Epic Failure

Well...mostly unstoppable.

Fantastic crowds for wheelchair rugby 

I certainly didn't expect a full pool for swimming morning sessions. That's great to see.
 
 

Is Harrie Lavreysen from Kent as well?

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c990yd94j7eo
 
These sportsmen and women are tough cookies.

I think both are important.
 
Like, I'm not going to criticise Australia and the Netherlands for being delighted with their gold figures in Paris. They should be rightly proud.
 
Equally, I think we should be rightly proud of our overall performance, especially in terms of total medals.
 
Other countries can be proud of their first medal, or in some cases their first final. There's not a limit to happiness!
 
 
In related news, I'm pleased with the comments coming out of UK Sport, looking at both their own website and the Beeb story about the athletes coming back from the Games. I still hope that they (and the various sports) have the sensible tough discussions that all good governance should have but also that a "win at all costs" mentality is not necessarily conducive to healthy environments.

Personal schedule: 

First round 
1140 go to refresh forum out of habit
1141 remember Olympics is over 
1142 sadness 
 
repeat hourly until paralympics 

Hello, welcome to Team GB Debrief, a chance for us to yammer, unfortunately, in the past tense, about Team GB at the Paris Olympics.
 
SCHEDULE
 
1000 WORK FORGET THE RULES OF TAEKWONDO - Preliminary Round
1300 LUNCH BREAK GLOOMILY SCROLL THROUGH THE PARALYMPICS SCHEDULE - Preliminary
1700 HOME ACTUALLY HAVE TIME TO MAKE A MEAL - Gold Race
2000 SPEAK TO LOVED ONES FOR THE FIRST TIME IN TWO WEEKS - Final
 
Leaderboard
 
Congratulations to Olympic Champion, Fencing, 1976 @cjsavoryOLY for 115 points and victory. The silver goes to @Olympicsnellon 109 and the bronze to me on 102. @G-annbeats @adolphinto fourth, 93 to 91
 
Medal count
14/22/29
 
Bollocks. It's over.

Went to get in my car for the first time in 17 days this morning, battery was dead *sigh*

Thank you! I plan to stand in my garden this evening, and solemnly wave a comically large flag back and forth to mark my victory.

1. Everything about Tom Pidcock's mountain biking
 
2. The artistic swimming, both the performance and the reaction.
 
3. Megan Keith epitomising the Olympic spirit in the 10000m.

I mean, after Paris having the surfing in Tahiti, Oklahoma isn't that far away from LA in comparison.

I mean, after Paris having the surfing in Tahiti, Oklahoma isn't that far away from LA in comparison.

I mean, after Paris having the surfing in Tahiti, Oklahoma isn't that far away from LA in comparison.

I mean, after Paris having the surfing in Tahiti, Oklahoma isn't that far away from LA in comparison.

Don't worry I'm on it.... Scope will be anyone who made quarters or top 10 in a final I'll actually look up ages! See you in 2-3 hours. 
 
(Yes I am extracting it from Wikipedia and not manually typing in everyone) 
 

I think losing athletics and swimming from those champs probably makes them less appealing for a host city unfortunately.
 
The European Games being in Turkey in 2027 are obviously going to be important as well, considering the increasing move towards them as a qualification route.

Also, someone posted earlier in another thread a tweet from a fairly reliable journalist that Glasgow might be taking over the Commonwealths in 2026. That would be huge if true.

I mean, after Paris having the surfing in Tahiti, Oklahoma isn't that far away from LA in comparison.

I mean, after Paris having the surfing in Tahiti, Oklahoma isn't that far away from LA in comparison.

Today definitely falls into the "bad luck" argument for me.
 
We lose a potential gold medal hope to illness, we lose 2 minor medal hopes to crashes in front of them, and we get a bronze in an event where there's not an unreasonable chance that had she been on the other side of the draw it might have been silver.
 
The only real disappointment today is the selection of Evans, who looks hopelessly off form.
 
Thanks to Emma and Emily we get through the Games winning a medal every day, which is a first for us that I know about, at least in the modern era.
 
 
 
 
Overall, a good games for me. Not a great games, the drop in gold clearly prevents that. I've no doubt that it will be seen as worse in public perception than it actually was, because of that drop in gold.
 
We increase our total medal tally from Tokyo, as well as our top 8 finishes (as things stand; please no drugs failures taking things away!). We match the tally from Tokyo of medalling in 18 different sports, including 2 new ones (artistic swimming and climbing). That to me shows that our sports are generally in a good place.
 
Clearly I'm sure there will be serious conversations happening, as there should be.
 
But - for me at least - it's easier to have those conversation when you have some silverware to back it up. It shows a system that is mostly working but needs tweaking, rather than a system that needs ripping out and starting again.

Today definitely falls into the "bad luck" argument for me.
 
We lose a potential gold medal hope to illness, we lose 2 minor medal hopes to crashes in front of them, and we get a bronze in an event where there's not an unreasonable chance that had she been on the other side of the draw it might have been silver.
 
The only real disappointment today is the selection of Evans, who looks hopelessly off form.
 
Thanks to Emma and Emily we get through the Games winning a medal every day, which is a first for us that I know about, at least in the modern era.
 
 
 
 
Overall, a good games for me. Not a great games, the drop in gold clearly prevents that. I've no doubt that it will be seen as worse in public perception than it actually was, because of that drop in gold.
 
We increase our total medal tally from Tokyo, as well as our top 8 finishes (as things stand; please no drugs failures taking things away!). We match the tally from Tokyo of medalling in 18 different sports, including 2 new ones (artistic swimming and climbing). That to me shows that our sports are generally in a good place.
 
Clearly I'm sure there will be serious conversations happening, as there should be.
 
But - for me at least - it's easier to have those conversation when you have some silverware to back it up. It shows a system that is mostly working but needs tweaking, rather than a system that needs ripping out and starting again.

So I've not worked out exactly, but with the medals won by teams etc, around 110 of our 320-ish athletes are coming back with a medal of some colour. 36 athletes will be coming back with a gold.
 
That sounds like a silly thing to care about, but each of those medalists might serve as an inspiration to someone from their local community down the line. You just never know.

Last event 😭