Olympics

[david_carnell]

Ok, enough. I'm sticking up for the Olympics.

Firstly, the opening ceremony was, as anyone who bothered to watch the whole thing (I was off work!) will tell you, immense. Beyond good.

As a sporting event, I bloody love it. It's a pinnacle and has produced some of the finest sporting moments in modern history. I'll be glued to the telly for the next few weeks.

Oh, and the rocket pack....naff! Especially when compared to bow and arrow man!

[indiepanda]

I'm sure I'll end up hooked, and doing my usual sentimental cry along if we have any medal winners, especially gold. I swear I blub more than the winners sometimes :-$.

I still find that Heather Small song, Proud, that they used a lot in the Sydney Olympics coverage gives me a lump in my throat. And that's so far from my usual choice of music. I can still recall staying up late to watch Steve Redgrave's last Olympic race, screeching away at the TV, getting carried away with it all.

It's nice to get a chance to watch some sports you don't see on the TV that often like badminton (I don't have satellite / cable).

[jollybaby]

First GB gold medal in the cycling hurrah! Well done to Nicole Cooke- it looked pretty hairy out there. I felt quite emotional watching the medals ceremony.

[kingtubby]

Totally agree with jollybaby, for anyone who follows road cycling knows NC is a bit of a female Lance Armstrong and the way she rode back for the final sprint was fantastic... Come on our track cyclists.....

[muffintop]

What Lady Gooner, Indiepanda, Jolly baby, king tubbs said! and David Carnell!

Watched the whole of the opening ceremony transfixed, Love the olympics and cried when Nicole Cooke won her extremely difficult first gold medal for Britain, thats what does it for me, this is the pinacle of every athletes dream and I cry even when its not my country winning the medal! just knowing how hard that person must have worked to get to the top of their sport, how much training, grit and effort its taken and also watching their coaches well up with pride and tears, sorry, I can't wait for the Olympics to come to London, I will get to attend for the first time in my life and enjoy the spirit of what Olympics is all about and soak up the atmosphere, I've also watched and enjoyed sports I would never have dreamed of enjoying. How exciting was the Judo, (mind you would have been even more exiting if a Brit had one, but its early days yet), I've never had any interest in martial arts before and just thought it was all rolling around on the floor, quite exciting I have to say.

[Peckhamgatecrasher]

Full marks to the eventing course builders - pagodas and Great Wall of China, etc. Great fun.

And what about Mary King - 47 yrs old, and broke her neck a few years ago. Brilliant rider.

Well done to our swimmers: gold for Rebecca Addlington and bronze for Jo Jackson.

[citizenED]

And that swim by Adlington was the an example of timing, par excellence. Watch it on the BBC website. Still cannot actually see her pip the American girl because it was done by such an infinitesimal margin. Magnificent. Enjoy that one Muffintop?

[mockney piers]

Does anyone else look at a swimmer thrashing everyone and wonder how long before the words 'drug cheat' appear by his name in a headline?

[Jimbob]

michelle smith?

[citizenED]

Murray out in the Tennis. Had to laugh.

[muffintop]

Yup Citizen Ed! that one made me late for work then got me told off for watching the re-run on the net, (felt like I was back at school again!) definitely brough tears to my eyes did that win, don't know them from adam but guess what, the girls did good and I felt soo proud for them x

[Peckhamgatecrasher]

Am watching the archery with its extremely hi-tech bows. Does anyone else have a secret craving for someone like Errol Flyn or Richard Todd to just saunter up with their piece of wood and splice an arrow already on the target?

[david_carnell]

Medal in canoeing. Silver. Fella called David Florence.

C1 canoeing for those interested. Don't ask me to tell you what that means though.

Meanwhile, Phelps looks superhuman and is now officially one gold medal away from being the greatest Olympian of all time. Frightening stuff for someone younger than me....that's young before you ask!

[Keef]

On Sunday night I watched The John Akii-Bua Story, An African Tragedy. I knew nothing about this guy before, but it is an incredible, and really really bloody sad story!

Guardian story about it here.

The documentary was made sadder because it was in the man's own words. He handed over notebooks of his life story to Malcolm Arnold, his former coach, and extracts from that made up the narration of the story.

This man came from feck all, burst on to the world stage in 72 taking gold and breaking the world record, then went back to Uganda under Amin, never got to defend his title because Amin withdrew Uganda from the next games, believe it or not, in protest against human rights violations!!! Akii-Bua eventually fled to Kenya in fear of his life, he had nothing, and was eventually found by chance, living in a camp with nothing, when some reporters were doing a piece on the plight of these people.

Totally depressing stuff, but important that these stories are told!

[lozzyloz]

Fakery in Beijing?

*Taps Rolex*

[mlteenie]

I love the Olympics and find it very moving watching athletes demonstrating their amazing sklls, but I have just listened to a depressing documentary on R4 (poss. File On Four, so poss. listen again) which, if I got the gist correct, basically stated that most of the athletes in the endurance events (as well as prob all riders in the Tour De France) are using new types of 'invisible' EPO to enhance their performance and they will not be caught. Definitely positive tests are merely flagged up as 'suspect' because the labs are underfunded; a blind eye is turned mainly due to underfunding and the corruption is huge.

The real shame is that 99% of viewers will not realise it.

[SteveT]

mlteenie wrote: a blind eye is turned mainly due to underfunding and the corruption is huge.

The real shame is that 99% of viewers will not realise it.

In that case we can all feel superior, because we will now you have given us the full SP as they say.

Well done mlteenie keep pedalling the dirt on the wrong doer's.

[Peckhamgatecrasher]

I heard something on the radio today (don't know how verifiable it is) that said that 90% of atheletes would take drugs if they were certain they wouldn't get caught. Really hope that is wrong cos it's just wrong.

[david_carnell]

After this mornings two golds and two more world records, Michael Phelps can justifiably call himself the greatest Olympian ever.

Discuss.

[lozzyloz]

Amazed that a piccolo country like Italy are currently 4th in the medals table. Must be something in the pasta. Ancora!

[mockney piers]

drugs drugs drugs drugs drugs

[david_carnell]

That or all their medals have come in fencing which starts and finishes in the first few days. See how many they get for the rest of the Olympics.

[Peckhamgatecrasher]

Not sure that Mr Spitz didn't win with more charm and good humour. Something not quite attractive about Phelps.

[Cassius]

Just seen an Italian girl win a gold in the swimming - so perhaps it's more the fact that nearly every commune in Italy provides sporting facilities and school sports fields haven't been sold off to property developers - oh and the weather is decent enough to want to do sport in.

[Marmora Man]

Can anyone explain why I should be interested in the Olympics. 200+ countries all fielding over 100 athletes makes for 20,000+ sportsmen & women 99.99% of whom I have never heard of. They run, they jump, they swim and they do all kinds of other stuff in Beijing while I'm asleep.

As a sports event, for me, it ranks way below watching a pick up game of football in the local park, cricket on the village green - let alone the majesty of a Test Match. At least for my three examples I'm engaged, not xenophobic and I care about the outcome, the players and skills they are deploying.

Olympics aren't about sport - they're major economic / geo political events.

All that said - I'll go along when they're held in London because they are such one off "events" but it won't be for the sport.