London Olympics 2012

[Medusa]

Louis Smith is a gorgeous man. He is an amazing athlete and I LOVED his reactions to his score!

[Medusa]

I just saw John Orozco's story and was bawling! His family is so loving and he is just a sweetheart.

I do have to say though, his mother's eyes remind me so much of Arwen!

[*Anya*]

Originally Posted by lusciouskiwi

Shock horror. Actually I haven't watched any of it. YOutube, here I come. Meanwhile, this popped up on my fb:

http://www.gaystarnews.com/article/l...ise-fury280712

Thanks for this.

I guess at 15 seconds (according to the YouTube guy that timed it frame by frame) if you blinked-you missed it.

I did not see it during the NBC montage.

[Martina]

Orozco looks like he was the weight of the world on his shoulders. It makes me sad. Great story though, I agree. I read that he went pro and gave up his NCAA eligibility. Of course, he could have gotten a free college education at a great gymnastics school. I pray that he does well and has a way to make a living indefinitely -- and can help his family -- because he can't go back where that is concerned. So many kids want to be athletes, but young athletes so often get chewed up and spit out whether they are good or not. It was cool that Orozco's coach when he was young trained him for free. But if mom hadn't been willing and able to do all that driving, . . . .

It was good to see that he made the all around finals. Weird that the US qualified in first but that so few of ours guys are in individual finals. I don't understand the scoring.

[Soon]

The Dream Team: Jake Dalton, Jonathan Horton, Danell Leyva, Sam Mikulak, John Orozco

[Martina]

That was cool indeed! Thanks.

I got up out of my recliner and yelled and cheered during the final sprint of the women's road race. I startled the cats. Great race.

I didn't care much who won although it would have been great for the Brits if their rider had gotten the gold. It was just exciting.

I like races. Races are my favorite thing in terms of sports. It can be swimming, track, cycling, rowing, speed skating, anything. It gets my blood up.

Probably my least favorite events are team sports: basketball, volleyball, baseball, water polo.

I have always loved tennis. And I like to watch handball, ping pong and badminton. Those are fun. Like duels.

Archery, shooting, equestrian events, judo, wrestling, weightlifting, the non-race track events, and so on -- I do not become very engaged. I used to love boxing, but Mike Tyson ruined it for me. Or got me out of denial that it is a sickening sport.

I like diving and gymnastics, but I cannot always tell why one performance is good and another is not. Things like whether they took a hop or made a splash are obvious. But a lot of the time, especially in diving, I have to wait for the announcer to tell me whether it was a good performance or not. Also, the woman who is the color commentator, the former diver, drives me crazy because she does not speak standard English. I can't remember her name and don't know if she's back this time. She has done it forever though, so probably.

[Mr. Moon]

Originally Posted by Martina

That was cool indeed! Thanks.

I got up out of my recliner and yelled and cheered during the final sprint of the women's road race. I startled the cats. Great race.

I did too and I'm over here in the US! I was on the phone even, it rang right towards the end...my friend was rattling and I was pinned to this finish! It was well done!

I can watch almost all of the events. Although gymnastics makes me fall asleep...which is what happened last night.

And, btw, I liked the opening ceremony. To me, much better than a flashy mob of people with no purpose other than to send someones ADD into overdrive. So Well done London!!

-Mr. Moon

[Soon]

Jordyn Wieber Out Of Olympic Gymnastics All-Around Final, Gabby Douglas, Aly Raisman Advance


(random: I had a scrapbook of Nadia Comaneci in 1976 and was a bit of a gymnast back in the day before I grew too tall!)

[Soon]

http://deadspin.com/5929921/us-mens-...g-france-by-75

[Soon]

NBC Cut Terror Victims Tribute Because It Wasn’t ‘Tailored for the U.S. Audience’


/snip/

That may not have been NBC's intention, but without a more thorough explanation, it doesn't look good. USA Today suggests that NBC "didn't see lingering on that as helping its overall marketing effort." That's only slightly less offensive than the conclusion Daily Kos draws, as articulated in this analogy:

Can you imagine the BBC opting to cut out a tribute to 9-11 at a future Olympics held in the States because it wasn't "tailored for a UK audience"? If that happened, suffice to say the switchboards at BBC Broadcasting House would have blown a fuse.

Again, it's unlikely NBC had that much foresight, but the ignorance is just as damning.

[Soon]

While I was on Jezebel reading the comments about the Wieber controversy, a reader mentioned that there is a 37 year old female gymnast (vaulter) from Germany competing in the games! This is her sixth Olympic games!

Oksana Chusovitina

London 2012, Beijing 2008, Athens 2004, Sydney 2000, Atlanta 1996, Barcelona 1992

Awww poor Tom and his diving partner.

[Martina]

Just saw about half of a U.S. women's water polo game and liked it more than I thought I would.

[Martina]

The New York Times article about Michael Phelps' legacy. What I liked about it was there was no archness, no hesitation to be uncool and just be amazed at this guy's achievement. I appreciated that.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/05/sp...pagewanted=all

[Ciaran]

I'm glad to say that, to date, my misgivings about London 2012 are being proved wrong.


Public transport has been holding up exceptionally well, with the chaos many predicted not transpiring. In terms of the actual sport, and the stories of individual competitors and their personal journeys, London 2012 has already made its mark.


So far, I've only been to one of the sports events, women's volleyball between the UK and Italy last Wednesday. When I purchased these tickets, I wrongly assumed that this was beach volleyball which, for London 2012, is in a fantastic setting with a beach created in Horse Guards Parade in central London, underlooking Big Ben, the Houses of Parliament etc.


Alas, it turned out to be for "proper" volleyball which I've negligible interest in and, added to that, the UK got comprehensively beaten .... but still an enjoyable evening.


Last week, I was able to secure tickets for track & field next Tuesday from the official Olympic site (additional tickets have been sporadically going on sale over the past week or so). Would very much like to go to the Olympic Stadium for this but 50-50 at the moment due to very pressing work commitments. In any event, I'll be attending the men's soccer final next Saturday which should be good - esp. as it looks like it could be a Mexico versus Brazil final with both teams being in good form.


After a slow start, it's turned into a fantastic tournament for the UK team. We now have 14 gold medals, are third in the medals table and, whilst it's very unlikely that we'll catch either the US or China, the momentum we have and, with some strong events still to come, it's more than likely than we're stay comfortably in third. That's some achievement vis-a-vis the one gold medal we won in Atlanta 1996.

[Martina]

Yeah, Saturday was a tremendous day for the British. And wow re the gold in men's tennis. Congrats.

I am still glowing re the career of Michael Phelps. I am impressed at how he came back from a poor start at this meet. I am impressed with how open he is emotionally. He is not just talented. He worked hard for many years. And he is an ordinary decent guy. I saw him around Ann Arbor a couple of times back in the day. And word was that when kids or others came up to him to shake his hand or say something nice, he was always gracious. He used to eat at this deli I occasionally went to, and his ability to eat large quantities of food was legendary.

Anyway, I wish him the best in his second career, whatever it may be. I certainly have enjoyed watching him swim.

[Soon]

I'm looking forward to the individual events in gymnastics tonight!


So happy for Gabby Douglas!

very unimpressed and disgusted over internet snarking over her hair! wtf.

[Martina]

[JustJo]

I'm really enjoying watching these Olympics...and keep coming back to the same place (which I'm sure Snack is tired of hearing )....and that's how impressed I am with the dedication and heart of each and every one of these athletes.

During the opening ceremonies, during the entrance of the athletes, the commentators remarked that most of the countries sending representatives have never won a single medal. I think we forget that in the U.S. We're so used to the "medal count" and talking about how many gold and silver and bronze our athletes won.

I am almost more impressed with those athletes who train for countless hours, travel to the Olympics and give it everything they've got.....even as they know that they have virtually no chance of medaling. What must it feel like to be swimming against the likes of Phelps and some of these others.....putting your whole heart into it and knowing you will lose before you leave the blocks? But here's the amazing part....they don't let it stop them....and watching them go as hard as they can, I am impressed as hell with their character, dedication and courage.

For me, they are all champions.

[Ciaran]

Originally Posted by JustJo

I am almost more impressed with those athletes who train for countless hours, travel to the Olympics and give it everything they've got.....even as they know that they have virtually no chance of medaling. What must it feel like to be swimming against the likes of Phelps and some of these others.....putting your whole heart into it and knowing you will lose before you leave the blocks? But here's the amazing part....they don't let it stop them....and watching them go as hard as they can, I am impressed as hell with their character, dedication and courage.

This is a very important aspect of the Olympics. Okay, so all the competitors are great athletes in their own right and, no doubt, better than 99.99% of people in their sporting field. However, many compete for the love of their sport, make significant personal and financial sacrifices and, of course, many hold down "normal" jobs and lead "normal" lives.

Therefore, to compete in the Olympics, with the best in the world and at the world's second highest profile sporting competition, must be amazing for these folk. Looking at the athletes parade at the Opening Ceremony and seeing many of them capturing the moment with cameras and phones reiterates this ... okay, so you probably won't see the World's best do that but it does bring home just how personal it is for all those involved and how much it means.





This photo, in my view, sums up the best of the Olympics (and there's still a lot of bad):



It shows Ruben Limardo, a fencer, who had just won Venezuela's first Olympic gold medal since Mexico 1968. He's pictured travelling back from the successful tournament to the Olympic Village, travelling on the London underground i.e. public transport, alongside spectators and commuters. He's just won his country's first gold medal in a generation, the delight is infectious and there's no need for a chauffeur or a limousine ... he's using public transport.