Track and Field Thread - Move Over Swimming & Gym The Main Event Has Arrived!

[allezfred]

Actually percentage wise the US and China are doing the best on athletes that have medalled, so definitely the larger your team the more opportunities you have to medal.

[Norlite]

Actually percentage wise the US and China are doing the best on athletes that have medaled .

Really? More than say Ethiopia or some other tiny teams?


(not interested enough to do the math myself)

[Skittl1321]

Actually percentage wise the US and China are doing the best on athletes that have medalled, so definitely the larger your team the more opportunities you have to medal.

The post I replied to said Gold, not medal. Three athletes from one country in the same event could all medal, but they can't all get gold.

[allezfred]

Really? More than say Ethiopia or some other tiny teams?


(not interested enough to do the math myself)

The BBC had a stat earlier in the Games so Ethiopia probably weren't in contention.

Naturally if you have three athletes from a country in an event they can't all get golds, but you do have a better statistical chance of getting the one gold because of your team size.

[allezfred]

You? I thought the IOC made the table.

Now, now. We all know the IOC doesn't endorse medal tables. They just include them in their official reports, etc in the FSU-endorsed format purely for informational purposes.

[marbri]

Now, now. We all know the IOC doesn't endorse medal tables. They just include them in their official reports, etc in the FSU-endorsed format purely for informational purposes.

That´s a good thing, it's a very random silly little chart


http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/data...ble-visualised

A chart for everyone

[allezfred]

That´s a good thing, it's a very random silly little chart

Silly to you, but it matters to a lot of people. It's published in newspapers and websites and features on the evening news round-up. If it didn't matter why would Canada have started their "Own The Podium" programme? Surely it mattered to people in Canada when they topped the medals table in Vancouver (according to the proper table anyway ).

Millions of dollars/euros/pounds have gone into those medals. The whole USA v China thing is also an interesting reflection of the current balance of global power. More often than not the medal tables say a lot about the state of our world.

[Bournekraatzfan]

sooooo happy for Caster Semenya, too, especially after everything she has been through. She seems to be very happy with her silver, and she has said that she plans on competing in the next Olympics.

Congrats to Keshorn Walcott on winning gold in the javelin.

Yes! At just 19 years of age, he is the youngest ever Olympic javelin champ. He is also the first athlete from Trinidad&Tobago to medal for in a field event!
T&T have done really well in the athletics events during these Olympics. Bravo!

one of the 4 Canadians who ran the 4x100 relay - Seyi Smith - is a friend of mine. We went to high school together. Seeing his joy when they announced Canada was in third then his heart-breaking tears once the team was DQ'ed was simply unbearable. I am so gutted for him and his teammates. What a horrible outcome.

The team should be very proud of what they achieved. They put Canada's sprinters back on the map.

Gosh, I can only imagine how you felt. I hope the support Seyi and his teammates are receiving from friends, family, and fans is of some comfort to them.

I saw the race itself but not the aftermath as I was out.

Yay that we get some Canadian wuzrobbing!

Did Bolt get to keep the baton in the end then?

nah, we wuzrobbed of a proper wuzrobbing. The commentators and Canadian coach just said "the rules are the rules." A lot of people (myself included) feel really bad for them, though. I agree with the outcome, but it is sad to see any athlete go through that.

Bolt asked the official if he could keep the baton for "his shelf" and the official responded to him rather grumpily and threatened to disqualify him if he didn't give it back. I'm not saying the official has to treat Bolt like a god, but he was kind of scolding him like a child. He tried to say that the batons get used again Maybe that guy wanted to keep the baton for himself or auction it off on ebay. or maybe he's not a Man United fan? Anyways, a volunteer ran out and gave it to Bolt, who seemed very thankful. He said in an interview that he wanted to have all the guys sign it and write the world record on it.

Congrats to all the marathon runners! I hope they're okay. Lucky you, *Jen*--that must have been something!

[marbri]

Silly to you, but it matters to a lot of people. It's published in newspapers and websites and features on the evening news round-up. If it didn't matter why would Canada have started their "Own The Podium" programme? Surely it mattered to people in Canada when they topped the medals table in Vancouver (according to the proper table anyway ).

Millions of dollars/euros/pounds have gone into those medals. The whole USA v China thing is also an interesting reflection of the current balance of global power. More often than not the medal tables say a lot about the state of our world.

That's very clear. But that doesn't change the fact that on this particular chart the situation would arise that a country with 30 silver and bronze medals would end up below a country with one gold medal. To me its just silly regardless of who uses it. I think the reason more people don't find it silly is because they stop reading the chart after the top 5 countries where they see the usual suspects named. I don't see how that opinion contradicts in any way the "own the podium" movement. Obviously every country that sends athletes to the Olympics hopes for a return on their investment. I just don´t think the return is evident in that particular chart.

But in spite of the ramble above it doesn't really mean that much to me because I didn't even realize Canada was on top of any proper chart in 2010.

[Aussie Willy]

Whoa! 3 brazilian athletes finished top 15 (5th, 8th, 13th) in the marathon. That's some accomplishment.

What angries me is that, because none of the medalled, most people here in Brazil will downright call them incompetent... sometimes I hate my country.

You haven't seen our Australian media. One gold medal in the swimming and they treat it as a national tragedy.