Tokyo Olympics

[Jimmy Floyd]

I haven't included the year as nobody really knows, do they?

Sports include:

Basketball
Modern pentathlon
Athletics (running, jumping, throwing)
Boxing
Swimming
others.

Men and women for each.

Enjoy.

[Spikey M]

Played Pleb.

[Ian]

:D

[Jimmy Floyd]

I looked at putting a skeleton schedule up but the thing is so massive, unwieldy, and taking place at 4am, that it's basically impossible to do so.

Just for you, I will provide searing, cutting edge medal updates throughout.

[Baz]

Realised the other day I barely recognise any of the 100m runners and felt old.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Men's 100m (final)

Lane 1 Frankie Fredericks
2 Donovan Bailey
3 Kim Collins
4 Ato Boldon
5 Maurice Greene
6 token Japanese or white guy
7 Obadele Thompson
8 Churandy Martina

That lineup will never change in my mind.

[Disco]

Can we add Christophe Lemaitre as the token whitey picking up the participation award.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

I did like how Poland accidentally picked 6 swimmers too many and had to send them home.

[wullie]

I always enjoy the weightlifting, specifically with the smaller fellas where you get the really oddly-shaped Turks every time. I've got priority access to Commonwealth Games tickets next year so I'm trying to get in for the weightlifting at the NEC and then the judo and wrestling at the Ricoh

[thommo]

Maurice Greene, he was a scary looking bloke.

I've a very vivid memory of watching him almost chase down Mark Lewis-Francis in 2004 in the 4x100m final. Relay finals have to be one of my favourite events, sheer speed all the way round. It was such a big shock that the GB sprinters managed to win that gold.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DATSz4mjqtw&ab_channel=KBODLE

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

I always enjoy the weightlifting, specifically with the smaller fellas where you get the really oddly-shaped Turks every time. I've got priority access to Commonwealth Games tickets next year so I'm trying to get in for the weightlifting at the NEC and then the judo and wrestling at the Ricoh

The weightlifting is by far the best.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Z-KO36vG4c

I was crying like a baby watching this live.

Shame he came out of retirement a couple years later for a couple of goes at the World Championships which didn't end too well.

[Ian]

I've got surprisingly into judo during the last two Olympics.

I see they've added two Karate events, Kumite (which is what you'd expect) and Kata which is just basically just dressage in a gi. That's not going to be thrilling viewing. (Though as mentioned before, I'll undoubtedly consider myself an expert once I've seen 40 seconds of it.)

[Jimmy Floyd]

Rhythmic gymnastics is traditionally the worst watch at the Games. Actually, sailing is probably as bad. You hear the results coming in on some sort of wire as if it's the 1930s, and everything sounds exciting, and then you watch it and it's a boat going across the sea with the lack of camera angle precluding you from having any idea who is doing what, where or how quickly.

[-james-]

https://calendar.google.com/calendar/u/0?cid=ZDdxamg0N3RnZmM2ZWkxY2ZzcnNjNmxyMzBAZ3JvdXAu Y2FsZW5kYXIuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbQ

This looks quite a good schedule link. Still a clusterfuck obvs. Would be good if you could filter out your water polos and such.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

I usually like to watch as much as possible live but the times for this one aren't great.

[-james-]

I have very little interest in watching sport that's not live so I'm not sure how much I'll end up watching. I am quite intrigued by the 3x3 basketball.

[Pepe]

3v3 basketball? :D

[Pepe]

1v1 would be interesting, I guess.

[Pepe]

Does anyone have a list of all the nonsense stuff they added?

[Ian]

3v3 basketball? :D

They should've gone 2v2. Full NBA Jam mode. :cool:

[Pepe]

NBA Jam :drool:

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Does anyone have a list of all the nonsense stuff they added?

https://www.nbcolympics.com/news/tokyo-olympics-101-new-sports

Complete rundown of new sports added plus any chances to existing sports.

[Kikó]

https://calendar.google.com/calendar/u/0?cid=ZDdxamg0N3RnZmM2ZWkxY2ZzcnNjNmxyMzBAZ3JvdXAu Y2FsZW5kYXIuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbQ

This looks quite a good schedule link. Still a clusterfuck obvs. Would be good if you could filter out your water polos and such.

Superb - great work.

[Luca]

Skateboarding as an Olympic sport is just not on. Rock climbing I can just about bear. Everyone knows that the Winter Olympics are a joke, which is why you get the X-Games bleed over, but this shouldn’t happen at the proper Olympics.

[Jimmy Floyd]

It all looks like another example of boomers not understanding what kids want (as opposed to what surveys capture them wanting).

[-james-]

The surveys presumably suggested that they should have medals for FIFA and CoD so I don't think they've done too badly tbh.

[Disco]

Golf and handball are in are they not? Open season after that.

[Pepe]

There have been olympics-related esports competitions.

[Shindig]

Also, covid's going to shake up these medals. :youpi:

[Baz]

Is there an olympics computer game for this? I’ve fond memories of the Athens and, to a lesser extent because they fucked about with the swimming, the Beijing olympics games.

[Shindig]

Yes. I saw it on the PS Store today.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

It looks shit though.

I was so disappointed when I watched the trailer.

[Giggles]

I can never get excited for the Olympics but I’d watch the soccer if it was on somewhere.

[Pleb]

Would love to see New Zealand knocking the USWNT out of the Cup.

[Queenslander]

I'm looking to the basketball and soccer games I reckon we will medal in both. I'm so over swimming these days could not care less.

[Lewis]

Much more accessible calendar here (https://www.youtube.com/c/banzai/videos?view=0&sort=da&flow=grid). Tokyo Olympics: Prace Your Bets NOW!

[Lofty]

The only athletics related news I have seen since this started is the Swedish(?) Volleyball team are in trouble for wearing shorts that cover too much of their arse and some GB long jumper is in trouble for wearing shorts that cover not enough of her arse. This is the scope of my interest.

[niko_cee]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-57924885

The hits just keep on coming in there.


The show director of the Olympics opening ceremony has been dismissed, one day before the event is due to be held.

Footage of Kentaro Kobayashi from the 1990s recently emerged in which he seems to be making jokes about the Holocaust.

Japan's Olympic chief Seiko Hashimoto said the video ridiculed "painful facts of history".

The dismissal is the latest in a string of scandals to hit the Games.

It comes days after a composer quit the team creating the ceremony after it emerged he had bullied classmates with disabilities at school.

In March, creative chief Hiroshi Sasaki quit after suggesting that plus-size comedian Naomi Watanabe could appear as an "Olympig". He later apologised.

And in February, Yoshiro Mori was forced to step down as the head of the organising committee after he made remarks about women that were criticised as "inappropriate".

Mr Mori was quoted as saying women talked too much and that meetings with many female board directors would "take a lot of time".

[Kikó]

Try and find some Olympics and land on women's baseball aus/ital. This isn't fucking Olympics.

[Queenslander]

Matilda's go hard.

https://i.ibb.co/YWWg5s7/16x9-large.jpg (https://imgbb.com/)

[niko_cee]

The softball [I believe what some refer to as women's baseball :baz:] sounds a bit of a farce on that link upthread, 6 teams competing for 3 medals?

[Giggles]

Is that like a non commonwealth flag thing or a native one?

[niko_cee]

Aboriginal/Indigenous.

[Queenslander]

Article about it.

https://www.theroar.com.au/2021/07/21/how-bloody-good-matildas-perfect-statement-before-nz-clash/

[Giggles]

Are any of those players even aboriginal?

Edit - 2 I see from the article.

[Queenslander]

2 but it doesn't matter Aboriginal deaths in custody are very high etc. This is appropriate IMO..

[Queenslander]

Get in!!!

[Spikey M]

Celebrating Aboriginal deaths is a bit out of order.

[niko_cee]

Presumably interesting times in Maison Pepe after his boys donned the French.

[Queenslander]

Celebrating Aboriginal deaths is a bit out of order.

:D

[Queenslander]

Argies down to 10 men lol

[Pleb]

Germany kids on the ROPES

[Pepe]

Presumably interesting times in Maison Pepe after his boys donned the French.

Didn't know this happened, but having found out, I immediately mocked my wife. She didn't give a fuck.

[Queenslander]

2-0 win against Argentina is up there

[Manc]

Germany kids on the ROPES

Brazil should be five or six goals to the good here.

[Waffdon]

Why on earth is Pedri playing in this as well as the Euros? Christ.

[niko_cee]

Half the Spain team looked like it had played the Euros, unless they have different Garcias, Torreses, Olmos and the unpronouncezabal up front.

[-james-]

I watched the Spain game this morning and they barely had a sniff. Beyond belief that they've made half the euros side fly to Japan to play these games, and shouldn't be too surprising that they can't be bothered.

[Queenslander]

:cool:


https://youtu.be/7yDf9tI1hjg

[Ian]

Nice finish, that.

A 'best goals of the world cup' video Youtube suggested to me reminded me of Tim Cahill's excellent one against the Dutch in 2014. A beautiful goal I'd entirely forgotten about.

[Queenslander]

I remember watching that game live that goal is up there as one of the biggest sports celebrations I've been involved in.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

This opening ceremony has been shit thus far.

[-james-]

Surely some J-Pop bangers and tentacle rape to come.

[Trancemeister]

Final Fantasy music during the parade of athletes. :cool:

[wullie]

Seems a little unnecessary for them to spend the two hours coming out and waving to empty seats.

[Pepe]

Opening ceremony already underway? GTFO, I though that it would be on Sunday or something.

Can this be watched on the BBC website like previous ones? Might pull out the VPN again.

[Yevrah]

What I want to know is anyone in the ceremony wearing a nappy?

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Opening ceremony already underway? GTFO, I though that it would be on Sunday or something.

Can this be watched on the BBC website like previous ones? Might pull out the VPN again.

It can.

[Disco]

Probably on sportsurge as well but I haven't tried any of their streams yet.

[Manc]

What the fuck am I watching?

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

This has been one of the worst Olympics opening ceremonies that I can remember.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

The badminton pictogram fail has been the best bit so far.

[Manc]

I had to switch off. Unbearable.

[Spikey M]

This is terrible :D

[Trancemeister]

Worst olympic opening ceremony I've seen.

[Yevrah]

What's gone wrong? Is nobody wearing a nappy?

[Jimmy Floyd]

They needed to do more dressing up as healthcare service providers.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

BBC's coverage deciding to start with highlights of the Opening ceremony.

There's really no sport going on right now?

Edit: There is. Rowing singles on the red button but BBC One has to show highlights that they showed around 7pm.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Honestly nothing like being sleepless and whacking on the website to watch some bloke from Vanuatu battle it out for the last qualifying spot in the rowing, about 2 minutes off the pace.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Italy/Canada in the Volleyball on Eurosport 9 and Norway/Brazil in Handball on Eurosport 8 starting now.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

The number 18 for Italy is a beast.

Only 19 but he looks their best player.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

That was a cracking match.

Canada won the first 2 sets and were 3/4 points up in the third but Italy came back to win.

Michieletto (the number 18) was everywhere. Had the most points and he also had a lot of blocks and digs defensively.

He's the Mbappe of the Volleyball world but he also has the mental fortitude to not miss the last penalty in a shootout.

[Queenslander]

Brisbane's Gold Medal chance in Golf.

https://i.ibb.co/ggY8Fkm/FB-IMG-1627093861656.jpg (https://imgbb.com/)

[Jimmy Floyd]

I honestly didn't think it was possible to make his normal hair any worse, so that's a great effort.

[Spikey M]

Does he have a load of pet tigers by any chance?

[Queenslander]

Banter haircuts are almost hack these days.

[Manc]

Mahow going all in on day one.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Enjoyed the last hour of the road race there. Those blokes are mentalists.

[Manc]

Nice to see we've donned the French in both tennis & badminton.

[-james-]

Zambia are 4-3 up against China in the women's football, Barbra Banda with all four after scoring a hat trick against the Netherlands. She plays in China and they're clearly all terrified of her. Absolute superstar.

[Don]

Gold in shooting, 2nd in medal table, fucking have a bit of that, you western cunts.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Poland about to don Iran in the Volleyball :drool:

[Pepe]

Enjoyed the last hour of the road race there. Those blokes are mentalists.

Fuck me, did I miss the cycling? :face:

[Pepe]

The BBC streaming site now requires you to have an account. :face:

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

:moop:

Poland dicked Iran in the first set but Iran came back to lead 2-1 before Poland sent it to a deciding set.

First to 15 (have to win by 2) but both teams kept trading points until Iran took it 23-21.

Balls.

[Don]

That was fucking scenes. The dirty plumbers had brought in some BLM from NBA and still got fucked.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

That was fucking scenes. The dirty plumbers had brought in some BLM from NBA and still got fucked.

He's Cuban. Loads of Cubans have defected in the last few years, Italy had one yesterday.

Apparently the best in the world right now.

[Luca]

Enjoyed the last hour of the road race there. Those blokes are mentalists.

As did I. I was surprised at the extent to which Carapaz ran away with it - he seemed to be in a completely different gear (lol) than the rest. The sprint at the end from the first chase was very good.

[Disco]

Carapaz finished the TDF pretty strongly this year, and it's only about a week since it finished so lots of riders won't have fully recovered.

[niko_cee]

Not saying that it is the case here, but watching day races/classics can be a bit of a shock to the system if what you are used to watching is Grand Tour stages. You just need to watch one of Tom Boonen's Paris-Roubaix wins to see how very different they are, despite being ostensibly the same thing. The peleton is so much less powerful when it is effectively every man for himself.

[Pepe]

Yeah, the classics are by far the best watch.

[Disco]

It's more akin to watching a breakaway.

[Pepe]

Just finished watching the cycling. What a race that was.

Belgium blew their load too early (as they often do in these events). Had they had just one rider to help chase down Pogacar when he went on the big climb, Van Aert (what a monster he is. Best rider in the world) would have won it. As it was, he had to chase the best climber in the world up a mountain, and then cover every single attack for the remaining ~30 kms. Incidentally, Carapaz and McNulty were very lucky to be the ones on the attack he did not immediately chase down, but that is just how these things go.

When I was still living in St. Louis and was still racing my bicycle, there was this guy whose son was an elite junior level rider (he later switched to rowing when he went to West Point). This guy was always harping about how great of a talent his son's teammate "Brandon" was, and how he was going to be the next best thing in American cycling. Well, it was really cool to see "Brandon" feature so prominently today, and heartbreaking to see him crack so close to the end. I really thought that he was going to get a medal. Interesting to see how he does in the TT, as that is his specialty.

When are the track events? I love me some points races.

[niko_cee]

I loved that on that McNulty/Carapaz move one went from one side and one went from the other. Quality ambush move which made a failure to immediately shut down the weaker rider (McNulty who went first) fatal when Carapaz went too. I have no idea if they'd had a word or if Carapaz is just that wily, but it looked like they may have be talking just before it happened.

Has a national team ever donned one of these things? Always seems to end in failure.

[Pepe]

Italy and Belgium seem to always be the ones trying to get something going, but it never seems to work. I mean, Van Avermaet won in Rio, but that had nothing to do with any sort of team effort.

[Baz]

https://i.imgur.com/BlhwdVV.jpg

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Surfing is pretty shit to watch.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Max Litchfield taking 4th in 2016 and 4th again must be gutting.

I really thought he had it but he probably needed another 5m.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

An 18 year old Tunisian winning gold in the pool as the slowest seed in the final.

Was near the front the whole way and just stormed it in the final 25m.

[phonics]

Someone pointed out last week that PGA doesn't drug test but Olypmics golfers are drugs tested.

Bryson DeChambeau who put on 20lbs of Muscle in 9 months has just pulled out of the Olympics.

[Jimmy Floyd]

I was surprised he entered in the first place when he could have just made a bullshit excuse months ago.

[Yevrah]

And here's another one with a non-injury.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/olympics/57958708

It's widerife.

[Jimmy Floyd]

lol if this Austrian breakaway in the women's road race sticks.

[niko_cee]

And here's another one with a non-injury.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/olympics/57958708

It's widerife.

Aye, Andy Murray, that famously bullet-proof and non-injury prone tour star of recent years . . .

Also, hasn't he already played in the doubles.

And I assume tennis does drug testing even if they can't catch the gluten free beast mode folk.

2/10

[Yevrah]

Well he's playing Tennis again, it's a gold medal up for grabs, yet he doesn't want to. :sherlock:

[niko_cee]

What's the 'motorsport circuit' they use in the cycling anyway. I was thinking it was Suzuka yesterday as some of it looked very familiar but then I'd have expected them to be going through 130R and it didn't seem to be there (the bit that seemed familiar was the series of corners after the esses or whatever they are called).

[Dquincy]

Pretty sure Murray is playing in the doubles, so would be subject to testing regardless of him pulling out of the singles event.

[Jimmy Floyd]

What's the 'motorsport circuit' they use in the cycling anyway. I was thinking it was Suzuka yesterday as some of it looked very familiar but then I'd have expected them to be going through 130R and it didn't seem to be there (the bit that seemed familiar was the series of corners after the esses or whatever they are called).

It's Fuji, home of the 1976 F1 denouement, and a couple of races in the 2000s.

[phonics]

And here's another one with a non-injury.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/olympics/57958708

It's widerife.

As someone who knows exactly why Nadal was out for a year, him not being at the Olympics is a bigger tell than a crippled Murray.

[Spikey M]

Murray's still doing the doubles isn't he? Are they not tested?

[niko_cee]

Whilst it wasn't particularly great watching, that women's road race was quite funny.

Quality long range moves winning both races.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

GB's first chance at gold starts in about 5 minutes. Taekwondo.

[Ian]

Whilst it wasn't particularly great watching, that women's road race was quite funny.

Quality long range moves winning both races.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/olympics/57960575

Was that this one?

It's a great story.

[Shindig]

I'm sure Jade Jones is a lovely lass but the voice is .... something else.

[Manc]

Some chav from Donny has just been donned by Borat. We are shite.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Thought Sinden had that.

[thommo]

That was a cracking fight, such a shame to lose it late on. Only 22 though and he looks very good so could be a genuine gold medal contender again in 3 years time.

[niko_cee]

Wait a minute, I missed the fact that the Dutch silver medalist in the women's road race celebrated as if she'd won the gold, did they really let that Austrian women get away because they didn't know about her?

[Baz]

I hate the timezone difference for this. Like I had the skateboarding spoiled for me this morning, and was looking forward to watching Nyjah Huston.

I’m trying to not spoil the women’s Park skateboarding in the same way, hoping to watch Jordyn Barratt live. When’s that on?

I’ve also bet on that man to win the women’s weightlifting, despite not being the favourite. 3/1

[Shindig]

I didn't like the skateboarding format, at least from the highlights we'd seen. Were they really confined to one rail? Seems a wasted of a park. You need lines and routines on that shit like it's figure skating. That's how the X-Games does it.

[thommo]

The format wasn't just one rail - they had 2 runs of 45 seconds to utilise the whole area, and then 5 runs to attempt any particular trick they like. The 4 best scores of the 7 total attempts was taken as their final score.


I’m trying to not spoil the women’s Park skateboarding in the same way, hoping to watch Jordyn Barratt live. When’s that on?

That's tonight, prelims at half past 12 and the final around 5am I think.

Edit: Ah wait, the park skateboarding isn't for 10 days I think. Tonight is the women's street stuff.

[Spikey M]

The skateboarding was fine, but they should have done half-pipe instead. :drool:

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

The best bit of the skateboarding was watching them fall.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

1419130068933173251

Like this.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Adam Peaty is such a don.

[Queenslander]

I'm all in on the Boomers winning gold in Basketball.

[Yevrah]

Murray's still doing the doubles isn't he? Are they not tested?

Ah, in which case I'll stand down.

When does the women's weightlifting start? I think I'm looking forward to that more than the 100m this year. The commentary should be brilliant.

[Yevrah]

I'm all in on the Boomers winning gold in Basketball.

Might be a good shout. Haven't the US team lost twice recently?

[Yevrah]

Hubbard is up on Monday.

https://olympics.com/tokyo-2020/olympic-games/en/results/weightlifting/event-schedule-women-s-87kg.htm

I assume she's in group A, which would be 8/9 in the morning our time. Sweet.

[Manc]

Raining golds. :drool:

[Queenslander]

Might be a good shout. Haven't the US team lost twice recently?

Twice in warm up and they lost to France last night.

[Yevrah]

I need to start watching the basketball. Is it on at awful UK times?

In fact, is there a decent all-encompassing schedule anywhere? I remember that being like gold dust to find in previous editions.

[Queenslander]

Primetime Brisbane so I assume it would be on at grim o'clock.

[Ian]

Eurosport has 3v3s at 9.25 or something.

[Yevrah]

3v3's? I've just checked what that is. :D

How the hell does that get in?

[Ian]

Because somebody really liked NBA Jam but didn't have the bottle to go full 2v2s.

[Shindig]

"Have you played NBA Playgrounds?"

[Manc]

Another bottle job in Taekwondo. Gold thrown away with seconds to go.

[7om]

Yeah that was nuts. Up by three points with 10 seconds left and bottled it. Crazy ending.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

6 points up with 20 seconds to go and ends up losing by 3.

Ugh.

[niko_cee]

She should never have gone with that challenge thing, gave the other woman time to recover and come up with a plan to win, she was gonners without that. Also, why didn't she just time manage the clock down by hopping backwards and then taking the point for touching the yellow [rather than desperately avoid touching the yellow, getting kicked in the head and then touching the yellow anyway]? Are you not allowed to do that repeatedly?

[Baz]

Edit: Ah wait, the park skateboarding isn't for 10 days I think. Tonight is the women's street stuff.Spot on. Gimme a shout when the park skating is gonna be on please?

[Manc]

Women's triathlon looks grim.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

She should never have gone with that challenge thing, gave the other woman time to recover and come up with a plan to win, she was gonners without that. Also, why didn't she just time manage the clock down by hopping backwards and then taking the point for touching the yellow [rather than desperately avoid touching the yellow, getting kicked in the head and then touching the yellow anyway]? Are you not allowed to do that repeatedly?

You've got 10 penalties before getting disqualified.

I watched an Egyptian the other day who was running back so far that he fell off the stage at one point.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Missed the GB 1-2 in the 200m because I was busy trying to fix my router (it's gone), seething.

[Queenslander]

Swimming is lame at the best of times but on telly this morning I found out that the Boomer father's have organised gold jackets to give each other if their children win a gold medal. The head dickhead even went as far to say that the Gold jacket will be a hot item for Brisbane 2032. I was furious!

[Queenslander]

The English bloke commentating on the surfing is is out of his lane a bit...

[Manc]

Another monumental bottle job in the Taekwondo.

[Jimmy Floyd]

And a bigger one still in the rugby by the Americans. Yoo-ess-ay.

[Ian]

Argentina are bossing it despite being a man down. Couple of lovely tries.

[thommo]

Fiji are just world class. So fun to watch in the 7s.

[thommo]

Another monumental bottle job in the Taekwondo.

I'd argue the first two losses in the finals weren't bottled, that just seems to be the nature of the sport. Sinden himself scored about 10 points in the final 20 seconds of his semi-final.

This one, on the other hand, was a definite bottle. 2 points up and 3 seconds to go. Literally back away out of the ring - it'll take 3 seconds and you give a point away, and you win the bout. Senseless to face up and give the other woman an opportunity to get a head kick in.

[7om]

Great showing from the women’s gymnastics team. 7th to 3rd was magnificent.

[Don]

Simone Fucking Biles, greatest ever gymnast/olympian/BLM pulling out for mental health reasons now? These fucking softies :D

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Her performances have been pretty poor (for her standards) thus far.

Maybe she's cracking under the pressure of this being her last Olympics or the chance to become the most decorated gymnast in Olympic history.

[niko_cee]

Buckling under the pressure of being given a goat emoji.

[Jimmy Floyd]

The Americans all seem to turn fully insane during the Olympics, which is one of their rare excursions into international sport and therefore the realisation that they aren't always the be all and end all, despite their economic might. I saw a long thread earlier of one of their journos convinced that NFL players would dominate rugby and MLB baseball players would dominate cricket if given a few weeks to train. Erm, no.

There was also loads of weird stuff from them the other day when Katie Ledecky got beaten by an Australian swimmer.

[Pepe]

Quitting because of "mental health". :harold:

The worst part is that, instead of being ridiculed to no end as they should, these good for nothings get celebrated and called "brave". Get the fuck out of here.

[Shindig]

The media's calling her brave but there's probably a 50/50 split of Joe and Joanna Public asking why she's still competing in the individuals if she's sad.

[Pepe]

It should be 100/0, not 50/50. Other people didn't get to compete so that she could go. For her to just walk out is massively disrespectful.

[-james-]

Even the yoghurt knitters are lolling at her.

[Lewis]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HF0oPnE_IWo

[Manc]

George Caulkin could with some vitamin-c.

[niko_cee]

I struggled to make it a minute into that.

I assume it only gets worse from there.

[Jimmy Floyd]

The main headline on BBC Sport (BBC, that is, not an American site) is: 'Biles praised for prioritising mental health after pulling out of Olympic gymnastics final'. I don't get it. We're through the looking glass.

Not 'Russia win as Biles pulls out of gymnastics final' - but the headline is the praise for her doing so. Meanwhile, British swimmers winning a gold-silver 1-2 are relegated to a mere afterthought.

[Don]

My guy out here thinking two gammons doing doggie paddles is bigger than a BLM-mental health power pairing. She was an announcement of a gender transition away from numberwang.

[Shindig]

I bet those swimmers weren't raped as kids.

[Giggles]

Something something gammons something something BLM.

It doesn’t matter what the thread is about really does it?

[Lewis]

Has any prominent athlete called her a bottler? Some mentality monster like Tom Brady or Ronaldo will definitely be sat at home thinking it, but why risk a Nike/CIA death squad?

[thommo]

If it had been for an injury, I'd understand. But to basically throw a hissy fit and not do any more of the event simply because you made a mistake is a load of bollocks and threw her teammates under the bus. And now she's front and fucking centre like some sort of martyr across nearly every news site and social media platform. What a world we live in.

[Lewis]

Is there anything to this theory that she isn't allowed her 'ADHD' meds in Japan and can't perform if she isn't tweaking like mad? Because that would be properly hilarious, and make the cover story doubly so.

[Queenslander]

I'm no Dr but I don't think a person can just stop taking ADHD meds?

[Pepe]

If that is true, then she shouldn't have gone. Let someone who won't shit the bed go instead.

I am sure her 'mental health' was just fine when doing all those commercials.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

That Men's rowing four was tough to watch.

GB never really in it, although it was quite funny them veering of course and almost crashing into the Italians who probably would have taken silver had it not been for the interference.

[Queenslander]

Team GB v Australia in the quarter of the women's soccer should be a cracker.

[hfswjyr]

The Americans all seem to turn fully insane during the Olympics, which is one of their rare excursions into international sport and therefore the realisation that they aren't always the be all and end all, despite their economic might. I saw a long thread earlier of one of their journos convinced that NFL players would dominate rugby and MLB baseball players would dominate cricket if given a few weeks to train. Erm, no.

There was also loads of weird stuff from them the other day when Katie Ledecky got beaten by an Australian swimmer.

I mean, I agree with the sentiment, but also...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_at_the_Olympics

American athletes have won a total of 2,523 medals (1,022 of them gold) at the Summer Olympic Games and another 305 (105 of them gold) at the Winter Olympic Games, making the United States the most prolific medal-winning nation in the history of the Olympics. The US is ranked first in the all-time medal table even if all the incarnations of Russia and Germany are combined, leading the second-placed Russians by 402 gold and 917 total medals, despite being the only team in the world to receive no government funding.[1][2][3]

[7om]

Massive bottle job in the 4 man sculls. Comfortable 2nd with 500m to go then they fall off the pace and cross into the Italian lane.

[Jimmy Floyd]

I mean, I agree with the sentiment, but also...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_at_the_Olympics

Obviously. It would be a complete embarrassment if they weren't all time medal leaders (in the same way it's an embarrassment when they lose the Ryder Cup again and again). The scale, breadth and depth of resources they have to compared to even the strong European nations is staggering (Americans as a rule don't realise this). Their college (and to a lesser extent, high school) system is basically a nationwide paid-for means to train up elite athletes in every sport under the sun without any of the jeopardy or risk or sacrifice involved in this process in smaller nations.

The 1980 hockey win over the sovs has somehow invaded their national psyche in quite a delusional way, in the same way that Britain is constantly living under the delusion that we are plucky rather than driven to medals by considerable lottery funding.

[Yevrah]

What's the TTH take on this?

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/olympics/57996321

I'm not sure calling her superhuman, brave and strong is really that accurate, or indeed that helpful.

[phonics]

I mean she definitely is superhuman. Half the fucking moves in the sport are named after her because no-one else can do them.

She openly said before the olympics started that she hates gymnastics, she's old, she's tired and she's only turning up to keep the pressure on the rapist not being allowed back into the sport. They announced he was banned for life and she stopped competing the next day.

[Jimmy Floyd]

It would be nice if it was a lot more specific than 'mental health'.

Is this what happened to Ronaldo at France 98?

[Baz]

Yeah give her flowers where due, her achievements are fantastic, but ehh mental health? NEXT.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Is 24 old in gymnastics? I know there are freak teenagers who do it but didn't know that was the majority.

[phonics]

Is 24 old in gymnastics? I know there are freak teenagers who do it but didn't know that was the majority.

This is the first time the American team has had more than 2 non-teenagers in Gymnastics history and the first time the average age has been over 20. 24 is really quite old.

[Pepe]

I mean she definitely is superhuman. Half the fucking moves in the sport are named after her because no-one else can do them.

She openly said before the olympics started that she hates gymnastics, she's old, she's tired and she's only turning up to keep the pressure on the rapist not being allowed back into the sport. They announced he was banned for life and she stopped competing the next day.

Then she should have been told to fuck off and let someone who wants to be there compete instead.

[Baz]

Starting to feel like Pepe was next in line for the US gymnastics spot. He’s really pissed that someone couldn’t compete cos soft arse Simone took the spot.

[Pepe]

I would have made it, if it wasn't for structural feminism.

[Kikó]

Starting to feel like Pepe was next in line for the US gymnastics spot. He’s really pissed that someone couldn’t compete cos soft arse Simone took the spot.

:D

[Spikey M]

You're only a few estrogen jabs away lady go get it, champ.

Edit: Not you Keeks. Although you could too.

[Shindig]

In all fairness, a Trans Olympics might be fun to watch. Especially if it gets really out of hand and someone identifies as a pommel horse.

[niko_cee]

Some sort of shark has definitely been jumped when the biggest story at an Olympics is some minority sport nobody deciding not to participate for questionable reasons.

[Kikó]

She's not a softball player?

[Yevrah]

What did her teammates have to say about it? They must have been livid.

[phonics]

They said they were cool with it and happy with her cause they’re not psychopaths. You’d think how some of us have reacted to you over the past few days versus others would have coloured your perception on this issue, Yev.

All these absolute gammons who’ve never watched a sporting event in their life saying shit like ‘Michael Jordan would never quit because of mental issues’ is prime stuff.

[Jimmy Floyd]

I see no issue with her quitting if that's the best course of action. I do see an issue with everyone blowing kisses at her for doing so, as if it's IMPORTANT. It isn't. Loads of sports people quit all the time for all sorts of reasons.

[phonics]

I agree but it’s just a reaction to the knobs saying she’s a disgrace to the flag etc.

[Giggles]

Did she not quit on her team mates and continue on in the solo stuff?

[phonics]

Nope

[Lewis]

Unless there is some weird health issue they don't want to admit to, she BOTTLED IT. It is what it is. If mental health was more important there wouldn't be any elite athletes because for every Simone Biles there must be fifty kids who never made it but still had their childhoods ruined along the way, so you have to ask what new pressures have been put on her since 2016, and that will explain why the sport-media-wank complex is covering for her.

[phonics]

She openly admitted that. she lost where she was in the air and almost destroyed her knee. So she withdrew.

[randomlegend]

It's amazing how many of you just fundamentally don't understand mental health problems.

[Kikó]

Why didn't she just CRACK ON? Isn't that the solution to mental health? MAN UP WOMAN FFS.

[Lewis]

There is no need to create a new NARRATIVE out of nothing to cover for her. She didn't do the business. Fair enough. It's not like you could say she's shit and her previous achievements are damaged. Why isn't that enough?

[Giggles]

There is no need to create a new NARRATIVE out of nothing to cover for her. She didn't do the business. Fair enough. It's not like you could say she's shit and her previous achievements are damaged. Why isn't that enough?

Because the world is a fucking cesspit now.

[randomlegend]

There is no need to create a new NARRATIVE out of nothing to cover for her. She didn't do the business. Fair enough. It's not like you could say she's shit and her previous achievements are damaged. Why isn't that enough?

If she'd been been hit by a car and couldn't compete would you say "she just didn't do the business"?

[Lewis]

What, during the event? That might be a bit unfair.

[Pepe]

I see no issue with her quitting if that's the best course of action. I do see an issue with everyone blowing kisses at her for doing so, as if it's IMPORTANT. It isn't. Loads of sports people quit all the time for all sorts of reasons.

That's basically it. The idea that we need to celebrate bottlers is fucked up. Having to work with students who see this shit as normal is a massive pain in the arse.

[Pepe]

If she'd been been hit by a car and couldn't compete would you say "she just didn't do the business"?

:face:

[Shindig]

I'd watch a bunch of teens parkouring over moving cars. We all would. Pencil that in for Paris.

[Pepe]

Like when cyclists have a bad day and drop twenty minutes in a stage. People just say 'oh well, sucks'. You don't celebrate the failure to perform as some sort of massive achievement. Ilnur Zakarin is dogshit at descending and he always loses time. Should he be a hero for prioritizing his health over results?

[randomlegend]

:face:

As someone who's had proper depression, the bad days are just as debilitating. You just don't understand.

[Don]

Some melt was trying to make out that gymnastics isn't like other sports in terms of things that could go wrong leading to life-altering injuries and that she pulled out over fears for her own safety. That's Biles level mental gymnastics. Imagine what would happen to boxing if they were all as brave and aware of their mental health.

[Pepe]

As someone who's had proper depression, the bad days are just as debilitating. You just don't understand.

So if you are depressed one day and can't go to work, should we build you an altar?

[Lewis]

I don't think she's claiming to have anything 'debilitating' is she? If she is, why was she there?

[phonics]

So if you are depressed one day and can't go to work, should we build you an altar?


They did for Gary Speed.

[Shindig]

When I was depressed, the last thing I wanted was to be coddled. I wanted to be on top of my shit, not fucking nursed.

[randomlegend]

So if you are depressed one day and can't go to work, should we build you an altar?

No, but I'm not someone with the pressure of being in the public eye.

I dropped out of University to sort out my mental health, and that was one of the most difficult decisions I've ever made. I'm not going to describe myself with adjectives like "courageous", but it is an extremely difficult thing to do.

[phonics]

I don't think she's claiming to have anything 'debilitating' is she? If she is, why was she there?

As I said before it was to keep pressure on them not letting off the rapist. She withdrew the same day he got his life ban.

[randomlegend]

When I was depressed, the last thing I wanted was to be coddled. I wanted to be on top of my shit, not fucking nursed.

People are different. I'm not sure she's asked for the media coverage either.

[Shindig]

Aye, that's fair. She's an athlete competing at the Olympics. This wasn't going to be quietly pushed aside.

[randomlegend]

I don't think she's claiming to have anything 'debilitating' is she? If she is, why was she there?

I obviously don't know the details of her specific case, but it's not that straightforward. Even at my lowest I had days - even weeks - that weren't too bad. Then I'd have days or weeks where I cried constantly for no reason and every time I got in a car it took every bit of willpower not to drive into a tree.

[Pepe]

As I said before it was to keep pressure on them not letting off the rapist.

That shit's laughable.

[Dave.]

People who don't know anything about mental health and haven't suffered from any mental health problems themselves having a go at a prominent athlete who has suffered from mental health problems? Okay then.

[Lewis]

As I said before it was to keep pressure on them not letting off the rapist. She withdrew the same day he got his life ban.

Where has this been said? Isn't that bloke doing about a thousand years?

[Pepe]

'Mental health'

[Pepe]

Where has this been said?

Simone and Naomi. They are now larger than life mate. Her quitting from major sporting events is what will end racism and sexism once and for all.

[Dave.]

'Mental health'

Inverted commas are irrelevant in this case.

[Pepe]

So what clinical condition we talking about here then? Has anything been disclosed?

[Giggles]

She’s going to build a fair brand off the back of it anyway. Especially for someone in a sport nobody gives a shit about 99% of the time.

[niko_cee]

Probably the reverse of Magic's nervous pissing thing.

[randomlegend]

Why should she have to disclose anything?

[Giggles]

So what clinical condition we talking about here then? Has anything been disclosed?

Officially it’s known as Getting on Oprah.

[Dave.]

Simone and Naomi. They are now larger than life mate. Her quitting from major sporting events is what will end racism and sexism once and for all.

You are completely missing the point here and are using massive strawmen to suit your argument. No one is saying that this will end racism or sexism or stop mental health problems.

We know a lot about Simone Biles but we can't see into her mind. The vast majority with mental health problems don't show it on the outside but inside they are suffering.

We absolutely should not be questioning Simone Biles in any way. This very public statement will hopefully help a little. Hopefully it will lead to more people talking about their mental health problems. It could even save someone's life.

[Yevrah]

They said they were cool with it and happy with her cause they’re not psychopaths. You’d think how some of us have reacted to you over the past few days versus others would have coloured your perception on this issue, Yev.


I'd question whether they actually feel like that. A Gold medal is the pinnacle of their sport and some of them may never get that chance again.

The only change to my perception on this issue is how important it is to get it sorted as quickly as possible, but then I think my mind temporarily broke because I wasn't and hadn't been giving it enough sleep, which is probably a very different scenario to what we're seeing here.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

As I said before it was to keep pressure on them not letting off the rapist. She withdrew the same day he got his life ban.

Wasn't he sentenced in 2018? Or was he trying to appeal? Even still I can't imagine Biles performing or not would have any influence on that.

Either way I think she was correct to do pull out. Mental health issues can be massively damaging.

[Yevrah]

I see no issue with her quitting if that's the best course of action. I do see an issue with everyone blowing kisses at her for doing so, as if it's IMPORTANT. It isn't. Loads of sports people quit all the time for all sorts of reasons.

As with fat people, we've normalised it and said it's absolutely ok, so presumably we're enjoying someone high-ish profile saying they're suffering from it. It isn't ok. Illness in any form is manifestly not ok and mental illness should be included in that.

[Yevrah]

Hopefully it will lead to more people talking about their mental health problems. It could even save someone's life.

We're talking about them and encouraging people to talk about them more than we ever have and it's not helping, is it?

[thommo]

Honestly I think it's a bit of a cop out. It might be very cynical of me, but it's a little convenient how she makes a mistake on one apparatus, recording a low score by her standards, and then conveniently cites mental health as a reason to sit out the rest of the event, leaving her 3 teammates in the lurch who have to pick up the slack. Not to mention American gymnasts who missed out on the team because she's there.

I feel a little less strongly now she has said she's going to miss the individual event too, but even so, the song and dance in the media is a joke. They spent 20-30 minutes this morning on 5 live nattering about how proud they were of her, rather than focusing on live GB involvement in a number of disciplines.

[randomlegend]

As with fat people, we've normalised it and said it's absolutely ok, so presumably we're enjoying someone high-ish profile saying they're suffering from it. It isn't ok. Illness in any form is manifestly not ok and mental illness should be included in that.

I can't work out what you're on about here? Are you saying you think the message is "being mentally ill is fine"?

[Yevrah]

I can't work out what you're on about here? Are you saying you think the message is "being mentally ill is fine"?

Very much so. The focus to this point has been about how we should look out for it, admit we have have it, talk about it etc. and not on how you actually deal with it when it hits.

Take this case, seems all very congratulatory on her 'coming out', but no actual substance on what to do beyond that.