Yesterday the games of the 30th Olympiad in London came to a close. As IOC President Jacques Rogge said, they were indeed "happy and glorious" and I thoroughly enjoyed them.
I wasn't particularly fond of the closing ceremonies - just not my style of music, I'm afraid, and to me fashion and models are a bit incongruous with the Olympics - but I certainly enjoyed watching many of the events. Coverage (at least in Canada) was superb; in the rare case I couldn't find something I wanted to see live on one of the five channels covering the games here, I could always catch it online using the CTV app or website.
Londoners truly did themselves proud and made their city a place I'd definitely like to visit some day too. Everything ran like clockwork - if an event was scheduled for 9 AM, it started then - and the literally thousands of volunteers always seemed to be smiling and pleasant. Regular glimpses of royalty (William, Kate and Harry were at many of the events) were a nice treat too. It was lovely to see the pride Great Britain had, and it was well justified. Not only were the games a huge success, so too were their athletes. They came in fourth in the medal count with 29 gold!
I was also glad the games came off safely; beforehand there were some concerns about security and I admit I was a little worried someone might try something. (I really need to be a lot more positive and optimistic and just trust that everything is going to be OK. It puts such a damper on things when you're always fearful.) It was so good to see the world coming together, being happy and fair for at least a few weeks.
There were so many heartwarming stories too. There's Oscar Pistorious, the double amputee who nonetheless ran (and well) for South Africa. There's Jamaica's Usain Bolt who won the "triple double" or "double triple" depending on how you want to say it: the 100m, 200m, and 4x100m gold medals in both the 2008 and 2012 Olympics and has to be the greatest runner - at least the greatest sprinter - of all time.
And there were several stories from the pool: Michael Phelps - the greatest swimmer of all time - ended his career with an additional four gold and two silver medals for an astonishing total of 22 Olympic medals ... 18 golden! In men's diving, our own Alexandre Despatie competed despite smashing his head on the board in training only a month or so before the games. Two other young divers might not have been there at all. Three years ago Britain's Chris Mears ruptured his spleen in a diving competition, lost five pints of blood and was given only a five percent chance of surviving - let alone diving. And Australia's Ethan Warren had a serious heart infection just last year and wasn't sure he'd ever be able to dive again. None of these three won medals, but they all made the event finals and exemplify what the games are all about - just going out there and doing your best. In my book that definitely makes them all - just like the games - winners.
Showing posts with label Olympics. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Olympics. Show all posts
Monday, August 13, 2012
Thursday, August 2, 2012
Another Day, Another Controversy
Yesterday it was a badminton scandal, with eight players (from four teams) being sent home for trying to throw matches in the hopes of getting more favourable matches subsequently. It was pretty pathetic to watch. The poor referee was pleading with them to just play, to actually attempt to hit the shuttlecock. Instead they just kept swatting it limply into the net or batting at it so halfheartedly that the longest rally was a mere four shots. Talk about unsportsmanlike conduct!
Today we're back to gymnastics again, the women's all-around finals this time. That would be the event where the best aren't all competing because their countries' teams were too strong and had too many good athletes. Anyway, the U.S.'s Gabby Douglas was awesome and deservedly won the gold medal, followed fairly closely by Russian Victoria Komova. And the two of them were followed by the second Russian, Aliya Mustofina and the second American, Aly Raisman.
In fact, they were followed identically by those two. Now in other sports, if there were an exact tie, all the way down to the thousandth of a second or point, they would share the bronze medal (and I'm positive I remember shared medals in previous games, although perhaps not that recently) . But for gymnastics, that would be too generous, apparently. So there's a whole complicated procedure to prevent ties from happening. You drop the lowest scoring apparatus, one at a time, until the tie is broken. In the highly improbable case that it isn't, you then go by the highest execution scores and, if it still isn't, by start values. At that point - which of course will never happen - a tie would stand.
So in the end, because Mustafina's three best events were better than Raisman's, she got the final medal. It just seems so petty. To tie to the thousandth of a point was already pretty remarkable, showing they were both worthy of a medal. Why not give it to them both? Would it really have done any harm? I think, along with the "maximum two qualifiers per country" rule, this is another area the Gymnastics Federation really has to take a look at. As with all other sports, don't you really want the best competing, and don't you really want to reward deserved achievements even if they do cause the slight inconvenience of an extra medal? Hopefully by the next Olympics things will be just a little bit different, just a little bit better.
Today we're back to gymnastics again, the women's all-around finals this time. That would be the event where the best aren't all competing because their countries' teams were too strong and had too many good athletes. Anyway, the U.S.'s Gabby Douglas was awesome and deservedly won the gold medal, followed fairly closely by Russian Victoria Komova. And the two of them were followed by the second Russian, Aliya Mustofina and the second American, Aly Raisman.
In fact, they were followed identically by those two. Now in other sports, if there were an exact tie, all the way down to the thousandth of a second or point, they would share the bronze medal (and I'm positive I remember shared medals in previous games, although perhaps not that recently) . But for gymnastics, that would be too generous, apparently. So there's a whole complicated procedure to prevent ties from happening. You drop the lowest scoring apparatus, one at a time, until the tie is broken. In the highly improbable case that it isn't, you then go by the highest execution scores and, if it still isn't, by start values. At that point - which of course will never happen - a tie would stand.
So in the end, because Mustafina's three best events were better than Raisman's, she got the final medal. It just seems so petty. To tie to the thousandth of a point was already pretty remarkable, showing they were both worthy of a medal. Why not give it to them both? Would it really have done any harm? I think, along with the "maximum two qualifiers per country" rule, this is another area the Gymnastics Federation really has to take a look at. As with all other sports, don't you really want the best competing, and don't you really want to reward deserved achievements even if they do cause the slight inconvenience of an extra medal? Hopefully by the next Olympics things will be just a little bit different, just a little bit better.
Tuesday, July 31, 2012
Golden Redemption
Any internal turmoil the American women's gymnastics team might be dealing with following Sunday's Olympic qualifications certainly wasn't evident in today's team final. Today they were golden through and through, hitting twelve for twelve routines with scarcely a bobble and finishing up over five points ahead of second place Russia - a decisive victory in a sport of tenths. It was a wonderful competition and nice to see most teams hitting most of their routines; you really don't want to see victories based primarily on someone else's mistakes. Clearly the Americans had the superior team and their victory was both well-earned and well-deserved.
The ever classy Romanians took the bronze, while China, who don't have the strongest team this time around came fourth. But the big news for me? Guess which team came in fifth (up from eighth in qualifications, which itself was an accomplishment to be proud of)? That's right: Canada!!! We've never even made the finals in the current eight team format, and the official goal was a top ten finish; cracking the top eight not much more than a nice hope. Achieving that on Sunday was already a huge victory. Coming fifth today was almost like a gold medal for us. As their idol Justin Bieber himself tweeted to the team, "Stand Up Canada"!
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| Members of team Canada, Elsabeth Black (L-R), Dominique Pegg, Kristina Vaculik, Brittany Rogers and Victoria Moors stand together during the women's gymnastics team final in the North Greenwich Arena at the London 2012 Olympic Games July 31, 2012. Photograph by: Mark Blinch, Reuters |
Sunday, July 29, 2012
Olympic Gymnastics Restrictive Rule
I got my fill of gymnastics today and then some as I watched the women's qualifications at the Olympics. [As an aside, the Canadian coverage of the Games has been pretty amazing. At any given time I can be watching events on CTV, SportsNet, TSN or RDS or choosing from a multitude of feeds on the CTV iPad app. Plus there's NBC if I really wanted it, but that would be a last resort since they're not showing a lot of things live - especially the marquee events like gymnastics. I could have seen all five subsections today, and I knew all the key results by midday while cable-bound Americans still won't have seen them yet!]
While there were a few stumbles here and there, overall I was pretty impressed by the performances today. And Canada did particularly well, making the team finals for the first time. We also have one gymnast in the all-around and two in the vault final. As expected, the Americans lead the pack, but Russia, China and Romania are all strong contenders. Given the merciless "three up, three count" format of the team finals, nothing can be taken for granted.
And nobody found that out more than American Jordyn Weiber. The reigning world champion was expected to be vying for gold in the all around final at the Olympics. Finishing fourth overall today she certainly would have been too ... if two of her teammates hadn't placed second and third. Unfortunately the rule is only two athletes per country may advance to finals. It's not inconceivable that one of the other girls could have an injury before Thursday's final (real or - the cynic in me must allow for the possibility - exaggerated) allowing Jordyn to advance after all, but I hope that doesn't happen.
What really needs to happen is for the rule to be changed. I know you do want to allow gymnasts from a variety of countries the chance to participate, but it has never seemed right to me. In other events like swimming or cycling or track the score is everything. If the top five athletes happen to be from the same country, so be it. The finals should be a showcase of the best, regardless of where they're from. For someone to be penalised because her teammates are so good just isn't fair. Now that teams are smaller (the "Mag Seven" of 1996 is 2012's "Fab Five") and often include specialists who don't compete on all events (only three of the U.S. team did so, for example), the rule is less relevant or necessary than ever.
Of course it's too late to act now (though there is a fledgling petition underway, apparently); that would be patently unfair to the athletes who legitimately qualified today. But it's certainly time to begin lobbying in earnest for a change before the 2016 Olympics. Hopefully then we will see finals that truly do include the best of the best, no matter what their country of origin.
While there were a few stumbles here and there, overall I was pretty impressed by the performances today. And Canada did particularly well, making the team finals for the first time. We also have one gymnast in the all-around and two in the vault final. As expected, the Americans lead the pack, but Russia, China and Romania are all strong contenders. Given the merciless "three up, three count" format of the team finals, nothing can be taken for granted.
And nobody found that out more than American Jordyn Weiber. The reigning world champion was expected to be vying for gold in the all around final at the Olympics. Finishing fourth overall today she certainly would have been too ... if two of her teammates hadn't placed second and third. Unfortunately the rule is only two athletes per country may advance to finals. It's not inconceivable that one of the other girls could have an injury before Thursday's final (real or - the cynic in me must allow for the possibility - exaggerated) allowing Jordyn to advance after all, but I hope that doesn't happen.
What really needs to happen is for the rule to be changed. I know you do want to allow gymnasts from a variety of countries the chance to participate, but it has never seemed right to me. In other events like swimming or cycling or track the score is everything. If the top five athletes happen to be from the same country, so be it. The finals should be a showcase of the best, regardless of where they're from. For someone to be penalised because her teammates are so good just isn't fair. Now that teams are smaller (the "Mag Seven" of 1996 is 2012's "Fab Five") and often include specialists who don't compete on all events (only three of the U.S. team did so, for example), the rule is less relevant or necessary than ever.
Of course it's too late to act now (though there is a fledgling petition underway, apparently); that would be patently unfair to the athletes who legitimately qualified today. But it's certainly time to begin lobbying in earnest for a change before the 2016 Olympics. Hopefully then we will see finals that truly do include the best of the best, no matter what their country of origin.
Friday, July 27, 2012
Let the Games Begin
A few hours ago in London, Queen Elizabeth declared the games of the 30th Olympiad officially open. And I was privileged enough to have a bird's eye view of the ceremonies from the comfort of my living room sofa. (That's unlike Americans who had to wait until prime time to view their edited version of the events. Yet another time I'm grateful to be Canadian!) Though I wasn't enamoured with every single segment, overall I felt it was nicely done and reflected the values and culture of the country fairly well.
The show opened with a video of the Thames, rushing onward from its source to London (if you looked closely enough - and knew the cultural reference - you could see the characters from "The Wind in the Willows" at one point). Then it had a segment of early, pastoral England: green fields and Maypoles, animals, rural agriculture etc. This was interspersed with children's choirs from the four countries that make up the U.K. singing traditional songs and hymns including "Jerusalem" and "Danny Boy". I think that was probably my favourite part of the whole ceremonies, actually; it just seemed so simple and sweet.
Then there was a quote from "The Tempest" read (very well) by Sir Kenneth Branagh and we moved into the industrial revolution where workers "forged" one of the Olympic rings. It was supposed to show the pandemonium of the time ... and it accomplished that quite well too. There was also a good segment lauding the National Health Care service (like our Medicare) and in particular the Great Ormond Street Hospital. J. K. Rowling read an excerpt from Peter Pan, and a host of Mary Poppins swept in to shoo nightmarish characters away from the children.
A couple of lighthearted segments had the Queen and James Bond (well, doubles thereof) parachuting in from a helicopter, and Mr. Bean playing along with the orchestra to the "Chariots of Fire" theme song ... all the while imagining himself as victor of the race.
Then there was a fairly long segment featuring popular music from the past forty or so years. The dancers, particularly the lead girl, were good, but I didn't recognise - or like - much of the music. In fact the Eurhythmics "Sweet Dreams" was about all I knew and even Dan, who's way more into music, didn't know a lot of it either.
Of course there was the lengthy parade of athletes, a few brief speeches, the raising of the flag, the lighting of the torch - cleverly made up of metal "petals" carried in with each country's entry (along with flags "planted" in the green hill, which I thought was a nice touch too) - and the athletes', coaches' and judges' oaths. Paul McCartney's "Hey Jude" and some fireworks capped the evening.
And that was that: a nice ceremony - perhaps not as spectacular as some but well done on a budget and with lots of volunteer heart and spirit. I was a little surprised there weren't more celebrity appearances, and I was sort of disappointed there wasn't a catchy theme song like our "Believe" but it was a fine opening for what I hope are two wonderful weeks of athletic prowess and good times.
The show opened with a video of the Thames, rushing onward from its source to London (if you looked closely enough - and knew the cultural reference - you could see the characters from "The Wind in the Willows" at one point). Then it had a segment of early, pastoral England: green fields and Maypoles, animals, rural agriculture etc. This was interspersed with children's choirs from the four countries that make up the U.K. singing traditional songs and hymns including "Jerusalem" and "Danny Boy". I think that was probably my favourite part of the whole ceremonies, actually; it just seemed so simple and sweet.
Then there was a quote from "The Tempest" read (very well) by Sir Kenneth Branagh and we moved into the industrial revolution where workers "forged" one of the Olympic rings. It was supposed to show the pandemonium of the time ... and it accomplished that quite well too. There was also a good segment lauding the National Health Care service (like our Medicare) and in particular the Great Ormond Street Hospital. J. K. Rowling read an excerpt from Peter Pan, and a host of Mary Poppins swept in to shoo nightmarish characters away from the children.
A couple of lighthearted segments had the Queen and James Bond (well, doubles thereof) parachuting in from a helicopter, and Mr. Bean playing along with the orchestra to the "Chariots of Fire" theme song ... all the while imagining himself as victor of the race.
Then there was a fairly long segment featuring popular music from the past forty or so years. The dancers, particularly the lead girl, were good, but I didn't recognise - or like - much of the music. In fact the Eurhythmics "Sweet Dreams" was about all I knew and even Dan, who's way more into music, didn't know a lot of it either.
Of course there was the lengthy parade of athletes, a few brief speeches, the raising of the flag, the lighting of the torch - cleverly made up of metal "petals" carried in with each country's entry (along with flags "planted" in the green hill, which I thought was a nice touch too) - and the athletes', coaches' and judges' oaths. Paul McCartney's "Hey Jude" and some fireworks capped the evening.
And that was that: a nice ceremony - perhaps not as spectacular as some but well done on a budget and with lots of volunteer heart and spirit. I was a little surprised there weren't more celebrity appearances, and I was sort of disappointed there wasn't a catchy theme song like our "Believe" but it was a fine opening for what I hope are two wonderful weeks of athletic prowess and good times.
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