Great Moments

BronzeisGolden · Aug 14, 2004

It is only day one...and already a great moment! I've never watched synchronized springboard diving, but it was actually very compelling. I was glad to see that Russian woman from Australia win the bronze medal. I can't believe she had to wait eight years for another go. She and her teammate performed so well and their emotions upon learning that they had medaled were really moving. This was my first Olympic fix...now I just need more!

Joesitz (RIP) · Aug 14, 2004

Unfortunately, I missed that swim but Phelps got gold so it's one down seven to go. I'm not so sure he can do that. seems impossible.

Watching now, the romanian men - not overwhelmed. Tonight is the russians, chinese and americans. Wow.

just on now Mens 100 meter breast stroke. Kitijima beats Gibson but it's just a preliminary,.

Watch it.

Joe

Mathman · Aug 14, 2004

I like the synchronized diving, too. And I look forward to the synchronized swimming.

At the Sydney Olympics, IIRC, there was an American pair competing in the two-person event which was a man and an lady, instead of two ladies. There was a debate about whether this was OK within the rules, and as I remember it they allowed it but were going to decide for future competitions whether mixed pairs could compete with all-lady pairs. It was interesting to me because the man was much taller than the lady, which threw off their unison but allowed more powerful lifts as well as romantic-looking poses on the presentation side. Does anyone know how that was resolved?

My favorite moment so far -- the lady weightlifter from Turkey who won a gold medal and set a new world record in the 98 kilo class. She weighed 105 pounds and lifted well over 200 pounds.

Mathman

bronxgirl · Aug 14, 2004

I feel exhausted just thinking about the cyclists doing a 140 mile race in weather of close to 90 degrees. Brutal!!
I have to admit, synchronized diving just doesn't do it for me. I can appreciate how difficult it must be for one person at a time to jump off of a 10 meter platform and do these dives well, but having two people up there doesn't double my enjoyment. Oh well.

Dressage starts at sometime in the middle of our early Am (2 -6A) on Monday, so I will just have to cheer on the swimmers in the meantime. Joe, they'll be showing replay of Michael Phelps' first medal performance any minute now-way too many commercials , though it does give me time to sneak a peak at the forum.

thisthingcalledlove · Aug 15, 2004

Mathman said:
I like the synchronized diving, too. And I look forward to the synchronized swimming.

At the Sydney Olympics, IIRC, there was an American pair competing in the two-person event which was a man and an lady, instead of two ladies. There was a debate about whether this was OK within the rules, and as I remember it they allowed it but were going to decide for future competitions whether mixed pairs could compete with all-lady pairs. It was interesting to me because the man was much taller than the lady, which threw off their unison but allowed more powerful lifts as well as romantic-looking poses on the presentation side. Does anyone know how that was resolved?

My favorite moment so far -- the lady weightlifter from Turkey who won a gold medal and set a new world record in the 98 kilo class. She weighed 105 pounds and lifted well over 200 pounds.

Mathman

I remember that! It was Bill May and his partner. They were big Torvill and Dean fans, and their routine was none other than- Bolero!

Kasey · Aug 15, 2004

Synchronized diving...as a sport....kinda confuses me. (Where's POKER or golf for crying out loud!

) But it was interesting to watch.....it seemed kind of odd, that the body types and sizes didn't seem as closely matched as I thought they would be.....a couple of the teams had a big guy and a little guy, and I would just think that would affect the rotation speed and synchronization.

I watch the Olys also to try to understand some lesser seen sports here in the US. It's not always INTERESTING, but it is...um, 'interesting'!

Kasey,
who recalls watching Olympic curling at 2am a couple years ago!

Piel · Aug 15, 2004

Could it be that someday we might see synchronized qymnastics?

I love the olive wreaths!

mariana · Aug 15, 2004

For me I was when Georgina Bardach (arg) won the bronze medal at the Women 400m Individual Medley Finals, she was only hoping to get into the finals a week before, and she went and got the bronze!
The argentinian TV showed the moments when her family was watching her race) it was priceless.

Mathman · Aug 15, 2004

Kasey said:
Where's POKER or golf for crying out loud! -- Kasey

SERIOUSLY! Do you watch Celebrity Poker on Bravo? It's cool!

MM

Vash01 · Aug 15, 2004

For me the only real highlights were the opening ceremonies. They were fabulous.

It did not care for synchronized diving at all. I normally enjoy watching all the diving events, but this one was not my cup of tea. It seemed senseless to have a sport like that.

The mens gymnastics coverage was too focused on US men. I loved watching the Greek athletes competing before the home crowd, even in an almost empty arena. Really, there was no excuse for excluding the Russian men. Only one full routine by Alexei Nemov was all NBC could muster.

One highlight for me was Ian Thorpe winning a swimming gold medal. His emotional reaction to winning was very touching. I can't wait to see the match up between him and Michael Phelps.

Vash

Kasey · Aug 15, 2004

Mathman said:
SERIOUSLY! Do you watch Celebrity Poker on Bravo? It's cool!

MM

MM, YEP! Celeb poker, World Poker Tour, World Series of Poker! Heck, there are SOME positives to living in Reno!

Kasey

Grgranny · Aug 15, 2004

Poker? I'll take watching paint dry.

OwenEvans · Aug 16, 2004

Hi All,

Just a question from an Aussie - is Ian Thorpe well known in the US? Just asking....

I'm finding it really distracting and extremely disappointing that there are [I]thousands and thousands of empty seats[/I] in the background, no matter which sport is being covered at the time. It's kind of ironic that the Greeks blew their stack when Atlanta got the Centennial Games in 1996 and haven't stopped since raving about Greece being the "spiritual home of the games" etc etc, and now that the Games are there, nobody can be bothered to attend! I really feel for the athletes who were no doubt totally excited at the prospect of competing in the games, only to get out there and have empty seats staring back at them!

Sorry, rant over...

RealtorGal · Aug 16, 2004

The Thorpedo is very well-known here, and the showdown between him and Michael Phelps has been rammed down our throats ad nauseum.

OwenEvans · Aug 16, 2004

RealtorGal said:
The Thorpedo is very well-known here, and the showdown between him and Michael Phelps has been rammed down our throats ad nauseum.

RealtorGal, I'm sooooo with you. The only thing more boring is looking at all those empty seats!

lavender · Aug 16, 2004

OwenEvans said:
RealtorGal, I'm sooooo with you. The only thing more boring is looking at all those empty seats!

I'm so glad this is over now moving on. Maybe if people stop writing off athletes (Thorpe) we wouldn't have to hear about this. I mean really the 200 wasn't even Phelps specialty so why would it be much of a challenge. The real competition was between the Dutchman and Thorpe. This race shouldn't have been about Phelps and Thorpe.

Great Moments

BronzeisGolden

Joesitz (RIP)

Mathman

bronxgirl

thisthingcalledlove

Kasey

Piel

On Edge

mariana

Mathman

Vash01

Kasey

Grgranny

Da' Spellin' Homegirl

OwenEvans

RealtorGal

OwenEvans

lavender

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