Brazil Olympics

[Bagwan]

A lot of people are pretty worried about these games .

The list of why is pretty scary .

Don't go into the water .

Oil slicks that are described as unavoidable are turning boats brown .
That's a darker colour than what the fecal matter would have tinted it .

What you can't see is worse , as untreated medical waste flows into the soup as well and bugs including antibiotic-resistant bacteria are found in numbers up to 1.7 million times the amount allowable on California beaches .

If you do get sick , go home for treatment if you can , as the hospitals can't pay the doctors and staff , and are short of every supply , including common drugs .

The police and firemen are striking , too , and with rampant crime , like kidnappings happening regularly , it could be mayhem .


It is looking like the Zica virus is the least of anybody's worries .

Brazil is in utter economic collapse .
The government released money for saving the games only 36 days before they are to start .



I fear , after hearing all this and more , that this will be a painful games to watch .
I hope all stay safe with all of this trouble .

And , I don't want to think about how a terrorist act could change the world at these games .

[Storm]

Nice.

Also the games are usually tied to a city not country, so its Rio Olympics.

Despite all the negativity (which is what the media wants tbh) the world cup went okay, so I think it might be similar. Not that I care much (or at all) about Olympics these days.

[Bagwan]

Nice.

Also the games are usually tied to a city not country, so its Rio Olympics.

Despite all the negativity (which is what the media wants tbh) the world cup went okay, so I think it might be similar. Not that I care much (or at all) about Olympics these days.

Maybe it is what the media wants to see , but when I see a picture of a group of striking cops with a banner that says " Don't worry , only 54 cops have been killed in this Olympic year !" , it makes me wonder about shiny pictures of Rio .

[Starter]

A lot of people are pretty worried about these games .

The list of why is pretty scary .

Don't go into the water .

Oil slicks that are described as unavoidable are turning boats brown .
That's a darker colour than what the fecal matter would have tinted it .

What you can't see is worse , as untreated medical waste flows into the soup as well and bugs including antibiotic-resistant bacteria are found in numbers up to 1.7 million times the amount allowable on California beaches .

If you do get sick , go home for treatment if you can , as the hospitals can't pay the doctors and staff , and are short of every supply , including common drugs .

The police and firemen are striking , too , and with rampant crime , like kidnappings happening regularly , it could be mayhem .


It is looking like the Zica virus is the least of anybody's worries .

Brazil is in utter economic collapse .
The government released money for saving the games only 36 days before they are to start .



I fear , after hearing all this and more , that this will be a painful games to watch .
I hope all stay safe with all of this trouble .

And , I don't want to think about how a terrorist act could change the world at these games .
Some of the participants in the rowing competitions don't want to go in the water as you mentioned above. Add to that that the accommodations for the athletes is in dire shape. Brand new housing in the Olympic Village is uninhabitable. Leaking plumbing, unfinished rooms, etc. Some teams arriving early have moved out into other spaces after taking one look. Makes one wonder what the various arenas look like.

[Bagwan]

Some of the participants in the rowing competitions don't want to go in the water as you mentioned above. Add to that that the accommodations for the athletes is in dire shape. Brand new housing in the Olympic Village is uninhabitable. Leaking plumbing, unfinished rooms, etc. Some teams arriving early have moved out into other spaces after taking one look. Makes one wonder what the various arenas look like.

The new LRT lines are not done .
And , we're talking about open excavations here , so it's not just like they didn't get built . They hamper what was already there .

It won't be easy getting in and out , and if you do wish to find other accommodations , I can't imagine , with the world flying in , that that will be easy either .

One must hope that they value (and actually pay) the air traffic controllers more than they do the police and fire crews , for the sake of all flyers .

[Zeakiwi]

Always Air BnB for the last minute bookings for Rio.
The photos were not so bad for the Village depending on what block you got. Some required a bit of work.
http://tinyurl.com/ha5hvjg

[Bagwan]

It's about to start .

I hope all goes well .

[Zeakiwi]

The Israelis trained 10 000 Brazilian security force people for the Olympics.
I hope no important points were 'lost in translation'.
http://www.brazzil.com/23968-the-10-000-men-from-rio-olympics-security-forces-were-trained-by-israel

[steveaki13]

Havent seen much yet. Been very busy. However hope to catch up this evening.

Anyone else following anything in particular?

[Bagwan]

Havent seen much yet. Been very busy. However hope to catch up this evening.

Anyone else following anything in particular?

I've watched a fair bit so far , steve .

The rowing yesterday was pretty entertaining with such rough waters .
In the 2,000 m single sculls , boats were entirely sideways in the lanes at times , with even the top rowers at a 45% angle across them .
A 2-man team scuttled a little later .
They are trying to decide whether to run today at all .

The bike road race had an unlikely face on the top step after a crash in the final , crazy tight descent .

Fencing , in my opinion , sucks as a spectator sport .
It's tick , tick , zwick , lunge , boink , and a point for one of them , so fast that without the light coming on you'd never be able to see who won .

Lotsa good stuff going on .
Watching a little women's rugby between Kenya and Spain right now .

[airshifter]

I've watched a bit of everything, and enjoy doing so. I completely agree with Bagwan that with some sports you can't even tell what is going on. :laugh: Some of the diving is similar to fencing, they do so many twists and flips now it's hard to keep track of. I don't even see how the judges keep track.

Glad to see that the doping Russian Yulia Efimova was beaten by the non performance drug influenced youngster Lilly King. This crap with the doping needs to end, there are too many shady things taking place again.

[Brown, Jon Brow]

I've watched a bit of everything, and enjoy doing so. I completely agree with Bagwan that with some sports you can't even tell what is going on. :laugh: Some of the diving is similar to fencing, they do so many twists and flips now it's hard to keep track of. I don't even see how the judges keep track.

Glad to see that the doping Russian Yulia Efimova was beaten by the non performance drug influenced youngster Lilly King. This crap with the doping needs to end, there are too many shady things taking place again.

Maybe they should just make doping legal?

Imagine how fast Bolt could run 100m!!

[Bagwan]

One thing bugs me , and I've seen it in Volleyball , tennis , and beach volleyball , is the "challenge" .
You've got two challenges , apparently , and if you ask for one , and it's correct , you keep two .
Lose the call and you lose one .

That's pretty straight forward , but with today's technology , they can easily , and quickly , tell who wins every time .

So , why bother with the challenge when all it does is add unnecessary time to the match ?


I suppose , from a competitor's point of view , it could be used to slow the momentum of a rival , but is that really a fair move , when it could be used frivolously to cause frustration at a key point in a match ?

[D-Type]

Maybe they should just make doping legal?

Imagine how fast Bolt could run 100m!!
I was just composing a similar post. We have progressed from "running a few laps in the evening between work and dusk" level of training to athletes training full time with experts determining the best way to develop the athlete's body to suit the sport's requirements. Why not go the final stage and say they can use any means man can devise - including drugs. OK, we know some drugs have long term consequences far more serious than the damage over-training or ignoring injuries can cause. But that is a decision the individual athlete can take. They are adults after all! And if doping is out in the open the consequences can be made fully known.

[Bagwan]

I was just composing a similar post. We have progressed from "running a few laps in the evening between work and dusk" level of training to athletes training full time with experts determining the best way to develop the athlete's body to suit the sport's requirements. Why not go the final stage and say they can use any means man can devise - including drugs. OK, we know some drugs have long term consequences far more serious than the damage over-training or ignoring injuries can cause. But that is a decision the individual athlete can take. They are adults after all! And if doping is out in the open the consequences can be made fully known.

Then , with enough testosterone , we could have the women on the same level as the men !
Yeah , everyone would want to see that .
Maybe not .

I was listening to the radio (CBC) the other day , and they were talking about body enhancements that are starting to become common .
Things like replacing ligaments with tendons in NFL players , and the filing of facial bones to prevent skin tears in the UFC .

Where will that end , with the webbing of hands and feet for swimmers ?

[henners88]

A good night for team GB with 2 silver medals. The time difference is a pain for Europeans as we wake up to good news rather than see it lol. It's not all about us though.

[D-Type]

Then , with enough testosterone , we could have the women on the same level as the men !
Yeah , everyone would want to see that .
Maybe not .

I was listening to the radio (CBC) the other day , and they were talking about body enhancements that are starting to become common .
Things like replacing ligaments with tendons in NFL players , and the filing of facial bones to prevent skin tears in the UFC .

Where will that end , with the webbing of hands and feet for swimmers ?
In the days when I used to read The Wizard etc there was one character "The boy with flipper feet".

I don't like the idea of surgical enhancement. Admittedly, I don't like doping either - but hopefully bringing it into the open might remove the incentive to "seek an unfair advantage"

[Rollo]

http://media.fbc.com.fj/news/2016/08/pm-congratulates-fiji-7s-team_650x350.jpg

Fiji Rubgy. Came, saw, conquered, took names. 43-7 is an absolute pasting; though chin up Team GB, it's still a silver medal.

The is the first medal for Fiji ever. I think it's nice that it happened in a sport they car so passionately about. I'm still looking for FBC's radio commentary on this. I think that that would be a hoot to listen to.

[Brown, Jon Brow]

Great Britain move up to third in the medal table which is good. I remember back in the 90's when we hardly won anything. It would be incredible if we could push China for 2nd place.

The only thing that annoys me is why are we called 'Team GB'? Do other nations change their name?

[Bagwan]

I can't wait for the men's 200m race .
Our lad Andre gonna give dat Usain a run for his money .

[Steve Boyd]

They are adults after all!
Are they? Plenty of teenagers have competed in gymnastics and swimming to name only two sports.

At what age do you start giving your kids steroids and growth hormones to make sure they can be champions in their twenties?

[Brown, Jon Brow]

Since I last posted GB did overtake China into second place.

A great effort but i still think China will regain second over us.

A great result for Brownlee, Jon Brownlee who got silver in the Triathlon behind Brownlee, Alistair Brownlee.

[Storm]

The swimmers and their fake robbery is getting way too much attention....just some idiots who tried to cover up their own mistakes...easy to blame crime and all the "crap" in Rio right ;)

just watched badminton finals, Sindhu was excellent but lost the final, at least a silver and she'll hopefully keep getting better.
MSNBC thought it would be nice to start the final 1 hr late, and then cut most of the match in the breaks. While f**kin 20km WALK, Golf and horse jumping !!!! was going on live for hours.

seriously, at least badminton is a sport and watchable for the most part...what the hell is WALKING when you also have RUNNING?

[Brown, Jon Brow]

@Storm

How has a country the size of India managed to win so few medals?

Is cricket literally the only sport people play there?

[Rollo]

How has a country the size of India managed to win so few medals?

Is cricket literally the only sport people play there?

India/GDP per capita 1,498.87 USD (2013)

There are loads and loads and loads of very poor people in India. The actual proportion of the population who would be able to divert their life into the non-income producing demands that training to be an Olympic athlete demands is tiny.


Find me those stats.

[Brown, Jon Brow]

That's a higher GDP per capita than Kenya with 10 medals.

Uzbekistan $1,800 per capita - 8 medals.

North Korea $500 per capita - 7 medals.

Ethiopia $500 per capita - 6 medals

Vietnam, Ivory Coast both have gold medals.

Countries that are just as poor as India but with far, far smaller populations achieve moderate success.

200-300 million Indians that have moderate wealth might be a minority in India, but is significant number compared with other nations. In India it seems a cultural thing as well as an economic thing.

[steveaki13]

India used to be good at Hockey didnt they?

Anyway I have been loving the Olympics but unable to post as my laptop has stopped me getting on sadly. It is suddenly better again...... very weird.

[gadjo_dilo]

Finally Brazil managed to get the gold at football with the lovely Neymar dramatically scoring the last penalty.

Following my good ol' tradition I slept during the match and woke up in time for penalties. :p

[Storm]

India used to be good at Hockey didnt they?




Used to be the Brasil of Hockey a long time ago. Now more like England of football :D

I came home with 111' in the match and watched the penalties..glad to see Neymar and Rafinha score and get the gold.

JBJ, it could be a long discussion over a few pints as to why India do so badly. But yes, cricket is the main culprit. Along with poverty, lack of opportunity, lack of infrastructure, corruption at every level of sports, and a viable career path in any sport other than cricket. It already killed hockey.

While many sports have a huge following (football, hockey, tennis etc) , our attitude to sport is usually one of lower priority in life than other things deemed more important (education for one - but even that as a means, not necessarily for learning!)

Things are changing at very slow pace, but at least this generation has a few heroes like Saina Nehwal/PV Sindhu in badminton and a few boxers/wrestlers that did manage to win a little. Hopefully my generation will help change attitudes and help our children achieve better in sports than we ever did.

[gadjo_dilo]

Hey Storm..... I thought kabaddi is a popular sport in India. At least that's what I saw in some tv series. :p But it's not a olympic sport.

[D-Type]

I've never heard of it - which doesn't mean much. I looked it up - it must be the only team sport that doesn't need a ball (if you say the ice hockey puck is an honorary ball).

[Brown, Jon Brow]

Hey Storm..... I thought kabaddi is a popular sport in India. At least that's what I saw in some tv series. :p But it's not a olympic sport.

I've seen it on TV before and it looked great fun.

Certainly more athletic than some Olympic sports.

[Storm]

It's the cheapest sport to play too..all you need is chalk to mark up the court...it's fun to play too. wrestling moves, grappling, tugging, speed, energy and excitement in fact. It is popular but not as much as other sports. We played a lot of kabaddi in school along with football and cricket. There is a Pro Kabaddi League now trying to make the sport more accessible and glamourous (for some reason that's always more important than the quality of the sport here?)

edit: Jon is right, its loads better than curling/speed walking and stuff. It also has been in a few Asian Games btw

edit2: gadjo, enough of the tv serials :p:

[gadjo_dilo]

edit2: gadjo, enough of the tv serials :p:

But they helped me to learn so much about India.....:p

[Zeakiwi]

Has there been any proven match fixing in Kabaddi leagues?

A post Olympics discussion by NZ sports' journos who were in Rio- the panel agreement was that the main summer Olympic Games should be downsized or co-hosted to a greater extent. Interesting hear about the sailors?/rowers? who stayed in a house due to their venue being too far from the village.

[steveaki13]

It was a good games but it seems the legacy will suffer as the paralympic games will suffer.

Sent from my GT-I9301I using Tapatalk

[Storm]

All the fear mongering was essentially just that though, like the first post here.

[Brown, Jon Brow]

All the fear mongering was essentially just that though, like the first post here.

There was a lot of fear mongering but I don't think Rio 2016 was as successful as the last few Olympics.

Too many empty seats and the impression that the host nation didn't embrace it.

[Storm]

It wasn't expected to be either I think...Only host nation/cities to truly embrace the Olympics are usually in the top 5 in the medal tally. The world cup was successful despite the same set of problems.

All the nonsense about Golfers pulling out due to Zika was just that - Western media blowing things way out of proportion - golf at the olympics is another joke in reality - you are more likely to get Zika in Florida thesedays :p:

[Rakesh Singh Kumar]

I've seen it on TV before and it looked great fun.

Certainly more athletic than some Olympic sports.

Pro Kabaddi is one of the interesting sports events to watch. Now you can watch Pro Kabaddi Videos (https://prokabadi.net/pro-kabaddi-live/kabaddi-videos/) of latest matches.