quote:

Originally posted by kkina:
The USA leads in total number of medals. Congrats to the athletes. The PRC and Japan do have more gold, however.

USA catches up on gold after swimming and Track/Field events.

The always illuminating PJW

"Why is society redefining failure as bravery?"

As the Brits say, “Brilliant.”

The restaurant at lunch today had Olympic badminton playing. Stimulating sport...(sarcasm)

My question is; why was China playing against China? (China won, by the way.)

quote:

Originally posted by phydough:
The restaurant at lunch today had Olympic badminton playing. Stimulating sport...(sarcasm)

My question is; why was China playing against China? (China won, by the way.)

Countries can send more than one team. We have two women's volleyball teams for instance. It's possible they could end up playing each other in the Gold medal match with the US getting both Gold and Silver.

It's similar to other events like swimming or track where US runners or swimmers sweep the field and get 1st, 2nd, and 3rd. We have multiple athletes representing us in the same sport and events.

Apparently, China rocks at badminton. They also faced off with each other in table tennis, aka ping pong.

I was looking up if Pickle Ball was an Olympic event yet and found this. Quite interesting...

"Pickleball is not an Olympic sport or event as of 2021. To be approved as an Olympic sport, there must be considerable worldwide popularity, which means the sport must be actively played by men in at least 75 countries across four continents, and by women in at least 40 [countries] across three continents."

I like this young woman's attitude. She's also a fellow Jersey native.

‘Pressure Is an Illusion’- American World Record Holder Sydney McLaughlin Makes a Strong Statement at Tokyo Olympics 2020

 July 31, 2021 

At just twenty-one years of age, they already considered Sydney McLaughlin as one of the greatest women’s 400m hurdles athletes. The New Jersey native has been shattering national and state records since she was sixteen years old. 

She went undefeated in her entire track career in high school and holds the World youth record and World Junior Record in the 400m hurdles. Recently, she beat her teammate and veteran hurdler Dalilah Muhammad in world record time.

Sydney McLaughlin cruises in the Tokyo Olympics 2020 heats

Sydney McLaughlin cruised into first place at her first Olympic heats on Saturday. McLaughlin practically jogged across the finish line and clocked the fourth-fastest time at the heats.

“Pressure is an illusion.” – #TeamUSA’s @GoSydGo when asked by @LewisJohnsonMG if there’s any pressure that comes with being a world record holder at the Games#TokyoOlympics pic.twitter.com/TZfzsy0LLP

— Chris Chavez (@ChrisChavez) July 31, 2021

“It was cool to just be able to get out there, shake out the rest, and get used to the environment, the air, the humidity, everything,” she told NBC Sports’ Lewis Johnson after the race. “I’d say it was a good first round. Things like [a false start] happen all the time, gotta be ready and prepared to respond.”

“Pressure’s an illusion, it’s what you make it,” she said. “I’m just here to have fun and represent my country. ”

https://futuretechtrends.co.uk...tokyo-olympics-2020/

quote:

Originally posted by MRMATT:

quote:

Taken straight from her own mouth. She straight up quit because it wasn't fun anymore and things were getting hard mentally. And you know what? Fine, whatever. She's a quitter

And yet, she was still awarded a silver medal. What message does that send to today's kids?

Did she not finish the Women's Team event? I know she dropped out of the All Around but didn't see if she dropped out late in the Team event.

quote:

She quit when it got hard. She walked off and left her team...I won't admire somebody for quitting when it got hard.

"Once you learn to quit, it becomes a habit."

- Vince Lombardi

quote:

Originally posted by erj_pilot:
I was looking up if Pickle Ball was an Olympic event yet and found this. Quite interesting...

"Pickleball is not an Olympic sport or event as of 2021. To be approved as an Olympic sport, there must be considerable worldwide popularity, which means the sport must be actively played by men in at least 75 countries across four continents, and by women in at least 40 [countries] across three continents."

I would challenge the ability of a whole host of Olympic Sports to meet those criteria. Any of the BMX, curling, synchronized swimming, bobsled and luge, most of the shooting sports, whitewater kayaking, for example. Maybe it depends on the definition of actively played in a country.

quote:

Originally posted by Graniteguy:

quote:

Originally posted by MRMATT:

quote:

Taken straight from her own mouth. She straight up quit because it wasn't fun anymore and things were getting hard mentally. And you know what? Fine, whatever. She's a quitter

And yet, she was still awarded a silver medal. What message does that send to today's kids?

Did she not finish the Women's Team event? I know she dropped out of the All Around but didn't see if she dropped out late in the Team event.

She did not. It maybe that she gets a medal because she was on the qualifying team. I know with relay teams in swimming, different swimmers can swim for qualifying and finals and they all get medals based on the finals.

I read last night that Biles did NOT have her ADHD medication with her in Japan, it’s banned there or something.

Don’t you think they should have thought about this BEFORE she went there?

FFS

My wife loves to watch gymnastics, so we watched the US Olympic qualifiers. Biles was severely off her game at the end of those, so I doubt it was a lack of ADHD drugs. They were showing clips of her at practice in Tokyo, and again, she was not performing her vaults & floor exercises right, which are her two strengths. She should have stepped aside before she put her teammates in a position they couldn’t recover from, and when an alternate could have competed in a once in a lifetime experience she already had.

I have to remind myself that Biles is a 24yr old, who's just as susceptible to poor choices, habits and lack of detail that many young adults are guilty of. She would've been in a better position to be forthright about any medical changes, rather than a teenager-like dismissive of I just wasn't feeling it.

We'll see what shakes out of all of this. For the record, I think Biles quit, she ran into some difficulty and instead of being upfront about it she's dragging it out and creating an unstable environment on the team. As Watson's video points out, the current cultural zeitgeist as foisted this attitude and way of thinking amongst people, young adults being the most susceptible to what's current. Athletes want, crave structure, their life is built around a structured schedule and expectations. Whoa to the team member who vents some frustration at the situation and the overall uncertainty of who's going to do what.

Simone Biles' ADHD medication is banned in Japan, but a Tokyo 2020 exemption allowed them for athletes

quote:

...
"A special arrangement is in place specifically for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games to allow athletes taking these medicines for therapeutic use, and with an approved Therapeutic Use Exemption, to import personal supplies for the treatment of their medical condition while they are in Japan," a document provided via Team USA says.
...
While the laws in Japan are extremely stringent when it comes to stimulants, they're slightly more lax about psychotropics, the class of drugs under which Ritalin is categorized. Athletes and nonathletes alike can apply for a Yakkan Shoumei — an "import certificate" allowing for the import of some otherwise prohibited drugs — that permits them to bring up to 2.16g of their methylphenidate into the country.

If she filled out and submitted a Yakkan Shoumei, Biles was covered to continue taking Ritalin in Tokyo without fear of arrest. So while it's impossible to determine what has caused Biles' case of "the twisties," a lack of medication is almost certainly not to blame.

U.S. Womens soccer team loses to Canada.

Best they can do now is bronze.

https://nypost.com/2021/08/02/...pic-semifinal-match/

quote:

Originally posted by sdy:
U.S. Womens soccer team loses to Canada.

Best they can do now is bronze.

https://nypost.com/2021/08/02/...pic-semifinal-match/

When I saw that it put the biggest smile on my face. Now I have to root for their next opponent.

Jim

Laurel Hubbard, that male Powerlifter from New Zealand pretending to be a woman, failed on all his attempts at the Snatch and is out of the competition. He was no match for real women Olympic powerlifters.

Seriously, these women are amazing athletes. Hubbard, not so much.

Good, glad he can leave in shame

I was watching the women's shot put yesterday, those ladies are BEASTS, impressive. Tomorrow is the hammer throw

quote:

Originally posted by Jimbo54:

quote:

Originally posted by sdy:
U.S. Womens soccer team loses to Canada.

Best they can do now is bronze.

https://nypost.com/2021/08/02/...pic-semifinal-match/

When I saw that it put the biggest smile on my face. Now I have to root for their next opponent.

Jim

USA vs Australia. Aug 5th. Whoever "wins" that match gets the Bronze.

Women's soccer Goin' for the Bronze.

When the best you can do is 3rd place!!!

I just read dancer-turned-discus-thrower, Valarie Allman just won Gold for the US!

https://youtu.be/silrPLJrvFU