Re: The Olympics Thread

[JKLever]

Tell you what nobody should complain about the weather in 4 years time - conditions have been grim for the first 2 days.

If it hasn't been smog its been tipping it down!

[filosofee]

RPI.edu assisting US's swim-team:

Milliseconds can mean the difference between triumph and defeat in the world of Olympic sports, leading more trainers and athletes to look toward technology as a tool to get an edge on the competition.

A fluids mechanics professor at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, N.Y., is using experimental flow measurement techniques to help American swimmers sharpen their strokes, shave seconds from their lap times, and race toward a gold medal in Beijing this summer.

Professor Timothy Wei , head of Rensselaer’s Department of Mechanical, Aerospace, and Nuclear Engineering and acting dean of the university’s School of Engineering, helped develop top-secret, state-of-the-art equipment and mathematical techniques that USA Swimming coaches have been using to help train Olympians.

“This is the real thing,” Wei said. “We have the physical system, we’re taking flow measurements of actual swimmers, and we’re getting more information than anyone has ever had before about swimming and how the swimmer interacts with the water. And so far, these techniques have contributed to some very significant improvements in the lap times of Olympic swimmers.”

Rest here: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/08/080808104931.htm

[filosofee]

Hope London-2012 uses this song from Athens '04, wonderfully captures the Olympic spirit (too bad Russia had to spoil the world love-in):

[JKLever]

Either I'm getting seriously older or competitors are looking a bit younger these days...

[LeFromage]

I hate Jamie Cullum.

[JKLever]

Is it sad that I had to google to find out who Jamie Cullum is?

[Basil]

Is it sad that I had to google to find out who Jamie Cullum is?

It's sad that you would want to!

[JKLever]

All in the interests of finding out what the fudge Dello is on about!

[PlanetPakistan]

well at least we are NOT in the bottom 20 either.

Comfortably mid table.

62 Pakistan 3 3 4 10

ah...wish they had squash in the olympics.

[PlanetPakistan]

but still thats terrible for the 7th most populous country in the world.
90% of the folks in our country don't even know about 90% of the Olympics events.

[JKLever]

Re Squash

Squash players and associations have lobbied for many years for the sport to be accepted into the Olympic Games, with no success to date.
Squash is played throughout the world, and is similar to tennis in terms of athletic skills and fitness requirements, but the principal limitation has always been the difficulty in observing the sport as a spectator, either in person or on television.

The ball travels so quickly that television audiences are hard-pressed to follow the action, even though some tournaments have attempted to remedy the problem by utilizing a specially coated ball for increased visibility.

To maximize the viewing audience at tournaments, promoters often utilize an all-glass court that is designed to permit spectators to be seated around all four walls but is specially tinted so as not to distract the players.

Because of these viewership restrictions, professional squash players earn vastly less than their counterparts in the tennis world.

[PlanetPakistan]

Squash along with full court basketball it is the most physically grueling sport that i have ever played. I use to play it about 3 years ago and was almost always beaten by this 70 year old.

[Gary 111]

So its only grueling if you're no good at it....

Most grueling sport i've ever played must have been rugby - squash is good exercise and good fun though.

[PlanetPakistan]

So its only grueling if you're no good at it....

Most grueling sport i've ever played must have been rugby - squash is good exercise and good fun though.

I was decent.
The 70 year old was just very very good, he use to play with Hashim Khan.

[Big_Bad_Bob]

Are there any bigger qunts in the sporting world than the Us basketball team?

The US 4 x 100m Sprint team would have to be up there too.

I really hope they drop the baton.

Aye - how good was it when our boys beat those qunts in Athens?

Sweet, sweet, sweet, sweet.

The only relay race to rival that for excitement for me was when Kriss Akabusi brought us home for Gold in the 4x400m in the World Championships in the early 90's.

[Big_Bad_Bob]

Is the Aussie coverage a bit like the US? Please tell me it isn't!!

I don't know - I've never watched the Olympics in the US. If you mean is it all about seeing the Aussies and no one else then not exactly. We actually have two broadcasters and the second broadcaster has a pretty wide range (hence the Austrian beach volley ball team).

The main broadcaster is really quite terrible though.

That's only because the editor is illiterate, and hadn't noticed the crucial missing 'al' mid-word though.

[Guest]

I saw a bit of gymnastics today. One of our girls was the most horrifically bad looking girl I've seen for quite some time. Appalling teeth.

[PearlJ]

I saw a bit of gymnastics today. One of our girls was the most horrifically bad looking girl I've seen for quite some time. Appalling teeth.

Yup, that's Beth Tweddle. Ugliest girl in the games.

Most of the other gymnasts look pretty good though.

[JKLever]

I saw a bit of gymnastics today. One of our girls was the most horrifically bad looking girl I've seen for quite some time. Appalling teeth.

Beth Tweddle?

[PearlJ]

Woah! You should put a warning on that! It's horrible!

[JKLever]

Oh come on she's not that bad, she's still a teenager FFS.

I don't see what you can do about 'horse gums' either....

[PearlJ]

She's 23....

It's not her fault..... but she is a total ugo.

[JKLever]

She's 23....

Is she? Farkin hell... she's like a grandma in gymnastics then!

[PearlJ]

She's 23....

Is she? Farkin hell... she's like a grandma in gymnastics then!

I know. Some of these girls are ridiculously young.

[Guest]

Haha yeah, that was the one. I love the fact that my description of "ugly and bad teeth" did the trick.

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