The 2012 Olympics Thread

Suraj · Post by **Suraj** » 26 Jul 2012 02:55

In the spirit of the relentless CWG2010 baiting by the British media, here's something to start off more about the London Olympics. Please post more as and when reported:

North Korea women's soccer team delays match after South Korean flag used

hnair · Post by **hnair** » 26 Jul 2012 03:50

Jon Stewart special
http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/tue-j ... d-the-crap

Rahul M · Post by **Rahul M** » 26 Jul 2012 13:02

from FB

sum · Post by **sum** » 26 Jul 2012 15:04

'It will be pleasing if Mittal athletes win a few medals'

It was that one day at the 2004 Olympics when the face of Indian sport changed for the better. Lakshmi Mittal, the richest man in Asia and Europe, and owner of the largest steel-making company in the world with a personal fortune of nearly US $20 billion, was so disappointed by Indian athletes' poor showing at the Games that he vowed to do something for the country of his birth.

Along with his son-in-law, Amit Bhatia, he set up the Mittal Champions Trust in 2005 with the vision of producing world-class Indian sportspersons. For years later, the trust, managed by former Indian women's tennis player Manisha Malhotra, sort of achieved what it set out to in the form of Abhinav Bindra winning the country's first ever individual gold medal at the Beijing Olympics.

Now, four years down the line there are 16 athletes from their trust participating in the 2012 Olympics.

On Tuesday, the Mittals organized a small function for the Indian Olympic contingent in London to wish the athletes good luck.

A true patriot who put his money where his mouth is.

Well done, Shri. Mittal. Hope your endeavor brings us laurels

Suraj · Post by **Suraj** » 26 Jul 2012 21:12

Garbled Arabic Olympics 'Welcome' signs replaced

The official shopping centre of the 2012 Olympics apologised on Thursday for putting up "Welcome to London" banners in Arabic that read backwards.

The banners at the giant Westfield Stratford City complex -- at the main entrance to the Olympic Park in east London -- were also written with spaces between the letters, making them even more difficult to decipher.

At first glance, the banners appeared so alien to some Arabic speakers that they thought they were written in Farsi.

Excessive heat inside swim venue a concern

With temperatures soaring in London, swim coaches are complaining that it's also too hot inside the venue.

The temperature at the pool deck and in the stands has reached more than 85 degrees, about the same as the outdoor temperature Thursday.

Organizers said at a coaches meeting that they're adjusting the air conditioning to try to get the pool deck down to 80 degrees.

"They have some problem with the climate control equipment," FINA executive director Cornel Marculescu told The Associated Press. "It could be a problem for fans and journalists."

Olympics organizers held a test event at the center in March, "but they probably weren't expecting this kind of heat," Marculescu added.

Canadian coach Pierre Lafontaine was among those raising concerns during the meeting, which was closed to the media, saying that his athletes have been affected.

Lalmohan · Post by **Lalmohan** » 26 Jul 2012 21:32

Mitt Romney has begun his first trip to the UK as a candidate with questions on the readyness of the host city

Suraj · Post by **Suraj** » 27 Jul 2012 01:48

Taiwanese flags removed after Chinese officials complain

The Olympics were rocked with their second diplomatic scandal in fewer than two days Thursday after the national flag of Taiwan was withdrawn from a Games display in central London.

Taiwan's flag was replaced with a flag of its Olympic federation, fourth from left. (Caroline Chen)Chinese officials angrily confronted the British Foreign Office and complained to Olympics organizers when members of their delegation spotted the flag in the busy historic shopping district of lower Regent Street in the heart of the city. It was hastily removed, and a flag of Taiwan's national Olympic federation was found to replace it.

The political situation involving China, Taiwan and the Olympics is convoluted and tricky. China does not recognize Taiwan politically, seeing it as a rebel province. Taiwan has applied on many occasions to be recognized as its own entity by the United Nations but has always been rejected, primarily because of China’s political maneuvering.

For Olympic purposes, Taiwanese athletes compete under the team name Chinese Taipei and use the flag of their Games federation rather than the red and blue emblem of the official flag. That agreement was reached more than 30 years ago and was seen as a solution that would appease China while still allowing Taiwan to field a separate team.

The incident came as local Games organizing officials were still reeling from the extraordinary error made before Wednesday night’s women’s soccer match between North Korea and Colombia at Glasgow’s Hampden Park. Furious North Korean players left the field and refused to return for more than an hour after the South Korean flag was shown next to their names on the stadium scoreboard. The team eventually played the match and won 2-0 after receiving clearance from Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un, son of former dictator Kim Jong-il.

The flag's hasty removal was greeted with annoyance by Taiwanese authorities. Shen Lyushun, Taiwan’s most senior diplomatic official in Britain, launched an official complaint with the Foreign Office.

"In a democratic country – and in a larger sense – we believe this kind of issue should be regulated by the freedom of expression without undue intervention from a third party," Shen said. "We sincerely hope that our national flag will be returned to its original place soon."

devesh · Post by **devesh** » 27 Jul 2012 05:47

http://www.firstpost.com/olympics/india ... 87613.html

An inspiration for all Indian women: Geeta Phogat

Prem · Post by **Prem** » 27 Jul 2012 05:48

http://www.csmonitor.com/World/2012/072 ... der-taboos
How an Indian wrestler defied gender taboos

With no access to padded mats, Geeta Phogat grew up wrestling on a mud floor in an enclosure next to a cattle shed. It was the best training facility that her father, a poor farmer in rural India, could build for his daughter, who he hoped would one day become a world-class athlete.Yet today, after years of pinning taboos, Geeta will represent her country at the London Games – as the first female Olympic wrestler in Indian history. Her mere presence on the foam pads of London symbolizes a shift in one of India's longstanding gender biases. Women can wrestle.While Geeta has been unusual in breaking traditions, she's gotten a lot of help from her dad."When Geeta started wrestling, we had to deal with a lot of pushback from the community," says Mahavir Singh Phogat, her father and coach. "People told me I should be ashamed of myself for letting my daughters wrestle." (Geeta's three younger sisters also wrestle.) "People in the village and family said no one would ever want to marry my daughters and I was bringing shame to my family."The 23-year-old Olympian notes that people's attitudes began to change two years ago after she won a gold medal in the 55 kilogram (121 pound) women's free-style wrestling division at the Commonwealth Games in New Delhi. "Now my grandmother, who used to want sons, says that she does not really want boys anymore. She says I'm the lion of the family."
Mahavir, a former member of India's national wrestling team, says that from the time Geeta was a little girl watching the sport with him on TV, he always believed that she and her sisters would become world champion wrestlers. When female free-style wrestling became an official Olympic sport in 2004, that dream became a possible reality.After she started winning, the Indian government and Mittal Champions Trust, a sporting initiative bGeeta, for her part, has come a long way since competing on mud floors. Leading up to the Olympics, she has been training with the American and Canadian female wrestling teams in Colorado Springs, Colo. As she prepares for the biggest competition of her life, she is, as with everything else, taking her dad's advice.

"I'm not going to think about a medal," she says. "I'm going to give the world the wrestling match they have come to watch
ankrolled by a wealthy Indian family, provided some help. But he says India's resources still lag far behind other nations. The country has only won 20 Olympic medals.

SBajwa · Post by **SBajwa** » 27 Jul 2012 16:23

Procession has started!!

zero medals this olympics!!

Very disappointing results for Indian Men's archery

Individual competition
Tarundeep Rai finished 31st with 664 points
Rahul Banerjee finished at 46th with 655 points
Jayanta Talukdar finished 53rd with 650 points.

Indian Archery Men's team finished last among 12 qualified teams.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 27 Jul 2012 17:10

well well well they will complain of the cold and conditions.

but whatever be the conditions hot cold or wet our Soko biraders always snag a lot of gold in archery.

this is like being a JEE top10 type vs someone who scrapes in. both sit inside IIT but there is a gap.

apoorv · Post by **apoorv** » 27 Jul 2012 17:59

Women are not doing too well either. Live scores can be followed here:

http://www.archery.org/Eventresults/Liv ... aspx?e=446

sum · Post by **sum** » 27 Jul 2012 17:59

Not too great news from women's end too:

After 18 arrows, Deepika was placed 36th. Bombayla Devi Laishram is 23rd, Chekrovolu Swuro is in 48th as the competition continues. In team event, the trio is placed 9th now after 54 arrows.

apoorv · Post by **apoorv** » 27 Jul 2012 18:04

Deepika is starting to pick up now. She got 160 in 18 arrows. But in last 12 she managed 112. Infact her first round of 6 arrows brought her down where she got only 50.

sum · Post by **sum** » 27 Jul 2012 18:05

^^ How many arrows are there in the qualification?

Int eam, we are only 9th still and it was touted as a almost sure shot medal ( women's team event). Looks like even that wont happen?

apoorv · Post by **apoorv** » 27 Jul 2012 18:07

^^
Total 72 for each individual and 216 for team.

Indian women's team is ranked 2nd based on world ranking with Deepika ranked no. 1. But low rank here may pit them against Korea in draw. I dont know how draws are made in Archery.

sum · Post by **sum** » 27 Jul 2012 19:01

^^ After 60 arrows, Deepika leapfrogs to 9th in inidvidual but team still placed at 9th out of 12 mainly due to Chekrovolu Swuro being 46th

apoorv · Post by **apoorv** » 27 Jul 2012 19:10

I think its a good thing. India's only medal chance in Archery is Deepika's individual medal. She made a poor start. Hence she will be ranked 5-10 in main event. Less pressure and expectation on her from media. Also she will be more grounded. After first 6 arrows she is doing as good as koreans. But one thing is for sure, luck has a part to play. One bad stint and you are out.

apoorv · Post by **apoorv** » 27 Jul 2012 19:18

Women finished 9th with individual standings of 8th, 22nd and 50th.

SBajwa · Post by **SBajwa** » 27 Jul 2012 19:22

Here are the athletes representing USA just from the city of Pittsburgh (500,000 population)

http://www.nbcolympics.com/wpxi/local-a ... index.html

sum · Post by **sum** » 27 Jul 2012 19:23

^^ Hope the day of the finals goes good for us and we are able to do better since the ratings in qualification apparently do not matter too much other than determining the order of opponents to beat to move to next round in shootout.

Suraj · Post by **Suraj** » 27 Jul 2012 20:34

Archery Men's Team: India plays Japan for the quarterfinal slot. If we get through, we take on USA. Since the team finished in the bottom of the ranking round, they ended up drawing #5 Japan. Unless you finish as one of the top 4 teams in the ranking round, you don't get a bye in the quarterfinal eliminator. The team needs to pick it up - they lost to the US in the World Cup final just last month.

Archery Women's Team: The women picked a more defeatable quarterfinal eliminator opponent in Denmark. However, they then run into the Koreans. If they do get past the Koreans, they have it easier because the Koreans are topseeded, and they draw the weaker seeded side of the pool in the semifinals. But the chances of them getting that far is low.

SBajwa · Post by **SBajwa** » 27 Jul 2012 21:05

by Suraj
If they do get past the Koreans, they have it easier because the Koreans are topseeded

How do you do that? not possible!!

Good thing is that Dipika is young and will be ready for 2016 at Rio!! Rest of the archers can go home soon after opening ceremony.

World #1, #2 epithets are due to garbage world, state, commonwealth, championships that our players participate. Real athletes, once qualified for Olympics! practice hard and participate only in good tournaments like Olympics!!!

Suraj · Post by **Suraj** » 27 Jul 2012 21:24

Calm down SBajwa

What did you expect of them ? Both teams made the elimination round. All 6 archers are also in the individual elimination rounds. That's better than any prior Olympics. Other than the Koreans, no other team is really scary - the archers need to get their heads together on the day, that's all. We have a men's team of three archers of about equal ability, but a women's team of one star and 2 comparatively weaker ones. That's more of less the story with all the teams, except Korea, who have 3 robots in both men's and women's teams.

Yes, the men's team despite finishing 12th have a better chance of medaling - they've beaten both Japan and USA before, and if they do again, they have a chance of a bronze in the playoff match even if they lose to South Korea in the semifinal. The women have it harder because they are bracketed to run into Korea in the quarters, before the medal round, and will probably fail because Deepika cannot carry the team herself. Limba Ram has his task cut out to fire these folks up before the eliminator.

SBajwa · Post by **SBajwa** » 27 Jul 2012 21:27

Schedule for Saturday July 28th.

Badminton July 28th

Badminton Mixed Doubles
3:30 AM EST India (J Gutta, v Diju) vs Indonesia

10:30 AM Women's doubles
India (J Gutta, A Ponnappa) vs Japan

Men's singles
India vs Belgium
Parupalli Kashyap vs Tan Yuhan

Boxing
Vijender Singh in 75kg Men's middle weight (10:00 EST or 17:00 EST)
Vikas Krishan in 56kg Bantam weight (8:30 EST or 15:30 EST)

Tennis
Women's doubles
17:30 PM
Sania Mirza,R Chakarvarthi vs Chinese Taipe

Table Tennis
Women's singles
Ankita Das vs. Sara Ramirez of Spain at 12:00 EST
Men's singles
Soumyajit Ghosh vs Gustabo Tsuboi of Brazil at 16:00 EST

Rowing
Swarn Singh Virk in Men's Single sculls

Shooting
Men's 10m Air Pistol
Vijay Kumar

Women's weightlifting

Soniya Chanu at 15:30

member_23367 · Post by **member_23367** » 27 Jul 2012 21:42

Fire starts in pavilion at Olympic sailing venue in Weymouth where Opening Ceremony reception due to be held - @BBCBreaking

Karma is a bitch I say.

sum · Post by **sum** » 27 Jul 2012 22:10

World #1, #2 epithets are due to garbage world, state, commonwealth, championships that our players participate. Real athletes, once qualified for Olympics! practice hard and participate only in good tournaments like Olympics!!!

sum · Post by **sum** » 27 Jul 2012 22:19

About the archer who set the world record today in men's qualifying:

Im won gold medals in the team event at the Beijing [ Images ] and Athens Olympics. He has only 10 per cent vision in his left eye, and 20 per cent in his right, meaning he is considered legally blind.

He has said that when he looks at the targets, he sees colors with blurred lines between them. He does not wear glasses in competition, saying he he relies on being able to distinguish between the bright colors of the target.

How the $%#^@ can a blind guy shoot like this and set a world record? Are these Koreans robots??

member_23367 · Post by **member_23367** » 28 Jul 2012 01:45

Guys read the tweets https://twitter.com/search/%23OpeningCeremony . ROFLMAO,freaking brits always whining.

London 2012‏@London2012

Her Majesty The Queen leaves Buckingham Palace with James Bond 007 (played by Daniel Craig) by helicopter... #OpeningCeremony

reply:

if Bond has his wicked way with the Queen in that chopper, hats off - best #openingceremony ever

SBajwa · Post by **SBajwa** » 28 Jul 2012 02:03

kshatriya · Post by **kshatriya** » 28 Jul 2012 02:16

There is still a very high chance to pick up a medal in the Individual Archery Category. Deepika did make a very strong come back and she was 2nd in the 2nd round... The rules during Knockouts are different from the rules during Seeding rounds. There is a best of 5 sets. Its not like the past or the seeding where one bad arrow knocked one out.

The chances in the team event are very slim.

kshatriya · Post by **kshatriya** » 28 Jul 2012 02:43

C*****yas

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/s...w/15207995.cms

LONDON: With only a few hours to go for the 2012 London Olympics, India's strongest and largest contingent at any Games in history, is facing a very, well, Indian problem.

Instead of priming themselves to get in the 'zone' as their respective events draw near, a number of top medal hopefuls are struggling to make do with their competition uniforms, which they are describing as sub-standard and of extremely poor quality.

The kit has been supplied by Dida, whose claim to fame until they won the Olympics contract from the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) for Rs 50 lakh was supplying gear for the National Atya Patya Championship, National Floorball Championship, and the National Tug-of-War Championship.

Boxer Jai Bhagwan, one of the famous Bhiwani Boys and a medal hopeful in the 60-kg category at London, on Thursday lashed out at manufacturer, and by extension at the IOA.

"To be honest, this is the worst kit I have ever seen," Bhagwan told Mumbai Mirror. "It's of poor quality, it lacks durability, and some of it doesn't even fit right. Our kit in national competitions back home was of much better quality. When you are at the Olympics, you don't expect something as sub-standard as what we have been given. One feels more confident in the ring when one is wearing clothes without worrying about whether they will last the entire bout."

The mood is not very different in the hockey camp, sources close to the team said. On Wednesday evening, India's star drag-flicker Sandeep Singh was spotted at the Olympic village wearing shorts that were bursting at the seams.

Sandeep had decided to step out in his torn shorts as a mark of protest against the quality of kit provided to his team.

"Sandeep is facing more problems than the others because, as a drag-flicker, he has to bend awkwardly during penalty corners. He is worried that there may be an embarrassing accident," said a team source, who asked not to be named.

The archery team had a different kit problem last week. In their case, the sleeves of their shorts were so long, stretching right up to their fingers, that they were finding it difficult to grip their bows. When contacted on Thursday, Archery federation secretary Paresh Nath Mukherjee said that the problem has been sorted out.

An official from the manufacturing company Dida, Deepak Nagia, told Mumbai Mirror that the kit was fine; that it had to be since he is had been approved by the IOA.

"As far as the refitting for the archers is concerned, we had got wrong sizes from the IOA. That was not in our hands. The rest of the kits are all fine," he insisted.

Dida was one of three companies who had bid for the contract for India's Olympics uniforms. They had clinched the deal beating famous Chinese sports goods manufacturer Li Ning and India's other top sports goods company Shiv Naresh. Of the Rs 50 lakh sponsorship contract, Rs 15 lakh was to be spent on kits.

An IOA official told Mirror that Dida's was the best bid that they had received. "I don't see anything wrong with the quality of the kits," the official said. "What is all the fuss about?"

Suraj · Post by **Suraj** » 28 Jul 2012 05:26

Dopius, Drugius, Steroidius:
Chinese doctor reveals state sponsored doping program

Chinese Olympians were subjected to a state-sponsored doping regime in the 1980s and 1990s, a retired chief medical supervisor revealed to Australian media on Friday.

Xue Yinxian, the former chief doctor for the Chinese gymnastics team in the 1980s, said steroids and human growth hormones were officially treated as part of "scientific training" as the country emerged as a sporting power.

"It was rampant in the 1980s," she told the Sydney Morning Herald. "One had to accept it."

Xue said athletes often did not know what they were being injected with and medical staff who refused to participate were marginalised.

The newspaper said it was the first time anyone in the system had publicly contradicted Beijing's line that a host of embarrassing doping busts in the 1990s was the result of ambitious individual athletes and coaches.

Beijing has insisted it has cleaned up its act since the 1994 world swimming championships when China performed beyond expectations to win 12 gold medals amid widespread suspicions of doping.

Later that year seven swimmers tested positive for steroids at the Hiroshima Asian Games, which left the squad so decimated that it won only one swimming gold at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics.

The decline was only temporary and by 1998 China was back -- until four more positive tests and the discovery of human growth hormone in a swimmer's luggage at that year's world championships in Perth, Australia.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 28 Jul 2012 06:57

korea in archery, is like usa in basketball....even with a second string and a bad day they are very hard to beat - a very cultural and H&D thing. maybe they got a lot of practice in the past shooting arrows at their Han invaders trying to come across the hills from the north

the han were given a bloody nose by the koreans on many occasions. kubilai khan managed to conquer it and established a shipbuilding area of competence for his failed invasion of japan.

Surya · Post by **Surya** » 28 Jul 2012 09:33

this has to be one of the worst olympic ceremonies just behind the Atlanta crap

WTF- Boyle should stick to making movies depicting others in bad light
Mr Bean was the saving grace

Mort Walker · Post by **Mort Walker** » 28 Jul 2012 09:57

^^^That is true. There were a few things that were good that were not done by Boyle, like the lighting of the Olympic cauldron and Paul McCartney singing 'Hey Jude'.

saip · Post by **saip** » 28 Jul 2012 10:01

They celebrated Industrial Revolution but how about the colonies that supplied them cheap raw materials?

Neela · Post by **Neela** » 28 Jul 2012 11:34

The Anglais are a extremely conscious lot it seems.
Every channel I see has reporters asking everyone how the show went. ANd they are goading people into giving an answer they want to hear.
One online survey had 40% saying it was not good and the reporters called the survey unscientific.

As usual, BBC insists that it was a fantastic show.
-----------------

SAd show. Britain still relies on its past to say it is still glorious today. The inertia that came from the colonial loot is already lost. And with Britain finding it hard to give out new roots to anything , the show had to rely on the INdustrial revolution . And had to scrap the bottom of the barrel to find bits and pieces that it can show . Mr Bean. Beatles.
One word: Nostalgia.
And indeed the show reflected the mood of Britain - grey ,sad and once-was.

harbans · Post by **harbans** » 28 Jul 2012 11:55

GOI should spend Zilch for olympics. Nothing. These sports originate from gladiatorial conquests. If you are fat and strong, you'll be able to throw a fat iron ball further. The East Europeans will dominate that field because generations of beer drinking amongst a section of them make some stronger young ones epigenetically do it better than others. Just because West Africans spent millennium behind bushes with a Knife/ Spear and sprinting to kill prey like Deer/ Gazelle it will for generations give them an advantage over other races in sprint events. Just like Somalians, Kenyans, Ethiopians and other assorted East Africans spent millennia running major distances for food and water gave them epigenetically a larger hemoglobin carrying capacity they will win all major long distance events and dominate it even without the latest Nike sportswear or Govt support. Rest all Gymnastics and synchro swim events are made for Western nations that have the advantage of indoor pools and more for generations that others don't. Look at any marathon or long distance event..East Europeans dominate. Look at any finalist line up of sprint events..West Africans dominate. Look at hammer throw or shot put events and fat beer drinking progeny dominate. Look at the fancy events European dominate and they have some 80 gold medals waiting in events that most of the planet possibly has only heard of. Why waste time throwing a spear, an iron ball..

The only good thing about Modern olympics is that individuals try and break moulds, epigentic moulds. This should be about individual effort. Not Govt sponsored. India should not get into the Chinese, Soviet, East German ruthless approach to be more TFTA. It should find private sponsors for each olympics, send very large qualified contingents and be very happy with 1-2 or 3 medals. If more great. If not, smile and tell folks we adon't really make too much effort to be TFTA..we are happy being SDRE.

Supratik · Post by **Supratik** » 28 Jul 2012 14:23

Indian men knocked out in archery. Jwala-Diju loose.