Summer Olympics 2012 LD

[Барбоса]

I would almost take Djokovic and Tsonga out of that equation. Whilst Del Potro and Nadal always give Federer a game of it, there have been times especially in the last year that Federer has blown Djokovic and Tsonga away.

He certainly never blows Nadal away and Del Potro's still always seems to cause him trouble.

 

[Барбоса]

It really is taking the piss when China's Dong wins the Trampoline

 

[Remix]

Thing is though, Federer's head to head with Del Potro is very one sided: 12-2 in favor of Federer.

 

[hatehabsforever]

And the legend of Roger Federer continues to grow.

 

[Diet Soda]

I doubt the final will be as entertaining.

 

[Lee]

Another world record and two more golds.

 

[Diet Soda]

3rd in the table now, not that I can see us closing that gap with the Yanks though.

 

[Lee]

I'm sure phelps is a fish.

 

[Steve0904]

Federer won an epic, and Djokovic lost. Happy day for me!!

 

[Tastycles]

Women's 10000m is shit.

 

[Slyfox696]

Oh don't worry, I got it, I got it. Funny guy.

Isn't that sort of irrelevant to the discussion, though? And if anything, doesn't that add credence to what I am saying?

Not when you've already said you find the rule flawed and how you dislike it.

You know, to keep some sort of semblance of an actual competitive event.

I'm not interested in suppressing excellence for the sake of a contrived sense of competition. It's not competition if you fix the event to exclude people.

Her time was still many seconds off of the men's.

But the last leg of her race was better than the men's.

It is baseless because her drug tests has been negatives so far.

No, it's unsubstantiated. It's not baseless, it's just unsubstantiated.

If she wasn't Chinese, the headlines would have been "wow a girl can swim faster than a guy" instead of 'interesting result".

Untrue. It would depend where she came from. In a country like China, where the government pretty clearly has shown no pretense of fairness, it's not at all beyond the realm of possibility that the Chinese government either subsidized, or even forced, their athletes to participate in PEDs. There are many countries who do not convey that perception, but there ARE countries who do. China is one of them.

 

[Lee]

 

[hatehabsforever]

Not when you've already said you find the rule flawed and how you dislike it.

Sure that rule is flawed and I definitely dislike it. But it's one thing to restrict amateur athletes who deserve to compete with and against the elite amateurs of the world, simply because of their national ties. It's something else altogether to restrict professional athletes from competing against said amateurs, to level the playing field and encourage high drama and top notch action against the best amateurs in the world in a contest where the result is not preordained.

I'm not interested in suppressing excellence for the sake of a contrived sense of competition. It's not competition if you fix the event to exclude people.

But it's not a contrived sense of competition. And it certainly is not accurate to suggest the event would be "fixed". It's all relative when you think about it. If the rule is applied across the board, and professionals are excluded from all countries, the excellence will still be there and the competition will still be fierce. And the results will truly be up for grabs, which is far less contrived than what will amount to a concession of the gold medal, and an competition for second place.

I don't only refer to men's basketball in this regard, and it's hardly a knock at the USA team specifically. As a Canadian, I love seeing Canada contend for and often win Olympic gold in hockey. But I don't believe that NHL players, from any of the countries, should be allowed to participate in the Winter Olympics. And in this case, at least numerous countries have strong professional representation, keeping the playing field a little more even, but I still don't like seeing professional athletes take a hiatus from their league only to compete in the Olympics and steal a spot which should go to an amateur athlete.

Likewise, I'm not a big fan of seeing a rematch of Wimbledon, in the same year, in the same arena (obviously) at a showcase which should highlight the best amateurs. I saw Federer/Murray at Wimbledon last month. I may see them again in another few weeks at Flushing Meadows. The Olympics should be a time for other guys to shine.

 

[FunKay the Inevitable]

Saw the mid-day session of the boxing today. Big Mongolian presence there and fun to watch. Good to see Evans getting through for Britain too.

 

[Alastor]

Untrue. It would depend where she came from. In a country like China, where the government pretty clearly has shown no pretense of fairness, it's not at all beyond the realm of possibility that the Chinese government either subsidized, or even forced, their athletes to participate in PEDs. There are many countries who do not convey that perception, but there ARE countries who do. China is one of them.

Like USA track and field? Or East European weightlifting? Or Germany due to the East German's legacy? To be honest I think no country can be free from suspicion but to cast point fingers immediately after the race surely has something to do with race/gender/sour grapes. Phelps did what this girl did and more 8 years ago, yet the headlines were clearly different.

Having said that, looking forward to the track events this weekend, especially the Bolt and Blake showdown.

 

[Tastycles]

I'm not sure about the Chinese girl. People like Ben Johnson, Floyd Landis and Michelle Smith (I think that's her name, Irish swimmer from Atlanta is who I'm thinking of) have shown us that if something seems too good to be true, it usually is.

Too much is being read into that final split though. Lochte eased up because he'd obviously won, and the way swimmers load their times is different for different swimmers. Yesterday Katie Ledecky, a 15 year old American, smashed Rebecca Adlington the home swimmer and world record holder out the water with a stunning 800m swim. One of her 50m splits was faster than one of the 50m splits of Sun Yang, who broke the Olympic record in the men's 400m - a shorter distance.

I think it's too good to be true, and in all likelihood she'll get caught down the line, but I'm not certain about it. Experts like Ian Thorpe are telling me this is possible, so you have to take it on board.

While on the subject of doping, I think it's embarrassing that track and field records, particularly the women's ones, from the late 80s are allowed to stand. Those East German times in 800m etc. are absurd, and the fact that the only person to get even remotely close to Flo-Jo was convicted perjurer and drug abuser Marion Jones, should really raise alarm bells.

 

[Gelgarin]

It's like Schrodinger's dope supply; it doesn't exist until it is observed.

I am aware that this isn't actually how Schrodinger's theory works.

 

[Alastor]

So many teenage winners in female swimming this year. Maybe the new dope can be hidden better in younger bodies.

 

[Remix]

Team GB bring home two (very close to taking three) golds and one silver in the last day of the rowing. Also, Murray and Robson are in the semis of the mixed doubles, meaning that Team GB is going to be playing for at least a bronze medal even if they lose here.

 

[Tastycles]

Is anyone watching Serena? This is probably the best display by a tennis player in history.

 

[JGlass]

What's that? LeBron James closing out games like a fuckin' champ? Yeah, I thought so.

 

[Lee]

Almost lapping the Americans there.

 

[Tastycles]

That was absurdly good. I also can't believe Britain are going to get two tennis medals!

 

[Remix]

Yeah, and one of them is going to the youngest person to win a tennis medal since Capriati in 1992.

 

[Lee]

Andy will be knackered tomorrow.