Olympics

[GoCubsGo]

Chicagoland is pretty well represented also.

Beijing-Bound: Chicago-Area Athletes Headed To Winter Olympics

[Vrede too]

Three on the Olympic team from Carlsbad...
https://patch.com/california/oceanside- ... r-olympics

Shaun White, 35, pretty old for a shredder. Then again, Kaillie Humphries, bobsledder, is 36.

White announced today that this will be his last Olympics.

[O Really]

Three on the Olympic team from Carlsbad...
https://patch.com/california/oceanside- ... r-olympics

Shaun White, 35, pretty old for a shredder. Then again, Kaillie Humphries, bobsledder, is 36.

White announced today that this will be his last Olympics.

I think he said "last competition." Seems to be hanging up the board for good, except for fun.

[Vrede too]

Yep.

We're not the only ones.

Olympics Opening Ceremony draws record-low ratings: Why aren't Americans tuning in?

[GoCubsGo]

Yep.

We're not the only ones.

Olympics Opening Ceremony draws record-low ratings: Why aren't Americans tuning in?

Good article.

[O Really]

Interesting, but I don't know that it actually addresses the low viewership issue. Some of those things (like on-site commenters with fun features) or lack of crowd noise or poor music audio certainly affect the overall quality of the "show" but one wouldn't know that until you tuned in and watched. The opening ceremony may not have been as good as 2008, but it was still spectacular. For those interested in the sport and/or the personalities involved, then the politics, the covid restrictions, etc. are just minor irritations. But those like Lady O and I will still sit here and say "the music sound quality sucks and it's too bad the stands aren't full, but holy shit did you see that quad Lutz?" And Chloe Kim is Chloe Kim no matter where the color commentator sits.

I'm more inclined to think the Olympics as a spectacle just isn't seen as that special anymore, and has too much competition - both positive and negative for people to immerse themselves like they might have in the past.

[Vrede too]

If people are disappointed and change channels sooner than they would have in other years, that's reflected in the ratings. Then, they are less likely to return to the Olympics for further viewing. I read the author as listing many factors, including the one you settle on, without claiming that any outweigh the others. With college football done, the NFL winding down, pro hockey and basketball still mid season, and March Madness not yet begun, this should have been perfect timing sports competition-wise.

For me there was something not really cited - the question of whether an event requiring such draconian pandemic measures should be held at all. Instead, the author came close to blaming the restrictions as if they don't have a very solid grounding in public health needs.

[GoCubsGo]

I'm more inclined to think the Olympics as a spectacle just isn't seen as that special anymore, and has too much competition - both positive and negative for people to immerse themselves like they might have in the past.

Partly that and also the knowledge that the IOC is completely morally bankrupt, embodying everything they're not supposed to be makes it difficult (for me anyways) to support the games which are really no longer about athletics, competition and a shining example of international good will (I know it really hasn't been for years, but it's just so blatant now I find it a turn off.)

https://news.yahoo.com/china-knew-could ... p_catchall

[O Really]

Yeah, you're right - I hadn't thought about tuning in then tuning out as affecting the ratings, but of course it would.

[O Really]

I'm more inclined to think the Olympics as a spectacle just isn't seen as that special anymore, and has too much competition - both positive and negative for people to immerse themselves like they might have in the past.

Partly that and also the knowledge that the IOC is completely morally bankrupt, embodying everything they're not supposed to be makes it difficult (for me anyways) to support the games which are really no longer about athletics, competition and a shining example of international good will (I know it really hasn't been for years, but it's just so blatant now I find it a turn off.)

https://news.yahoo.com/china-knew-could ... p_catchall

No big-time sport is free of corruption and sleaze. I can watch them roar down the Super G or see some 1440 off a ridiculously steep slope and know that for those people at that point it is indeed about the competition - and for me, too.

[Vrede too]

... For those interested in the sport and/or the personalities involved, then the politics, the covid restrictions, etc. are just minor irritations. But those like Lady O and I will still sit here and say "the music sound quality sucks and it's too bad the stands aren't full, but holy shit did you see that quad Lutz?" ...

Holy shit, did you see:

Watch: Figure Skater Kamila Valieva, 15, Becomes 1st Woman to Land Quad at Olympics

One of the youngest athletes competing in the 2022 Winter Games completed a jump never-before landed by a woman in the Olympics on Sunday.

Kamila Valieva, a 15-year-old of the Russian Olympic Committee, became the first woman to land a quad – and the first to land two quads- in the Olympics as she skated in the women’s free skate of the team final event.

The routine landed her a score of 178.92, which helped lift the ROC to a gold medal. The U.S. came in second, earning silver.

Valieva had already made history during these Games as she captivated viewers this weekend with her first-place finish in the women’s short program just one day earlier.

During the women’s short program, Valieva became just the fourth woman to ever land a triple axel at the Winter Olympics....

Shame about the fall, but otherwise .
Team gold check, now individual gold?

Also:

Ireen Wüst wins gold at fifth Olympics, setting record for longevity

Ireen Wüst skated her way into sports history Monday night, winning individual gold for a record fifth straight Olympics.

The Netherlands’ Wüst won the 1500m speedskating event with a time of 1:53.28, edging out Japan’s Miho Takagi by just 0.44 seconds. Wust’s Dutch teammate Antoinette de Jong placed third with a time of 1:54.82.

The win gave Wüst gold medals in five separate Olympic Games: Beijing, PyeongChang (2018), Sochi (2014), Vancouver (2010) and Torino (2006). To top it off, she also set an Olympic record in the event.

“It’s really hard to describe,” Wüst said afterward. “A lot of emotions, especially the good ones. I don’t realize it yet. It’s insane, actually.”

Wüst is now the only athlete, male or female, to win individual gold in five different Olympics. She breaks a tie with Ben Ainslie (Great Britain, sailing), Paul Elvstrøm (Denmark, sailing), Kaori Icho (Japan, wrestling), Carl Lewis (USA, track and field), Mijaín López (Cuba, wrestling), Al Oerter (USA, discus), and Michael Phelps (USA, swimming), all of whom have individual medals at four different Olympics.

With two events still remaining in Beijing, her final Olympics, Wüst has a chance to move into second place overall for career Winter Olympic medals. She has 12 now, tied with Bjørn Dæhlie (Norway, cross country). Ole Einar Bjørndalen (Norway, biathlon) has 13, and Marit Bjørgen (Norway, cross-country) has 15.

Among all female athletes in both summer and winter Olympics, Wüst ranks tied for third, behind Bjørgen and Larisa Latynina (Russia/Ukraine, gymnastics) with 18.

Ireen Wüst

... Wüst (35) is both the youngest Dutch Olympic gold medalist and the oldest speed skating gold medalist in the history of the Winter Games. At the age of nineteen, on 12 February 2006, she won the gold medal at the 2006 Winter Olympic Games 3000 metre event; four years later at the 2010 Winter Olympic Games she won the 1500 metre event; at the 2014 Winter Olympic Games she won two gold and three silver medals, making her the most decorated athlete at the Sochi Games. Following her record sixth speed skating gold medal in the 1500 metres at the 2022 Winter Olympics she has won a record twelve Olympic medals, more than any other speed skater, making her the most successful athlete of the Netherlands at the Olympics. She is also a seven-time world allround champion, a fourteen-time world single distance champion, and a five-time European allround champion. In 2014, she was elected by Reuters as the Sportswoman of the World.

Go Orange!

[O Really]

... For those interested in the sport and/or the personalities involved, then the politics, the covid restrictions, etc. are just minor irritations. But those like Lady O and I will still sit here and say "the music sound quality sucks and it's too bad the stands aren't full, but holy shit did you see that quad Lutz?" ...

Holy shit, did you see:

Watch: Figure Skater Kamila Valieva, 15, Becomes 1st Woman to Land Quad at Olympics

...

Shame about the fall, but otherwise .
Team gold check, now individual gold?

Also:

Ireen Wüst wins gold at fifth Olympics, setting record for longevity

Ireen Wüst skated her way into sports history Monday night, winning individual gold for a record fifth straight Olympics.

.

Go Orange!

Even with the fall, she won by about 20 points. Landed two quads cleanly before falling on the third. Incredible.

Yeah, Wust is a beast.
And so is Nils Van der Poel, who was three seconds back with three laps to go. They say nobody has come even close to making up that much time at the end of a race before.
https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/sports/ ... h/3537213/

[GoCubsGo]

Nice.




'Graveyard': Olympic fans in disbelief over ski jump scenery

[O Really]

Canada hockey ladies leading US by two in the third period. Unlike womens' basketball, you can watch the hockey for several minutes before you realize it's the women, and even then it's usually hair or a close-up face. Strong body checks and slams into the boards.

[Vrede too]

... And Chloe Kim is Chloe Kim no matter where the color commentator sits....

94 on first run = everyone else shredding for silver for 2 more runs.

[O Really]

... And Chloe Kim is Chloe Kim no matter where the color commentator sits....

94 on first run = everyone else shredding for silver for 2 more runs.

Will officially take the gold!

[Vrede too]

Holy shit, did you see:

Watch: Figure Skater Kamila Valieva, 15, Becomes 1st Woman to Land Quad at Olympics

Shame about the fall, but otherwise .
Team gold check, now individual gold? ...

Even with the fall, she won by about 20 points. Landed two quads cleanly before falling on the third. Incredible....

Oh no!

Russia at center of another Olympic doping controversy

... Kamila Valieva, the 15-year-old Russian sensation, tested positive for trimetazidine, a banned heart medication, according to the Russian newspaper RBC. WADA prohibits the drug because it can aid in endurance and increase blood flow....

[Vrede too]

Freestyle aerials skiing is .

[Vrede too]

... And Chloe Kim is Chloe Kim no matter where the color commentator sits....

94 on first run = everyone else shredding for silver for 2 more runs.

Will officially take the gold!

[O Really]

Shaun gets 4th. Too bad, but what a great career. And ending on the edge of the podium at the Olympics with competitors close to half his age isn't bad. It's not exactly fading away.