Sports thread: Everything sport related here.

[Equation]

OMG China has dropped to 3rd behind Britain?

Meanwhile

Rio Olympics 2016: Japanese pole vaulter penis fail

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It is always disappointing for Olympians when their equipment fails them on the world stage. And even more so when the offending appendage happens to be the very thing associated with his manhood.

Japanese pole vaulter Hiroki Ogita suffered that very fate with the world watching during the pole vaulting qualifiers at Rio.

He was left in the unique situation of wishing his genitals were a little smaller, or perhaps the weather slighter colder, after it knocked off the bar during pole vaulting qualifiers.


The 28-year-old was making his first attempt at 5.3m when the incident occurred.

Stupid article, if one looks at the video carefully it was his shin and hands that initiated the cause for the bar to fall off. I guess the author was just anxious to write about any Asian men and his penis. Emasculating much?

 

[B.I.B.]

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Now there is controversy with the swimming judges.

Now that British/Irish athletes are on the wrong end of bad calls and suddenly is being given prominent coverage and analysis.

The track cycling judges were'nt any better.
Kenny and the Malaysian guy should have been disqualified for false starting in the men's kieren and the Germany guy for false starting at the restart.

 

[Jeff Head]

Team USA is rocking now, here's the latest top five, US hits the 100 total medal mark.

USA - 100 Total
G: 35 S: 33 B: 32

Britian - 56 Total
G: 22 S: 21 B: 13

China - 58 Total
G: 20 S: 16 B: 22

Germany - 32 Total
G: 13 S: 8 B: 11

Russia - 44 Total
G:12 S: 15 B: 17

 

[Mr T]

Interesting what you said about Britain and sports. Appears these attitudes go around in cycles, this article notes how it has gone in the opposite direction in China.

Well I don't think it's an issue of Chinese athletes not having any expectations or being given insufficient resources. Rather that the public is being encouraged to not be too down about "mediocre" results. Which of course is good, you need to put these things into perspective.

Whereas pre-1996 British athletes simply weren't getting the help or facilities they needed. Like swimming. We used to have lots of "county-length" swimming pools, which were about 33 metres in length - I think some throw-back to imperial measurements. But it meant our swimmers simply couldn't train in Olympic-sized pools easily. So, funnily enough, it was finally realised that we needed more 50m pools. So we've been steadily building more, and it's starting to pay off.

 

[Jeff Head]

Latest medal count:

USA - 105 Total
G: 38 S: 35 B: 32

Britian - 60 Total
G: 24 S: 22 B: 14

China - 65 Total
G: 22 S: 18 B: 25

Germany - 35 Total
G: 14 S: 8 B: 13

Russia - 48 Total
G:13 S: 16 B: 19

 

[Mr T]

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Nick Skelton must be one the oldest, if not the oldest, gold medalist at Rio. He's 58 years old and won the individual show-jumping. He also broken his neck in 2000 and retired, but then came back in 2002. Great story!

Now that British/Irish athletes are on the wrong end of bad calls and suddenly is being given prominent coverage and analysis.

You think it's weird that the British press would report on issues regarding British athletes? There are judging decisions every minute in an Olympics, and it's impractical to report on all the questionable ones. It's fairly natural for media to focus on ones relating to their own country's competitors. I would be surprised if the domestic Chinese media spends much/any time discussing the disqualification of the UK men's 4x400 team.

Also, for sake of fairness, I think it was Michael Johnson that said he thought there had been a lot of poor officiating at this Olympics. As a former (multiple) Olympic champion I would respect his opinion and therefore I see no reason why the British press should not be allowed to report on issues/complaints.

The track cycling judges were'nt any better.
Kenny and the Malaysian guy should have been disqualified for false starting in the men's kieren and the Germany guy for false starting at the restart.

Goes to show that sometimes judges are flexible/forgiving and other times, or in other sports, are rigid and won't back down if an appeal is brought.

 

[plawolf]

You think it's weird that the British press would report on issues regarding British athletes? There are judging decisions every minute in an Olympics, and it's impractical to report on all the questionable ones. It's fairly natural for media to focus on ones relating to their own country's competitors. I would be surprised if the domestic Chinese media spends much/any time discussing the disqualification of the UK men's 4x400 team.

Also, for sake of fairness, I think it was Michael Johnson that said he thought there had been a lot of poor officiating at this Olympics. As a former (multiple) Olympic champion I would respect his opinion and therefore I see no reason why the British press should not be allowed to report on issues/complaints.

My issue isn't with the British press focusing on the questionable judging decisions affecting British athletes. As you say, that's completely normal.

What I find pathetically distasteful was how the BBC wrote a hatchet piece about the Chinese Internet community's similar coverage of questionable judging decisions (it desperately tried to downplay the actual Chinese media's coverage, which even the BBC could not find much to spin about), whereby they high-handily dismissed any and all Chinese dissatisfaction with bad judging as effectively sour grapes and said the entire Chinese nation has some sort of collective 'victim mentality'.

That just shows the lengths the BBC would go to to try and portray China in a negative light.

 

[Mr T]

What I find pathetically distasteful was how the BBC wrote a hatchet piece about the Chinese Internet community's similar coverage of questionable judging decisions

Ah, I see. Well I never saw that article, so I can't comment. But I think it's still the case that interest in judging is going to depend on whether home athletes are involved.

As for the BBC, the TV commentators have said lots of nice things about the Chinese athletes - or at least been as nice to them as they've been to athletes of every other country.

 

[plawolf]

Ah, I see. Well I never saw that article, so I can't comment. But I think it's still the case that interest in judging is going to depend on whether home athletes are involved.

As for the BBC, the TV commentators have said lots of nice things about the Chinese athletes - or at least been as nice to them as they've been to athletes of every other country.

As I have remarked numerous times before, there is almost always a drastic gulf in tone and attitude of what I call 'expert' commentators, who got their positions through excelling in their chosen field; compared to what I call 'political' commentators, who almost always have zero real life achievements or qualifications, and owe their position solely to the good graces of owners and/or editors.

Expert commentators often give far better analysis because they have the qualifications and integrity to resist editorial pressures (although not all chose to do so, or don't have the strength of character to stick to their guns under pressure); but political commentators pretty much wrote and say what they think their bosses want to read and hear (sometimes with explicit instructions), so offers a window into the preferences and biases of the powers that control those media organisations.

In this (and many other similar) instances, the drastic steps taken by BBC political commentators to bad mouth China shows a degree of negativity of BBC bosses and editors towards China could only be described as obsessive hatred.

 

[Janiz]

In this (and many other similar) instances, the drastic steps taken by BBC political commentators to bad mouth China shows a degree of negativity of BBC bosses and editors towards China could only be described as obsessive hatred.

This guy needs some help...