2024 Paris Olympics megathread

[Sheilbh]

Biles- Wow

Yeah - also gymnastics is the sport where I am most just in awe of the athletes.

Also very much enjoying the tennis this evening (in Murray's swansong).

[Syt]

Turkish guy winning silver without using special glasses or ear protectors that most competitors wear.



(Bonus points for Mikec v Dikec)

[saskganesh]

Hi.

Enjoying the Canadian chicks' footy story. They won their first two games, then lost the results of those victories because of drone spying of enemies closed practices. Heads suspended, big fine from FIFA .. then they beat Columbia and based on a single official victory, moved out of their group and into the playdowns anyway. They face Germany on Saturday in the quarterfinal.

Should be intense. Germany would have been expecting to face a more normal lower seed. Canada squad has a lot of motivation.

[crazy canuck]

Sask!!!!              

Yeah, the Germans have got to be feeling like they got the short end of that deal.

[Barrister]

Hi.

Enjoying the Canadian chicks' footy story. They won their first two games, then lost the results of those victories because of drone spying of enemies closed practices. Heads suspended, big fine from FIFA .. then they beat Columbia and based on a single official victory, moved out of their group and into the playdowns anyway. They face Germany on Saturday in the quarterfinal.

Should be intense. Germany would have been expecting to face a more normal lower seed. Canada squad has a lot of motivation.

Holy Shit a Sasks post!

Welcome back dude.  Hope you stick around a bit.

[Barrister]

I don't think they intended to insult anyone. It is just very hard to do anything in the age of social media and not have a reaction of outrage from somebody.

I went back in this thread and realized I never commented on the opening ceremonies.

First of all - the idea that it wasn't intended as a Last Supper parody is laughable.  Obviously it was.

Second - yes a lot of right-wing trolls were just looking for something to be offended by.

Third - no, they never would have done anything like this for Islam.

Fourth - and my main point - it's just so tired and lazy.  I mean making a mockery of The Last Supper with drag queens would have been edgy in the 1980s, might have got you prosecuted for blasphemy in the 1960s (not up on French blasphemy laws from the 1960s), but in 2024 I feel like the only ones who would get seriously offended (not the online trolls) would be your great-grandmother.

I don't think anyone has ever beat the 2012 London opening ceremony, with Rowan Atkinson / James Bond and Her Majesty being involved.  And that includes beating the 2010 Vancouver games with Wayne Gretzky in the back of a truck in the rain for some inexplicable reason.

[HVC]

Turkish guy winning silver without using special glasses or ear protectors that most competitors wear.



(Bonus points for Mikec v Dikec)

I smell a remake of Taken.

[Sheilbh]

Also on Biles just heard that she's the oldest all round gold medalist in 72 years - at the age of 27

Don't think I'd ever realised quite how short a gymnast's elite competitive time frame is.

[crazy canuck]

Also on Biles just heard that she's the oldest all round gold medalist in 72 years - at the age of 27

Don't think I'd ever realised quite how short a gymnast's elite competitive time frame is.

One of the remarkable things about her is she is responsible for older gymnasts competing, simply because more strength is now required to perform the skill elements she created in the sport.

[DGuller]

Also on Biles just heard that she's the oldest all round gold medalist in 72 years - at the age of 27

Don't think I'd ever realised quite how short a gymnast's elite competitive time frame is.

It used to be the case but less so now.  Since the scoring system was changed to have separate difficulty and execution scores, the anorexic pre-pubescent girls have lost their competitive advantage that they enjoyed for many decades.  Difficult routines are rewarded a lot more now, and those require strong adult bodies.

[Josquius]

I learned the other day quite how tiny Biles is.
Given it seems to be believed gymnastics stunts your growth she must be good to reach such lows.

[Savonarola]

I learned the other day quite how tiny Biles is.
Given it seems to be believed gymnastics stunts your growth she must be good to reach such lows.

Her husband is large; he plays football for the Chicago Bears; so their couple pictures are like this:



Their kids are probably going to rebel and become Certified Professional Accountants or computer scientists.

[Josquius]

Well she's getting a caesarian.

[HVC]

How much traction is the boxing match getting in your neck of the woods?

[Barrister]

How much traction is the boxing match getting in your neck of the woods?

It's all over Twitter - haven't seen it in the real world yet.