The 2012 Olympics Thread

Lalmohan · Post by **Lalmohan** » 11 Aug 2012 23:35

great bout, nice alligator roll! shabash dutt ji!

kshatriya · Post by **kshatriya** » 11 Aug 2012 23:48

KJo · Post by **KJo** » 11 Aug 2012 23:48

Is Yogi's bout on video anywhere?

zlin · Post by **zlin** » 11 Aug 2012 23:50

Cao Zhongrong just won silver medal in modern pentathlon, which is historical first Chinese and Asian player to win medal in this event. Another great breakthrough!

Cong to Indian to win another bronze too.

KJo · Post by **KJo** » 11 Aug 2012 23:51

1 Gold more and this would be a very successful OG IMO.

Suraj · Post by **Suraj** » 11 Aug 2012 23:52

Basant Bahadur Rana finished only 36th in the 50km mens racewalk, but he broke the national record while doing so, doing it in 3:56, compared to the previous national record of 4:16 (per the Indian athletics website, since wiki has overwritten the old one). Still quite some distance off from the 3:35 for gold medal, but a significant 20 minute jump in performance nevertheless. Irfan and Rana are worth grooming further in their respective walk categories.

Sushil Kumar faces Beijing gold medalist Ramazan Sahin of Turkey tomorrow in his first match. Both got byes in first round. Men's 66kg Freestyle Wrestling Draw

kshatriya · Post by **kshatriya** » 12 Aug 2012 00:03

KJoishy wrote:Is Yogi's bout on video anywhere?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YwAuabVh8GQ#t=3613s

Suraj · Post by **Suraj** » 12 Aug 2012 00:08

zlin wrote:Cao Zhongrong just won silver medal in modern pentathlon, which is historical first Chinese and Asian player to win medal in this event. Another great breakthrough!

Cong to Indian to win another bronze too.

Congrats to China. Please continue to stick it to the traditional Olympics powers, and share your training techniques and practices with us as well

kshatriya · Post by **kshatriya** » 12 Aug 2012 00:13

deleted

KJo · Post by **KJo** » 12 Aug 2012 00:15

We are ranked 52 right now with 0-1-4.
http://indiatoday.intoday.in/london-oly ... -tally.jsp

If Sushil wins a Gold, we will move to 37 (assuming other countries don't move up).

KJo · Post by **KJo** » 12 Aug 2012 00:16

kshatriya wrote:
KJoishy wrote:Is Yogi's bout on video anywhere?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YwAuabVh8GQ#t=3613s

The uploader has not made this video available in your country.

kshatriya · Post by **kshatriya** » 12 Aug 2012 00:20

^^ Are you in India ?

If you are in US try nbcolympics.com

Suraj · Post by **Suraj** » 12 Aug 2012 00:21

NBC blocks all other live feeds and the official youtube channel, except its own, in the US. You're out of luck unless you have a VPN link to a server in UK or elsewhere.

NBC video of all of Yogeshwar's repechage matches: NBC link. Check around minute 0:29 0:45 and 1:00. Check 1:10 for the awesome roll of the Korean.

Comer · Post by **Comer** » 12 Aug 2012 00:24

Stopped watching our guys live for fearing of jinxing them. Strat-e-jee proved fruitful!

Rahul M · Post by **Rahul M** » 12 Aug 2012 00:26

saravana, same here.

didn't even check BR till match was over.

Ardeshir · Post by **Ardeshir** » 12 Aug 2012 00:58

Olympics: Vikas and Sangwan not the only ones crying foul

It’s not just Sumit Sangwan and Vikas Krishan raising questions over decisions at the London Olympics. There has been a series of disputes that has led to allegations that medals could be bought this time around.

Last year, BBC Newsnight spoke to Olympics boxing insiders who confirm the same. The report says that the BBC were informed that $9 million had been paid from Azerbaijan to the international boxing authorities for two gold medals.

kshatriya · Post by **kshatriya** » 12 Aug 2012 01:13

^^ Most of the Referees who voted against Indian Boxers are from UZB, AZE, TJK, KZK

kshatriya · Post by **kshatriya** » 12 Aug 2012 01:30

Jamaica just destroyed the rest in 4x100m. New WR

KJo · Post by **KJo** » 12 Aug 2012 01:44

Suraj wrote:NBC blocks all other live feeds and the official youtube channel, except its own, in the US. You're out of luck unless you have a VPN link to a server in UK or elsewhere.

NBC video of all of Yogeshwar's repechage matches: NBC link. Check around minute 0:29 0:45 and 1:00. Check 1:10 for the awesome roll of the Korean.

1:10 was awesome! Thanks for the link!!

JSR! (Jai Shri Ram)

Comer · Post by **Comer** » 12 Aug 2012 01:55

Rahul M wrote:saravana, same here. didn't even check BR till match was over.

Apologies to sum ji, I was hoping his cable doesn't work too!

Lalmohan · Post by **Lalmohan** » 12 Aug 2012 02:06

jamaica were truly awesome, and every kid in the world is making 'the beast' and 'the bolt'
khan runners feeling a bit humbled and carl lewis is making dark allegations

just watched bolt interview - he thanked birmingham and brunel universities for all their support and help in preparing the team, he mentioned training facilities, and other support. wonder if it includes sports science too?

Lalmohan · Post by **Lalmohan** » 12 Aug 2012 02:14

incidentally, the rankings are based on golds and not total numbers, in terms of total number of medals - we've done much better than before. the gold may or may not come, but we have improved

more i think about what delhi achieved with the CWG the more i feel that we did a great job and achieved a huge amount - it is not easy to put on games of this magnitude. london has had the same problems and issues too, but its been a great two weeks in the city, and even the weather gods have been kind. everyone is in a good mood, the volunteers are doing a great job and the flow of visitors and spectators around the city is really good and trouble free. have been to a number of events and the atmosphere is excellent and with team GB doing well, there is a real swell of feel good factor. even the cops and soldiers on security duty are smiling and joking!

looking forward to sushil kumar and then the closing ceremony!

Asit P · Post by **Asit P** » 12 Aug 2012 04:33

Congratulations to all for the 5th medal. Expecting a good show by Sushil as well.

Suraj · Post by **Suraj** » 12 Aug 2012 05:22

David Boudia beat Qiu Bo in the 10m platform diving event! Quite a big slap on the face of Chinese diving power. They lost the 3m springboard too earlier, where He Chong's win was a given because he was unbeaten in it since 2008. Looks like 4 years of hard labor ahead as punishment for these guys now.

The Bleacher Report had a funny skit about He Chong in their list of underachieving athletes. Now they can add Qiu Bo too; epic choke from someone expected to win with ease - Boudia was the last of the 18 qualifiers for the final, while Bo was 1st!

Dipanker · Post by **Dipanker** » 12 Aug 2012 05:36

Top 5 medals tally, Amirkhan has restablished it's superiority over China. Russia is down but certainly not out, still #4. Initially it seemed they would be left far behind. In fact if the gold medals of all former USSR states are added together then USSR would finish second! So overall they are not doing too bad!

1 USA 44 29 29 102
2 CHN 38 27 22 87
3 GBR 28 15 19 62
4 RUS 21 25 32 78
5 KOR 13 7 7 27

Congrats to India for getting 5 medals!

Fidel Guevara · Post by **Fidel Guevara** » 12 Aug 2012 07:34

Ranking of countries by GDP per medal. It takes Saudi, India and Indonesia about half a trillion in GDP to get a single medal. This list was compiled yesterday, so obviously the numbers will have changed, especially for nations that are starting to get athletics medals (Jamaica)/slowed down the medal flow (i.e. China).

The most efficient medal-getting economies are the Caribbean people and those from the Central Asian nations. New Zealand is the best among the First World. USA and China are middle-tier. Due to high number of US medals coming in now, US will move up a bit and China will slip after today's results.

Country GDP per medal (US$ billion)
Grenada 0.8
Jamaica 1.5
Mongolia 2.1
Armenia 3.4
Georgia 3.6
Kenya 4.2
Ethiopia 5.3
Belarus 5.5
Cuba 6.4
Tajikistan 6.5
Moldova 7.0
North Korea 7.3
Bahamas 7.8
Azerbaijan 9.1
Hungary 9.3
Ukraine 11
Estonia 11
Trinidad and Tobago 11
New Zealand 12
Slovenia 12
Uzbekistan 14
Latvia 14
Lithuania 14
Tunisia 15
Croatia 16
Botswana 18
Kazakhstan 19
Romania 20
Afghanistan 20
Serbia 23
Slovakia 24
Bahrain 24
Bulgaria 27
Czech Republic 27
Dominican Republic 28
Russia 30
Cyprus 34
Denmark 37
Iran 39
Colombia 41
Australia 42
Great Britain 43
South Korea 43
Netherlands 44
Guatemala 47
Poland 51
Ireland 54
Sweden 77
World Average (medal winners) 79
South Africa 82
Germany 85
Qatar 86
China 90
France 92
Puerto Rico 98
Canada 102
Italy 105
Argentina 111
Spain 115
Egypt 115
Singapore 120
Malaysia 139
Greece 149
United States 160
Norway 162
Japan 168
Belgium 171
Thailand 173
Kuwait 177
Algeria 189
Turkey 193
Brazil 206
Switzerland 212
Mexico 231
Chinese Taipei 233
Portugal 238
Hong Kong 244
Finland 266
Venezuela 316
Indonesia 423
India 462
Saudi Arabia 577

Excel file with more details available...let me know.

Fidel Guevara · Post by **Fidel Guevara** » 12 Aug 2012 07:44

Population adjusted ranking - Million population per Olympic medal.

Again, the Caribbean people are the best sportsmen, New Zealand is the best in the First World, and the UK is the best among "major nations". This list was compiled yesterday, so values would have changed a little - China would have slipped further, while the Caribbean & European countries would have moved up a bit. If you want the details in Excel, please let me know.

Country Population per medal (million)
Grenada 0.1
Jamaica 0.3
Bahamas 0.3
New Zealand 0.4
Slovenia 0.5
Denmark 0.6
Hungary 0.7
Estonia 0.7
Trinidad and Tobago 0.7
Mongolia 0.7
Australia 0.7
Netherlands 0.9
Qatar 0.9
Belarus 0.9
Armenia 1.0
Lithuania 1.1
Great Britain 1.1
Croatia 1.1
Latvia 1.1
Cyprus 1.1
Georgia 1.1
Ireland 1.1
Cuba 1.1
Azerbaijan 1.3
Czech Republic 1.3
Bahrain 1.3
Sweden 1.4
Slovakia 1.4
Norway 1.7
Kazakhstan 1.7
South Korea 1.9
Germany 1.9
Canada 2.0
Botswana 2.0
France 2.2
Russia 2.3
Romania 2.4
Singapore 2.6
Switzerland 2.6
Kuwait 2.8
Italy 2.9
United States 3.3
Ukraine 3.5
Spain 3.6
Tunisia 3.6
Moldova 3.6
Serbia 3.6
Japan 3.7
Belgium 3.7
Puerto Rico 3.7
Bulgaria 3.7
Poland 3.8
North Korea 4.1
Dominican Republic 5.0
Kenya 5.2
Finland 5.4
Greece 5.7
Colombia 5.9
World Average (medal winners) 6.5
Tajikistan 7.0
Hong Kong 7.1
Iran 7.5
Uzbekistan 9.8
South Africa 10.1
Argentina 10.2
Portugal 10.6
Chinese Taipei 11.6
Ethiopia 14.1
Malaysia 14.4
Guatemala 14.8
China 16.6
Turkey 18.4
Mexico 23.0
Brazil 24.6
Saudi Arabia 28.1
Venezuela 29.3
Thailand 34.8
Afghanistan 35.3
Algeria 36.0
Egypt 41.3
Indonesia 121.2
India 310.4

Victor · Post by **Victor** » 12 Aug 2012 08:26

Nice to know that India has an active history in the sport of fencing and was surprised to find that the current president of the Indian association is a fellow Assamese. Top states are Manipur, Punjab, Tamil Nadu and Assam with others also involved. As expected, the bottlenecks are red tape, equipment and training and the sport is in the doldrums. There are ten medal events, 5 each for men and women so something like this should receive far more importance and money than say hockey.

Surya · Post by **Surya** » 12 Aug 2012 08:51

its funny how the West will rubbish the evil Chinese training tactics (and former SU) but as soon as one defects to them, all brushed under the carpet

Dominque moceanus book reveals her lost childhood under the Karolyis

http://www.vogue.com/culture/article/th ... r-gymnast/

Dipanker · Post by **Dipanker** » 12 Aug 2012 09:11

The former USSR republics together have 40 golds, that would place them in second position, and overall they have almost 50 more medals than USA!

4 Russian 21 25 32 78
13 Kazakhstan 6 0 4 10
14 Ukraine 5 4 9 18
22 Belarus 3 4 5 12
30 Azerbaijan 2 2 5 9
39 Georgia 1 3 2 6
41 Lithuania 1 1 2 4
47 Uzbekistan 1 0 3 4
49 Latvia 1 0 1 2
62 Estonia 0 1 1 2
74 Moldova 0 0 2 2
78 Tajikistan 0 0 1 1

Victor · Post by **Victor** » 12 Aug 2012 09:13

List of medals per sport:

47 Athletics
34 Swimming
18 Cycling
18 Gymnastics
18 Wrestling
16 Canoeing
15 Shooting
15 Weightlifting
14 Judo
14 Rowing
13 Boxing
10 Fencing
10 Sailing
8 Diving
8 Taekwondo
6 Equestrian
5 Badminton
5 Tennis
4 Archery
4 Table tennis
4 Volleyball
2 Basketball
2 Field hockey
2 Football
2 Handball
2 Modern pentathlon
2 Synchronized swimming
2 Triathlon
2 Water polo
302 Total events

It seems like we should be able to do well in sports like canoe, judo, rowing, fencing, taekwondo. Last seems to be very popular in India, specially NE. Local coach here in massa pointed out that self-defence sports like judo & taekwondo origniated in India so Indians should be and are naturally good at it.

Suraj · Post by **Suraj** » 12 Aug 2012 09:20

All these per capita and per unit GDP figures are ultimately meaningless. Only one thing matters - gold medals.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 12 Aug 2012 09:32

carl lewis did precious little in his own era when drug tainted records were being set by FloJo...a record that has stood with no remote challenge for 25 yrs now since 1988.

the winning time this yr of 10.75 is in same league as Evelyn ashfords pre-FloJo record of 10.76......

americans have the biggest and most high tech drug scandals like the BALCO thing, had their 2004 100m winner Gaitlin banned for 4 yrs only to crawl back now(!)....

their denials , fudging and sweeping under carpet are fun to watch.

Deans · Post by **Deans** » 12 Aug 2012 09:38

Fidel Guevara wrote:Ranking of countries by GDP per medal. It takes Saudi, India and Indonesia about half a trillion in GDP to get a single medal. This list was compiled yesterday, so obviously the numbers will have changed, especially for nations that are starting to get athletics medals (Jamaica)/slowed down the medal flow (i.e. China).

The most efficient medal-getting economies are the Caribbean people and those from the Central Asian nations. New Zealand is the best among the First World. USA and China are middle-tier. Due to high number of US medals coming in now, US will move up a bit and China will slip after today's results.

Its not just GDP per medal, its about how much of that GDP is deployed to get a medal.
Like I've said earlier, China turns out to be fairly average - low return on investment (weather you take population or GDP),
not to mention thousands of abused kids....
The lessons from the Caribbean & smaller european countries, is to focus limited resources on fewer sports - while increasing the
overall level of fitness and sports consciousness of the country, through normal school sports programmes.

For e.g. India could focus more on:

Women's weightlifting & boxing: This suits our SDRE genes. An Asian woman who is 45kg, is stronger than her European
counterpart. Apart from that, our rural women are mentally tough and I'm sure we could get more Mary Kom's, with more focus on talent spotting and some decent facilities. There are relatively fewer countries that take these sports seriously and we have a
window till 2016, to get our act together and win us a couple of medals.

Triathlon: I'm sure our Navy Marine Commando's /Army Spec forces could meet Olympic qualifying times (which means they
could manage a medal at Asian level). For e.g. Competing in a triathlon is routine for Russian Spetznaz personnel.
Same goes for the Army preparing someone to qualify for the pentathalon. (IA's `be the best' ad, shows all 5 disciplines of the
penthathlon!).

Men's Greco Roman wrestling: Again, fewer countries compete in this. Don't see why the likes of Iran/ Georgia should be getting
a handful of medals here. Their facilities are no better than ours.

Taekwondo: Afghanistan won a medal - nothing more to be said.

Sailing: From personal experience, I think the Navy plays a far lesser role than it used to, in developing sailing. They need to do
for sailing ,what the Army has done in shooting. We have the facilities and talent. but not the systematic coaching and exposure.
A large no of medal's can be won here, with relatively few `serious' countries winning them.

Bade · Post by **Bade** » 12 Aug 2012 09:39

Team sports like Hockey, soccer has low yield in terms of medals so as far as Olympics is concerned should get low focus. Hockey anyway we aren't doing great anymore.

Get the focus on the list from cycling down till sailing to increase medal counts for 2020+ onwards. A tally of 30-40 medals, even if all bronze and silver is great with a few golds. I will call that good enough. But you will have to steal them away from China, USA and Russia

by beating them at it.

We could have gone higher than 5 and closer to a count of 10 this Olympics if some of the Boxing rounds went our way. That was a real let down despite reasonable performances by our team. To me all that matters is whether you made it to the last three. Once you do that regularly, then gold will follow more frequently.

KJo · Post by **KJo** » 12 Aug 2012 09:43

Victor wrote:Nice to know that India has an active history in the sport of fencing and was surprised to find that the current president of the Indian association is a fellow Assamese. Top states are Manipur, Punjab, Tamil Nadu and Assam with others also involved. As expected, the bottlenecks are red tape, equipment and training and the sport is in the doldrums. There are ten medal events, 5 each for men and women so something like this should receive far more importance and money than say hockey.

I think we should drop hockey and spend money in Archery, wrestling and boxing. Maybe try swimming too as an experiment. Enough sending 11-15 hockey losers to Olympics.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 12 Aug 2012 09:49

iran has a lot of akhara type facilities for wrestling and physical training, which are very popular....some kind of wooden "mace" used in traditional indian training is also used.
http://wwwdelivery.superstock.com/WI/22 ... -79071.jpg
http://wwwdelivery.superstock.com/WI/22 ... -79065.jpg

+1 to drop hockey. we will need a long time to recover ... first let us rise upto AG/CWG bronze medal level before dreaming of OG glory there.

sum · Post by **sum** » 12 Aug 2012 09:53

List of medals per sport:

47 Athletics
34 Swimming
18 Cycling
18 Gymnastics
18 Wrestling
16 Canoeing
15 Shooting
15 Weightlifting

18 medals for cycling and 16 for canoeing?? Unbelievable...

sum · Post by **sum** » 12 Aug 2012 09:55

saravana wrote:
Rahul M wrote:saravana, same here. didn't even check BR till match was over.

Apologies to sum ji, I was hoping his cable doesn't work too!

Was thinking that it was a message above to keep the anti-jinx mantra but somehow couldnt resist and switched on TV one last time and got to see the super alligator roll of Yogeshwar!!

KJo · Post by **KJo** » 12 Aug 2012 10:05

Why do medal winners get themselves photographed biting their medals? Looks pretty ridiculous. Almost everyone does that. Might have been nice if it were rare, but now it looks childish and even a tad silly.