So how about an Olympics thread? Posts about events, medals, etc. (OT, but fun). I'll start ...

And actually, what I'm starting with technically isn't even an Olympic thing, but occurred there and is just sort of interesting.

During one of the basketball games, a Japanese company rolled out (literally) a robot player that can hit 'em from downtown and then some:

https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=basketball+robot+olympics&&view=detail&mid=6351ed282240a67a17b46351ed282240a67a17b4&rvsmid=92937e4142322aed0a9392937e4142322aed0a93&form=vdqvap

(Following the Olympics, maybe this "guy"can find a slot on an NBA team!)

Or maybe we're seeing the Olympics of the future, with humans replaced by super-skilled androids, running a mile in one minute or high-jumping twenty feet, etc. Hmmmm ...

(BTW, an announcer on one of the networks commented that of all sports with an American origin, basketball is BY FAR the most successful export, and is played virtually everywhere on the globe).

So go ahead and post below any news, videos, medal counts, thoughts etc. on the Olympics in Tokyo, just for fun.

and ... USA! USA! USA!

Men's and women's cycling road races. Outstanding.

There is a pole vaulter, Sam Kendricks, a (originally at least) local boy from just down the road in Oxford, MS, I will be cheering for him. Plus, I saw a video where he was making a practice run and aborted the attempt when he heard our national anthem being played for some one else. He stopped and showed respect. I admired that response, and it made me even more hopeful for his success.

Also, for some reason, I have an interest in the outcome of the 400 meter hurdles. I ran the 440 yd in HS, and I can't imagine adding hurdles to that.

(This post isn't about a current competition in Tokyo right now, and is more about the Olympics in general, but I think the topic it covers will be of interest).

While watching some of the Olympic events last night, it occurred to me just how much the games have really changed over the years, with so many new events having been added from time to time, reflecting the changing athletic interests of the world's peoples.

For the ancient Greeks, the original events were: racing (men), racing (horses), discus, long-jump, shot-put, javelin, wrestling, boxing, and pankration (a kind of martial arts combining wrestling and boxing).

So how has it come about that new events, most of them unimaginable to the early Greeks, have come to be added to the roster of modern Olympic events? How have things like badminton, beach volleyball, mountain bike and even skateboarding and surfing become recognized events, watched and eagerly followed by their fans and onlookers?

Here's an article that gives a good summary of this process, about how so many "non-traditional" events have come to be added to the Olympic roster, along with comment on the thinking that went into some of these decisions:

"How A Sport Becomes an Olympic Event"
https://www.forbes.com/sites/kurtbadenhausen/2016/08/09/how-a-sport-becomes-an-olympic-event/?sh=448af9772ce9#:~:text=baseball%2Fsoftball%2c%20karate%2c%20skateboarding%2c%20sports%20climbing%20and%20surfing%20were,events%20and%20474%20athletes%20to%20the%202020%20games.

From the article:

"There are a couple of different paths to inclusion in the Olympics. The traditional way is for a sport's international federation to petition the IOC, but the alternative is for local organizing committees to push favored sports in their country."

"Twenty other sports were considered, but rejected for 2020, including bowling, chess, korfball, sumo, tug of war and wushu."

Chess?

"The first pre-requisite for a sport to be considered for the Olympics is to have an international federation."

"Another big factor for the IOC is the appeal to millennials, which helped with the inclusion of surfing and skateboarding."

The article continues with more of the specifics of the process, and some of the "business decision" aspects of it, such as appealing to millennials, as noted above.

An interesting read, and for right now an appropriate one.

alephnull said...
My heart glowed for the young woman from Seward, AK after she won the 100 breaststroke.
And especially when that pole vaulter stopped his practice run.

I also saw an interview with Usain Bolt, where he stopped the interview when the American National Anthem started. Imagine that, someone from another country having respect for our NA!

Same here! And that pole vaulter grew up just down the road from me, in Oxford, MS!

And yes, that was a most impressive and heart warming display of respect from Usain Bolt! Amazing for someone from another country honoring our country in that way!

I have a FB friend from Uganda. I inherited him when a HS friend(David) died roughly a year ago, died very unexpectedly. Might have had something to do with Covid, but details were lacking, but a stroke was the official cause for this slender, very young looking 73 year old, retired Vietnam era fighter pilot's death.

This was in the first few months of the pandemic. David was a world traveler to an amazing degree. Well, when news hit FB that he had died, somehow this young man from Uganda found my group on FB discussing his death. (and sent me a friend request)

This 29 year old from Africa was mourning as much or more than any one else I knew over David's death, and for months! As best I can tell (he has never given me the details, and there is a slight language problem. But David must have been doing some mission work in Uganda, or something like that, and got to know Andrew(his real name is some African thing I can't pronounce, but he goes by Andrew). He talks about David as his true brother. But here is one thing I have learned: that young man would give almost anything to move to America and go to work. And he has also praised that pole vaulter for honoring our flag/anthem, and does so himself. From Uganda!

Post Edited (BillyBob@388) : 7/28/2021 1:31:02 PM (GMT-6)

Back in the day when I used to watch some Olympics, my favorite was Kip Keino (sp) , he was simply amazing. Jean Claude Killy (sp) , that little barefoot girl from South Africa, AND any Marathon runner - win or lose.
Oh, and who can forget the Jamaican bobsled team.

Wednesday evening, 8:35 PM (EDT).

Just watched the American women beat the Russian (ROC, technically) women in Women's 3x3 Basketball (three players on each team). The USA women got off to a dominant start, but the Russians rallied to make it very close at the end.

But it was USA Gold at the buzzer!

They gotta add Pickleball …. just say’n 😋.

Sr Sailor said...
Since there seem to be some swimmers on this thread, how about the US guy in the 800 free?
He swam the last 50 like he wanted to get away from the urologist about to do a DRE.

I'll have to find the video and watch it. The fact that he had enough left to sprint the last 50 says a lot. (could you sprint the last lap of a 2-mile run?)