Tokyo Olympics: The Thread (OPEN SPOILERS, YOU'VE BEEN WARNED!!!)

Löwenherz said:
Let’s all take a moment to reflect on the fact that while the Chinese have done rather spectacularly overall at these Olympics, they still have yet to earn a single medal in artistic women’s gymnastics where they’ve been a consistent force for two decades. Beam presents their last chance.
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The United States contingent underperforming, to this point, has opened the door for China to win events that they wouldn't have otherwise done, but they are a nation that has traditionally started out hot, in terms of gold medals, but faltered in the second week, as they run out of events in which they are traditionally competitive... The US is a medal contender in virtually every event on the track, and will likely win gold in most races that aren't won by Jamaica, so I'm expecting them to blow past China for the gold medal lead.

Also, is anybody else casting a side eye at the "Russian Olympic Committee"? It's like some kind of blatant chicanery, that Russia and the IOC are in cahoots, to allow Russia to get around a doping ban.
 
Löwenherz said:
... I understand it being annoying having other people call her heroic, or praising her decision not to compete as an example of leadership. But not one ounce of that is on her. At all. She’s not labeling herself as anything other than a frustrated as hell gymnast who can’t compete right now at the premier event of her sport despite years of grueling preparation...
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Frankly, I don't even understand why people would be annoyed by it. Especially because it's true: she is a hero. She may not be a hero in the eyes of her critics, but I would suggest that they are the ones who need to recalibrate their definition of heroism, not the other way around. She's a hero to people who have been struggling with mental health issues in silence, because they've been ashamed to speak out about them. She's a hero to young athletes who are, or have, had to deal with the pressure of being forced into a moment that may have been too big for them, and may not have felt like they had the agency to vocalize that. And she's a hero to those who have lived through that same trauma, and could only wish that there had someone that could have given them the strength to say, "No," when it was their time.

And, not for nothing, but she was also a leader, in that moment. Even if she doesn't break her neck, trying to push through "the twisties," there's an overwhelming probability that she literally falls on her face, in every event, and the US doesn't even make the podium. Simone Biles had the presence of mind, in that moment, to recognize that the best chance of her team winning a medal was to pull herself from the field of play. And then, after benching herself, she didn't mope, or pout, or try to shift responsibility. She became her teammates biggest cheerleader, and rooted from the sidelines, as they earned silver. That's leadership.
 
Yea honestly, she doesn't feel good, I'm sure it's been an extremely hard and frustrating situation for her. Here's to hoping she's able to focus on herself and get herself right.
 
Host nation Japan advances to the knockout stage of women's basketball, for only the third time in the nation's history. The previous two times, they were matched up against the United States, in the quarterfinals: with Japan and USA being in the same group, in pool play, that is guaranteed not to happen, this year.
 
I don't understand why the nation was banned but athletes weren't but let's not pretend a USA ban probably wasn't in order sometime between the late 80s and early 00s.
 
pdxKingsFan said:
I don't understand why the nation was banned but athletes weren't but let's not pretend a USA ban probably wasn't in order sometime between the late 80s and early 00s.
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I'll pretend nothing of the sort, but I'd like to see how it would play if the IOC allowed a "United Olympic Committee," and the winners got, like, Stephen Foster played during the medal ceremony?
 
Incidentally, the coverage of USA/ITA women's volleyball is in the second set. The actual match is in the fifth set.
 
Mr. S£im Citrus said:
I'll pretend nothing of the sort, but I'd like to see how it would play if the IOC allowed a "United Olympic Committee," and the winners got, like, Stephen Foster played during the medal ceremony?
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Yeah I don't know, it's just an odd situation but it would suck if you were an archer or something and got banned from competing over all the BALCO stuff leading to USA being sent home during your cycle.

I will say this much, when I went to the Vancouver games, aside from USA and Canada, the most visible nation of tourists/travellers were Russians and they spent a ton of money on licensed gear and stuff. Bottom line I am sure is that's why they are there.
 
Mr. S£im Citrus said:
Incidentally, the coverage of USA/ITA women's volleyball is in the second set. The actual match is in the fifth set.
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It doesn't say "live" on my screen so I assumed it was a total replay.
I'm not a fan of how the coverage is separated between the old cable networks and Peacock. Maybe there is a hub I am missing that sews them all together but I hate switching between my peacock and USA network apps (which allows me to jump between all the NBC/Universal cable outlets).
 
pdxKingsFan said:
I'm not a fan of how the coverage is separated between the old cable networks and Peacock.
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That's because you're a sports fan. The Olympics, as a television show, aren't produced for your benefit.

Maybe there is a hub I am missing that sews them all together but I hate switching between my peacock and USA network apps (which allows me to jump between all the NBC/Universal cable outlets).
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I've been watching, like, 90 percent of the events via the Olympic widget on my Roku.
 
Mr. S£im Citrus said:
That's because you're a sports fan. The Olympics, as a television show, aren't produced for your benefit.


I've been watching, like, 90 percent of the events via the Olympic widget on my Roku.
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I use a Shield TV. As to the first point, you are correct and that's been a constant complaint for years now. But this feels particularly bad because I feel like they should have just made everything easy to get on Peacock (as a WWE fan I guess I should know better!).

minor update: I installed the NBC Sports app and it appears to be the most organized way to watch the stuff live that isn't on peacock. I had been using the USA app since I was mostly watching games on USA, but the Sports app actually made it easiest to launch up the US/CAN soccer game that is on ... USA. Go figure. The crazy thing was I thought they killed the NBC Sports App after launching Peacock.
 
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Holy crap. USWNT get hard done by a penalty awarded from VAR and fall to Canada.

I really like this Canada team but they will probably get destroyed by Sweden. Still will be pulling for them. Their keeper has been a joy to watch and saved them both vs. Brazil and today. I know that I have some issues with the current incarnation of the US squad and hopefully we'll see new players come in. New coach wouldn't be bad either from what I've seen this tournament. Whole team seemed flat from the get and could see them squabbling with each other after the goal.

Oh - and just announced Simone Biles going for it on the beam.
 
Defending (?) bronze medalist Sarah Robles wins bronze at her second straight Olympics, at 87+ kg, in women's weightlifting. A scratch on her third clean-and-jerk attempt cost her the silver. The United States has only won three medals in weightlifting, male or female, in any weight class, since 2000, and Robles has two of them; she's the only American woman, in the history of the event, with two Olympic medals.

There is sooo much more that I want to say about this specific event, that isn't permitted by board rules. So, instead, I'll just say... all that commotion, for nothing, huh?
 
Huge Update

Carey wins gold on Floor!

https://twitter.com/x/status/1422129893781872643

And

Biles set to return for beam!

But back to floor.

Ferrari became a first time Olympic medalist at 30-years-old, winning the silver on floor and earning Italy’s first medal in women’s artistic gymnastics. What an accomplishment for her!

Murakami shook off a disappointing qualifier to tie for bronze with Melkinova.

Andrade finished fifth. The British twins finished sixth and seventh. Listunova came in last completing a frustrating Olympics for her as an individual.
 
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Mr. S£im Citrus said:
Isn't that what happened the last time they were eliminated from an international tournament?
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I'm not arguing it was the wrong call, just shocked it went for review. I'm not sure if the Olympic rules are different but in most leagues around the world the refs have discretion to not even look at the VAR on a play like that. This was a routine out of bounds play where the Canadian sprinted in from a mile away and managed to get fouled despite no chance to win the ball let alone create a scoring opportunity in the run of play. But kudos for Rose's awareness to create something out of literally nothing.
 
I say, god damn, that was one hell of a race, in the men's 400m hurdles! Rai Benjamin (USA) broke the previous world record by ,53s... and finished in second! He finished in second, because Karsten Warholm (NOR) also broke the previous record (that had belonged to him), but by .94s! Even the bronze medalist, Alison dos Santos (BRA), finished only .02 behind the previous world record.
 
USA had a pretty disastrous day on the track. At least, in terms of expectations: they had a shot at six gold medals, and were considered to be top contenders, if not the outright favorites, for at least four. They left with one. Hell, USA was the only country that had three competitors in the women's hammer throw, and finished completely off the podium.

Meanwhile, China continues to hold off USA for the gold medal lead, and has been winning gold in events that they weren't even expected to be competitive in. We've still got time to catch them, but it's looking shaky, right now.
 
Mr. S£im Citrus said:
USA had a pretty disastrous day on the track. At least, in terms of expectations: they had a shot at six gold medals, and were considered to be top contenders, if not the outright favorites, for at least four. They left with one. Hell, USA was the only country that had three competitors in the women's hammer throw, and finished completely off the podium.

Meanwhile, China continues to hold off USA for the gold medal lead, and has been winning gold in events that they weren't even expected to be competitive in. We've still got time to catch them, but it's looking shaky, right now.
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FiveThirtyEight has been tracking the medal count versus expectations (although not broken down by type of medal that I can see).

By their count, the US is 17 medals below expectations, while China and Russia are 6 and 20(!) medals above expectations, respectively.

With US athletes openly calling out the “ROC” for chicanery, it would seem taking always their name, flag, and anthem was not an actual punishment.

Especially frustrating considering the supposedly zero-tolerance hardliners of the IOC still refuse to return Răducan‘s 2000 AA gold because she took cold medicine given to her by the team doctor.
 
USA men's basketball slowly winning my respect back but I don't think they can fall asleep for a period and beat Australia, Slovenia or even France if they played like they did last time so a medal feels like far from a lock right now.
 
Only five events where USA has a reasonable shot at a gold medal tonight, and they're all on the track:
  • Women's 400m hurdles
    • Sydney McLaughlin, current WR holder, #1 world ranking
    • Dalilah Muhammad, defending Olympic gold medalist, #2 qualifier, #2 world ranking
  • Women's 3000m Steeplechase
    • Emma Coburn, #3 world ranking
  • Men's Hammer Throw
    • Rudy Winkler, #2 qualifier, #6 world ranking
  • Men's 800m
    • Clayton Murphy, #3 qualifier, #11 world ranking
  • Men's 200m
    • Kenneth Bednarek, #3 qualifier, #5 world ranking
 
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BREAKING: Sydney McLaughlin dethrones Dalilah Muhammad, to win the women's 400m hurdles, breaking her own world record, in the process. As with yesterday's men's final, Muhammad also broke the previous world record, in getting the silver.
 
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