Arrested development, maybe? :D

Maybe I'm the only one, but I'm really excited about synchronised swimming coming up soon.

Men's and Women's All-Around GOLDs!!!!

YAY for Paul Hamm and Carly Patterson!!!!

Is it me or are the U.S. women gymnast really thick/muscular compared to the other countries. They show face shots when filming and all I see are thier thick ass necks. lol.

I think that, too. One reason I think is because there have been problems with anorexia in gymnastics, so I think the US may actually be trying to help curb that by not focusing on weight. That's a total guess on my part, but if it's true I think it's great.

The other thing, which I think is probably more true, is that the other countries (especially the Europeans) focus on dance a lot more. I remember hearing a while ago that the Russians took a ballet class every day as part of training. Ballet creates long, lean muscles. Obviosuly gymnasticas creats bunched up, thick muscles. I think the ballet training by a lot of the other countries is contributing to their look.

I read an article yesterday about how much more graceful many of the other countries are. The Americans can jump and flip like crazy, but they are stiff and lack style and grace. Having a BFA in dance and being a long-time lover of gymnastics, I would really like to become involved in a program that gave more dance training to gymnasts. I think if they understood the true dance science behind their turns and leaps, they wouldn't fall out of them so much or look so clunky doing them. That saves valuable tenths you know!!! :)

[/end disertation]

I'm watching the badminton matches. Wow, those things are fast. I've read they go up to 200 mph. Fast fast fast.

I LOATHE Tim Daggett. He is so negative. I'd love to see his middle aged ass out there on the uneven bars, since I thinks he's so great. I usually get so annoyed about 1/3 of the way through a competition that I mute the TV.

The ads are so cute - the little blue cow rocks :). and finally, another medal!

Yay for another medal!!!!!

Have you forgotten that Tim Daggett competed for us in the 1984 Olympics, and his gymnastic days were ended by a HORRIBLE fracture to his lower leg on a vault? I agree it was all doom-and-gloom, but USUALLY with the mistake that was made by Paul Hamm ~ you don't win the all-around!

Ditto on what ZTABullwinkle said!

Considering that the NBC evening feeds are virtually 100% tape delayed, I'm glad that the men's all-around commentary appeared to be made during the actual live competition, and not dubbed in after the fact. Instead of all of Daggett's "gloom and doom", we'd have comments like "It would take a miracle for Hamm to come back from this and win the gold." or "It's not impossible for Hamm to win the gold after the fall." The odds of Hamm even medaling, let alone winning gold after that vault, were truly slim to none.

Besides, did y'all hear that the Koreans formally protested Hamm's win? I could have sworn Costas babbled something about that last night :)

Ditto. both did well when the chips were down and both brought their "A" game to a whole new Level.

Has anyone heard what Khornikova has been saying to the press about Carly Patterson!?!:rolleyes: What a sore loser or stuck on herself....I can't decide which.


As for the Koreans protesting the Gold medal...I don't see them taking it away from Hamm. There is a way to protest the scores DURING the competion. According to what I heard this morning, the American coaches did it on two separate occasions during the final.

oh what has she been saying?

How heartbreaking and exciting was the mens' fours??? I was sitting on the couch doing rowing strokes, because I thought it would get our boat across the line 1st, LOL. 8 hundreths of a second, argghhh, so damn close.

http://www.cbc.ca/gfx/topstory/sport...040821_390.jpg

when did trampoline become an olympic sport? i saw some girl twisting and turning while bouncing out. they might as well add hulla-hooping and under-water basket weaving to the olympics :rolleyes: .

You mean Svetlana Khorkina? Kournikova's in tennis, and not the greatest, I might add.

Guess cattiness is universal... no matter what nationality or language.

I think it got added to the gymnastics program as an individual event in Sydney, not exactly sure, though.

Screw hula hooping and underwater basket weaving... bring on beer-chugging to the Olympics! Here's some events that can easily be modified:

Beer Pong
Boat Racing
Quarters
Beer Hunter

:D

I feel so bad for Paul Hamm.

P. Hamm Should Not Have Won Gymnastics Gold
Three Judges Suspended for Giving Wrong Scores to South Korean

ATHENS, Greece (Aug. 21) -- Paul Hamm's gold medal just lost its luster.

A scoring mistake at the all-around gymnastics final cost Yang Tae-young the gold that ended up going to Hamm, the International Gymnastics Federation ruled Saturday. The South Korean got the bronze instead.

Three judges were suspended, but the results will not be changed, the federation said. The South Korean Olympic team will ask the Court of Arbitration for Sports to determine if Yang deserves a gold medal.

http://aolsvc.news.aol.com/sports/ar...21071609990004

I think Paul Hamm should be able to keep his medal, but in all fairness, Yang-Tae young should also receive one if he indeed deserves one.

You'd think that after the Canada/Russian figure skating scandal of SLC '02, these judges would get their heads on straight!

Speaking of Svetlana
 

Svetlana Khorkina proves that, if nothing else, she is a champion WHINER. If I were a part of the Russian Olympic Committee I'd throw her a can of shut the fcuk up.

That being said, I hope someone else wins gold on uneven.

Poor Gail Devers.

Re: Speaking of Svetlana
 

You'd think they'd be more inclined to vote AGAINST the American...

I didn't think Khorkina was that good. She just didn't seem very graceful on the beam or on the uneven bars like Carly Patterson.

Re: Re: Speaking of Svetlana
 

True that. It's one thing if America dominated the all-around in all Olympics, but it took 20 years to get another one after Mary Lou!

Didja see how tall Khorkina is compared to the average gymnast? My silly wild-ass guess is she's close to 6' tall where most gymnasts rarely grow above 5'5.

City of Allen, Texas (not too far from where I live) is planning a homecoming parade for Carly after the Olympics.

She's about 5'5", and it's the rare elite gymnasts who are taller than 5'1" or 5'2".

She's also gotten much too skinny, even for an elite gymnast.

I believe Khorkina is about 5'4"-5'5" actually.

I don't think there's a gymnast on the American team above 5'1" -- most of them are 4'11".

Re: Re: Speaking of Svetlana
 

I totally agree.

In fact, from watching the all-around competition, I'd say that the only routine that I saw that I thought was scored unfairly was Khorkina's bars routine -- and that was in her favor! (Anybody who's familiar with gymnastics knows that that routine did not merit as high as a score as it got.)

I honestly think that she's really bitter that her career is essentially over and that Carly's still got quite a bit of time left, but isn't it better to go out graciously?

Now that sounds more like it... :D Without an object of known height it's really hard to tell how tall a person is. But then the other gymnasts don't look as painfully skinny as Khorkina does.

Yay Kyle Shewfelt for winning gold for Canada! :)

Re: Speaking of Svetlana
 

Not only did she not win gold, she fell off the bars and came in LAST PLACE. She can think about that on her ride on the WAAAAAAAAmbulance. :D

Re: Re: Speaking of Svetlana
 

Yeah, that made me laugh. Karma is a bitch . . .

last night in the men's individual gymnastic rings they gave the gold metal to the greece dude, but he did not have a perfect routine. in fact, he took a step after landing and scored a 9.86 something. he was the first one to go. there were seven others after him and two of them landed everything perfect. now, if they are protesting medals with paul hamm, i think they should do the same for last night. i truly think they gave him the gold because of the the greek crowd cheering loudly for him.

Gymnastics and figure skating, as well as diving are largely judged subjectively rather than objectively. With the exception of mandatory elements in the routines and degree of difficulty factors, it's up to the eyes of the judges to scrutinize the routine and deduct points (or tenths of points) for mistakes. Some are so subtle that the average TV viewer wouldn't notice.

On very high degree of difficulty moves, such as blind landings, a hop or a step is not uncommon on landing, but isn't deducted as heavily as a simpler move.

Re: Re: Speaking of Svetlana
 

i'm so upset i missed it! hopefully they'll replay it nine million times today like they did with Paul Hamm's fall on vault.

YAY for Kyle bringing home our first Gold!!!!!


We also won a gold in the women 800 m wheelchair event. And early even for the paralympics!

Yea! Another medal - a silver in women's wrestling.

Congrats to Lori-Ann Muenzer for winning gold for Canada in women's sprint cycling!