Beijing Olympic Games 2008 Thread

[Milky Tears]

Planned to start this thread a fortnight ago.

Plenty of epic sporting action to look forward to this month. Including...



Australia trying to pump "Team GB" in the Velodrome.

Phelps going for EIGHT Golds in the pool.

Gail Emms and Nathan Robertson v China in the Badminton competition

The US basketball team v China (and Yao Ming).

Shanaze Reade on her BMX

Tom Daley Diving

The GB Rowing and Sailing teams

Yang Wei in Gymnastics

The Murrays in the Tennis Doubles

Watching the Beach Volleyball!



Is it worth even watching the athletics - following the Katerina Thanou/Dwain Chambers stuff and the US 4x400m relay team stripped of Sydney Gold.

Powell v Bolt should be worth a look and Dayron Robles could spoil the party for China's reigning Olympic 110m hurdles champion Liu Xiang. The Cuban has already beaten Xiang's world record and been under 13 seconds three times this season. Yelena Isinbayeva's pole vault, Jeremy Wariner in the 400m and Roman Sebrle's Decathlon efforts are always worth watching (shame Dean Macey didn't make it this time).

For GB... Phillips Idowu is tipped for triple jump Gold (following Christian Olssen's withdrawal) and there are also medal hopes for Paula Radcliffe, Kelly Sotherton (if she sorts out her javelin), Nicola Sanders, Christine Ohuruogu and the relay squads. Sadly, Jessica Ennis didn't make it.





It all kicks off on Friday 8th August...











or Wednesday 6th, if you include those early football matches.

[Wayne]

I'll be watching anything but this.

[Stephen Morgan]

Me posting in a sporting thread!!

I'm quite looking forward to seeing some of the Olympics. I'll be rooting for the Plymouth boy in the diving (he likes Pot Noodles you know) and I'll be interested in the track and field events.
I think it's going to be an interesting Olympics this year, they've had trouble following the flame around the world, I don't think that's over yet, let's wait and see.
Regarding the pollution problem, I see the air's a little clearer, let's hope it continues like that. But all kudos to the Chinese, they have done what they said they would do to clear it.

[Zombie Adric]

I'll be watching anything but this.

Yep. Same here.

[Dirk Gently]

I'm just watching some of the opening ceremony now & I must say I'm quite impressed with some of it. The scroll painting/dancing is very well done.

[Captain Tancredi]

I'm quite looking forward to seeing some of the Olympics. I'll be rooting for the Plymouth boy in the diving (he likes Pot Noodles you know)

Only trouble is, they have to get him out of the water quickly or he doubles in size.

The Free Tibet people were out in force in Leeds today (can Buddhists be out in force? In number, then). I did wonder whether the whole trouble started when the Chinese saw a sign saying "Free Tibet" and thought "that looks like a good offer".

[Larry]

our women Archers, have just missed out on a guaranteed silver/gold medal losing in the semies to china..

[Larry]

Nicole Cooke, wins our first Gold medal, winning the womans, cycling road race..

[WhiteCrow]

Is it only the BBC which are covering the Olympics? Any other satellite channels?

I'm really disgusted they're doing no coverage of the Volleyball at the moment - yes they're covering Beach Volleyball, but not the actual Volleyball, and it was one of the best events at Athens!

[Dirk Gently]

It's just the BBC & Eurosport (+HD) that are showing the Olympics.

[Milky Tears]

You can't beat the sodden women's hockey action (GB v Germany) on BBC2 right now! It's wet out there.

[Jon Masters]

The badmington has been very good so far too.

[Larry]

It's just the BBC & Eurosport (+HD) that are showing the Olympics.

and boy it dose look very nice on BBC HD To..

[Dirk Gently]

GOLD & Bronze for GBR in one swimming event.

First time for 20 odd years!

[Larry]

GOLD & Bronze for GBR in one swimming event.

First time for 20 odd years!

yep big congratulations to Rebecca Adlington and Joanne Jackson ,

though i have to say I nearly fell off my chair at work when I was told about this - the swimming was certainly one event I was expecting no medals from let aloan a gold.

[Kaybee Bailey]

Great entertainment so far at these games. I can't believe how much I was getting into the archery, especially as I keep saying that the swimming is too repetitive! As usual the first week highlights for me are the hockey and eventing. It was a brilliant win for GB men over Pakistan... it's not perhaps as strong a Pakistan side as we've seen over the last few years but we haven't beaten them in competition since 1952! GB women are a very young side and they've made some rather speculative selections, so I think they are building for the future, but the three players who made a mark against the Germans were the more experienced girls, so maybe this Olympics is a bit early for some of them. It's funny to see Charlotte Craddock attracting so much media attention... last time I saw her play a tournament she was 10 and I was umpiring the interform games at school! She's come on a bit since then...

Eventing... it's one of GBs best hopes but I think we may have to be content with a team bronze at best (gut instinct says we may be fourth). I'm desperate for Mary King to sneak onto the podium in the individual event though. Not only is the woman an absolute legend, but rather poignantly she's riding Call Again, Cavalier, whose previous rider Caroline Pratt was killed in an accident at Burghley in 2004. Pratt had just taken over the ride and believed he was the horse that would take her to Beijing, so if King could bring back a medal on him then that would be fantastic. At 15 years old it's likely to be his only Olympics, so I'm rooting for the pair of them.

Anyone read the comments from Tom Daley's partner blaming him for their poor showing in the synchro today?

[Dirk Gently]

I've not seen the comments, sounds like sour grapes though.


There's a right ding-dong battle going on in the Badmington match with Emms/Robertson!

They were 1 (21-16) -1 (16-21) & 12 - 17 down but they fought back to win 21 - 19!!

All for a place in the quarter final.

[Dave Tudor]

Yep, it was a good comeback. It'll be tough, but let's hope they can better their silver medal of four years ago.

Personally, I'm most interested in the athletics, but it's been pretty engaging stuff so far. Well done to our two gold medalists so far, and especially for our girls' showing in the swimming.

[Dirk Gently]

...and especially for our girls' showing in the swimming.

Pervert!

[Captain Tancredi]

I think there are two kinds of Olympic viewers- the kind who watches everything and pretends that they understand it all, and the kind who only watches the stuff they know about. Like my friend Derek, who'll watch the running because he doesn't need to know the rules.

To be honest I haven't seen anything yet.

[Dirk Gently]

I'll watch any of it & I understand it all so far...unless 'real tennis' is now in the Olympics, in which case I have no hope of understanding that.

[Milky Tears]

Eventing... it's one of GBs best hopes but I think we may have to be content with a team bronze at best (gut instinct says we may be fourth).

I also thought they'd finish fourth, so it's great to see them finish third. Superb double bronze for Tina Cook.


Also a fantastic comeback from Gail Emms and Nathan Robertson. Managed to defeat the second seeds and silence the Chinese crowd!

Quote of the games from Emms:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/olym...on/7556436.stm

"You have to be pumped," said a delighted Emms.

Damn right!

[Kaybee Bailey]

The great Michael Whitaker is out of the showjumping after his horse came in lame out in Hong Kong, although she did travel sound. Fortunately Nick Skelton is out there as a reserve rider for the team event so we won't be forced out or lose anything in rider experience.

The eventing result was promising... I hope Miner's Frolic can stay fit for 2012 because he should be right at his peak then, at 10 he's young for an event horse at this level. We're likely to need him too, with Call Again Cavalier and Parkmore Ed both 15 years old, and Zara Phillips' Toytown 14, they are all likely to have retired by then, and Tanker's Town and Spring Along are likely to be past their best too. In all likelyhood Miner's Frolic will be the most experienced top level event horse to be heading for London, and he looks a great prospect.

Quote of the games from Emms

I can't watch her interviews. Words just seem to come out of her mouth in no particular order, it's like John Prescott but with charm.

[Larry]

I think there are two kinds of Olympic viewers- the kind who watches everything and pretends that they understand it all, and the kind who only watches the stuff they know about. Like my friend Derek, who'll watch the running because he doesn't need to know the rules.

To be honest I haven't seen anything yet.

I will watch pretty much watch any sport (with the exception of sailing) if
we have some one in the final - but I certainly would never claim to know much about the sports im watching. When it comes to the Olympics I find my self watching sports I normaly have no interest in at all for example the cycling in the Veledrome, I thoroughly enjoyed watching in 2004.

[Captain Tancredi]

It's funny to see Charlotte Craddock attracting so much media attention... last time I saw her play a tournament she was 10 and I was umpiring the interform games at school! She's come on a bit since then...

In one of those bizarre PS moments, a group of us were watching the game against the Kiwis in a restaurant at lunchtime when my colleague Natalie exclaimed "That's Jo Ellis! I used to go to school with her!"