Olympics!!!!

[Martin.A]

By the way, Clare Balding only presents the evening programme - you get Hazel Irvine during the day and a lady who I don’t know in the morning. And no presenters at all on the Extra channel, just a voice over telling you what’s coming up and then they get on with it 😎

And Gabby Logan in the athletics stadium.

 

[MikeyBikey]

Dipped in and out again today. The gymnasts are really impressive!

Just so people do not think I have Balding'itis (sounds like a hair disorder) here, in no particular order, are others I am bored with after what I consider over-exposure: Gary Lineker, Alexander Armstrong, Greg Wallace, Dominic Littlewood, Henry Cole, most |TV chefs (in particular Swear-A-Lot Ramsey and Jamie Oliver), Alex Polizzi, Drew Pritchard and Derek Mathewson.

I love classic motorcycles and cars but many of the programs are superficial for gold fish mindsets. Two presenters I dislike more than any previously mentioned are Mike Brewer (more irritating than any used car dealer or estate agent I have ever encountered) and Tim Shaw (a total idiot).

 

[Sally71]

Ooh yes I love the gymnastics. Simone Biles really is in a league of her own, isn’t she!

I’ve also got into athletics recently. There’s a Dutch runner called Femke Bol who leaves everyone else standing. She specialises in 400m, hurdles, and 4x400m relay, in which she always goes last. The mixed relay on Saturday didn’t disappoint; on the last changeover her team were in 4th but quite a way behind the front runners. The commentators were surmising that even she was unlikely to be able to catch up with the front two in the distance left, although might get bronze. WRONG - off she went, and her team got the gold medal just 0.02 of a second outside the world record. You can see the effort etched on the faces of all the people she overtakes, but she looks like she’s just having a nice little jog around the park on a Saturday afternoon

 

[Chris Hobson]

The triathlon relay has just happened. GB, Germany and USA finished way ahead of the rest of the field. The end result was Germany gold, GB silver and USA bronze. The bronze and silver positions were later reversed when the USA appealed the result. It was so tight that there was only a hundredth of a second between first and third. The photo showed GB in second place as far as I could see but it really was so close.

On classic cars and motorbikes you need to look to YouTube. Steph on I Drive a Classic and Biker Dood are good places to start.

 

[Martin.A]

Sadly the same has happened to the Premiership and F1. The problem is too encourage sport, andi hence wellbeing, it needs to be more accessible at all levels. A large percentage of Premiership and F1 expenditure is the obscene amounts paid to players and drivers. Although Lewis Hamilton encourages diversity would be take a 90% pay cut to encourage accessibility?

I dip in and out of the Olympics as I cannot stand the punditry. I am also extremely bored of Claire Balding presenting every sport and Crufts - another turn off for me!

Luckily our Sky TV package includes Eurosport 1 & 2, which are owned by Discovery, so we have those channels as well as the BBC. Sometimes the BBC and Eurosport are showing the same event, though.

 

[helli]

The triathlon relay has just happened. GB, Germany and USA finished way ahead of the rest of the field. The end result was Germany gold, GB silver and USA bronze. The bronze and silver positions were later reversed when the USA appealed the result. It was so tight that there was only a hundredth of a second between first and third. The photo showed GB in second place as far as I could see but it really was so close.

Just watched this and feel there should be "weighted" bronze and silver medals depending upon how close you are. If the difference is 100th of a second, the bronze should have some silver in it whereas if the difference was 5 seconds it would be "pure bronze" (yes, I know bronze is an allow so that doesn't make sense to the chemists).

 

[Chris Hobson]

There was only 100th of a second between the winner and the two runners up. Second and third were pretty much a dead heat, a photo finish. The time difference was apparently too small to measure.

 

[Martin.A]

There was only 100th of a second between the winner and the two runners up. Second and third were pretty much a dead heat, a photo finish. The time difference was apparently too small to measure.

In that case you have to wonder why the IOC didn't simply award Silver to both. Mutaz Essa Barshim and Gianmarco Tamberi shared gold in Tokyo, so no Silver was awarded, and there are other examples going right back to the first modern Olympics in 1896.

 

[Chris Hobson]

I didn't know that there was a precedent for that. It certainly would have been fairer since it was so close that it took two goes to decide who was ahead.

 

[silentsquirrel]

I didn't know that there was a precedent for that. It certainly would have been fairer since it was so close that it took two goes to decide who was ahead.

I think the Tokyo precedent was High Jump or similar where they both jumped the same but did not want to go higher, so not really the same.

 

[Sally71]

Has anyone else noticed the remote controlled cars driving round the athletics field? I thought I was seeing things the first time I noticed one. Then saw it again the next day. So I googled it - apparently they use them to retrieve all the thrown equipment such as javelins Two guys sitting at one end of the field, athlete throws javelin or discus, car is driven up the other end of the field, score person marks where the item landed and then loads it onto the car, car is driven back to the start instead of having people running up and down. What a cool job would that be, just driving a toy car back and forth all day whilst having a front row seat for the athletics action! They’ve been doing it for several Olympics apparently, the London 2012 ones were shaped like Minis I hardly used to watch any of the Olympics back then, and wasn’t interested in athletics; having streaming services such as iplayer has completely revolutionised Olympic viewing for me and this year I’ve watched loads of it, far more than ever before, so I guess this is the first time I’ve watched enough of it to notice!

 

[rebrascora]

Has anyone else noticed the remote controlled cars driving round the athletics field? I thought I was seeing things the first time I noticed one. Then saw it again the next day. So I googled it - apparently they use them to retrieve all the thrown equipment such as javelins Two guys sitting at one end of the field, athlete throws javelin or discus, car is driven up the other end of the field, score person marks where the item landed and then loads it onto the car, car is driven back to the start instead of having people running up and down. What a cool job would that be, just driving a toy car back and forth all day whilst having a front row seat for the athletics action! They’ve been doing it for several Olympics apparently, the London 2012 ones were shaped like Minis I hardly used to watch any of the Olympics back then, and wasn’t interested in athletics; having streaming services such as iplayer has completely revolutionised Olympic viewing for me and this year I’ve watched loads of it, far more than ever before, so I guess this is the first time I’ve watched enough of it to notice!

Wouldn't you think that they could give that job of ferrying the equipment back to the athletes to aspiring young athletes like ball boys and girls at tennis rather than automating it with remote control toy cars. It would be an incredible honour to be given that task and something you would remember for the rest of your life. Just seems gimmicky to me when it could be creating life experience for youngsters.

 

[Docb]

Wouldn't you think that they could give that job of ferrying the equipment back to the athletes to aspiring young athletes like ball boys and girls at tennis rather than automating it with remote control toy cars. It would be an incredible honour to be given that task and something you would remember for the rest of your life. Just seems gimmicky to me when it could be creating life experience for youngsters.

Ah, but you can sell the rights to have a model of your car as the transport. Probably illegal to do that with children.

Follow the money! 😎

 

[Sally71]

What do they do at non-Olympic athletics championships? I'd never thought about it before. I shall have to look next time!

 

[Martin.A]

I think the Tokyo precedent was High Jump or similar where they both jumped the same but did not want to go higher, so not really the same.

There have also been instances in swimming, wrestling, gymnastics and synchronised swimming. Most instances have been in gymnastics.

 

[MikeyBikey]

Tackled the hurdles in physio today - ,10m with 10cm high hurdles! And to think I used to do 440yds with full sized ones!

 

[rebrascora]

Tackled the hurdles in physio today - ,10m with 10cm high hurdles! And to think I used to do 440yds with full sized ones!

Question is Mikey.... Did you get a gold medal awarded by the physio? Hope so!

 

[MikeyBikey]

Question is Mikey.... Did you get a gold medal awarded by the physio? Hope so!

Not sure but I was praised for my efforts!

 

[MikeyBikey]

After the late cancellation of yesterday's Opthalmology appointment I watched the Olympics for a few hours. I really felt for Cindy Sember (sending virtual hugs) who fell in the 100m hurdles semi-final. From experience I know falling over hurdles can be very painful. My worse experience was falling over one at school that had been put up the wrong way. But then the games master was a slap dash ex-army PT psychopath! He enjoyed walking pupils with a pimsoll.and kicking those running at the back!

I also saw the incredible teenager, Toby Roberts, win the gold in what I think is called "boulder climbing"!

 

[MikeyBikey]

Well the closing ceremony is getting quite weird. With rach successive country trying to outdo the previous one I dread to imagine what Hollywood will come up for the LA Games?!