2012 London Olympic Games - Day Eight- General Thread

[allezfred]

Gah! Irish sailor's lead cut to one point in women's laser radial.

[misskarne]

Wow - surprised how far down the table the Aussies are - only 1 gold!! Their swim meet has been absolutely awful. Are there any sports they can possibly improve on their gold total?

100m women's hurdles (Sally Pearson)
Pole vault men's (Steve Hooker - I BELIEVE!)
Men's 10m diving platform (Matthew Mitcham)
Men's long jump (Mitchell Watt)
Men's race walking (Jarred Tallent)
Men's 10,000 (Craig Mottram)
Sailing - no don't ask me which one, but they're a pair and doing rather well

I can't think of any more off the top of my head, but we're by no means done and dusted yet!

[gingercrush]

470 is the class you're referring to. Also men's hockey and women's water polo are possibilities and maybe someone in the spring canoeing. And triathlon is always a possibility. Also an Aussie is leading men's laser sailing class and ladies Elliot 6m.

[Lorac]

100m women's hurdles (Sally Pearson)
Pole vault men's (Steve Hooker - I BELIEVE!)
Men's 10m diving platform (Matthew Mitcham)
Men's long jump (Mitchell Watt)
Men's race walking (Jarred Tallent)
Men's 10,000 (Craig Mottram)
Sailing - no don't ask me which one, but they're a pair and doing rather well

I can't think of any more off the top of my head, but we're by no means done and dusted yet!

Good to know - but how has the lack of swimming hardware been reported in the Aussie press - they must be gutted with the performance here.

[Lorac]

We now have Claire Balding as a main presenter on the BBC now the swimming is (almost) over. If I have to lose Sir Steve on a daily basis at least I still get Claire

[allezfred]

Irish sailor in laser radial now in third, but only a point between top 4. Knowing Irish luck she'll probably come FORTH in the medal race on Monday.

[oleada]

Okay, if the US outdoors outfit are the ugly bronze sweaters, then why is Serena wearing the gray trenchcoat?

[Buzz]

Rosie comes up golden for Canada in trampoline!!!

[DaveRocks]

Whee!!! Gold for Canada in trampoline!!!

[Cachoo]

Congrats Canada!

Lithuania just gave the USA men's basketball squad everything it wanted and then some. I have my 1992 Team Lithuania T-Shirt designed by Jerry Garcia of the Grateful Dead. I've always had a soft spot since then for their basketball team. In fact I was hoping they would pull off the upset and they came oh so close. Go Lithuania!

[HisWeirness]

Wow, first there was Tancock, now we have Karen Cockburn (CAN) on trampoline. Cockburn-Tancock would be a crazy last name!

Hooker-Suxho is also up there...stiff competition

[Maofan7]

Just started watching the Andy Murray/Laura Robson mixed doubles semi. I was just reminded of an old story I came across a while back by something one of the BBC commentators said. Mixed doubles was last played at the 1924 'Chariots of Fire' Olympics. It was won back then by America's Hazel Wightman & Richard Williams. Hazel Wightman won the U.S. Open 4 times and the Wightman Cup is named after her. As for her mixed doubles partner at the 1924 Olympics, Richard Williams, apart from sharing the same name as the father of the Williams sisters, he won 2 U.S. Open titles and actually survived the sinking of the Titanic!

Richard Williams was not the only tennis player to survive the sinking of the Titanic either - another was Karl Behr, another great American tennis player from the period. Just a few months after surviving the sinking, Behr reached the U.S Open semi-finals!

Williams and Behr would actually meet in the 4th round of the Longwood Bowl tournament in Boston just 3 months after the Titanic went down. Apparently, Behr won in 5 sets with neither uttering a word of what had happened to them on the Titanic.

Here is an article about Williams and Behr. On how they survived the sinking, it says:-

Behr, it is reported, swiftly intuited the severity of the situation, ordering Helen to change into warm clothes and to leave all possessions behind except her jewels.

He secured a place in one of the lifeboats only when J Bruce Ismay, managing director of White Star Lines, allegedly told him that men were needed to help the women and children with the rowing.

For Williams, the escape was more desperate. He and his father had tried to retain warmth by riding stationary bikes in the exercise room, but decided to abandon ship once they saw the letters of the ship’s name on the bow slip below the water line.

As they spoke on deck, one of Titanic’s huge smokestacks crashed down, killing Charles instantly.

In that second, Dick dived into the freezing Atlantic. “I was not under water very long,” he wrote to a fellow survivor, having saved his life by clinging to a collapsible raft. He would watch as Titanic’s stern flopped into the icy depths at 2.45am, finally encountering Behr aboard Carpathia on the harrowing onward passage to New York.

Although Williams survived the sinking, it was still touch and go as to whether his tennis career would survive. After he was rescued, he realized that he had no feeling in his legs. When he tried to walk, he experienced a huge amount of pain. The Doctors aboard Carpathia (which rescued the Titanic survivors) recommended his legs be amputated. Williams, however, refused. To avoid amputation, he spent hours walking the decks to get the feeling back and save his legs. It worked!

[Parsley Sage]

Wow, first there was Tancock, now we have Karen Cockburn (CAN) on trampoline. Cockburn-Tancock would be a crazy last name!

It is pronounced Co-burn though.

[oleada]

There's a sailor named Amanda Clark

[my little pony]

but was it always her name?

[Lorac]

Love the mens sprint in the velodrome - lots of cat and mouse before a mad dash for the line

[Maofan7]

Andy and Laura into the mixed doubles final. Guaranteed at least a silver medal

[Norlite]

Wow, Suzuki sure fell back far fast in voidy 10k walking

[ioana]

Honduras was up 1-0 against Brazil in soccer quarterfinals, but it's now tied at 1 at half time. And Honduras is down to 10 men after a really questionable second yellow card.

[SHARPIE]

Wheee! Just switched on to another gold in cycling