Off topic OT: 2016 Summer Olympics

[TrueBlueGED]

I'm still not convinced Phelps retires. Wouldn't be surprised if he does a couple more in four years.

[LGR4GM]

23 golds, 28 medals, 30 finals. That's epic. Well done Phelps

[ubkev]

I'm still not convinced Phelps retires. Wouldn't be surprised if he does a couple more in four years.

Ditto! He can still do a relay.

[JJFIVEOH]

OK, they won the gold with Phelps. Time to move on NBC...................

[ubkev]

So yeah, this happened...

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/report-ryan-lochte-held-up-at-gunpoint-in-rio-142146325.html

Ryan Lochte, 3 other U.S. swimmers robbed in Rio, unharmed

[SwampD]

So, couldn't they just print the names of the runners on the shirts themselves? It's not like they they don't already know who they are. It's the freakin' Olympics, not the NFL (Niagara Frontier League). Safety pins? Really?

[TrueBlueGED]

Oh man, Michael Johnson's world record in the 400 just went down? That makes me incredibly sad. The Atlanta games, highlighted by Johnson and the golden shoes, are my first true Olympic memory.

[inkman]

Oh man, Michael Johnson's world record in the 400 just went down? That makes me incredibly sad. The Atlanta games, highlighted by Johnson and the golden shoes, are my first true Olympic memory.

That dude killed it

[ubkev]

That 400 was awesome!

[TrueBlueGED]

Bolt is ridiculous once he hits top speed. How in the world did he make up that ground on Gatlin? 

[Brawndo]

That was impressive

[Randall Flagg]

Bolt is ridiculous once he hits top speed. How in the world did he make up that ground on Gatlin? 

And he has me thinking that 9.80 isn't even that fast, because of what he did several years ago. What an athlete.

[darksabre]

I really have a problem with kids competing in the Olympics. It should be for adults, 18 and up.

[LGR4GM]

Disappointing that the IOC actively tried to squelch/cover-up the armed robbery of athletes last night.

Not surprising. They have tried to suppress all the nightmare stories from Rio. I heard they had to empty the diving pool and refill it because "chemistry isn't an exact science" and they couldn't get the water to clear. This entire olympics on the back end has been crappy. 

[sabills]

Not surprising. They have tried to suppress all the nightmare stories from Rio. I heard they had to empty the diving pool and refill it because "chemistry isn't an exact science" and they couldn't get the water to clear. This entire olympics on the back end has been crappy. 

 

I believe at one point they said that the water was "confused".

[darksabre]

I believe at one point they said that the water was "confused".

Remember the pool at the house we lived in that got algae no matter what I did? 

 

I'm sympathetic to the Rio pool guy.  :P

[inkman]

Remember the pool at the house we lived in that got algae no matter what I did?

 

I'm sympathetic to the Rio pool guy. :P

Green pools matter

[Eleven]

Can anyone explain to me the point of the water on a steeplechase course?  It's far too shallow to actually slow anyone down.  Seems that all it could do is cool off the runners a little bit and potentially cause blisters.

[LGR4GM]

Green pools matter

Well that pool is now blue again

[WildCard]

Can anyone explain why the guy in first in that race just let the other two win at the end?

[LGR4GM]

Can anyone explain why the guy in first in that race just let the other two win at the end?

Bribery? Chivalry? Tomfoolery? Basically the answer ends with ly, like Richard Henry Lee...

 

[josie]

Can anyone explain to me the point of the water on a steeplechase course?  It's far too shallow to actually slow anyone down.  Seems that all it could do is cool off the runners a little bit and potentially cause blisters.

I guess all I can do is explain why the steeplechase exists. Originally was and still is a horse race, I believe originated in Ireland. Communities would race cross country around a couple villages. The water traps simulate the rivers/streams they'd jump, as the hurdles simulate the stonewalls between properties. Races would begin and end at the villages' churches, hence "steeplechase". 

 

How that lasted and became an olympic sport rather than a funny footnote in history, I don't know. 

[LTS]

Bolt is ridiculous once he hits top speed. How in the world did he make up that ground on Gatlin? 

 

Most of the analysis said that he is running the same speed at the end of the race as he is at 30m.  The other runners all begin to slow down.  I'm sure being 6'5 helps in that regard.  He's still an insanely gifted athlete.

 

I really have a problem with kids competing in the Olympics. It should be for adults, 18 and up.

 

Good idea.  The marketers have wanted more people to feel this way so they could start the Jr. Olympics. :)

[Eleven]

I guess all I can do is explain why the steeplechase exists. Originally was and still is a horse race, I believe originated in Ireland. Communities would race cross country around a couple villages. The water traps simulate the rivers/streams they'd jump, as the hurdles simulate the stonewalls between properties. Races would begin and end at the villages' churches, hence "steeplechase". 

 

How that lasted and became an olympic sport rather than a funny footnote in history, I don't know. 

 

That is interesting.  So it's decorative, not functional.

[Hoss]

Can anyone explain why the guy in first in that race just let the other two win at the end?

It was a qualifier and all three had already qualified by being ahead of the pack so none of the official times mattered.