**Official** Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympics

[Howe_zat]

Seven golfers tied for a bronze medal. The playoffs apperently 'continue for as long as necessary'. They might be playing in the dark.

 

[Flem274*]

well it happened as predicted like 5 years ago. a horse has been euthanized on the worlds biggest stage and now the inevitable mud fight is going to happen.

pulled up severely lame after the final fence with a ligament tear, examined and everyone agreed it was the humane thing to do.

now sometimes bad luck strikes and those tears just happen*, but if the autopsy learns it was a minor injury picked up at an earlier fence and the rider could feel it, then in my view it is a direct consequence of the new team structures where teams were decreased from 4 to 3 for eventing and showjumping and all 3 scores count, no drop score.

it sounds all tough nosed and **** for olympic sport but it's just so stupid in practice because you're going to get occurrences like this where (and this is where i am speculating, this is not confirmed fact) a rider could feel something marginal. in an individual situation, you stop. in a team situation where you get a drop score, you stop. in a team situation where you have no drop score, you don't want to be the 22 year old who pulls up on a suspicion of an issue and then it's discovered it was nothing.

just more great governance from a governing body more concerned about staying hooked on that sweet, sweet arab blood money than actually being useful to the animals or people who need them.

i haven't actually watched a second of the horses in tokyo because i just flat out don't care for the sport above amatuer level anymore because it is completely broken and becoming more and more unfair to the average rider every day, but eventing is actually one of the fairer ones because there's less cashed up americans and arab oil kingdoms sucking it dry for themselves, which means real countries like NZ and Australia can actually compete on somewhat equal terms, so this is disappointing. eventing still has just as many multiple concussion substance abusers and teenage rape victims at the pro level as the other 2 olympic disciplines but it hasn't slid off the deep end like showjumping and dressage overall yet.

i said the other day the greatest enemy to horse sport is people who run horse sport, and now they've gift wrapped the weapon for their minor enemies to kill them with.

i think i will tune in for the specialist show jumping next week because bruce goodin is a fantastic and very kind man and i will be cheering on the australians bar Edwina as well, especially since they're up against it after Kermond couldn't stay away from the coke for a couple of weeks.

*i've never seen one below pro level, but i can accept it would happen.

 

[RossTaylorsBox]

Good rant.

 

[duffer]

Defence in handball is like, non-existent. You score, we score stuff.

 

[Burgey]

That's really very sad. Raise some good points there, Phlegm.

 

[Shady Slim]

The weighting gadget they have on that page is quite fun though. https://www.nytimes.com/interactive...country-leads-in-the-olympic-medal-count.html

Italy go from anywhere from 7th to 16th place.

I'm not really bothered about the medal count but neither usual way strikes me as 'correct'. The athletes clearly value their bronze medals, they're not worth nothing. But you can't look at the 1st and 3rd place finishes at a tournament and conclude 'yeah, they did about the same'.

oh yeah i'm not trying to devalue bronze by advocating for the traditional counting method for the tally, just noting that the yanks are definitely calvinballing up the medal tally as they see fit - i like to look at the weighted tally as well for a bit of fun but yeah i'm a fan of the gold primacy

for what it's worth in other People Getting Really Dumb About China Stuff, seeing stories about chinese athletes who don't win gold being "forced" to cry on the podium (maybe they're just sad in the heat of the moment?? that they have spent their lives working to this and came up just short??), as well as other stories about the supposed evil communist state-sponsored athletics facilities they put kids in to from a young age (brought to you by reporters who big up the achievements of the Australian Institute of Sport)

 

[Burgey]

I'd find it pretty hard to believe someone at such an elite level wouldn't be disappointed with finishing third (or second, come to that) unless they were like a rank outsider who's come from nowhere. It's that mindset which gets you to an elite level in the first place. I also think it's perfectly acceptable for athletes to apologize to the people of their nation for under performing and letting them down when they don't win. It's just about managing your own expectations more than those of other people.

 

[Shady Slim]

didn't realise the thorpedo had such monstrously large hands until just now

 

[flibbertyjibber]

Great day for you Aussies, hope you stay above the Russian team and we manage to beat them too.

 

[Shady Slim]

I'd find it pretty hard to believe someone at such an elite level wouldn't be disappointed with finishing third (or second, come to that) unless they were like a rank outsider who's come from nowhere. It's that mindset which gets you to an elite level in the first place. I also think it's perfectly acceptable for athletes to apologize to the people of their nation for under performing and letting them down when they don't win. It's just about managing your own expectations more than those of other people.

agree 110%

there was that aussie boxer girl who was incredibly crushed after she went out and cried in her interviews, apologised, etc, and she was praised here (rightly too!!) for showing that emotion and letting it out instead of being a media-managed robot who drops your usual yknow "yeah nah it was a tough match there full credit to everyone involved"; then when it's the chinese athletes the abc jumps on it for a story to dig the boot in without even thinking to consider that maybe the chinese athletes - people - might feel they let themselves and their country and their training down. be great if some of our blokes in the pool had that mindset - because as you say it comes with that elite edge

 

[Burgey]

might feel they let themselves and their country and their training down.

They have let them down. What you say about our male swimmers is true - cosseted and paid for on the public dime. If you don't perform, apologize ffs.

 

[Howe_zat]

the chinese athletes - people -

This is what's missing and it's pretty insidious. The English language coverage seems to have no qualms about making the Chinese athletes look like faceless, voiceless mooks because they can't be bothered to show their interviews or try to tell them apart.

 

[stephen]

They have let them down. What you say about our male swimmers is true - cosseted and paid for on the public dime. If you don't perform, apologize ffs.

Nah. All that money is about getting the best out of them. If you've prepared well and given your all and are the best in the country, then there's nothing to apologise for. Sometimes you can't win.

 

[social]

didn't realise the thorpedo had such monstrously large hands until just now

Guy has size 17 feet

4 flippers

 

[social]

They have let them down. What you say about our male swimmers is true - cosseted and paid for on the public dime. If you don't perform, apologize ffs.

nah

Parents do the heavy lifting in swimming

Hacks get rookie contracts in cricket

 

[flibbertyjibber]

Guy has size 17 feet

4 flippers

Why did Frankie Boyle not pick on him instead of saying Rebecca Adlington had an advantage having the nose of a dolphin?

 

[Shady Slim]

nah

Parents do the heavy lifting in swimming

Hacks get rookie contracts in cricket

ryan hackney, who's on the aus cricket path last that i checked, is from around my area - cummins too. the mountains do good things for aus cricket

 

[social]

Why did Frankie Boyle not pick on him instead of saying Rebecca Adlington had an advantage having the nose of a dolphin?

Lots of doping accusations that ignored his physical gifts

Guy was a genetic freak

 

[flibbertyjibber]

Lots of doping accusations that ignored his physical gifts

Guy was a genetic freak

Yeah, funny how he had the doping allegations but American stars never do. Presume the source of the rumours came from America as he used to beat them.

 

[social]

Yeah, funny how he had the doping allegations but American stars never do. Presume the source of the rumours came from America as he used to beat them.

Germany which made them more laughable given their history