Rio Olympics 2016 discussion

[Phil.]

No; it's ensuring the poor remain poor, the rich remain rich, and the host cities are scarred by facilities that no-one wants to use.

What a cheerful little soul you are.

 

[61653 HTAFC]

no they robbed the American swimmers didn't they

Or perhaps not... Brazilian police wish to speak with Ryan Lochte over "inconsistencies in his account". Luckily for Lochte, he's already left Brazil.

 

[Tetchytyke]

Or perhaps not... Brazilian police wish to speak with Ryan Lochte over "inconsistencies in his account". Luckily for Lochte, he's already left Brazil.

The Brazilians are going full-on "the swimmers are lying". But then, of course they would, especially if they know the "police officers" weren't quite as fake as Lochte thought they were.

</cynical>

Yet in London, we have the velodrome still in use, the copper box still in use, the Olympic Stadium still in use (for athletics as well as Wet Spam), the pool still in use. Other venues were deliberately temporary so could be removed rather than abandoned or were existing facilities like Wimbledon, Lord's, Wembley, the O2 etc.

London's Olympic bid was one of the more sensible ones, but the Olympic Stadium is still only in use because a) they spent a fortune and four years adapting it to football use and b) the (Tory) London Mayor gave West Ham (whose owner is a Tory donor and whose CEO is a Tory peer) access for a peppercorn rent.

But even with a Games in one of the wealthiest cities in the world, a city where people have enough money to spend on leisure and niche sports, much of the Olympic infrastructure has gone. The temporary stuff wasn't even any cheaper to build than the permanent stuff.

And that's before we mention the fact that the organisers of the London games are still yet to repay the extra money they had to borrow from the lottery funds. You know, money that was supposed to be paying for the legacy.

Residents of Stratford have benefitted from some affordable housing that otherwise wouldn't have been there

Affordable housing? The cheapest one-bed flat, in the housing association part, was over £300k.

No; it's ensuring the poor remain poor, the rich remain rich, and the host cities are scarred by facilities that no-one wants to use.

It's the same with all these big events. The cities pay for everything and the IOC and FIFA count the cash and walk off into the sunset. It's an absolute fool's game, but there are plenty of foolish politicians who want their name in lights and there are plenty of foolish people who believe the crap about "legacy".

London's games were an outlier in that they weren't a complete financial basket case. Atlanta and Montreal both pretty much went bankrupt paying for them. Turns out that all the hypothetical nonsense about "extra tourism income" doesn't put bread on the table. Who knew?

I still don't understand why cities pay for the Olympics and the World Cup. Surely it should be the other way around. But then the IOC and FIFA members get a huge stack of cash, tax-free, so it works for someone.

 

[Groningen]

We (in the Netherlands) are not pleased about the cycling in England. The chairman of the UCI is a Brit; his son is working for team Sky. Mark Cavendish'torpedo against a Korean went well. And Jason Kenny over taking the derny. No; Britain will rule cycling for years to come with (if it has to) bending the rules.

 

[backontrack]

We (in the Netherlands) are not pleased about the cycling in England. The chairman of the UCI is a Brit; his son is working for team Sky. Mark Cavendish'torpedo against a Korean went well. And Jason Kenny over taking the derny. No; Britain will rule cycling for years to come with (if it has to) bending the rules.

a) Not just England - we have Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland too. Becky James and Geraint Thomas are Welsh, for instance.

b) So what if the chairmen's a Brit? If he and Kenny were both Dutch, would you be saying this?

c) Sour grapes. Sour sour grapes. That's all there is to the post. Sour grapes.

The judges decided that the derny came off too late. That was their decision. You'd better be angry at the German cyclist as well; he also did it.

d) And of course we'll rule cycling with people like Trott and Wiggins! You need to accept the fact the the UK has really, really good cyclists. Before Trott, Kenny, Wiggins and Clancy, we had Chris Boardman and Victoria Pendleton. This is just something we're good at.

 

[Johnuk123]

We (in the Netherlands) are not pleased about the cycling in England. The chairman of the UCI is a Brit; his son is working for team Sky. Mark Cavendish'torpedo against a Korean went well. And Jason Kenny over taking the derny. No; Britain will rule cycling for years to come with (if it has to) bending the rules.

Oh dear, serious bad loser.

 

[Tetchytyke]

We (in the Netherlands) are not pleased about the cycling in England.

Because you lost.

The chairman of the UCI is a Brit; his son is working for team Sky.

The last chairman of the UCI, Hein Verbruggen, was Dutch.

I didn't hear any whining from our orange friends then.

Mark Cavendish'torpedo against a Korean went well.

It was an accident, it happens, the commissaires got it right.

And Jason Kenny over taking the derny

The derny pulled off too late, the commissaires got it right.

This muck-flinging is pathetic. Kristina Vogel was at it too, claiming the Brits were all "superhuman". Or she was until she won the sprint. After that she shut up. Just fancy that, eh, kids?

 

[Harbornite]

We (in the Netherlands) are not pleased about the cycling in England. The chairman of the UCI is a Brit; his son is working for team Sky. Mark Cavendish'torpedo against a Korean went well. And Jason Kenny over taking the derny. No; Britain will rule cycling for years to come with (if it has to) bending the rules.

Cheer up dude. It's not Team GB's fault if the Dutch aren't as good.

 

[backontrack]

The last chairman of the UCI, Hein Verbruggen, was Dutch.

I didn't hear any whining from our orange friends then.

Oh, really? I had no idea.

 

[Domh245]

We (in the Netherlands) are not pleased about the cycling in England. The chairman of the UCI is a Brit; his son is working for team Sky. Mark Cavendish'torpedo against a Korean went well. And Jason Kenny over taking the derny. No; Britain will rule cycling for years to come with (if it has to) bending the rules.

The french are also pretty displeased at our success.

 

[Tetchytyke]

Oh, really? I had no idea.

You should read up on him.

He had a good relationship with a certain Lance Armstrong. I would say more, but Mr Verbruggen tends to sue anyone who talks about it too much.

 

[Johnuk123]

The french are also pretty displeased at our success.

Sounds like you agree with them.

 

[backontrack]

The french are also pretty displeased at our success.

Yeah, there was one guy on the Guardian who said "our boxers will kick the a*ses of your cyclists".

Someone responded to him by saying "yeah, well my dad's bigger than your dad".

 

[ExRes]

The french are also pretty displeased at our success.

Good, the best news I've heard today

 

[Hornet]

We (in the Netherlands) are not pleased about the cycling in England. The chairman of the UCI is a Brit; his son is working for team Sky. Mark Cavendish'torpedo against a Korean went well. And Jason Kenny over taking the derny. No; Britain will rule cycling for years to come with (if it has to) bending the rules.

Stop whining. Tom Boonen won the last race in England (Ride London). Greg van Avermaet won the Rio Road Race and Fabian Cancellara won the ITT in Rio, (two Belgiums and a Swiss). Gianni Moscon (Italian) won the Arctic Race of the North during the Olympics, with Danny van Poppel (Dutch) winning a stage and wearing the Green Jersey until the last day. Both race for Sky. Viviani nearly took out Boudat in the Omnium the same way as Cav (who is a Manxman, and not English) with the Korean. Viviani (a Team Sky Rider) who went down in the Cav incident as well accepts that its part and parcel of racing the Omnium Points race. As for the Keirin, well if the Rio organisers had put a photo finish camera at the line where the bikes can start their attack and pass out the Derny, there would not have been the ambiguity, (not to mention Eilers jump at the top of the track on the second stoppage). Stick to the Spring Classics because Team Lotto NL - Jumbo are not going to do much in La Vuelta.

Forgot to mention the Winners of the Women's Road Race Anna van der Breggen (Dutch) and Womens ITT Kristin Armstrong (USA). Also Cav was sanctioned for coming off the boards in the Omnium Elimination race and Kenny's team mate Callum Skinner being DQ'd in the Keirin Repocharge. Hardly bending the rules, eh?

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

London's Olympic bid was one of the more sensible ones, but the Olympic Stadium is still only in use because a) they spent a fortune and four years adapting it to football use and b) the (Tory) London Mayor gave West Ham (whose owner is a Tory donor and whose CEO is a Tory peer) access for a peppercorn rent.

That reminds me. I must soon see how my 2017/2018 forward holdings of peppecorns are faring on the Commodity Exchange...

Congratulation on the triple use of the word Tory in a single paragraph. However, are the peppercorns also of the Tory variety as you may have missed the chance of a quadruple use of that word Tory, which would have gained you an extra bonus point....:roll:

 

[J-2739]

I feel like some absolute dumb, acting like Nigeria was winning the Deutschlanders when they lost 2-0. Oh well...:cry:

 

[DarloRich]

Team GB medal performance today:

• Gold for Alistair Brownlee in triathlon
• Gold for Hannah Mills and Saskia Clark in 470 sailing
• Silver Jonny Brownleee in triathlon
• Silver for Liam Heath and Jon Schofield in 200m kayak
• Bronze for Marcus Ellis and Chris Langridge in mens double badminton

 

[61653 HTAFC]

In defence of our friend from the land of tulips and "coffee" shops, one would expect the Netherlands to do well in cycling considering the level of participation over there... Though they are rather short of hills to practice on- whereas in the UK to be a cyclist you need to be very strong or very fearless, ideally both!

 

[Hornet]

In defence of our friend from the land of tulips and "coffee" shops, one would expect the Netherlands to do well in cycling considering the level of participation over there... Though they are rather short of hills to practice on- whereas in the UK to be a cyclist you need to be very strong or very fearless, ideally both!

Give them their due. They won 2 Golds, which was 2 more than the Cheese Eating Surrender Monkeys.

 

[backontrack]

That reminds me. I must soon see how my 2017/2018 forward holdings of peppecorns are faring on the Commodity Exchange...

Congratulation on the triple use of the word Tory in a single paragraph. However, are the peppercorns also of the Tory variety as you may have missed the chance of a quadruple use of that word Tory, which would have gained you an extra bonus point....:roll:

I think that the word Tory also describes your wibble.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

Team GB medal performance today:

• Gold for Alistair Brownlee in triathlon
• Silver Jonny Brownleee in triathlon

Should do no harm to Yorkshire's Olympics then

 

[Howardh]

We (in the Netherlands) are not pleased about the cycling in England. The chairman of the UCI is a Brit; his son is working for team Sky. Mark Cavendish'torpedo against a Korean went well. And Jason Kenny over taking the derny. No; Britain will rule cycling for years to come with (if it has to) bending the rules.

Worry not, you will thrash us at schaatsen any day, But all the whinging about GB being a bit good on two wheels....erm...you might like to read this!
https://www.theguardian.com/sport/blog/2014/feb/23/speed-skating-dutch-dominance

Never mind total football - the Adler speed skating arena has witnessed total Oranje domination at this year's Winter Games.

After the Netherlands took their medal total to an extraordinary 23 of the total of 36 on offer in the sport in Sochi, the international federation has said it will look into the programme.

With victories for both the men and women in Saturday's climactic team pursuits, they broke the record for the most gold medals won by a single nation in a single event at the Olympic Games.

Simon Timson, the UK Sport performance director, is among those who has met with the Dutch in Sochi to share knowledge and swap tips in the hope that British sport can learn from their dominance.

Rivals have complained that their dominance, which included a record number of gold medals in a single Games and a record four clean podium sweeps, is damaging the sport.

Rather like the British team when they began to dominate track cycling, the Dutch believe rivals are just jealous. The depth of competition in Holland, where speed skating is long established as a major sport, has produced a squad of astonishing quality.


The tall, languid Dutch skaters finished as they began on Saturday, winning both the men's and women's team pursuit finals to take their total number of gold medals to eight.

Women's star Irene Wust won her fifth medal of the Games, all of them gold or silver, and her eighth in total. The men's team beat Korea in their final by almost three seconds, with Sven Kramer claiming his seventh Olympic medal.

His teammate Jan Blokhuijsen was jubilant as the Dutch assumed their familiar position on the podium in an arena that has been packed with orange-clad fans and an oompah band for the duration.

"This was an amazing race, the best we ever skated, the three of us. We sacrificed our individual programmes the last four years to do this," he said. "It is a great feeling. It is fantastic to race so fast in the Olympic final."

Koen Verweij added: "We live for the sport, we work very well together. We give everything. This is just our thing."

Before they left for the Games, Dutch officials set an overall target of nine medals - one more than they managed in Vancouver. They have ended up with almost three times as many in a single sport, in which they have a long tradition stretching back to frozen lakes in the seventeenth century.

Despite confidence in their high performance system, and a deep pool of talent that supports seven professional teams with a total of around 60 skaters, the scale of their success has come as a surprise even to the supporters who pack the Heineken House fan venue.

The Netherlands sit fifth in the overall medal table, despite having only won a single medal outside long track speed skating.

The Dutch, a familiar sight on the orange bicycles that they use to get from the Olympic Village to the rink, have dominated a single event like never before.

The domination of their speed skating athletes has been total, with traditional rivals such as the USA, Canada and Norway utterly humiliated. The Americans in particular have struggled. In the early stages, there were questions over their "top secret" skin suit, which some experts claimed was actually slowing them down.

But after reverting to their old suits, they did no better and finished without a medal in the event for the first time since the Sarajevo Games in 1984. To rub in the humiliation, Holland have also surpassed America's overall total of speed skating medals - passing into triple figures in the process.

Ahead of the men's 10,000m there was a mass withdrawal by other nations, who questioned whether it should stay in the Olympic programme. "It is only interesting for the Dutch," claimed the Ukrainian Dmitriy Babenko, who finished twelfth of 14 in the final.

But the International Skating Union, which has said it will look into the Olympic programme to see if Holland's rivals are "sleeping, or what", has backed the retention of the race.

The Dutch make no apologies for winning. And winning. "We are not ashamed by winning such a level of medals, of course, because we trained very, very hard," said Gerard Dielessen, secretary of the Dutch Olympic Committee, who leads a team that is smaller than Great Britain's.

"We want to dominate that sport. So the distance we have now between us and the other countries, we are proud of that," he added.

"It's a challenge for us to keep the distance. What we say to the other countries, well, they failed. They have to train harder."

Not only do the Dutch sound like champions, their rivals sound beaten. The US team that won four medals in Vancouver has ended up with one in Sochi. After losing in the team pursuit, US skater Jonathan Kuck appeared ready to throw in the towel.

"It's nice to realise that it's only speed skating. There are loads of other things to look forward to in life. I'm done with skating. I want to go back to school and do other stuff apart from skating. I think I want to do computer science," said Kuck.

"Normally when I skate well I look back at a competition with a rosy glow. I will not have the fondest memories of these Olympics." For the Dutch, it is a different story.

 

[backontrack]

Sounds a bit suspicious...any rule bending going on?

 

[DarloRich]

Should do no harm to Yorkshire's Olympics then

And Nicola Adams is in the boxing final on Saturday

Sounds a bit suspicious...any rule bending going on?

A super human effort?

 

[radamfi]

I find it bizarre that so many people here are taking pride in British sporting success. We were mostly united in slagging off the country a couple of months ago. Britain doesn't suddenly become a good country in two months. British sporting success doesn't make our daily lives any better and by next week it will largely be forgotten. I disowned the country and continue to do so. I continue to avoid British made products where possible.

 

[Johnuk123]

I find it bizarre that so many people here are taking pride in British sporting success. We were mostly united in slagging off the country a couple of months ago. Britain doesn't suddenly become a good country in two months. British sporting success doesn't make our daily lives any better and by next week it will largely be forgotten. I disowned the country and continue to do so. I continue to avoid British made products where possible.

The bundle of laughs returns.
You hate this country so much so why not leave it and live elsewhere.

 

[J-2739]

I find it bizarre that so many people here are taking pride in British sporting success. We were mostly united in slagging off the country a couple of months ago. Britain doesn't suddenly become a good country in two months. British sporting success doesn't make our daily lives any better and by next week it will largely be forgotten. I disowned the country and continue to do so. I continue to avoid British made products where possible.

You're a bit sour, aren't you? What on earth has British sporting success and legacy got to do with British products? Do you even LIVE in the UK? In every country, there's going to be those people who slag their own country off. It doesn't mean they can't be happy about their country setting a legacy. It's human.

 

[radamfi]

The bundle of laughs returns.
You hate this country so much so why not leave it and live elsewhere.

I explained elsewhere that personal circumstances prevent it. Certainly I would have long gone given the opportunity. If I knew what I know now I would have gone to university abroad and wouldn't have come back. Now my fellow citizens have put my future plans to leave in grave danger.

 

[ExRes]

I find it bizarre that so many people here are taking pride in British sporting success. We were mostly united in slagging off the country a couple of months ago. Britain doesn't suddenly become a good country in two months. British sporting success doesn't make our daily lives any better and by next week it will largely be forgotten. I disowned the country and continue to do so. I continue to avoid British made products where possible.

I find it bizarre you choose to live in this country, if you don't like it then go somewhere 'better'

You seem to forget that we were NOT mostly united in 'slagging off the country', it's just people like you that were doing it and you lost out

Disown whatever you like, just take it somewhere else

 

[radamfi]

You're a bit sour, aren't you? What on earth has British sporting success and legacy got to do with British products? Do you even LIVE in the UK?

Britain has let me down badly and potentially ruined my future so I refuse to support it. So I don't support Britain, so that includes sport and its economy.