***The Official Beijing 2008 Olympic Games Thread***

[Darla]

the only thing... and i mean the only thing that really sucks about the summer games is there is tooo much stuff. So i am staying up way toooo late to catch stuff, walking around like a zombie during the day.

and additionally the coverage is very thin sometimes. 'fer example the Womans Pole Vault!

Photo gallery:

Stuczynski’s Olympic final

Jennifer Stuczynski of Riga holds up her silver medal at National Stadium in Beijing for her performance in the women's pole vault. She received the medal today and won it Monday.

Jennifer Stuczynski of Riga holds up her silver medal at National Stadium in Beijing for her performance in the women's pole vault. She received the medal today and won it Monday. (GREG PEARSON USA Today) source

(LOVE IT) well the coverage i thought was rather spotty through out the evening. I would have loved to see more. Swimming and Gymnastics have definitely gotten the lions share of coverage. oh and beach volleyball too. ok not complaining there.

back to Woman's Pole Vault. US won Silver ! should be a terrific story, and she only started doing pole vault like 4 years ago. She won out to an amazing Russian who is an established champion. well on NBC they played the exchange between her coach and her. What an A**Hole her coach was. Here she won a silver and he is really putting her down. anyone else see that ? I was thinking to myself time for a new coach.

 

[StereoXGirl]

Originally Posted by Darla_G /img/forum/go_quote.gif back to Woman's Pole Vault. US won Silver ! should be a terrific story, and she only started doing pole vault like 4 years ago. She won out to an amazing Russian who is an established champion. well on NBC they played the exchange between her coach and her. What an A**Hole her coach was. Here she won a silver and he is really putting her down. anyone else see that ? I was thinking to myself time for a new coach. I saw that! It sounds like that's just how he is, but you're right! Total jerk. He should have been super happy! She did amazing!

 

[iheartjulie]

So not fair!

Nastia was totally robbed. The Chinese team have been receiving higher scores than they should have through out the whole competition. imo

And the age thing. Again...imo but I think you can tell that some of the girls aren't 16 by the way they dance on the floor exercise, they just lack grace and movement they're so robotic!

 

[xtiffanyx]

Whee for Jonathan Horton and his silver on high bar!

Also happy for Fabien Hambuechen and his bronze

.

 

[Darla]

Spain's synchro swimsuits too "flashy" for Olympics

Swimming's governing body bans suits with waterproof lights

By NBCOlympics.com staff report

Posted Tuesday, August 19, 2008 5:25 PM ET

Synchronized Swimming Tech Duet Prelims

BEIJING -- After finishing second at the last world championships, Spanish synchronized swimmers Andrea Fuentes and Gemma Mengual had put the spotlight on themselves heading into the Olympics.

Apparently a spotlight wasn't enough.

Fuentes and Mengual wanted to wear swimsuits with embedded waterproof lights while competing in Beijing, but the suits were banned by swimming's world governing body, FNIA.

"It got very sophisticated because obviously the battery doesn't last long and then we had to look at circuits and interrupters, so we have been working on it around two months with a crack team," Fuentes said.

"It looks a bit like Christmas lights," she added.

FNIA cited a rule against accessories to justify their decision. The Spanish synchro swimmers tried to compare the lights to the mass of sequins that currently adorn their outfits, but FNIA didn't budge.

Despite having to change outfit plans, the Spanish duo are still favorites to medal in Beijing. They were second in the technical routine and in the duet free routine preliminaries in the first two days of competition.

SO HOW does their makeup stay on in the water?

 

[pinksugar]

haha, do you think they'd be into a rematch?!

 

[Darla]

for a statistically even tie i think 2 medals should be awarded

 

[Darla]

Makeup Tie in

 

[Darla]

Jenn Stuczynski Pole Vault

 

[Retro-Violet]

Originally Posted by Aquilah /img/forum/go_quote.gif Wasn't there supposedly an issue over He being only 14 instead of 16 anyway? Sounds like a fair, yet unfair way of scoring in the end. Sucks! thats what i was thinking. you'd think theyd give it to the girl who they knew is acutally 16+.

 

[Anthea]

In most contests you either reward a tie or have a play-off, I feel there possibly should have had done that to separate their scores.

 

[Geek]

Not Fair at all! We are pissy about the judging in our house right now

 

[Karren]

I noticed the chineese getting higher than expected marks last night too.... amazing!!

 

[Karren]

Tonight is the finals of BMX racing in prime time US.... It's a new olympic sport this year... Looks really cool.. The track is just amazing.. actually cutting over itself....

 

[Darla]

Originally Posted by Karren_Hutton /img/forum/go_quote.gif Tonight is the finals of BMX racing in prime time US.... It's a new olympic sport this year... Looks really cool.. The track is just amazing.. actually cutting over itself....
http://z.about.com/d/bicycling/1/G/E...naze_Reade.jpg

i did see some of it last night. every heat had at least one wipe-out!

 

[nanzmck]

We were upset over here too! It was completely unfair to even give them the same score to begin with. Liuken didn't have the mistakes Kexen did, bottom line.

 

[StereoXGirl]

Originally Posted by xtiffanyx /img/forum/go_quote.gif Whee for Jonathan Horton and his silver on high bar!

Also happy for Fabien Hambuechen and his bronze

.

OMG! I thought Fabien got bumped out of the medals! That's awesome that he got bronze! He seemed like he was having such a disappointing Olympics, I felt bad for him! You could tell he was so frustrated because he knew he could do so much better than he did. Congrats to him!
And of course to Jonathan Horton! That's awesome that he gets to take home a silver and bronze...people had such low hopes for our men's gymnastics team without the Hamms.

 

[Dragonfly]

I'm shocked that no one has posted that Bolt has won both the 100 metre and the 200 metre races - and set world records at the same time.

For a country of only 3 million people - Jamaica is really kicking but!!!

Did anyone else see the boxing match where one boxer bit the other on the shoulder.

Apparently Holyfielder was in the boxing stadium when the bit occured - but luckily it wasn't his shoulder that took the nip!

The BMX bike races are a sign of the times. I think they are more exciting and draw a lot more viewers than baseball and softball. Now if we could only get rid of tennis - we we have an even better summer Olympics.

 

[StereoXGirl]

Originally Posted by Carolyn /img/forum/go_quote.gif I'm shocked that no one has posted that Bolt has won both the 100 metre and the 200 metre races - and set world records at the same time. I didn't see that! Maybe NBC was waiting to show it until tonight?
ETA: Yep! It's on the schedule for tonight at Primetime.

 

[StereoXGirl]

China Still in Denial Over Olympic Gymnastics Age Scandal

Written by Robert Vance on August 18, 2008 – 9:40 am

“We always knew they were under sixteen years old,†a group of Chinese students told me yesterday. “We had no idea that there was an age limit for gymnastics in the Olympics. If there really is, then China did break the rules.†We were discussing the real possibility that three members of China’s gold medal winning Olympic gymnastics team did not meet the minimum age requirement of 16 years old to compete. Chinese students and other friends of mine have said that as late as last week, Chinese state run television had admitted that Yang Yilin, He Kexin, and Jian Yuyuan were under sixteen but that “they should be praised for their skills and determination.†My Chinese colleagues tell me that there has been no mention of any age minimum in gymnastics on television in China.

While it appears that some Chinese people may have been ‘in the dark’ about the minimum age rule in Olympic gymnastics, the same cannot be said about China’s women’s gymnastic team. Yang Yun, who was a double bronze winning Chinese gymnast in the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, was originally listed as 16 years of age but later admitted on state television that she was only 14 when she competed. The IOC, which was as spineless eight years ago as it is now, shrugged its shoulders and Yang was permitted to keep her medal. Eight years later in Beijing, it appears that Team China has managed to ‘pull off the same trick’ once again and this time it carried away gold.

“Who cares if there was a rule and the girls broke that rule?†a close Chinese friend of mine asked me yesterday. (continue reading)