2004 Summer Olympics

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Natasha (candygirl)
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2004 Summer Olympics

Post by Natasha (candygirl) » Aug 16th 2004, 4:34 am

Who is glued to the tv now that the Olympics have started? Did anyone else sit through all four hours of the opening ceremonies? What events are you guys excited to see?

I did watch almost all of the opening ceremonies, partly because during the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, I started watching the Olympics and then got pulled away by an unexpected social outing. This time I was determined to watch the opening ceremonies just on principle :wink: Whew, was that a lot of pomp and circumstance to sit through! It definitely helped that I was too tired to leave the house that evening. This might be a girlie thing, but I like seeing what each country chose to wear during the opening ceremonies march :mrgreen:

I did not have my tv tuned to the Olympics exclusively all weekend, but I did catch a fair amount. It seems like whenever I happened to have it on, they were showing swimming. I made sure to watch some of the women's gymnastics tonight too. My sister used to compete, so I guess I watch out of habit. It's amazing how much the rules have changed in the past decade though - minimum age requirements, no more compulsory routines, and several competitors past the age of 20! That's ancient in the world of gymnastics. Amazingly, Svetlana Khorkina is competing in her third Olympics, which is almost unheard of in gymnastics. If she medals, she will be the first woman gymnast to medal in three different Olympics. She is competing at the ripe old age of 25.
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Re: 2004 Summer Olympics

Post by grim4746 » Aug 16th 2004, 8:53 am

candygirl wrote: She is competing at the ripe old age of 25.
win a medal? it will be a wonder if she doesn't shatter a hip at her age. :wink:

I've caught very little of the olympics myself. I can never navigate the guide to figure out which events are at what time and there's a lot that I have no interest in watching anyway. I prefer the winter olympics.

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Post by Jody Barsch* » Aug 16th 2004, 10:29 am

I caught parts of the opening ceremoniesand the march.
This might be a girlie thing, but I like seeing what each country chose to wear during the opening ceremonies march
The US team's outfits were not a great choice.

I like watching the swimming and diving. When I was in high school, all of us girls on the swim team had the biggest crush on Gary Hall Jr.!
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Post by Nothingman » Aug 16th 2004, 10:34 am

I watched about 5 minutes of the opening cerimonies, it just didn't hold my interest. I'm looking forward to gymnastics and diving. Otherwise it's all about the same entertainment level for me. I like the tradition and spirit of the international competition you find at the olympics, but as far as the entertainment value of a lot of the sports, give me the X games instead. The innovation at the olympics is really low, it's all about doing it a tiny bit faster or pointing your toes more perfectly. I enjoy watching the progression. My jaw dropped when someone let go of their bike, did a barrel role and then grapped it again during free style motor cross, I can't remember the last time I thought that way about an olympic event. I'm usually just pleased that someone who has worked so hard for so long has finally won. I guess they both have their charms. In any event, I'll be watching.
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Post by Nostradamus » Aug 16th 2004, 11:28 pm

I haven't been following very closely either, but I did hear of the US basketball team's loss to Puerto Rico. Just when you think you've seen everything...

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Post by Natasha (candygirl) » Aug 17th 2004, 2:21 am

Jody, I didn't like the American outfits during the opening ceremonies either. As much as I complain about how boring the blue blazers usually are, better to be a little more dressed up than to be so dressed down. One of the reasons why I love watching the opening cermonies is that I like to see how excited the athletes are when they march in.

NM, my sister and I saw the X Games in 1999 when they were in San Diego. The funniest thing is that my sister had just broken her neck, so she had a halo - you would not believe how many strangers approached her to say, "Hey, I broke my neck too!" After the first few times, we just laughed every time someone else told us their broken neck stories. Being the X Games, they weren't "I was in a car accident" stories - the one I remember the most was the guy who said he broke his neck when he jumped into the pool. It made me think of the first day of high school swimming when I was a freshman: "Feet first, first time!"

My boyfriend was laughing about all the synchronized events. He said that in the next Olympic games, they will probably have synchronized walking.

:lol:
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Post by starbug » Aug 17th 2004, 5:00 am

I was off work yesterday so I did watch hours of the coverage. Mainly I am into the equestrian stuff (I was quite a horsewoman in my youth), although I will admit dressage is pretty tedious. I also watched most of the men's gymnastics last night but then a friend called in the middle so I missed the result.

I was also disappointed to see Tim get knocked out of the tennis. But hey, who wasn't expecting that? Still, the table-tennis was a bit exciting.

And surprisingly, women's weightlifting was quite impressive to watch.

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Post by Nothingman » Aug 17th 2004, 10:30 am

At least the clothing isn't a giant add for ROOTS like it was in the winter olympics. Or perhaps I haven't noticed whatever brand they are using now. The only stuff I pay attention to is the men's warm ups. Being a hockey player and wearing them to the rink, I guess they hold my interest. The pants on ours are difficult to get on and off and I was admiring the easy time the men's gymnastics team was having with them. But before anyone says it, I was not admiring the men taking them off.

Great story about the X games CG. I have a lot of admiration for what the riders can do, but I can help thinking, without modern medecine, natural selection would be weeding out all the people who do this stuff.
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Post by Natasha (candygirl) » Aug 17th 2004, 2:09 pm

The opening ceremony outfits weren't a HUGE walking advertisement for ROOTS, but the name placement was still there. Not very subtle.

I think the one thing that is really different about the Olympics now (for me, at least) is that because of the time zone difference and my internet access at home and work (it was verboten at my old job and I only checked my dial-up connection at home once a day), I know I can get the scores way before the events are aired. Even though I know the outcome, I still watch.

:oops:
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Olympics

Post by lance » Aug 21st 2004, 3:02 pm

Normally I am pretty much glued to watching the Olympics.

This year not so much. I think the time difference is pretty huge. Watching the games in the wee hours of the morning is a bit tough.

I did catch a rebroadcast of some of the Trampoline competition. That was actually pretty interesting. Many of the women competitors were much older than the traditional "womens" gymnasts. I actually saw a woman representing Germany grab the gold. She was in her thirties.

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Post by Natasha (candygirl) » Aug 21st 2004, 6:02 pm

I don't follow trampoline gymnastics, so I know nothing about the sport, but I think one of the commentators said the minimum age to compete is 18. I am sure that tumbling on the tramp is much more forgiving on the joints than regular gymnastics which is why the trampoline gymnasts are a bit older. As Lance said, the woman who won the gold is 31 years old, but there are still some young competitors. The woman from China who won the bronze is only 18. Most of the females seem to be in their 20s though. The oldest woman is from Great Britain and is 38!

It was only a few years ago that they changed the regular (artistic) gymnastics rules so that gymnasts must be at least 16 years old in the Olympic year to compete. Prior to that, there were a lot of 14 and 15 year old girls being sent. It's sad to see girls like Dominique Moceanu peak before the age of 14.
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Post by starbug » Aug 23rd 2004, 4:34 am

This morning the news is full of Paula Radcliffe, GB's star marathon runner who had to drop out of the marathon with only around 3 miles to go... it's sad for her because she never loses, and to lose at Athens will be really hard for her to get over.

Fortunately there hasn't (yet) been any of the usual british whingeing about our sportsmen/women being substandard. I think everyone is just overawed that anyone could run 26 miles, largely uphill, in 100 degree heat. There's more of a national outpouring of sympathy, thankfully.

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Post by Natasha (candygirl) » Aug 23rd 2004, 4:44 am

Sunday was a crazy day - in men's gymnastics, one of the event finals (rings) featured Greece, Bulgaria, and Italy winning medals, and in the women's finals, France won a gold medal on bars. None of these countries are known as gymnastics powerhouses, so it was amazing to see them win.

starbug, are marathons big in the UK?
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Post by starbug » Aug 23rd 2004, 4:58 am

candygirl wrote:Sunday was a crazy day - in men's gymnastics, one of the event finals (rings) featured Greece, Bulgaria, and Italy winning medals, and in the women's finals, France won a gold medal on bars. None of these countries are known as gymnastics powerhouses, so it was amazing to see them win.
Yeah, I caught some of that. the Greeks went mad for their guy on the rings. A friend rang in the women's though (I must learn to just let the phone ring!) so I missed most of it.
candygirl wrote:starbug, are marathons big in the UK?
Yes, quite big. We have the London Marathon, of course. I think it's more that we have actually produced a champion in the sport, which means that people are more inclined to follow long-distance running. I think it's quite big in terms of participation. Lots of people I know run marathons or half marathons on a fairly regular basis.

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Post by Natasha (candygirl) » Aug 23rd 2004, 5:06 am

I was also very happy for the American who won a silver medal on vault. America is pretty weak on vault, which is why they chose Annia Hatch for the team - they needed a good, solid score. One of the commentators commented on how her entire Olympic experience consisted of vaulting four times, which comes to a total of under one minute, but she still comes away with two medals. It's even more amazing because she is 26 years old.

I felt for Paul Hamm, the American who won the all around gold medal. Tonight is the first time he has talked to the press since he won the all around, and the bronze medalist has since filed a protest because one of his (the bronze medalist) routines was scored improperly. If it had been scored properly, he would have won the gold. They were asking Paul Hamm how he felt about the situation, and what is he supposed to say? "Don't take away my gold medal"? "The judges totally screwed up"?

:roll:
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