The London Olympics

Now that we're about to draw the curtains on the London Olympics, i thought i'd guage the forums response to the 2012 London Olympics.

DO you think it was a success? what did or didnt you enjoy about it? what expectations did you have? and what did you watch from it? Do you have a memorable moment?

I know some people dont even bother with the olympics. I know i wasnt too interested in the Beijing Games, but im really more into it this year.

Im thinking that London is more organised, but at the same time its an overkill for the athletes with every little thing having a rule. There's been issues with athletes not being allowed to bring certain things into the stadium because 'thats the rule'. Things they would use for warmup and stretching. SHit like that doesnt happen in more lax settings like Beijing.

as far as stand out performances go, i know that a lot of people will mention Usain Bolt and his double double, but i still have my reservations to be honest. As does Carl Lewis, but he's a loudmouth and a cheat himself. Anytime a nation systematically dominates a sport, there's always concern about its legitimacy, and i still hold those views from the time Usain burst on the scene all those years ago.

For me, Kenya's David Rudisha smashed his own world record by leading from the gun to the tape in a solo effort in the mens 800m run. For me that is remarkable, considering that he had no one with him to pace him, as is usually the case with kenyan running.

What i didnt like is some of the lesser known sports being included that i could barely class as human endurance like Equastrian Dressage. Although it involves a lot of skill, technique, time, effort and co-ordination, it just doesnt sit well with me. we may as well have F1 Racing in the olympics in that case.

Aspart from that i enjoyed the lycra clad ladies in the gymnastics, the synchronised swimming, the womens beach volleyball, womens heptathlon and of course the mens 1500m running.

Your thoughts on anything Olympics?

 

I've never really noticed the Olympics any more than Eurovision song contest etc. This year I vaguely wondered if it being in my country might make a difference, but nope. However, when friends and neighbours would excitedly tell me about bits, I made sure to remember what they told me, in order to have some positive contribution to make with the next person who'd excitedly tell me something. I'd no intention of being a killjoy, so this last few weeks I've had to walk on a lot of eggshells.

Now I'll say that when it comes to Human Endurance, I'd class 'Listening to people talking about the Olympics' as a worthy event!

Coincidentally, the only close sense of connection I had with the Olympics was with the ..... lol ... Equestrian Dressage, because one of my longest and best friends is a trainer. And I had to look at 300 photos in Photobucket and I just know that I'll be asked questions.


I have highest respect for the competitors
Especially those who had minimal sponsorship.
Also the Para Olympic competitors.

I have grim feelings about Sponsorship ... mostly learnt about from my reading in this forum and following links in people's posts.

I feel a 'tight squeeze' feeling regarding the overall expense and what it means to other funding needs.

 

I like the Olympics and I thought London did a great job. I would have liked to have been able to go there and see it myself. I have watched hours and hours of the events on TV. (I will kind of be happy to get rid of the distraction...but sad that I will have to wait 4 years for Rio)

I do think that they need to add another week in order to spread out the events.

I will say that I like it when the smaller countries win metals over the big ones.

 

I have a confession to make...

since my time zone here on Australias east coast is so warped ( +10GMT) we're almost on the opposite ends of the timezone spectrum with the UK, so ive been sleeping on the couch since the tack and field events started. The TV is kept on, so that when i hear the crowd roar, i know something big is happening and i get up to watch. I havent missed a beat.

The only downside is that aussie tv channels only seem to broadcast only aussie athletes. SInce i dont have pay TV, i dont have a choice in watching an alternative channel.

Although i cheer on the aussies, like ASU2003 i love an underdog, and dont mind to see some humility smacked in the face of some big egos.

You know a great athlete by the way they lose, not by the way they win.

 

NBC's 'Bodies In Motion' Video – 5min.com


The women are very attractive too. I wonder why NBC pulled this? I wonder why they couldn't have made it 3 times longer?

 

I had a series recording on the Olympics so my DVR has been about 80% full for the last two weeks. This may be cheating, but I prefer fast forwarding through commercials and the boring NBC commentary.

I enjoyed the swimming events, men and women's gymnastics and the track/field. I know Usain Bolt is the fastest person in the 100-200m race, but he seems a bit arrogant. Also, I was impressed with Mo Farrah completing the 10,000m ( 6 miles) in 27 minutes.

Watching the Olympic events motivated me to dedicate an hour to working out so I don't feel like a lazy scumbag eating food and watching super athletes perform insanely well in their events.

 

I've enjoyed it all. Watching competition at such a high level makes even sports that I never follow become compelling. The weather has been a non-issue which was a huge concern. No major controversies. Some great stories.

I'm glad that the summer and winter Olympics are now staggered instead of occurring during the same year. Sochi, next in 2014.

 

That quoted line sums it up nicely. I do appreciate some of the historical games more than anything happening now or in recent years though, events like the 1936 Olympics are a fascinating to study and the 1992 Dream Team was memorable to watch live what I was able to catch of those games.
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I did not realise that had been altered, that change does makes sense.

 

I cant say I'm excited about a dose of Spice Girls and George Michael in the closing ceremonies tomorrow.

 

Nope me neither, I think the closing ceremony has a lot to follow, the only way is down.
I've been enjoying HD 5.1 spectacles for the past few days almost non-stop, fantastic 100m, 4x100m, 800m, 5k and 10k performances!
The atmosphere at the velodrome/boxing/athletics arenas' especially must have been something to behold.
The Beeb are lucky in having Clare Balding as their 'anchorman', a great job well done - not just a talking head.
The inclusion of more and more womens events can only be a good thing and it's been absolutely fantastic to see Sarah Attar competing, The Spice Girls..... meh.

 

I hope Monty Python will make an appearance in the closing. That is the only reason I can think of to leave them out of the opening.

 

anyone catch MO Farah kick some butt in the 5000m?

in other news, the controversy between Bolt and Carl Lewis continues with Carl's previous drug-use surfacing again

 

Mo Farah could spot me 5000m and still beat me in the 10000m race. The speed that they run at is ridiculous. And it looks like they are doing it so effortlessly.

 

52.9 seconds for a final lap at that too. Thats stupendous, considering that Mo kicked at 800m.

just watching the american national anthem before the Dream Team kick some serious spanish butt
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Olympic Medals per Capita

Check out how badly the americans are doing after taking into consideration their population size.. Go Aussies!

 

Was it just me, or was there more coverage of women's events than men's?
Its not an issues, just an observation from what I watched of the games.
That said, I really enjoyed the team volleyball games. They were quite entertaining.

 

NBC covered events in which the US medaled. US women out medaled the men.

 

I think we did pretty well. It was never going to have the resonance of Athens, or the amount of money thrown at it of Bejing, but the British really are amongst the best and fairest sports fans in the world.

On a global scale there maybe wasn't the same incredible performances as 2008 (Bolt blew everyone away, but whats new...) but on a national level that Saturday night with Ennis, Rutherford, Farrah getting golds within 30 mins is one of the best sporting experiences of my life. Some redemption for Andy Murray. Tyrenesh Dibarba (cant imagine how badly I mispelled her name) destroying the others on the 10,000.

I thought the central message of the opening ceremony (no celebrity's or aging greats, but a group of random kids lighting the flame) was superb.

Although I would have much preferred the torch relay of 1948 to the advertising campaign of this year.

(in 1948, they ran it non stop from the coast to London... local athletes doing 3 miles each, through the night and on their own... in 2012 they had a train of 20 BMW, Coca Cola, Samsung, etc etc trucks and a different buffoon carrying it every 100 yards - all sponsored by some corporation of course. It came past my house and I was disgusted by it to be honest)

 

It's okay to be disgusted but that sponsorship is what pays the bills.