2024 Summer Olympics

[Herdfan]

Didn't see a thread for this, so I figured I would start one.

So I will start it with a semi-rant. Sorry but Lebron James and Coco Gauff should NOT be the flag bearers for the US at the Olympics. They shouldn't even been there. The honor should go to someone who is a true Olympic hero from an unheralded sport. Someone for whom carrying the US flag will be the absolute biggest moment of their life by a long shot.

James and Gauff shouldn't even be in the Olympics. Tennis and golf are not Olympic sports. A gold medal is not the ultimate prize in those two sports. They have majors and I don't think there is a player who would trade a Masters or Wimbledon for a gold medal. And for basketball, it needs to go back to amateurs. From all countries. I also don't think Lebron or any other members of the basketball team would trade an NBA title for a gold medal. May be wrong, but I doubt it.
[/rant]

So what am I looking forward to? Swimming and Track & Field. I will watch hours of these two sports over the next two weeks. Wife will watch gymnastics, but I will do my best not to. LOL

 

[jz0309]

I agree, Olympics should be for amateurs, not professionals. Now that of course opens the door and even today amateurs are paid, something. But it should not be folks who have million dollar contracts…
But it’s done to attract more spectators, ads etc, commercialization…
Personally, not sure I’m going to watch anything but will see if something of interest pops up

 

[Herdfan]

I agree, Olympics should be for amateurs, not professionals.

It isn't whether they are paid or not, but the Gold medal should be the ultimate achievement for the athlete.

So even though skiers and T&F athletes are technically professionals, the Gold medal is still the ultimate prize for their sport.

 

[Lioness~]

Well, the rules are already set by the IOC.
I myself look forward to see what our Swedes can accomplish at the games

We have one Gold pretty much ready, it would be almost impossible for Armand Duplantis to lose.
The question in polevault these days is with how much the world record will go up.
Then we have our Swimmer Sara Sjöström and our Walker Perseus Karlström will most likely take medals, hopefully and most likely a few Gold's for Sara at least.

There's probably more hopes in sports I'm not so familiar with, so everything else is just a plus 🤞🏼

 

[Apple_Robert]

I will watch as much as I can.

 

[jedimasterkyle]

Honestly, I completely forgot that the Olympics were this year. I remember as a kid being super excited about it but as an adult, I've taken more of a "Meh" perspective on it. I honestly think it's because it's become SOOOOO commercialized. It's like the super bowl where every company is fighting for advertising time but worse. But I agree that the Olympics, both winter and summer, were more appealing when it was amateurs and professionals. The 1980 US hockey team is proof of that.

 

[decafjava]

Well this parade on the Seine is quite cool and different.

 

[Chuckeee]

Anxiously waiting to see if competitions in the Seine results in athletes getting sick because of all the raw sewage. But it’s Parisian sewage so I guess that means it’s OK.

 

[Allyance]

Spectacular, John Lennon’s Imagine is the highlight.

Celine Dione was incredible. NBC will show again in prime time.

 

[Mousse]

Good gawd. Is there some way for my to watch the Olympics without the NBC commentator's drivel? They're blabbing through out the opening ceremony.🤬

I know it will get worse once the games starts. Every Olympics, they will not shut up.😡

 

[Lioness~]

I don't have the subscription that bought the rights for the streaming of the Olymmpics here, but I'm perfectly ok wit that.
I've watched the Olympics before and know the drills.
Our national sport-chanel will have an 1 hour summarasion every evening from the games, and that will be more then enough for me.

 

[Lioness~]

We got a Bronze 🥉 in Womens Judo today.

One fun thing with Olympics are the athletes we never heard of earlier.

 

[NoBoMac]

Good gawd. Is there some way for my to watch the Olympics without the NBC commentator's drivel?

Maybe.

In past Olympiads the NBC streaming live feeds were the IOC feeds and made for pleasant viewing.

This Olympics, since NBC is really going all-in with "this go round, we'll have live coverage!", suspect the IOC feeds will not be there via NBC apps (seems so after quick glance the other day, but nothing was really on the schedule other than opening ceremonies). Might be worth an interwebs search or two to see if IOC feeds are available via some service/app.

 

[Pezimak]

No skate bording yet. And am I right in thinking the surfing came from Tahiti?

Here in the UK we have the BBC covering it, but they won't cover all of it. I just subbed for a month to Discovery Plus as then you get Eurosport 1 and 2 channels. And they do a good effort of separating the different sports out in their guide.

I see the British girls snatched a medal for the 3 meter synchro diving! Well done.

 

[Lioness~]

A new bronce, in Women's Mountainbike 🥉

 

[Herdfan]

Good gawd. Is there some way for my to watch the Olympics without the NBC commentator's drivel?

Or complete ignorance of the rules.

I have been a USA Swimming Referee for over a decade. In the W 100 FLy prelims, a swimmer was DQ's and the reason the announcers gave 1) isn't even a rule and 2) wasn't even related to why she was DQ'd.

 

[Pezimak]

Good gawd. Is there some way for my to watch the Olympics without the NBC commentator's drivel? They're blabbing through out the opening ceremony.🤬

I know it will get worse once the games starts. Every Olympics, they will not shut up.😡

I guess you could use a VPN and sub to Eurosport for the month? May be an idea.

 

[Lioness~]

Our 1st silver, in Mens Air Rifle Shooting 🥈

 

[Pezimak]

Throughly enjoyed the Women's urban skateboarding in Sunday. Sky Brown for Team GB is in the Park Skateboarding tomorrow, fingers crossed for her.

 

[Loge]

Throughly enjoyed the Women's urban skateboarding in Sunday. Sky Brown for Team GB is in the Park Skateboarding tomorrow, fingers crossed for her.

I think that is next week, Tuesday 6 August.

 

[laptech]

Didn't see a thread for this, so I figured I would start one.

So I will start it with a semi-rant. Sorry but Lebron James and Coco Gauff should NOT be the flag bearers for the US at the Olympics. They shouldn't even been there. The honor should go to someone who is a true Olympic hero from an unheralded sport. Someone for whom carrying the US flag will be the absolute biggest moment of their life by a long shot.

James and Gauff shouldn't even be in the Olympics. Tennis and golf are not Olympic sports. A gold medal is not the ultimate prize in those two sports. They have majors and I don't think there is a player who would trade a Masters or Wimbledon for a gold medal. And for basketball, it needs to go back to amateurs. From all countries. I also don't think Lebron or any other members of the basketball team would trade an NBA title for a gold medal. May be wrong, but I doubt it.
[/rant]

So what am I looking forward to? Swimming and Track & Field. I will watch hours of these two sports over the next two weeks. Wife will watch gymnastics, but I will do my best not to. LOL

I 100% agree. Every time the Olympics comes around we read stories from athletes from all over the world about their struggle to win a qualifying place for the Olympics due to lack of proper training facilities and more importantly lack of money. A huge majority of gold winning Olympians are people who have to have 2 jobs to be able to fund themselves, struggling to work and then train in the evenings. People at school/college/university trying to fit in their studies around training. Then they come up against sports where professionals on multimillion $$$ wages are allowed to participate, professionals who have the best money can buy up against amateur's who can hardly afford their own uniforms.

There was an online article from a UK media outlet that reported on a number of Great Britain swimmers and divers who have resorted to using onlyfans website so they can afford to train. It is an obsolete disgrace that people with the talent to be the best in the world have to resort to such methods just so they can afford to train and qualify for Olympics.

Is there resentment or jealously? in my opinion hell yes. Multimillion paid basketball players, tennis players, golf players all vying for a gold medal when we see track and field athletes still working at their local supermarket or office job going for gold also. It's a travesty.

 

[icanhazmac]

Multimillion paid basketball players, tennis players, golf players all vying for a gold medal when we see track and field athletes still working at their local supermarket or office job going for gold also. It's a travesty.

I don't watch the Olympics and pretty much never have.

My take on your comment is this, while it is unfortunate that some participants are paid professionals while others work regular jobs to support their training one has to ask why?

The reason is that some sports are more popular than others, simple as that. If swimming, judo, track, etc. were more popular then their top tier athletes would be paid professionals as well.

Fact is most people just don't care about most of the events. While I can respect the skill athletes display in the Biathlon I would never in a million years watch it. There is a reason the Superbowl is what it is and the only time you ever see Biathlon competition is the Olympics or ESPN7 at 4am.

It's not a travesty, it's math.

 

[laptech]

......

The reason is that some sports are more popular than others, simple as that. If swimming, judo, track, etc. were more popular then their top tier athletes would be paid professionals as well.

.....

That is where it has gone wrong in my opinion. The IOC (International Olympic Committee) are always looking at ways to get more money and what better way than to have 'mainstream' sports at the Olympics. My definition of mainstream sports are those that are the main sports that people watch and follow such as Basketball, Baseball, Football (soccer), Rugby, Cricket (not sure if is Olympic sport yet), Golf, Tennis which are the dominant sports in many many countries and as such those sports not only draw in millions upon millions of viewers but also millions upon millions of sponsorship and advertising revenue. The IOC want a part of that hence why they have been included in the Olympics over the years, some more than others.

The most common main stream sports should not be allowed at the Olympics. It should not allow professionals, only amateur's. It is not a level playing field. When it was just for amateurs, you knew that nearly everyone trying out for the Olympics was doing the same thing, working their butt of doing numerous jobs fitting in training when they can. The road to the Olympics was same for everyone, well nearly everyone because there are always exceptions to the rules (wealthy families, generous benefactors) but with professionals, men and women who earn tens of thousands to millions of $$$ a week/month in wages, their road to the Olympics is extremely easy. They never have to do multiple jobs to earn enough money to be able to train. They never have to find time out of their day to train. They never have to worry about paying for training equipment, clothing, specialist food. They get ALL of that through their professional job.

I have way way more respect for an Olympic athlete who have made it to the Olympics through hardships, sheer guts and determination, rather than someone who has had everything made easy for them (professionals).

 

[icanhazmac]

The most common main stream sports should not be allowed at the Olympics. It should not allow professionals, only amateur's.

I agree with most of your post but would amend with the following:

Top tier sports are needed to draw viewers, without basketball or soccer would anyone watch diving? I would absolutely agree that we should go back to amateurs only. Funny thing about that now is, would college athletes with NIL deals still be considered amateurs?

Edit: I would also add that some events just need to go away. If the average viewer doesn't know what an event is or what the rules are then it probably isn't popular enough to carry its own weight.

 

[decafjava]

Wow got sent a video of a Japanese Judo champion in women's judo (52 kg category) and who won gold in Japan lst time losing and getting eliminated by an Uzbek athlete. She had a sever breakdown. No comment.

Judo defeat

The Uzbek girl is a force.