2018 Commonwealth Games - Gold Coast, AUS

[karne]

Watching rhythmic gymnastics today, and I have discovered the equivalent of the cursed ice.

Maybe everyone's palms are sweaty from the humidity on the Gold Coast? Because the ribbon has hit the deck in every routine so far.

 

[karne]

Things that are good: Australia won 198 medals at this games, including 80 gold.

Things that are bad: THIS CLOSING CEREMONY. IT'S GARBAGE. WHAT THE HECK.

 

[karne]

Let's put it this way: the closing ceremony was SO BAD that the AUSTRALIAN COMMENTATORS are absolutely ripping it apart!

 

[brens78]

Like a bad high school concert where you’re desperate to leave! This without a doubt is Australia’s moment of international embarrassment. Never have I watched something so ghastly, organisers having an epic wankfest in their speeches, poor Prince Edward that would rather be having scones with his Mum and binge watching The Crown and not forgetting no athletes that made the games! Compare this to the recent Olympics and their closing, South Korea aced it!

 

[Colonel Green]

Canada’s 82 medals fell a bit short of what the Canadian Olympic Committee was hoping for, but there were a lot of very nice moments, and some new faces I’m really excited to see in Tokyo in two years (Nina Schultz, for instance).

 

[CaroLiza_fan]

Canada’s 82 medals fell a bit short of what the Canadian Olympic Committee was hoping for, but there were a lot of very nice moments, and some new faces I’m really excited to see in Tokyo in two years (Nina Schultz, for instance).

We won 12 medals in total, which is the same as we won in Glasgow. I suppose on the whole we did better this time, because most of our medals in Gold Coast were Silver, whereas most of our medals were Bronze in Glasgow. But we only got one Gold in Queensland, whereas we got 2 in Scotland.

You know, this is the third Games in a row that Northern Ireland and Cyprus have finished in consecutive positions on the total medals count:

Year	City	Position	Country	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
2018	Gold Coast	13	Cyprus (CYP)	8	1	5	14
2018	Gold Coast	14	Northern Ireland (NIR)	1	7	4	12
2014	Glasgow	14	Northern Ireland (NIR)	2	3	7	12
2014	Glasgow	15	Cyprus (CYP)	2	4	2	8
2010	Delhi	13	Cyprus (CYP)	4	3	5	12
2010	Delhi	14	Northern Ireland (NIR)	3	3	4	10

Both countries have come a long way from the last time the Games were in Australia:

Year	City	Position	Country	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
2006	Melbourne	14	Cyprus (CYP)	3	1	2	6
2006	Melbourne	25=	Northern Ireland (NIR)	0	2	0	2

Since Rhys McClenaghan won our first medal with Gold in the Men’s Pommel Horse, we have won:

• a Silver Medal in Women’s Trap Shooting.
• 3 Men’s Boxing Silver Medals.
• 3 Women’s Boxing Silver Medals.
• a Bronze Medal in Men’s Clay Pigeon Shooting.
• a Bronze Medal in Men’s 200m Running.
• 2 Men’s Boxing Bronze Medals.

But, I have to take my hat off to Cyprus. Not only did they win 14 medals, but 9 of those medals are hanging around the necks of just 2 people:

• Men’s Artistic Gymnast Marios Georgiou won 2 Gold Medals and a Bronze Medal.
• Women’s Rhythmic Gymnast Diamanto Evripidou won 4 Gold Medals (3 Individual and 1 Team); 1 Silver Medal; and 1 Bronze Medal.

Apart from the Gymnastics Medals, Cyprus also won:

• a Gold Medal in Men’s Clay Pigeon Shooting.
• a Gold Medal in Women’s Clay Pigeon Shooting.
• a Bronze Medal in Women’s Clay Pigeon Shooting.
• a Bronze Medal in Men’s Discus.
• a Bronze Medal in Men’s Wrestling.

Like Northern Ireland’s Medals, all these medals were won by different people.

I actually saw 2 of Diamanto’s routines while flicking back and forth between channels looking for the Netball Playoffs (which ended up not being shown ): the Clubs and Ribbon routines from the All Round Competition (ironically, these are the routines that she didn’t win Gold for in the separate competitions). And although I know nothing about Rhythmic Gymnastics, even I could see that she was VERY good.

Hopefully this will be the start of a very successful international career!

CaroLiza_fan

 

[anonymoose_au]

Like a bad high school concert where you’re desperate to leave! This without a doubt is Australia’s moment of international embarrassment. Never have I watched something so ghastly, organisers having an epic wankfest in their speeches, poor Prince Edward that would rather be having scones with his Mum and binge watching The Crown and not forgetting no athletes that made the games! Compare this to the recent Olympics and their closing, South Korea aced it!

Here here! I mean I could forgive just about everything except not including the athletes at the ceremony of the Games they made possible?! Seriously the organisers had to be high when they came up with that. I'm offended on all the athletes behalf. I was really looking forward to the big inclusive moment of Kurt Fernley being the flag bearer and leading our athletes in, but all we've got is thirty seconds of footage from one Ch 7 camera!

The only thing that was done well were the fireworks...but then Australia is epically talented at fireworks.

Grumble grumble...honestly QLD you had one job.

 

[CaroLiza_fan]

NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Guess who just watched the Netball Final.

I admit that I am normally an ABE person (Anybody But England). But, this is netball, where the players seem to be nicer and more civilised. Like, they sent a gift to Welsh player Bethan Drake who tore her ACL early in the tournament. So, I was prepared to give the England Roses the benefit of the doubt.

But, the way their Semi-Final and then the Final went has left me with a bitter taste in my mouth.

For me, the decisive moment in the Semi was in the last 10 seconds of the First Quarter. The ball went out of play behind the goal line and, because the last 2 days of the tournament were being played in a bigger arena than the earlier stages, there was a larger area between the goal line and the spectators. But, the male umpire didn’t hold time while the Jamaican player went to fetch the ball. So, they didn’t have time to have a proper shot at goal. And hence the 2 teams went into the Second Quarter level on goals rather than Jamaica being one goal ahead.

The commentators were angry that time wasn’t held; the spectators were angry that time wasn’t held; and the Jamaican players were angry that time wasn’t held. But, when questioned by the Jamaican captain in between quarters, the umpire stood by his decision, saying that he wasn’t obliged to hold time.

Who knows what way the match would have gone after that if Jamaica had led by one goal after the First Quarter rather than being level. Having an early lead could have given them a psychological boost. But, if we look at things simplistically and assume that the rest of the match would have been the same, that one goal would have made all the difference. It would have meant going to Extra Time after the Fourth Quarter rather than England winning by one goal.

So, although this was early in the match, I do feel this bad decision by the male umpire robbed Jamaica of a chance of getting to the Final. Sure, England may still have won after Extra Time. But, we will never know.

For the Final, I was supporting the Australian Diamonds. I do tend to support the Aussies in various sports anyway, but after the controversy of the way that England got through to the Final, I couldn’t get behind them.

Can I just say that it is so appropriate that the England team are called the Roses. Because roses have thorns. And the England players really were thorns in the side of the Aussies.

That Final was not a pleasant match to watch. England were playing dirty the whole way through it. And then there was the way they were running down the clock at the very end of the match when the two teams were level to make sure that there was only time for them to take a shot. Not good sportsmanship.

But you would not have known any of this if you were just listening to the BBC’s commentators. That was the most biased commentary I have ever heard on sports coverage. The England girls could do no wrong, and the Aussie girls were barely even getting a mention. And how excited they were getting any time England took the lead.

Throughout the Final, I was wishing that this had been one of the matches where we got the World Feed commentary. Because the level of bias from the BBC commentators was unbearable! I’m sure the Aussie commentators on the World Feed wouldn’t have been anywhere near that bad.

That said, there was a match that Northern Ireland were playing in earlier in the tournament where the BBC used the World Feed commentary, and I thought that the commentators were very biased against us. Some of the things they were saying about particular players were verging on nasty. But, maybe I am being over sensitive, as one of the girls that they seemed to be picking on is a good friend of mine.

Anyway, I was gutted for the Aussie Diamonds. After dominating the sport for so long, it must have been heartbreaking to lose a Major Championship Final on home soil.

Normally, it is nice when an underdog beats the dominant side. But not when they do it by not playing fair.

Up until the Final, Australia were unbeaten the whole tournament. So, I hope that there are no rash decisions made based on losing just one match.

CaroLiza_fan

 

[karne]

That Final was not a pleasant match to watch. England were playing dirty the whole way through it. And then there was the way they were running down the clock at the very end of the match when the two teams were level to make sure that there was only time for them to take a shot. Not good sportsmanship.

England playing dirty and showing poor sportsmanship? Colour me so, so shocked. I'm stunned, surprised. :sarcasm:

Up until the Final, Australia were unbeaten the whole tournament. So, I hope that there are no rash decisions made based on losing just one match.

Nah, we're pissed and annoyed, but more because we know the English will be unbearable about it for ages. Nothing crazy will happen.

 

[CaroLiza_fan]

England playing dirty and showing poor sportsmanship? Colour me so, so shocked. I'm stunned, surprised. :sarcasm:

Yeah, I know what you mean. That's why I tend to support ABE. But, I genuinely thought that these Netballers were different. So, it was a disappointment to see them falling into the normal mould for the Final.

Nah, we're pissed and annoyed, but more because we know the English will be unbearable about it for ages. Nothing crazy will happen.

And that is the other reason I don't like England winning things. I'm convinced they'll still be going on about 1966 for another 50 years.

But, it is good to hear that there won't be any changes in the Aussie setup. Because, they showed throughout the tournament that they are a very good team with a very good backroom staff. There is no sense in making changes that may mess things up just because they lost one match.

CaroLiza_fan