Olympics, better late than never

[Atxracer 797]

Haven't read the whole thread so not sure if this has been said.  But, I respect the hell out of her and think she is a great person and athlete.  With that said, my issue is she made a statement where she said she was always doing this for other people and not her and this Olympics she was doing for her.  So, when she wasn't comfortable, she bailed.  

The issue I have is that the Olympics are not for you. They are for your Country and you representing that Country. Go compete, win nationals or whatever the hell they do for you.  The Olympics aren't for you.

[Kermit 3156]

Is this the same team USA who had the coach that was fingering little girls? And then did nothing about it? Sorry if I side with Simone on this one. She doesn’t owe anyone a goddamn thing. She had a bad day, knew that she could fuck it up for her teammates, stepped out, they got silver. Hopefully she gets her head on straight and can medal in the individual rounds.

[Guest Lobo]

All I know is I watch her running down the mat at 8m/second, hitting the jump pad then the springboard upside down and backwards before sending herself 10-15 feet in the air to turn her body around at about 150rpm (1/3rd the speed of a helicopter rotor) while also flipping around on the vertical.  With that kind of velocity and inertia, at those heights, one wrong move and she'll be endorsing a series of bibs for drooling adults for the rest of the decade. 

They all face the same risks, but she seems to move a little bit faster and higher than everyone else, probably a little riskier to make the moves she does.  I wouldn't chance it, but it is the Olympics.  But I really don't care, my children love watching her compete.  She's bringing her "gymnast road show" to Austin in the Autumn and we'll go see her then.  Meantime, I hope everyone else from the team racks up some hardware on the individuals side of the games.  Who really cares in the end, besides their families and corporate sponsors? 

It's 2021 America, we'll find a way to force this into becoming a wedge issue, even though it's not.  I heard a prominent newsman this morning say he was glad that our women's soccer team and men's basketball team lost because they're not patriotic enough.  As if donning the flag uniform and training year around for this one moment to represent your nation isn't patriotic enough.  I never even considered that could be a thing.  I get not getting into the Olympics at all (we only are because our kids love it).  But I've never in 20+ olympics, ever heard anyone in the media say they were glad some of our teams had lost.  To have that opinion would never even occur to me.  I'm sure that guy will get promoted to his own primetime show and Simone will get hate mail.  

Edited July 27, 2021 by Lobo

[ChickenSandwich 9843]

48 minutes ago, naija said:

well, you are cherry picking quotes. physically, she is fine, in the sense that she did not have an injury. but she has clearly said, that the mental aspect tied into feeling like she could not physically execute the moves safely.

[quote]"You have to be there 100%," Biles told reporters after the meet. "If not, you get hurt. Today has been really stressful. I was shaking. I couldn't nap. I have never felt like this going into a competition, and I tried to go out and have fun. But once I came out, I was like, 'No. My mental is not there.'"[/quote]

she has also said that staying for the individuals is not a sure thing.

[quote]Biles said she will take Wednesday as "a mental rest day" and then make a decision on the rest of the Games. "We're going to see about Thursday," she said in reference to the individual all-around final. Biles qualified first into the all-around, and if she decides to defend her gold medal, she will be joined by Suni Lee. If she withdraws, individual athlete Jade Carey will take her place. "We're going to take it one day at a time," Biles said.[/quote]

rule it out now, and I'm sure there will be others saying why do it that early. why not take a break and recompose.

Niki Lauda famously retired during the Japanese Grand Prix despite being ahead in points and as a result lost the Championship simply because he didn't feel safe.

go watch Free Solo again. Alex Honnold just flat out bailed the first time it was all set-up for him to go. He walks to Peter Croft, tells him that he bailed, who tells him, "yeah, good for you."

it happens.

Her interviews seem to cryptically call out either her entourage, marketing team or someone else. “Not doing it for me” etc. maybe a little Brittany situation where the team knows you only really cash in every 4 years. 
 

First time I’ve heard her called the GOAT was this year, really only a few months ago when she started to appear in commercials and promos. The Olympics might as well be the ONLY thing in gymnastics for the general public. 

[Atxracer 797]

10 minutes ago, Kermit said:

Is this the same team USA who had the coach that was fingering little girls? And then did nothing about it? Sorry if I side with Simone on this one. She doesn’t owe anyone a goddamn thing. She had a bad day, knew that she could fuck it up for her teammates, stepped out, they got silver. Hopefully she gets her head on straight and can medal in the individual rounds.

Not very surly like to admit but a very solid point.  

[naija 2869]

16 minutes ago, ztejas said:

C'mon man. Gymnastics might be dangerous but it isn't 80s F1 or what Honnold does. 

I'm not going to bag on Biles too hard because I feel like she probably felt like she could compete and then she got in her own head. 

Like someone pointed out, we may have gotten silver either way. It is what it is. Kind of lame for her to bow out but if she wasn't right mentally then she wasn't right mentally.  If she had've gone out and stunk it up she would have been criticized to a bigger degree I think. 

The point wasn't to state categorically which was more dangerous. They all are dangerous. And that it what makes these sports different than say, basketball. You have no idea what it is like to risk your life or limb doing something like that. And people who do, have made the choice, more than once, to say "hey, this doesn't feel right, I'm not doing it." Of course, it is disappointing to spectators and fans, but the fact that it isn't uncommon should tell you something. By the way, gymnasts suffer one of the highest rates of injury in sports and while paralysis is rare, it does happen. 

8 minutes ago, Atxracer said:

Haven't read the whole thread so not sure if this has been said.  But, I respect the hell out of her and think she is a great person and athlete.  With that said, my issue is she made a statement where she said she was always doing this for other people and not her and this Olympics she was doing for her.  So, when she wasn't comfortable, she bailed.  

The issue I have is that the Olympics are not for you. They are for your Country and you representing that Country. Go compete, win nationals or whatever the hell they do for you.  The Olympics aren't for you.

People keep bringing up Phelps. The guy is easily at the front of the line for greatest Olympian. He is also one of the most outspoken people about mental health now. By his own words, he was suicidal while competing and needed to go into rehab. Still affects him to this day. He also retired, while still being competitive, took care of himself and came back. Guess he was wise to retire at the right time. 

And oh, talking about doing it for yourself?

 

[ztejas 43487]

35 minutes ago, naija said:

The point wasn't to state categorically which was more dangerous. They all are dangerous. And that it what makes these sports different than say, basketball. You have no idea what it is like to risk your life or limb doing something like that. And people who do, have made the choice, more than once, to say "hey, this doesn't feel right, I'm not doing it." Of course, it is disappointing to spectators and fans, but the fact that it isn't uncommon should tell you something. By the way, gymnasts suffer one of the highest rates of injury in sports and while paralysis is rare, it does happen. 

I get the point you're making. I'm saying using Lauda and Honnold as examples is silly. Lauda almost died on the track before coming back. Some of his peers did die. And what Honnold does is absolutely insane. 

I mean seriously - gymnastics and basketball are a lot more comparable than fucking free soloing. Basketball players blow out ACLs and fracture bones all the time. Sure they don't usually die but it's a physical sport that you can get really hurt while playing. 

Edited July 28, 2021 by ztejas

[G650 14263]

14 minutes ago, naija said:

The point wasn't to state categorically which was more dangerous. They all are dangerous. And that it what makes these sports different than say, basketball. You have no idea what it is like to risk your life or limb doing something like that. And people who do, have made the choice, more than once, to say "hey, this doesn't feel right, I'm not doing it." Of course, it is disappointing to spectators and fans, but the fact that it isn't uncommon should tell you something. By the way, gymnasts suffer one of the highest rates of injury in sports and while paralysis is rare, it does happen. 

People keep bringing up Phelps. The guy is easily at the front of the line for greatest Olympian. He is also one of the most outspoken people about mental health now. By his own words, he was suicidal while competing and needed to go into rehab. Still affects him to this day. He also retired, while still being competitive, took care of himself and came back. Guess he was wise to retire at the right time. 

And oh, talking about doing it for yourself?

 

He is literally doing mental health commercials in the ad breaks in this Olympics.

[Wade 464]

7 hours ago, G650 said:

 She stepped away specifically to ensure the US medalled because she thought she wasn't up for it. There's only three scoring athletes, and the three best US gymnasts not named Biles were the ones who competed.

 

Nobody "lost " a spot.

Just to be clear, it's not all four compete and the lowest score is thrown out? 

[Kermit 3156]

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.sportingnews.com/us/amp/athletics/news/olympic-gymnastics-qualifications-explained/4uj564nq21c21i2td56wgm695

[ChickenSandwich 9843]

16 minutes ago, Wade said:

Just to be clear, it's not all four compete and the lowest score is thrown out? 

I was wrong

Edited July 28, 2021 by ChickenSandwich

[G650 14263]

5 minutes ago, Wade said:

Just to be clear, it's not all four compete and the lowest score is thrown out? 

Not in the final, that is for qualification. In the finals you pick three for each event.

[Wade 464]

1 minute ago, G650 said:

Not in the final, that is for qualification. In the finals you pick three for each event.

Ah, got it.  In that scenario if she wasn't trusting herself at all I can see her thought process.

Hope she comes back and kills in the individual.

[naija 2869]

44 minutes ago, ztejas said:

I get the point you're making. I'm saying using Lauda and Honnold as examples is silly. Lauda almost died on the track before coming back. Some of his peers did die. And what Honnold does is absolutely insane. 

I mean seriously - gymnastics and basketball are a lot more comparable than fucking free soloing. Basketball players blow out ACLs and fracture bones all the time. Sure they don't usually die but it's a physical sport that you can get really hurt while playing. 

It isn't silly.  Could I die or could I get seriously life-altering hurt are on the same spectrum of questions for people. The question is how do high performance sports people (or anyone really) respond to fear. 

The race that Lauda got hurt in is one in which he argued that it should have been cancelled. Raced anyways and suffered for it. Next time up, facing a similar sort of risk in his mind, he retired from the race rather than continue.

here is Honnold again.

Quote

 

How do you deal with fear, Alex?

That’s interesting. For the most part, if something seems really scary I just don’t do it. I’m under no obligation. I do this strictly for my own satisfaction. If I’m afraid, I either put in more time preparing or I just don’t do it. I’ve done routes where I’ve climbed 200 feet off the ground and just been, like, what am I doing? I then just climbed back down and went home. Discretion is the better part of valor. Some days are just not your day.

 

yes, his risk is monumental. but his approach isn't what some would claim. doesn't sit right with him, he isn't pushing it just to push it. 

Edited July 28, 2021 by naija

[Stringer 1439]

Watching the replay now and in the warm ups Simone was way off on her vault and the commentator said that he had never seen her like that. She just hasn’t been right for a while.

I realize the desire to compare to if KD or another basketball player asks out of a game, but I don’t think it compares. If his head isn’t right, he goes 2-15 shooting, but can maybe help in other ways. Chuck Knoblauch can hit a HR if he has the throwing yips.

She can’t help in any other way. Literally the only thing she can do is fly through the air/stay on the balance beam/etc. if she can’t do those things due to her mental state, I don’t know what other choice she has. She simply can’t help the team and is putting herself at risk.

Everyone (including her, I’m sure) wishes it was brought up earlier. It may have been dealt with earlier and she could have gotten help before the games. It’s clear she’s had issues from at least the trials.

[SubliminalHorn 6806]

Watching the finals now and it’s got to be especially frustrating for her seeing the Russians fuck up knowing they could have won the gold if her head was in it

[ztejas 43487]

10 minutes ago, naija said:

It isn't silly.  Could I die or could I get seriously life-altering hurt are on the same spectrum of questions for people. The question is how do high performance sports people (or anyone really) respond to fear. 

The race that Lauda got hurt in is one in which he argued that it should have been cancelled. Raced anyways and suffered for it. Next time up, facing a similar sort of risk in his mind, he retired from the race rather than continue.

here is Honnold again.

yes, his risk is monumental. but his approach isn't what some would claim. doesn't sit right with him, he isn't pushing it just to push it. 

You're digging a really weird hole here. Honnold is basically guaranteed to plummet to his death if he makes one mistake. Lauda by a lot of accounts should have never raced again. You say "the race he got hurt in" like he punctured a lung or something when this is what really happened: Lauda was seriously injured in a crash at the 1976 German Grand Prix at the Nürburgring during which his Ferrari 312T2 burst into flames, and he came close to death after inhaling hot toxic fumes and suffering severe burns. I just pulled up the list and it was something like 10-12 drivers that died either on the track or from fatal injuries during his career. 

That's a little bit harier than what Biles faces in competition.

Is it a similar thought process? Sure. But the consequences involved are not that similar. Biles has never flirted with life and death to any meaningful degree during competition in her career. Lauda was doing that every time he took the track. Honnold does it on every single one of his climbs. 

I'm not disagreeing with your point - I simply have a problem with the shock-value examples you chose.

Edited July 28, 2021 by ztejas

[Js1 85436]

12 minutes ago, SubliminalHorn said:

Watching the finals now and it’s got to be especially frustrating for her seeing the Russians fuck up knowing they could have won the gold if her head was in it

Her vault was so bad I don’t think they could have won gold regardless. She guaranteed them silver 

[SubliminalHorn 6806]

2 minutes ago, Js1 said:

Her vault was so bad I don’t think they could have won gold regardless. She guaranteed them silver 

Well I mean her head being in it from the very beginning 

[mchookem 16337]

On 7/25/2021 at 9:12 PM, mchookem said:

we were around the pool so watching on mute in the background...but the general impression was Biles was having some difficulties. were we just daydrinking too much? def possible

wow. quoting myself from 2 days ago to say this...

if i could tell from far away, with no sound, barely paying attention and day drinking that something about her seemed off...

then yeah she made the right decision. 

[WBT 20622]

2 hours ago, Chuckie Finster said:

Let’s also be clear, if Simone had sucked it up and competed and hurt the team even more, most of these professional hot take artists would be saying she was selfish for putting herself before other teammates who may have been able to perform better.

No, they'd just be saying she choked

[clapclapclap 9000]

So weird without any crowd noise.  It's like a library at the ping pong (ling long?) venue.

[Neonmoon 38129]

The media could do a better job of showing what each person scores and then compare it to others, and what the US needs to overtake or not. It’s maddening.

Football shows you stats on everything from the past 10 years. If she got a 14.66. How does that compares to others tonight? In the event? Historically? Fuck 

[Stringer 1439]

We all bring our own experiences and biases, so we wont agree on Biles. But, I don’t want something we can all agree on to be forgotten:

Huge respect to the rest of the team, particularly Jordan Chiles. They lost their leader and probably the best to ever do it and still fought and got Silver. They wanted more but they still deserve respect. Chiles nailing her uneven routine after being thrown in last second was incredible

[scottsins 1968]

NSIAP, but


“Chiles should starts.”

[naija 2869]

3 minutes ago, scottsins said:

NSIAP, but


“Chiles should starts.”

John Chiles is 32 years old. If you wanted to feel young or old...

[Neonmoon 38129]

Simone did the right thing. She said it to her teammates. She didn’t want to ruin their chances of a medal and pulled herself. If this was a football game, this entire board would be begging for the coach to pull the QB. Right decision. They saved silver 

[tokamak 6432]

Nastia Liukin just said on NBC that she could tell from watching the vault that it was a mental error. Said Biles told her that she was going to hurt the team if she continued. 

[smuggs 9353]

1 minute ago, tokamak said:

Nastia Liukin just said on NBC that she could tell from watching the vault that it was a mental error. 

I was too distracted by Nastia’s glowing porpoise melon to comprehend what she was saying.

[Da Fino 2783]

John Chiles is 32 years old. If you wanted to feel young or old...

Fuuuuuck. I’m old.

[mchookem 16337]

random observation on gymnastics that i think is fascinating...

the American female gymnasts are shaped completely different from other countries. it's really weird considering they all do the same thing! i mean they are all petite...but our girls are so muscular, broad shoulders and chests, thick legs...they just look like little tight balls of muscle. they make me think 'power'.

the Russians seem longer, leaner, more lithe. they often seem taller even though they aren't. they make me think 'graceful'.

and the Chinese are all like 4 feet tall. they make me think 'pixies" lol

swimmers, divers, T&F athletes are all pretty much shaped the same, depending on the event. the female gymnasts just vary. i wonder if it's intentional...or related to American nutrition or something 🤔

[WBT 20622]

All Blacks score right at halftime to lead GB 14-7 on CNBC.

[WBT 20622]

10 minutes ago, WBT said:

All Blacks score right at halftime to lead GB 14-7 on CNBC.

Poured it on in the 2nd half to win 29-7.  It's not coming home.

[MNLonghornFUKM 8817]

Simone did the right thing. She said it to her teammates. She didn’t want to ruin their chances of a medal and pulled herself. If this was a football game, this entire board would be begging for the coach to pull the QB. Right decision. They saved silver 

That’s a double edged sword….what could said for Sam could also be said for herp but for 2 totally different reasons

[alphahorn 1637]

watching Fiji vs Argentina, damn we need to recruit the entire Fiji 7, they all have 4 years of eligibility.  One dude just went lights out on an Argentinian ball carrier. 

[WBT 20622]

5 hours ago, Napoleon said:

Argentina would love a shot at playing England for a medal.

They're on opposite sides of the bracket so they'll both have to win or both have to lose. 
 

VAMOS LOS PUMAS !!!

 

You get your wish.  Argentina vs GB for the bronze and Fiji vs All Blacks for the gold.

3 minutes ago, alphahorn said:

watching Fiji vs Argentina, damn we need to recruit the entire Fiji 7, they all have 4 years of eligibility.  One dude just went lights out on an Argentinian ball carrier. 

Yeah, that was a brutal, perfect form tackle.  Fiji had some vicious straight arms too.

[shadow_operative2.0 16006]

Ledecky in the 1500 next. 

Edited July 28, 2021 by shadow_operative2.0

[alphahorn 1637]

I'm serious, somewhat, these guys could ball.  Now hook em Ledecky

[ztejas 43487]

Looking like Ledecky about to take gold in 1500M free. Would get us 1 away in gold medal count.

[ztejas 43487]

13 minutes ago, alphahorn said:

I'm serious, somewhat, these guys could ball.  Now hook em Ledecky

Um. Katie went to Stanford.

[ztejas 43487]

Commentators just trying to figure out who is taking silver and bronze lol. 

Potential 1, 2 here, too for the US.

C'mon Sullivan!!!

Edited July 28, 2021 by ztejas

[ztejas 43487]

FUCK YEAH! 1/2 Finish baby!!! 

Huge event for us!!!!!

Sullivan absolutely torched em down the stretch. 

Edited July 28, 2021 by ztejas

[AUS-97HORN 11809]

nice to see that. 

[Bevo 13579]

1 hour ago, mchookem said:

random observation on gymnastics that i think is fascinating...

the American female gymnasts are shaped completely different from other countries. it's really weird considering they all do the same thing! i mean they are all petite...but our girls are so muscular, broad shoulders and chests, thick legs...they just look like little tight balls of muscle. they make me think 'power'.

the Russians seem longer, leaner, more lithe. they often seem taller even though they aren't. they make me think 'graceful'.

and the Chinese are all like 4 feet tall. they make me think 'pixies" lol

swimmers, divers, T&F athletes are all pretty much shaped the same, depending on the event. the female gymnasts just vary. i wonder if it's intentional...or related to American nutrition or something 🤔

So maybe there is a connection between steroids and body shape and between steroids and mental health issues. I'm not jumping to conclusions, but just stating that there could be something else going on.

[ztejas 43487]

US now 1 behind for gold medals. Leads total count by 5. Leads golds + silvers by 5 with 20. 

[Baboontyme 2814]

Man I need to start swimming. The shoulders on those girls are ridiculous. I'm not sure what it says that I want my body to look like Katie Ledecky's but there i said it. 

[Baboontyme 2814]

Oh look it's Nastiana Grande

[ztejas 43487]

Men's 4×200. Good start so far by the US who aren't the gold favorites.

Super tight between US and GBR on the 3rd leg.

Being anchored by a Horn. 

Edited July 28, 2021 by ztejas

[WBT 20622]

Jeez, Apple deployed an anchor on that last 50 meters

[ztejas 43487]

Just now, WBT said:

Jeez, Apple deployed an anchor on that last 50 meters

That was bad. Looking like silver.

If that....

Edited July 28, 2021 by ztejas