2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing

I'm pretty sure no one made this, so I guess I will:

The opening... oh my god. My jaw is dropping. It's so beautiful.

This is the thread to discuss the Olympics! So let's start with the opening.

EDIT: Now that I think of it, let me mention to please keep whether the Olympics should have been in China because of political reasons out of this thread, and in a serious forum like EoEo, please? Sorry I didn't make it clearer before people started posting, but I want keep it to the sports and the competition, and not to whether China should be hosting it or not. Thanks!

I'm not watching the Olympics this year. I'm too disgusted by the fact that they're in China.

The opening was a brilliant spectacle, regardless of politics. Probably the best so far - I loved the historical overview of Chinese culture and technology, and the sheer awesomeness of the of the choreography, special effects, and fireworks.

And the fact that the games are in China is, I think, something of a positive: it's another factor that's forcing the country to become more open and liberalised, like the increase in diplomatic ties and free trade that they've been signing up to.

I'll definitely be watching a lot of the games, times permitting. I'm especially hoping to see the archery, gymnastics and martial contests.

I'm sure as hell not going to 'punish' the athletes and their nations by boycotting the entire contest simply because I disagree with the host nation's political system. That'd seem rather illogical to me. What we've got is a contest bringing together representatives of close to 200 countries, for what is generally a peaceful and friendly contest. And it can even happen when it's taking place in a country that's seen as politically contentious by the western democracies - that's really something.

What impressed me the most was the part near the beginning of it, with the the rising and falling blocks, that turned out to be man powered. My jaw dropped!

holy crap there are so many countries.

I liked the little girl with the kite.

The opening sequence was cool. Lights and all. The dancers were very precise and the colors vivid. The singing was weird. I think anything but the Track & Field is really boring though. I am waiting for it.


On a side note: Bush looks bored. He checked his watch and kept tapping his foot. He also clapped when Iraq came. xD

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Originally Posted by Rye

What impressed me the most was the part near the beginning of it, with the the rising and falling blocks, that turned out to be man powered. My jaw dropped!

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Watching that, my mom was like, "wow, how do you think they're doing that?" And I said, "probably the same way they're doing everything else, they're people working in synchronization."

Sure enough, I was right. Doesn't make it any less impressive.

There are too many commercial breaks in my opinion. Fewer would be nice. The Parade of Nations took forever, but it was cool to see them go in order of brushstrokes, not ABC.

Downside, Conan is on a 1 hour delay tonight. :(

I've never really listened to the Chinese language, but wow. It doesn't sound too pretty.

I didn't pay much attention to the openings but the parts I have seen of it have pretty much been giant win.

Yaridovich: Really? I think it's beautiful.

Currently at the Nations part.

I agree with Rye that the moving blocks part was jaw dropping! Everything was just so...beautiful, words can describe how well they planned it out!

Haha, funny thing is when Madagascar came up, I was like !@#$ Madagascar because of Pandemic II.

I felt a bigger surge of national pride when france showed up than when the USA did xD

the torch lighting was amaaaaaaaazing.

The opening ceremony was stunning. Loved the dancing/calligraphy part. That was just exquisite.

But, uh. I still want to punch China in the face. :greenie:

Easily the best Olympic opening ceremony I've seen. The choreography was just breathtaking. Not to mention the absolutely ridiculous amounts of fireworks.

Also, on the Parade of Nations, Denmark...jean shorts?

...seriously?

Project Runway's most recent challenge was to design an outfit for an Olympic team to wear at the Opening ceremonies, and so I was paying a lot of attention to the outfits. And oh man, they were pretty atrocious. United States looked ok, but kinda like sailors. I forget which country it was, but they were wearing bright blue blazers trimmed with bright bright yellow. It was hideous. :p

If you couldn't already tell and missed the commentary - the US' outfit was designed by Ralph Lauren. *giggle*

In any case, I was absolutely blown away, and my two favorite parts were when China came out and that 9 year old was with Yao. He was absolutely adorable and his story was amazing. AND THE TORCH LIGHTING. WOW! That was simply incredible. Maybe, maybe, I could have predicted flying on wires, but RUNNING AROUND THE TOP OF THE STADIUM SIDEWAYS? Blew me away.

I love the Olympics. It lets people forget about fighting long enough to have friendly competition instead.

Ping Pong should not be an Olympic sport though. :p

I only like the gymnastics.

Alright, I just finished watching the opening ceremony. The torch lighting was smurfing insane. God damn.

Wow. I didn't know fencing was an Olympic sport, and I didn't know it was so cool. I just thought it was people clinging blades. Didn't know it had points and such.

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Originally Posted by Roto13

I'm not watching the Olympics this year. I'm too disgusted by the fact that they're in China.

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You sure showed them.

The opening ceremony was pretty hot.

Overall, the female Canadian soccer team is pretty cute. ^_^

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Originally Posted by Al

I only like the gymnastics.

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I love the gymnastic. I actually greatly prefer the Winter Olympics, because I like ice skating a lot more, but gymnastic, to me, is close enough to that!

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Originally Posted by Yamaneko

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Originally Posted by Roto13

I'm not watching the Olympics this year. I'm too disgusted by the fact that they're in China.

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You sure showed them.

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Wow, and I wasn't even trying to show anybody anything! :rolleyes2

I don't really have any interest in the athletics side of the Olympics. Naturally I'd like Britain to do well, but I'm more eager for the Premiership to get started again!

The opening ceremony was absolutely spectacular. I've never seen something that struck in such a way as that ceremony did. It must've taken a tremendous amount of work and money to get all that to come off the way it did. I read in the Evening Standard (was a copy on the train when I was coming home last night) from a journalist saying that London has no hope of improving on that opening ceremony and I partly agree. Absolutely amazing. Would've absolutely loved to have been there to see it. I've a great love for China as a country in respect of its culture and history.

As for the games themselves, I do think that they may have done some political good. Obviously they've been a way for the West to put pressure on Beijing to improve its record in human rights and the like because they want and need this to go off well. There've been reports of the police being unusually pleasant and easygoing with foreign reporters while this is going on. Naturally the notion that you can only protest in certain areas strikes me as being unfair, but the fact that they'll allow it at all seems like progress to me. I really would like the Chinese people to enjoy the freedoms that we sometimes take for granted in the West.

The Japan vs USA Women volleyball game was wonderful. It was very close!

I missed it :p Is it on youtube yet? :D

If you watch this communist propaganda, you are a liberal.

I like the Winter Olympics more, because sports like speedskating and ice hockey are my favorite olympic sports. There are tons of cool sports in both seasons that I have never seen before that are amazing to watch.

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Originally Posted by DMKA

If you watch this communist propaganda, you are a liberal.

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Oh, well.

you can watch online at nbcolympics.com!

I'm watching badminton right now, these people are SOOOO good.

Did you know that the shuttleCOCK in badminton can travel in excess of 150 mph (241 km/h) ?! :whoa:

I like it as a recreational backyard game. I didn't know it was so intense. :cool:

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Originally Posted by The Shoeless Hobo

Overall, the female Canadian soccer team is pretty cute. ^_^

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i thought they were evil.either,the china team can't defend themselves,or the canadians are just plain mean.kicking people in the face and such..

Well now I know the outcome of a battle between one of the American soccer player's cleats and the Dutch goaltender's face. :D

Tiny Team China for Women's Gymanstics are adorable. Team USA has not been doing so well. ;;

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Originally Posted by Rye

Tiny Team China for Women's Gymanstics are adorable. Team USA has not been doing so well. ;;

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Meh, it's just qualifying. There's no way all of those Chinese girls are 16.

I don't even think they're 12. xD

I liked when the Chinese girl fell flat on her ass and started crying. XD

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Originally Posted by Yaridovich

I liked when the Chinese girl fell flat on her ass and started crying. XD

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That broke my heart. ;; She was SO upset.

Wow. That Russian mother with the kid who has leukemia has got mad skillz on the vault.

Damn. :whoa:

One of the things I like best about the games is seeing people who've taken their individual skill and honed it to the greatest degree possible. Usually not sports you'd see everyday, but then that's part of the appeal.

Yesterday's final in the women's archery was awesome - China versus Korea, an extremely close match till right near the end. Equestrian's been good so far, too. I'm currently watching the New Zealand women's basketball team lose against Spain, 85-62.

WHAT'S THAT FRANCE

"SMASH US?"

HAHA!

USA! USA! USA! USA! USA!

USAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!

SMASH THAT FRANCE!

THAT WAS BEAUTIFUL! TAKE THAT FRENCHIES!

USA! USA! USA!

If you told me that my buddies and I would jump out of our chairs screaming for swimming just a few days ago, I would've laughed in your face.

Man, these Olympics are great.

I have heard great things about the opening ceremony and am considering youtubing it.

Other than that, I am not watching the Olympics this year.

I just watch it for the commercials.

When's Georgia playing Russia in Vollyball?

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Originally Posted by Yaridovich

THAT WAS BEAUTIFUL! TAKE THAT FRENCHIES!

USA! USA! USA!

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Originally Posted by Goldenboko

USAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!

SMASH THAT FRANCE!

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Originally Posted by Kirobaito

WHAT'S THAT FRANCE

"SMASH US?"

HAHA!

USA! USA! USA! USA! USA!

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Wow and here's me wondering why the USA acquires a reputation for arrogance in sport... :rolleyes2 - not that France is much better on that score (or the UK for that matter)

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Originally Posted by charliepanayi

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Originally Posted by Yaridovich

THAT WAS BEAUTIFUL! TAKE THAT FRENCHIES!

USA! USA! USA!

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Originally Posted by Goldenboko

USAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!

SMASH THAT FRANCE!

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Originally Posted by Kirobaito

WHAT'S THAT FRANCE

"SMASH US?"

HAHA!

USA! USA! USA! USA! USA!

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Wow and here's me wondering why the USA acquires a reputation for arrogance in sport... :rolleyes2 - not that France is much better on that score (or the UK for that matter)

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Oh, come on. :p The French Captain says that his team is going to "smash" the Americans, because "that's what we came here to do." He's the anchor for the relay, and is given a full body-length lead when he dives into the water. The US's final guy, probably their 3rd best swimmer, a guy in his 30s, swims the French Captain down in the last quarter of his leg to win by a tenth of a second? You can't beat that.

I watched a bit of the women Hockey and Archery, but I got bored and turned over. Team GB aren't doing too bad.

I think I'll go down to London to watch the 2012 Olympics~

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Originally Posted by Moon Rabbits

I have heard great things about the opening ceremony and am considering youtubing it.

Other than that, I am not watching the Olympics this year.

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I don't think youtube can do it justice. Youtube videos are just so teeny tiny and the Opening Ceremonies was just so huge and grand.

I watched it on a HD plasma and it was just tremendous. :D

And yay, go South Korea! *waves a flag*

I thought the first half of the opening ceremony was really good, but that's probably mostly because of Zhang Yimou's involvement. The second half of it was pretty meh imo, but I must admit that the giant globe with people running all over it was impressive.

As for the sports.. I dig watching them. I always just watch random sports whenever the Olympics are happening. My favourites are Tennis, Gymnastics, Handball and such, though.. but honestly, I watch a bit of everything.

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Originally Posted by charliepanayi

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Originally Posted by Yaridovich

THAT WAS BEAUTIFUL! TAKE THAT FRENCHIES!

USA! USA! USA!

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Originally Posted by Goldenboko

USAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!

SMASH THAT FRANCE!

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Originally Posted by Kirobaito

WHAT'S THAT FRANCE

"SMASH US?"

HAHA!

USA! USA! USA! USA! USA!

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Wow and here's me wondering why the USA acquires a reputation for arrogance in sport... :rolleyes2 - not that France is much better on that score (or the UK for that matter)

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"Oh god, nationalism! Kill them now! Kill them now!"

:rolleyes2

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Originally Posted by Kirobaito

Oh, come on. :p The French Captain says that his team is going to "smash" the Americans, because "that's what we came here to do." He's the anchor for the relay, and is given a full body-length lead when he dives into the water. The US's final guy, probably their 3rd best swimmer, a guy in his 30s, swims the French Captain down in the last quarter of his leg to win by a tenth of a second? You can't beat that.

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I respectfully disagree. :p

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Wow and here's me wondering why the USA acquires a reputation for arrogance in sport... :rolleyes2 - not that France is much better on that score (or the UK for that matter)

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USA! USA! USA! USA!

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Originally Posted by Yaridovich

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Originally Posted by Kirobaito

Oh, come on. :p The French Captain says that his team is going to "smash" the Americans, because "that's what we came here to do." He's the anchor for the relay, and is given a full body-length lead when he dives into the water. The US's final guy, probably their 3rd best swimmer, a guy in his 30s, swims the French Captain down in the last quarter of his leg to win by a tenth of a second? You can't beat that.

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I respectfully disagree. :p

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HEY HEY HEY! Just yesterday you were all ready to go "[fanatic]OMG BEST UPSET EVR IN AMERICA OLYMPICS[/fanatic]" Until I was all like "Russia V. USA Hockey plox"

EDIT: There is no way the Chinese Olympic Gymnastic Team has even hit Puberty. Seriously.

Yes but that's just 'cause you said "Lolol Lekana missed the race." We had to make it seem like she missed something BIG.

Also, if I remember correctly, I brought up the hockey thankyouverymuchg'bye. :p

BUT I EMPHASIZED ITS IMPORTANCE >:0

We watched the opening ceremonies over 1 hour periods over the weekend and finally finished them yesterday afternoon, so my thoughts are a little behind the times. xD

• The drumming overall was alright, although the precision of doing the count-down was jaw-dropping. I'm sure there's some cultural significance to the drumming portion, but it didn't do much for me. I did love the fact that they told the drummers to smile while they drummed so the viewers, i.e. whitey, wouldn't get scared. xD
• The human calligraphy was sweet. Not much more I can say other than it was one of the highlights for me.
• The tiles section was alright. I enjoyed the character(s) being made out of the waves but it seemed a little long.
• The children in the different ethnic outfits was a nice way to bring the Chinese flag in, until I learned it was extremely revisionist. See the quote/link below for how sad that really was.
• I didn't like the military raising the flags. In the middle of an opening ceremony for games that are supposed to be focused on humanity coming together it felt like China was saying, "Yeah, we have a record of violating human rights, ethnic cleansing an a whole lot of other issues. What are you going to do about it?"
• Yao and the kid where simply awesome. It made me happy to see Yao interacting with the kid later once they were done with their entrance as the kid wasn't a prop for Yao.
• People running around the giant globe, some horizontally. How much more awesome does it get than that?

I really despised NBC's commentary on the opening ceremony. I don't know if they had Chinese military behind them with M-16's but they sounded very canned like they were reading from a script and they certainly painted a revisionist view of Chinese history to put China in a good light.

I also thought this point from an opinion column I read was interesting:

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The first major red flag that this was going to be a propaganda exercise of massive portions was when the government paraded a group of Han Chinese children through the Bird's Nest dressed in the garb of the nation's 54 minority groups -- as a effort to "celebrate" the diversity of China. How inclusive! Except for the fact that the government either exoticizes these groups for tourist purposes while they remain poor, second-class citizens, or create conscious programs to aggressively assimilate these groups out of existence, particularly in politically hostile regions like Tibet and Xinjiang. An equivalent in America would be if the government got a group of white kids from Manhattan together and dressed them up as members of Native American tribes and paraded them around as example of how respectful we are towards the "native peoples."

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Here's a link to the column: Katherine Goldstein: Hook, Line, and Sinker: NBC Swallows Opening Ceremonies Propaganda

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Originally Posted by Shiny

On a side note: Bush looks bored. He checked his watch and kept tapping his foot. He also clapped when Iraq came. xD

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That was so embarrassing. All of the other world leaders are at least feigning interest and talking with each other while Bush is acting like a six year-old in church waiting impatiently for the service to be over so he can go out and play.

On the Iraq bit, that was another point where I was annoyed with the NBC commentary. They were talking about how Iraq almost didn't have an Olympic team because the government disbanded and with no government the IOC couldn't recognize them as a country and allow them to participate. Like they had a choice and weren't invaded in a war. For the Iraqi people to lose the ability to send a team to the Olympics because of President Bush's actions would have been very disappointing and inexcusable. Thankfully they were able to join the Olympics.

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Originally Posted by KH-Cloudy

Haha, funny thing is when Madagascar came up, I was like !@#$ Madagascar because of Pandemic II.

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Good, I'm not the only one that did that! xD

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Originally Posted by Miriel

United States looked ok, but kinda like sailors.

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Originally Posted by Clouded Sky

If you couldn't already tell and missed the commentary - the US' outfit was designed by Ralph Lauren. *giggle*

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When they mentioned that Ralph Lauren designed the US uniforms I wondered what they would look like. When the US team entered I was severely disappointed as it looked like a Ralph Lauren add photographed on an affluent east coast boat dock/marina. It felt extremely corporate and capitalistic rather than focusing on aesthetics, the athletes and the games.

Overall, I think the fact that minimal technology and maximum human ingenuity were used to create most of the effects seen at the opening ceremony is was made this opening so special.

HOLY BALLS I'M LATE TO THE PARTY, BUT THAT WAS AMAZING!!! SERIOUSLY FRANCE DESERVED THAT after all of their trash-talking. I thought it was funny when their anchor couldn't even leave the pool.

USA! USA! USA!

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Originally Posted by Flying Mullet

I really despised NBC's commentary on the opening ceremony. I don't know if they had Chinese military behind them with M-16's but they sounded very canned like they were reading from a script and they certainly painted a revisionist view of Chinese history to put China in a good light.

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That is actually not too far off. China is censoring the games heavily and many foreigners can't even access various sites on the Internet because of its censorship.

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Originally Posted by Yaridovich

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Originally Posted by Flying Mullet

I really despised NBC's commentary on the opening ceremony. I don't know if they had Chinese military behind them with M-16's but they sounded very canned like they were reading from a script and they certainly painted a revisionist view of Chinese history to put China in a good light.

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That is actually not too far off. China is censoring the games heavily and many foreigners can't even access various sites on the Internet because of its censorship.

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Yeah. How about during the Gymnastics? "I'm sure everyone who's ever looked at a college campus has seen people that they thought didn't look college age." xD

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Originally Posted by Kirobaito

WHAT'S THAT FRANCE

"SMASH US?"

HAHA!

USA! USA! USA! USA! USA!

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Amen. That was smurfing incredible!

The relay was nuts.

Just outrageously nuts.

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Originally Posted by Yaridovich

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Originally Posted by Flying Mullet

I really despised NBC's commentary on the opening ceremony. I don't know if they had Chinese military behind them with M-16's but they sounded very canned like they were reading from a script and they certainly painted a revisionist view of Chinese history to put China in a good light.

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That is actually not too far off. China is censoring the games heavily and many foreigners can't even access various sites on the Internet because of its censorship.

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In a sense, they *are* reading from scripts - no-one gets to see the entire opening ceremony in advance, so shortly before the broadcast they're given transcripts that say what's happening, and what it means. Since so much of the ceremony consisted of interpretive, symbolic stuff, that kind of assistance is necessary.

Also, the view of Chinese history that they provided wasn't exactly "revisionist". The opening ceremony basically covered China from ancient times through to the late middle ages, and they didn't exactly have communism back then. It's not evil outrageous censorship, it's just that their performance focussed on the high points of their civilisation. Do you think the London Games opening ceremony is going to include Bloody Sunday, Churchill's ADD, and Tony Blair?

Yeah, I agree with Big D. I thought NBC wasn't too bad. They did point out things like "China may not be there with peace and harmony, but it's working towards it."

I really wouldn't have been thrilled anyway if such a beautiful ceremony was punctured by "and this symbolizes the Tienanmen Square massacre!" and things like that. This is supposed to be as peaceful as possible. :)

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Originally Posted by Big D

Do you think the London Games opening ceremony is going to include Bloody Sunday, Churchill's ADD, and Tony Blair?

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I don't know, but if it doesn't include the American Revolution, I hope we stomp them in every event we can! :D

USA! USA! USA! USA! USA!

that blake aldrich or whoever on the british synchronized diving is hooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooot. also his codiver is like fourteen! holy crap.

That's a sweet camera angle they have for synchronized diving. It goes from the board to underwater! :whoa:

yeah I loved that.

apparently I was actually thinking of the americans (thomas) but they're all hot being swimmers. except the 14 year olds.

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Originally Posted by rubah

apparently I was actually thinking of the americans (thomas) but they're all hot being swimmers. except the 14 year olds.

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... sure. :shifty:

I actually don't think they're fourteen, though. :p I think that the limit is sixteen, but I'm not sure.

China owns diving.

Have they had a cheesy anthem song this year? (ie 1996 was Celine Dion's "Power of the Dream", 2002 was LeAnn Rimes' "Light the Fire Within", etc.) Those have typically been my favorite thing about the Olympics.

OH MY GOD IT'S MICHAEL PHELPS TIME!

EDIT: False alarm. They're just showing how their slow-mo saved a volleyball girl's ring.

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Originally Posted by DMKA

Have they had a cheesy anthem song this year? (ie 1996 was Celine Dion's "Power of the Dream", 2002 was LeAnn Rimes' "Light the Fire Within", etc.) Those have typically been my favorite thing about the Olympics.

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They have a 'theme song', but they're not hyping it and it hasn't been played a lot.

Interesting news: they've just admitted that part of the opening ceremony was faked via CG, namely the firework 'footprints' stepping toward the stadium. A fine piece of special effects work, though, and probably a good idea since the real thing could've misfired in so many ways. Still pretty cheeky, though.

didn't they do it because they didn't want to mess up their helicoptors flying them through fireworks? They had fireworks at the opening ceremonies, just didn't film them or something.

I'm pretty sure they said *something* about him being 14. He's pretty gangly for a 16 year old.

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Originally Posted by Yaridovich

OH MY GOD IT'S MICHAEL PHELPS TIME!

EDIT: False alarm. They're just showing how their slow-mo saved a volleyball girl's ring.

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Are you complaining about watching girls in Bikini's jump around?

Virtually all of the opening and the fireworks were real, yeah - it's just those footprints that weren't.

As far as I remember, there've usually been under-16s in various events, mostly gymnastics and diving.

Speaking of which, when did volleyball change to rally scoring? That's not how you play volleyball...

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Originally Posted by Yaridovich

Speaking of which, when did volleyball change to rally scoring? That's not how you play volleyball...

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I dun even know what Rally scoring is! :)

Score on every serve.

You're supposed to only score if YOU serve. If you didn't serve and it landed in their half, or they hit it out, you get to serve, thereby an opportunity to score.

Oh. I didn't know the name. I prefer the rally for some reason.

YAY <3 Phelps!

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Originally Posted by Yaridovich

Speaking of which, when did volleyball change to rally scoring? That's not how you play volleyball...

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This is the third Olympics, I think, where rally scoring has been used. I prefer it. The games can get soooo long with standard scoring, where teams serve, and the opposing team kills immediately.

but that's not how you plaaaaaaaaaaaay gosh. Now the next time I play volleyball, someone is going to be like 'that's not how they did it in the olympics' and i won't have an answer.

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Originally Posted by rubah

but that's not how you plaaaaaaaaaaaay gosh. Now the next time I play volleyball, someone is going to be like 'that's not how they did it in the olympics' and i won't have an answer.

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They use rally scoring in most high schools now, as well, and every professional league uses it, also.

The female Polish volleyball team is very hitable.

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Originally Posted by Kirobaito

They use rally scoring in most high schools now, as well, and every professional league uses it, also.

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yes but I only play with comrades where you have convince people what rules you are using

What a nice accomplishment for the US, medalling without their two best gymnasts. And they would have silvered if they hadn't completely blown at the pommelhorse.

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Originally Posted by Big D

Interesting news: they've just admitted that part of the opening ceremony was faked via CG, namely the firework 'footprints' stepping toward the stadium. A fine piece of special effects work, though, and probably a good idea since the real thing could've misfired in so many ways. Still pretty cheeky, though.

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Apparently the little girl who was oh-so-preciously singing wasn't actually singing, either. Little Chinese Milli-Vanilli girl.

It's pretty common to use lip-synch at major outdoor events. Everything from the national anthem singers before football games, to the opera stars at previous Olympic ceremonies (Pavarotti in '92, for instance) - they record it beforehand, to ensure the acoustics and details are just right.

Again, it's not a huge commie cheat conspiracy by China in this case; simply normal practice for an event like this. Especially in summer.

The Norwegian female football team is also very tapable.

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Originally Posted by Big D

It's pretty common to use lip-synch at major outdoor events. Everything from the national anthem singers before football games, to the opera stars at previous Olympic ceremonies (Pavarotti in '92, for instance) - they record it beforehand, to ensure the acoustics and details are just right.

Again, it's not a huge commie cheat conspiracy by China in this case; simply normal practice for an event like this. Especially in summer.

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It wasn't even the same girl. :P

It's quite funny how many people are shocked by HARDKOAR SPORTS that they thought were quite tame. The olympics are always great fun to watch. I only caught part of the dressage for the triple event equestrian thingy (my god, one of the horses was absolutely perfect! He was the most beautiful thing...it was one of the english girls' I think...) and part of one of the wimminz volleyball matches. They were wearing goggles, is that to protect face from ball hittage?

was it court or beach volleyball? if beach it might be to protect them from sand.

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Originally Posted by rubah

was it court or beach volleyball? if beach it might be to protect them from sand.

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It was beach, so yeah, sand blockage.

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Originally Posted by Roto13

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Originally Posted by Big D

It's pretty common to use lip-synch at major outdoor events. Everything from the national anthem singers before football games, to the opera stars at previous Olympic ceremonies (Pavarotti in '92, for instance) - they record it beforehand, to ensure the acoustics and details are just right.

Again, it's not a huge commie cheat conspiracy by China in this case; simply normal practice for an event like this. Especially in summer.

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It wasn't even the same girl. :P

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I thought that everyone already knew it was lip-synched. You'd have to have not been paying attention to think otherwise. Her lip-synching was of Britney Spears quality, and was about as obvious as can be.

China is pathetic for not allowing a girl to sing in front of an audience because she is deemed ugly. Its snubbing the girl of the recognition she deserves for her talent and making her look like a fool as well. If I was the little girl I would of said F-you and not sing at all.

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Originally Posted by Dreddz

China is pathetic for not allowing a girl to sing in front of an audience because she is deemed ugly. Its snubbing the girl of the recognition she deserves for her talent and making her look like a fool as well. If I was the little girl I would of said F-you and not sing at all.

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Not when they point a gun to your head :P

the opening Ceremony was the most incredible event I have ever seen in my life! o_O

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Originally Posted by Goldenboko

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Originally Posted by Dreddz

China is pathetic for not allowing a girl to sing in front of an audience because she is deemed ugly. Its snubbing the girl of the recognition she deserves for her talent and making her look like a fool as well. If I was the little girl I would of said F-you and not sing at all.

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Not when they point a gun to your head :P

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Sad but true. (Of course, this was why the entire ceremony was perfect to the nth degree) Hopefully the Olympics will give China and the chinese people a golden oppurtunity to open their country up a little more.

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Originally Posted by scrumpleberry

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Originally Posted by Goldenboko

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Originally Posted by Dreddz

China is pathetic for not allowing a girl to sing in front of an audience because she is deemed ugly. Its snubbing the girl of the recognition she deserves for her talent and making her look like a fool as well. If I was the little girl I would of said F-you and not sing at all.

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Not when they point a gun to your head :P

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Sad but true. (Of course, this was why the entire ceremony was perfect to the nth degree) Hopefully the Olympics will give China and the chinese people a golden oppurtunity to open their country up a little more.

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I wonder if anybody snuck anything in that tells the Chinese people about Tiananmen Square.

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Originally Posted by Roto13

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Originally Posted by Big D

Interesting news: they've just admitted that part of the opening ceremony was faked via CG, namely the firework 'footprints' stepping toward the stadium. A fine piece of special effects work, though, and probably a good idea since the real thing could've misfired in so many ways. Still pretty cheeky, though.

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Apparently the little girl who was oh-so-preciously singing wasn't actually singing, either. Little Chinese Milli-Vanilli girl.

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That makes me incredibly angry for the little girl who's actually singing. :mad2:

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Originally Posted by Big D

Virtually all of the opening and the fireworks were real, yeah - it's just those footprints that weren't.

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That makes this a pretty impressive forgery, then.

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Originally Posted by I'm my own MILF

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Originally Posted by Big D

Virtually all of the opening and the fireworks were real, yeah - it's just those footprints that weren't.

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That makes this a pretty impressive forgery, then.

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Best. CGI. EVER.

Hmm... if the footstep fireworks were actually done, I hope we'll hear it soon. But I could imagine some 'home camera' footage being CG'd, too, to add to the illusion.

As for the complaining about a different actress being used for the singing... again, people acting like this was an evil commie plot rather than a simple part of performing arts. Yeah, they chose a performer who looked the part, while using the voice talents of someone who could sing well. It was all about putting on the right show. If you could interview all the performers dressed in cultural minority garb, you'd probably find that some of them aren't actually members of that particular minority.
When Jack sings in The Nightmare Before Christmas, it's not Chris Sarandon, his voice actor, but a substitute. Same when Yuna's singing in FFX-2. Should those actors have got into a huff because their talents weren't considered good enough?

The girl who actually sang at the games had her voice heard and appreciated by countless millions of people. That's pretty cool in its own right, especially for a seven year old.

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I wonder if anybody snuck anything in that tells the Chinese people about Tiananmen Square.

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There were a butt-ton of protests at and around the Square in the leadup to the games, so plenty of people do indeed know - even though it's basically a forbidden topic in the Chinese media, except for the one-sided representation which tells of the military having to respond to mob violence and vandalism by a rampaging horde of protesters.

I'm surprised at just how widespread the view is, that everyone who lives and works in a communist country is a one-sided and one-dimensional evil-doer, like a villain from a Cold War comic book. The reality's a lot more complex than you'd think.

I think you guys are misinterpreting the fireworks thing. All the fireworks were set off. But filming explosives like fireworks would have been dangerous and logistically challenging for the filmcrew in the helicopters. So while the fireworks were being displayed, instead of having the helicopter fly around and try and capture the footprints, they chose to show a cgi of it instead.

Man, imagine being told you're not cute enough at like 7 or whatever years old, to sing your national anthem at the olympics. ;;

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Originally Posted by Rye

Man, imagine being told you're not cute enough at like 7 or whatever years old, to sing your national anthem at the olympics. ;;

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If you're brainwashed properly you'll just consider it a great honor that your voice was good enough Dx

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Originally Posted by Miriel

I think you guys are misinterpreting the fireworks thing. All the fireworks were set off. But filming explosives like fireworks would have been dangerous and logistically challenging for the filmcrew in the helicopters. So while the fireworks were being displayed, instead of having the helicopter fly around and try and capture the footprints, they chose to show a cgi of it instead.

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Ah, that's good to know - it's consistent with thee other footage that's come up (like the YouTube video linked earlier). It highlights the uselessness of most of the 'western' news outlets, too, who would have us believe the entire thing was a hoax.

Any links to credible sources confirming that those fireworks were actually set off?

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Man, imagine being told you're not cute enough at like 7 or whatever years old, to sing your national anthem at the olympics. ;;

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Chances are it wasn't explained in those terms - more like, "we'll use your singing because it's good, and we've got an actress who looks like the 'ideal Chinese girl' who'll play the part of the singer."

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If you're brainwashed properly you'll just consider it a great honor that your voice was good enough Dx

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I really wonder if many of you people have ever actually met someone from China... they're not all as stupid, foreign and sheeptastic as you seem to believe, nor is the entire nation mired in indoctrination. Yes, it's an oppressive and totalitarian government that manipulates its populace on a grand scale - but it's not a population of brainless zombies whose only goal in life is to serve the Evil League of Communist Evil.

I love watching Phelps swim, he makes it look effortless. :O

WHY DID MY SATELLITE SIGNAL HAVE TO GO OUT THIS WEEK

argghaghfdapoighfdigifshg;osda

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Originally Posted by Big D

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Originally Posted by Miriel

I think you guys are misinterpreting the fireworks thing. All the fireworks were set off. But filming explosives like fireworks would have been dangerous and logistically challenging for the filmcrew in the helicopters. So while the fireworks were being displayed, instead of having the helicopter fly around and try and capture the footprints, they chose to show a cgi of it instead.

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Ah, that's good to know - it's consistent with thee other footage that's come up (like the YouTube video linked earlier). It highlights the uselessness of most of the 'western' news outlets, too, who would have us believe the entire thing was a hoax.

Any links to credible sources confirming that those fireworks were actually set off?

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Man, imagine being told you're not cute enough at like 7 or whatever years old, to sing your national anthem at the olympics. ;;

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Chances are it wasn't explained in those terms - more like, "we'll use your singing because it's good, and we've got an actress who looks like the 'ideal Chinese girl' who'll play the part of the singer."

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If you're brainwashed properly you'll just consider it a great honor that your voice was good enough Dx

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I really wonder if many of you people have ever actually met someone from China... they're not all as stupid, foreign and sheeptastic as you seem to believe, nor is the entire nation mired in indoctrination. Yes, it's an oppressive and totalitarian government that manipulates its populace on a grand scale - but it's not a population of brainless zombies whose only goal in life is to serve the Evil League of Communist Evil.

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Seems like a Communist sympathizer to me. BURN THE PINKO!

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Originally Posted by Goldenboko

I love watching Phelps swim, he makes it look effortless. :O

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*cough* steroids

Yes. I said it.

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I really wonder if many of you people have ever actually met someone from China... they're not all as stupid, foreign and sheeptastic as you seem to believe, nor is the entire nation mired in indoctrination.

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QFT, not to mention that some of the critics here seem just as brainwashed as the people they are describing.

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Originally Posted by PuPu

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Originally Posted by Goldenboko

I love watching Phelps swim, he makes it look effortless. :O

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*cough* steroids

Yes. I said it.

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HA! Now thats funny. "Oh, god! He's successful at a sport in the Modern Era! HE MUST BE USING STEROIDS!" No. If he comes up positive in a steriod test then you can say something, until then you can't say jack. After all, Jeremy Giambi was a huge failure in baseball and he took steriods didn't get him anyway. People can be great at a sport without steriods.

That's only because everyone else is taking performance hindering substances! Come on, Winter Olympian Bode Miller skis drunk. Who's to say that some of these other swimmers aren't also hitting the bottle.

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Originally Posted by Goldenboko

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Originally Posted by PuPu

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Originally Posted by Goldenboko

I love watching Phelps swim, he makes it look effortless. :O

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*cough* steroids

Yes. I said it.

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HA! Now thats funny. "Oh, god! He's successful at a sport in the Modern Era! HE MUST BE USING STEROIDS!" No. If he comes up positive in a steriod test then you can say something, until then you can't say jack. After all, Jeremy Giambi was a huge failure in baseball and he took steriods didn't get him anyway. People can be great at a sport without steriods.

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Not as funny as the fact that you think people jump to extremes as easily as you described. I'll say it in a similar way that you said it: "Oh god! Someone is being skeptical of the fact that someone is unusually better than others! I must now mock that person!" Yes, people can be good at a sport without steroids, but probably not so good that breaking world records becomes "effortless" like you said. That's why I kind of said the steroids thing as joke, sorry if it didn't seem that way to all Phelps fans. I'm just saying that I'm slightly skeptical of Phelps' ability; it's not like I'm outright accusing him of being a fraud.

Again, I wasn't trying to accuse Phelps of using steroids and only meant it as a joke.

(By the way, aren't there certain non-steroid drugs a person can take that makes certain substances (such as steroids) in urine untraceable?)

Wow, Canada must really hate summer. 0 Medals. :/ I thought they were doing better than that.

I haven't been keeping up much with a lack of a TV, but I seem to be hearing that there's been a lot of gymnastics and swimming going on. I don't know if many other events have taken place, but Canada doesn't tend to do well in those. We tend to do better in some of the later events.

Now if we had to swim in frozen water, or run with snow on the ground, we'd be cleaning up right now. :D

Just watched some gymnastics today. China has already won three out of four gold medals in that sport.. Gonna be interesting to see if they can take the last one as well tomorrow.

Also, I'm kinda sad that Caroline Wozniacki (Denmark) didn't make it further in the women tennis tournament (she made it to round three, before losing to Elena Dementieva). Too bad, 'cause she's really good and it would be nice to see her get into the top 20 (she's currently no 22 in the world).

I don't even get the big deal about steroids. It'd be better to allow and regulate them than keep up the pretense that their use isn't widespread. Besides which, A) Why are natural massive advantages fair? B) Why is being born in a country with massively superior training capacity fair? C) Why is having a different diet from other athletes fair? But as soon as you use something else specifically designed to make you good at this, it's an awful problem and you should be banned from sports forever?

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Originally Posted by I'm my own MILF

I don't even get the big deal about steroids. It'd be better to allow and regulate them than keep up the pretense that their use isn't widespread. Besides which, A) Why are natural massive advantages fair? B) Why is being born in a country with massively superior training capacity fair? C) Why is having a different diet from other athletes fair? But as soon as you use something else specifically designed to make you good at this, it's an awful problem and you should be banned from sports forever?

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I guess it's about maximising a person's natural potential as best you can. Sure there's a disparity in training and economy and such, but steroids take away from the genuine hard slog and mental commitment of doing the work for oneself. It's cheap, anti-competitive and - since those things are presumably quite sophisticated and expensive - giving an added, incomparable edge to wealthy athletes.
With conventional training, you can the same results almost anywhere in the world. Weights are just as heavy whether they're part of a sophisticated machine, or simply heavy rocks found in the wilderness. Either way, an athlete's only going to get results by trying to be the best they're capable of, rather than going beyond their capabilities through synthetic means that are intended to give them an unassailable advantage.

I'd compare it to allowing cheating in other sports - low blows in boxing, for instance. It happens anyway so it's 'normal', but that hardly means it should be fine for cheap and unsporting dropnuts fighters to use it as a way of overcoming more honourable, decent opposition. The games are supposed to be about who's the best at what they do, not who's the best at cheating.

Ouch, this story isn't for the faint of heart:
Pictured: The horrific moment Olympic weightlifter turns his elbow back to front | Mail Online

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This is the moment Hungarian weightlifter Janos Baranyai's first Olympics ended in agony when he dislocated his right elbow in the ugliest moment yet of the Olympic weightlifting competition.

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I sure hope he's okay. It's one thing to not place in your first Olympics, but to have to withdraw due to a serious injury like this? :(

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Originally Posted by Flying Mullet

Ouch, this story isn't for the faint of heart:
Pictured: The horrific moment Olympic weightlifter turns his elbow back to front | Mail Online

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This is the moment Hungarian weightlifter Janos Baranyai's first Olympics ended in agony when he dislocated his right elbow in the ugliest moment yet of the Olympic weightlifting competition.

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I sure hope he's okay. It's one thing to not place in your first Olympics, but to have to withdraw due to a serious injury like this? :(

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Saw that yesterday. It certainly is tragic. I hope he's ok, but I have no idea what the chances are of fully recovering from that. If there's any permanent damage then his weight lifting career could very well be over.

I saw a japanese vaulter pretty well smash into the padding on his landing, but I don't think he dislocated his neck :O That sucks for the Hungarian :(

One of my lj friends has this to say about phelps: link.

anyways, walsh and may are amazing. So many 'holy crap they just made that return HOLY CRAP' saves in the games against norway last night.

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Originally Posted by rubah

One of my lj friends has this to say about phelps: link.

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What your friend doesn't understand is that doing a butterfly and freestyle stroke are equivalent to doing the 100m dash and triple jump; they're very different mechanics that engage different muscles. You can see this when you watch Phelps swim. His chest raises a great deal out of the water one one side of his freestyle stroke, this being due to his butterfly training, which is his prime stroke. It's hard to train your body to be efficient in two different strokes, thus his primary stroke shows through. That's why IMs are so impressive, as the people have to learn and master four strokes. When you watch and IM, you'll hear the announcers talking about how "This is so-and-so's strong stroke".

Also, a lot of people don't realize that the difference between a 100m swim and a 200m swim is equivalent to a 200m sprint and an 800m or so run. They're trying to directly equate swimming distances to running distances and it just doesn't work.

that's a good point! It does make them kinda dull to watch though :}

I'll agree that the events Phelps is swimming in are anti-climatic at this point. After that amazing 4x100 freestyle relay with the US and France it was pretty boring watching the 4x200 frestyle relay where the US was so far ahead of everyone else. Phelps' 200 butterfly was the same way. There just wasn't much excitement there.

I'm ready to start watching the 100m and 200m dash. :D

Did anyone see that Swedish wrestler walk off after being given his bronze medal and throwing it to the ground - what a charming attitude!

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Originally Posted by Flying Mullet

Ouch, this story isn't for the faint of heart:
Pictured: The horrific moment Olympic weightlifter turns his elbow back to front | Mail Online

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This is the moment Hungarian weightlifter Janos Baranyai's first Olympics ended in agony when he dislocated his right elbow in the ugliest moment yet of the Olympic weightlifting competition.

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I sure hope he's okay. It's one thing to not place in your first Olympics, but to have to withdraw due to a serious injury like this? :(

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Bugger me, that's nasty. I'm hoping nothing got torn or broken, but even still - I'd be surprised if he's able to recover from this enough to get back into weightlifting in the same division, though at least he's got a judo background too.

It's difficult to imagine just how much that must've hurt:(

Oh jesus, that poor bastard Hungarian :( I hope they can fix him up so he can continue his career. I can't begin to imagine how painful that must be.

Hell yeah America our cute little gymnasts will persevere through your biased judges and one-two punch you gold-silver pow pow.

lol @ how most of the aggressive, boorish nationalism is coming from Americans.

Good thing that their athletes are proving to be as sporting as they are capable, though. Some damn fine performances. I'm watching the gymnasts' floor routines at the moment, and it's compelling stuff.

I didn't know I had it in me. I was crying, yes, REAL TEARS, at the womens gymnastics when Nastia and Shawn took Gold/Silver.

That was when I realized it. I am really really gay.

We were watching the Japanese fellow on the rings(we're a day behind and watching on DVR so we can fast-forward through events that don't interest us) when he lost his grip on one of the rings and he took the nasty fall spinning through the air. That was another heartbreaking moment because he was in medal contention up until that moment. Then a little later he tried to do the vault and you could see he wasn't recovered as he was favoring his left shoulder when running. After vaulting, when he landed, he just collapsed backwards, obviously still in shock and his body not recovered.

One of the announcers said that some of the competitors have been complaining about the rings. Does anyone know what the actual complaints have been?

I like the olympics but practiacally all they ever show in my country is the swimming

Ouch. If Spain is the third-best basketball team in the world... bruuuuutal.

Hahaha holy Usain Bolt is a badman. :cool:

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Originally Posted by Kirobaito

Ouch. If Spain is the third-best basketball team in the world... bruuuuutal.

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If the US is going to lose, its going to come from overconfidence. :o

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Originally Posted by I'm my own MILF

Hahaha holy Usain Bolt is a badman. :cool:

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Yeah that was god damn unbelievable. With sheer nonchalonce as well.

That Usain Bolt run was just crazy. Not seen anything like that in the 100m before. Showboating from about 20 metres out!

Great Britain is picking up a fair few medals now. Which is good.

Team GB's skillful cycling ftw :cool:
Bolt has issues xD

A Cypriot guy got 4th in a shooting event and missed out on a bronze after a tie-breaker. So close to our first Olympic medal ever! :(

NZ broke its one-day medal record yesterday, pretty neat after getting nothing for the whole of the games to date.

Bolt's race was awesome, too. I wonder just how fast he would've been if he'd kept sprinting the entire way, rather than 'relaxing' once he knew he'd won?

Holy crap, Canada won something! :whoa:

Bronze. That deserves a "Way to be!" in my book.

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Originally Posted by Yaridovich

Holy crap, Canada won something! :whoa:

Bronze. That deserves a "Way to be!" in my book.

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They won three medals today! Two in wrestling, one in rowing.

And Phelpppppppppppppps. Kick ass.

Go Phelps :D

On a different note, the way that Jamaican runner celebrated before he won pissed me off.

He could have broken 9.6 seconds.

Exactly. Your suppose to try and do the best you possibly could at the Olympics, clearly winning was all that he thought about. I preferred the swimmer who came in dead last, but raced her heart out to break her personal best then what he did.

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Originally Posted by Goldenboko

Exactly. Your suppose to try and do the best you possibly could at the Olympics, clearly winning was all that he thought about. I preferred the swimmer who came in dead last, but raced her heart out to break her personal best then what he did.

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Oh, boKo. You and your "do your best!" :p

I don't like it when they gloat either. I started to get irritated with Phelps because really started to get cocky. Whenever he won he looked really smug and arrogant at times, and in most of his races, he did really look like he put out in 100%. :mad:

I can put up with smug, but Jesus, slowing down at the end of a race because its clear you won? Thats just >:0.

So Usain Bolt's smugness is worse than Michael Phelps' how?

check out my reverse gobo

I've never been able to tell Phelps slowed down during a race. Show me a part where he did then I'll be all like >:0
But as far as I can tell he races 'till its done. 'course I'm not an expert eye when it comes to swimming :P

He half-asses it until about halfway through, at which point he then decides to compete.

It's why he almost lost his medal #7 this Olympics. He won by :00.01

...No. Thats called conservation, you keep your energy till the second half of the race and pull ahead when your opponent can't come back because they already used it up pulling ahead the first half. Phelps isn't the only one who does that.

I know that. :rolleyes2

But watch his first race and then watch the seventh race and tell me there is no difference in the demeanor of his swimming.

Well, I'd say thats because of the amount races inbetween them, duh. I'd imagine he'd slow after 15 or something races.

Ah, well.

His smugness doesn't make me like him any less, I just wish he wouldn't have been so smug later. I'm still glad he won 8 TIMES. :whoa:

Oh for the love of god I hope he isn't on steroids. Swimming is one of the few respectable sports that still exists...

New Zealand at the start of yesterday: Either just one bronze, or possibly none at all.
New Zealand now: Two golds, one silver, two bronzes.

:love:

UK moves up to 3rd on the table with some more Cycling & water sport ownage!
1st time getting a medal in apperatus gymnastics as well! (even if he was cheated out of silver because the judges fancied the other guy)

The GB team is doing soo good :jess:. I stayed up till like 3am watching the marathon last night too xD

I thought the Olympics was 'boring' at first but I just keep watching it now, it's so interesting ^_^

You just don't mess with Britain when it comes to cycling, rowing and sailing. You just don't do it.

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Originally Posted by Psychotic

You just don't mess with Britain when it comes to cycling, rowing and sailing. You just don't do it.

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Word.

I'm so proud of us!

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Originally Posted by Loony BoB

New Zealand at the start of yesterday: Either just one bronze, or possibly none at all.
New Zealand now: Two golds, one silver, two bronzes.

:love:

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I saw Valerie Vili's winning performance in the shot put, and I can say you're so lucky to be spared the godawful TVNZ commentary that went with that competition. Some journalist prick was really butthurt that she wouldn't give him a comment the previous day, and then during the entire gold-medal match the commentator was going on about her weight. Non-stop. It was an absolute freaking disgrace, especially when she was doing her victory lap and the chump stated, twice in a row, how she'd found a sport that was good for someone with her body type.

Just got finished watching the Women's Gymnastics Vault and it's pretty lame they gave Hong Un Jong (PRK) the Gold instead of Oksana Chusovitina (GER). Chusovitina stuck both of her landings almost perfectly where Jong stepped out on the first one and the second was decent, but by no means great. Although I think the biggest upset was Chang Fei (CHN) winning Bronze after falling was pretty outrageous and was probably due to her being on the Chinese team.

I'm probably behind or something but blame NBC, not me.

Liu Xiang :( so gutted

So, what's this I hear about some Chinese gymnasts being too young?

Some news reporters were digging around for archive stories under a year old on the Chinese women's gymnastics team (To verify their age? For a historical perspective piece? Who knows...) and found lots of stories about the gymnists where they are reported to being 13-15, young, up-and-coming prodigies, etc... Then they were entered into the Olympics as 16 year olds, which is the minimum age to compete. China states that their passports prove their are at least 16 years old while others argue that China could have easily faked the passports as it would have been to their advantage to get these girls into the games. Meanwhile, the news stories the reporters claimed to have found have mysteriously disappeared from the web, so it's anyone's guess now as to how old these girls really are, if there were any news stories, etc...

Basically, we haven't had any doping or other scandals at these Olympics and it wouldn't be the Olympics without some form of drama revolving around the athletes all being legit. :p

*snip*
[mulley]Nope. - Flying Mullet[/mulley]

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Originally Posted by Flying Mullet

Some news reporters were digging around for archive stories under a year old on the Chinese women's gymnastics team (To verify their age? For a historical perspective piece? Who knows...) and found lots of stories about the gymnists where they are reported to being 13-15, young, up-and-coming prodigies, etc... Then they were entered into the Olympics as 16 year olds, which is the minimum age to compete. China states that their passports prove their are at least 16 years old while others argue that China could have easily faked the passports as it would have been to their advantage to get these girls into the games. Meanwhile, the news stories the reporters claimed to have found have mysteriously disappeared from the web, so it's anyone's guess now as to how old these girls really are, if there were any news stories, etc...

Basically, we haven't had any doping or other scandals at these Olympics and it wouldn't be the Olympics without some form of drama revolving around the athletes all being legit. :p

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So, basically, it's only suspicions and the only way to prove it would be to have China confirm it? Yeah, that'll happen. :rolleyes2

I hope the Chinese gymnasts are legitimate. But then again, if a 13-year-old kid can win competitions then I think they deserve medals. :p

So far I'm most impressed by the Belarussian weightlifter in the 105Kg weight class who broke 6 records in a single event. :p

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Originally Posted by o_O

I hope the Chinese gymnasts are legitimate. But then again, if a 13-year-old kid can win competitions then I think they deserve medals. :p

So far I'm most impressed by the Belarussian weightlifter in the 105Kg weight class who broke 6 records in a single event. :p

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Well, in gymnastics, being pre-pubescent is to your advantage. They less you have matured, the less body weight you carry on you, as you don't have developed boobies, and the easier it is to maneuver yourself in the ways that these girls have to. It's not simply a matter of being technically eligible - the fact that these girls are underaged is really a big advantage. It's even more of an advantage when you're not even questioned on it by the IOC. It's a disgrace.

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Originally Posted by Goldenboko

Exactly. Your suppose to try and do the best you possibly could at the Olympics, clearly winning was all that he thought about.

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Actually, Bolt said something to the effect of, "I didn't want to have the expectations of me rise too high" jokingly in an interview.

Like it or not, he's just being a perfect businessman. He knows he could do much better. He's just going to continue to chip at that record every major race and probably will still be in good enough shape to smoke the other runners and set a new world record once again in London 2012. For a guy where running is everything, he's just trying to milk his career as long as he can.

The new scoring for gymnastics is lame. And the whole tiebreaker thing is bs. What's so wrong with sharing a medal?

My heart kinda broke for Nastia Liukin. It's one thing to lose because your routine was worse, but it must be gutting to lose due to incompetence of the judges, some whacked out tiebreaking system, and China cheating their way in with underage girls. The whole thing where you can't have any judges from ANY of the nations competing is pretty ridiculous.

I think Nastia and Yang Yilin BOTH outperformed that 12 year old He Kexin. I can't believe how that little girl was beaming like she deserved that gold. Made me want to smack her.

PS. GTFO Australian judge. :mad2:

Er, has anyone actually checked whether there's an age restriction on gymnasts? 'Cause I know for a fact that there were under-16s in the diving events at the last games, and I'm pretty sure the same was true for gymnastics. It'd be so typical for people to be all "BAAAWWWW CHINA" over a made-up criticism like imaginary age restrictions...

In 1997, the minimum age restriction was raised in Gymnastics from 15 to 16. You have to turn 16 during the year of the Olympics in order to compete.

Besides Big D, the age restriction thing has been a huge story these Olympics. It's pretty much mentioned every time the Women's gymnastics event comes up. I doubt networks, announcers, analysts, reporters, athletes, and the general viewers from a whole variety of different countries would be making a fuss about this if it were "imaginary". :p

Pretty sure each event has a different restriction on ages.

China Digital Times » One More Olympic Secret: How Old is He Kexin (何å�¯æ¬£), Really? (Updated)

Pretty informative website on the issue with He Kexin and her age.

Ah, so there is a restriction on ages in that event... interesting. Well, it'd hardly be a surprise for China to be cheating in some way. And since large-scale steroid programmes are both old news and easily detected (Soviet Union's 1980s man-women, anyone?), faking ages seems a logical, if pathetic, next step. Especially since age is simply information, something so easily faked in a country like that. Well, the media exposure's going to bite them in the arse pretty hard.

Speaking of gymnastics, we were watching some of the floor exercises for the men and the incredible performance by the Brazilian athlete that was going to medal for Brazil for the first time, probably gold. Then he fell on the last landing of his routine. I felt so sorry for him, especially as the rest of his routine was simply amazing. :sad:

So did you hear China treats it's people like crap? This is totally new and unexpected.

And this, too, for that matter.

(I laughed at this, though.)

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Originally Posted by Roto13

And this, too, for that matter.

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Originally Posted by Flying Mullet

I also thought this point from an opinion column I read was interesting:

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The first major red flag that this was going to be a propaganda exercise of massive portions was when the government paraded a group of Han Chinese children through the Bird's Nest dressed in the garb of the nation's 54 minority groups -- as a effort to "celebrate" the diversity of China. How inclusive! Except for the fact that the government either exoticizes these groups for tourist purposes while they remain poor, second-class citizens, or create conscious programs to aggressively assimilate these groups out of existence, particularly in politically hostile regions like Tibet and Xinjiang. An equivalent in America would be if the government got a group of white kids from Manhattan together and dressed them up as members of Native American tribes and paraded them around as example of how respectful we are towards the "native peoples."

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Here's a link to the column: Katherine Goldstein: Hook, Line, and Sinker: NBC Swallows Opening Ceremonies Propaganda

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Shut up.

http://www.smh.com.au/ffximage/2008/..._470x273,0.jpg

Fantastic race.

What a performance by Bolt, breaking the World Record. Brilliant.

The IOC is now investigating He Kexin's age... :lol:

Bolt is freaking insane. Veronica Campbell-Brown is pretty insane too.

I hate how everyone is making a big deal about Bolt saying that he's number one to the camera and taking his victory lap right after he won the race. Nobody else running with him blamed him for it though, they probably would've done the same exact thing. What he did, how he did it, and how fast it was accomplished was nothing short of amazing.

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Originally Posted by Bunny

Bolt is freaking insane. Veronica Campbell-Brown is pretty insane too.

I hate how everyone is making a big deal about Bolt saying that he's number one to the camera and taking his victory lap right after he won the race. Nobody else running with him blamed him for it though, they probably would've done the same exact thing. What he did, how he did it, and how fast it was accomplished was nothing short of amazing.

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Agreed. The man won gold at the olympics and destroyed world records. I'd be pretty overwhelmed and excited too. He seemed pretty humble in the only interview I've seen with him though. Certainly didn't come off as the show boating, disrespectful person some people seem to like saying he is. Frankly, I think most people who have anything bad to say about him only care in the first place because he won by so much. It's your typical case of people wanting to knock him down a few pegs now that he's big news.

The only thing that bugs me about Bolt is he showboats before the race. I have no problems with him celebrating after he wins, but before a lot of his races when his name and lane are announced he's pulling on his jersey and pointing to the crowd in the same manner that he does when he wins the race. That part I think is cocky and disrespectful, showboating as if you've already won.

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Originally Posted by Flying Mullet

The only thing that bugs me about Bolt is he showboats before the race. I have no problems with him celebrating after he wins, but before a lot of his races when his name and lane are announced he's pulling on his jersey and pointing to the crowd in the same manner that he does when he wins the race. That part I think is cocky and disrespectful, showboating as if you've already won.

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Yeah, I guess I feel the same. Its the kinda thing that makes me want someone else to win.

I love the man, I think he is great. I always assumed the shirt pulling thing was him playing up to his heritage 'cause he always pulls the Jamaica part forward and he always seems to be proud about doing well for his country when he gives interviews so I don't mind that. And I don't mind his showboating side either, he's obviously relaxed and enjoying himself if he can do that sort of thing and he's proved with his performances that he works best that way so yeah. I think he would do it even if he was losing races. Kim Collins used to play to the crowd before all his races as well. It just seems to be a very West Indian style he has, and I've always been a fan of West Indies sportsmen. All of the great ones from the Islands have swagger and style about them, Sir Vivian Richards instantly springs to mind.

Anyway I don't have a clue why people would be complaining about him saying he's number one to that camera. The man has three gold medals with three world records. He IS number one. No one else on the track can touch him.

I think the only thing you could criticise him for was almost slowing up and celebrating before he'd even crossed the line in the 100m (which to be fair he didn't do in the 200m), maybe that could be seen as being a little disrespectful to the other competitors. But Bolt says he was just happy he was going to win, so who am I to argue. And he's far more bearable than the likes of Maurice Greene were in his celebrations afterwards. The guy has set the games alight with his performances, whatever you think of him what he did will be remembered for a long time.

Awesome performance by Jamaica in the men's 4 x 100m relay today. But the women's relay...UK and Jamaica - doh! Not to mention the UK and USA the day before. So many teams dropping the baton or not making the changeover fast enough in the sprint relays over the last two days.

Woo, potential gold for the US in both basketballs and both volleyballs. I would love for that Argentinian basketball team to just go away. 12 Manu Ginobilis. Ick.

Cuban Taekwando competitor has been banned for life because he kicked a referee in the smurfing face.

Bah can't watch as im not in the USA....

Still, its VERY repulsive seeing a athlete of his caliber assaulting a referee.



Off topic from that: I can't believe the Olympics are over in a day!! *cry* . What am I gonna watch now late at night!

Probably the same as everyone else: Porn.

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Originally Posted by Yaridovich

Cuban Taekwando competitor has been banned for life because he kicked a referee in the smurfing face.

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That pretty much ruled.

Cubans are dirty bastards. The one in the boxing final against some British guy spent the entire match hugging him. And still lost.

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Originally Posted by Yaridovich

Cuban Taekwando competitor has been banned for life because he kicked a referee in the smurfing face.

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Holy crap, I can't believe he did that! It's not like he was all frenzied up and started going at the ref. He just calmly strode over, still next to the ref for a second or two and then just KICKED HIM IN THE FACE! What a nutjob.

Look at this!

Oh and as a side note, synchronized swimming is the creepiest sport I've ever seen at the Olympics.

Wow. The kickee's face is priceless in that picture. :lol:

That is the best ever. Hahahaha. It needed to happen really. Taekwando's such a boring sport. People kicking each other in the stomach over and over again is less appealing than it sounds.

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Originally Posted by Miriel

Oh and as a side note, synchronized swimming is the creepiest sport I've ever seen at the Olympics.

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One year, I saw a team swimming to Fithos Lusec Wecos Vinosec from Final Fantasy VIII. That was awesome. xD

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Originally Posted by Roto13

One year, I saw a team swimming to Fithos Lusec Wecos Vinosec from Final Fantasy VIII. That was awesome. xD

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Here ya go! ;)

It acutally starts about 2 minutes in. I think they won bronze.