Good Olympics....I don't think so.

[SnoopDog]

So the final closing ceremony is taking place right now.

Time to discuss the 'quality' of the Olympics. (I know this is highly subjective matter).

I think the Olympics sucked.

For me being german they sucked because most german athletes dissapointed. But that'S not the point here.

Those Olympics were certainly not very good in terms of organisation or visitors. In my opinion they didn't really make the connection between ancient Olympics and today.

Oh and did they even have a mascot?

Then there was a lot of doping involved plus doubtful decisions. (German horse riders vs. French horse riders)

There were a few wrold records as far as I can recall but there were not a lot 'spectacular' races and decisions. There were little dark horses winning (british 4*400 (or was it 4*100 ?) comes to my mind), there was no sympathetic guy who sucked totally at his sport but at least was able to be there and therefore cheered at.

The crowds were often unfair.

Oh and there was little joking and special celebrating going on with the winners.

I have to admit that I didn'T watch too much this time but what I caught was rather boring or dull. So all in all these Olympics to me were highly mediocre.

Of course no one expected them to be better as Sydney 2000 (which was truly superb) but I think they didn'T live up to the hype of the 'games coming home'.

So what are your thoughts? Are you satisfied? What about the athletes of your country?

And does anyone know where the Games 2006 will be held?

Snoopy

 

[Marsipanne]

Well, there won't be any games in 2006, because Olympics happen every 4 years. But the 2008 ones will be in Beijing.

Expect a lot of noise.

 

[killallhippies]

Well, there won't be any games in 2006, because Olympics happen every 4 years. But the 2008 ones will be in Beijing.

Expect a lot of noise.

yes there will. winter olympics in italy {i think) 2006. they spilt the games a few years ago so there's an olympics every two years, but there are still four years between each summer and each winter olympics.

 

[CrazyyAngel]

Winter Olympics in 2006 will be held in Turin, Italy. Next summer Olympics will be in Beijing in 2008.

Athens 2004 flat out rocked. I actually don't remember much of Sydney, so I can't really compare it. But this time around I was much more into it and cheered with the athlets, sometimes regardless from which country. The German athletes haven't achieved as much as some wanted them to achieve and some certainly dissappointed. But others were spectacular, like the womens hockey team which won gold.

The US and China dominated the games and China will do even more so in 2008. But there were still enough other wins to not get upset by this dominance.

I always wondered, what an incredible experience this must be for the athletes (well ... except USA's mens and womens basketball teams, who stayed at a cruise ship in Athens harbor rather than in the olympic village) and all others involved. Alone the parties in the olympic village must have been huge .

I am actually thinking about signing up as a volunteer for the Winter games in Turin, as this is not that far away ... Beijing would be a little bit farther away.

So ... my result ... Athens rocked and it was great games.

CA

 

[Weird Harold]

There were a few world records as far as I can recall but there were not a lot 'spectacular' races and decisions. There were little dark horses winning (british 4*400 (or was it 4*100 ?) comes to my mind), there was no sympathetic guy who sucked totally at his sport but at least was able to be there and therefore cheered at.

Ther were several good "underdog" stories in thes Olympics, but they got little to no press coverg from NBC that I could find.

Ala'a Hikmat, the sole female memeber of the Iraqi team finished 52 out of a field of 63 in the 100m dash, and the Afghan female sprinter finished 7th of 8 in her heat in the 100m preliminaries. Between the two of them, they got about 3 seconds of air time.

Argentina won it's first two gold medals ever on the same day in Soccer and Basketball -- defeating the US in basketball along the way. Both games were aird live, but little notice was taken outside of the play-by-play of the acheivements.

Chile won the gold in both the singles and doubles in men's tennis but other than the play-by-play coverage of the singles final there was little if any notice taken by NBC.

I learned more about the "feel-good" stories in this Olympics from Lit than I did from NBC or their worthless cookie laden nbcolympics site (why does a site about a two-week long event need a permanent cookie that expires in 2044 anyway.?) Literoticans with access to Canadian, British, and Australian coverage got a lot more of the interesting stories than NBC provided American audiences -- even if Americans could find out when and where a sport they were interested in was going to be aired without sitting through eight hours of stuff that they were totally uninterestd in.

I think the Olympics themselves were just fine -- it's the news coverage that sucked.

All of the gloomy predictions before the Games about Athens not being prepared and security concerns kept atheletes and spectators alike away from Athens. High prices and little or no promption for attending the Games kept audience levels down.

 

[CrazyyAngel]

Re: Re: Good Olympics....I don't think so.

Chile won the gold in both the singles and doubles in men's tennis but other than the play-by-play coverage of the singles final there was little if any notice taken by NBC.

Argh ... don't remember me of that one. Chile more than deserved to win the double game, after their german opponents gave away 4 !!! matchpoints ...

Over here the coverage was just fine. The two TV channels run by the state split the coverage in half, one channel every other day. From 7 o'clock in the morning til midnight they showed nearly everything. So I got to see most of what was interesting and can't complain about coverage.

CA

 

[SnoopDog]

yes there will. winter olympics in italy {i think) 2006. they spilt the games a few years ago so there's an olympics every two years, but there are still four years between each summer and each winter olympics.

That's what I meant. Don't think me foolish please, I know that summer olympics are held all 4 years.

Snoopy

 

[snooper]

Between the drug failures (I lost count at sixteen), the dodgy judging (gymnastics), the spectator intolerance (Greek booing), the poor security (marathon leader attacked on the course), and the empty stadia, this was the worst Olympics I have seen, and I started watching seriously the year Ronnie Delany won the 1500m (Look it up!).

I suspect that the drug thing is about to go away when GM athletes arrive, and all that goes on in their body is internal with no added chemicals. Then it will be a free-for-all and eight foot tall men will be all over the place. In any case, why is drinking electrolyte replacement fluids during a marathon not classed as "taking a performance enhancing substance"?

The other thing which strikes me, as with all international sport, is the ease with which athletes in poor countries find the money to compete. We are asked to give to relieve the starving in the Sudan, but their government can afford to send athletes to the Olympics. Bosnia and Serbia are routinely described as "war torn" (and I don't dispute the description), yet they still send teams to the soccer World Cup.

On a lighter note: who knows (without looking it up) who last won the Olympic gold medal for rugby?

 

[GingerV]

Confession of an Olympic junkee, here. I don't know why it suddenly happened, but I've become Olympics obsessed in the last 8 years. From all the hype, I was expecting disasters in Greece....so I feel the need to defend what I thought were actually quite good games. Not the best ever, by a long shot....but I do remember the games in Korea, and these didn't come close to that standard of suckitude.

Those Olympics were certainly not very good in terms of organisation or visitors.

I don't know about organisation. Everything happened on time. If there were gripes, I didn't hear them. I did hear that the grounds outside the stadiums weren't as well kept as those inside the stadiums (where the cameras were pointed). I've gotta say, I find that a cosmetic issue, and not really the point.

The visitor turnout was seriously disappointing. I remember watching the empty (EMPTY) stands at the rowing on the first day and being disappointed for the rowers. But while the Greeks can take some blame for that (their delay in getting the details settled discouraged turn out), I also think part of the problem was a general unwillingness of people to travel to big events in this day and age. Blame whoever you want for the fear of terrorist strikes, I think it contributed, and wasn't at all the Greeks fault.

In my opinion they didn't really make the connection between ancient Olympics and today.

Really? Wow. They ran THE marathon course. I couldn't get over that. It was wonderful. The track and field were being held near Olympia. The opening ceremonies were wonderful, I thought, and made the case overall. But what more did you want? There isn't a lot that the ancient greeks had to say about show jumping .

Oh and did they even have a mascot?

I hate the mascots, maybe this where we're misconnecting. I start to growl when the olympics becomes more about the marketing, and less about the sports. I count the inobvious mascot (I'm sure they had one), as a point in their favor.

Then there was a lot of doping involved plus doubtful decisions. (German horse riders vs. French horse riders)

Here we agree. The doping is getting out of hand. But credit to the organization for catching cheats, and naming and shaming the people who fail. I feel there ought to be random off season drug tests for all athletes, but short of that...it's the fault of the athletes not the Olympics, nor the Greeks.

And while I would have given the gold to the German jumper (and I say that living in England where such an opinion can get me lynched ), there were two mistakes involved. She did cross the start line twice. It's a technicality, but you can lose your medal for falling in the pool before a race, which also isn't your fault. I understand that decision, even while I don't support it.

but there were not a lot 'spectacular' races and decisions. There were little dark horses winning (british 4*400 (or was it 4*100 ?) comes to my mind).

Man, you've gotta watch this stuff on the BBC. We're gonna be hearing about Kelly Holmes for the next 4 years! How was that not a spectacular race? Or the Chinese sprinter? There's a guy who no-body expected to win. The argentinian basketball team? ANY of the teams that beat the States in the preliminary rounds?

there was no sympathetic guy who sucked totally at his sport but at least was able to be there and therefore cheered at.

I appreciated Eddy the Eagle, or the Jamacan bobsledders. I clap right along with everyone else. But I don't think you have to have a helpless underdog to make it a good race. It makes for cute tellie, but I sometimes feel that TOO much attention is given to the cute stories.

The crowds were often unfair.

True. This we agree about, except I take issue with "often". Once each for the gymnastics and the sprinting. I don't remember another case of the crowd getting out of control. No more so than the cheering for Americans in Atlanta, that got to be overwhelming for the other competitors.

Oh and there was little joking and special celebrating going on with the winners.

Again, dunno. There appeared to be lots on the BBC.

I have to admit that I didn'T watch too much this time but what I caught was rather boring or dull. So all in all these Olympics to me were highly mediocre.

All I can say is I'm sorry you missed the good parts. I had a blast, and am looking forward to Turin.

G

 

[CrazyyAngel]

I have to admit that I didn'T watch too much this time but what I caught was rather boring or dull. So all in all these Olympics to me were highly mediocre.

Than why are you complaining? And what did you expect? I mean, how can you complain about this stuff, when you havent even seen it?

CA

 

[oggbashan]

I appreciated the BBC's interactive coverage. I could watch whatever was happening live and ignore the British bias if I wanted to.

The China v Russia women's volleyball was a fantastic match between closely matched teams playing their hearts out. China won Gold in the end but either team could have won up to the final minutes.

I think the interactive innovation was a great success. If you were Italian, French or whatever nationality watching the Olympics in the UK you could follow your own star athletes in their discipline.

Og

 

[GingerV]

That's it...I'm buying interactive TV before the next Olympics. Literally nothing else could've gotten me to pay money for extra TV.

The first step is admitting I have a problem, right?

G

 

[OldnotDead]

. . .

The other thing which strikes me, as with all international sport, is the ease with which athletes in poor countries find the money to compete. We are asked to give to relieve the starving in the Sudan, but their government can afford to send athletes to the Olympics. Bosnia and Serbia are routinely described as "war torn" (and I don't dispute the description), yet they still send teams to the soccer World Cup.

On a lighter note: who knows (without looking it up) who last won the Olympic gold medal for rugby?

I do not know about the World Cup, but with Olympics there is a fund from the IOC that is used to subsidize poorer countries' efforts in fielding Olympic teams. During the opening ceremonies as the nations paraded in, Costas mentioned some of the specific countries that were able to field teams thanks to this fund.

It is an attempt to bring greater participation. There may be more information via NBC's olympic website or the IOC's.

 

[oggbashan]

Scholarships at US universities also subsidise some countries' entrants.

I wish we could do the same or at least start to provide decent facilities for our own athletes.

Do you know there are only 20 Olympic size swimming pools in the UK? Australia has over a thousand.

Things are set to improve with more funding for sport in the UK. For too long we have starved our potential athletes of facilities.

Og