Olympics

[dave]

A Northern Irish pedant writes...

"Team GB" is just marketing nonsense. At the end of the day, being able to put "great" into the name of the team is something most countries don't manage and you can't blame them for trying. However, the team which was sent by the British Olympic Association represents the "United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland with the Crown Dependencies" - for the last bit note Mr Cavendish in the cycling - but I think someone sensibly decided that this was probably a bit of a mouthful - and probably even worse in Mandarin.

Have a look at www.olympics.org.uk and see in particular the history of the BOA or press releases with "Notes to Editors" that "Team GB" have been issuing (example here) for the following boilerplate: "The British Olympic Association (BOA) is the National Olympic Committee for Great Britain and Northern Ireland..."

One of the good things about being born in NI is that people can choose whether they want to represent Ireland or the UK, and while doubtless it's great craic travelling with the Irish team, it would not be entirely cynical to suggest that at least some of the choices made by individuals have been down to the fact that you might be more likely to get into the Ireland team (due to the smaller available pool of athletes available compared to the UK team).

Of course, it could all be a conspiracy...

[Keef]

Handball should be dropped (and I think it is going to be if memory serves).

[david_carnell]

And softball/baseball having just watched it. Good grief, you might as well play rounders or frisbee.

[Peckhamgatecrasher]

Did anyone watch the women's 200m heat? I swear there was a smurf or a life-sized sperm running down the track.

Having just watched the replay, I realise that it is probably a running-in-purdah type outfit. No offence meant. Better covered up than all hanging out.

[SeanMacGabhann]

Handball is in??? I love playing handball (if it's the same as the gaelic sport version that is...I suddenly part-remembered it might not be)

[jumpinjackflash]

Usain Bolt has just broken Johnson's 200m record

[Peckhamgatecrasher]

Amazing run by him. So that's what he looks like when he's trying!

[Rolo Tomasi]

Well done Usain, you've made all us British born Jamaicans very proud (tu)

[jumpinjackflash]

he left the others trailing! Amazing to watch

[citizenED]

I don't know so much about getting rid of sports from the Olympics, I'd actually be in favour of increasing the numbers of events. Take swimming for example. Should certainly add in more strokes such as doggy paddle and side stroke. And that one where you lay on your back and float forwards, feet first. In the horse riding I'd like some breakdance dressage, just to liven it up a bit and in the cycling isn't there room for tandems in there somewhere? And for the love of PGC's Jesus, I trust they have not got rid of the walking races, now there is a sport I would queue to see. Of course I'd also include backwards walking.

[Peckhamgatecrasher]

Wow. What a yacht race. Well done chaps.

Edited just to say how funny to hear Ben Ainsley (sp?) swear in the heat of the moment. Bet that will be edited out.

[david_carnell]

Moos and PGC, you're going to love this.

Firstly, just watching the pony bit of the Modern Pentathlon and it's a mud bath in the arena turning the event into, as a BBC texter said, a live action version of Buckaroo.

Secondly, breaking news from HQ. A number of horses have tested positive for banned substances. No news on how many or what substance but this is BIG people. I think it's a safe bet it wasn't ketamine! :))

[Peckhamgatecrasher]

Damn, missed it. Like a bit of (non-worm infested) mud.

Bute has quite interesting side effects for horses & humans. See how much more fun it is with live animals - drilling holes in boats doesn't come anywhere near it.

[Moos]

Ooh, do you think the guilty horses might get stripped of their medals?

[david_carnell]

Oh good grief! Just how hard is it to pass a bit of scaffolding from one person to the next without f%^king things up? Very, seems to be the answer as both us, the Yanks and the Nigerians all fail this seemingly simple task in the 4x100m relay, and are out.

The hop, skip and jump lad seems to be doing ok though. On for a gold.

[Peckhamgatecrasher]

David, be fair, they are greased with whale blubber first.

[SteveT]

Yes PGC but the baton's clean enough.

[SteveT]

What has happened to the boxing, I have watched hours of other stuff living in hopes, and the boxing has vanished.

[Peckhamgatecrasher]

That's cos the real olympic events are on: running, hopping, skipping - that sort of thing.

[Keef]

Silver in the triple jump. People say he's a choker, but as the BBC point out, he would have needed a personal best for the gold.

[SteveT]

Damn, I prefer clumping, boshing, smiteing and grunting with blood an' gore.

Far too much of this namby pamby 'oppin' an' skippin' 'n lady stuff.

[Cassius]

Cheating horses!! whatever next - under-age Chinese gymnasts maybe.

[Ladygooner]

Has anyone caught the syncronised team swimming - its amazing?! A bit like Come Dancing under water!

[Michael Palaeologus]

Has anybody noticed that we Brits excel in one particular kind of sport?

The "sitting-down" kind. Sailing, canoeing, cycling; as long as we sit on our arses we are brilliant.

Had Zara Pilips not sprained her horse we would have got a gold in the "sitting on your arse on a horse" kind of sport as well.

We also got a medal or two in swimming, which really is a "lying down" sport.

Its in the "standing up" sports that we fall over.

Also...

An obvious solution to the London 2012 athletes accommodation issue. The armed forces have been reduced in size to the point that we have a bloke with a bread knife tied to a broom handle protecting us from the undefined menace that is menacing us. SO, all of those military tents that the MoD has in store are going begging. Erect them all in the parks of London and you have an athletes accommodation solution that also brings extra trade to the corner shops, chippies and curry houses of the capital as the athletes seek sustinance for their coming endeavours.

The only draw back would be the unsightly yellow grass left afterwards, but you cant have everything.

[Keef]

Russia have moved ahead of us in the medals table.