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Olympics, better late than never

Michael Knight

By Michael Knight
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phdhorn

phdhorn 6224

Posted
Posted (edited)
5 hours ago, ztejas said:

If these generations are so soft then why did we historically dominate just 5 years ago? (We spanked more ass in Rio in 2016 than in LA in 1996).

This year, we sent around 615 athletes to the olympics. Next was Japan with about 552.

Every other team had at least a hundred less than that (about four countries in the 400s). China "only" has about 406. So for bang for the buck, they're probably the highest performing team metal wise.

Ever since the breakup of the Soviet Union, e United States has sent a good deal more athletes to the games than any other country. Were the 800 lb gorilla so we're completely expected to win the most medals. It would be utter failure if we didn't. I don't think that's such an achievement.

Medal counts in the '60s and '70s were awesome because of all the political ramifications of US versus the commies and all that, and the Soviets often sent more athletes than we did. People were glued to the metal counts every day. Now nobody really cares because the United States should win that competition by at least 20 medals or else they've underperformed. Because they have tons and tons of athletes who participate in almost every sport in the olympics. No other country has more participation in more sports than the U.S.

Add to that that there are so many sports now compared to the 60s and 70s that if you can field enough athletes to do some of those outliers, you probably stand a good chance for a metal. We do that and it shows.

We've had some great performances in some of the US athletes have been tremendous, but it's completely expected that we should always win the metal total. 

Edited by phdhorn
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Kermit
Kermit

See, I have three daughters. I actually used this as a teaching lesson yesterday. I told them that there were going to be these idiots who have no point of reference for the things that they’re going

Spankytoes
Spankytoes

My wife designed the Team USA opening ceremony jacket. So there’s that

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I don't blame her one bit.  Such a terribly run Olympics.  How can she perform her best when the vault is that crowded?

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Napoleon

Napoleon 8692

Posted
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2 minutes ago, conVINCEd said:

Medal

Nice catch!

Also, a few observations:

1) In 1996, LA & Atlanta held dueling Olympiads.

2) 2020/21 Tokyo is the first time the US Men have ever failed to win a gold in Track & Field.

3) 2020/21 Tokyo is the first time that India has won a gold medal in Men's Track & Field.

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CooterBrown

CooterBrown 18015

Posted
Posted
Nice catch!
Also, a few observations:

1) In 1996, LA & Atlanta held dueling Olympiads.
2) 2020/21 Tokyo is the first time the US Men have ever failed to win a gold in Track & Field.
3) 2020/21 Tokyo is the first time that India has won a gold medal in Men's Track & Field.

Do you even Ryan Crouser in the shot put?

And 4x400?

giphy.gif
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Napoleon

Napoleon 8692

Posted
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3 minutes ago, CooterBrown said:

Do you even Ryan Crouser in the shot put?

And 4x400?

giphy.gif

No. I didn't/don't.

I will have to look for the article that said that. I shouldn't have posted without that article close by. (I do know that Neeraj Chopra was the Javelin throwing Gold Medalist from India even without the article... now watch that be wrong as well.

I haven't been following the Olympics that closely other than Soccer, Tennis, Argentina, Italian track stars born in El Paso, Women's Field Hockey, and Rhythmic Gymnastics. (So basically, the traditional core of Summer Olympiads.)

 

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Napoleon

Napoleon 8692

Posted
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19 minutes ago, CooterBrown said:


Do you even Ryan Crouser in the shot put?

And 4x400?

giphy.gif


Don't know if this was the headline that I read wrong, or if the headline I read has "disappeared" or what.

The USA men have one shot left to avoid historic Olympic track ignominy

Fri, August 6, 2021, 7:20 AM·5 min read
 

 

...this obviously predates the 4 x 400m Relay. Because after that, there were headlines like...

 

 

NBC Sports Boston

U.S. Men's 4x400m Relay Wins First Gold Medal at Tokyo Olympics

James Best
Sat, August 7, 2021, 8:07 AM·1 min read

 

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wood

wood 11230

Posted
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7 hours ago, ztejas said:

We are creeping up to maybe catch China's ass for golds. Women should take gold in basketball barring catastrophe. Baseball plays for gold here in an hour. 

Anyone doing the math? Total medals is a landslide.

Don't forget the US Women's Volleyball team going for the gold vs Brazil tonight.

HookEm Chiaka!!  & I wouldn't bet against Karch, going for another gold medal. (two golds as Captain of the US Indoor team in 1984 & 88, then gold in Beach VB in 1996. Only player ever to win both). One of my favorite athletes of all time. Amazing talent who outworked everyone.

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Francisco 2.0

Francisco 2.0 32395

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Glory Days.

 

https://www.espn.com/olympics/story/_/id/31979341/jessica-springsteen-us-equestrian-team-win-silver-medal-sweden

 

Quote

Jessica Springsteen and the U.S. equestrian jumping team came up just short of Olympic gold, falling to Sweden in a jump-off Saturday night that still left the Americans with a record 10th medal in the event.

"I had really high hopes coming in today," Springsteen said. "It really gave me a lot of confidence and the ability to have big dreams of riding with them, so I'm just so excited."

 

 

Quote

It's a first medal for 29-year-old Springsteen, daughter of famed rockers Bruce Springsteen and Patti Scialfa, who made her Olympic debut in Tokyo. Riding powerful stallion Don Juan van de Donkhoeve, she clipped one rail in the primary round Saturday, as did McLain Ward, leaving the U.S in a tie with the Swedes for first with eight penalty points.

 

 

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ztejas

ztejas 43524

Posted
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3 hours ago, phdhorn said:

This year, we sent around 615 athletes to the olympics. Next was Japan with about 552.

Every other team had at least a hundred less than that (about four countries in the 400s). China "only" has about 406. So for bang for the buck, they're probably the highest performing team metal wise.

Ever since the breakup of the Soviet Union, e United States has sent a good deal more athletes to the games than any other country. Were the 800 lb gorilla so we're completely expected to win the most medals. It would be utter failure if we didn't. I don't think that's such an achievement.

Medal counts in the '60s and '70s were awesome because of all the political ramifications of US versus the commies and all that, and the Soviets often sent more athletes than we did. People were glued to the metal counts every day. Now nobody really cares because the United States should win that competition by at least 20 medals or else they've underperformed. Because they have tons and tons of athletes who participate in almost every sport in the olympics. No other country has more participation in more sports than the U.S.

Add to that that there are so many sports now compared to the 60s and 70s that if you can field enough athletes to do some of those outliers, you probably stand a good chance for a metal. We do that and it shows.

We've had some great performances in some of the US athletes have been tremendous, but it's completely expected that we should always win the metal total. 

You told me literally nothing I didn't know in far too many words. Congrats. Also without addressing the topic. 

And you're "band for the buck" shit is... interesting. Considering China has, what, 20% of the world population? 

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shadow_operative2.0

shadow_operative2.0 16010

Posted
Posted

This is what Napoleon was attempting to say, read the bolded. 

Quote

At this time last summer, Cole Hocker had yet to run a meaningful race in college, let alone on the Olympic stage.

A year later, the promising but inexperienced 20-year-old is the U.S. men’s track team’s last hope of avoiding ignominy.

An American man has won gold in an individual running event at least once at every Olympics in which the U.S. has participated. Since 1896, the only exception is the 1980 Moscow Games that the U.S. famously boycotted.

That streak is on life support in Tokyo with nine of 10 men’s individual running events already complete. The underachieving Americans have claimed four second-place finishes and a pair of third places so far in those races but have yet to produce a gold medalist.

https://sports.yahoo.com/the-usa-men-have-one-shot-left-to-avoid-historic-olympic-track-ignominy-122050718.html


Individual running event 

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Stringer

Stringer 1439

Posted
Posted
4 hours ago, phdhorn said:

This year, we sent around 615 athletes to the olympics. Next was Japan with about 552.

Every other team had at least a hundred less than that (about four countries in the 400s). China "only" has about 406. So for bang for the buck, they're probably the highest performing team metal wise.

I'd be interested in a comparison of Olympic entries too.  Things like basketball, indoor volleyball, water polo, etc can increase your athlete count but there is still only one medal on the line.  I don't know if China were in many of the large team sports.  

Obviously, it wouldn't make up the whole difference but it would be more comparable.

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shadow_operative2.0

shadow_operative2.0 16010

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^ I know jack-&-shit about any karate, but this article explains it. 

Quote

And then the judges conferred, and they disqualified Hamedi for a hansoku – a serious violation of the rules.

Although the officials didn’t immediately explain their decision publicly, karatekas are not supposed to follow through fully on their strikes in this Olympic version of karate. Highlight-reel strikes that would make mixed martial artists or boxers very rich are considered too dangerous for this sport.

https://sports.yahoo.com/olympic-gold-medal-karate-match-191746870.html

 

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TexasIsBetter

TexasIsBetter 275

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5 hours ago, wood said:

Don't forget the US Women's Volleyball team going for the gold vs Brazil tonight.

HookEm Chiaka!!  & I wouldn't bet against Karch, going for another gold medal. (two golds as Captain of the US Indoor team in 1984 & 88, then gold in Beach VB in 1996. Only player ever to win both). One of my favorite athletes of all time. Amazing talent who outworked everyone.

We've got a boxer still going for gold too I think

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wood

wood 11230

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36 minutes ago, TexasIsBetter said:

I know this was talked about briefly yesterday, but I didn't know the coach was kicked out. 

German pentathlon coach disqualified after punching horse in competition

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/olympics/germany-s-modern-pentathlon-coach-kicked-out-olympics-punching-horse-n1276251

Fuck that ugly bitch.

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wood

wood 11230

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Turrible fucking call. Fucking refs suck even in the Olympics.

3 minutes ago, shadow_operative2.0 said:

It’s been live on USA since the start, but they have missed a few for commercials. 

That's what I get for believing their programming guides.

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