So who is looking forward to the Olympics

Philly_Q

Anyway, I really like the Olympics but because it's in Europe I'll see very little of the TV coverage.  It works much better for me when it's on the other side of the world, then I can stay up most of the night and watch it.

Sesh said:

Yes, I'll be watching. I like seeing different events to the usual fare that normally gets broadcast. I just hope the BBC do a decent job of it this time, but let's face it. They we send more presenters, reporters, commentators and summarisers than athletes most countries send and they chat away and not show the sport. 

I'm writing this without checking my facts, but I'm pretty sure last time the way the events were sold to different broadcasters meant that the BBC had much less coverage than they'd had at previous Olympiads.  Presumably Paris will be the same.

boogieman

Philly_Q said:

Anyway, I really like the Olympics but because it's in Europe I'll see very little of the TV coverage.  It works much better for me when it's on the other side of the world, then I can stay up most of the night and watch it.

Years ago I managed to hurt my back quite badly. The doc said the best thing was for me to lay on a hard floor and signed me off work for a couple of weeks. It was 2000, Olympic fortnight in Sydney. Result! I ended up watching pretty much everything that was showing at stupid o’clock in the morning. 

littlegreenman

Love the Olympics, always have. I know it's incredibly naive, but the idea that humanity can come together for 2 weeks of sport and leave all the other crap behind still gives me hope, albeit only every 2 years (Winter inc). And that's as a very cynical 50-something.

I'll be watching as much as I can, especially the cycling. Hoping Kieran Reilly can back up his World's title with Gold in BMX Freestyle. Disappointing that Ecuador didn't select Carapaz to defend his Road title (Polka Dots at Le Tour may have the selectors saying "D'Oh!"). Not sure GB will perform as well on the track this time, but should do well, losing Katie Archibald will be felt for sure.

Citius - Altius - Fortius

Offset

Philly_Q said:

boogieman said:

guitars4you said:

And breaking news - Charlotte Dujardin, Britain's joint-most decorated female Olympian, has pulled out of Paris 2024 after a video emerged showing her "making an error of judgement"

Quite difficult to establish what this “error of judgment” is at first look, the news sites are all being quite cagey at the moment about revealing what it actually involves. Seems there may be a video of her hitting a horse during training? 

And/or one of her students?

"What happened was completely out of character and does not reflect how I train my horses or coach my pupils, however there is no excuse," she said in statement.

The 'incident' happened four years ago... so WHY has this video been released only now?  I'm sure it's, um, all a coincidence.

Iamnobody

Offset said:

Fuck me.  Now I've seen everything.  Was the barrel that empty?

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/articles/clkyjlm97p3o

This year’s torch is actually a massive spliff. Makes perfect sense…

I don’t generally watch sport on TV except boxing. I may tune into some of the highlights and see what’s going on. 

stufisher

I'm a massive Olympics fan ... Summer and Winter. I'm a real dweeb about it all ... facts, figures, records, stories, astonishing performances ... ever since I saw Bob Beamon's world record long jump in Mexico 1968 I was hooked.

My focus is track & field but swimming, gymnastics, cycling, weightlifting and boxing also capture my attention.

Love it, love it, love it I do  

munckee

I love it, like the best sports day ever. Love the table tennis, weightlifting, shooting, kayaking, heptathlon, sailing all of it. 

Except the swimming to be fair.  

Philly_Q

I think the swimming, first week, and the athletics, second week, are the key events for me, but I enjoy the whole thing. 

I don't even mind that they've added breakdancing this time.  Sadly, I suspect that Michael "Boogaloo Shrimp" Chambers is too old to represent the USA.  Even more sadly, Adolfo "Shabba Doo" Quiñones is no longer with us.  RIP.

Dr_Necessiter

Olympians. 

duotone

I’m looking forward to watching Boxing, Cycling BMX Freestyle & Skateboarding the most.  Hopefully the BBC will have these available, I don’t mind if they aren’t live and just viewable on the iPlayer.

I can’t believe that it’s on for such a short period of time, 26 July to 11 August. 

fastonebaz

Afraid I didn't know it was even happening. 

Dontgiveupyourdayjob

Philly_Q said:

Anyway, I really like the Olympics but because it's in Europe I'll see very little of the TV coverage.  It works much better for me when it's on the other side of the world, then I can stay up most of the night and watch it.

I'm the other way round. Tokyo pretty much completely passed me by due to the time difference, but might actually watch some of this summer's games. Not really a massive sports fan, but it's nice to watch something a bit different sometimes.

Will be interesting to see how the French take to the games once it gets going. I seem to recall there being quite a bit of cynicism from Londoners in the lead up to 2012, but then it all changed once it got going.

Think a big part of that was the incredible success of Team GB in 2012. I know Macron gave them the target of Mission Top Cinq back in 2021, but I get the feeling they're trying to dampen the expectations a bit based on some French podcasts I've listened to 

TheMarlin

I couldn’t be any less interested in the Olympics. 

Won’t watch a second of it. 

SPECTRUM001

I am usually a bit lazy, and then get interested as they progress. Probably quite a common story…

However there’s nothing quite as good as convalescing during the Olympics - the perfect way to get better.

I am going out to Paris next month for the Paras (never been to the Olympics even when we had London). Quite excited; as a close friend’s son is in the cycling - hoping for a gold (he’s already world champ).

Fingers crossed - he’s a great lad who has overcome immense challenges to achieve so much.

sinbaadi

I like the Olympics and will watch a bit, I'm sure.  I'm a Sport Climbing fan so will be waiting for that to kick off.  It's the event that, for better or worse, everyone had been working towards. 

I also like the oddball events, Kayak-Cross being this year's most intriguing.  

It's weird though as I could probably watch a ton of it with just a simple YouTube search.  Hey ho.  Magic of The Games.

RobDavies

Love the olympics - been looking forward to it for a few weeks now… probably more so than the euros.
i grew up in the Daley Thompson era and he was a proper hero to me as a kid, and that sparked my interest in the games.  There’s a nice documentary on the bbc at the moment about him. 

Track and field is where it’s at and I quite enjoy the swimming and some of the newer events like BMX etc.  I could live without the subjective stuff like gymnastics and synchro swimming though. 

guitars4you

RobDavies said:

Love the olympics - been looking forward to it for a few weeks now… probably more so than the euros.
i grew up in the Daley Thompson era and he was a proper hero to me as a kid, and that sparked my interest in the games.  There’s a nice documentary on the bbc at the moment about him. 

Track and field is where it’s at and I quite enjoy the swimming and some of the newer events like BMX etc.  I could live without the subjective stuff like gymnastics and synchro swimming though. 

I saw that documentary on Daley - Very good - some parts you remember so you never knew - And one of his lads now following in his foot steps - And doesn't he look like dad

Humboldt

Too much media focus on the Medal Table. Just leave it as an amazing display of individual achievement.

thumpingrug

Ill watch as much as possible - love the Olympics.   

HAL9000

Offset said:

Philly_Q said:

boogieman said:

guitars4you said:

And breaking news - Charlotte Dujardin, Britain's joint-most decorated female Olympian, has pulled out of Paris 2024 after a video emerged showing her "making an error of judgement"

Quite difficult to establish what this “error of judgment” is at first look, the news sites are all being quite cagey at the moment about revealing what it actually involves. Seems there may be a video of her hitting a horse during training? 

And/or one of her students?

"What happened was completely out of character and does not reflect how I train my horses or coach my pupils, however there is no excuse," she said in statement.

The 'incident' happened four years ago... so WHY has this video been released only now?  I'm sure it's, um, all a coincidence.

Turns out to be excessive use of the whip (24 times in one minute). A bit of googling suggests that since clippy-cloppy dancing isn’t a natural equine behaviour (no shit Sherlock) then using the whip is a standard training tool. I’ll admit I know very little about horsey sports but this does seem to be unnecessarily cruel. If so then hopefully dressage will get banned.

As for why release the video now - I agree it’s not a coincidence. If the person releasing the video was that concerned about the horse’s welfare they should have released it at the time.