heart. It's perfectly fair and that's part of the sport, but it's a shame. Sometimes injuries happen at heartbreaking times. It obviously affected her in qualifying. She may or may not have beaten Douglas in the AA. We'll never know. Douglas competed and earned her gold medal. I would have dearly loved to have seen a healthy Jordyn and Gabby go head to head in the AA. That would have been an awesome competition. Wasn't meant to be.
Does anyone else find it hard to watch the track and field events? Maybe it's the whole "Olympic Fatigue" (And I noticed this during the Beijing games), but it seems that once the swimming is over and the Track kicks into high gear, It seems like the anticipation is no longer there. I have been watching the track (unlike the last games, where I kind of bowed out after week 1) and other than maybe Bolt, there really isn't that big name like there is in Swimming with the US team. I also wonder if NBC (And yes I know the complaints but ignoring that for a second) could do a better job profiling the track athletes a little more.
I watched some of Karri Walsh/Misty May and man that are insanly fun to watch. From Walsh being probably the best blocker ever in Beach Volleyball, (Not to mention that great limbo move she did which I think shocked everyone, especially the Chinese) to Misty doing what she does, it will be sad after tomorrow night. At least we have an All American Beach Volleyball final.
Just starting to watch the Gymnastics now even though I know the Result. Team USA hasn't done all that great in the Event Finals so far, but I guess when you go out and win the Team and then have a representative win the AA, this week doesn't seem to matter.
Now that we're a few days away from the close, what is everyone looking forward to as their final Olympic moment. I think for me, it might be watching the Beach Volleyball Final (And maybe the Basketball) but other than that, I haven't followed as much. I hear the Soccer and Water Polo teams have done well, even though the Aussie/USA match seemed more exciting today than Americans would have liked.
I watched some of Karri Walsh/Misty May and man that are insanly fun to watch. From Walsh being probably the best blocker ever in Beach Volleyball, (Not to mention that great limbo move she did which I think shocked everyone, especially the Chinese) to Misty doing what she does, it will be sad after tomorrow night. At least we have an All American Beach Volleyball final.
Just starting to watch the Gymnastics now even though I know the Result. Team USA hasn't done all that great in the Event Finals so far, but I guess when you go out and win the Team and then have a representative win the AA, this week doesn't seem to matter.
Now that we're a few days away from the close, what is everyone looking forward to as their final Olympic moment. I think for me, it might be watching the Beach Volleyball Final (And maybe the Basketball) but other than that, I haven't followed as much. I hear the Soccer and Water Polo teams have done well, even though the Aussie/USA match seemed more exciting today than Americans would have liked.
I've always found it hard to watch track & field because, well, I've never really cared for that part of the Olympics. 
As I stated earlier, swimming and gymnastics are about the only two events I watch religiously and keep track of during the summer games. And yet, I'm not really a big fan of these sporting events outside of the Olympics. I guess I like the international scope of the competitions, and the summer Olympics happen only every four years, so they're more prestigious in that regard.
Edit:
The balance beam has got to be the most difficult apparatus. It was sad to see Gabby slip. The Russian girl Komova was even worse, she looked like she was drunk!
Edit:
Men's High Bar: OMG! Hambuchen of Germany was awesome, but the Netherlands' Erik Zonderland even topped his routine. That was exceptional.
As I stated earlier, swimming and gymnastics are about the only two events I watch religiously and keep track of during the summer games. And yet, I'm not really a big fan of these sporting events outside of the Olympics. I guess I like the international scope of the competitions, and the summer Olympics happen only every four years, so they're more prestigious in that regard.Edit:
The balance beam has got to be the most difficult apparatus. It was sad to see Gabby slip. The Russian girl Komova was even worse, she looked like she was drunk!
Edit:
Men's High Bar: OMG! Hambuchen of Germany was awesome, but the Netherlands' Erik Zonderland even topped his routine. That was exceptional.
Last edited:
I think part of the problem with trying to watch Track & Field is that most of it goes by so quick. I really want to watch some of the pole vaulting since I did that myself in high school, but by the time I hear about it, it's over. Not to mention that NBC only seems to show a lot of it as filler in bits an pieces in between some of the longer events like volleyball and water polo.
