Olympics 2024

In reply to Tom_Spangler (Forum Supporter) :

It will be interesting to see how they will play Wemby. It's going to have to be a group effort.

Just found out there is a "Medal Reallocation Ceremony"

When an athlete from a past game has been found to be doping, they give the medal to the next person.  When I tuned in, they were showing a Bronze medal for the 2000 Sydney games getting given to the proper recipient. 

Also seems to be based on "who wants to show up."  Apparently London 2012 Men's High Jump Gold got their gold taken, so the next in line for Gold and Silver were there.  Bronze didn't show.

Whole thing is kinda bizarre

californiamilleghia said:

Kreb (Forum Supporter) said:

What's up with surfing? They have a magnificent venue, and by all accounts, day 3 was epic, but I haven't seen one moment of coverage, and I've been watching practically evey night. 

Amazing waves , the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles is going  be a joke compared to the Tahiti waves ,

Could easily go to Hawaii.  Easier flight from LA- could make the opening or closing ceremonies.  

Especially since it's the birthplace of surfing.  

But it's not as if the wave suck in SoCal- the culture is strong there for a reason.

In reply to Mr_Asa :

Same happened for the '22 team figure skating- russia lost the gold, but didn't show to pick up their bronze.  Not really a surprise, though.  Interesting to have your medal ceremony under the Eiffle Tower for a winter game.

Kreb (Forum Supporter) said:

In reply to Tom_Spangler (Forum Supporter) :

It will be interesting to see how they will play Wemby. It's going to have to be a group effort.

If they really play as a team, like they did in the 4th, they should be able to deal with him.

brandonsmash said:

In reply to JG Pasterjak :

It just needs to be separated into events and medals for specific discipline and given a bit more recognition, IMHO. 

(Then again, I enjoy rock climbing so obviously the sport needs more prominence. Won't the IOC consider what I'd like to see?)

Agreed on all your points (and on the implicit bias of participating in the sport). It's absolutely bonkers that bouldering and lead climbing are combined in a medal when other sports have so many specialization opportunities. And at least from a popularity and viewership perspective, I feel like climbing is a set of sports that makes sense to continue to include and develop because
A) you already had to build the structure for it, might as well get more use out of it and
B) it's fairly entertaining to watch, so it will make the broadcasters happy 
C) Scoring is pretty straightforward
In this essay, I will...
JK, I'm just jazzed to see more of a sport that I actually have some experience in represented in the Olympics. As a kid growing up in dance classes, I would watch the Olympics and be a little sad that my heart led me to a sport without a clear Olympic path (rhythmic gymnastics looks similar but is very different and much less accessible). As an adult who does not only dance but also road cycling (not very fast) and bouldering (not very well), it's cool to have a little metaphorical skin in the game. 

Rhythmic gymnastics is basically the Formula SAE for Cirque du Soleil, right? The hire rate out of that sport must be close to 100%

The single most important discipline in the Olympics is making its debut right now. 

If you're not watching Olympic break dancing, what ARE you doing with your life? 

alfadriver said:

californiamilleghia said:

Kreb (Forum Supporter) said:

What's up with surfing? They have a magnificent venue, and by all accounts, day 3 was epic, but I haven't seen one moment of coverage, and I've been watching practically evey night. 

Amazing waves , the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles is going  be a joke compared to the Tahiti waves ,

Could easily go to Hawaii.  Easier flight from LA- could make the opening or closing ceremonies.  

Especially since it's the birthplace of surfing.  

But it's not as if the wave suck in SoCal- the culture is strong there for a reason.

I've put in countless hours on the California coast and a decent amount in Hawaii. Surfing is inherently fickle. The waves in summertime Hawaii are typically bigger and more consistent than Socal, but they can also be blown out the entire time. Head-high or bigger Rincon (Just north of Los Angeles) would be perfect, but you could easily get a week of waist-high with a bit of ankle-slappers as well. Artificial wave pools are an option, and perhaps appropriate for land-locked countries, but would be a letdown in Southern California IMO. Brisbane in 2028 will be cool.

Edit: I just looked at the surf report for Rincon and it's 1-2 feet for the immediate future. Lame. Can you imagine other sports being weather dependent? "Sorry Simone, but the floor exercise surface is going to be sandy and uneven for the next week". "Hey Lebron, it looks like you're going to have to deal with 20 MPH winds today. Tell the centers to get warmed up". Methinks that the best idea would be to reserve a good wave pool as a fallback if conditions aren't good enough on the ocean.

In reply to Mndsm :

I'll be watching the reruns of that because I am extremely curious about how they're structuring it for competition. 

JG Pasterjak said:

Rhythmic gymnastics is basically the Formula SAE for Cirque du Soleil, right? The hire rate out of that sport must be close to 100%

All I'm going to say is clown/circus schools do exist and the apparati are different enough where the skills probably don't translate 1:1. I think rhythmic gymnastics, like artistic gymnasatics, hires mostly into the "early retirement followed by coaching because most bodies can't do those things at that level forever" field.

Nicole Suddard said:

In reply to Mndsm :

I'll be watching the reruns of that because I am extremely curious about how they're structuring it for competition. 

Basic format is 1v1, best 2 of 3 call and answer rounds, live DJ.  Rough count of a dozen judges?

"Goal is to finish in top 2 in your group, not win each battle.  Getting rounds, and then votes per round to advance to the top 8." -paraphrasing the commentary 

Edit: what Im seeing from what Im watching.  I may have some parts wrong.

Nicole Suddard said:

JG Pasterjak said:

Rhythmic gymnastics is basically the Formula SAE for Cirque du Soleil, right? The hire rate out of that sport must be close to 100%

All I'm going to say is clown/circus schools do exist and the apparati are different enough where the skills probably don't translate 1:1. I think rhythmic gymnastics, like artistic gymnasatics, hires mostly into the "early retirement followed by coaching because most bodies can't do those things at that level forever" field.

So another path besides Circ are cruise ship shows- we've seen plenty of them that have a ton of aerialists.  But most of those are dancers that are taught how to do it.  

Nicole Suddard said:

In reply to Mndsm :

I'll be watching the reruns of that because I am extremely curious about how they're structuring it for competition. 

Watch it with the sound off. The booth people are fine, but the stage monkeys make me want to throw my phone at the TV. 

In reply to alfadriver :

Can confirm, "cruise ship performer" is an extremely popular career route for competitive dancers. Sure, some people try to take their chances in New York but that market is competitive enough to knock down even the most talented performers. 

stage monkeys

I'm not currently near a TV, so I need some clarification on this?

Nicole Suddard said:

stage monkeys

I'm not currently near a TV, so I need some clarification on this?

Hype men.  You hear em in the background making comments and going "Whoo!" a lot.  Round announcers as well.

They may be making good comments, but if they are its in French, sooooo

alfadriver said:

californiamilleghia said:

Kreb (Forum Supporter) said:

What's up with surfing? They have a magnificent venue, and by all accounts, day 3 was epic, but I haven't seen one moment of coverage, and I've been watching practically evey night. 

Amazing waves , the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles is going  be a joke compared to the Tahiti waves ,

Could easily go to Hawaii.  Easier flight from LA- could make the opening or closing ceremonies.  

Especially since it's the birthplace of surfing.  

But it's not as if the wave suck in SoCal- the culture is strong there for a reason.

There are a couple artificial surf places , one is up by Bakersfield/ Fresno and another is opening near Palm Springs , both would be 100F plus in the Summer,

But they are far from the Beach and all the advertising opportunities of showing the California coastline would be lost.

North Shore Hawaii would be cool but I doubt LA wants to share.....

In reply to Mr_Asa :

Ah. That's just part of the breaking culture. Don't other sports allow coaches or team members to hype/encourage competitors from the edge of the competition area?

Nicole Suddard said:

In reply to Mr_Asa :

Ah. That's just part of the breaking culture. Don't other sports allow coaches or team members to hype/encourage competitors from the edge of the competition area?

These guys are like dedicated hype men, not one country's team members or coaches.

Breaking's version of Michael Buffer, basically.

Nicole Suddard said:

In reply to Mr_Asa :

Ah. That's just part of the breaking culture. Don't other sports allow coaches or team members to hype/encourage competitors from the edge of the competition area?

These guys are bad, though. Like normal hype men I don't have a problem with. Watch a lot of bc one and the like. It reminds me of the people they hired to call BMX. "Here's a list of the stuff you need to say to sound official. Go". Maybe I'm wrong but it's making my brain into cheese shreds. 

Mr_Asa said:

Nicole Suddard said:

In reply to Mndsm :

I'll be watching the reruns of that because I am extremely curious about how they're structuring it for competition. 

Basic format is 1v1, best 2 of 3 call and answer rounds, live DJ.  Rough count of a dozen judges?

"Goal is to finish in top 2 in your group, not win each battle.  Getting rounds, and then votes per round to advance to the top 8." -paraphrasing the commentary 

 

Edit: what Im seeing from what Im watching.  I may have some parts wrong.

Yeah you basically got it.

16 competitors. First round is four groups of four dancers each facing each other in a round robin format. Top two scorers from each division move on to the quarterfinals, then semis, then finals. 

All scoring is head to head, even in the round robin, meaning you aren't competing for a numeric score, only whether you outdanced your opponent. So the top two scorers in the round robin round are the ones who the majority of judges picked as the head to head winners of their respective rounds. 

The 41yo breaker from Japan is killing it.

Mndsm said:

Nicole Suddard said:

In reply to Mr_Asa :

Ah. That's just part of the breaking culture. Don't other sports allow coaches or team members to hype/encourage competitors from the edge of the competition area?

These guys are bad, though. Like normal hype men I don't have a problem with. Watch a lot of bc one and the like. It reminds me of the people they hired to call BMX. "Here's a list of the stuff you need to say to sound official. Go". Maybe I'm wrong but it's making my brain into cheese shreds. 

I just realized we are talking about different people.

On the Peacock app, if you go to All Sports and then choose Breaking there are some female commentators that are doing a decent job.  The hype men Inwas talking about were the guys that are getting up in between battles.

You must be warching the E! Entertainment TV feed, which has male commentators

In reply to Mr_Asa :

No, I'm watching peacock. The live women are fine. 

The stage guys that are half in French are the ones that make me want to punch babies.