Olympics Athens 2004 Thread

[vouder17]

Well after that opening ceremony, it is fair to say that Greece has really pulled out all the stops to make this event as amazing as it should be.
I think that these olympics will be by far the best and I think that Greece deserves it, and it seems like it is thier year and all (Euro 2004 Champions).
Well i just thought that this would be a nice thread to have dedicated to the olympics.
Ohh and the Netherlands are going to pick up most the medals, followed closely by South Africa.

Peace
DjVoTeZ

[edesignuk]

They say it's the most expensive ever, £5-6 billion. Holy f**k!!! :eek: :eek:

[Doctor Q]

Thanks for starting this much-needed thread. I'm ready with my 2-week supply of sofa snacks. Let the games begin!

[saabmp3]

They say it's the most expensive ever, £5-6 billion. Holy f**k!!! :eek: :eek:

Just to eleborate on this, with a population of 10 million people and a price tag of $10,000,000,000 (US dollars) that comes out to $1,000 (US dollars) per citizen!

BEN

[jimsowden]

its being carried in HD, which is what I'm looking forward to. And some of the commercials have been too. I await the day when i can go to any channel and see some HD.

[Nspace]

As a Canadian, I thought our uniforms were pretty garbage. It looked like they were wearing some gym warm up clothes or something.

[MacFan782040]

DID ANYONE JSUT SEE THAT CHILDRENS CHOIR?

They looked liek they all had iPods on hahaha. iPod headphones anyway to hear the instrumentals.

[Blue Velvet]

Don't know about coverage anywhere else but I find the UK coverage lacklustre.

A fanatical devotion to covering home talent sees us with tomorrow's exciting coverage of judo, swimming and rowing.

No football, for instance.

It would be nice to see some more varied coverage.

I love watching the volleyball (the real one, not the beach) but that'll be tucked away somewhere late & only the highlights.

[saabmp3]

I said that too! But it turns out the headphones were a little curved so they weren't iPods :( That would have kicked ass, 1000 iPods!

BEN

[MacFan782040]

Does anyone else find the opening cerimonies so amazing that it seems almost like its from something higher than it is?

Do you realize how much time and preparation had to have gone into this? Just that fireworks display at the end was amazing-- all the timing they had to get right.

It's incredible to see the world coming together as one, using all our technology to create one of the most astonishing shows ever. It's hard to explain what I feel about it... anyone else feel this way... just like WOW?

[zim]

As a Canadian, I thought our uniforms were pretty garbage. It looked like they were wearing some gym warm up clothes or something.

Did you see the US outfits? Garbage! and to make it worst, after the US team came out, a commercial for buying the outfits was played... so sad. I know that some will like the clothes but they are not of my taste at all, and the commercial just made them sad.

edit - just wanted to add that it was nice to see Bjork, what an incredible honor, I just wish they did not talk over her presentation... oh and how did they clear her dress away so fast??

[Doctor Q]

I liked the Greek history lesson best.

[Powerbook G5]

I must say, it both looked and sounded pretty amazing in HD. It really brought the color in the different outfits worn by all the various countries to a new level. I just wish that NBC had a better HD reception, I am not sure that was full 1080i. Either way, it looked pretty nice and helped to get my mind and my roommates' minds off of the hurricane pounding us right now.

[Awimoway]

I just wish I had my TiVo already to enjoy the games. But I won't be getting it for probably two weeks. (Still gotta sell my iBook to raise the cash.)

Anyway, it was a terrific pageant, as it is every year. My wife and I went in person to Salt Lake's opening ceremonies. It's a terrific experience.

I think the biggest impression I came away with tonight was how magnanimous the Greeks are. Big cheers even for the U.S., Turkey, Cyprus, Iraq, etc. And I think the ancient Greeks would be very impressed to see what their little event has turned into.

[Daveman Deluxe]

I LOVE the opening ceremonies of the Olympic Games. I often don't even watch the actual games in the summer. I would have given an arm and a leg to have seen it in HD. :(

[Darwin]

I said that too! But it turns out the headphones were a little curved so they weren't iPods :( That would have kicked ass, 1000 iPods!

BEN

Well they reminded me of those In-Ear Headphones

As for the opening of the games it looked amazing

Don't know how London is suppose to top that if they win to be the host :D

[vouder17]

Don't know about coverage anywhere else but I find the UK coverage lacklustre.

A fanatical devotion to covering home talent sees us with tomorrow's exciting coverage of judo, swimming and rowing.

No football, for instance.

It would be nice to see some more varied coverage.

I love watching the volleyball (the real one, not the beach) but that'll be tucked away somewhere late & only the highlights.

The coverage here in South Africa/Swaziland is really good we have 8 dedicated channels to the olympics!!!!
Well the only dissapointing thing that i feel about the olympics is that we have to worry about so much terrorist threats. It takes a bit out of the games, don't ya think.
Well today holland played SA, well holland beat SA 6-2 so that is a win win situation for me mighty cool.

[MyLeftNut]

Great effort Greece. Well Done. The opening ceremony had great austerity and pathos...helps when you have 3000-4000 years of history to play with. Mind you, did you see some of the eye candy goin around the stadium!? Some of those Greek girls..damn!!! :D

[jimsowden]

I must say, it both looked and sounded pretty amazing in HD. It really brought the color in the different outfits worn by all the various countries to a new level. I just wish that NBC had a better HD reception, I am not sure that was full 1080i. Either way, it looked pretty nice and helped to get my mind and my roommates' minds off of the hurricane pounding us right now.
No. It was using a strange compression of 720p, I know because my unit tells me. There are 18 standards of digital TV compression, and NBC uses the one that takes the least bandwidth for the olimpics. This is because they are planning on broadcasting atleast one or two sub-channels to co-inside with ABC starting up ABC NEWS LIVE and their Radar channel (in my area).

[saabmp3]

No. It was using a strange compression of 720p, I know because my unit tells me. There are 18 standards of digital TV compression, and NBC uses the one that takes the least bandwidth for the olimpics. This is because they are planning on broadcasting atleast one or two sub-channels to co-inside with ABC starting up ABC NEWS LIVE and their Radar channel (in my area).

The opening ceremonies were in 1080i (rochester) in my area (99% sure, have to go check the copy I made of it). NBC has the radar channel here too, but I think different areas just spend different amounts of money on the hardware.

BEN

[Mr. Anderson]

so any ideas on the best website to follow the games and medal count?

sorry to have missed the opening ceremonies...:(

D

[Powerbook G5]

You can tell it wasn't 1080 here, the colors were kind of spastic unless you were really far from the tv to not notice. You could see a lot of digital noise, especially with the brighter colors. I hope the games will look better, at least, because between that and the signal cutting in and out and for some reason having it literally rewind or something by a good 10-15 minutes after some of the commercial breaks got pretty annoying.

[question fear]

DID ANYONE JSUT SEE THAT CHILDRENS CHOIR?

They looked liek they all had iPods on hahaha. iPod headphones anyway to hear the instrumentals.

more importantly, did you see their outfits?????
Did they run out of $$ for costumes and sub in potato sacks?

[3rdpath]

the opening ceremonies were just amazingly beautiful. the breakaway sculpture was an engineering marvel and the historical parade had some of the most outstanding costumes and make-up. ntm, the perfect timing of eros as he sailed overhead and dipped to pick the flower from the lady's hand...that was a one-shot deal...simply perfect.

the downside was the absolutely moronic commentary by katie curic(sp) and whatshisname... reminded me of cable access coverage of our local low-budget parade. their verbal effluent so perfectly symbolizes the razor-thin depth of american television culture.

but still...even with their cheesy banter...it was breathtaking.

[Daveman Deluxe]

I want to know how they managed to put that hologram-type thing of the list of all the cities to host a modern games in the middle of the stadium when all the people with the "torches" were flying in on wires.

[Awimoway]

Great effort Greece. Well Done. The opening ceremony had great austerity and pathos...helps when you have 3000-4000 years of history to play with. Mind you, did you see some of the eye candy goin around the stadium!? Some of those Greek girls..damn!!! :D

Don't be so modest! The Aussie girls could medal in looks. I was most surprised by all the hot Moroccan athletes. What a country. And I seem to have something of a soft spot for New Zealand women.


I believe those were iPod in-ear headphones.

[mlw1235]

Anyone have a screen grab of that shot with the DNA strand?? I would like that as a desktop..... :)

[Doctor Q]

the historical parade had some of the most outstanding costumes and make-up
It reminded me of Pageant of the Masters, a show they have run annually since 1933 in Laguna Beach, California, where actors with makeup pose in life size recreations of classical and contemporary paintings and sculptures. Like these Opening Ceremonies, an amazing show. For those who are interested, I found an article (http://www.irvineworldnews.com/Bstories/july4/pageant.html) with some photos, and here are a couple more (these are real people!):

http://www.broadwaytovegas.com/pageantjoanofarc.jpghttp://www.broadwaytovegas.com/pageant20skitcheninframe.jpg

For many years, the announcer of the Pageant was Thurl Ravenscroft, who was also the voice of Tony the Tiger in commercials for Kellogg's Frosted Flakes ("Theyyyyyyyyyy're Great!").

Speaking of announcers, that brings us back to the Olympics, where you are right about Bob Costas and Katie Couric. The dialog could have been written well in advance, unlike live events we'll see in the next two weeks. Where the heck were the scriptwriters? They had a chance to tell us something interesting about each country, and a lot of these countries don't get much time in the international spotlight. Couldn't they tell us their chief export, or a famous person from that country, instead of making fun of the country's name? I'm glad I have a variety of stations to choose from.

[mlw1235]

so any ideas on the best website to follow the games and medal count?



Medal Count (http://www.nbcolympics.com/medals/index.html) NBC Olympics (http://www.nbcolympics.com/index.html)

[Don't panic]

Did you see the US outfits? Garbage! and to make it worst, after the US team came out, a commercial for buying the outfits was played... so sad. I know that some will like the clothes but they are not of my taste at all, and the commercial just made them sad.


agree - they look like some fast-food uniforms, bleah!
they should learn from the three guys from Guam: way to go, dudes!

I liked the ceremony, especially the cube-man and the DNA light show

[Don't panic]

Anyone have a screen grab of that shot with the DNA strand?? I would like that as a desktop..... :)

i found these

[Powerbook G5]

Did anyone notice that the torch this year looked like a giant mechanical blunt?

[saabmp3]

Did anyone notice that the torch this year looked like a giant mechanical blunt?

YES!

I didn't want to be the only one thinking it ;-)

BEN

[mlw1235]

i found these

Thank You!! That was what I was looking for. :)

[Neserk]

I watched part of the Opening Ceremonies. I was dead tired (I offically have been diagnosed with Insomnia :rolleyes: ) and my eyes were dropping. I fell asleep around 11 and woke up at 12:30 (that would be 1.5 hours later).

What I saw I enjoyed. I was having problems understanding the alphabetizing. I know the Greek Alphabet but couldn't figure out what Greek letter they were starting "United" with. Anyone have a clue?

[Daveman Deluxe]

I'm willing to bet that the Greek names of very few nations actually start with the word "United" since it is an adjective... sort of like how in Spanish, "United States" is actually "Estados Unidos" (States United). So the order of all the "United" nations was probably wonky to our thinking because other words were used in front of "United" for the names.

[Neserk]

I'm willing to bet that the Greek names of very few nations actually start with the word "United" since it is an adjective... sort of like how in Spanish, "United States" is actually "Estados Unidos" (States United). So the order of all the "United" nations was probably wonky to our thinking because other words were used in front of "United" for the names.


That makes sense. It would have been alphabetically under one of either the Epsilon or Eats (sp?). Thanks :)

[Blue Velvet]

...And I seem to have something of a soft spot for New Zealand women.

Good on you... do you come here often?

:D

[Blue Velvet]

...when all the people with the "torches" were flying in on wires.

Anybody else find that spookily reminiscent of Logan's Run?

[vouder17]

Mind you, did you see some of the eye candy goin around the stadium!? Some of those Greek girls..damn!!! :D

I agree the greek honeyz were fine. But i have decided to first go on holiday to canada, then to sweeden.... Honeyz.

[jimsowden]

The opening ceremonies were in 1080i (rochester) in my area (99% sure, have to go check the copy I made of it). NBC has the radar channel here too, but I think different areas just spend different amounts of money on the hardware.

BEN
I live in philly, and we have a pretty good NBC. They only have one channel, but since the olympics have started, they now call it "10-1 ch.1", I assume because they are going to start broadcasting a sub channel. No radar on NBC here, but ABC (6) has both a 720p mail channel, a ABC news live sub channel, and a radar/weather info channel. Pretty nice. This technology is going to rock once its fully implimented.

[Neserk]

Speaking of the opening ceremonies. My husband and I were trying to figure out if the woman was really pregnant or if it was a prosthesis. When she exposed it we figured it was a prosthesis then when it lit up we KNEW it was. LOL. I could just imagine the organizers running around trying to find a gorgeous woman who was 8 months pregnant who could do tihis part and would be willing to!

[Neserk]

sorry to have missed the opening ceremonies...:(

D

I missed part. Anybody know if it is ever reaired somewhere? It would be nice if they could do it as a rerun!

[Chip NoVaMac]

Just to eleborate on this, with a population of 10 million people and a price tag of $10,000,000,000 (US dollars) that comes out to $1,000 (US dollars) per citizen!

BEN

At the risk of being deleted, far less than what has been spent by the US around the world on war efforts and supporting puppet governments. And in the end Athens gets mass transit and venues that may generate money down the road.

[Chip NoVaMac]

They did a phenomenal job IMO. NBC sucked a big one with the self serving and political comments. And the commercials! You would think that since the opening was on a delayed broadcast (I may be wrong, but I doubt that the ceremony was held at midnight), that they could have done a better job with the commercials.

[Doctor Q]

I have a very important Olympics question. ;)

If Mia Hamm (soccer star) married Paul Hamm (gymnastics star), would she keep her last name, or change it from Mia Hamm (pronounced "HAM") to Mia Hamm (pronounced"HOM")?

Or would she use her former last name as her new middle name, and go by Mia Hamm Hamm ("HAM HOM")?

[Powerbook G5]

I have a very important Olympics question. ;)

If Mia Hamm (soccer star) married Paul Hamm (gymnastics star), would she keep her last name, or change it from Mia Hamm (pronounced "HAM") to Mia Hamm (pronounced"HOM")?

Or would she use her former last name as her new middle name, and go by Mia Hamm Hamm ("HAM HOM")?

Thank God you use your incredible mental powers for the side of good and not evil.

[homerjward]

i thought it was pretty good except for the bong-looking torch and the weird alphabetizing

[Archaeopteryx]

OK I saw the dominican republic kick the hell out of the US volley ball team.. Now whats so intresting about this .. the commentator said "OMG who saw this comming, the dominicans were on the bottom of the rankings and were yet to beat any one... good grief" That made my day... The little shorts helped a lot...

[MacNut]

Pretty cool, first mens gymnastics gold metal ever.

[Counterfit]

I have a very important Olympics question. ;)

If Mia Hamm (soccer star) married Paul Hamm (gymnastics star), would she keep her last name, or change it from Mia Hamm (pronounced "HAM") to Mia Hamm (pronounced"HOM")?

Or would she use her former last name as her new middle name, and go by Mia Hamm Hamm ("HAM HOM")? Too bad it's all moot. She's married to Nomah!

Anyways, Tyler got gold! w00t! and Eki got the silver! w00t again! and Julich got bronze! w00t once more!

[iBert]

I was wondering if a thread like this was ever going to get started. Thank God it did. I have been a little skeptical about my frineds. I'm from Puerto Rico (go team, but stop sucking hard lately) and I grew up watching the olympics since 1992. Anyone remembers the pay-per-view broadcast? I'd pay for it again. Right now I'm in morgantown West Virginia, and all of my friends are so surprised that I spent the first weekend of the olympics watching them without leaving the living room. While my friends were up to, playing video games, watching movies, you know stuff that once the olympics are done you go back to do them or you even have the rest of your life to do them.

Thanks for starting this thread, I feel more at peace knowing that other people enjoy this events. I fell sorry for my friends for not watching at least the opening ceremony, which for me they always rock. It's cool to know how many new countries exist in the world and how sports is taking people far.

Things I've hated. Political commercial, I believe in politics but they shouldn't be mixed with the olympics. (hope this doesn't start making people add comments about politics here, lets try to have free plitics thread. Sorry to add this but, just my 2 cents).

My hat is off to all you who enjoy this two week event. I just hope more people wopuld get involved in them. At least as spectators. Going to start saving $$$ to go to the 2012 or 2016 games.

Too much to say, but right now PR basketball team is giving so much grief. They are down by 2 playing with angola. And I thought this could be the year we get a medal. :mad:

[Mr. Anderson]

I'm actually enjoying watching the games every night for a little while. Even though I find out all the results online ahead of time, some of the competition is great. The men's freestyle relay the other night was awesome :D

But one thing I have noticed is the number of tall women, 6' and over...swimmers, volleyball, basketball, etc. Its amazing. If anyone's curious you can get all the stats on all the participants here (http://www.athens2004.com/en/ParticipantsAthletes/newParticipants)

I just usually link to the start list under the schedule and results (I don't know most of the names or their spelling :D). I'm curious as to who are the two tallest athletes at the game, male and female? And the shortest...one of those Romanian gymnasts was 4'-7".

D

[iBert]

'm curious as to who are the two tallest athletes at the game, male and female?

THis is not for all the games. But at least it's for Team USA. Don't know if you've seen this before. If you have, i apologize. here (http://olympic-usa.org/117_21796.htm)

[Windowlicker]

DID ANYONE JSUT SEE THAT CHILDRENS CHOIR?

They looked liek they all had iPods on hahaha. iPod headphones anyway to hear the instrumentals.

seems like everyone has an iPod there.. I was just watching some swimming and every swimmer listening to music before the event has an ipod :)) nice.

[Daveman Deluxe]

Did anybody see Paul Hamm's performance in the men's individual all-around? To come back from a fall like that on a vault and give career performances in his final two rotations and capture gold was just PHENOMENAL! I probably would have packed it in if I went from first to twelfth by six-tenths with two rotations. That was absolutely stunning to watch. And then the womens' 4x200m freestyle--they SHATTERED the world record!

[Doctor Q]

Did anybody see Paul Hamm's performance in the men's individual all-around? To come back from a fall like that on a vault and give career performances in his final two rotations and capture gold was just PHENOMENAL! I probably would have packed it in if I went from first to twelfth by six-tenths with two rotations. That was absolutely stunning to watch.You could probably hear me talking back to the TV, chiding the announcers for trying to make it sound like Paul getting a medal was likely or even possible, when I knew better. Little did I suspect. I was as surprised as Paul seemed to be. The South Koreans looked disappointed, despite the fact that it was amazing for them to have not just one, but two medals that were not expected.

And then the womens' 4x200m freestyle--they SHATTERED the world record!The news story said this was especially nice because the long-standing 4x200m record was widely suspected of being a result of doping, and this "cleared the record", so to speak. Meanwhile, the two Greek track stars still deny doping but announced they would not participate in the games. It's a never ending battle to keep athletes clean.

[Mr. Anderson]

The news story said this was especially nice because the long-standing 4x200m record was widely suspected of being a result of doping, and this "cleared the record", so to speak.

widely suspected? some would say there wasn't any question :D

But what gets me is what has happened recently that let the Americans destroy the old record that stood for so long by more than 2 seconds (that huge in todays races).

I'm really going to look forward to the men's 50 IM Relay, should be a nail biter. The US has had world record going back for decades....

D

[jxyama]

widely suspected? some would say there wasn't any question :D

But what gets me is what has happened recently that let the Americans destroy the old record that stood for so long by more than 2 seconds (that huge in todays races).

I'm really going to look forward to the men's 50 IM Relay, should be a nail biter. The US has had world record going back for decades....

D

just to add a bit more info, while GDR's 4 x 200 free relay record probably was a result of drug use, there's another reason it was not broken for such a long time. it wasn't contested as an olympic or world championship event until fairly recently. so there were less occasions to serious swim it. i'm glad that record is off the books, though.

the 4 x 100 medley relay will indeed be good. the u.s. men is almost a guarantee to win. u.s.'s got the fastest backstroker and flyer, 2nd fastest breastroker and depending on the choice, very competent freestyler. (if i were the coach, i'd swim lezak in the morning and see if he's recovered. if not, put in neil walker who had a really good swim in the 4 x 100 free relay.) after the americans, it'll be close between the aussies, russians and japanese. i'd also consider the dutch and italians next - dutch lacks the depth except for vdH, but with that kind of freestyler at the end, should always be considered.

for women, it's a two country race between the u.s. and aussies. u.s. got the big edge in the back but aussies got the edge in the rest. (natalie coughlin has to swim the back, even though she's the fastest u.s. freestyler.) i think aussies are the slight favorite but americans will definitely swim fast.

just to put into perspective how incredible phelps is - he could swim the entire 400 medley by himself and beat several countries four women swimming 100 each. :eek:

[Doctor Q]

But what gets me is what has happened recently that let the Americans destroy the old record that stood for so long by more than 2 seconds (that huge in todays races).It was definitely Beamonesque (http://www.olympic.org/uk/athletes/heroes/bio_uk.asp?PAR_I_ID=18108)!

[jxyama]

just for fun (yeah, i know, i don't have much work to do today...), i complied a hypothetical medley relay results for men's medley relay.

for back, i just took the results from this olympics.

for breast, i also took the results from this olympics, but subtracted 0.5 seconds for the relay start.

for fly, the final is tomorrow night, so i took the results up to the semifinals and subtracted 0.5 seconds for the relay start.

for free, i took either the fastest split from the 4 x 100 free relay (and made no adjustment for the relay start) or the result from the 100 freestyle and took off the 0.5 second.

USA is the runaway winner...

USA: peirsol 54.06, hansen 59.75, phelps 51.11, lezak 47.86 = 3:32.78
JPN: morita 54.36, kitajima 59.58, yamamoto 52.31, okumura 49.74 = 3:35.99
RUS: vyatchanin 55.20, sludnov 1:01.04, macchenko 51.82, popov 48.06 = 3:36.12
AUS: welsh 54.52, piper 1:01.66, huegill 52.14, thorpe 48.06 = 3:36.38

i don't think there's anyone else closer, within 2 seconds or so. i got GBR next at 3:38.24, though i didn't calculate one for GER.

given the importance of freestyle at the end, i'd have to go with USA, AUS, RUS then JPN. gonna be a great battle for silver and bronze, but USA will almost certainly win by a lot.

[jxyama]

same analysis for women's medley...

AUS: rooney 1:01.41, hansen 1:06.65, thomas 57.22, henry 53.34 = 3:58.62
USA: coughlin 1:00.37, beard 1:06.94, thompson 58.22, joyce 54.04 = 3:59.57

the tough part is that joyce is a real youngster and may not be able to handle the pressure of anchoring the relay. considering henry shot down thompson in the 4 x 100 free relay on the first day, she'd have a field day with joyce. coughlin would be a better anchor but the second best backstroker for the u.s. is more than a second slower. thompson would probably be the best anchor but the second best flyer for the u.s. is about half a second slower. it would be a pretty big upset if americans won this relay...

[Doctor Q]

Nice work, jxyama.

I guess both Paul Hamm and Carly Patterson will be on the Wheaties box the next time I go to the supermarket.

It's too bad that Carly and Svetlana Khorkina couldn't both win a gold medal. Different styles but both great performers!

[Daveman Deluxe]

Carly Patterson did some amazing work. IMO, Patterson deserved the gold just a little bit more than Khorkina, but both were bloody brilliant. I was especially impressed with Patterson's beam exercise. That's probably the toughest apparatus and she absolutely nailed it.

[Daveman Deluxe]

By the way, was anybody besides me impressed with the humility that Aaron Peirsol and Markus Rogan expressed during the whole issue over Peirsol's disqualification and reinstatement? And what was up with that anyway?

[iBert]

By the way, was anybody besides me impressed with the humility that Aaron Peirsol and Markus Rogan expressed during the whole issue over Peirsol's disqualification and reinstatement? And what was up with that anyway?

He handled the situation awesomely. My opion is, if you don't do anything wrong their is no need to get mad, upset or anything to just prove that you're a ja****s. True sportsmanship on that swim, even from the silver medalist that supported him. It was a tough situation. But, thank god it was resolved that day then some time later on.

[jxyama]

It was a tough situation. But, thank god it was resolved that day then some time later on.

yeah, good call. i saw the turn. (and i swam competitively for more than 10 years.) it's unfortunate that the press release by FINA makes sound like piersol "got away" on a technicality. that isn't the case. the turn may not have been the "cleanest rule book" turn ever but it was not DQ worthy. if they DQ piersol on that, they would have had to DQ many others.

i did find it highly ironic that it was piersol - the man who first spoke out about kitajima's starts/turns.

amazingly, aussies missed the medley relay final for men. they held back their flyer and freestyler, thinking they'd make the team, and turns out they were wrong. that was probably the nail in the coffin as far as aussies are concerned for this olympics - they really have lost the depth they used to have. perhaps they have been relying on thorpe and hackett for so long that the next generation swimmers haven't come through... too bad, it must feel awful to know that you have probably the second best team in the world but you have to sit and watch...

now, ian crocker must win the 100 fly to win the medal on the relay. he didn't swim the freestyle in the morning - i was kind of surprised about that. i guess they want him to rest for the night. the 100 fly tonight will be a great race.

[Daveman Deluxe]

jxyama: Can you explain to me the rules regarding turns? It was explained to me once but I really didn't get it at all.

[krimson]

ill try cause im bored...
the turn must be smooth and connective..

meaning when he flipped over "onto his stomach"..
you can just glide in (this would be a "pause", breaking the continuity),
then after a few yards, continue the turn.

basically, you should flip over and continue turning in one fluid motion.

i hope i got that thru clearly.. if not, ill edit it out. :)

[jxyama]

as i understood it, the turn must be "continuous." since backstroke must be swam on the back, except at the turn, you can only flip around on your stomach provided that you immediately proceed to do the turn.

now, when you flip over to your stomach, you will be using one arm swing and one kick to propel yourself over and hit the wall. as i saw it, piersol never rested on his stomach - even though he did spend a bit more time (just a little, though) on the stomach than "usual" - i feel that he was always in continuous motion of doing the turn because while on his stomach, he was still moving his arm and kicking once to flip over, thus being actively "doing the turn."

if he laid still on his stomach without doing any motion connected to the turn, he should have been disqualified. also, if he kicked once on his stomach but didn't flip over, he should also be disqualified because his kick would then not be a part of the turn. however, i didn't see either of these cases.

[Doctor Q]

ill try cause im bored...
the turn must be smooth and connective..

meaning when he flipped over "onto his stomach"..
you can just glide in (this would be a "pause", breaking the continuity),
then after a few yards, continue the turn.

basically, you should flip over and continue turning in one fluid motion.I assume you mean you can't just glide in. It sured looked to me as if that's just what he did. It seemed that he was half a stroke away from the wall when he turned, so he had to glide before touching and turning. So that would make it illegal, right? But jxyama said the turn was legal. Now I'm confused. Also, the sportscaster said the disqualification was submitted incorrectly and overturned on that basis. Did officials actually say it was a clean turn, or just that he was not disqualified?

[jxyama]

I assume you mean you can't just glide in. It sured looked to me as if that's just what he did. It seemed that he was half a stroke away from the wall when he turned, so he had to glide before touching and turning. So that would make it illegal, right? But jxyama said the turn was legal. Now I'm confused. Also, the sportscaster said the disqualification was submitted incorrectly and overturned on that basis. Did officials actually say it was a clean turn, or just that he was not disqualified?

from what i read, the official ruled that piersol didn't do the turn correctly and filled out a form. the form was thrown out for two reasons: 1) the head judges felt that the explanation was inadequate in proving that piersol's turn was illegal and 2) the explanation was filled out in non-english/french language, as required.

[jxyama]

a little more info... from fina.org, the governing body of swimming.

Athens, August 19, 2004
On the 19th August 2004, FINA received a written protest from the Amateur Swimming Federation of Great Britain (ASFGB) and Austrian Swimming Federation (VOS) regarding the re-instating of the swimmer Mr. Aaron Peirsol (USA) after his disqualification in the 200m Backstroke event at the Olympic Games Athens 2004.


The Jury of Appeal heard the Referee and the FINA Technical Swimming Commission after which the Jury of Appeal unanimously decided to reject the protest of ASFGB and VOS as the report of the referee did not show any violation of the FINA Swimming Rules by the swimmer Mr. Aaron Peirsol.


http://www.fina.org/press_04_no58.html

Above makes me think that reasonings given by the referee who ruled piersol's turn illegal didn't show that piersol broke any rules.

[jxyama]

and even more info...

this is the official rule of the backstroke turn.


SW 6.4 During the turn the shoulders may be turned over the vertical to the breast after which a continuous single arm pull or a continuous simultaneous double arm pull may be used to initiate the turn. Once the body has left the position on the back, any kick or arm pull must be part of the continuous turning action. The swimmer must have returned to the position on the back upon leaving the wall. When executing the turn there must be a touch of the wall with some part of the swimmer’s body.

http://www.fina.org/swimrules_6.html

i felt that even though piersol was on his stomach, his arm was still a part of the "continuous single arm pull" allowed above, hence he shouldn't have been DQed.

[iLikeMyiMac]

I almost forgot to watch the olympics today. Men's Track and Field. 10000m is on right now. Those Ethiopians sure can run! edit: Ethopians finish 1,2,4 Its the one thing I been waiting to watch. Hope I haven't missed the high jump, long jump, triple jump, or pole vault. My favorite events. :D
Gymnastics is finally over. :rolleyes: Now I can finally watch a "real" sport. Honesty, can you name any other sport where you wear makeup.
edit: On a close-up I noticed one of the Ethopians wearing a gold necklace. In all the track meets I've been to you get DQed for that. I guess the olympics are different.

[jxyama]

ha ha, funny bit about the makeup. i'd say synchro swimmers also wear makeups. and man, as far as aerobic/lung capacities are concerned, you won't find any other sport that is as demanding.

those ladies can really hold their breath and do some amazing things!! :eek:

[Neserk]

http://home.datacomm.ch/marco.fernando/fla/bozzetto/olympics.swf

Some Olympic humor. Warning: cartoon violence.

[iLikeMyiMac]

http://home.datacomm.ch/marco.fernando/fla/bozzetto/olympics.swf

Some Olympic humor. Warning: cartoon violence.
Pretty funny. I liked the pole vault one the best and it was interesting how between each even the olympic rings changed.

[HeWhoSpitsFire]

But one thing I have noticed is the number of tall women, 6' and over...swimmers, volleyball, basketball, etc. Its amazing. If anyone's curious you can get all the stats on all the participants here (http://www.athens2004.com/en/ParticipantsAthletes/newParticipants)


And some of the seemingly proportional volleyball players that are 6'8". :eek:

Nice shorts too! :)

[Neserk]

I saw a lot of cheek last night!