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Stoneage
Thanks for the 1976 video, SFF. So he liked Lasse Virén, the Finnish long distance runner. Doxa, are you reading this?

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bv
Norway! Gold!!!!!

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szef

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mr_dja
Kirani James from Grenada was quite possibly the best example of "The Olympic Spirit" that I've ever seen. After his semi-final race he went to the runner from S. Africa with the prosthetic legs and quickly traded "bibs" with him. Even the commentators were mentioning how they had never seen that happen before. Then, after he won the Gold medal, I'm sure I saw him go to everyone who had just been in the race and shake their hands. And he's only 19 years old! Forget about winning a gold medal, I can only hope that my 19 year old son would be capable of that much grace and class if he were ever given the opportunity.

Peace,
Mr DJA

Nice behaviour, but 90% of athletes does the same thing. Nothing unusual. By the way what are your thoughts about Pistorious? What if they will develop super fast prosthetics and he will win all the competitions? Other athletes will have to cut their legs to be competitive?

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Manofwealthandtaste
Rowing, sailing, horseriding, cycling - I love the way we Brits win medals at the sports which involve sitting down!

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JoT839
I'm involved in the BMX part of the Olympic Games...It starts today with finals on Friday....(and I know all purists will say it doesn't belong in the Olympics, but you better check it out, it's cool)

In contrast to Beach volleyball and other spectator friendly sport, we don't play "we will rock you" with Queen or any other cheeky rock anthems...no sir, quite a lot of Rolling Stones... I wouldn't be surprised if you will hear All Down The Line blasting trough the speakers during the final..

Here's an example of what we've done in the past



Track animation

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Manofwealthandtaste
Rowing, sailing, horseriding, cycling - I love the way we Brits win medals at the sports which involve sitting down!

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Gazza
But a special mention to Bob Ellis the course builder, who had the competitors jumping over Tower Bridge, a London bus, jousting knights, Stonehenge, St. Paul's Cathedral and the Abbey Road crossing....

I hope at least one of the horses wasnt wearing any shoes....

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Green Lady
In the women's 800 metres, all credit to Merve Aydin for hobbling to the finish of her heat in spite of a painful injury - and to Sarah Attar of Saudi Arabia for being there at all. Both ladies came in last - but that wasn't the point.

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Max'sKansasCity

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mr_dja

Kirani James from Grenada was quite possibly the best example of "The Olympic Spirit" that I've ever seen. After his semi-final race he went to the runner from S. Africa with the prosthetic legs and quickly traded "bibs" with him. Even the commentators were mentioning how they had never seen that happen before. Then, after he won the Gold medal, I'm sure I saw him go to everyone who had just been in the race and shake their hands. And he's only 19 years old! Forget about winning a gold medal, I can only hope that my 19 year old son would be capable of that much grace and class if he were ever given the opportunity.

Peace,
Mr DJA

Yes. When I think of all the people who dismiss the Olympics, find them 'boring' etc....
They don't get it. This is what its all about.

Good stuff...

GRENADA!!! GRENADA!! GRENADA!!

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Honestman
I wasn't aware of the new rules in Boxing.It's the guy who don't fight who win ?
Pitiful referees yesterday night and some days ago...

Mazaheri (Iran) should have been the winner
Savon (Cuba) should have been the winner
Oubaali and Vastine (France) same as above

I'm really

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Green Lady


PS: Thanks for mentioning that gymnastics final: Epke Sonderland is amazing!

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Max'sKansasCity
HUGE PROPS to Germany's Timo Boll for medaling in Table Tennis, that is awesome!

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kleermaker

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Green Lady


PS: Thanks for mentioning that gymnastics final: Epke Sonderland is amazing!

It's Zonderland actually. Sonderland sounds like a Danish/Scandinavian name.

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The Sicilian

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Max'sKansasCity
MANCHESTER, England – Abby Wambach has won games for the United States women's soccer team with her goal scoring.

On Monday, she helped the Americans dramatically defeat Canada 4-3 in an Olympic semifinal with her brains, guile and gamesmanship by delivering a crucial and controversial refereeing decision.While the original call angered the Canadians at the time, coach John Herdman applauded Wambach's "do-anything-to-win-matches" attitude on Tuesday.

It was no secret Canada's strategy against the deeper, more talented Americans was to slow the game down. That included, Wambach said, having goalkeeper Erin McLeod hold the ball as long as possible, even over 15 seconds at times during the first half. Soccer rules say the goalkeeper must get rid of the ball within six seconds.

During the second half, with the U.S. frantically trying to speed up the game while attempting multiple comebacks, Wambach began running near referee Christiana Pedersen and counting off the seconds that McLeod held the ball. She said she often got to 10 and into even the teens.

"I wasn't yelling. I was just counting," Wambach revealed Tuesday during an interview at the team hotel. "Probably did it five to seven times."

The last time came in the 78th minute, with Canada trying to milk a 3-2 lead. McLeod made a save, and Wambach began counting again.

"I got to 10 seconds right next to the referee, and at 10 seconds she blew the whistle," Wambach said.

The call was for delay of game. There was confusion on the field, because it was an exceedingly rare decision. Not another American or Canadian player or coach remembers the call ever being made, let alone in such crucial moments of an international tournament.

Regardless, the result was an indirect kick for the Americans inside the Canadian box. That kick wound up hitting a Canadian defender's hand, which meant a penalty kick for the Americans.

Wambach stepped up to the spot in the 80th minute and drilled a low shot off the left post and into the net to tie the game. In the final minute of stoppage time in the last overtime session, the USA's Alex Morgan headed a cross past McLeod for the incredible game winner.

Canada fumed, both during and after the game. Canadian star Christine Sinclair went as far as to charge the referee with deciding before the game that she would do whatever it took to help the Americans win.

"We feel like we didn't lose," Sinclair said. "We feel like it was taken from us. It's a shame in a game like that, which is so important, that the ref decided the result before the game started."

McLeod, the goalkeeper, claimed she had the ball a far shorter time and the ref shouldn't have included the few seconds it took for her to get up off the ground. She also said she was never warned by Pedersen herself; she merely was given a general reminder about speeding up play from a linesman at halftime.

"We feel like we got robbed in this game," McLeod said.

Wambach disputes that, saying that after she started the counting routine Pedersen continually told McLeod to speed up play and McLeod would acknowledge it by raising her hand to the referee.

The more times Wambach counted, the more impossible it became for the referee to ignore the delays and thus not make the call.

"Yes it's uncharacteristic," Wambach said. "But the rules are the rules. You can say it's gamesmanship, you can say it's smart, but I'm a competitor. We needed to get a goal. They're trying to waste time; I'm trying to speed it up."

Wambach's teammates say that game awareness and brilliance is part of what makes her a superstar. The 5-foot-11 forward isn't just a physical presence with a knack for scoring – she has a goal in all five U.S. games in this tournament.

The 32-year-old veteran from Pittsford, N.Y., knows soccer, is constantly aware of how the game is developing around her, and is practically a coach on the field.

"You need to be aware of the game at all times," Morgan said. "And Abby was just making the ref aware."

Herdman, the Canadian coach, was asked about Wambach's admission and tipped his hat to the player. While he said his players can learn from her, he wouldn't ask them to do any counting in the future.

"If Abby has done that, good on her," Herdman said. "Wambach's a great player, she's a pro, she knows how to win matches. … She found a loophole. Our players can learn from that."

Wambach said she was ready for the delay tactics due to previous games with the Canadians in which they often attempted to stall. She recalled one game in which she claims there was a "planned 20-minute cramping their goalkeeper took."

So with their gold-medal chances hanging in the balance and every precious second meaning so much, the Americans' great talent figured out how to change the course of the game with her intelligence.

Wambach kept counting until it couldn't be ignored.

"I think making the referee aware of a situation, there is nothing wrong with that," Wambach said. "At the end of the day, the ref made the decision on her own."

And the U.S. used it to advance to Thursday's gold-medal game with Japan back in London.
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Just brilliant. Astute awareness by a seasoned veteran.

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Green Lady

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kleermaker

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Green Lady


PS: Thanks for mentioning that gymnastics final: Epke Sonderland is amazing!

It's Zonderland actually. Sonderland sounds like a Danish/Scandinavian name.

Sorry!