Summer Olympic Games - London 2012 - Part 1

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This is a continuation thread, the old thread is [split]382035[/split]

 

[tzarinna]

http://www.london2012.com/

http://www.teamusa.org/

Olympic Games 27 July-12 Aug 2012

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Well, the 100 day mark was missed. But we have 97 days left to go before the games begin! Oh, how I wish I could be there.

You may not be hyped now, you may not be hyped tomorrow, but you will get caught up in the excitement when the U.S. starts to dominate in every event.

I'm looking forward to soccer, swimming, diving, gymnastics, rowing and canoe/kayak.

What is everyone else looking forward to?

 

[HBKfan28]

USA and Japan delivered a great re-match of the women's world cup. (Japan got robbed of a handball PK though)

The women's team will be having numerous friendly matches in the fall, starting early in September. The 2 announced so far are on NBC. Sept 1 vs Costa Rica and Sept 16 vs Australia, plus two men's world cup qualifying matches in between those. Good two months for soccer fans.

 

[Kelly]

Well, the US is now ahead in all medals, and 10 ahead of China in total medal count....good job USA.

 

[Sakuraba]

Glad to see that. This is our best gold performance in several Olympics.

You know, earlier in the Games I would think Team USA had an awesome day and then I'd look at the medal count and see that we LOST ground against Team China. So I was looking to see where China was winning medals and they have EIGHT medals from badminton alone! Diving, swimming, and gymnastics are their other big sports.

Their swim program is coming on. I really look forward to future USA/China battles in the pool. Should be an amazing rivalry.

But Team China doesn't have a single medal in track and field. They're not even on the map. I wonder what's going on there.

 

[Kelly]

All of those other things are indoors.....they can't run outside.... : )

 

[Webfoot Hero]

Glad to see that. This is our best gold performance in several Olympics.

You know, earlier in the Games I would think Team USA had an awesome day and then I'd look at the medal count and see that we LOST ground against Team China. So I was looking to see where China was winning medals and they have EIGHT medals from badminton alone! Diving, swimming, and gymnastics are their other big sports.

Their swim program is coming on. I really look forward to future USA/China battles in the pool. Should be an amazing rivalry.

But Team China doesn't have a single medal in track and field. They're not even on the map. I wonder what's going on there.

China has put an emphasis on sports that either they've been traditionally good at or ones that don't require skill and physical attributes not found in their athletes (namely speed, muscle mass, and height.)

 

[Sakuraba]

The Chinese are stereotyping themselves. That's too rich. If Liu Xiang can be a gold medalist hurdler there has to be other type 1 athletes in a country of 1.2 billion. Those school teachers have to do a better job of identifying kids that can hop really far and throw rocks great distances.

 

[Dr. Evil]

Glad to see that. This is our best gold performance in several Olympics.

You know, earlier in the Games I would think Team USA had an awesome day and then I'd look at the medal count and see that we LOST ground against Team China. So I was looking to see where China was winning medals and they have EIGHT medals from badminton alone! Diving, swimming, and gymnastics are their other big sports.

Their swim program is coming on. I really look forward to future USA/China battles in the pool. Should be an amazing rivalry.

But Team China doesn't have a single medal in track and field. They're not even on the map. I wonder what's going on there.

Their best hopes for a track and field medal were dashed in the 110 meter hurdles preliminaries.

 

[Hunter Rider]

Allyson Felix getting some notice....for her looks:

http://sports.yahoo.com/photos/olympics-olympic-crush-sprinter-allyson-felix-slideshow/

 

[Dr. Evil]

The Chinese are stereotyping themselves. That's too rich. If Liu Xiang can be a gold medalist hurdler there has to be other type 1 athletes in a country of 1.2 billion. Those school teachers have to do a better job of identifying kids that can hop really far and throw rocks great distances.

They have track and field athletes, but they cannot outrun any American, European or Caribbean nations. They are in the prelims of every sprint/hurdle race, but except for Liu Xiang, they don't pose any threat to the United States. Track and Field is the one sport that prevents China from surpassing the United States in the medal count. Plus, it doesn't help that even if China was to match the United States in track and field dominance, China would have to run down Jamaica, which would be very hard to do.

The US and Jamaica have so much depth in Track and Field that a country as massive as China won't dominate in Track and Field.

 

[Sakuraba]

It seems like half of these foreign sprinters run at American universities.

You know, I like Usain Bolt. I do. He's a showman, he showed a great deal of class the other day when he stopped an interview while a medal ceremony was starting, and he's a big stage performer. BUT, it really irks me when he slows up at the end of sprints.

It was both cute and stunning in Beijing. Watching him coast his way to a blowout was jaw-dropping. Now, I don't know. Do you want to showboat and make a mockery of your opponents, or run hard to the finish and set an Olympic record that may not be touched for generations?

 

[Sakuraba]

They have track and field athletes, but they cannot outrun any American, European or Caribbean nations. They are in the prelims of every sprint/hurdle race, but except for Liu Xiang, they don't pose any threat to the United States. Track and Field is the one sport that prevents China from surpassing the United States in the medal count. Plus, it doesn't help that even if China was to match the United States in track and field dominance, China would have to run down Jamaica.

Once upon a time they weren't making it out of heats in swimming events either, now they're the clear number two in that sport.

Genetics has something to do with it on a general level, but they just aren't doing a good job of IDing and cultivating their athletes IMO. Not when you've got a 1 billion pool of people and the government can take who they want out of school.

 

[Dr. Evil]

It seems like half of these foreign sprinters run at American universities.

You know, I like Usain Bolt. I do. He's a showman, he showed a great deal of class the other day when he stopped an interview while a medal ceremony was starting, and he's a big stage performer. BUT, it really irks me when he slows up at the end of sprints.

It was both cute and stunning in Beijing. Watching him coast his way to a blowout was jaw-dropping. Now, I don't know. Do you want to showboat and make a mockery of your opponents, or run hard to the finish and set an Olympic record that may not be touched for generations?

None are Chinese though and maybe if that was to happen, there would be more Chinese athletes in the finals of the sprints and hurdles events. If China wants to prove that they are the greatest Olympic nation, they have to find a way to improve in track and field. China led the medals after the first week, but we all knew it wasn't going to last due to track and field, one of China's weaker sports and a sport where America has a lot of depth and a lot of strength.

China leading shouldn't have worried the Americans because of Track and Field. We all know that China, (except for Liu Xiang), poses no major threat to America on the track.

And they'll probably have a large medal lead in the first week of the Rio Olympics, and then the track and field starts and that medal lead for China evaporates quickly.

 

[Dr. Evil]

Once upon a time they weren't making it out of heats in swimming events either, now they're the clear number two in that sport.

Genetics has something to do with it on a general level, but they just aren't doing a good job of IDing and cultivating their athletes IMO. Not when you've got a 1 billion pool of people and the government can take who they want out of school.

I don't see China posing any threat to the US or Jamaica in Rio. Maybe 2020 or 2024.

Of course they could always give a bunch of Caribbean, African and European Athletes "citizenship" if they really wanted to dominate on the track and field. But that would be the easy way out and I think China wants to beat both the United States and Jamaica in track and field the hard way (basically by training natural born Chinese Athletes).

Liu Xiang was supposed to be the one who convinces many Chinese to compete in track and field. That hasn't worked out. I think China believes that their time to dominate the track and field is coming, I don't see it though.

 

[Kelly]

It seems like half of these foreign sprinters run at American universities.

You know, I like Usain Bolt. I do. He's a showman, he showed a great deal of class the other day when he stopped an interview while a medal ceremony was starting, and he's a big stage performer. BUT, it really irks me when he slows up at the end of sprints.

It was both cute and stunning in Beijing. Watching him coast his way to a blowout was jaw-dropping. Now, I don't know. Do you want to showboat and make a mockery of your opponents, or run hard to the finish and set an Olympic record that may not be touched for generations?

If you run in multiple races, why kill yourself if you don't necessarily need to....????

 

[Anita18]

The Chinese are stereotyping themselves. That's too rich. If Liu Xiang can be a gold medalist hurdler there has to be other type 1 athletes in a country of 1.2 billion. Those school teachers have to do a better job of identifying kids that can hop really far and throw rocks great distances.

Speaking of experience, we're really good at that.

When my mom blew out her back trying to lift a box of books (having never lifted much of anything in her entire life), my dad's advice to all of us was not to start lifting weights...but to forbid us from lifting anything ever.

 

[Sakuraba]

If you run in multiple races, why kill yourself if you don't necessarily need to....????

To set a world record? To win by a record distance? To immortalize yourself? To push yourself and the boundaries of your sport? Not to get philosophical, but why even run to begin with?

The idea of putting out the last 10M of a final being so draining is extremely overrated to me. As if running hard an extra 10m is going to render a guy that's trained that distance twenty years useless in the relay. I just don't buy it.

 

[Dr. Evil]

When track and field starts, most Americans know that's when we surpass China in the medal count. It was the same in Beijing, the same in London.

Shanghai hosts the 2015 IAAF World Championships in Athletics, which is the world championships for Track and Field. China has three years to improve and strengthen their track and field program otherwise the same will happen in Rio as it did in London and Beijing: they finish second in the medal count behind USA due to Track and Field being a significant weakness for China.

They have three medals in track and field: Gold and bronze in Men's 20 KM Racewalking and a bronze in the Women's discus, but I think China believes they can do better, especially at the glamour events of track and field (the Sprints and hurdles).

 

[Dr. Evil]

Too bad that the US Women's Soccer Team have no league to go back too after winning the gold medal

 

[Webfoot Hero]

To set a world record? To win by a record distance? To immortalize yourself? To push yourself and the boundaries of your sport? Not to get philosophical, but why even run to begin with?

The idea of putting out the last 10M of a final being so draining is extremely overrated to me. As if running hard an extra 10m is going to render a guy that's trained that distance twenty years useless in the relay. I just don't buy it.

He's already immortalized himself by winning the 100m and 200m in consecutive Olympics in OR and WR times.

 

[Dr. Evil]

What a predicament for USA Women's Soccer: They win the gold medal and yet they have no league at all to go back to, unlike their counterparts in basketball. They had a league, but it didn't work out.

 

[Immortalfire]

Gah, Alex Morgan is just lovely

 

[Dr. Evil]

Saw the Women's 4 x 100 meter relay prelims on the track. The USA had the leading time heading into the finals. They have so much depth, that Allyson Felix and Carmelita Jeter did not even run in the prelims, but are expected to run in the finals.

The four that ran in the prelims were Tianna Madison, Jenebah Tarmoh, Bianca Knight and Lauryn Williams.

As for the Men's 4 x 400 meter relay, I expect the United States to use their 400 meter hurdlers (as they have done in recent years) in the relay.

 

[Darthphere]

What a predicament for USA Women's Soccer: They win the gold medal and yet they have no league at all to go back to, unlike their counterparts in basketball. They had a league, but it didn't work out.

They'll just go overseas. There's one in the works supposedly but I wouldn't hold my breath.