Olympics Paris 2024 (3 Viewers)

[DaveXA]

Masai Russell beat Gail Devers 24-year-old Olympic trials record in 100m hurdles to qualify for Paris.

And Sidney McLaughlin-Levrone set a new world record in the 400m hurdles!!

Wow, that's wild. Shocked that Devers' record lasted that long.

 

[Madmarsha]

Wow, that's wild. Shocked that Devers' record lasted that long.

I frankly didn't know they were "keeping" Olympic trials records. And they would also announce "world's best" or something like that, which I think meant who had the fastest times in the world this year. But, yeah, it was like, Wow, that's a name from the past!

 

[guidomerkinsrules]

Wow, that's wild. Shocked that Devers' record lasted that long.

My untrained but every four years expert eyes have told me that hurdle technique has changed
During Devers time, I remember the hurdlers trying to ‘flatten’ over the hurdle (ie lift legs, lower torso, try to keep pelvis on line as much as possible)
Now it seems like they hop over the hurdle more
If I was to take an uneducated gues, I’d bet the track speed is faster than Devers slightly, but they’re slower over hurdles

…
Wife and I have also noticed a difference in men’s and women’s sprint techniques
Men are powering through their runs but women are gliding through theirs (the women look faster to my eyes bc they’re more fluid less strained)
The women run like I remember Michael Johnson running

 

[DaveXA]

My untrained but every four years expert eyes have told me that hurdle technique has changed
During Devers time, I remember the hurdlers trying to ‘flatten’ over the hurdle (ie lift legs, lower torso, try to keep pelvis on line as much as possible)
Now it seems like they hop over the hurdle more
If I was to take an uneducated gues, I’d bet the track speed is faster than Devers slightly, but they’re slower over hurdles

…
Wife and I have also noticed a difference in men’s and women’s sprint techniques
Men are powering through their runs but women are gliding through theirs (the women look faster to my eyes bc they’re more fluid less strained)
The women run like I remember Michael Johnson running

Yeah, that all makes sense. Good thoughts.

 

[Optimus Prime]

Zhiying Zeng isn’t fussed about travelling to Portugal’s world-class table tennis training facility, the Mirandela Center, to prepare for Paris alongside her Olympic cohorts. “I’d prefer to train here,” she says, gesturing to her surroundings in a Santiago de Chile sports complex. The table tennis hall is in the basement, and subject to tremors from the team sports thundering around above.

Zeng trains here Monday to Friday, three hours a day. She would like to do more but she has an excuse as she contemplates her Olympic debut: she will turn 58 just before the Games start in Paris later this month. “When you’re young, nothing hurts,” she says with a smile. “Now, if I play too much I get shoulder ache.”

Zeng’s reluctance to train in Portugal comes from a love of her home for 35 years, Chile, where she can stay close to her husband and sons. Her Spanish is peppered with local slang, and she frequently jokes with the Chilean self-deprecating sense of humour.


Her Olympic dream began when she was on a professional youth team in 1970s China. It wasn’t until this May that she achieved her goal by winning a series of tournaments and finishing in the top eight in the Americas region, securing her spot in Paris.

It’s a turn of events that even Zeng couldn’t have predicted. She retired from professional table tennis in 1986, when she was 20, and she now owns a furniture company in her home in Iquique in northern Chile.

The Covid-19 pandemic provided an unexpected path back into table tennis. To quell her restlessness during Chile’s strict lockdown, she bought a table tennis table and played alone at home for hours every day. When lockdown lifted, she entered some local tournaments for fun, effortlessly winning all of them. By 2023, she was the highest-ranked women’s player in the country and qualified for a spot on Chile’s national team.

“No one could believe it – ‘What are we going to do this with señora?’” she jokes.……

‘I play with happiness’: the table tennis star making her Olympic debut at 58

Zhiying Zeng thought her Olympic dream was over after she quit China’s table tennis team in 1986. Now, 38 years later, she will compete at Paris 2024

www.theguardian.com

 

[Optimus Prime]

So do you try to watch at least a little of every event or do you stick to just a few sports that you follow closely?

 

[guidomerkinsrules]

So do you a watch at least a little of every event or do you stick to just a few sports that you follow closely?

I’ll start with my tiers and work my way down (but I’ll watch badminton if it’s the only event on)
Soccer
Track
Swimming
Gymnastics
diving
Baseball
Basketball
Wrestling
then what’s ever on

 

[Madmarsha]

So do you a watch at least a little of every event or do you stick to just a few sports that you follow closely?

Summer Olympics are hard to watch even a little of everything. I try what I can but gymnastics is what I watch the most of. Track I try to watch all finals but I just can't with all the heats. Some wrestling for some reason.

I watch a little table tennis and trampoline just cos.

 

[Bill]

So do you try to watch at least a little of every event or do you stick to just a few sports that you follow closely?

I pick the most enjoyable sport on the schedule when I’m not doing something else. If the weather here limits my outdoor activities, then I may gravitate to watching more of the games. I’m not one to change my routine to watch a particular sport. There are far fewer events of interest to me in the Summer Olympics than in the Winter Olympics.

 

[Optimus Prime]

Shoko Miyata, the 19-year-old captain of the Japan women’s artistic gymnastics team, has withdrawn from the squad for the Paris Games after violating the team’s code of conduct by smoking, the Japanese Gymnastics Association (JGA) said on Friday.

JGA officials said Miyata arrived in Japan on Thursday after leaving the team’s training camp in Monaco for investigation, which confirmed the violation including drinking alcohol. The women’s squad would compete with four athletes instead of five, the JGA told a media conference.

“We apologise from the bottom of our hearts for this,” JGA’s president Tadashi Fujita said, bowing deeply along with other officials including Miyata’s personal coach, Mutsumi Harada.


Hopes had been high for the Japan women’s gymnastics team, which was seeking to win a team medal at the Paris Games for the first time since the 1964 Tokyo Olympics. Miyata had been expected to lead a team comprised entirely of first-time Olympians and teenagers after she secured her Paris berth in May with a third consecutive NHK trophy.

Coach Harada said that while Miyata’s conduct had been reckless, she had been under extreme pressure to perform at the highest level. “She was spending her days really burdened with so much pressure,” he said, wiping away tears. “I would implore people to understand that.”………

Japanese gymnastics star Shoko Miyata sent home from Olympics for smoking

The captain of Japan’s Olympic women’s gymnastics team has been sent home from Europe after allegations she was caught smoking

www.theguardian.com

 

[Optimus Prime]

one of my favorites to watch i can never remember the name of

It's indoor cycling (velodrome?)

The track is curved, the cyclists do their laps and whoever is last of the lap drops out, keep racing until there is a winner

Quite fascinating and exciting to watch

 

[Madmarsha]

one of my favorites to watch i can never remember the name of

It's indoor cycling (velodrome?)

The track is curved, the cyclists do their laps and whoever is last of the lap drops out, keep racing until there is a winner

Quite fascinating and exciting to watch

Yes, it is. See, there are so many to remember that most people just don't even see/think of till it's Olympic year. Kayaking, rowing.

And, of course, the equestrian events. Jessica Springsteen didn't make the team after winning a silver in Tokyo.

 

[Madmarsha]

Shoko Miyata, the 19-year-old captain of the Japan women’s artistic gymnastics team, has withdrawn from the squad for the Paris Games after violating the team’s code of conduct by smoking, the Japanese Gymnastics Association (JGA) said on Friday.

JGA officials said Miyata arrived in Japan on Thursday after leaving the team’s training camp in Monaco for investigation, which confirmed the violation including drinking alcohol. The women’s squad would compete with four athletes instead of five, the JGA told a media conference.

“We apologise from the bottom of our hearts for this,” JGA’s president Tadashi Fujita said, bowing deeply along with other officials including Miyata’s personal coach, Mutsumi Harada.


Hopes had been high for the Japan women’s gymnastics team, which was seeking to win a team medal at the Paris Games for the first time since the 1964 Tokyo Olympics. Miyata had been expected to lead a team comprised entirely of first-time Olympians and teenagers after she secured her Paris berth in May with a third consecutive NHK trophy.

Coach Harada said that while Miyata’s conduct had been reckless, she had been under extreme pressure to perform at the highest level. “She was spending her days really burdened with so much pressure,” he said, wiping away tears. “I would implore people to understand that.”………

Japanese gymnastics star Shoko Miyata sent home from Olympics for smoking

The captain of Japan’s Olympic women’s gymnastics team has been sent home from Europe after allegations she was caught smoking

www.theguardian.com

Poor girl.

 

[Madmarsha]

Soccer and rugby starts Wednesday.
Handball and archery starts Thursday.

Opening ceremonies Friday.

 

[Madmarsha]

I’ll start with my tiers and work my way down (but I’ll watch badminton if it’s the only event on)
Soccer
Track
Swimming
Gymnastics
diving
Baseball
Basketball
Wrestling
then what’s ever on

Badminton starts next Saturday! You didn't mention breaking.