With the lack of crowds, covid etc. I didn't think I'd watch much of the Olympics but I have to say I've really enjoyed it
Nicely timed indeed! Nothing remarkable at all at that level to drop that kind of time so quickly though I have heard them saying the sprint track is remarkably fast.
Wouldn't be very knowledgeable on boxing and certainly not amateur so only first came across Kellie Harrington on The Late Late. Lovely personality and seems a character. Never wanted to see someone win gold as much as her fingers crossed. Either way she's bright days ahead for herself
The 400m hurdles was something else. Warholm knocked almost a full second off the WR (his own) Considering the previous record had stood since 1992, taking that much off it is nuts. If you only watch one more event in the Olympics - makes sure its the 200m for men. It was billed as being between the 3 American sprinters - but nobody told Andre De Grass who was .2 faster than everyone else in the Semis - and the semi's were raced as opposed to being a jog for the favorites. The American no1 Lyles eased off coming to the line and got passed by 2 others, demoting him to 3rd in a 2 to qualify race. Lucky for him his time was one of the 2 fastest losing times and he makes the final - I bet his coach will have a few words for him - being a cocky fucker almost put him out. All thats by the by, the reason to watch the final is Erriyon Knighton. A 17 year old JUST finished high school in the states. Won his semi final at a canter and the commentator even joked he set a world record for how much he was looking around. He's already broken all Bolts records at all the underage levels - this kid is going to be special
I watched some teen girls falling off skateboards. That's the extent of my Olympic viewing. Could have looked out the window and seen the same. But then I'd be accused of being a nonce.
While I'm not watching the games, I'm seeing the headlines and one thing that stood out was all the talk about the fast track at Tokyo. It's considered fast when it benefits sprinters. It's considered slow when it benefits distance runners. This is probably common knowledge but it's new to me as I haven't watched athletics in years. It must piss athletes off when they are aiming to break records and the track is against them. And I wonder how many WR/OR holders broke the record on tracks that suited them.
Covid had to have made training harder for the last 2 years. Once every 4 years I watch or pay any attention to these events so I could be missing something very obvious(and I'm not saying it's down to doping although there will definitely be a few medals that are) but there's Olympic and World records falling all over the place,not just on that track. And it seems like everybody is setting a personal best. That just seems strange to me.
It's also sad that my first thoughts are cheats. Those Italian and Norwegian winners are just uncaught as far as I'm concerned. I'd be confident that Costa Rican lady that won 110m hurdles has dabbled too.
I've seen Kellie fight many times as an amateur their club used to do exhibitions in my gaa club. She always stood out a mile to my Limited eye. Anyone who knows her can't speak highly enough of her. At 31 I really hope she takes gold and goes pro for 4 or 5 years and reaps the rewards.
I know very little about showjumping but that lad cian O'Connor just put himself in a good position to win a medal.
That lads relationship with the Olympics is an interesting story to say the least. https://www.irishtimes.com/sport/ot...all-of-cian-o-connor-s-golden-dream-1.4252531
Watching it this morning. The 1v1 over 4 laps is so tactical and comes down to the finest of margins. Fascinating. The 200 lap relay is on now and it looks chaotic with riders swapping in/out constantly. A few falls already but I'm surprised theres not more.
I still have the dubious pleasure of working from home and I'd a heap of calls to make yesterday so I was watching with that sound off what I originally thought was show jumping but was the Pentathlon. I was thinking at first that the riders were woeful looking at the fences being knocked and all. I only realised then the horses are allocated to them by lottery. Its madness that someone can train like hell for years to get to that level only to be undone by a random horse.
I didn't know that. I watched the panel afterwards giving out about the horse like he was a government minister. Saying it was a disgrace for a horse to behave like that, I found it hilarious. Very posh event that one.
The picture of your woman crying while the horse looks like it's smiling is the best picture of this Olympics. I feel a bit sorry for her, its cruel that everything you've worked for can be undone by a random horse just deciding he's not having a bar of it, but a horse just deciding he's not having a bar of it is also pretty funny. At the end of the day,they're fucking horses,they're not arsed about the Olympics.