The Olympics - General Discussion

[zelllogan]

MURRAY ... Well deserved. Finally a big win. Now, there is a real big 4 in tennis.

[goldb]

MURRAY ... Well deserved. Finally a big win. Now, there is a real big 4 in tennis.

Shame he couldn't get that double Olympic gold; would've capped a wonderful tournament for him.

[Bugzee]

No prize money just a medal...I doubt Federer would be concerned or even having a hard time sleeping after Murray winning. xPPPPPPP!

All in all, I'm happy for Murray to finally win against Federer and achieve that goal he wanted so badly but something just wasn't right with the way Federer was playing. Exhaustion could be one reason but it would've been great to see him perform at his best in the final. Credit to Murray for keeping up and starting really well against Federer. I guess the experience he got from his Wimbledon defeat helped him prepare in some respects for the second meeting against the Swiss. =)

I think Belarus deserved the gold in the doubles final. They worked hard to come back in the second set and generally worked better as a team. Murray and Laura did well considering they haven't played much together as the other pair. Too many errors cost them and I think anyone would be hella tired like Murray playing two finals in one day. One gold and one silver ain't nothing to be upset about especially when you're playing the Olympic finals in Wimbledon centre court. =D

[Asarii]

I don't like the women's to be honest as there are too many acrobatic elements compared to the gymnastic ones in contrast to men's who have one or two elements (often one combined with a gymnastic). I don't watch FX to see them move around graciously to music (dance passage) - for that I watch dance competitions. Here I want to see a pure gymnastic performance with or without music I don't care. Give me a performance with an acro line with two different saltos, salto sideward and backward, double BA, and a badass dismount and I'm happy :3

Plus half of the girls competing in the women's finals (which should be renamed to girl's finals) are like sixteen to eighteen, max 1.40cm tall and weigh like 30-40kgs. IT IS FREAKY!!!!!!!!!

Newbie question: what are the difference between acrobatic and gymnastic? I know next to nothing about the sport so all the moves appear the same to me. ^^; (However, I can still tell that Nadia Comaneci was on a whole other level in Montreal.)

To be fair there's a 37 year old German (?) gymnast who is still competing! My mom told me that there were some gymnasts back in the day who would suppress hormones to prevent them from growing.

Ehehh, that aside I was kind of rooting for Marcel Nguyen so pleased he did so well :3 Never expected him to have much of a chance against Uchimura... Or well, after two events maybe but the Japanese was just so frigging solid in his performance it was ridiculous. :3

Marcel did great too! I'm glad Uchimura had a good performance after the fall on the pommel horse in the team final, and the mistakes he made in qualifications.

[blai]

Gawh, but did you see all the mistakes from, oh whats his face, the american Lyvell or something, and the other german top seeded one and some other guy. They all made mistakes on the pommel horse =/ Such a dramatic final though!

Ooooh sorry I meant artistic, not acrobatic lol Artistic moves are Still Rings, Bars etc. Jumps and muscular exercises whereas gymnastic moves are more about the "rhythmic moves" where, as you see the girls do a lot during their FX (floor exercise) where they jump and in the air they enter split position with their legs and then they just try to move around graciously and it's just soooooo booooooring. I want to watch them do acrobatic moves, not the gymnastic ones.

[Asarii]

The pommel horse is evil! A lot of the gymnasts had trouble with it in the all-around. Leyva (the bronze medalist) did an average routine, but it was his teammate Orozco, who flopped the most. I felt really bad for him.

It's okay. I agree with you though- I wish there was more "spice" in the women's floor exercises. I think the music is there to make it seem like a dance, but sometimes the routine doesn't quite fit.

[Josef K.]

I think the US previously did not have as good as gymnasts as some of the usual suspects(nations) China, Russia, Romania, interesting that they are starting to get a hold of this sport as well. Gymnastics is really talked about, along with Swimming, Tennis, Athletics, it is getting a spotlight in these games form the news as well it seems.

[Bugzee]

South Korea v Brazil has started! This is going to be an awesome match!

[Josef K.]

I find these Olympics not as eventful as the Beijing ones, more records and more memorable moments were present then, it really pushed everything to the limit, from the opening ceremonies to the sporting events, it was just better. D: A good amount of interesting things here and there in this one, but it just lacks SOMETHING, even Bolt won without a record, perhaps he set the limit too high? For both 100m and 200m. Running out of time for spectacular events, maybe Phelps getting the record of all time medalist or Andy winning the Tennis final. Those really stood out.

[k-dom]

With doping scandal i find that no beating records is pretty much more reassuring. Plus now they are most due to improving material than anything else.

[Charlie]

^ Sometimes I wonder about the athletes and their use of drugs or enhancements. But having said that - having the pressures of being an Olympian / representing your country, etc. Must notably be high on these athletes. Some maybe doing so in terms of doping or other drugs / steroids & with many recent scandals in sports or whatnot that have come to light in recent years. You cant deny that it maybe occurring / under looked / scales we don't know about.
If someone is doing it and not caught.... In the end they'd only be cheating themselves.

[Asarii]

I find these Olympics not as eventful as the Beijing ones, more records and more memorable moments were present then, it really pushed everything to the limit, from the opening ceremonies to the sporting events, it was just better. D: A good amount of interesting things here and there in this one, but it just lacks SOMETHING, even Bolt won without a record, perhaps he set the limit too high? For both 100m and 200m. Running out of time for spectacular events, maybe Phelps getting the record of all time medalist or Andy winning the Tennis final. Those really stood out.

I can think of two possible reasons:

1. There was hype and controversy surrounding the Beijing Olympics before it even started because China is a communist state with a questionable human rights record. On the other hand the press coverage before London has been rather quiet besides the news of "the torch is in [place] and so-and-so is carrying it".
2. Beijing introduced the whole world to Michael Phelps and Usain Bolt. We already know who they are in London so these two atheltes earning a few more gold medals is something we expected.

Personally I enjoyed this Olympics as much as the last one. Saudi Arabia had women compete for the first time, and Oscar Pistorius broke barriers by competing in the Olympics and the Paralympics. If there's nothing else to take from this year's Olympics, hopefully these two examples will be something we associate with London 2012 when Rio comes along.

[Charlie]

I haven't watched much or most of the Olympics. The last one I saw the Bejing one and felt China set a very high bar. I didn't really think any-other countries would be able to match....
Having said that, from what I've seen and heard from this one, its pretty clear London went all out. You can't really ask for more than that. All in all - jolly good show.