Norway beat reigning champion France in handball, 27-22! We've had one of the best women's teams in the world for decades, but now the men are getting there too, after first winning against Argentina and now this. Fantastic! Hope they go far.
Tense match between Nadar/Alcaraz and the Dutch -- i.e. until the final tie-break which the Spanish (thankfully) dominated. Good to see Nadal move on. I like it when the veterans like Murray and Nadal keep going.
Yet another absolutely NERVEWRECKING match with Murray & Evans, wherein they magically came out victors against the Belgians! Why do they have to do it so damn exciting every single time? The match had poor gameplay throughout (compared to the Spain/Netherlands match). Very few break points, both teams were poor at defending the serves. But insanely tense. M&E ward off two match points against them again, to return with a win. Crazy, but I'm very pleased to see Murray continue his career for another match.
Yet another absolutely NERVEWRECKING match with Murray & Evans, wherein they magically came out victors against the Belgians! Why do they have to do it so damn exciting every single time? The match had poor gameplay throughout (compared to the Spain/Netherlands match). Very few break points, both teams were poor at defending the serves. But insanely tense. M&E ward off two match points against them again, to return with a win. Crazy, but I'm very pleased to see Murray continue his career for another match.
He seems to step up at the Olympics (two singles gold medals). Federer and Djokovic never won it.
He seems to step up at the Olympics (two singles gold medals). Federer and Djokovic never won it.
That in itself might tell you something. For the majority of athletes in the games, an Olympic medal is the pinnacle of their careers. But for other sports and I'm thinking football, golf, tennis for example, the pinnacle of their sports are the major tournaments and not the Olympics. So it's debateable how important an Olympic medal counts. A golfer would rather win The Masters, a tennis player would rather win Wimbledon and so on.
Steffi Graf had the standout achievement I guess, won the four major tournaments and Olympic gold in the same calendar year in 1988. That won't ever be repeated.
Yeah, there are sports events, like Basketball, Football/Soccer, Tennis, Boxing, etc., that have their own, more "relevant" tournaments... not much point really for them to be included in the Olympics.
Nadal won't be winning anything at this Olympics - he's out. Murray quarter final tomorrow.
Great Britain doing well so far, fifth in the table with six golds. China, France, Japan and Australia leading the way. USA in seventh, except in their own country, where they're first, because they count total medals.
He seems to step up at the Olympics (two singles gold medals). Federer and Djokovic never won it.
That in itself might tell you something. For the majority of athletes in the games, an Olympic medal is the pinnacle of their careers. But for other sports and I'm thinking football, golf, tennis for example, the pinnacle of their sports are the major tournaments and not the Olympics. So it's debateable how important an Olympic medal counts. A golfer would rather win The Masters, a tennis player would rather win Wimbledon and so on.
Steffi Graf had the standout achievement I guess, won the four major tournaments and Olympic gold in the same calendar year in 1988. That won't ever be repeated.
I'm American but have to admit it's only gold medals that makes you the champ. What's the point? We already have a sizable lead in total medals, and other than Russia or something it doesn't really mean anything since the population difference etc.....
Yes, shame about Nadal & Alcaraz. Didn't see the match, but read the news.
I must admit I don't follow the medal statistics so much during the Summer Olympics (as opposed to the Winter Olympics, for obvious reasons), it's more for the accomplishments in the individual sports. That's what you do when you're a tiny summer nation like Norway. But I have high hopes for us in some disciplines, especially the track-and-field/athletics that starts tomorrow -- really the centerpiece sport of the Olympics.
FINALLY the athletics/track-and-field is underway, the highlight of every Olympics.
For Brits of this forum, one of the big battles is the 1500m, that pits UK's Josh Kerr (who hardly competes) against our own Jakob Ingebrigtsen. Both comfortably to the semi finals today. But I have to say Kerr looks amazingly strong, it will be a tough nut to crack for Jakob.
How about that Algerian dude beating the shit out of that Italian woman in what was supposed to be the women's boxing?
No more Olympics...or sports...like this, please.
Yes, there was a similar discussion a few years ago, about Caster Semenya, the South African 800m runner, who had too high testosterone levels and was excluded. I think that's the way to go about it. Sex is more more than what it says in your passport. Some of those 80s athletes that still hold the world records would never fly today. Of course, systematic doping was more prevalent in those days.
