Olympic sport "experts"

[ColinJ]

I watched a few minutes of women's weightlifting this afternoon. A very strong-looking lifter from Ecuador lifted one weight successfully, put it down and headed back stage.

I noticed immediately that she was limping. No mention from the commentators.

Somebody unwound the strapping on her left knee and sprayed it with what I took to be a painkiller or freezer spray, before strapping the knee back up. Clearly, she had a knee problem. No mention from the commentators.

She attempted an extra 4 kgs, but immediately winced and dropped the weights. Limped off. Restrapped the knee. No mention from the commentators ...

Tried again, failed again, limped again. No mention of a knee problem from the commentators ...

I really wondered whether they were actually watching what was going on!

 

[Chuffy]

I watched a few minutes of women's weightlifting this afternoon. A very strong-looking lifter from Ecuador lifted one weight successfully, put it down and headed back stage.

I noticed immediately that she was limping. No mention from the commentators.

Somebody unwound the strapping on her left knee and sprayed it with what I took to be a painkiller or freezer spray, before strapping the knee back up. Clearly, she had a knee problem. No mention from the commentators.

She attempted an extra 4 kgs, but immediately winced and dropped the weights. Limped off. Restrapped the knee. No mention from the commentators ...

Tried again, failed again, limped again. No mention of a knee problem from the commentators ...

I really wondered whether they were actually watching what was going on!

Sound cut out perhaps? It all went deathly silent in the aftermath of the women's road race too.

 

[ColinJ]

Sound cut out perhaps? It all went deathly silent in the aftermath of the women's road race too.

Nope - the commentators were wittering on about "If she lifts this, that'll make her total that, and she might beat the other ..."

I kept thinking "OPEN YOUR EYES - HER LEFT KNEE IS BUGGERED!"

 

[wittsendwilly]

He is getting stick on his BBC blog
http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/davidbond/2012/07/cavendish_and_co_disappoint_in.html

From the blog - "There will also be some who will question why organisers designed a course which seemed to undermine the home team's chances of winning gold on day one."

This is a question I have been asking but as yet have not had answered. Are there un-written rules that state an olympic road race course can't be designed to almost guarantee a sprint finish?

Personally I would rather see a course that could play out a number of different finish scenarios as it would make for a much better race.

If I was the organiser and was after medal success however.......

 

[Smokin Joe]

Just as 3 or 4 riders in the women's race were able to outpace a large group who couldn't get organised, a group of 20 who were organised in the men's race were able to outpace a group of 4 or 5.

It's not rocket science - if you're doing a quarter of the work you'll be more knackered than if you're doing a twentieth. The tactical error, if there was one, was not pre-arranging with the other leading sprinters' nations that they'd join in the GB chase effort.

Sending someone up the road to join the front group wouldn't have worked, either. It would have depleted the main chase effort and resulted in one very knackered rider tagging along at the end of the leading bunch.

What GB could have done (and with hindsight maybe should have done) was to stop chasing, let the speed of the bunch slow down and so that Millar could jump up to the break which would not have cost him much when it was still within a minute. He would have been able to sit on as he was working for Cav, leaving the break to decide whether to tow him to the finish or sit up. If they had decided to press on the Germans and the Aussies would have had to go to the front of the peleton if they'd wanted any chance of being in with a shout.

 

[400bhp]

Most of us who comment on sport are, in one way or another, know it alls to some extent.

Sport is no exact science. It's one of the reasons sport is so compelling.

 

[400bhp]

Except that it was clearly not fatigue that 'lost' GB the race, it was a tactical error.

Even if Cav, Wiggo, Froome and Millar had all missed the tour to focus on the Olympics, I doubt they would have pulled that group back once they had been foolish enough to let them go

:sigh:

 

[Chuffy]

Most of us who comment on sport are, in one way or another, know it alls to some extent.

Sport is no exact science. It's one of the reasons sport is so compelling.

Nah. We're all full of shoot. Even Noodley.