Rio Olympics 2016

Rams

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That has to be one of the best bike races ever. Had everything. A Belgian winning gold in their national sport as well.
 

Ainu

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Greg what a hero! I'm a cycling fanatic (comes with being born and raised in Flanders) so this is one of the greatest sporting moments I'll ever experience in my life. What an incredible race and final! Couldn't care less if we don't win another medal for the rest of the games.
 

Lurpak99

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Get in there! A silver medal in a race with so many great riders is absolutely fantastic. Well done Jakob!
 

Ainu

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Lurpak99 said:
Get in there! A silver medal in a race with so many great riders is absolutely fantastic. Well done Jakob!
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He deserves a lot of praise for his final attack. They could've let Majka ride to gold and fight for silver among themselves but he took the risk and went for it. Greg jumped with him, they understood eachother perfectly and it got them gold and silver. It was great to see.
 

Lurpak99

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Ainu said:
He deserves a lot of praise for his final attack. They could've let Majka ride to gold and fight for silver among themselves but he took the risk and went for it. Greg jumped with him, they understood eachother perfectly and it got them gold and silver. It was great to see.
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I think Fuglsang knew that he had to catch Majka in order to at least get a silver medal, because Van Avermaet was always going to beat him in a sprint anyway.
 

Zen

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How laid back is that Peaty guy? Jesus.

The Road Race looked destructive, the guy who came in third legit gave it all to try and get that breakaway gold, sufferfest of the highest order.
 

bucky

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Really hope nobody has seen the leg break of the French gymnast. I wish I hadn't.
 

fontaine

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first brazilian medal is in rifle shooting
go figure
 

Brwned

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Ainu said:
Greg what a hero! I'm a cycling fanatic (comes with being born and raised in Flanders) so this is one of the greatest sporting moments I'll ever experience in my life. What an incredible race and final! Couldn't care less if we don't win another medal for the rest of the games.
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As a spectator sport, what's the appeal?

I've decided to watch at least one major event of every Olympic sport, so watched archery, cycling, judo and shooting today. Archery and shooting are pretty dull, even if the technical expertise and mental fortitude is impressive. Judo's great fun. Cycling just felt like a chore - I really struggle to understand why it has mass appeal.
 

The Black Pearl

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Any sign of that Irish priest Father Neil Horan out there yet? He said he's going to put a few of them doing the marathon flying all sides again.
 

Siorac

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Woooo we have a gold right away. Nice.

I used to do fencing around the age of 10 so I feel like I contributed to this.
 

Gio

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Raoul said:
Watching this from start to finish has got me excited about Rio. Riveting stuff.

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It'll be hard to repeat tension like that under the new false start rules. Very open field that night, Fredericks and Bolton were the form men. Always felt for Frankie never getting gold and getting pushed into silver by world records. Christie knew he needed a flyer by that stage in his career, although his second false start was only very marginally inside the 0.1s threshold for reacting to the gun.
Classical Mechanic said:
Bailey and Bolt are the only two 100m champs since 1984 to have not ever failed a dope test. The 1984 champ was Carl Lewis, however.
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Are Lewis's pre-Olympic positives in 1988 not official then?
 

Mark_GrumpyLion

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Super excited for Van Avermaet. He's no Dutchie, but he's a good rider and has turned me during the Tour de France this year. Gonna try and catch some highlights today.

Brwned said:
As a spectator sport, what's the appeal?

I've decided to watch at least one major event of every Olympic sport, so watched archery, cycling, judo and shooting today. Archery and shooting are pretty dull, even if the technical expertise and mental fortitude is impressive. Judo's great fun. Cycling just felt like a chore - I really struggle to understand why it has mass appeal.
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I think it's a bit hard to explain, especially where races like this (based on country) are different from the regular season, where the teams make up the peloton instead. For me, it brings amusement by seeing a sport that I enjoy doing myself done at the highest level with a mixture of tactics, intelligence and raw power and struggling. Sometimes it drags on, but races like the Tour de France get super exciting once the tactical games between the teams start kicking off. And besides that, the sport offers high rewards both for working tactically as a team or taking risks as an individual. Both appeal to me, and I guess that's why I enjoy it so much. As a Dutch commentator said during the Tour de France "This is what cycling is supposed to be, playing poker while suffering on your bike."
 

Andrew~

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I caught Sweden v Argentina in the Women's handball and was really surprised at how good a sport it is. I'll have to keep looking in on it.
 

ctp

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Andrew~ said:
I caught Sweden v Argentina in the Women's handball and was really surprised at how good a sport it is. I'll have to keep looking in on it.
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Handball is a great sport. Try to catch the men's tournament, it's a lot more dynamic.
 

Brwned

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Mark_GrumpyLion said:
Super excited for Van Avermaet. He's no Dutchie, but he's a good rider and has turned me during the Tour de France this year. Gonna try and catch some highlights today.

I think it's a bit hard to explain, especially where races like this (based on country) are different from the regular season, where the teams make up the peloton instead. For me, it brings amusement by seeing a sport that I enjoy doing myself done at the highest level with a mixture of tactics, intelligence and raw power and struggling. Sometimes it drags on, but races like the Tour de France get super exciting once the tactical games between the teams start kicking off. And besides that, the sport offers high rewards both for working tactically as a team or taking risks as an individual. Both appeal to me, and I guess that's why I enjoy it so much. As a Dutch commentator said during the Tour de France "This is what cycling is supposed to be, playing poker while suffering on your bike."
Click to expand...
That's a good description. I do get that. I see the incredible displays of endurance and determination, a myriad of complex strategies and a level of unpredictability, and they're impressive, but it feels like a test of endurance just watching it sometimes. Maybe you have to be a cyclist to really enjoy it? There are lots of football, tennis, F1, athletics, american football, basketball, baseball, handball etc. fans that don't participate in the sport. Cycling seems different in that sense, but maybe I'm wrong.

Andrew~ said:
I caught Sweden v Argentina in the Women's handball and was really surprised at how good a sport it is. I'll have to keep looking in on it.
Click to expand...
It's actually very popular in a lot of Europe, which surprises a lot of people in the UK. It's one of the top three sports in a number of countries - second only to football in some countries, e.g. Denmark - and the women's version is similarly popular to the men's. I think it's good fun - explosive, all-action.
 

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Got the idea and template from one another local forum. Might be interesting to some. Did the same in 2014.

Finals (August 6th)
(001/306) shooting w 10m air rifle 1) Thrasher (USA) 2) Du (CHN) 3) Yi (CHN) 4) Engleder (GER) 5) Vdovina (RUS) 6) Ahmadi (IRI)
(002/306) cycling m road race 1) Van Avermaet (BEL) 2) Fuglsang (DEN) 3) Majka (POL) 4) Alaphilippe (FRA) 5) Rodriguez Oliver (ESP) 6) Aru (ITA)
(003/306) shooting m 10m air pistol 1) Hoang (VIE) 2) Wu (BRA) 3) Pang (CHN) 4) Tuzinsky (SVK) 5) Jin (KOR) 6) Giordano (ITA)
(004/306) judo w 48kg 1) Pareto (ARG) 2) Jeong (KOR) 3) Kondo (JPN) 3) Galbadrakh (KAZ) 5) Munkhbat (MGL) 5) Maestre Alvarez (CUB)
(005/306) archery m team 1) Republic of Korea (KOR) 2) United States (USA) 3) Australia (AUS) 4) China (CHN) 5) France (FRA) 6) Indonesia (INA)
(006/306) judo m 60kg 1) Mudranov (RUS) 2) Smetov (KAZ) 3) Takato (JPN) 3) Urozboev (UZB) 5) Safarov (AZE) 5) Papinashvili (GEO)
(007/306) fencing w individual épée 1) Szasz (HUN) 2) Fiamingo (ITA) 3) Sun (CHN) 4) Rembi (FRA) 5) Besbes (TUN) 6) Moellhausen (BRA)
(008/306) weightlifting w 48kg 1) Tanasan (THA) 2) Agustiani (INA) 3) Miyake (JPN) 4) Piron Candelario (DOM) 5) Yelisseyeva (KAZ) 6) King (USA)
(009/306) swimming m 400m individual medley 1) Hagino (JPN) 2) Kalisz (USA) 3) Seto (JPN) 4) Litchfield (GBR) 5) Litherland (USA) 6) Fraser-Holmes (AUS)
(010/306) swimming m 400m freestyle 1) Horton (AUS) 2) Sun (CHN) 3) Detti (ITA) 4) Dwyer (USA) 5) Jaeger (USA) 6) Guy (GBR)
(011/306) swimming w 400m individual medley 1) Hosszu (HUN) 2) Dirado (USA) 3) Belmonte Garcia (ESP) 4) Miley (GBR) 5) Overholt (CAN) 6) Beisel (USA)
(012/306) swimming w 4x100m freestyle relay 1) Australia (AUS) 2) United States (USA) 3) Canada (CAN) 4) Netherlands (NED) 5) Sweden (SWE) 6) Italy (ITA)

Expanded Medal Table (August 6th)
01 ) 02 - 00 - 01 / 00 - 00 - 01 Australia
02 ) 02 - 00 - 00 / 00 - 00 - 00 Hungary
03 ) 01 - 04 - 00 / 01 - 02 - 02 United States
04 ) 01 - 01 - 00 / 00 - 00 - 00 Republic of Korea
05 ) 01 - 00 - 04 / 00 - 00 - 00 Japan
06 ) 01 - 00 - 00 / 00 - 01 - 00 Russia
07 ) 01 - 00 - 00 / 00 - 00 - 00 Argentina
07 ) 01 - 00 - 00 / 00 - 00 - 00 Belgium
07 ) 01 - 00 - 00 / 00 - 00 - 00 Thailand
07 ) 01 - 00 - 00 / 00 - 00 - 00 Vietnam
11 ) 00 - 02 - 03 / 00 - 01 - 00 China
12 ) 00 - 01 - 01 / 00 - 01 - 00 Kazakhstan
13 ) 00 - 01 - 01 / 00 - 00 - 03 Italy
14 ) 00 - 01 - 00 / 00 - 00 - 01 Brazil
14 ) 00 - 01 - 00 / 00 - 00 - 01 Indonesia
16 ) 00 - 01 - 00 / 00 - 00 - 00 Denmark
17 ) 00 - 00 - 01 / 00 - 01 - 00 Canada
17 ) 00 - 00 - 01 / 00 - 01 - 00 Spain
19 ) 00 - 00 - 01 / 00 - 00 - 00 Poland
19 ) 00 - 00 - 01 / 00 - 00 - 00 Uzbekistan
21 ) 00 - 00 - 00 / 02 - 01 - 00 France
22 ) 00 - 00 - 00 / 02 - 00 - 01 Great Britain
23 ) 00 - 00 - 00 / 01 - 00 - 00 Dominican Republic
23 ) 00 - 00 - 00 / 01 - 00 - 00 Germany
23 ) 00 - 00 - 00 / 01 - 00 - 00 Netherlands
23 ) 00 - 00 - 00 / 01 - 00 - 00 Slovakia
27 ) 00 - 00 - 00 / 00 - 01 - 00 Azerbaijan
27 ) 00 - 00 - 00 / 00 - 01 - 00 Cuba
27 ) 00 - 00 - 00 / 00 - 01 - 00 Georgia
27 ) 00 - 00 - 00 / 00 - 01 - 00 Mongolia
27 ) 00 - 00 - 00 / 00 - 01 - 00 Sweden
27 ) 00 - 00 - 00 / 00 - 01 - 00 Tunisia
33 ) 00 - 00 - 00 / 00 - 00 - 01 Iran

Next finals (August 7th)
16:00 shooting 10m air pistol women
17:15 cycling road race women
20:30 shooting Trap women
20:30 judo men's 66kg and women's 52kg
20:30 weightlifting 53kg women
21:00 diving sync. 3m springboard
21:30 archery team women
22:15 fencing individual foil men
00:00 weightlifting 56kg men
03:00 swimming 100m butterfly women
03:50 swimming 100m breastroke men
04:00 swimming 400m freestyle women
04:50 swimming 4x100m freestyle relay men

CET times, subtract one hour for BST.
 
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justboy68

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Brwned said:
That's a good description. I do get that. I see the incredible displays of endurance and determination, a myriad of complex strategies and a level of unpredictability, and they're impressive, but it feels like a test of endurance just watching it sometimes. Maybe you have to be a cyclist to really enjoy it? There are lots of football, tennis, F1, athletics, american football, basketball, baseball, handball etc. fans that don't participate in the sport. Cycling seems different in that sense, but maybe I'm wrong.



It's actually very popular in a lot of Europe, which surprises a lot of people in the UK. It's one of the top three sports in a number of countries - second only to football in some countries, e.g. Denmark - and the women's version is similarly popular to the men's. I think it's good fun - explosive, all-action.
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Watching cycling is a bit like watching test cricket or golf I'd say. It's fully understandable and probably expected that you wouldn't watch the whole thing from start to finish, but keep an eye on it, watch highlights etc and maybe watch the big mountain stages live.

In the case of a one day classic or a special race like the Olympics then again, maybe just have it in the background or flick over now and against and watch the last 20km or so live.
 

Mark_GrumpyLion

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Brwned said:
That's a good description. I do get that. I see the incredible displays of endurance and determination, a myriad of complex strategies and a level of unpredictability, and they're impressive, but it feels like a test of endurance just watching it sometimes. Maybe you have to be a cyclist to really enjoy it? There are lots of football, tennis, F1, athletics, american football, basketball, baseball, handball etc. fans that don't participate in the sport. Cycling seems different in that sense, but maybe I'm wrong.
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Nah, I don't think you need to cycle to enjoy it, but it's a matter of taste mostly. @justboy68 makes a great point as well, its not something that you have to monitor at all times. During the Tour or Vuelta I'll have it on in the background while doing my other stuff, and keep an eye out for any attacks or changes in the race that are interesting. It all depends on what you like and what you enjoy watching. Usually, the flatter stages that resolve in mass sprints are not interesting to watch at all, so you can just tune in for the last 20K and see them build to the final. But if it's climbing, I can watch it from start to finish.
 

Ainu

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Mark_GrumpyLion said:
Nah, I don't think you need to cycle to enjoy it, but it's a matter of taste mostly. @justboy68 makes a great point as well, its not something that you have to monitor at all times. During the Tour or Vuelta I'll have it on in the background while doing my other stuff, and keep an eye out for any attacks or changes in the race that are interesting. It all depends on what you like and what you enjoy watching. Usually, the flatter stages that resolve in mass sprints are not interesting to watch at all, so you can just tune in for the last 20K and see them build to the final. But if it's climbing, I can watch it from start to finish.
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Climbing stages, particularly in the Tour, have become somewhat less interesting in modern times due to the extreme control of certain big teams. There's rarely a real battle among the GC riders anymore. Perhaps also due to the reduced doping. Although the situation is slightly better in the other two grand tours. One day classics are often far more spectacular to watch, with less control and a lot more attacks from favourites at an earlier point than in most other races. Paris-Roubaix this year for example had a final that started 100km from the finish. This Olympic race was equally thrilling, it doesn't get much better than that.
 

Blatzo

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A guy I know is competing today in the Men's K1 Kayak Slalom if anybody wants to watch somebody "local" at the Olympics.

Johny Akinyemi is a Warrington athlete representing Nigeria and races at (approximately) 5:22pm today, with his second run at roughly 7:22pm. Johny didn't have much luck in the run up to Rio and almost didn't make it due to his custom built kayak being damaged in transit followed by a problem with his intended flight to the games. A social media campaign was able to raise awareness of his unfortunate circumstances and get him there for the opening ceremony, where he proudly walked out with the rest of team Nigeria.

the BBC article is here:

He's one of the nicest blokes you could ever hope to meet and 100s of friends and family will be proudly watching him compete later today.

Good Luck #Kayakinyemi
 

Mark_GrumpyLion

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Ainu said:
Climbing stages, particularly in the Tour, have become somewhat less interesting in modern times due to the extreme control of certain big teams. There's rarely a real battle among the GC riders anymore. Perhaps also due to the reduced doping. Although the situation is slightly better in the other two grand tours. One day classics are often far more spectacular to watch, with less control and a lot more attacks from favourites at an earlier point than in most other races. Paris-Roubaix this year for example had a final that started 100km from the finish. This Olympic race was equally thrilling, it doesn't get much better than that.
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Yeah, those are valid points. The tour has become a bit of a best of the rest lately with Sky being so dominant. It's a discussion for the cycling thread though. The one day races are indeed great too, Mollema did great in one last week.
 
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