Eeek. Sorry. After those soap dodging comments by your swimming performance director.......it's become personal!!! Another gold and silver this morning BTW. Plus we have the favourite in the triple jump, the BMX, and medal hopes in the mens 400, 800 and the womens javelin all today. Have you read this? http://blogs.smh.com.au/olympics/johnbirmingham/2008/08/20/thepomsareba.html
There shouldn't be anything biased. He's one of the great athletes of all time and whether he's Jamaican, British, American or Afghani, who cares. A great athlete is a great athlete. Kelly Holmes was on the BBC this morning - she won gold in the 800 and 1500 metres in Athens 4 years ago - and was responding to Rogge's comments about how he was a disgrace and he was disrespecting the other competitors; Holmes knows Bolt and knows a number of the 100 and 200m guys and says that they all love him and that he's a genuinely humble guy and you can't begin to put into words what it's like winning a gold and Rogge wouldn't know that. It's such a non story.
Dude, you should live in Britain. We have live Olympics from midnight to 5pm in the afternoon. Uninterrupted. Then an hour long highlights show from 7pm to 8pm and then back to live again at midnight. I'm biased, but NO-ONE does the Olympics like the BBC.
Not really true. The British introduced a national lottery game about 15 years ago. What the government decided to do was put a large percentage of the money into good causes. Sports sponsership was one such thing as was the improvement of sports generally from a grass roots level. So facilities that had been built through the fifties and sicties and seventies, which were state of the art at the time, were decaying. All of a sudden there was a huge investment and it's taken a long time but finally the signs are showing that it's working. But it's taken almost 2 decades for it to filter through. Just look at the track cycling team. This is very interesting from an interview with David Brailsford, the elite performance director for cycling in Britain and well worth reading: "Brailsford has a mantra that sums up British cycling's philosophy. He calls it "the aggregation of marginal gains". The theory is quite simple: any advantage that you gain in any one area might be worth only tiny fractions of a second when it comes to racing but if you add them all together they can make the difference between success and failure. From bike technology to nutrition, from sports psychology to medical science, British cycling has been determined to stay one step ahead of the opposition in every field. The French rider, Arnaud Tournant, one of the sport's most respected figures, says the British are so far ahead of the rest that they are "the only professional team in the world". While you still need top-class management and back-up staff, there is no doubt that funding from the National Lottery has been crucial to that professional approach. British Cycling, the organisation that runs the sport, was in severe financial trouble in the late 1990s but with the support of Lottery cash it quickly turned around its fortunes. Most other countries look with envy at Britain's funding. Australia, the dominant cycling team in Athens four years ago, work with only a third of British Cycling's budget of £2.6m. The cash has enabled a large squad of riders to train full-time and given British Cycling the chance to recruit some of the world's best coaching and technical staff and invest heavily in research and development. An academy system has also enabled Britain to produce a flow of young riders, several of whom have produced excellent performances here. Brailsford, nevertheless, rejects the idea that Britain has simply bought success. "A lot of the other nations talk about the money we have but it's not a slot machine," he said. "You don't just put Lottery money in the top, pull the lever and a load of gold medals come out at the bottom. "If it was, everybody would be doing it. Prior to Lottery funding we had won one Olympic medal in 76 years in track cycling. We've been trying to do this for a long, long time and this isn't just an overnight success. We've been working very hard at it."
If you flip away from NBC, we pretty much have constant coverage as well. NBC, CNBC, USA, Oxygen....it's there if you know where to look Plus on DirecTV, channels 752-756(or so) have coverage as well
Oh, wow. Tons of dropped batons. Disappointed as I wanted to see another Jamaica/USA show down. Also, gold for Jamaica's men and women in the 100 and 200.
It's not like he is going in front of the other competitors going "nana nana boo boo...I beat you *tongue sticking out*"
See, America has the best Soccer team in the World!!! ...our women anyway Congrats to the Women's Soccer Team on winning the Gold. What an exciting match.
Canada is back at with a gold in horse jumping and a silver in womens diving We are now at 15 which I think is our 3rd best showing. The goal was a top 16 finish in medals and we are currently at 12th in total medals 16th in golds Our flag bearer goes this weekend for a gold
Funding is not a end all and be all but it helps as do all the facilities being built Just watch how well Canada does at 2010. It will be the first Olympics ever where we will give the Americans a run to the top of the podium
WOW just WOW 6 teams either drop the baton or get disqualified in the 4X100 Great Britain Italy USA Nigeria Poland South Africa Canada makes the finals Jamaica rests Bolt and cruises to the best time
I was worried about Bolt being rested in the relay, but wow. Tons of batons dropped. Should be another Jamaican sweep in the men / women 4x100 relay. SHOULD be. Redemption time for Asafa!
Horse jumping? . Do your athletes get a running start before trying to jump over the horse? Is there mud on the other side? Are these Clydesdales or Shetland Punies they are jumping over..
Funding certainly isn't a be all and end all. You need good athletes and good coaching. I think you'll definitely beat the Americans in the 2010 Olympics. Not sure how you'll do in the 2012 Olympics though.
Yeah Id say so. This might be one of the best defenses Ive ever seen. Its unbelieveable how they swarm to the ball.
Arg. has gone on a nice run. They can only pray the US misses from the perimeter while they play that zone.
Yikes. Only up by 9 at the half. Not sure why Wade wasn't inserted when Arg. played flop fest. And it appears Coach K has fallen in love with Chris Paul, who had some silly turnovers and looked lost against the zone. Not too thrilled about Kobe chucking it up '06 style either...
Def. He's been the best overall player in the tourny for the US. His defense has really impressed me. The way he gets into the passing lanes and causes turnovers really sparks the team. I hope Coach K isn't changing the gameplan simply because we're in the medal rounds. Kobe and Lebron took WAY too many shots. The team as a whole took over 30 3-Pt shots which is ridiculous. A win is a win though I guess.
You joke but that would be the most watched sport in history of sports. Also the Redeem Team wins again.
That's what happens when you take winning the gold medal for granted. I heard this was the team of all the USA teams at the Olympics that was partying the most late nights. Well you pay for that instead of taking this seriously.
I don't think they took it for granted, Japan gave them two good games. I think the rest of the world is catching up. heck that softball team only made it to the gold metal round because of the female Babe Ruth, they were the worst USA team ever sent to the Olympics. Just for reference, I'm a Travel girls softball coach.
Well then we defer to your educated opinion. But I still heard they were "the party" girls of Beijing.
Good win for the Redeem Team. Now they get to face Spain again and hopefully they don't let their guard down. Well, a little too late considering softball's going to get the Olympic axe.
It's a shame that Baseball and Softball won't be on the slate for the Olympics. Baseball has become a "worldly" sport, not just in the Western Hemisphere. It seems as though softball has as well with Australia and Japan becoming solid teams. The fact BMX biking is a sport is ridiculous. For me there is no athleticism, no imposing of your will, nothing that makes me say, holy hell, what an athlete. Now, those stages of cycling are amazing, but BMX....no thanks. On a side note....How about the men's and women's volleyball teams? AWESOME!! Other than Michael Phelps, the Men's Volleyball Team could be the story of the Olympics, IMO. That and the Chinese Gymnasts dominating...if it's seen that the girls are of age.
Are you KIDDING me? They're showing the medal ceremony now because USA swept an event? Wow. Some shameful bias right there. If they're covering the 2012 Olympics then that's just sad.