The BBC's studio work has mostly been excellent, but like you I've got frustrated with what they're showing. We've had an inordinate amount of horsey stuff while some sports have barely been shown and we've missed out on major finals from global sports such as athletics. I ended up signing up to Discovery Plus for Eurosport's all-sport coverage.
2021 Summer Olympics (Tokyo)
- Thread starter Samid
- Start date
Nice shootout work from GB here. Video ref adjudicating - Spain get to retake their penalty. But they can't score on the retake.
GB v Netherlands in the SF.
GB v Netherlands in the SF.
GB keeper is class
Maddie Hinch saves all 5 Spanish penalties including the retake. Superb.
The 100m traditionally runs on the opening weekend of the athletics so the long jump used to be later on to avoid clashing. Sometimes there were high-profile competitors in both events (thinking of the likes of Carl Lewis, Heike Dreschler or Marion Jones) who dictated the schedule somewhat. That's uncommon now so they can schedule it earlier without any conflict.
Everyone was saying she was going to dominate the competition
I'm not sure that's true.
Some were, sure, but the main argument many others had against Hubbard's place in the female category wasn't that she'd be guaranteed victory, but that it set a precedent they were concerned about.
Anyway, there's another thread for this if you wish to continue the discussion.
When did the last 100m medallist also compete in the long jump? I guess at some point they figured it wasn't worth the injury risk, but I remember Carl Lewis doing it.
Not sure about the men but Marion Jones won bronze in Sydney in long jump after winning gold in 100 & 200m . She was of course stripped off the medals later for doping
Didn't we lose 7-1 against the Aussies.
Yeah you did - I am not saying we are better than them, merely pointing out that imo India shouldn't be afraid of Australia or Germany because of losses in years past. Everyone in the semis is there on their own merit, gonna be interesting games for sure.
Why would hockey be scrapped from the Olympics? It has been there since the beginning of last century.
Sure. Hoping India wins gold. That would do a lot of good for Indian sports in general.
The downfall of Indian hockey began when India won cricket World Cup in 1983. Since then India has been like a cricketing country. Most people don't bother about other games except during the Olympics. With a population of 1.3 billion its shameful that India is always at the bottom half of the table.
The baseball looks good. At least there are a few hits going on. Why is that? Is it because the MLB is such a high standard
Are the Baseball players all from the MLB ?
Decline started before that tbf. We failed to get into SF in '76 Olympics, our WC performances since '75 win were average as well. It's just that 1983 Cricket WC win meant that the decline got steeper as lesser funds were allocated to hockey
Nice moment
Sure they said some of those USA lads were playing in Japan. So maybe MLB players are prohibited
Congrats to Aline Rotter-Focken on Olympic gold at 76kg in her final Olympics. Really wish Adeline Grey coulda won it, but Aline is a class act. Helluva way to end your career.
GOAT status
Just outdid Karelin didn't he?
It was kind of a weird fight but so great to see her win. Both finalists are friends by the way, Aline was invited to her opponents wedding but couldn’t attend because her team member married on the same day.
They talked about it on Dutch tv that it was a possibility.
Legend. I've trained with her a few times, really nice girl, absolutely fierce athlete.
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You seem to be quite knowledgeable about Athletics. What do you think are the chances Hassan can win the triple gold?
A tale of two matches there between the 1st and 2nd periods. Adeline really should have attacked off her underhook sooner, but I think she was more conservative because Aline knows her style so well.
Yep, it’s really cool that they are close friends like that. I know I couldn’t do it. I was never friends with any of my direct competitors. Adeline and Aline are both just stand up human beings though who also happen to be at the pinnacle of their sport.
I am super pumped about Tamyra Mensah-Stock’s 68kg gold medal match tomorrow morning against Oborududu from Nigeria.
This was NICE
What's going on with GB cycling?
I thought we owned this sport but looking like not many predicted medals this year?
I thought we owned this sport but looking like not many predicted medals this year?
Denmark with the gold in men’s singles badminton!
The Dane’s face as he realized he won was funny looking.
Fair play to him though, that’s quite the achievement.
Hyped for 400m hurdles early in the morning. Warholm vs Benjamin. Decent chance we'll see a new WR.
Not bad, about 40-50% for me. She did the 1500 / 10k double in Doha at the Worlds two years ago. I think her biggest challenge of the three will be the 1500 as Kipyegon is the favourite with a marginally faster PB. They’ve traded wins against each other in the last two months so it’s really up in the air. The way Hassan ran away from the field in the 5k today was impressive and suggests she’s on her game. Nailing the tactics will make the difference as there’s likely to be no more than a metre or two between them. I’d expect her to win the 10k to be honest given her championship pedigree and tactical acumen. Again though some tough competition and we are into uncharted territory with the cumulative fatigue of so many races.
One thing in her favour though are the new spikes, which are much more cushioned than traditional track spikes, and won’t batter the legs as much as the old skimpy ones. For instance even when Gebreselassie held both 5k and 10k world records, he never doubled up at major championships and even struggled just to do the 10k given the unprecedented hardness of the tracks at Atlanta in 1996. So it’s tricky to assess yet but we could see more double or triple efforts in the future.
I think we can still expect a bit of success in the velodrome but you're right it's expected to be down on other years. I'm keeping my fingers crossed it's better than the rowing was, given that's normally our other gold mine but proved to be a dismal failure this time round. I don't really follow cycling outside of the Olympics but from what I've gleaned we'll be down a bit due to a mix of:
- The timings being changed. I remember at Rio the pundits said one of the things Team GB were really skilled at was peaking for the Olympics whereas other teams built around e.g. World Championships. I guess the games being moved and all the disruption that causes might have thrown us off more than others.
- Changes in the squad. Quite a lot of our team are either brand new or now towards the end of their careers and/or have had breaks e.g. the Kennys have had a child which will have affected Laura in particular. I still think if they're on form they're probably our best chance of success, but we haven't seen either of them yet.
- Other teams have got better
- No evidence for this, but I wonder if both cycling and rowing are struggling with the 'cultural resets' they're trying to undergo i.e. learning how to get rid of the bullying culture they've been accused of having but without losing the winning mentality. Not sure if either have quite cracked the formula yet.
Worth noting our baseline was also massively high and so we're probably accustomed to thinking anything less than gold in the majority of track cycling events is a poor outing, which maybe isn't a sustainable viewpoint. If we still get at least a gold or two and a smattering of other medals I think that's respectable in the circumstances.
Probably posted before, only just catching up with today's events.
Mindbogglingly stupid.
Mindbogglingly stupid.
Oh dear, both Lewandowski and Hassan fell in that heat.
As a coach, I now feel so vindicated for yelling “finish through the line!!!!” until my throat hurts.
They’re doing a highlight on Olympic moms on NBC’s coverage in the US.
I am absolutely in awe of the athletes who come back from pregnancy and make the freakin Olympics. Unreal dedication to the sport there.
I am absolutely in awe of the athletes who come back from pregnancy and make the freakin Olympics. Unreal dedication to the sport there.
This might be the most stupid way to sabotage your own effort...just imagine training 5 years for this and then being arrogant 20 meters before the finishing line
Allyson Felix is something else. Legend
35 years old, with a kid born in 2018, in her 5th Olympics, and she wins her heat.
35 years old, with a kid born in 2018, in her 5th Olympics, and she wins her heat.
Jesus the shoulders on the women in the canoe sprint 