So it's all over: The Olympics

A great close to a wonderful event in Athens tonight, a good time I think to discuss the success, talent and bravery of our respective sports teams.
Their strengths and weaknesses yes, but also the determination and passion for their events that impressed us all.

The most glorious events from my skewed perspective was the double gold medal for distance running (800m and 1500m) for fellow Brit Kelly Holmes who just wowed us tremendously with her calm, tactical and unconventional runs. Twice coming from behind to storm the final stretch totally convincingly, quite quite incredible for the 34 year old.
Ben Ainsley in the Finn class boats being disqualified in his first race and then coming to trounce the opposition to cleaningly for Gold was also quite spectacular.

Amir Khan (17) coming 2nd in the boxing was a treat too.

As was the amazingly close 4x100m relay and our rowing boys (as always).

The heartbreaking moment for us here was the failure for Paul Radcliff our marathon and 10,000 to finish her races despite being ranked No.1. It will probably be her last games.

International winning highlights for me were:
Phelps in the pool (apparently he would be ranked 16th in the national medal tally just by himself!).
The Cuban boxing team, just ....amazing. What agility, what talent!
The womens Heptathalon, a fantastic win for the Swede. She was in a class of her own.
And the Iraqi team in the football (soccer), what a pleasant suprise!

On the negative side the American Basketball teams performance was, as stated in another thread, lacklustre. The product of an overpaid team perhaps not taking the games seriously, like major tennis stars these days. I have every confidence that next time they will learn from their mistake (despite taking Bronze).

All in all I think the Greeks put up a terrific show over the past 16 days and those of us lucky enough to have more or less solid coverage enjoyed every minute of it. I think if there is a downside it was the refereeing in some events, though this is the fault of the IOC.
The venue itself looked quite gorgeous and very much to the liking of the atheletes who attended. The anti-doping message I thought was very strong throughout, and they do very well to keep it up.

Its sad to see the games end (damnit, its like Christmas) but I for one am truly looking forward to Beijing in 2008, and who knows... perhap London 2012.

Great stuff, but what wowed you during the greatest show on Earth?

Memorable moments: Hicham El Guerrouj''s double was very impressive, too. Same for the Brits winning the 4x100m relay due to the US team making a single mistake, thus proving again that it takes more than 4 of the best indiviual sprinters to win this one. (And it really wouldn''t be that exciting if it wasn''t for the possibility of a mistake/fumble.) Tim Mack topping 5.95m when everyone else already saw Stevenson as winner. Men''s marathon being semi-ruined by that one idiot. (I do think that Baldini would have either way, but it sucked nonetheless.) The Greeks messing up the start of the 200m run due to their protest (for Kenteris, who obviously is guilty of consuming illegal substances... yay for fairplay!)

Hicham El Guerrouj''s double was very impressive,

Without doubt! He''s had that coming for years now. Great perfomance.

And that one idiot who ran into the Brasilian during the Marathon was exactly the same Irishman wearing exactly the same clothes and stinking of the same booze that ran into the track during the British Grand Prix at Silverston.

El Guerrouj, ''Crash'' Stevenson, and the Russian high bar gymnast that the croud was booing to have his score changed were my favorite personalities of the Olympics.

Least favorite: Paul Hamm, and every Arab country that didn''t bring a woman athlete.

I''m surprised (and very thankful) that there were no security problems the whole time.

With alot of people thinking that there would be, I applaud the bravery for all those that participated!

I''m surprised (and very thankful) that there were no security problems the whole time.

Agreed. For all the concerns about security in the run up for the games, I''m glad nothing tragic happened. What was wrong with Hamm, Sanj? I also think the Korean got the shaft, but that wasn''t Hamm''s fault.

Memorable:
- Phelps catching up with Ian Whatever in the 100m Fly at the last
second
- Thorpe beating Phelps in the 100m Free
- US Women setting the WR in the Medley relay
- The core of Women''s Soccer(Football) going out on top
- Clean sweep of medals in the Men''s 100m
- Two Australian medals in Women''s diving after they failed to place in the last games

Least Favorite:
- The Female Russian gymnast that acted like a total Queen Bee after losing to Carly Patterson in the all around. Not a very flattering interview.

I always wondered what was wrong with doping. I mean, if a country can develop better steroids, shouldn''t they be able to win? I think it''d be kinda cool to have some games where you can use whatever drugs you want... you know, within reason

EDIT: removed for lack of ""reading comprehension"". My teachers all said that would catch up with me...

"Sanjuro" wrote:

Least favorite: Paul Hamm, and every Arab country that didn''t bring a woman athlete.

Are you saying you didn''t like the controversy surrounding Paul Hamm, or are you saying you didn''t like the way Paul Hamm acted?

If it''s the controversy surrounding the whole event, then I agree, if you''ve got something against Paul Hamm, then I have to respectfully disagree.

[soapbox] It really chaps my hide to see people knocking Paul Hamm over what happened. I''ve seen all kinds of asswipes talking/writing about how bad Paul Hamm has been during all this. This after some kid has worked his entire life in nearly complete obscurity to reach that point and then the judges mess up and they blaim the kid? That just sucks.

What REALLY chaps my hide are all these people that say that due to the scoring error, Paul shouldn''t have the gold but CONVENIENTLY ignore the fact that the Korean was not correctly assessed a 0.2 deduction for having one more stationary hold. If you correct the initial 0.1 scoring snafu, then you most certainly have to deduct the 0.2 one too.

That''s why the score should stand after then event is completed. Either that or judging should be done with video monitors throughout the event so that every little mistake can be correctly judged.

Paul Hamm did NOTHING wrong. He competed, won, and now everyone is calling him the bad guy. To those people I respectfully say a heart felt SCREW YOU. [/soapbox]

Sorry, I''ve just seen too many people on that kids case, and it really gets to me....

It must, because you said ""chaps my hide"" twice!

I was glad to see the performances of my fellow Taekwondo practitioners in USA team. Nia Abdallah, the newcomer into Olympic field, got a Silver in a series of excellent fights. She was an underdog in her own team, because many people would like a sister of Steve Lopez (the current favorite) to go instead.

Steve himself, meanwhile, pulled an impeccable if a bit boring winning streak leading to a Gold. He was very lucky with matchups, getting clearly weaker opponents. He womped his first opponent -- an Iraqi -- 11-1!! He fought very cautiosly in finals with a leading score 4-3. I was hoping to see him fight the Koreans, where they force the style that drives scores into 20''s territory. Now that''s a show worth seeing.

Was extremely heart-warming to see the display of true respect and humility when Korean Moon Dae Sung knocked out cold the local favorite Alex Nikolaidis. Moon won by knockout, but once Nikolaidis recovered, Moon raised his hand aloft, embraced him, and carrying the Greek flag made a lap together with Alex around the area and bowed to the Greek fans.

Also, was a great joy to see the great Iranian fighter Hadi Saei Bonekhohal get a Gold in his weight division. He''s a great athelete, teacher, and a very noble man.

The surprise was just how many medals were snatched by the Taiwanese. Koreans gotta watch out in Beijing.

It must, because you said ""chaps my hide"" twice!

Yeah, my butt is sore over this. Every time I see some ""Opinion"" being written in newspapers around the country that says Hamm has tarnished the game, I make it a point to write someone at the paper. Most make it very difficult to write to, but someone is getting a letter from me.

So far I''ve written the New York Times, The Daily Camera (Boulder), and a few others.

I just wish TV coverage in the U.S. had been better. I finally gave up in disgust when the news I was watching would list events that the U.S. won medals in, but nothing else. No info on events the U.S. didn''t win medals in, and no info on who the other medal winners were in a given event! ""Blah blah blah event, U.S. Athlete gets Silver"". But who got Gold and bronze?! So irritating. I''m really not interested in the U.S. medal tally, I want to see ALL the winners from each event.

Positives:
I think that this article at ESPN.com sums up how I feel about Allen Iverson coming out of these games. This guy really carried himself well, despite the on court frustration.

Michael Phelps: Wanting to go head to head with Thorpe, winning 8 medals.

Women''s beach volleyball celebrations

Negatives:
NBC''s coverage

Gymnastics judging: Leave Hamm alone and take responsibility for your shortcomings. FIG, I''m talking to you. The amount of ""shaming"" of Hamm to give up his gold is, in itself, shameful.

"WineGlass" wrote:

Positives:
I think that this article at ESPN.com sums up how I feel about Allen Iverson coming out of these games. This guy really carried himself well, despite the on court frustration.

I read that article over the weekend, and I have to say that it changed my view of Iverson. I''ll wait to see what his next outburst is, but assuming he''s able to stay relatively trouble free for the next 4 years, I''ll cheer for him if he''s on the team in China.

I don''t want you guys to get the wrong idea about my dislike for Paul Hamm. Paul Hamm didn''t do anything wrong, he went and competed his heart out and he did a great job. The reasons I disliked Paul Hamm are two-fold:

1) He has an exceptionally large head.
2) His voice sounds like someone accidentally hooked his hyperbaric chamber up to helium.

So you see, I''m much more shallow that you thought

My true most memorable olympic moment:

IMAGE(http://img20.exs.cx/img20/5311/Dies.jpg)

I just hope NBC fixes their HD broadcasts within the next four years. I don''t want a travelogue, I want the same feed that would appear on their regular broadcasts, darn it all.

Damn, I spit out my milk looking at that BV. Thanks.

"Sanjuro" wrote:

I don''t want you guys to get the wrong idea about my dislike for Paul Hamm. Paul Hamm didn''t do anything wrong, he went and competed his heart out and he did a great job. The reasons I disliked Paul Hamm are two-fold:

1) He has an exceptionally large head.
2) His voice sounds like someone accidentally hooked his hyperbaric chamber up to helium.

So you see, I''m much more shallow that you thought ;)

Hehe... well those ARE perfectly valid reasons. Just as long as it''s not the judging error. Grrrr.....

I just hope NBC fixes their HD broadcasts within the next four years. I don''t want a travelogue, I want the same feed that would appear on their regular broadcasts, darn it all.

I hear that for the next Olympics, NBC plans on running 24 hour HDTV of ""Olympics Uncovered: What Really Goes on in the Olympic Village."" That was run in test markets this year and was found to get the highest rating of all the broadcasts.

""Olympics Uncovered: What Really Goes on in the Olympic Village.""

AKA ""Olympic Athletes Gone Wild""

Highs: Staying at my aunts and actually getting to watch events other than Gymnastics(she has cable, I don''t)

U.S.A going 1,2,3 in the 400 meter. The young guy who won gold....damn, hopefully he follows in Michael''s footsteps.

Lows: NBC''s coverage. Comeon CBS, take it back!!!! Enough of this ""Primetime"" bulls**t. I want to stay up until 3 in the morning just to watch water polo, not to see a rerun of the evenings program.

Paul Hamm, it would appear that I''m as shallow as Sanjuro. I don''t really care about the disputes. He won it in my book.

That Russian female gymnast. I rooted for her in Sydney because she was taller and gaukier than the ""standard"" olympic gymnast. What a fricking Diva. She didn''t get my support this year.

Tom Pappas'' poor performance in the Decathalon. Feel bad for the guy, everything just fell apart.