Rio Olympics 2016

But it shut up 50% of the Cobham Saint household, for about a minute. I take any victory, no matter how small or for how short a time. Don’t try to take it away from me…

:lou_wink:

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Grouch alert…

… but back in 1996 at AtlantaGames, we were like 36th or something in the medal table. At that time and in in previous years we moaned about the Russians and eastern Europeanswho dominated the medal tables were in effect ‘state sponsored’ propoganda machines and that it was unfair that the good old fair play British amateur, had no chance in most sports… Since John Major decided to spend big and also with the lottery funding, we have in effect done the same thing.

We have hundreds of foreign coaches in many sports as we pay better. Our atheltes are in effect all full time professionals - gone are the days of 4am swimming sessions before work.

Our medals cost 4mil each in effect…

Its great that these talented sportsmen and women have the opportunity to reach their full potential through getting the best funding and facilities - and also good to see that they have taken that opportiunity and delivered with graft etc… BUt do we really need all the jingoistic nationalistic crap that goes with it? The BBC and Clare balding wetting herself, the ‘We beat China to 2nd spot’ bollocks? Is the medal table not at best just a reflection of who spends more?

One could also suggest that Britain is now doing what the Eastern Bloc used to do- try and use sporting success as a symbol of superiority and propoganda when when everything else is shite - Is 4mil a medal an ethical investment when we have poverty in our cities?

The fact that sports that have not hit medal targets will see funding DECREASED in the next cycle suggests this is more about the message, than the desire to see facilities and opportunities for all in all sports…

NB. This is NOT a critique of individual atheletes performance who have siezed the opportunity and delivered amzing results, just that they would have been able to deliver those results whatever flag they were carrying had the funding been the same…so to see all the nationistic triumphalism is OTT imho.

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I like your post Ferret But surely sports that didnt hit the targets need there funding increased to ensure maximum exposure and that the most talented players get sponsored / enabled to attend.

Point of order Chutney.

You dismiss the 4am Swimming - sorry but that is a really key part STILL. My mate (who let me Glamp at his pad at Pilton) moved to that area because his two daughters had been tagged by “Team GB” at the age of 6 down here at Swimming Galas in Dubai.

They were watched and assessed as they went to the pool every morning and competed in Galas for theeir school then Dubai acriss the region. Eventually they moved back to UK because they had huge potential.

They STILL get up at 3:45 (even during Glasto) they don’t even get anything towards their Petrol Costs.

The girls graduated to the National Squad this summer and have since been off at events and camps across Europe. Yes they have the best Sports Science, Nutritionists etc but? Mum still has to drive them to the pool, she still had to drive them to Luton, Stanstead and Gatwick Airports (and collect them at silly o’clock) and drive back to Somerset.

All of this BEFORE the age of 15 and one bad day or injury and it is all for nothing.

Yes they may earn allowances prize money etc once they get to the Adult Groups, but I can assure you back here when they were driving to Muscat at 2am (a 4 hour drive) there were over 60 Parents shelling ouot their own money, replicate that number by every City in the UK and the ones that actually get to the top (The Cream) are probably less than 1% of the thousands who put in the early mornings.

Oh and then we get to the Bike Riders. Reading all the FB Stava updates of mates with their kids out on the tracks at 4am in 38C heat and 90% Humidity, looking to follow the same path. ALL at their own cost.

Jeez, the economy gets way more than the 240 odd mil costs just from sales of Petrol, Cars, Pool Fees, Kit, Equipment etc. Do you have ANY idea how much even a basic Race Bike costs for a kid?

(Thank Fark mine did Skateboarding!) (Oh and yes one may get involved in Tokyo on the Design Side so yes I have a vested interest now)

I loved our success - but I could have done without the Lottery adverts in the interviews, an approach that sounded like state-sponsored athletes reading lines from the state script.

The PM, who probably doesn’t know an Omnium from a coxless pair will be all over this, cosying up to common people with their little medals.

It’s a great distraction.

Hospitals are in chaos, but if we meet a kayaker and smile for the camera, people won’t notice the wait at A and E….

Every sporting success gets hijacked for political gain - by most countries.

We’ve seen the dedicated athletes, the ones who didn’t have their funding cut, the people who have broken themselves in pursuit of a medal, but now we have to stomach stuff like the vulgar suggestions from the Express and the Mail that we won because we are better off out of Europe, or that we have shown China who is boss??

The Ferret is right to highlight that there are several dark sides to the great sport we’ve seen - like the sports and athletes that were dropped, and the manner in which funding is distributed and associations run.

So it’s great to see home success, especially for people like Trott, Jones, Farrar and Adams who represent the real GB of today - but you don’t have to look far beyond the beaming smiles to find stuff that makes you less proud.

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Good post RB.

Obviously as the bulk of Olympic funding has come from THE GREAT BRITISH PUBLIC via their gambling obsession, and has NO Political Interference you could remove the NHS from all Political Control and set up a rival to Camelot to pay for it?

Right, now how to have a Benefits Lottery - maybe everyone’s Fantasy Football fees can be spent on that, then if you don’t want to give Immigrants benefits just don’t play FF.

Roads. Well that’s obvious, ban every on line gambling company and Nationalise it, all t heir profits go to the Infrastructure.

Damn it is soooo simples

Until someone uses benefits to buy their lottery ticket I guess

:lou_sunglasses:

From the DAily Mash

INCREDIBLY wealthy nations have surprisingly cleaned up at the Olympics.

America, Britain and China surprised everyone by winning the most medals after coincidentally spending a fortune on training and development.

An Olympics spokesman said: “Wealthy nations just happen to be the best at sport. They’re probably more motivated or something.

“Anyway it’s a great inspiration to less affluent countries to try harder, or at least buy some trainers with fancy soles.”

Professor Henry Brubaker of the Institute of Studies added: “The Olympics is great but it’s still nowhere near as good as the 1980 animated film, Animalympics, which is an absolute masterpiece.

“There’s no doping scandals in it, no lying about getting held up at petrol stations and you get to see an alligator called Bolt Jenkins break the high jump, pole vault and the 100 meter dash records.

“And you can watch it all in under an hour and a half unlike the actual Olympics which feels like it’s been going on for fucking months.”

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Something else which isn’t getting that much coverage is the debacle over the Paralympics. The whole funding and aorganization of the Paralympics is starting to look like a farce even before it has begun - only 12% of tickets sold and swinging cuts to promised budgets which mean that quite a few paralympians won’t even be able to go. Quite a few venues are going to be closed down to save on the expenditure. It seems we’re going to go from a high point at London where there was almost parity between the two events to a new nadir at Rio. :lou_angry:

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I fear the Rio organisers may be putting paralympic sport back twenty years.

I think there a car crash waiting to happen

We’ve become the first country to host the Olympics to get more Summer medals in our _next _Olympics.

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I think some of the lottery funding should be used to put Clare Balding into early and permanent retirement.

Luckily I never had to listen to her over here so just retire her with her own personnel pension and not a state funded one.

Finally we have a British muslim on the front of the Sun without an offensive headline or a made-up scare story.

It’s a pity you have to win four gold medals to become accepted by Murdoch.

I

Originally posted by @Rallyboy

Finally we have a British muslim on the front of the Sun without an offensive headline or a made-up scare story.

It’s a pity you have to win four gold medals to become accepted by Murdoch.

But why should his religion be involved at all He is a British person that is all that should be reported.

did they make Nick Skelton the British Christian horse rider.

Bloody religion it really fucks me off.

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I suggest you take it up with The Sun, Mail etc etc - they are the ones who highlight colour, creed and sexual orientation to window-dress agendas.

Though it is good to remind the far right that there is a black muslim immigrant who is currently the pride of Great Britain.

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Where do the BBC find there reporters

Rio is now the capital of Brazil

Live reporting

By Nathan Salt

Best Rio moments

#bbcsportsday

Posted at14:03

Gymnast Max Whitlock gained the nation’s first Olympic gymnastics gold in the men’s floor, with a score of 15.633 at Rio 2016.

He went on to add a second gold of the Games in the pommel horse - the 23-year-old certainly won’t forget his summer in the Brazilian capital.

So now Theresa May is jumping on the Olympic bandwagon and is saying that she’ll increase the number of gongs given out in the New Years honours list for our plucky sports men & sports women.

FFS

I presume you favour the au naturel look when it comes to lady gardens then…

How scientific rigour helped Team GB’s saddle-sore cyclists on their medal trail

After backroom staff found that pain in the nether regions was a serious issue, a ban on bikini waxing and adjustments to saddle angles made a big difference

How do you tell a gold medal winning cyclist she needs to stop getting bikini waxes? “It was a tricky one to broach,” admits Phil Burt, British Cycling’s long-time physiotherapist. “But we knew that we had to try to persuade the girls to stop shaving and waxing if we were going to sort out the saddle pain we knew all of them were suffering with. At one point we were saying: ‘Should we be buying the girls beard-trimmers?’”

Actually, a pretty interesting article on how obsessive they are in the cycling team about tiny, marginal gains.

TBH… Yes, I prefer women to look like grown women and not like children… Those that advocate all that shaving and plucking and axing for ‘hygiene’ reasons are talking bollocks… you wash everyday and there is no issue… if you dont wash than hygeine is a problem irrespective of hair or otherwise… women shoudl look like women, not girls…

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