OlympicsFan

If the nation with by far the biggest talent pool also is the nation that cares the most about that sport, then it will be very difficult to break that dominance. Obviously the IOC could for example only allow one athlete per nation, which would make China more vulnerable, but that would be unfair to them. Maybe they can find an American billionaire that offers one million dollars to whoever beats the Chinese at the Olympics … Personally I would like to see them reducing the number of attempts (only 4 instead of 6) to make results less predictable. Less attempts = More surprises.

Are there actually nations that have tons of hobby divers? Never heard of it, same is true for sports like modern pentathlon, track cycling or ski jumping.

Not sure what those „sins“ have to do with anything … You could have also mentioned the Chinese „sins“ (Tibet, Uyghurs, Taiwan, Hong Kong). Still Asian countries feel much more like „grass roots sports nations“ when you just look at the (healthiness of) population. I think being the number one in sports is very important for the American identity (especially when they have no war to cheer for), so it would be interesting to see what happens if China takes that away from them for good. We saw what happened when the Soviet Union did it. „Bread and circuses“ has been a very effective approach to keep the population sedated/distracted for at least 2000 years.

What does „grass roots sporting nation“ even mean? a) The Chinese practiced fighting „sports“ (king fu) for at least 1000 years before the U.S. even became a thing. b) When you walk through a random American city, you certainly wouldn’t get the impression of a „grass roots sporting nation“. You would get the impression that at least 90 % of their people are morbidly obese (which is only a slight exaggeration), but maybe Ozempic will „solve“ that problem …

Ok, good to know. Still concerning that you weren’t able to get my point.

Impressive by New Zealand to have multiple medalists even without McCartney, Adams and Walsh.

What an insane level in women’s javelin throw … 63 m for silver … Feels like a wasted chance for Tzengko and Vilagos. I think there is also a 15 year old Chinese who threw 63 m this year …

Too bad, given how weak javelin throw is nowadays. Back in the days of Spotakova, Obergföll and Avakumova it took 68 m just to win a medal. At least you got a bronze in women’s 400 m and if I remember correctly also a medal in men’s hammer throw. Too bad that you completely lost the plot in men’s 800 m. What happened to Ennaoui and Roznicki?

Wouldn’t compare Hull to a Bull … I certainly wouldn’t run away as fast as possible if Hull would chase me …

Most likely Germany will have a worse medal tally than Portugal. Absolutely pathetic performance once again. If Portugal would have the German budget, they would easily win 10+ medals.

Not sure what you want to say? I criticized that different nations use different material, so richer nations like Germany have a clear advantage, which kind of acts against everything that sport is supposed to be about.

The Chinese can’t produce a single sub 4:00 runner to save their life, but the Brits just pull a random grandma out of their ass who improves her PB by 20 seconds in one year …

Guillemot‘s (1999) progression: 2019: 4:45.45 2020: - 2021: - 2022: 4:12.43 2023: 4:03.26 2024: 3:56.69 Bell‘s (1993) progression: 2014: 4:18.75 2015: 4:16.96 2016: 4:18.89 2017: 4:25.58 2018: - 2019: - 2020: - 2021: 4:48.18 2022: 4:42.93 2023: 4:12.16 2024: 3:52.61 Grandma comes out of nowhere and improves her PB by 20 seconds over 1500 m in one year, becoming the 11th fastest athlete ever. Even Johann Mühlegg’s performances were infinitely more believable. I absolutely have no words for how disgusting her performance was. If she doesn’t get banned within the next 7 days, they should absolutely get rid of doping tests altogether.

I don’t remember the last time a German athlete won a medal in track & field out of nowhere at the Olympics. The last athlete who did it was probably Nils Schumann and he was very fishy to say the least. If you just look at the facts, then it is objectively the best decision for many athletes to dope: a) How much will your standard of living/financial situation improve if you win a medal/gold at the Olympics? b) How likely is it that you will be caught? c) What will be the consequences if you get caught? For someone from India, Pakistan, Nigeria, Kenya, Jamaica or Ethiopia it would be stupid/irrational not to dope. All over the world there are people who are willing to risk their life to trade illegal drugs. Meanwhile people seem to think that athletes can be scared off by a possible two year suspension (if they get caught doping), when they have the chance to dramatically improve their standard of living by winning a medal … If you want to stop doping, you have to increase the likelihood of dopers getting caught and you have to make the punishment (financially) more severe. You also have to hold countries accountable. Countries that can’t stop their athletes from doping shouldn’t be allowed to compete at the Olympics.

Track cycling, like bob/luge/skeleton/canoeing, should force all athletes to use the same material. In the end the results don’t really tell us much about who is the best in a certain event, which kind of is the exact opposite of what sport should be.

No, that would absolutely be a bad idea. They should try to only have events where the riders directly compete against each other, so no team sprint/pursuit. Most federations are run by complete retards that don’t even try to make their sport as watchable/easy to follow as possible. Almost makes you wish that those sports get thrown out of the Olympics.

Another athlete from a country without a functioning anti-doping system destroying his PB at the perfect moment. The global fight against doping is as pointless as the fight against climate change, when there is no tool to punish non-compliant countries. Those who follow the rules are the ones who suffer. Until/Unless they find a way to punish non-compliant nations, they should just allow doping.

What a pathetic comment. You clearly don’t follow this event. 18 year old Annett Kaufmann dragged this team to the semifinal. The two „Chinese“ players certainly aren’t helping. Germany would have reached the final if Annett Kaufmann would have been allowed to play 3 individual matches. Annett Kaufmann obliterated Harimoto, who is number 8 in the world ranking. Absolutely embarrassing comment, try to be better!

German track cycling keeps getting more pathetic every Olympics. On the men’s side they are completely gone and now they can’t even win on the women’s side anymore. German junior men win tons of medals, but still they rather use grandpas like Bötticher that aren’t remotely competitive.

Omnium is really the most retarded events of all at the Olympics, even ahead of race running. The first 3 disciplines don’t matter at all. They should get rid of this clown event and maybe replace it with the elimination race.

Gold: Magdburg Silver: Magdeburg Bronze: Italy The U.S. isn’t the only country that helps foreign athletes to „steal“ medals from their own athletes. The current was very challenging and led to huge gaps. I wonder if pool swimmers will have a disadvantage in the men’s race tomorrow. Guys like Raszovsky or Olivier might be favored.

Varfolomeev might have to fight to secure gold. Raffaelo has a chance if Varfolomeev messes up again.

Disappointing result in women’s K4. Can’t believe that grandma Carrington is enough to pull a bunch of nobodies to a gold medal. Luckily she will soon be gone.

At least her excuse is more believable than that of Jade Jones.

Too bad that Germany threw away the game against France, the German men could have made 4 team finals (volleyball, handball, hockey, basketball). The women on the other hand are super weak in team sports.