Official Paris Olympics 2024 thread

[charltom]

silvers and bronzes are merely tie-breakers. Champions are all that count.

That's one of the stupidest things I've ever read on the internet.... and I post on NPR....

I've often thought a fairer system of evaluating medal performance would be to have a weighted table, with Golds worth 3 points, Silvers 2 and Bronzes 1. This would still make golds the most important medal, but wouldn't completely disregard the other medals as the current system does. Such a system would avoid anomalies such as Dominica and Pakistan (1 gold medal each in total) appearing above Turkey in the medal table, despite Turkey having achieved 8 medals in total; 3 silvers and 5 bronzes.

A weighted medals table for 2024 would have given a top 10 of

USA (250 points)
China (198)
France (122)
GB (115)
Aus (108)
Japan (97)
Italy (77)
Netherlands (71)
Germany (70)
Korea (67)

I've always thought exactly this, and having applied the points the other day in the same way you have, was pleased to see that it looked completely fair as a ranking, while both the other normal methods had some anomalies.

[average joe]

My Olympics experience this year amounted to the occasional YouTube short. I've learned the following.

Blue drag queens are pretty shit viewing as far as drag queens go.
Ugly woman hits harder than pretty ones.
There is such a thing as too big a "pole" in pole vaulting.
I can go to the Olympics as a breakdancer. Probably won't win anything but can certainly do a better impression of a worm.

[Hugo]

silvers and bronzes are merely tie-breakers. Champions are all that count.

That's one of the stupidest things I've ever read on the internet.... and I post on NPR....

I've often thought a fairer system of evaluating medal performance would be to have a weighted table, with Golds worth 3 points, Silvers 2 and Bronzes 1. This would still make golds the most important medal, but wouldn't completely disregard the other medals as the current system does. Such a system would avoid anomalies such as Dominica and Pakistan (1 gold medal each in total) appearing above Turkey in the medal table, despite Turkey having achieved 8 medals in total; 3 silvers and 5 bronzes.

A weighted medals table for 2024 would have given a top 10 of

USA (250 points)
China (198)
France (122)
GB (115)
Aus (108)
Japan (97)
Italy (77)
Netherlands (71)
Germany (70)
Korea (67)

Yes. That would be a better, more accurate indicator of performance.

Also, just crediting those who win events seems to go against the Olympic spirit which stresses the importance of participation over winning.

[laurent]

My Olympics experience this year amounted to the occasional YouTube short. I've learned the following.

Blue drag queens are pretty shit viewing as far as drag queens go.
Ugly woman hits harder than pretty ones.
There is such a thing as too big a "pole" in pole vaulting.
I can go to the Olympics as a breakdancer. Probably won't win anything but can certainly do a better impression of a worm.

Blue man was not in drag :p

You should look him up he is a complete nutcase (actor + singer) . Philippe Katerine. https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philippe_Katerine

[Biffer]

I don't actually care that mucj about medals tables tbh. It's not like the Olympics has an overall winner.

[average joe]

@laurent No, I'm not clicking on any of that, and you can't make me.

[laurent]

@laurent No, I'm not clicking on any of that, and you can't make me.

Your loss ...

[Hugo]

https://x.com/LarryMadowo/status/1823376057581371537

Tebogo with a heroes welcome in the Botswana national stadium.

[S/Lt_Phillips]

https://x.com/LarryMadowo/status/1823376057581371537

Tebogo with a heroes welcome in the Botswana national stadium.

That's fantastic!

[S/Lt_Phillips]

Fancy running a marathon with a stress fracture in your femur?

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c990yd94j7eo

[Sandstorm]

Fancy running a marathon with a stress fracture in your femur?

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c990yd94j7eo

Shows the sheer drive these Olympians have compared to us mere mortals.

[Jethro]

Frack off U.K's Eddie the Eagle, Oz has gone one better



Seriously a PhD that's just taking the piss, defund the Universities immediately, we could probably better use the money on a live Bluey stage show or something.

[average joe]

I've seen allot of strange things in my life, but I've never seen someone lose their tits whilst dancing.

[Big D]

Scotland and England (and Wales) to play together as team GB in the cricket event in 28 apparently.

[Big D]

Fancy running a marathon with a stress fracture in your femur?

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c990yd94j7eo

Shows the sheer drive these Olympians have compared to us mere mortals.

I honestly think there is a large portion of the public who don't understand the gulf between elite sportspeople and the public. It's been amplified by social media.

There was a poll where 10% of the public thought they could win a cycling road race medal (yougov poll had it at 6%) with 4 years training. Remko averaged 30mph for 6 hours over 2800m of climbing.

They are the elite of the elite sportspeople. That is partly why I'll defend Matt Hudson-Smith and Jake Kerr for "failing". One trumpet said MHS "shouldn't have slowed down". GTF he ran the 5th fastest time ever, that is very very hard to do.

[Sandstorm]

One trumpet said MHS "shouldn't have slowed down". GTF he ran the 5th fastest time ever, that is very very hard to do.

Anyone who's tried to run a 400m race against other competitors at any level, would know all about it! Horrible event.

[inactionman]

Awesome, if a litlte unsettling

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-bristol-61483615

Teams of computer programmers have taken part in a Robot Dog Olympics to develop innovative tech solutions for the British Army.

Around 40 coders from across the country assembled at Ministry of Defence (MoD) Abbey Wood in Bristol.

They were challenged to programme the robotic dogs to perform tasks including a 50-metre sprint and gymnastics.

I worked there for nigh on a decade and they never had anything this exciting.

[Biffer]

One trumpet said MHS "shouldn't have slowed down". GTF he ran the 5th fastest time ever, that is very very hard to do.

Anyone who's tried to run a 400m race against other competitors at any level, would know all about it! Horrible event.

There's knowledge, skills and talent.

Knowledge you get by reading books, going on training courses, etc

Skills you get by doing the thing over and over again, practising.

Talent you either have or you don't.

You maximise your talent by honing your knowledge and skills.

This applies to work as much as it does to sport, or music or anything else.

[Hugo]

Fancy running a marathon with a stress fracture in your femur?

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c990yd94j7eo

Shows the sheer drive these Olympians have compared to us mere mortals.

I honestly think there is a large portion of the public who don't understand the gulf between elite sportspeople and the public. It's been amplified by social media.

Agreed.

IMO you can always tell people that have never played sport at any level by those who fail to appreciate the incredible skills of the also ran professionals of any discipline.

To your point, finishing a Grand Tour is an exceptional achievement regardless of where you place. Just making an Olympic final in athletics is something to be proud of.

[ASMO]

Frack off U.K's Eddie the Eagle, Oz has gone one better



Seriously a PhD that's just taking the piss, defund the Universities immediately, we could probably better use the money on a live Bluey stage show or something.

Will this be in the special Olympics too? Wonder if they will disallow those with cerebral palsy for having too much of an advantage. (yes i am aware i am heading to hell for that one)

[Calculon]

Fancy running a marathon with a stress fracture in your femur?

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c990yd94j7eo

Shows the sheer drive these Olympians have compared to us mere mortals.

I honestly think there is a large portion of the public who don't understand the gulf between elite sportspeople and the public. It's been amplified by social media.

There was a poll where 10% of the public thought they could win a cycling road race medal (yougov poll had it at 6%) with 4 years training. Remko averaged 30mph for 6 hours over 2800m of climbing.

They are the elite of the elite sportspeople. That is partly why I'll defend Matt Hudson-Smith and Jake Kerr for "failing". One trumpet said MHS "shouldn't have slowed down". GTF he ran the 5th fastest time ever, that is very very hard to do.

Years ago I was swimming laps in my parents pool. Sharon Laws asked if she could join me. I was a decent swimmer and pretty fit but she blew me out the water, an absolute machine. That level of fitness is almost superhuman. Fuck cancer

[weegie01]

Shows the sheer drive these Olympians have compared to us mere mortals.

I honestly think there is a large portion of the public who don't understand the gulf between elite sportspeople and the public. It's been amplified by social media.

Agreed.

IMO you can always tell people that have never played sport at any level by those who fail to appreciate the incredible skills of the also ran professionals of any discipline.

To your point, finishing a Grand Tour is an exceptional achievement regardless of where you place. Just making an Olympic final in athletics is something to be proud of.

More than a quarter of people in Britain think they could qualify for the next Olympic games if they were to start training today, a new survey has revealed.

The survey, which was produced by YouGov, invited members of the public to indicate if they believed they could become an Olympic-level athlete within the next four years across 25 different sports.

As the 2024 Olympics draw to a close, 27% of those surveyed believe that they could make it to the LA 2028 games in at least one of those sports.

The most common discipline people favoured their chance at was in the 10m Air Rifle Shooting, with 15% believing they could either ‘definitely’ or ‘probably’ qualify.

The next most popular responses were archery (13%), badminton (10%) and table tennis (9%). However, confidence was low among those surveyed when it came to more physically demanding sports such as rhythmic and artistic gymnastics, diving, rugby sevens and skateboarding – only 3% believe they could qualify for these disciplines.

Overall, younger respondents were more confident than their older counterparts, with 17% believing they could qualify for archery, table tennis and the 100m sprint events.

Those aged 18-24 were by far more confident in their chances at the 100m sprint – for those aged 25 and above, only 2-7% believe they could qualify for the blue-riband event of athletics.

Male respondents were also noted to be more confident than females, with more men than women believing they could compete in all but four of the 25 events.

Of those four events, the largest difference was noted in the 100m breaststroke, with 9% of women believing they could compete in this event by 2028 compared with just 4% of men.

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/sport/other/o ... 28%20games

[Lobby]

I honestly think there is a large portion of the public who don't understand the gulf between elite sportspeople and the public. It's been amplified by social media.

Agreed.

IMO you can always tell people that have never played sport at any level by those who fail to appreciate the incredible skills of the also ran professionals of any discipline.

To your point, finishing a Grand Tour is an exceptional achievement regardless of where you place. Just making an Olympic final in athletics is something to be proud of.

More than a quarter of people in Britain think they could qualify for the next Olympic games if they were to start training today, a new survey has revealed.

The survey, which was produced by YouGov, invited members of the public to indicate if they believed they could become an Olympic-level athlete within the next four years across 25 different sports.

As the 2024 Olympics draw to a close, 27% of those surveyed believe that they could make it to the LA 2028 games in at least one of those sports.

The most common discipline people favoured their chance at was in the 10m Air Rifle Shooting, with 15% believing they could either ‘definitely’ or ‘probably’ qualify.

The next most popular responses were archery (13%), badminton (10%) and table tennis (9%). However, confidence was low among those surveyed when it came to more physically demanding sports such as rhythmic and artistic gymnastics, diving, rugby sevens and skateboarding – only 3% believe they could qualify for these disciplines.

Overall, younger respondents were more confident than their older counterparts, with 17% believing they could qualify for archery, table tennis and the 100m sprint events.

Those aged 18-24 were by far more confident in their chances at the 100m sprint – for those aged 25 and above, only 2-7% believe they could qualify for the blue-riband event of athletics.

Male respondents were also noted to be more confident than females, with more men than women believing they could compete in all but four of the 25 events.

Of those four events, the largest difference was noted in the 100m breaststroke, with 9% of women believing they could compete in this event by 2028 compared with just 4% of men.

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/sport/other/o ... 28%20games

It would depend on whose breasts I'd have to stroke, but I reckon I could give that last one a go.

[weegie01]

Edit.
Where did the formatting i have in my post go when I submitted?

Because I am actually this sad, I made up an analysis table of the cost per medal for UK medals. I only took into account Govt funding.

Although funding is now looked at over longer cycles than a single games, there are a few sports you'd think are getting twitchy about funding.

Sport Grants Medals Cost per medal

Breaking £135,000 0 #DIV/0!
Wrestling £276,000 0 #DIV/0!
Volleyball £286,000 0 #DIV/0!
Water Polo £375,000 0 #DIV/0!
Handball £375,000 0 #DIV/0!
Table Tennis £1,350,000 0 #DIV/0!
Basketball £1,350,000 0 #DIV/0!
Surfing £1,404,457 0 #DIV/0!
Fencing £1,542,015 0 #DIV/0!
Archery £2,632,674 0 #DIV/0!
Badminton £3,379,544 0 #DIV/0!
Modern Pentathalon £5,681,906 0 #DIV/0!
Judo £6,439,612 0 #DIV/0!
Hockey £13,689,907 0 #DIV/0!
Boxing £12,075,886 1 £12,075,886.00
Sailing £22,800,520 2 £11,400,260.00
Taekwondo £8,259,987 1 £8,259,987.00
Gymnastics £13,445,737 3 £4,481,912.33
Swimming £18,928,318 5 £3,785,663.60
Canoeing £13,943,804 4 £3,485,951.00
Shooting £6,246,092 2 £3,123,046.00
Rowing £23,794,482 8 £2,974,310.25
Cycling £29,314,683 11 £2,664,971.18
Equestrian £12,353,367 5 £2,470,673.40
Triathlon £7,246,639 3 £2,415,546.33
Weightlifting £2,293,000 1 £2,293,000.00
Athletics £22,766,243 10 £2,276,624.30
Diving £8,911,163 5 £1,782,232.60
Sport climbing £1,629,345 1 £1,629,345.00
Skateboarding £1,839,045 2 £919,522.50
Artistic Swimming £467,250 1 £467,250.00

[Enzedder]

Jaysus Weegee - that's our whole GDP just on Sports funding. There must be some bloody well off coaches and Administrators over there.

[Biffer]

Jaysus Weegee - that's our whole GDP just on Sports funding. There must be some bloody well off coaches and Administrators over there.

Most of it comes from National Lottery funding I think, not general taxation.

[Biffer]

Edit.
Where did the formatting i have in my post go when I submitted?

Because I am actually this sad, I made up an analysis table of the cost per medal for UK medals. I only took into account Govt funding.

Although funding is now looked at over longer cycles than a single games, there are a few sports you'd think are getting twitchy about funding.

Sport Grants Medals Cost per medal

Breaking £135,000 0 #DIV/0!
Wrestling £276,000 0 #DIV/0!
Volleyball £286,000 0 #DIV/0!
Water Polo £375,000 0 #DIV/0!
Handball £375,000 0 #DIV/0!
Table Tennis £1,350,000 0 #DIV/0!
Basketball £1,350,000 0 #DIV/0!
Surfing £1,404,457 0 #DIV/0!
Fencing £1,542,015 0 #DIV/0!
Archery £2,632,674 0 #DIV/0!
Badminton £3,379,544 0 #DIV/0!
Modern Pentathalon £5,681,906 0 #DIV/0!
Judo £6,439,612 0 #DIV/0!
Hockey £13,689,907 0 #DIV/0!
Boxing £12,075,886 1 £12,075,886.00
Sailing £22,800,520 2 £11,400,260.00
Taekwondo £8,259,987 1 £8,259,987.00
Gymnastics £13,445,737 3 £4,481,912.33
Swimming £18,928,318 5 £3,785,663.60
Canoeing £13,943,804 4 £3,485,951.00
Shooting £6,246,092 2 £3,123,046.00
Rowing £23,794,482 8 £2,974,310.25
Cycling £29,314,683 11 £2,664,971.18
Equestrian £12,353,367 5 £2,470,673.40
Triathlon £7,246,639 3 £2,415,546.33
Weightlifting £2,293,000 1 £2,293,000.00
Athletics £22,766,243 10 £2,276,624.30
Diving £8,911,163 5 £1,782,232.60
Sport climbing £1,629,345 1 £1,629,345.00
Skateboarding £1,839,045 2 £919,522.50
Artistic Swimming £467,250 1 £467,250.00

Boxing, Taekwondo, Hockey, Sailing should all be shuffling nervously I reckon.

[Enzedder]

FB_IMG_1723783686361.jpg (25.3 KiB) Viewed 562 times

[TedMaul]

FB_IMG_1723783686361.jpg

[Gumboot]

[Sandstorm]

That poor woman

[Slick]

That poor woman

I know, you get 28 stone Samoans running in the 100m and folk like Eric the Fish and they become hero's, but this poor woman is eviscerated

[Flockwitt]

YouTube shorts has only, hmmm... I guess a couple of hundred on her... and counting.

[Calculon]

That poor woman

Fuck off, she deserves it. I have a friend who does breaking who's seriously talented and works bloody hard at it. This australian woman was taking the piss. She, and whoever helped her get to the olympics acted disgracefully

[Gumboot]

That poor woman

Fuck off, she deserves it. I have a friend who does breaking who's seriously talented and works bloody hard at it. This australian woman was taking the piss. She, and whoever helped her get to the olympics acted disgracefully

The social media abuse is OTT of course, but...

This.

[Slick]

That poor woman

Fuck off, she deserves it. I have a friend who does breaking who's seriously talented and works bloody hard at it. This australian woman was taking the piss. She, and whoever helped her get to the olympics acted disgracefully

Is there a full story behind it? I’m guessing there must be better dancers than her in Oz?

[Blackmac]

That poor woman

Fuck off, she deserves it. I have a friend who does breaking who's seriously talented and works bloody hard at it. This australian woman was taking the piss. She, and whoever helped her get to the olympics acted disgracefully

The social media abuse is OTT of course, but...

This.

I don't know how accurate it is but there are stories doing the rounds casting a lot of doubt on the legitimacy of her qualification. Basically that she and her husband set up the Australian breakdancing association and arranged the trials where their mates were the judges. I've seen the footage of the final and it's dodgy as fuck.

[Dinsdale Piranha]

Fuck off, she deserves it. I have a friend who does breaking who's seriously talented and works bloody hard at it. This australian woman was taking the piss. She, and whoever helped her get to the olympics acted disgracefully

The social media abuse is OTT of course, but...

This.

I don't know how accurate it is but there are stories doing the rounds casting a lot of doubt on the legitimacy of her qualification. Basically that she and her husband set up the Australian breakdancing association and arranged the trials where their mates were the judges. I've seen the footage of the final and it's dodgy as fuck.

https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/austr ... -olympics/

[Blackmac]

The social media abuse is OTT of course, but...

This.

I don't know how accurate it is but there are stories doing the rounds casting a lot of doubt on the legitimacy of her qualification. Basically that she and her husband set up the Australian breakdancing association and arranged the trials where their mates were the judges. I've seen the footage of the final and it's dodgy as fuck.

https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/austr ... -olympics/

Yeah, just read a BBC article countering the claim.

[Calculon]

That poor woman

Fuck off, she deserves it. I have a friend who does breaking who's seriously talented and works bloody hard at it. This australian woman was taking the piss. She, and whoever helped her get to the olympics acted disgracefully

Is there a full story behind it? I’m guessing there must be better dancers than her in Oz?

IDK how the hell she got selected but i'm sure there must be better breakers in Oz. Apparently she wrote a thesis on breaking so she must be aware that she is nowhere near the level required to compete at the the Olympics, but she still felt entitled to go and ended up making a mockery of the sport. Well I guess she got her 15 minutes of fame and an all-expense-paid trip to Paris out of it.