2021 Tokyo Olympics thread

[Ymx]

Fiji team to beat

Yep.

[Slick]

Fiji team to beat

Oz seemed to put everything into defence but were pretty lazy in attack.

A LOT more penalties since I last watched 7's, seems 90% of breakdowns result in a pen.

[Thor Sedan]

So can someone with better knowledge than me answer a question:

If a player sticks a hand out and slaps a pass down - and backwards - should that be a penalty and yellow card?

Pretty sure it’s fine if it goes backwards, and think that part was missed in that. I believe the commentator made that exact point.

Yeah - I thought that they had looked at it and even though it went backwards they gave the yellow and penalty - I was confused - but it looks like it was slapped forward anyway so nothing wrong with the decision.

[tabascoboy]

Fiji team to beat

Oz seemed to put everything into defence but were pretty lazy in attack.

A LOT more penalties since I last watched 7's, seems 90% of breakdowns result in a pen.

I remember long before pandemic days that refs in 7s were instructed to be especially strict with not releasing etc.

[tabascoboy]

Yes! Bronze for Horse Prancing. My day is so much better now...

[charltom]

An Aussie? Haven't seen one of them for a while in this race.

Yeah, it didn't take long after my post for her to be swallowed up. That Bermuda lady was something else - looked like she could have done another 10kms at the same pace.

Gemuinely, there was never an Aussie leading that race.

Learmonth (GB) led throughout the swim, then the lead cycling group was GB, GB, Bermuda, Germany, Brazil, USA, USA before being whittled down.

Then Duffy smashed it ahead of flat tyre GTB.

Just seen on replay that the highest position Emma Jeffcoat reached was 8th. You may have seen her leading the chase group on the bike, unaware there were 7 others a way up the road. She was the only Australian to finish, in 26th - well done!

[Ymx]

So can someone with better knowledge than me answer a question:

If a player sticks a hand out and slaps a pass down - and backwards - should that be a penalty and yellow card?

Pretty sure it’s fine if it goes backwards, and think that part was missed in that. I believe the commentator made that exact point.

Yeah - I thought that they had looked at it and even though it went backwards they gave the yellow and penalty - I was confused - but it looks like it was slapped forward anyway so nothing wrong with the decision.

The ref didn’t look at it. He assumed it was knock forward. The commentary suggested it might not have been in which case it shouldn’t be any type of infringement.

[Kiwias]

Australia win the womens and mens fours in the rowing

[Ymx]

So we have a Fiji v NZ final.

They generally have the ability to tear us apart when they’re on form.

[Ymx]

Just clocked that Caleb Clarke’s bet in playing for the 7’s backfired.

[Gumboot]

Just clocked that Caleb Clarke’s bet in playing for the 7’s backfired.

Not much chance of him making the ABs this year though, so it was probably worth the punt.

[Paddington Bear]

Not entirely convinced by the fawning over Biles' decision to sit out. We'd absolutely pan a Lions or SA player doing the same this Saturday.

[Torquemada 1420]

Fiji team to beat

Yep.

That NZ opening against GB the best sustained possession I've seen in 7s.

Is Dan Norton the worst defender in 7s?

[Big D]

Fiji team to beat

Yep.

That NZ opening against GB the best sustained possession I've seen in 7s.

Is Dan Norton the worst defender in 7s?

Yes.

[Thor Sedan]

Not entirely convinced by the fawning over Biles' decision to sit out. We'd absolutely pan a Lions or SA player doing the same this Saturday.

Out of interest - why would you pan someone who is struggling with their mental health?

[BnM]

Well one Argentina, we faded badly in this tournament.

[Gumboot]

For reasons beyond rugby, I won't really mind if NZ loses tonight.

[salanya]

Not entirely convinced by the fawning over Biles' decision to sit out. We'd absolutely pan a Lions or SA player doing the same this Saturday.

Yeah, I think the BBC/media are going overboard on praising the situation.
It's her life and as long as she is happy with her decision that's fair enough, and fair dues for calling it as she feels it and being open.
But you do wonder how this has been managed over recent months - surely this is an issue that should have been worked on in advance, rather than having to drop out the day before the competition? It's not like she suddenly has become a favourite and global superstar.

Easy to judge from the outside, but as an athlete to miss opportunities to perform in the Olympics like this does raise some questions.

[Paddington Bear]

Well one Argentina, we faded badly in this tournament.

Their second try should have been pulled back but no doubt they were the better team.

[Big D]

Not entirely convinced by the fawning over Biles' decision to sit out. We'd absolutely pan a Lions or SA player doing the same this Saturday.

Yeah, I think the BBC/media are going overboard on praising the situation.
It's her life and as long as she is happy with her decision that's fair enough, and fair dues for calling it as she feels it and being open.
But you do wonder how this has been managed over recent months - surely this is an issue that should have been worked on in advance, rather than having to drop out the day before the competition? It's not like she suddenly has become a favourite and global superstar.

Easy to judge from the outside, but as an athlete to miss opportunities to perform in the Olympics like this does raise some questions.

Depends on what the exact issue is. Anxiety is a horrible thing and you can think you have it under control until the exact moment you don't. I would think as an elite athlete she would have access to the best mental health professionals and they might have worked on it and it still came back.

[Big D]

Webber has had a terrible start here.

Fiji in both Olympic finals have shot out the gates.

[Thor Sedan]

Not entirely convinced by the fawning over Biles' decision to sit out. We'd absolutely pan a Lions or SA player doing the same this Saturday.

Yeah, I think the BBC/media are going overboard on praising the situation.
It's her life and as long as she is happy with her decision that's fair enough, and fair dues for calling it as she feels it and being open.
But you do wonder how this has been managed over recent months - surely this is an issue that should have been worked on in advance, rather than having to drop out the day before the competition? It's not like she suddenly has become a favourite and global superstar.

Easy to judge from the outside, but as an athlete to miss opportunities to perform in the Olympics like this does raise some questions.

I would imagine that they did work on it - but mental health is a tricky bugger and perhaps it just got the better of her at that particular time. It is odd how so many folk are heading down this path of 'they should have known' - 'they should have worked on it'. Perhaps the fact that she managed to get through the first few days was a spectacular effort in itself?

[ScarfaceClaw]

How big and fast is that Fijian.

[ScarfaceClaw]

We do not deserve to win this purely because of Webber’s haircut.

[Thor Sedan]

Too big, too strong, too fast - better across the park.

But a silver in the 7's isn't to be sniffed at. Well done boys.

[salanya]

Well done Fiji

Another emotional victory.

[Gumboot]

Well done, Fiji.

[Big D]

Unlucky NZ and congrats to Fiji. Two best teams by a bit in this comp.

[Big D]

Been watching the video of the mens 4x200m. The contrast between James Guy crying as Duncan Scott was powering them home compared to Scott being disappointed at missing the WR made me chuckle.

[Insane_Homer]

Congrats Fiji, NZ and Arg.

[tabascoboy]

Well one Argentina, we faded badly in this tournament.

Means a lot to them I expect, it's a lead story on the news websites, e.g. https://www.lanacion.com.ar/deportes/ru ... d28072021/

[Ymx]

For reasons beyond rugby, I won't really mind if NZ loses tonight.

They certainly weren’t right in the head to win it.

[Ymx]

How big and fast is that Fijian.

That’s not narrowing it down. You could be talking about the whole island.

[robmatic]

Not entirely convinced by the fawning over Biles' decision to sit out. We'd absolutely pan a Lions or SA player doing the same this Saturday.

It's devolved into American culture war bullshit where doughy conservative blokes are trying to pretend that she's not a great athlete and progressives are going overboard about her mental health.

I suspect it's an excuse because she knows she's off form and is too proud to lose. It's not like she has anything left to prove to anyone.

[Slick]

Not entirely convinced by the fawning over Biles' decision to sit out. We'd absolutely pan a Lions or SA player doing the same this Saturday.

Yeah, It's an odd one. If she is struggling she should absolutely have the right to quietly walk away with no intrusion and get herself right. It must be an absolutely awful experience. On the other hand, the most part of being a top class athlete is having that incredible mental hardness, it's what seperates them from the rest of us, mainly, so the coverage doesn't sit well.

[Gumboot]

Not entirely convinced by the fawning over Biles' decision to sit out. We'd absolutely pan a Lions or SA player doing the same this Saturday.

It's devolved into American culture war bullshit where doughy conservative blokes are trying to pretend that she's not a great athlete and progressives are going overboard about her mental health.

I suspect it's an excuse because she knows she's off form and is too proud to lose. It's not like she has anything left to prove to anyone.

Still pretty shit for her teammates if that's the case.

[Paddington Bear]

It's devolved into American culture war bullshit where doughy conservative blokes are trying to pretend that she's not a great athlete and progressives are going overboard about her mental health.

I suspect it's an excuse because she knows she's off form and is too proud to lose. It's not like she has anything left to prove to anyone.

Yeah, It's an odd one. If she is struggling she should absolutely have the right to quietly walk away with no intrusion and get herself right. It must be an absolutely awful experience. On the other hand, the most part of being a top class athlete is having that incredible mental hardness, it's what seperates them from the rest of us, mainly, so the coverage doesn't sit well.

Basically my thoughts. It's her decision and fair enough but sport is (at least in part) about stepping up when others can't/won't, particularly when you're the senior pro.

[Calculon]

I know very little about gymnastics but after reading this article (and I'm also not in a position to judge how accurate it is) her decision to withdraw doesn't seem unreasonable

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-57986166

[Margin__Walker]

For when you really want that gold medal...

[Big D]

I saw a post earlier on Twitter and I find it fairly hard to disagree with. It was in response to those who said she took the easy way out, was weak, a quitter etc.

It was along the lines of Biles has been molested all through her child hood, won a world championship whilst dealing with kidney stones, does routines that judges literally had know idea how to score correctly because they were that far advanced of what has come before, dealt with all her sponsors and media throughout and never once stopped or shown any mental fragility. Maybe her stopping yesterday isn't a sign of weakness but what she was going through in her head must be pretty big for her.

Gymnasts all day have been coming to her defence, perhaps through wanting to protect her, but running in to do a routine and she by all accounts accidently did 1.5 summersaults rather than 2.5 must be incredibly off putting.