Miscellaneous Olympic Chatter

[Skittl1321]

You should probably have a look how many countries are being represented in table tennis.

I did look, but I also looked at the medal tables- China has 41 out of 76 medals awarded. South Korea has 17. That means two countries have over three-quarters of all the medals every awarded in the sport.

To me, that is not a sport with competitive geographical representation.

[milanessa]

It's been discussed at length.

I can't keep up with what's being discussed in what thread.

[berthesghost]

I did look, but I also looked at the medal tables- China has 41 out of 76 medals awarded. South Korea has 17. That means two countries have over three-quarters of all the medals every awarded in the sport.

To me, that is not a sport with competitive geographical representation.

That's how it works? Gosh, someone write the IOC listing the % of medals won by Russians and we can get not only ice dance thrown out of the olys, but pairs skating too! Or has Jamie sale already tried this?

[Skittl1321]

That's how it works? Gosh, someone write the IOC listing the % of medals won by Russians and we can get not only ice dance thrown out of the olys, but pairs skating too! Or has Jamie sale already tried this?

Softball is routinely mentioned as being dropped from the Olympic program because there are not enough nations who are competitive at it. Clearly- not many nations are competitive at table tennis, even if they have someone they can send to play.

This is over MANY disciplines of table tennis- singles, doubles, men's, women's- China dominants them all. If you compare that to figure skating, you'd have to look at all the disciplines. Nine different nations share the top 75% (178 medals out of 238) for figure skating. Eight countries share 75% of the gold medals.

I like table tennis. I enjoyed watching the American girl- Ariel, play this year and was proud of her for moving through many rounds. I wouldn't want to see it dropped. But if represenation of nations is the reason sports get dropped, which is what my original post was replying to, I hold my opinion that this is not a sport with wide representation.

[berthesghost]

I was joking, although one never knows when it comes to sale.

But I did think that the geography complaint had to do with participation, not medal sharing.

Eta: according to wiki, 16 nations participated in oly baseball compared to 84 participating in oly table tennis.

[Skittl1321]

But baseball is also a team sport- so I think it is obviously easier for nations to find individuals to send than teams. (Look at the rower from Niger- it's a single, not an 8 that got the wildcard spot.)

[allezfred]

I'm sure I saw this posted somewhere , but hey ho Boris Johnson (London Mayor) stuck on a zip wire

[milanessa]

I'm sure I saw this posted somewhere , but hey ho Boris Johnson (London Mayor) stuck on a zip wire

He looks so silly stuck on that wire in his suit and helmet.

[suep1963]

OK I agree with who ever said they were rooting for the great white in the Lochte commercial!

[reckless]

I was joking, although one never knows when it comes to sale.

But I did think that the geography complaint had to do with participation, not medal sharing.

Eta: according to wiki, 16 nations participated in oly baseball compared to 84 participating in oly table tennis.

Baseball was only in the Olympics five times (1992-2008) and only eight teams actually made each Olympics after participating in a qualification process. In 2004, the US did not even qualify. Mexico, despite having professional leagues, never qualified for a single Olympics. Two teams that placed in the top four at the World Baseball Classic (baseball's equivalent of a world cup which actually uses major league players) -- Venezuela and the Domincan Republic -- combined to qualify for the Olympics only once (the DR in 1992). Baseball has more geographic distribution than you think.

For comparative purposes, 20 countries competed in men's basketball during those same five Olympics. That's four more teams total, even though 12 teams qualify for every Olympics.

[os168]

I'm sure I saw this posted somewhere , but hey ho Boris Johnson (London Mayor) stuck on a zip wire

Please leave him there...

[mazzy]

One should also consider participation within nations. GBR participates in Handball this year, yet they had to basically cast together teams from athletic people in other sports. I'm sure many countries will be able to field teams in baseball/softball for the Olympics yet they will often look like the badminton women who were dsq. because there is only about 20 people playing it in the whole country. The same cannot be said of table tennis. All over Europe there are (semi-)professional leagues, regional leagues, youth leagues etc. So it is not for lack of players that Asia dominates but because they have more population and even greater popularity. I really cannot however comment on how popular baseball/softball are worldwide.

[Garden Kitty]

Article about the gray US podium outfits

[Skittl1321]

yet they will often look like the badminton women who were dsq. because there is only about 20 people playing it in the whole country.

Except for in years where the USA gets ridiculously cocky and thinks the medal will be handed to them, isn't this kind of what basketball looks like? Although I think they have learned their lesson about playing their hardest, they don't play their best players the whole game at all.

The news showed a clip of yesterday's basketball game, and while the US was down in the beginning, they won by a ton. And afterwards a player on the other team asked a US player to autograph his shoe.



I didn't know there were table tennis leagues in Europe. If it really is that popular- what do they need to do to be able to compete with the Chinese?

[Theatregirl1122]

All of the USA's basketball players are really good. I don't see why they should play LeBron all game rather than letting 5 other NBA All Stars touch the floor? It was the second unit that really got it together yesterday.

[Skittl1321]

All of the USA's basketball players are really good. I don't see why they should play LeBron all game rather than letting 5 other NBA All Stars touch the floor? It was the second unit that really got it together yesterday.

My point was the other teams can't compete, it is a whole different level of playing- like GB compared to the other handball teams. Even those with NBA players have to play them the whole game.



I'm surprised the US can't qualify in handball though- I thought they were getting better.

[rfisher]

Waterpolo is a serious game. The men are hot and the women are scary. They elbow each other in the head, grab suits underwater and try to drown each other. I don't know what position this US woman is playing, but I'd hate to get on her bad side. This game between the US and Spain is something else. This may be my new favorite sport. Spain just tied the game with 46 seconds left because of two penalty shots they got from fights.

[berthesghost]

Article about the gray US podium outfits

Am I the only one who thinks the grey really lets the purple and gold medals pop? RW&B track suits with purple ribbons? Ewwwwwwww Chav Olys!

[Skittl1321]

Am I the only one who thinks the grey really lets the purple and gold medals pop?

I'd say Nike knew what they were doing- but I don't think they knew what color the ribbons would be.

I think our athletes look phenomenal on the podium, but if I didn't know they were from the US, some pictures show no flags at all, so it would be tough to tell.

[Cachoo]

Waterpolo is a serious game. The men are hot and the women are scary. They elbow each other in the head, grab suits underwater and try to drown each other. I don't know what position this US woman is playing, but I'd hate to get on her bad side. This game between the US and Spain is something else. This may be my new favorite sport. Spain just tied the game with 46 seconds left because of two penalty shots they got from fights.

I thought you were getting ready to slam the game and then that---I love it!