Olympics Thread
-
Another story on Liam...
Listened to him being interviewed on RS yesterday, seems a pretty laidback fella.
-
Some of today's results:
Women's Shot Put F34 (athletics) - BRONZE for Jessica Hamill
Women's 400m Freestyle S7 (swimming) - Rebecca Dubber finishes 4th
Women's 100m Breaststroke SB8 (swimming) - Nikita Howarth finishes 7th
Women's Time Trial C4 (road cycling) - Kate Horan finishes 8thMen's KL3 sprint (para-canoe) - Scott Martlew qualifies for the final (tomorrow) after finishing 4th in the semi-final
Men's 400m T44 (athletics) - Liam Malone qualifies as 2nd fastest for the final (tomorrow)
Sonar (Three-person keelboat - Sailing) - Chris Sharp, Andrew May and Richard Dodson sit in third place after 6 races (out of 11 races) -
-
@Bovidae said in Olympics Thread:
An interesting stat. The winning time, and that of the first 4 placegetters, in the visually-impaired mens 1500 m final were all faster than Centrovitz's time at Rio.
Yes, the Olympic race may have been relatively "slow" for able-bodied athletes, but these Paralympians have shown what a quality athletes there are at the Paralympics!
Four Paralympians just ran the 1500m faster than Rio Olympics gold medallist
Gold medallist Abdellatif Baka finished 1.7 seconds faster than Olympic champion Matthew Centrowitz along with three other Paralympic athletes
-
well, lets not over-egg it. This new record for the paralympics is 22 seconds slower than the real world record. The last time the world record was 3.48 was 1934.
It's a great time, and there are some seriously good displays on offer, but comparing middle distance races purely on time alone doesn't mean much except for a great headline.
-
@mariner4life That's why I said it was interesting, as I wasn't making a comparison based purely on athletic ability. Obviously the 1500 m final was a tactical race and the slowest winning time since 1932.
-
@Bovidae yep, but then Stargazer links an article that says "meaning that four Paralympic athletes had run times fast enough to win gold had they competed in the Olympic Games". That's over-egging it
-
Liam Malone has picked up his 2nd gold in the 400m in Paralympic record time.
-
@mariner4life said in Olympics Thread:
@Bovidae yep, but then Stargazer links an article that says "meaning that four Paralympic athletes had run times fast enough to win gold had they competed in the Olympic Games". That's over-egging it
Yeah, it's true but disingenuous.
Hope this is not insensitive but given the rough push and shove in the Olympic event the vision impaired runners may have had some difficulty in that race.
Despite that a cool achievement.
-
Update:
Men’s 400m T44 (athletics) - GOLD for Liam Malone in a new olympic record (smashing another record from Pistorius)
Men’s 400m T36 (athletics) - BRONZE for 16 year old William Stedman
Women's 200m Individual Medley SM11 (swimming) - Mary Fisher finishes 6th
Men's 100m Backstroke S9 (swimming) - Jesse Reynolds finishes 7th
Women's 100m Backstroke S9 (swimming) - 15-year-old Tupou Neiufi finishes 7th
Men's 50m Backstroke S5 (swimming) - Cameron Leslie finishes 8th
Women's 100m Freestyle S7 (swimming) - Rebecca Dubber finishes 9th in her heat, missing qualification for the Final by just under three tenths of a secon
Men's Road Race C3 (cycling) - Fraser Sharp finishes 11thThe para-sailors (Sonar) currently sit at 5th place with two more races to go.
-
Nothing announced officially, yet, but finally some common sense ...
Olympics will be postponed, IOC member Dick Pound says
The International Olympic Committee has decided to postpone the Tokyo 2020 Games because of the coronavirus pandemic, IOC member Dick Pound has told a US newspaper. Major sporting nations Australia and Canada had already withdrawn as organisers came under global pressure to postpone the event for the first time in the Olympics' 124-year modern history. "On the basis of the information the IOC has, postponement has been decided," Pound was quoted as saying by USA Today. "The parameters going forward have not been determined, but the Games are not going to start on July 24, that much I know." The report said the games, scheduled for July 24-Aug. 9, were likely to be held in 2021, with the details to be worked out in the next four weeks. A postponement would be a massive blow for the host country, Japan, which has pumped in more than $21 billion of investment, and huge sums are also at stake for sponsors and broadcasters. But a groundswell of concern from athletes - already struggling to train as gyms, stadiums and swimming pools close around the world - appears to be tipping the balance, along with the cancellation of other major sports events. More than 337,000 people have been infected by the novel coronavirus worldwide and over 14,600 have died in a pandemic that the World Health Organisation said was accelerating. The IOC and the Japanese government have both edged back from weeks of blanket insistence the Games would go ahead, announcing a month-long consultation on scenarios including postponement. Mike Ryan, head of the WHO's emergencies programme, said the WHO was feeding into deliberations over the Games, adding: "I believe a decision will be made very soon." The Olympics have never before been delayed, though they were cancelled altogether in 1916, 1940 and 1944 during the two world wars, and major Cold War boycotts disrupted the Moscow and Los Angeles Games in 1980 and 1984 respectively. "The moment the IOC indicates that it is thinking about other solutions, it has already decided to delay the Games," said French Olympic Committee president Denis Masseglia. Canada and Australia both bluntly said they would not participate if the Games were not put back to 2021 and Britain may have followed suit. The Swiss Olympic Committee also called for a postponement, saying a fair, global Games was not currently possible. "We are in the midst of a global health crisis that is far more significant than sport," said Canada's Olympic Committee and Paralympic Committee in a statement. "Our athletes have been magnificent in their positive attitude to training and preparing, but the stress and uncertainty have been extremely challenging for them," said Australia's Olympics Chef de Mission, Ian Chesterman. Paralympic athletes may be at particular risk from the epidemic as some have underlying health problems. Russia urged global sporting authorities to avoid "panic" and U.S. President Donald Trump expressed confidence in Japan to make the "proper" call. But a raft of other nations and sports bodies piled pressure on the IOC - and its German president Thomas Bach, a former Olympic fencing champion - to make a quick decision. "The faster the decision, the better it is for the entire Olympic movement," Greece's Olympic head, Spyros Capralos, a former water polo player, told Reuters. "I understand where the athletes are coming from," he added. "When you cannot train, you are stressed, you live in agony, which is disastrous. Postponement is inevitable." -
Interesting to see Canada and Australia taking the lead on this. They’re neither heavyweights nor lightweights. And their decision doesn’t look political. Other nations (U.K.) already following their lead. Games will be postponed. Hard to see it go on without both of them.
-
Stick a fork in it.
The U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee has endorsed a delay in the start of the 2020 games in Tokyo because of the spread of deadly coronavirus
-
It’s official. Postponed a year.
JOINT STATEMENT FROM THE INTERNATIONAL OLYMPIC COMMITTEE AND THE TOKYO 2020 ORGANISING COMMITTEE
[...]
In the present circumstances and based on the information provided by the WHO today, the IOC President and the Prime Minister of Japan have concluded that the Games of the XXXII Olympiad in Tokyo must be rescheduled to a date beyond 2020 but not later than summer 2021, to safeguard the health of the athletes, everybody involved in the Olympic Games and the international community.
[...]
-
Lions tour of South Africa set for Olympics clash
The British and Irish Lions' tour of South Africa in July 2021 will not be shifted despite a direct overlap with the new dates for the Tokyo Olympic Games.
-
The first casualty for NZ athletes.
