2012 Summer Olympics Thread

[Hime-Chan]

One more gold medal in Judo for France!

[Stopwatch]

One more gold medal in Judo for France!

Back down to 5th for Britain then... well, there's still more cycling on later iirc I guess...

[ProfParanoia]

Just because you have a lot of problems with communism doesn't mean you should drag it into this and try to influence people's opinions on this here of all places. At the very least, if you can't leave it here, give it its own thread where you look at it from a neutral POV which takes into account things like the original ideas behind communism, where it 'went wrong' and so on.

It's also important to point out that China isn't actually communist (thought I'd get that in) EDIT: Or at least not enough to condemn the people who like some of it's philosophy as a whole.

Go team Japan.

[Wakarimashita]

I don't see Great Britain being behind France in the rankings at the end of the games. This country is pretty average if not downright mediocre in athletism since Marie-José Pérec retired while Great Britain has a pretty good history with athletic sports. I watched some heptathlon this afternoon and the British (Ennis and Thompson) were impressive, they were doing extremely well. ^^

On a side-note, pretty crazy match currently going on between Del Potro and Federer (and Federer just won, 19-17 in the 3rd  ).  

[Conan5]

On a side-note, pretty crazy match currently going on between Del Potro and Federer (and Federer just won, 19-17 in the 3rd  :D).  

That was an..effing crazy match. I was on my effing feet during the entire match. But, thank god. Federer just made it in. But 41 unforced errors? Damn...

[Jd-]

Anyway, Jd, you may not like how China and several other countries obtain their medals (I dislike the abuse of human rights too, believe me ...), but the athletes involved still worked hard for those medals and still deserve them. Just because you have a lot of problems with communism doesn't mean you should drag it into this and try to influence people's opinions on this here of all places. At the very least, if you can't leave it here, give it its own thread where you look at it from a neutral POV which takes into account things like the original ideas behind communism, where it 'went wrong' and so on.

I do not support human rights abuses or any "achievements" garnered as a result of them. I do not support China's communistic government institution (and it is very communist) or how much they take advantage of their citizens, both in terms of athletics and otherwise. In a topic about the Olympics, it is not only relative but very topical to discuss the athletes and their countries' athletic policies. The motivations behind those athletes and the competitive policies of the countries involved is obviously going to be part of the discussion. It's the same for discussing a country with a lower population than others still finding success. It's simply part of the discussion and that's that.

Beyond all of that, trust me when I say I do not need any advice on how to participate in the forums I created. A good discussion relevant to the topic at hand (and it is relevant—very much so) is always, always going to fly here. Always. It isn't even like there's a raging Olympic conversation going on, where every event is soliciting a multitude of posts that would be so terribly interrupted by open discussions. As a result, I regret to inform no such restriction will be placed on this topic.

It says a lot more about an athlete who comes from a country in which their government doesn't train them from very early childhood with no other aim in life other than to follow through on the will of the government and representing the government as the government sees fit than does the opposite. Seeing a free athlete compete and win is much more impressive to me than watching someone who was practically born and raised in a government-controlled system where their only prospect was and remains sports and nothing else. You are free to disagree as that can be a matter of perspective and personal values. However...

You are also making an argument against something that I don't think I or anyone else ever said here. It's not about whether someone is good at something naturally or not—it's about their freedom as a human being and their right to pursue their own happiness on a daily basis. The basic right to make decisions about their life as they see fit and not how their government sees it. American champion Michael Phelps will be retiring at the end of these Olympics, and that's that—he gets to make that decision, as someone who is able to compete in the Olympics as they were meant to be competed in. He's the best, he's been the best, and he'll be retiring as the best. If he were a Chinese athlete, let's just say he would meet considerable resistance with that decision. Unlike a number of people (including their own government), I don't see the Chinese athletes forced into this life as athletes, but as people—people who are unfortunately trapped in a situation they cannot escape by their own free will. The reason they are "robot athletes" is because they have no choice but to do what they're told, taking orders and operating as demanded. Thinking of them as athletes first (robotic or not) and people second is entirely against my nature. If someone is offended by that, then that's just too bad.

It's an unfortunate existence that so many of them get placed in, and what most people forget is that China has hundreds of thousands of these athletes they are always trying to breed for international competition. Most of them, naturally, fall through the cracks and never even know what it's like to compete at the highest level, instead being forced into lives in which they have no choice but to train and train with no attainable goal at the end of the line. Once they get to the point where the government abandons them for underperformance, they are left unequipped to do anything but sports. After all, they are raised in these systems where they are taught only a few things: how to read, how to write, how the government is infallible, how you should always do as the government says, and how you should train nonstop at their beck and call. Once that sports life is over, they don't have anything from their sports school education to rely on in making an actual life for themselves—ones they've chosen, not what the government chose for them.

Also, about your other post, I don't think there's such thing as a 'natural athlete' at all. All the athletes at Olympic level train hard and devote a lot of time for their particular sport. I know several people who aren't at that level who still have to balance various hours between school, sleep and their sport, and considering they're nowhere near that and still give it at least two hours on average on weekdays, I think that says something about athletes who are the best of their country. Namely, a lot of time goes into it. 'Naturals' who can be that good at sport without all that effort simply don't exist. So, again, the Chinese athletes are not just 'robots', I think any medals they get, they earned them, no matter what pressure was behind them at the time.

This is going to come down to a discussion on semantics, but I will gladly say there are "natural athletes", simply by definition—genetics has very much to do with one's athleticism. Now, people who train to compete at the Olympic level train hard for those particular events and sports, of course they do—no one postulated otherwise. However, the mindset behind that training has to factor in if you put any thought into it at all. On one hand, you have people who are from countries like the U.S., France, Britain, etc., that can come and go any time they wish, and yet they train hard without being mandated to do so by the government. On the other, you have athletes like those from the former USSR, China, North Korea, etc., that have no choice in the matter. What's really more impressive on that level? The people who do it because they love it or the people who, whether they love it on their own or not, simply have no choice?

That may not matter to you or anyone else, but as a lifelong fan of the Olympics, it does to me. I don't like to see the Olympics tarnished, as they lose much of their majesty as a result and become somewhat pointless when the original intention behind them fades away more and more with time.

Well, I realise what'll happen if you reply to my post so I probably won't respond at all, sorry, but I'm not getting into an argument over this, I've said my piece and hope you'll tone it down a bit. Yeah, just gonna ignore any communism related based posts from now on and focus on Olympics news only \o/.

As I stated before, I do not find any problem whatsoever with a very Olympics-related issue being discussed in an Olympics topic. It concerns the results, athletes, and countries all three. Also, while it may come as disappointing news, I have no intention of "toning it down" on this subject (or any other, for that matter). To do so would be personally and intellectually dishonest. I express myself simply as I feel is necessary and I feel that expression is consistent and have no qualms with anything I've said. Whether someone takes offense or not is the absolute least of my concerns, as I would rather hear what others have to say instead of them not saying it out of fear of offending someone in a matter such as this.

[Wakarimashita]

The US take the first place from China for the first time in these olympics with excellent performances in swimming. South Korea keeps her third place with an extra gold medal in team fencing. Great Britain becomes the first european country with a 3rd consecutive day full of gold medals, especially in track cycling. France follows with 5 place and 2 extra gold medals : one in judo and one in swimming. Germany and Italy follow with Germany getting an extra gold medal in rowing. Nothing new for North Korea which stays in 8th place. Kazakhstan wins another gold medal in weightlifting which allows to country to pass in front of Russia for the 9th place despite having far less medals in total.

[kei]

Spoiler:

The US take the first place from China for the first time in these olympics with excellent performances in swimming. South Korea keeps her third place with an extra gold medal in team fencing. Great Britain becomes the first european country with a 3rd consecutive day full of gold medals, especially in track cycling. France follows with 5 place and 2 extra gold medals : one in judo and one in swimming. Germany and Italy follow with Germany getting an extra gold medal in rowing. Nothing new for North Korea which stays in 8th place. Kazakhstan wins another gold medal in weightlifting which allows to country to pass in front of Russia for the 9th place despite having far less medals in total.

Fixed.

[ProfParanoia]

I'm hoping for the German or Japanese team to take teams table tennis (Timo time?).

[Wakarimashita]

Spoiler:

The US take the first place from China for the first time in these olympics with excellent performances in swimming. South Korea keeps her third place with an extra gold medal in team fencing. Great Britain becomes the first european country with a 3rd consecutive day full of gold medals, especially in track cycling. France follows with 5 place and 2 extra gold medals : one in judo and one in swimming. Germany and Italy follow with Germany getting an extra gold medal in rowing. Nothing new for North Korea which stays in 8th place. Kazakhstan wins another gold medal in weightlifting which allows to country to pass in front of Russia for the 9th place despite having far less medals in total.

Fixed.

Oops, big mistake there. Thanks for the notice, I edited. ^^

[ranger]

Nigeria got set back thirty years after that game.

you referring to that game where Harden got his ankles twisted to the nether realm?!


Also, check out why Ginobili is the HoF bound and why he's amazing in every sense and in the world of basketball
http://sports.yahoo.com/news/nba--baske ... tude-.html

Highest efficiency, points, steals in the Olympics

[Beastly]

Here are other people talking bout Gold when Philippines can't even get any medal SMH.

[Hime-Chan]

The British rowers have to be ashamed of themselves, they totally cheated and should have been disqualified. People didn't stop the cycling on road because someone had a flat tyre...

[Beastly]

And LeBron was clutch today... But they played hero ball all night long. They are damn beatable.

[Wakarimashita]

Well apparently the rules were respected since they stopped in the first 100 meters. Regardless, I think all sports should do what is done in swimming : you have a bad start for whatever reason, too bad for you, you're disqualified. Even if it's a technical difficulty on your side, the staff should have verified everything beforehand.  

Basically, blame the rules first, not the ones who use them (in that regard, I think the badminton teams being disqualified was nonsense).