2021 Summer Olympics (Tokyo): July 23 (Friday) - August 8 (Sunday)

[kyphysics]

https://www.espn.com/olympics/story/_/id/31560502/the-many-hurdles-summer-tokyo-olympics
Despite the global COVID-19 pandemic still carrying on (and even a recent fourth wave in Japan - host nation of the Olympics - that's seen some areas of the country placed into a state of emergency since mid-April, including Tokyo, that's set to expire June 20), the 2021 Summer Olympics are still scheduled to take place in a month.

And the public is less than convinced the Games should go ahead. The latest surveys show 80% are in favor of postponing or canceling the Olympics, while a petition to cancel the Games, launched by lawyer Kenji Utsunomiya, has over 400,000 signatures.

Foreign visitors and any fans traveling from overseas have already been banned from attending the Olympics, and a final decision will be made in June by the organizers on whether to allow local spectators into the events.

The decision to prohibit overseas spectators affects about 630,000 ticket holders, while the Tokyo organising committee has cut the number of non-competing accreditations for those who hoped to visit. Previously even without the overseas spectators, the organising committee was predicting 90,000 attendees would fly in from overseas.

Japan is presently expecting 59,000 visitors (including media, athletes, broadcasters, coaches, officials and athletics representatives) for the Olympics and Paralympics.

I'm a bit torn. I would love to see the once-every-four-years games for entertainment reasons, but certainly understand the health risks posed by holding the events.

This thread isn't to debate the COVID aspects of the Olympics, but rather intended to discuss the actual upcoming competitions (and have a thread for group discussion when they actually take place). Yet, because of the obvious health challenges, I thought I'd get that topic "out of the way" in introductory remarks. Feel free to discuss that aspect of it if you like. Just know that the purpose of this thread was more geared towards the actual sports/competitions themselves.

NBC (in the U.S.) will be broadcasting the live Olympic events, starting on Friday morning (7AM - yes, VERY EARLY), July 23. We are 13 hours behind Tokyo time, where the opening ceremony will be taking place for them in the evening of that day.

For a full Olympic schedule, visit: https://www.nbcolympics.com/full-schedule
[Note: For the U.S., evening events in Tokyo will be shown live in the mornings/afternoon and morning/afternoon events in Tokyo will be shown here in the evenings. . .Check your local broadcasting/nation's time zone differences to get a sense of how things will be shown for you. In the U.S., it's mostly just "opposite" time of the day viewing relative to Tokyo time.]
What events are people most excited by and looking forward to? For me, it's swimming. Parents are swimmers. Me and all siblings (except, youngest sister) are all swimmers. My least interested event would be golfing.

 

[berkeman]

For me, it's swimming. Parents are swimmers. Me and all siblings (except, youngest sister) are all swimmers.

Bummer about Lochte, eh?

https://www.wsj.com/articles/ryan-lochte-fails-to-qualify-for-the-tokyo-olympics-11624099300

 

[kyphysics]

Bummer about Lochte, eh?

https://www.wsj.com/articles/ryan-lochte-fails-to-qualify-for-the-tokyo-olympics-11624099300

Not his biggest fan, so it's all good with me.

 

[russ_watters]

Bummer about Lochte, eh?

Not his biggest fan, so it's all good with me.

Meh, me neither. Simone Biles, though is a rock star, and Lilly King a beast.

 

[kyphysics]

https://www.wsj.com/articles/first-...-in-olympic-village-are-confirmed-11626581622

TOKYO—Two athletes staying at the Olympic Village in Tokyo have tested positive for Covid-19, the organizers of the Games said.

The infections are the first confirmed cases among athletes in the village. The two athletes have been moved into a 14-day quarantine, the organizers said on Sunday.

Am excited for the start of Olympics soon, but worried for interruptions from COVID. . . .Just a few more days away.

 

[russ_watters]

So, the Olympics started a few days ago, but this thread hasn't gotten active yet... A few highlights to discuss:

• The US Women's soccer team lost badly (3-0) to New Zealand, their worst loss in years.
• An unvaccinated American volleyball player tested positive for COVID and is out of the Olympics. His brother thinks he should be allowed to play because he feels ok.
• Japan is in a state of emergency due to a high COVID infection rate...which is far lower than the rate in the US, which is almost completely open/unrestricted.
• No fans allowed. Not even parents/support staff for parolympians.
• Cardboard beds in the Olympic Village are proven sex-ready.
• Opening ceremonies are tomorrow (today?).

Fun stuff! Yeah, I'll still watch.

 

[berkeman]

LOL. BTW, are the opening ceremonies always after the first events? Seems strange to me, but I haven't followed the Olympics closely over the years...

 

[StevieTNZ]

OMG the opening ceremony is today! Gosh that came up fast.

 

[russ_watters]

BTW, are the opening ceremonies always after the first events? Seems strange to me, but I haven't followed the Olympics closely over the years...

I'm only 45, but I've seen that sports that require round-robin and elimination tournament play with breaks between games have started early for the past several Olympics.

I've heard that in past Olympics the athletes competed nude, but maybe someone older can remember if that was really a thing.

 

[StevieTNZ]

I've heard that in past Olympics the athletes competed nude, but maybe someone older can remember if that was really a thing.

Maybe in ancient Greek times when it was held at Olympia.

 

[kyphysics]

I'm awake! (7am here)...got my Vanilla COke in hand...wooohooooo Opening Ceremonies!

 

[pinball1970]

I'm only 45, but I've seen that sports that require round-robin and elimination tournament play with breaks between games have started early for the past several Olympics.

I've heard that in past Olympics the athletes competed nude, but maybe someone older can remember if that was really a thing.

Apparently according to the below.

https://www.historyonthenet.com/the-olympics-ancient-olympics

I like the story where the athlete Orsippos lost his loin cloth, number two.

https://classroom.synonym.com/did-first-ancient-olympians-wear-games-11018.html

Pretty glad they wear cloths these days.

 

[kyphysics]

I registered with Peakcock to stream some events too. Not sure it's worth it yet, but we'll see.

NBC's TV broadcast seems to cover the most popular events already...

 

[berkeman]

I'm awake! (7am here)...

LOL. No worm for you!

 

[kyphysics]

LOL. No worm for you!

Depends on the purpose. Early to wake for work - often no. I will wake "early" for other things, though.

Btw, these Olympic commercials have been great. I usually tune out for other programs, but have enjoyed a lot of these (much like the Super Bowl).

 

[kyphysics]

Rowing - so boring

Get 3x3 basketball back on, please!

 

[Hornbein]

The Tokyo state of emergency means no alcohol served and every place closes at 8pm. It's surprisingly effective. Tokyo has done pretty well even though millions ride packed into the Metro every day. Everyone wears a mask.

 

[Mondayman]

I had no idea Olympics were even going on. Evidently not important here. I only tune in for Olympic hockey, but it looks like NHL players won't get to participate next Winter Olympics. It's a shame, would love to see Canada's win gold again.

 

[kyphysics]

Kelsey Plum's basketball handles are fantastic. Every time their 3x3 offense stalls, they can reliably give it to her to create something off her dribble.

A joy to watch. I'm enjoying the skateboarding today too. It's "different" and fun to watch.

 

[kyphysics]

Parratto and Schnell - great job in women's sync diving: comeback win for Silver Medal.

So awesome was their last dive.

What happened with Simone Biles?

 

[russ_watters]

The IOC's treatment of Russia is a joke, and annoys me greatly. "Russia" isn't allowed to compete in the Olympics because of their state-sponsored doping program, but Russian athletes are as team "ROC" who's acronym and banner's color scheme look suspiciously familiar (hint: it's "Russia" and a Russian flag). And get this: because the "ROC" isn't a country, they don't have to follow country rules! So for example if you have three gymnasts competing for team "ROC" with scores high enough to put them in the finals but the rules only allow two per country, well that's fine, they aren't a country so all three get to compete!*

The argument in favor of the athletes (minus the rules exemption) is that one shouldn't punish the athletes who haven't proven to have doped. But the problem with that argument is that as a state-sponsored program, the only way to levy a meaningful penalty is to punish the entire state. The lack of serious consequences for the country gives the country little reason to stop doping their athletes for fear of future repercussions. Individual athletes can make their own choices, but there is no incentive for the country to stop offering the option.

*[edit] Looks like I misinterpreted NBC's qualification leaderboard. They showed three with qualifying scores, but only two competed. The USA's 3rd, Jade Carey, was highlighted because she replaced Simone Biles, so showing three Americans didn't mean three were competing. No such caveat was given for the Russians.

 

[kyphysics]

It's hard to argue against Suni Lee winning all-around gold, but I thought the judges "soft robbed" Rebeca Andrade (who got silver) in two events leading up to her botched floor routine (yes, she stepped out of bounds twice, but it was still a very good/beautiful/difficult/well-performed otherwise routine).

Suni's beam routine may have gotten a higher score than I would have liked (she removed one twirling move after the first one didn't go so well - she seemed to struggle to make sure she didn't lose balance). One might argue the same with her floor routine that removed a tumbling sequence. . .Seems like Suni took out some difficult elements in various routines to play it safe (yes, she got docked difficulty points, but I can see an argument that she should have scored even lower).

Nastia Liukin (commentator) said Andrade's scores were suspect on two routines. It's not to say Suni wouldn't have still beaten her, but I feel like Andrade did enough to either tie for gold or possibly even win if those scores were kinda off.

Just a random person's opinion. If anyone else felt the same way, let me know. ...I guess the way I saw it was that Suni went with safety a few times and it paid off (no big mistakes) and she crushed the uneven bars. Andrade was awesome (higher difficulty + execution) in everything, except the floor and didn't seem to get enough credit for the non-floor performances.

 

[kyphysics]

Was very happy for Rebeca Andrade winning gold on vault in light of my previous post.

 

[kyphysics]

I know it might look like I'm picking on Suni Lee, but that is certainly not my intention. She did well and fine in all her performances. But, I really felt she, again, got a placement that maybe should've have gone to someone else.

Uneven bars - she, AGAIN, removed not one, but two difficult elements, because she didn't have the best momentum to do them. Yes, she got docked difficulty points, but I felt Lu YuFei had a better performance and should have gotten bronze.

But, what do I know?

 

[Hornbein]

Gymnastics is so refined that there are deductions for things ordinary people don't notice. There is no credit for dramatic effect.

My favorite performance of all time won a silver medal.

 

[BillTre]

When I was in college, I had a room mate who was on the U or O gymnastics team.
When I was a kid I had some gymnastic classes (my Mom wanted me to know how to fall down safety), so I knew some basic things about gymnastics, but being a round Alex (the room mate) and his friends made me much more aware of things gymnasticle.
I would go to meets. After the guys were done, Alex would join me in the stands and verbally score the woman's routines as they were doing them, similar to how a judge would score it.

It made it really obvious what was going on, like:
She bounced on her landing: -0.2
Her legs were not straight at this point: -0.3
etc.

At that time (in the 1980's) guys were scored more for strength based tricks, while the women more flexibility. Don't know how much that has changed, but the women's tricks seem much more impressive.

I have no idea how dramatic effect might be scored, maybe an addition like a difficulty score. Seems like it would have to be intrinsically subjective.
The music adds to dramatic effect.

 

[Hornbein]

Women's gymnastics has changed radically. The scoring system has been completely revamped. In the old days the winning path was a perfect cautious routine, now its difficulty. McKayla Marony had such an advantage in difficulty she got a silver in the vault in spite of falling on her butt. To me that was more impressive than winning the gold medal.

What looks better is a matter of taste, but the new system favors strong bodies so there are fewer injuries. Simone Biles bulges with muscles. She is also four feet eight inches tall so has minimal angular inertia.

Drama isn't judged but that's what I like.

 

[kyphysics]

Gymnastics is so refined that there are deductions for things ordinary people don't notice. There is no credit for dramatic effect.

My favorite performance of all time won a silver medal.

The commentators often pointed out things as they happened live that were hard to notice - this was prior to the replays shown on screen.

You could hear Nastia (former Olympic gold medalist herself) instantly gasp when things went wrong and then later explain them in detail (either before or during the replay). Us non-gymnasts would never know.

But, she also questioned scores at times too. So, it seems there's still a good deal of subjectivity (unlike, say, a racing sport with finish lines and photo finishes).

 

[kyphysics]

She is also four feet eight inches tall so has minimal angular inertia.

Sometimes you have people doing the same moves, but one person just looks so much more athletic and/or graceful and I wonder if that visual difference is graded?

Simone is so powerful. Her tumbles look "better" to me, but that's just me.

 

[kyphysics]

Simone is being interviewed right now 8:15 AM and she said one reason she's stayed out is that her mental focus was affecting her on "dangerous" exercises where she is twisting in the air.

If you don't have focus during those moves, you can severely hurt yourself. When asked why she's coming back for the beam competition, she said it's because she doesn't have dangerous moves in the air.

Makes sense. Let's go, Simone!

 

[Hornbein]

It is dangerous. There have been deaths and so forth.

 

[Astronuc]

Men's 400 m hurdles!

Warholm shattered his previous record, running a stunning 45.94 seconds for gold, and Benjamin ran an incredible 46.17 s! The bronze medalist, Brazil's Alison dos Santos, finished in 46.72 s.

https://sports.yahoo.com/karsten-warholm-bests-rai-benjamin-in-race-for-the-ages-051626533.html

https://www.npr.org/sections/tokyo-...n-warholm-rai-benjamin-mens-400-meter-hurdles

 

[kyphysics]

Quan Hong Chan's (age 14) perfect dive - 10, 10, 10, 10, 10, 10, 10 - was pretty amazing. First all 10's this Olympics.

 

[kyphysics]

Very nice hand-off to Paris for 2024.

Beijing 2022 for Winters first, though.

Hopefully, we get live event audiences for a true Olympic feel.

 

[pinball1970]

Very nice hand-off to Paris for 2024.

Beijing 2022 for Winters first, though.

Hopefully, we get live event audiences for a true Olympic feel.

The UK did ok, a nice diversion at this time.

I would have liked to have seen more. I did see the ladies speed climbing which was absolutely nuts. Amazing