2016 Summer Olympics

[Catspaw]

So proud! I just watched Canada's Rosie Maclennan (our opening ceremonies flagbearer) win gold in trampoline for the second consecutive Olympics! She did a great routine but there were still a few ladies competing after her and we were worried she would get bumped off the podium, but she hung on for gold! Bryony Page, the silver medallist from Great Britain, competed second out of the group of eight finalists, and seeing her reaction after an awesome routine, and then the tears and happiness when she realized that she was going to keep a spot on the podium, was so great to watch. I was almost as happy for her as I was for Rosie! That's what I love about watching the Olympics!

I also watched the end of the US vs. Sweden soccer game, but the team I was cheering for with significant volume should perhaps be kept to myself.

[bookworm]

NBC is just.. disappointing (for lack of a better word) http://www.vox.com/2016/8/11/12433144/nbc-olympics-bad

I am definitely not an NBC defender, I have had much criticism myself about some of the coverage choices they have made in the past, but I have to say I think that’s a really bad article. I completely understand what they mean, and they aren’t entirely wrong, but they make it sound way worse than it is.

The two examples used in relation to these Games in particular make me angry because they are both passing incidents that should have been nonstories but because these days people jump on any opportunity to be offended they have been blown way out of proportion. The remark about Biles’ parents may not have been the best idea, but there was nothing wrong with it. He wasn’t downplaying the adoption, he was describing the situation accurately. I have read articles that note they are biologically her grandparents and no one has any problems with those. And the passing comment about Hosszu’s husband was taken entirely out of context. I really can’t believe people are so fired up over that. He’s her coach, of course he shares credit for her success; she has said that herself!

Hating on how NBC does the Games has just been the hot thing to do for the past few years and this is primarily just more of the same. A lot of trying to find problems, not genuinely glaring criticisms.

However as I said, the base idea behind the article does have merit. NBC certainly does focus on the stories over the events, and in the past it has absolutely been detrimental to the coverage. However, the human angle is unquestionably one of the things that is most prevalent, and indeed important, about the Olympics, so it goes too far to say that because they insert any of it it’s a bad thing. They need to have a balance between the sports and the stories. And as I mentioned previously I personally see very noticeable improvement in that respect this time around.

I actually like seeing the other countries compete, so it would have been nice to see the men's gymnastics team final.. even if it didn't include USA.

And as I said before, every gymnastic event is aired on free tv. I'm not understanding your problem.

[Paula]

but even then...They didn't cover our girls, which I think is absolutely ridiculous

Which girls are those?

Aly Raisman, Simone Biles, Laurie Hernandez, Gabby Douglas, and Madison Kocian

Team USA? They showed all of that.

True but not all of their events xP At least not on the live stream that is...I'm sure they covered all of the events at 11 though

[bookworm]

Ah. I didn't watch the stream so I don't know; but all of their performances in the two events they've been in so far have been on tv.
Which makes me realize another benefit of taped broadcasts specific to gymnastics. If you are watching live it's impossible to see the whole event because multiple apparatus are being used at the same time. For every performance you watch you're missing up to three others. Taping it and cutting it together like they do for the primetime broadcast let's you see each performance by each nation.

[Paula]

I mean...Sure that makes sense, but each of the countries stay together on each of the four events throughout the whole thing, so one of them wouldn't be on beam while another is on bars and so on and so forth. The people who were covering the live stream were covering some other country on bars or whatever while USA was on floor doing their routines. And that's what got me Dx I mean...The routines are done like clock work after they're done warming up so they could've just kept the camera on USA is all xP

[bookworm]

Yes, I got what you mean. But the other side is if they just followed the US around people would complain they don't show any of the other countries. They just can't win.

[Catspaw]

Yeah, I'm sure it's hard to find a balance between showing everything and showcasing your country. I hope you got to see American Katie Ledecky win the 800m freestyle - she was just sooo far out in front! Amazing.

I had a fun day today because I didn't have to go anywhere, so I got to watch lots of coverage, and Canada won a gold, a silver, and a bronze - the perfect day! (I mean, I wouldn't have said no to more medals, but that seems like a respectable showing.) Plus the women's soccer team beat France, which means they'll get to try for a medal later! Good stuff.

The downside to getting to watch so much Olympic coverage is that I am getting tired of most of the ads, just because you see the same ones so often.

[bookworm]

A tie for gold in the 100m freestyle! If Catspaw is okay sharing it I am too.


Anthony Irvin wins gold in the 50m freestyle 16 years after he first did. That's quite a story.


Speaking of ties in the pool how about a triple tie for silver in the 100m butterfly? That is crazy!


And in a huge upset in the 200m backstroke DiRado out touches an unbeatable looking Hosszu by 6 hundredths of a second!


I am so extremely disappointed the US women were eliminated in soccer. And it's not just because it was the US. This will be the first ever Olympics where the team won't receive a medal of some color, and in fact the first time ever they won't be in the gold medal game. It's sad to see a perennial powerhouse like that fall, whatever country it is.
It's also upsetting the way they lost. To come down to a shootout; that's not how you want to see an elimination game like this end after a full game and extra period of even play.


Ledecky not only takes gold in the 800m freestyle in world record time, but wins the race by a full 12 seconds! What!


Absolutely epic game between Dalhauser/Lucena and Italy! Went to a third set which went to 8 match points! Longest in Olympic history. Just the way you would want a do or die game to play out.


Walsh and Ross keep up the dominant play and advance to the tournament. So excited to watch this progress; hope it goes all the way to gold!

[Catspaw]

A tie for gold in the 100m freestyle! If Catspaw is okay sharing it I am too.

Speaking of ties in the pool how about a triple tie for silver in the 100m butterfly? That is crazy!


And in a huge upset in the 200m backstroke DiRado out touches an unbeatable looking Hosszu by 6 hundredths of a second!


I am so extremely disappointed the US women were eliminated in soccer. And it's not just because it was the US. This will be the first ever Olympics where the team won't receive a medal of some color, and in fact the first time ever they won't be in the gold medal game. It's sad to see a perennial powerhouse like that fall, whatever country it is.
It's also upsetting the way they lost. To come down to a shootout; that's not how you want to see an elimination game like this end after a full game and extra period of even play.

I'm so glad that I've set a good sharing example for you, bookworm.

I couldn't believe that three-way tie for silver in the men's 100m butterfly! Very interesting. At first I thought it was a two-way tie, and then realized that it was three people with the same time! This actually reminds me that I wanted to see a picture of those three guys sharing the silver spot on the podium.

Hosszu was looking so amazing (and still has had a fantastic Games) and to see her get silver was definitely a shock!

The shootout is controversial - I don't follow soccer, but I know that in hockey,it's been a point of contention over the years, with times where it has been a deciding factor in really important games (like when the Canadian men's team lost the 1998 Olympic semifinal game in a shootout), and that just doesn't seem right. I was surprised to see how close the ball was kicked, considering the size of the net and how little chance a goalie really has at that range. However, rule changes take time, and maybe people will want to push for a better overtime situation, which has happened in hockey. That said, I don't think a lot of non-Americans feel too bad about the end result, even if the way it happened was less than ideal. Hope Solo's comment didn't really garner them any goodwill either, though that is through no fault of the other members of the team.


Today I watched the best and worst kind of game - Canada vs. Canada in women's beach volleyball. It's hard to cheer, because a point for you is also a point against you. Spoiler alert - Canada won!

[bookworm]

This actually reminds me that I wanted to see a picture those three guys sharing the silver spot on the podium.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NrKGaBvMHL8

Hope Solo's comment didn't really garner them any goodwill either

It frustrates me a little the way everyone is taking issue with that. It wasn't the smartest thing to say and I understand how some could interpret it as poor sportsmanship, but I think it was more just poor choice of words for what she meant in the heat of disappointment. I didn't see the game, but my understanding of the context of her remark was she thought the other team stopped being aggressive late and was just holding the ball around to run clock, which prevented opportunities for the US to get it back and keep pushing. And if that is what happened then she's absolutely right, that is cowardly. I have seen many soccer games where one team knew they couldn't keep up with the other so when they got ahead they blatantly stalled to limit the other's time to come back, or when they pulled even they dialed play way back to just take the draw. I think that is poor sportsmanship.

[snubs]

@bookworm: I also think the article was over-dramatic and I take it with a grain of salt. But I still feel the same about NBC, though it wouldn't be fair to just point out NBC because really, EVERY major network does the same. They are so hot on over dramatizing and exaggerating everything. Most TV in general, to me, is just garbage nowadays. But that's a whole other topic. =p

Anywho, I do like see the backstories of the athletes, so I agree about finding the right balance.

[bookworm]

Somehow this slipped by my notes of what to comment on a few days ago, but USA takes gold and silver in the women's all around! Good to get closure for Aly after the tiebreaker controversy in London. (Which I still think is absolutely ridiculous by the way; every other sport allows multiple medals for ties!) And Biles won by more than the margins of victory over the last 32 years combined! She truly is the greatest.


The women's 4x100 medley relay was USA's 1,000th gold medal! Or close enough.


Phelps wins gold in his final race and it's fitting the swim time was an Olympic record since everything else he's accomplished are Olympic records too.

[Catspaw]

This actually reminds me that I wanted to see a picture those three guys sharing the silver spot on the podium.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NrKGaBvMHL8

NBC geoblocks, even on Youtube, but thanks for trying. I found a few pictures online, including one with the three flags all stacked. They all seemed to be in good humour about the whole thing!

Hope Solo's comment didn't really garner them any goodwill either

It frustrates me a little the way everyone is taking issue with that. It wasn't the smartest thing to say and I understand how some could interpret it as poor sportsmanship, but I think it was more just poor choice of words for what she meant in the heat of disappointment. I didn't see the game, but my understanding of the context of her remark was she thought the other team stopped being aggressive late and was just holding the ball around to run clock, which prevented opportunities for the US to get it back and keep pushing. And if that is what happened then she's absolutely right, that is cowardly. I have seen many soccer games where one team knew they couldn't keep up with the other so when they got ahead they blatantly stalled to limit the other's time to come back, or when they pulled even they dialed play way back to just take the draw. I think that is poor sportsmanship.

If she was younger and less experienced, she might get cut a little more slack. It was a poor choice of words, and totally unnecessary. You can disagree with a style of play without using personal insults. She didn't criticize the style of play, but said,
“We played a bunch of cowards. The best team did not win today. I strongly, firmly believe that.”
The first sentence I take a lot more issue with than the following two. You can think your team is better than the team that beat you, and you can prefer your style of play over what your opponent did to beat you, but calling the players cowards takes it too far. Sweden played within the rules and found strategies to help them beat an amazing team. A play doesn't have to be pretty or interesting to be within the rules and effective. That's the whole goal of playing - find a way to win. There have been lots of examples of gracious losers through the Olympics, but personal remarks like this take that down.


It was wonderful to watch what was likely the end of Michael Phelps' career last night. It was a great race.

Usain Bolt was amazing in winning the 100m tonight! Wow, it goes by so fast! He definitely stands out in representing his sport with flair, ready to wave to the crowd and pose for all the pictures the photographers wanted, which was a lot! It was awesome for me to see Canada take bronze, knowing that the top two guys likely will be retiring before the next Olympics, and Andre DeGrasse is only 21! We knew we had a chance at a medal, but that race is so tight that you just never know! (Unless you're Bolt.)

[bookworm]

I got to see the end of golf which I probably wouldn't usually care enough to watch but was interested this time because it's the first time back in the Olympics in so long. I thought it was interesting that it came all the way down to the final hole to see who would finish where. I didn't think that's typical but I don't watch enough to know, maybe it is. Exciting in medal context either way.


I've watched a bit of the equestrian events before, but somehow didn't realize until today that men and women compete together there. That's really interesting.


They're starting to get the green out of the diving pool. The other one is back to normal because they drained and refilled it. Not sure why they didn't do that to this one too.


Some redemption for the US men as one earns a bronze in, of all things, the dreaded pommel horse! That felt good. But things promptly returned to normal as mistakes piled up on floor exercise to throw away a medal chance there. >_>


Simone Biles continues to be unstoppable, winning USA's first vault gold!


Madison had a pretty much perfect routine on bars, but finished just barely out of first. I'm somewhat bummed the women won't end up sweeping the golds, but you can't really be disappointed by this amazing showing; they should at least medal in each event.


Walsh and Ross into the semifinal!

[Catspaw]

I didn't know they drained and refilled one of the pools. I get that they're trying to be all green (haha) in Rio, and I know it is a lot of water, but it does seem like a pretty obvious fix. I'm glad they're taking care of things.

I was busy all day today and watched nothing! I have the pole vaulting finals playing in the background right now, and it is amazing how high they can go! It isn't over yet, but there's a Brazilian vaulter still in it, and I always like to see the home crowd have good things to cheer about, so I hope he wins just for that reason.

[bookworm]

Ryan Lochte was robbed at gunpoint. O.o


Wayde van Niekerk stuns everyone by not only becoming the first runner to win gold out of lane eight, but doing it in world record time!


The open water marathon swim was an interesting event, I'd never heard of it before. Apparently they usually start from some kind of structure, but it was destroyed by rough water last night so they just had everyone line up in the water.


Walsh and Ross are the only American beach team left.


I've never seen track events run in the rain before, I wouldn't have thought they would do that. Doesn't the track get slippery? They added an unprecedented extra heat for the runners in each that didn't qualify to give another chance to make it. Odd.


The women's 400m gold is won by a dive at the finish. It's allowed, but I don't think it's really fair. It's a running race, not a lunging race.


High winds wreaked havoc on the men's springboard qualifying dives.


Simone Biles finally shows she's human and only gets bronze on balance beam. Laurie Hernandez gets silver, but possibly should have won. She did a nearly flawless routine that was scored just out of first. Her coach filed a protest that the judges had her starting score too low, but the inquiry was rejected.

[Catspaw]

Yeah, that Lochte robbery story is pretty crazy! I'm glad that nothing worse happened.

I was surprised when I saw a clip of earlier rounds in the rain too! I guess the athletes must be used to it? Especially in short races, it must have an impact on times.

I saw that there was some controversy about the women's 400m, but the commentator (a former runner) that I listened to said that she didn't think that it was a purposeful dive so much as a trip/lunge right at the end and talked a but about lactic acid buildup. Either way, the rules obviously allow for it. It's not like she wasn't incredibly close to the front of the group when it happened, though it certainly is unusual!

I watched some of the men's high jump (mostly the top guys and the end was shown, since the earlier stages aren't that exciting), and was thrilled to watch Canada's Derek Drouin win gold with a perfect day! He didn't miss a single jump and won with a height of 2.38. After he had already won the gold, since the other two guys left missed their last attempts, he did jump one more time to go for the Olympic record but missed that. It would have been interesting to see what would have happened if more was on the line, plus they can do three attempts at each height usually but he just did one. Either way, I'll take a gold medal!

Sweden's winning ways on the soccer field continues! I didn't watch them play Brazil, because I'm not a big soccer fan, but I checked in now and then to check the score (which remained 0-0 throughout) and watched the penalty shot stuff at the end. Tough loss for the home team, but they still could win bronze at least in front of their home crowd! If Canada had beat Germany instead of losing 2-0 and it wasn't us playing Brazil for bronze, I might feel a little more strongly in favourite of the home team. but I always like to see the home crowd happy! They've been great at cheering on their competitors. I just like to see Canada win more. There will be good things either way. I'm not super invested in soccer, so that's easier to say than if it was hockey.

[bookworm]

the commentator (a former runner) that I listened to said that she didn't think that it was a purposeful dive so much as a trip/lunge right at the end

Interesting. The possibility it wasn't intentional actually never crossed my mind because it definitely looked planned in replay. All the commentators on my broadcast thought so as well. Also, it's the only way she gets the gold there. So if it was a trip she was unbelievably lucky to make that 'mistake' at that moment. If they both stay up Felix wins. And if they both dive Felix wins. This was the only way to get past in the second remaining. That's why I question the fairness, if on purpose. Of course it's perfectly legal, I'm not saying it should be controversial, but it does give me pause when it's the deciding factor against someone who ran the race out traditionally and would have won in any other scenario.

[Catspaw]

the commentator (a former runner) that I listened to said that she didn't think that it was a purposeful dive so much as a trip/lunge right at the end

Interesting. The possibility it wasn't intentional actually never crossed my mind because it definitely looked planned in replay. All the commentators on my broadcast thought so as well. Also, it's the only way she gets the gold there. So if it was a trip she was unbelievably lucky to make that 'mistake' at that moment. If they both stay up Felix wins. And if they both dive Felix wins. This was the only way to get past in the second remaining. That's why I question the fairness, if on purpose. Of course it's perfectly legal, I'm not saying it should be controversial, but it does give me pause when it's the deciding factor against someone who ran the race out traditionally and would have won in any other scenario.

I'm not an expert, and I really have no idea what actually happened. It does seem like amazing timing, but stranger things have happened.

I was very disappointed to read today about Brazilian fans booing the French pole vaulting silver medalist. I'm not a big fan of booing during competition, but I get that fans are trying to urge their competitor on and go against their opponent. To boo during a medal ceremony is totally out of line. It sounds like the Brazilian competitor tried to calm the crowd down but they continued. Not very nice. https://ca.sports.yahoo.com/news/boo-2- ... --spt.html

[bookworm]

No Americans made the men's rings or floor final which is probably for the best. I was able to watch them just unfold rather than being put through the usual roller coaster.


Nasty crash in the omnium, they had to actually stop the race to get one rider out on a stretcher.


Speaking of serious injuries, did you hear about the two from a while back? A Dutch cyclist had a terrible crash and was motionless on the side of the road for a really long time before being taken to the hospital. And a French gymnast suffered an extremely gruesome broken leg doing a vault. Scary stuff.


Hamblin and D’Agostino is a nice story.


Simone and Aly close out gymnastics by going gold and silver again. What an incredible showing from Team USA this year! Not only winning at least one medal in every event, but every individual opportunity to medal but one (Gabby on bars) was successful so they doubled up on three of them. The most successful women's team in Olympic history!


And back in men's gymnastics the US actually wins silver on parallel bars and high bar with superb performances!


Walsh and Ross are knocked out in the semifinal by Brazil! First ever Olympic match Walsh has lost, and in straight sets no less. I'd say I can't believe it, but I actually can. That was a really good team, actually ranked above them. And I was really nervous about this one because I knew the crowd would be intense for Brazil. It was a good loss at least, nothing at all to be ashamed of. It was such an even match; so nerve-racking!
USA goes to the bronze medal game so they can still make the podium, but they'll have to do it against the other Brazilian team. Going to be a huge game.