Olympic games thread - General

[GQStylin]

And now its official! Gold for China in women's gymnastics!

[Field87ven]

Screw you Phelps!

Phelps has 5 more medals than Canada.

id be grateful if we got a bronze but i dont think that's happening, you Americans are too spoiled.

Go phelps! At least he's given me something to cheer for...sigh

[miller31time]

Wow, tough night for that Sacramone girl.

I don't know if the US would have won even if she was perfect on those two exercises but damn, falling twice and being the only girl on your team to fall even once on those last two competitions.

She was completely depressed, too.

[Field87ven]

Wow, tough night for that Sacramone girl.

I don't know if the US would have won even if she was perfect on those two exercises but damn, falling twice and being the only girl on your team to fall even once on those last two competitions.

She was completely depressed, too.

Yea I felt terrible, shes trained for years and you're expected to be the veteran on the team. The americans lost by 2.400 and that girl cost them just about 2pts on her last 2 events so even if she did perform amazingly I doubt they could have beat the Chinese....just too good.

[GQStylin]

Wow, tough night for that Sacramone girl.

I don't know if the US would have won even if she was perfect on those two exercises but damn, falling twice and being the only girl on your team to fall even once on those last two competitions.

She was completely depressed, too.

Yea I felt terrible, shes trained for years and you're expected to be the veteran on the team. The americans lost by 2.400 and that girl cost them just about 2pts on her last 2 events so even if she did perform amazingly I doubt they could have beat the Chinese....just too good.

Kinda tough to watch it live seeing mistakes like that. I winced each time.

And on another note, China wins another gold in diving.

[jourdy]

What's with Bela insisting that some Chinese gymnasts are underage?
I thought the IOC already verified the athletes' ages?
Bela crying foul after the US girls choked?

I feel bad for Sacramone, I think the girls handled themselves pretty well compared to the men's gymnastics team.

Why are these Olympics mired by conspiracies?
First, trying to downplay the fireworks by claiming they're fake.
Second, the national anthem girl double
Third, Brits complaining about boxing point bias
Fourth, underage gymnasts.

Am I missing something else?

[GQStylin]

What's with Bela insisting that some Chinese gymnasts are underage?
I thought the IOC already verified the athletes' ages?
Bela crying foul after the US girls choked?

I feel bad for Sacramone, I think the girls handled themselves pretty well compared to the men's gymnastics team.

Why are these Olympics mired by conspiracies?
First, trying to downplay the fireworks by claiming they're fake.
Second, the national anthem girl double
Third, Brits complaining about boxing point bias
Fourth, underage gymnasts.

Am I missing something else?

I guess no matter how good an olympics a country puts on, people are bound to nikpick something. But then there are issues at almost every olympics.

I don't see what the big deal is about switching little girls and fake fireworks. Even if you put in the real girl, she would have lip synced it too. Sarah Brightman and her male singing partner lip synced, so what's the big hoopla of a little girl doing it? I think you almost have to since its unlikely that you could sing loud enough for such a huge venue as the Bird's Nest. Perhaps some people need to find fault with an otherwise awesome opening ceremony.

Underage gymnasts? Maybe that's just sour grapes? The Olympic Commitee allowed them to compete, so unless they made a mistake or looked the other way or something, then it should be a non-issue.

Overall I think China has done a great job hosting so far. Venues look awesome, opening ceremonies looked great, so far events have gone off with much of a hitch.

And oh yeah, China won another gold in women's weightlifting.

[jourdy]

I am here to cry ROIDS!! on that Chinese woman!
150 pound woman lifting 350? Imagine her lifting Shaq.

@_@

[GQStylin]

I am here to cry ROIDS!! on that Chinese woman!
150 pound woman lifting 350? Imagine her lifting Shaq.

@_@

Man this is weird. China only won a silver in men's weightlifting. So use to seeing them get gold.

Also its not roids dude, the winner in this men's even weighed only like 155lbs or so, yet he lifted over 400lbs! Even the bottom feeders of every event lift double their own body weight.

[5DOM]

What's with Bela insisting that some Chinese gymnasts are underage?
I thought the IOC already verified the athletes' ages?
Bela crying foul after the US girls choked?

I feel bad for Sacramone, I think the girls handled themselves pretty well compared to the men's gymnastics team.

Why are these Olympics mired by conspiracies?
First, trying to downplay the fireworks by claiming they're fake.
Second, the national anthem girl double
Third, Brits complaining about boxing point bias
Fourth, underage gymnasts.

Am I missing something else?

Phelps isnt human, so he should be disqualified.
But i thought the first two were confirmed legit by Chinese officials.

[Posey H8er]

What's with Bela insisting that some Chinese gymnasts are underage?
I thought the IOC already verified the athletes' ages?
Bela crying foul after the US girls choked?

I feel bad for Sacramone, I think the girls handled themselves pretty well compared to the men's gymnastics team.

Why are these Olympics mired by conspiracies?
First, trying to downplay the fireworks by claiming they're fake.
Second, the national anthem girl double
Third, Brits complaining about boxing point bias
Fourth, underage gymnasts.

Am I missing something else?

Phelps isnt human, so he should be disqualified.
But i thought the first two were confirmed legit by Chinese officials.

The Chinese government is probably giving them false documentation. The New York Times reported that two of the girls were 14 and Chinese Central Television said that one of the girls was 14. I don't like the rule, but it is a rule and it's unfair that the winning team can ignore the rules.

[hermes]

felt bad for sacramone, she had a rough night
shawn johnson is amazing though

[BlackMamba]

not to point the finger, but sacramone lost the gold for the US.

her entrance for the balance beam wasn't necessary and there she lost important points and she was still disturbed when she was doing her floor session and showed she wasn't over the other fall.

then the chinese gymnasts only had to be careful not to fall to secure the gold.

and yes, shawn johnson in both the balance beam and on her floor session was pretty amazing.

[Ming Kong!]

Yeah, poor Sacramone. Noticed how practically all the Americans stepped out of bounds on the floor exercise? Team China looked 12-15 year old range. It's a damn shame.


He Kexin: Chinese press reports she is 14.


Jiang Yuyuan

[j127]

In my opinion, this wouldn't be an issue if Sacramone had done better on the balance beam and floor routine. The US would have gotten their gold medals, and then all the attention would have been solely on the US girls and the questions of how they rose above all adversity and how they persevered through all the pressure to be the best team gymnasts in the world. The attention to China would have been next to nothing.

Those girls may look young, but many East Asian people (not all, but many) look a lot younger than their actual ages. I've been told I look 6 or 7 years younger than I am.

I actually feel bad for the Chinese girls, as they were bombarded with questions about their ages and were asked questions like, "what did you do on your 15th birthday?", etc... . They had to embarrassingly prove their ages to the media. Geez, they are kids, whether they are 15 or 17. Leave them alone.

[The Duke]

Ya thats rough....

THose Female Chinese Weightlifters are crazy.. they must have been introduced to Big Macs

[dacher]

Ugly American stereotype to cry cheater or claim victim status when things don't go our way. Win at all cost, lose with disgrace.

I don't think there is much cause to be suspicious. Asians are smaller, skinnier and shorter. And the Chinese recruitment machine goes out of their way to find girls with 'ideal' gymnast bodytypes, with added consideration of their parent's body types. So if they choose short skinny athletic girls who with short skinny athletic parentage, it is entirely reasonable for them to be 16 and still look a US standard 10 or 12 when put under elite level training environment pressure for 10+ years, considering it stunts growth or delays maturity.

Maybe Asians should complain about the big hormone-enhanced meat and milk gobbling Western athletes unfairly physically overpowering skinny undersized asians in most other sports where small stature is a handicap.

The Chinese girls where the best on that night, regardless of age discrimination. I think the best should be allowed to show they are the best at the olympics, regardless of age, especially in events with very short career windows, since the olympics is held only once every 4 years. One commentator implied that elite level US gymnast coaches favor girls who would be 16 by the time an olympics came around as the best potential student. If the sport was every year event or an event with a long career, an age limit (like NBA age limit) would be less unfair because everyone will eventually have the same opportunity as everyone else to show they are the best in the sport.

[Blame Rasho]

Dacher if they are not going to enfore the age limit... why have on at all? Just don't have an age limit and if you are the best of the best regardless of age you should be even more commended.

[dacher]

Dacher if they are not going to enfore the age limit... why have on at all? Just don't have an age limit and if you are the best of the best regardless of age you should be even more commended.

Yes, I agree. It should be the best of the best regardless of age in the olympics. Artificial age limits where put in by outsider meddling by self-righteous morality groups -- crying "who'll protect the helpless children of savage nations if not us?" I think, if they want to limit the rights to compete of their country-people to 16 and above, that should be their choice, but they shouldn't force their cultural hangups of appropriate child rearing standards on other countries who have more confidence in the capability of their children and young people.

Like the annoying story of an 8 year old Blues musical prodigy who was barred from performing in Jazz clubs because someone complained about underage child labor. Mind your own Fn business. Ugh!

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080812/ap_ ... lues_kid_3

[canoner]

Losing is bad, being sore losers is worse.