2012 London Olympics

[GeneChing]

Nearly a year since Beijing (http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?t=39275) - time to start looking to London...;)

Martial arts athlete opens brothel to fund Olympic bid (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1199195/Martial-arts-athlete-opens-brothel-fund-Olympic-bid.html)
By Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated at 2:38 PM on 13th July 2009

A martial arts enthusiast has opened a brothel to help fund his bid to compete at the 2012 London Olympics.

New Zealander Logan Campbell, 23, told the Sunday Star-Times newspaper he hoped his Auckland 'gentleman's club,' which provides escort services, would help him raise £500,000 toward representing his country in tae kwon do in London.

Campbell, who finished in the top 16 in the featherweight division at last year's Olympics, said he spent around £230,000 preparing for the Beijing games.
brothel owners Logan Campbell and Hugo Phillips

Most of the money came from his parents, he said. His father, Max, worked two jobs to support his son's Olympic quest.

Campbell said his desire to avoid being a burden on his parents led him to open the brothel with business partner Hugo Phillips, 20.

He said: 'Mum was hesitant but she met the girls, a couple came over to her house and she was sweet as.

'She realised they were just normal people supporting their kids and stuff.

'When people think of a pimp they think of a guy standing around on a street corner with gold chains. Pimps are more tough-type guys. I'm an owner of an escort agency.'

Asked if he was bringing the sport into disrepute, he replied: 'Some people on the team will not think highly of me for doing this. If they saw this place and how it's operated, they'd change their mind.'

He said he had introduced several of his female employees to his mother who 'realised they were just normal people supporting kids and stuff.'

Tae kwon do New Zealand funding manager John Schofield said the governing body of the sport in the country would have to consider whether Campbell was suitable for international selection.

'Selection takes into account not just performance but also the athlete's ability to serve as an example to the youth of the country,' Schofield said.

New Zealand decriminalised prostitution six years ago.

[Lucas]

maybe he can bring the 'pimp slap' to international olympic levels!

i say let him fight

[David Jamieson]

Comes with his own ring girls too!

pimping...yeesh, what next? Small arms sales to shore up the local quilting bee? lol

[GeneChing]

I keep thinking this is on the Busted Martial Artists thread (http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?t=48947), but it's not a bust. It's legal in NZ.


Updated: February 3, 2010, 1:27 AM ET
Campbell puts brothel up for sale (http://sports.espn.go.com/oly/news/story?id=4882430)
Associated Press

WELLINGTON, New Zealand -- A New Zealand taekwondo athlete who opened a brothel to fund his Olympic campaign is auctioning off the business and will use the proceeds to pay his way to overseas competitions, he said Wednesday.

Logan Campbell, who finished in the top 16 in the featherweight division at the Beijing Olympics, was condemned by the New Zealand Olympic Committee when he opened a "high class gentleman's club" in Auckland to finance future competition. The NZOC said such a business went against Olympic principles.

Campbell will sell the business on an auction Web site and hopes to raise $210,000 toward the cost of his bid to represent New Zealand at the 2012 London Olympics.

The business is listed on the New Zealand Web site Trademe with a $1 reserve.

[David Jamieson]

Let's get through the 2010's in Van before griping about the pimp.
:)

The smoke is rollin rolin rollin.

Who wants to place bets on what athletes get their medals stripped for huffing the BC Bud?

[Xiao3 Meng4]

Jamaican Bobsled team!


I guess it also depends on whether or not the Olympic Village is downwind of Whistler... it could be that everyone gets a litte bit. :)

[Lucas]

I thought the 2012 olypics were canceled due to world destruction.

:D

[GeneChing]

But that's the Winter Olympics in Vancouver. We're talking about the Summer Olympics in London.

There are no martial Olympic sports unless you count that cross country shooting event...


No Cool Runnings for Jamaican bobsleigh team in Vancouver (http://www.morethanthegames.co.uk/bobsleigh-skeleton/048707-no-cool-runnings-jamaican-bobsleigh-team-vancouver)
Posted: Thursday 4th February 2010 | 19:06

SO much for kissing the lucky egg, the Jamaican bobsleigh team have kissed goodbye to their hopes of competing at the Winter Olympics in Vancouver.

At the Whistler Sliding Centre later this month, the world will indeed have to believe that Jamaica do not have a bobsleigh team.

It is now 22 years since the first Jamaican bobsleigh team at the Calgary 1988 Games which then inspired the 1993 hit film Cool Runnings.

But the list of those teams that have qualified for this month's Winter Olympics in Vancouver has been finalised and alas, the Caribbean island are not on it.

And the news has come as a devastating blow.

"We've been in battles for many, many years," Chris Stokes, a founding member of the Jamaican bobsled team more than 20 years ago, told the AP.

"This is one more. But it's disappointing, no question about that. The guys worked really hard and did well. Not qualifying, it's by no means a failure. It's a step going forward."

All hope is not completely lost and should sufficient sleds drop out of the running then Jamaica may get the nod, but they are not holding their breath.

Under-funded and using substandard equipment, the Jamaican four-man sled came agonisingly close to qualifying against the odds with driver Hannukkah Wallace sneaking into the top 50 in the world.

And Stokes is convinced that Wallace will bounce back from this disappointment and can draw on inspiration from a trip to Vancouver as a spectator.

"This is Hannukkah's third year driving," Stokes said. "People in the sport would say you need five, seven, maybe even ten years to get to a certain level.

"It's very important for the team to go and see. They'll remember what the Games are like and watch the start line of a four-man Olympic race and feel that adrenaline. I hope it acts as a motivation for them."

[David Jamieson]

But that's the Winter Olympics in Vancouver. We're talking about the Summer Olympics in London.

There are no martial Olympic sports unless you count that cross country shooting event...

It's the Biathlon and some of those girls are cute!

Here's our team

http://blogs.villagevoice.com/runninscared/biathlete3.jpg

[GeneChing]

Gotta quote Fergie on this: "I'm so 3008, You so 2000 and late". Been there, done that. (http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?t=39275)


Jackie Chan wants 'wushu' to be officially recognised at Olympic games (http://sify.com/sports/jackie-chan-wants-wushu-to-be-officially-recognised-at-olympic-games-news-news-kiwokeadhhe.html)
2010-08-22 14:10:00

While Beijing is scheduled to host the Sportaccord Combat Games 2010 just a few weeks from now, international kungfu film star Jackie Chan, has expressed his hope that wushu or Chinese style martial arts, would be given the recognition as an official event at the Olympic Games soon.

"I love wushu a lot and I would love to see them included in future Olympic Games," China Daily quoted Chan, as saying.

"Chinese wushu involves so many forms and styles of fighting and has so many different schools. This makes it difficult for wushu to make an unified impression to international audiences," he added.

Other Asian martial arts that have already become official Olympic sports include Japanese judo in 1964 and Korean taekwondo in 2000.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) currently recognizes Chinese wushu and Japanese karate as sports, but neither is an official or a demonstration sport at the Games.

During the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympic, the IOC allowed China to organize an international wushu event, but it was unofficial and not considered a demonstration sport. (ANI)

[GeneChing]

Funny how Jackie just made a comment about wushu and now Jet is going for taiji.

Jet Li wants to make Taiji an Olympic sport (http://www.china.org.cn/arts/2010-08/30/content_20822417.htm)
CRI, August 30, 2010

"The Expendables" star Jet Li is not just eying Hollywood but is working to include Chinese martial arts in the Olympics.

Li announced his plan on August 26 in Beijing where he was named image ambassador for the inaugural SportAccord Combat Games, the Beijing News reports.

Li will work specifically on promoting the martial art of Taijiquan.

"It's my dream to help Taiji push-hands become an official Olympic sport," Li was quoted as saying. "I'll spare no efforts to make that happen in 20 years."

Taiji push-hands, or "tuishou" in Chinese, refer to the two-person training routines involving Taiji moves and concepts that improve flexibility and balance.

Li used Korean Taekwondo and Japanese Judo as examples, and said he dreamed about Chinese Taiji being practiced around the world.

In 2008, Li launched a nationwide fitness project to promote his self-developed exercise called Wuji among urbanites. Wuji blends martial-arts moves with Yoga positions.

The weeklong SportAccord Combat Games, which open on August 28 in Beijing, will see more than 1,000 competitors from 66 countries and regions vying in 13 categories, including Wushu, Taekwondo, Judo, Karate, Muay Thai, boxing and wrestling.

http://images.china.cn/attachement/jpg/site1007/20100830/0013729e78490de5729311.jpg

This is all fallout from the Combat Games Beijing (http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?p=1035796).

[GeneChing]

Martial arts: Jade Jones reveals how she plans to make it to the London Olympics (http://www.flintshirechronicle.co.uk/flintshire-sport/other-sports/2010/10/14/martial-arts-jade-jones-reveals-how-she-plans-to-make-it-to-the-london-olympics-51352-27464640/)
Oct 14 2010 by Alec Doyle, Flintshire Chronicle

JADE Jones has had an incredible few months.

In August the Flint tae kwon-do star became the first person ever to win a gold medal for Great Britain at the Youth Olympics – and had a street party in her home town to celebrate. The heroics in Singapore followed silver success in Mexico earlier this year where she just missed out in the final of the World U17 championships to a top Korean fighter.

But her everyday life is far from the glamour of the podium as she dedicates every day to training and preparing herself for a run at the Olympic gold medal in two years time in London.

To that end the 17-year-old, who originally trained at Matrix Tae Kwon-do in Saltney, moved to Manchester in April to become a full-time athlete thanks to funding from the National Lottery.

She is now locked in a cycle of training, resting and competing designed to transform her from a promising young talent into an adult medal contender.

“There is a lot of aching,” she said. “I was knocked out of the British Open in Manchester early a few weeks ago and as it has been a tough summer and there was no competition until November I thought I might get some rest.

“But I received an email full of fitness work I had to do to maintain my conditioning. Sometimes it is hard, but that is what you have to do.”

Tae kwon-do has exploded in Britain. From a nation which never expected to medal at major competitions, we have grown to expect certain competitors to deliver now.

Since Sarah Stevenson won bronze at the 2008 Beijing Games attention has turned to the Korean martial art as a potentially strong chance for Britain to win a medal at London 2012.

And Jade wants to carry the weight of the nation’s expectation on her shoulders next time around and hopefully turn a Youth Olympics gold medal into a senior one.

“Thanks to my funding I get to train at the Manchester Tae kwon-do Academy full-time.

“In the past we did not have these types of facilities or the money to invest in the best coaches but now we do and we are seeing the benefits.

“For four hours a day six days a week I train and everything I do is geared towards improving and becoming the best.”

Jade is driven and her defeat in the quarter-finals of the British Open stung her so much she is praying the draw gives her revenge in the Paris Open next month.

“I let myself down with stupid mistakes and I was beaten by Stephanie Ollive, a French girl who I knew I could beat.

“I am just hoping the draw pits us against each other in Paris so I can put it to bed and do myself justice. I’d like to get a little revenge.”

Jade still visits home as often as she can but so intense is her training she readily admits she is often not much fun.

“I go back to see my family and my old friends from Flint High School,” she said.

“But when I get back I am often so tired from training that I can’t go out and do much.

“I had that in school as well. My mates would often try to get me to go out but they did realise that tae kwon-do came first and when they see me perform on the international stage now, they are proud.”

And in 2012, that pride could well reach new heights if Jade can realise her Olympic ambition.

“I am really pleased with how this year has gone,” she said. “But I need to make sure that I continue to improve in order to give myself the best chance in the Olympics.”

And if Jade’s determination and focus continue as they are, who will stop her?

This is sort of random but the Gymnastic trials are in San Jose, CA. I've already reserved tickets.

[GeneChing]

Iran threatens to boycott 2012 London Olympics because of logo (http://voices.washingtonpost.com/early-lead/2011/02/iran_threatens_to_boycott_2012.html)
By Cindy Boren | February 28, 2011; 3:51 PM ET

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/early-lead/londonlogo.jpg

Iran is threatening to boycott the 2012 Olympic Games in London because of the Games' logo.

According to an Iranian official, the logo, with its blocky, abstract rendering of "2012," is racist because it appears to spell the word "Zion," a biblical term for Jerusalem, rather than 2012. Bahram Afsharzadeh, the secretary-general of Iran's National Olympic Committee, said via the official IRNA news agency that he sent a letter of complaint to International Olympic Committee President Jacques Rogge.

"There is no doubt that negligence of the issue from your side may affect the presence of some countries in the games, especially Iran, which abides by commitment to the values and principles," Afsharzadeh said in the letter to Rogge, according to the Associated Press, and urged other Muslim states to protest as well.

The International Olympic Committee and London's organizing committee disagree. "Our response is as follows: The London 2012 logo represents the figure 2012, nothing else," the IOC said.
I'm glad they said it said it says 2012 because I didn't see it at first.

[David Jamieson]

It looks like a highly stylized quasimodo doing a justin beiber "dance" move.

[GeneChing]

Wushu won't get in the Olympics this time, but at least Jackie is in. :rolleyes:

London 2012 Hall of flame: Kylie, Will Smith, Pele and Jackie Chan offered chance to run with Olympic torch (http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/kylie-will-smith-pele-and-jackie-chan-745492)

Actors, singers and sporting legends from across the globe will carry the 2012 Olympic flame around the country, the Mirror can reveal

Kylie Minogue, Will Smith, Pele and Jackie Chan have been lined up to run with the London Olympic Flame, the Mirror can reveal.

The A-listers have been identified by organisers as the ideal celebrities to raise the profile of the UK abroad by taking part in the hugely popular relay, which starts in May.

Tourism chiefs sent out invites to carry the Flame in the last few weeks as they bid to capitalise on worldwide interest in Britain during the Games.

A source said: “This is one of the biggest events that Britain will ever host, and only the biggest stars in the world will do.

“We need people who are cultural icons in their own country to really make an impression - and who better than these ambassadors?

“They are loved in their home countries for all the right reasons, and that is exactly what is needed.

“The Torch Relay will be a real highlight of the whole Olympic campaign and with the calibre of people expected to run, it will be an amazing spectacle.”

Tourist board bosses know the eyes of the world will be on the Flame as it makes the 8,000-mile journey around Britain to the Olympic Stadium in Stratford, east London.

And they are determined to make the most of the occasion by recruiting A-list stars from the worlds of sport and showbiz to run across the UK with the Flame.

Today marks just 150 days until the Opening Ceremony on Friday 27 July. The 70-day Torch Relay begins on May 19 and will take in 1,019 places and be carried by 8,000 Torchbearers.

Pop queen Kylie, 43, is considered the ideal Australian to carry the Flame and will be cheered on her way by her thousands of dedicated fans.

US actor and rapper Smith, 43, is best known for his roles in blockbusters such as Independence Day, Men In Black and Bad Boys.

Brazilian Pele, 71, is widely considered to be the best footballer in history and won the World Cup for his country three times.

And action man Chan, 57, started his career as a martial arts expert but has forged a role as one of Hollywood’s highest-earning action men, starring in hit movie series Rush Hour.

London 2012 organisers have planned the route to allow the Flame to come within 10 miles of 95% of the population.

It will pass through every English county and every local authority area in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales and even visit Dublin on a unique one-day trip.

[GeneChing]

What is it about middle eastern women and martial arts?


Afghan women fight it out in Herat (http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/world_now/2012/03/afghan-women-martial-arts.html)
March 8, 2012 | 4:19 pm
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/.a/6a00d8341c630a53ef0163029ed714970d-600wi

Every day on World Now, we choose a remarkable photo from around the world. On International Women's Day, we spotted this striking shot of Afghan women doing martial arts, part of a celebration in Herat.

"Many people may think that these activities are only for men, especially in such a country," Sakhi Attaee and Rooz Zia wrote on the WomentoBe.org website. "However, they are indeed very popular in Afghanistan, particularly among young women."

Afghanistan is far from a feminist paradise. Last year, gender experts ranked it as the most dangerous country for women in the world. Yet Afghan women say there has been progress.

Martial arts is one bright spot: One of the first Afghan women to participate in the Olympics, Friba Razayee, was a judo competitor. She went to the games in 2004 along with runner Robina Muqimyar. Her martial arts training began in Pakistan, where her family had fled after the Taliban took control.

This year, the country is sending a female boxer to the Olympics in London -- 17-year-old Sadaf Rahimi.

"I will try to show that an Afghan girl can enter the ring and achieve a position for Afghanistan," Rahimi told the Associated Press.

Not all countries are making the same strides toward including female athletes: Human Rights Watch is pressing the International Olympic Committee to set firm rules before Saudi Arabia can participate in the Games. The country has never sent a female athlete to the Olympics.

[David Jamieson]

What is it about middle eastern women and martial arts?

What is it about middle eastern men treating their women in a sub standard way so much and to the point that the women seek a way to protect and defend themselves from the harshness of their overarching gender based crappy cultural experience?

;)

[GeneChing]

I know. It's a reach. I just couldn't resist ttt-ing this with this.

Lally readies himself for Olympic qualifier (http://www.pgfreepress.com/sports/145214955.html)
http://media.bclocalnews.com/images/23582princegeorgeS0330KennyLallyfile.jpg
Kenny Lally warms up with coach Bob Pegues during a practice session at the Shaolin Boxing Club inside the Connaught Youth Centre on Monday evening. Lally and Pegues are travelling to Puerto Rico and Equador with the Canadian national team this month.

By Alistair McInnis - Prince George Free Press
Published: April 02, 2012 6:00 AM

Kenny Lally has left his hometown to start another boxing journey.

The 22-year-old could return to Prince George as a qualifier for this summer’s Olympics in London, England.

The final qualifier for the 2012 Summer Olympics is May 4 to 13 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Lally left the city on Wednesday to begin a trip to Windsor, Ont., where he’ll compete in a card on Saturday. Lally, Canada’s A team representative in the senior open 52 kg division, will train in the region for two weeks.

Lally has been involved in a fitness program for the last nine weeks. He hasn’t had a match outside of the city since winning gold at the Boxing Canada Senior (Elite) Championships in Cape Breton, N.S., in January.

“I could’ve stayed in Prince George to finish off my camp here, but I got to do something big if I want to quality, like going to Windsor and training there,” he said.

Lally’s first Olympic qualifying event was the World Championships from Sept. 22 to Oct. 10 in Baku, Azerbaijan. Since falling short in that attempt, he’s been hungry for another shot at London.

“Ever since the Worlds, I’ve become a total different fighter,” he said. “I’m training twice a day. I never used to train twice a day.”

The World Championships was an educational experience for Lally.

“I learned so much after that loss. After the Worlds, the biggest thing that changed in my game is my footwork. I’m constantly on my toes now and I’m way more balanced, and I can throw a lot harder now because I’m on my toes.”

After training in Windsor, Lally will travel to Puerto Rico on April 8 to start a three-country training camp with the host Puerto Ricans and the Bahamian team. The Canadian team will compete against Puerto Rico in a dual match on April 14 and 17.

Boxing Canada was looking into hosting the Canadian team in Montreal beginning April 24 until they leave for the competition in Brazil on May 1. But that wasn’t confirmed as of Wednesday, and there was still a possibility Lally would return to Prince George for a little downtime before travelling to Brazil.

The Olympic qualifying tournament in May includes countries from North, South and Central America which haven’t qualified. There are two spots remaining in Lally’s weight class, meaning he’ll require a gold or silver medal in Brazil to qualify.

Family support may provide a boost to Lally in his attempt to advance for the Olympics. His mother, sister and aunt are planning to travel to Brazil for the qualifier.

Acclimatizing could be challenging, but the training in Puerto Rico will help.

“I got to do something special and the temperature down there is so hot, same with the humidity,” Lally said.

On Saturday’s card in Windsor, Lally will step in the ring against Jorge Puebla of Toronto’s Champions Boxing Club in a 56 kg bout. The training will feature practices with Canadian Olympians and fellow national team members. The team will also travel across the border to Detroit for sparring sessions.

Lally’s national team coach is Adrian Teodorescu from Toronto’s Atlas Boxing Club. Teodorescu has been to the Olympics eight times, once as a boxer, six times as the Romanian naitonal team coach and another time taking Canadian gold-medal winner Lennox Lewis.

Bob Pegues, Lally’s coach in Prince George, won’t be travelling with him over the next six weeks. But Pegues is hopeful he’ll join his boxer in London.

“This whole trip he’s lined up here, he’s lined it up himself. He’s lined up sparring, he’s lined up fights so he’s in good shape,” Pegues said. “His maturity level has gone up so much in the last few months, last year really.”

[GeneChing]

I have a new appreciation for this sport.

London 2012 Olympics: British women's water polo team study martial arts to be fighting fit for Games (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/olympics/water-polo/9241559/London-2012-Olympics-British-womens-water-polo-team-study-martial-arts-to-be-fighting-fit-for-Games.html)
If the Spanish women’s water polo squad seem surprisingly watery-eyed at this summer’s Olympics, it is unlikely to have anything to do with chlorine in the London pool.
By Simon Hart
9:03AM BST 03 May 2012

In a pre-emptive strike against the ‘wedgies’ commonly delivered by female players – where an opponent’s swimming costume is yanked violently and painfully upwards — the Spanish have apparently taken to pulling up their own costumes before they set foot in the water.

“You get a lot of wedgies with cossies being pulled up your bottom,” explained Frankie Snell, who, as Britain’s last line of defence at centre-back, has been known to dabble in a few underhand tactics herself.

“A lot of girls pull their costumes up and give themselves wedgies just to stop somebody else coming along and doing it. The Spanish girls tend to do that.

“I’m sure everyone’s going to find it very entertaining seeing them walking down the poolside with their cossies right up their bottoms. I know that some of my friends who saw them play were very impressed with the Spanish girls and how they wore their costumes.”

Water polo has never been a sport for wimps. Indeed, what goes on under the water, away from the prying eyes of referees, is as much a part of the game as the action above it.

And very often the nefarious practices going on in the murky depths are not only illegal but wince-inducingly violent. In the men’s game, where there is not much costume to get hold of, there is only one thing left to grab.

“All the time there is holding and grabbing,” said Fran Leighton, who has captained the Great Britain team for nine years. “You’ve just got to remember: ‘Face of an angel out of the water and then who knows what your arms are doing under the water.’”

http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/02209/water-pololong_2209692a.jpg
Team GB captain Fran Leighton

For the most part, injuries tend to be confined to scratches, bruises and friction burns from costumes being pulled and stretched — hence the Spanish wedgie tactic – though things took a nastier turn during a recent match between Britain and Australia when GB right-wing Alex Rutlidge suffered a broken rib when she was on the receiving end of an underwater kick from an opponent.

“The Australians are known for being the dirtiest,” Snell said. “We were recording the game and we’ve got it on film. You can see the girl pull Alex in towards her and then boot off her ribs. You saw Alex almost sink under the water.”

Hostilities with the Australians will resume tonight when Britain meet them in the opening round of the official Olympic test event at the Water Polo Arena in Stratford, where a crowd of 4,000 in the 5,000-seat temporary venue should provide some extra spice.

The United States and Hungary are also in action in the mini-Olympic dress rehearsal, which will give Britain’s women the chance to test themselves against some of the world’s top nations, and also some of the most physical.

To underline just how rough things can get, the British squad have been working with a martial arts expert since the end of last year to improve their combat skills.

“We do a lot of wrestling out of the pool,” Snell said. “We have a proper instructor and we have to do proper grappling and learn all the wrestling moves because a lot of it is about fighting.

“You can be lying with an opponent almost horizontal in the pool holding onto each other’s shoulders, so we practise a lot of fighting.

“We do it in these all-black skin-tight suits so we don’t burn our skin, so if anyone walked in and saw us rolling around on the floor they’d wonder what was going on. It’s really physical.”

Snell, who was born in New Zealand but has a UK passport through her English mother, needs all the fighting know-how she can get because her job as centre-back is to mark the opposing centre-forward, often the biggest and most physical player in the team. While not petite, Snell usually gives away a big size advantage.

“Obviously, there are some big girls I have to play against who can be at least double my size – big, strong girls, especially the Hungarians and the Australians,” the 25 year-old said.

“It’s an advantage for them when it comes to fighting but, when it comes to being quick and going on counter-attacks, it’s an advantage for me to be smaller and lighter because if I can get in front of them I just sprint off and get a counter-attack going. But something I personally have to work on is the fighting.”

If that means stretching the boundaries of legality to the limit, and sometimes beyond, so be it. Snell, who is the personification of charm out of the water, once broke an opponent’s nose in a match and laughs when asked if it was intentional.

“Um, maybe 50-50! You’re trying to protect the ball by swimming with high elbows and if somebody is coming in to try to steal the ball you do a sort of half-aggressive elbow in their direction. This time it just clipped the girl’s nose and broke it.”

Leighton believes the key is to push the laws to the edge without conceding a foul, which can lead to a powerplay for the opposing team or even dismissal for the most blatant act of violence, and not to allow yourself to shrink from the physicality of opponents.

“I think at first a lot of the girls thought ‘oh my goodness’,” she says. “I think now, we don’t get in there first but we know how to take it and give as good as we get.

“The last thing you want to be is an easy target so you have to start strongly and take no nonsense.”

Britain’s women certainly appear to be giving as good as they get if their results are anything to go by. While the men’s squad continue to struggle against the world’s top water polo nations, the women qualified for this year’s European Championships for the first time in 15 years and were far from humiliated in finishing seventh in Eindhoven in January.

“All of our games were competitive and hopefully in the next few months we can get to the stage where we can start turning defeats into wins,” Leighton said.

“Maybe with a home crowd behind us, that can swing things a little bit in our favour. If we have the best two weeks of our life, I think we can beat anyone.”

[sanjuro_ronin]

Women and water...truly Olympic !

[GeneChing]

Women, water and wedgies.

[sanjuro_ronin]

Remember the women's water polo calender craze?
The USA for example:
http://ecstaticfreshness.files.wordpress.com/2010/10/usa-womens-water-polo-team-ii.jpg

[GeneChing]

They should shoot this wedgie duel from underwater.

[GeneChing]

LONDON 2012: For some judo Olympians, Mixed Martial Arts may offer a new career after London (http://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/london-2012-for-some-judo-olympians-mixed-martial-arts-may-offer-a-new-career-after-london/2012/07/10/gJQACEKcaW_story.html)
By Associated Press, Updated: Tuesday, July 10, 7:19 AM

LONDON — While most judo fighters at the upcoming London Games will be focused on trying to win a medal, others may use the Olympics as a way to establish themselves before switching to a more lucrative career in mixed martial arts.

London-bound American judoka Travis Stevens says he is definitely thinking of jumping into MMA — but only after he wins an Olympic medal. Stevens is ranked eighth in the world and regularly trains in the fusion combat sport.

“It really helps me with my transitions from stand-up to ground. It gives me so many more options that most judo players don’t know or understand,” Stevens said. “That gives me an edge.”

MMA incorporates techniques from disciplines like boxing, wrestling, kick-boxing, jiu-jitsu, taekwondo, karate and judo. Its matches are often held in a cage and routinely draw more fans than boxing and professional wrestling.

Since MMA fights often end up on the ground, judo’s throwing and grappling tactics are particularly useful. But its trash-talking, highly commercialized side isn’t for everyone and some Olympic fighters dismiss it as a distortion of martial arts.

For others, switching to MMA may be an issue of practicality.

After winning the United States’ first Olympic medal in judo at the 2008 Beijing Games, Ronda Rousey took a break from the Japanese martial art and became a bartender.

“I thought that if I won an Olympic medal, life would be good,” Rousey said. “But I won the medal and life went on and nobody cared.”

Rousey eventually got an offer to try MMA and had her first professional fight last year. She has since defeated all her opponents with a judo arm lock in less than one minute and is now a champion in the combat sport.

“MMA was a good opportunity to use my judo skills to make a living,” she said, adding that if that didn’t work she had planned to become a rescue swimmer.

Kayla Harrison, an American medal contender in London, said Rousey’s new career was inspiring.

“I’m super proud of (Rousey) and super happy for her,” Harrison said. “She’s taken MMA, put it right on her shoulders and she’s going to carry it all the way.”

Still, not all Olympic judoka are sold. Five-time world champion Teddy Riner has no plans to try MMA.

“Fighting in a cage doesn’t appeal to me,” said the Frenchman, adding that MMA lacks the traditional respect in a martial art and promotes brutal attacks not allowed in judo. “There is no moral code in MMA.

“I am a warrior on the tatami, but you always have to respect your opponent.”

American taekwondo athlete Diana Lopez said she wasn’t impressed by the quality of kicks she saw in MMA fights and joked she is available for kicking tutorials.

“You could get a lot of knockout kicks to the head with taekwondo because not a lot of MMA people expect good kicking techniques,” Lopez said.

Her brother Steven agreed that the precision and power of taekwondo kicks could help MMA fighters. Lopez is a five-time world champion with two Olympic golds and a bronze but said he has no interest in getting into MMA, partly because it’s not specialized enough.

“Most MMA fighters have a Thai boxing kick,” he said. “It’s very strong, but if they miss, they’re off-balance and cannot counter.”

Taekwondo fighters, on the other hand, are known for speed and landing kicks both as part of offensive and defensive tactics.

Lopez, once named by People magazine as one of the world’s 50 most beautiful people, also cited a less technical reason for his aversion to the cauliflower ear risks of MMA.

“I like my face a little too much to get into MMA,” Steven Lopez said.

___

AP Sports Writer Dave Skretta contributed to this report.

OK, this is wrong: "After winning the United States’ first Olympic medal in judo at the 2008 Beijing Games, Ronda Rousey..." The U.S. has won several Olympic medals in judo.
1964 James Bregman BRONZE
1976 Allen Coage BRONZE
1984 Edward Liddie BRONZE
1984 Robert Berland SILVER
1988 Mike Swain BRONZE
1992 Jason Morris SILVER
1996-2004 Jimmy Pedro BRONZE
Perhaps the author meant the United States’ first Olympic medal in WOMEN'S judo

BTW, I was at the Women's Gymnastic Olympic Trials in San Jose two weeks ago. It was awesome. :cool:

[TaichiMantis]

I agree with the woman who said MMA kicks suck...;)

[GeneChing]

If Munoz failed to make the Olympic team twice, what's his point? Some extraordinary athletes can be Olympic medalists as well as succeed in the cage. Ronda Rousey (http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?p=1178222) is a perfect example. And some athletes can only perform in one or the other. Most of us can't succeed in either. After failing to make the cut, you can't make the point that Munoz is an example of MMA is siphoning away Olympic talent.

Wrestling in United States falls victim to mixed martial arts (http://www.mercurynews.com/other-sports/ci_21044146/wrestling-united-states-falls-victim-mixed-martial-arts)
By Mark Emmons
memmons@mercurynews.com
Posted: 07/10/2012 10:53:32 AM PDT
Updated: 07/10/2012 11:44:52 PM PDT

Mark Munoz will be a little wistful when he watches the upcoming Olympics on television. A two-time state high school wrestling champion from Vallejo who later won an NCAA title at Oklahoma State, Munoz twice tried to make the U.S. Olympic team.

"My dream was to win a gold medal representing my country, but it didn't happen," Munoz said. "I'll always consider myself a wrestler. But these are the cards I was dealt, and my storyline is different now."

Munoz isn't complaining. He has found a second, more lucrative career in the rising sport of mixed martial arts. Munoz will fight Chris Weidman in the featured middleweight bout on the UFC on Fuel TV card at HP Pavilion on Wednesday.

Like many of MMA's biggest stars, including South Bay heavyweight Cain Velasquez, Munoz and Weidman made the jump from amateur wrestling. They are part of a trend that has resulted in a curious juxtaposition. MMA is booming while wrestling, one of the ancient Olympic competitions, has become an endangered sport in the United States.

"It's very hard to make a living as a wrestler," said Munoz, 34, a father of four. "I tried, and it's tough. You end up living paycheck to paycheck each month, and you really weren't even getting paychecks, just a stipend. But with MMA, you can make pretty good money."

And as wrestling gets its 15 minutes of fame at the London Games, it's an open question if MMA is siphoning away potential American medals.

"Does it hurt our Olympic team?" asked U.S. freestyle coach Zeke Jones. "Maybe you could say that we're losing some of our best talent. But who knows if Cain Velasquez or any of those MMA fighters would have made the team if they had kept wrestling?"

In fact Jones prefers to view the MMA phenomenon as a potential recruiting tool that can help resuscitate U.S. wrestling, which has high hopes for London.

"The way I look at, we get a lot of exposure through MMA," Jones said. "There's no question that wrestling gave them tools to become great fighters, and everybody notices that."

After dominating international freestyle wrestling for decades, the United States has been in a drought -- winning just one gold medal in each of the past two Olympics. Financially strapped collegiate athletic departments have cut programs, and there's little money to be made by Olympic hopefuls as they toil in obscurity.

Munoz knows firsthand. He tried to wrestle, raise a family and coach at UC Davis. He describes a system in which the limited financial support available was directed toward the top contender in each weight class.

"It was impossible," he said. "If you actually are the No. 1 guy, you can make it work. But if you're not, it's a totally different story."

Five years ago, with his own Olympic goal behind him, Munoz figured it was time to become a full-time coach when former UC Davis wrestler Urijah "The California Kid" Faber told him he would be perfect for MMA.

"What's MMA?" Munoz asked.

Now fighting with the nickname of "The Filipino Wrecking Machine," Munoz easily made the transition as he learned the striking element of the combat sport. He takes a 12-2 record into this fight against the 8-0 Weidman, a former Hofstra All-American who competed in the 2008 Olympic trials. Weidman, 28, decided to switch to MMA rather than keep training for this year's trials.

Leaving the mat for the steel cage has become common. According to the UFC, more than 68 percent of its fighters wrestled at least in high school. Chuck Liddell, Randy Couture and Tito Ortiz are among the former collegiate wrestlers who became MMA trailblazers -- helping to make the sport palatable for the mainstream public.

Velasquez, who was an All-American at Arizona State, points out that there's only one high school and college sport that puts athletes on a path for MMA: wrestling.

"It really does give you a little taste of what it takes to be a mixed martial artist," said Velasquez, 29, who will fight to reclaim the UFC heavyweight title in the fall. "You learn the value of hard work and just how hard to you can push your body. It's the same thing in MMA."

The bonus is being able to pay your bills. But Jones, a 1992 silver medalist, counters that Olympic glory can be priceless.

"You're representing something more than yourself," Jones said. "I'm sure there's a lot more money and certainly a lot more media attention in MMA. It's just so much bigger. But we have a group of wrestlers who love the sport because of the same values they had as little kids."

Boosters also have created a Living the Dream Medal Fund to encourage wrestlers to stick around. The reward system includes a top payout of $250,000 for an Olympic gold medal. Performances have improved as the United States finished third at last year's world championships and now heads for the Games led by defending 74-kilogram world champion Jordan Burroughs.

Someday wrestling might even be joined in the five-ringed circus by its MMA cousin. UFC head Dana White is in favor of his sport becoming an Olympic event. But the process of adding sports to the Games is lengthy.

Meanwhile, Munoz will be paying close attention to the wrestling competition in London.

"I know all those guys on the team," he said. "I do miss the camaraderie of the wrestling world. Those were the best times in my life."

But now he has business in the cage.

[GeneChing]

Now I can just read this and I'll be able to act like I know my stuff if any judo gets televised in the U.S. :cool:

2012 Summer Olympic Games Preview - Judo (http://www.thenewstribune.com/2012/07/10/2210523/2012-summer-olympic-games-preview.html)
One of three different martial arts to be included in the Olympic Games, judo is a combat sport with an ultimate goal of taking down an opponent and holding them in submission using a number of different techniques.
By Sports Network; The Sports Network
Published: 07/10/12 2:01 pm

One of three different martial arts to be included in the Olympic Games, judo is a combat sport with an ultimate goal of taking down an opponent and holding them in submission using a number of different techniques.

Judo was originally created in Japan in 1882 by Dr. Jigoro Kano who used the ancient Japanese martial art of jujitsu as inspiration. Kano took some of the more dangerous aspects of the combat style to create judo, which translates to "the way of suppleness."

It took a great deal of time before judo became an official Olympic sport with it first making an appearance in the 1964 Summer Games in Tokyo. It would not become a permanent fixture in the Olympics until 1972 after being left off the program during the 1968 Mexico City Games. Women's judo waited even longer, not being added until the 1992 Barcelona Games.

Historically, Japan, has dominated the sport it invented with 35 gold medals, which is more than three times as many as the second best country -- France (10 gold medals).

Those trends didn't change much in 2008 as Japan took home the most gold medals (four) and total medals (seven) during the judo competition in Beijing. South Korea finished with four total medals and Brazil claimed three, although all were bronze.

Japan will again be a force in London as one of three countries, along with Brazil and South Korea, that have a judoka in each of the 14 weight classes. Japan will be especially dangerous on the women's side where they have the top-ranked qualifier in four of the six weight classes.

Russia will also have a good shot at getting some athletes to the podium especially in the 66kg weight class where Alim Gadanov and Musa Mogushkov are both ranked at the top of those that qualified for the London Games.

Returning with his sights aimed to improve for Brazil will be Leandro Guilherio (73kg), who has earned bronze medals in each of the last two Olympic Games and comes to London as the top ranked fighter in his weight class.

The United State has never been able to capture the gold in judo, but has 10 medals (three silver, seven bronze) in the sport.

This may be the year that the U.S. has its best chance at getting a gold medal with expectations higher than ever heading to London. Those expectations are especially elevated on the women's side.

Kayla Harrison (78kg) enters the London Games ranked No. 2 in the world and is also the first USA judo athlete to go into the Olympic Games as reigning world champion since current USA coach Jimmy Pedro did so in 1999.

Harrison captured gold at the 2010 Senior World Championship as part of a heavily decorated year for the 21-year-old. Harrison also won gold at seven different competitions including the USA World Cup and the U.S. Open in 2010.

She has kept it up this year winning the 2012 World Cup in Budapest, and after being slowed by an MCL injury while training in Japan in March, has clearly rebounded after taking the top spot in the 2012 Rio Grand Slam in June.

Marti Malloy (57kg) may not have as many medals but comes into this year's games with some success under her belt after earning the gold in the 2011 USA Judo World Cup as well as the silver medal in the 2011 Pan American Judo Championships.

It won't just be the women contending for medals for the U.S. this year, though.

Travis Stevens (81kg) gives the men their best chance at a medal. He is currently ranked No. 5 in the world and had a strong year in which he earned a number of gold medals. More important than those finishes may be the silver medal Stevens won in the Moscow Grand Prix, an event that best recreates the level of competition Stevens will face in London. He also turned in a second- place finish at the 2012 Rio Grand Slam in June.

Nick Delpopolo (73kg) and Kyle Vashkulat (100kg) are also both solid competitors on the men's side. Expectations are not as high for these two even though Delpopolo finished tied for fifth in the 2012 Rio Grand Slam. Vashkulat's best finish in international competition is team bronze medals at the 2010 and 2009 Senior Pan American Games.

For Team Canada, opportunities for medals will be more numerous as it sends eight judokas to London highlighted by Nicholas Tritton (73kg), who will be making his second Olympic appearance after also competing in the 2008 Beijing Games.

Tritton lost to Yuko in the first round in 2008, but he'll be looking to improve on that result to build on the medals he won at the 2010 and 2011 Pan American Judo Championships.

Also representing Canada on the men's side will be Sasha Mehmedovic, Sergio Pessoa, Antoine Valois-Fortier and Alexandre Emond.

Like Tritton, this will be the second time around in the Olympic Games for Mehmedovic (66kg), who also competed in Beijing. The 27-year-old had a better run in 2008, making it all the way to the quarterfinals before losing to eventual silver medalist Benjamin Darbelet of France.

Pessoa (60kg) is the son of Sergio Pessoa Sr. who competed for Brazil in the 1988 Seoul games in the same weight class as his son. This will be Pessoa's first taste of Olympic competition. It will also be the Olympic debut for Valois-Fortier (81kg) and Emond (90kg).

Amy Cotton (78 kg) gives the Canadian women their best chance at a medal. Cotton lost in the quarterfinals of the 2004 Athens Games, but did not appear at the Beijing Olympics. At 32, Cotton is one of the older athletes in the event, but with a gold medal in the 2012 UF Grand Slam in Moscow she clearly has enough left to compete in London.

Joliane Melancon (57kg) and Kelita Zupanic (70kg) will be able to look to Cotton for leadership as the two make their first Olympic appearances.

Melancon at 26 has some extensive experience on the international stage with four years as a senior athlete for Canada. Melancon's top result in those years was a silver medal finish at the 2010 Hungaria World Cup. In 2011, she earned bronze medals at both the Miami World Cup and Pan American Championships.

Zupanic is the youngest judoka fighting for Canada in London in 2012. The 21- year-old was a four-time national junior champion before making it to the senior circuit. She appeared at the 2011 World Championships and placed second in the 2011 World Cup Sao Paulo.

[MightyB]

This is what the Summer Games are about:

http://postmediacanadadotcom.files.wordpress.com/2012/07/071812beachvolleyballmontage.jpg

[sanjuro_ronin]

Lets not forget water polo:
http://www.totalprosports.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/espn_the_body_issue_2010_womens_polo_team.jpg

[sanjuro_ronin]

And the pole vault:
http://olympicgirls.net/sport-girls/erika-prezerakou_pole-vault_02.jpg

http://olympicgirls.net/sport-girls/jenniferstuczynski2.jpg

http://olympicgirls.net/sport-girls/allison-stokke1-500x720.jpg

http://olympicgirls.net/sport-girls/yelenaisinbaeva1.jpg

[sanjuro_ronin]

http://s1.guyism.com/up/Leryn-Franco-006.jpg

http://s1.guyism.com/up/Leryn-Franco-005.jpg

[MightyB]

I'm Outraged!!!

Brits veto risqué Olympic cheerleaders for more wholesome look (http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/olympics-fourth-place-medal/brits-veto-risqu%C3%A9-olympic-cheerleaders-more-wholesome-look-210232711--oly.html)

[MightyB]

There is just a lot to cheer about this year.

http://cdn.bleacherreport.net/images_root/slides/photos/002/325/127/COVER-victorwangstudios_crop_650x440.jpg?1339802994

[sanjuro_ronin]

AH the Brits, you can be the kinkiest SOB on the planet and that's ok, as long as it is kept in private, LMAO !!

[MightyB]

Sweet Victory

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-wqEme4CYBUw/T3NzmM_ZOTI/AAAAAAAAEaI/IzJThOkTtNQ/s1600/Beach%2BVolleyball.jpg

[sanjuro_ronin]

Sweet Victory

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-wqEme4CYBUw/T3NzmM_ZOTI/AAAAAAAAEaI/IzJThOkTtNQ/s1600/Beach%2BVolleyball.jpg

I think I saw the continuation in a video :D

[MightyB]

and more

http://cltampa.com/binary/f8dd/1341346339-heather_mitts_serena_williams_hope_solo_lolo_jones _nude_naked.jpg

[MightyB]

Judo ...

http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/sport/files/2012/03/RondaRousey-431x288.jpg

[IronFist]

just read the article in the first post.

It costs money to compete in the Olympics?

I thought your country/team/coach sent you there.

[MightyB]

just read the article in the first post.

It costs money to compete in the Olympics?

I thought your country/team/coach sent you there.

Depends on your country and your sport. For instance - the US is mostly sponsor / self funded, but I believe the Army has had a Bob Sled team.

[sanjuro_ronin]

The funding that Olympic athletes get is a sad joke.
There are some companies that help a lot, UPS is one for example ( if you are an Olympic athlete and UPS employee they adjust your scheduel to meet your training).

[MightyB]

The challenge athletes face is what to do with their urges and when. "If you don't have discipline, the village can be a huge distraction," Solo admits. Some swear off sex until their events are done; others make it part of their pre-event routine. American shot-putter and silver and bronze medalist John Godina thought he'd seen it all in Atlanta: late-night hookups, friends disappearing for days at a time. But he hadn't seen anything like the dorm room in Sydney he shared with a javelin thrower, which had instantly become a revolving door of women without backstories. "It's like Vegas," Godina explains. "You learn not to ask a lot of questions."

That randy roommate of Godina's, Greer, picks up the story: Each day, the shaggy blond was visited by three women, sometimes just hours apart -- an accomplished pole vaulter and former flame; a mighty hurdler who "tried to dominate me," Greer says; and a "very talented" vacationer from Scandinavia. Greer says his Olympian partners were, like him, looking to "complete the Olympics training puzzle." When his event did come around, Greer nailed Athens' longest toss in prelims before a knee injury sidelined him. "I was a happy man going into competition," he says. "If you find somebody you like and who likes you, your world's complete for a second, and you compete well."

Party On (http://espn.go.com/olympics/summer/2012/story/_/id/8133052/athletes-spill-details-dirty-secrets-olympic-village-espn-magazine)

I should've trained harder....:(

[MightyB]

http://www.sweetsonly.net/cache/hope-solo/hope_solo2_w450_h450.jpg
..........

[MightyB]

http://www.goaliestore.com/board/attachments/hockey-talk/17902d1241643937-co-ed-locker-rooms-chastain.jpg
..........

[David Jamieson]

I sense a disturbance in my pants....

[MightyB]

I sense a disturbance in my pants....

and more volleyball...

http://l2.yimg.com/bt/api/res/1.2/xhZRQCiQyXig_PzYBCx6hg--/YXBwaWQ9eW5ld3M7cT04NTt3PTUzNg--/http://media.zenfs.com/en/blogs/sptusolyexperts/volleyball-asfd.jpg

[GeneChing]

This should probably go on our FoF thread (http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?t=52304), but I'm going to be topical. Olympic Fever Baby!!!

Panda-Monium Takes Over London (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pnoUllzpvak)


Tai Chi Pandas Descend on London (http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/tai-chi-pandas-descend-on-london/2012/07/04/gJQA3PjBNW_video.html)

Jul. 4, 2012 - Dozens of tai chi performing pandas descended on London's Trafalgar Square Wednesday to mark Panda Awareness Week. (AP)

[Hebrew Hammer]

The music is lame but the things we do for women

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=tMgmYutL9W0#!

[MightyB]

The music is lame but the things we do for women

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=tMgmYutL9W0#!

WOW!!!!


I'm a fan!!!! Michelle Jenneke is my new favorite!

[Hebrew Hammer]

I know right?? :D I was wow'd too...what a fantastic bod and great fun personality.

[MightyB]

I know right?? :D I was wow'd too...what a fantastic bod and great fun personality.

Well when you're that much better than the competition it's easy to have fun. She flies. I was impressed both by her amazing looks and how freak'n fast she is.

[Hebrew Hammer]

Just for the record, she's 19...yeah she looked very smooth in those hurtles.

[MightyB]

Just for the record, she's 19...yeah she looked very smooth in those hurtles.

whew - legal. :D

[GeneChing]

From our old friends at the Kung Fu Saloon (http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?p=1137111#post1137111) (now with three branches!)

Kung Fu Summer Games (http://kungfusaloon.com/2012/07/19/kung-fu-summer-games/)

Lets the Games Begin! Starting Saturday July 28th, Kung Fu Saloon will be holding their very own version of the Summer Olympics, The Kung Fu Summer Games benefiting the Special Olympics of Texas.

The Kung Fu Summer Games will take place every Saturday during the Olympics. Sign Up starts at 2pm and the games start at 3pm.

Saturday July 28th:
Giant 4 Square
Street Fighter

Saturday August 4th
Blind Folded Jenga
Ping Pong

Saturday August 11th
Skee Ball
Foosball

WInners of each game will walk away with a very special Kung Fu Medal and some other great prizes from Kung Fu and our sponsors Do512.

Games spaces will be limited, so be sure to show up early!

http://kungfusaloon.com/site/wp-content/uploads/KF_Olympics_2012-7_Page_11-743x1024.jpg

[Hebrew Hammer]

Interesting that they would use nunchucks in their flyer...a famous 'kung fu' weapon...all because of Bruce Lee.

[bawang]

i never watch olympics. i think its stupid. ill only start watching when they reintroduce pankration.

[GeneChing]

It's all about the nunchuks (http://www.martialartsmart.com/weapons-nunchakus.html). :cool:

Meanwhile, check this out:

Jackie Chan launches China Olympic song (http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/90782/7885551.html)
(CNTV)
12:27, July 24, 2012

http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/mediafile/201207/24/F201207241227151212193932.jpg
Jackie Chan attends press conference for the Olympic Theme song 'Beijing Bless You' on July 22, 2012 in Beijing, China.

International film star Jackie Chan was at his playful and patriotic best on Saturday in Beijing, as he helped launch China's official Olympic song "Best Wishes From Beijing." It's a follow up to "Beijing Welcomes You", the theme song for the 2008 summer Olympic games.

"Best Wishes From Beijing" features more than 100 singers and movie stars from Hong Kong, Taiwan and the mainland, including actress Zhang Ziyi, Gong Li and pianist Lang Lang.

Stars appear at iconic landmarks around Beijing in the music video, from old hutong alleyways to the grand and ancient Forbidden City.

Jackie Chan said celebs were desperate to get their chance to play a part in the song.

Chan said, "Friendship, peace , unity and harmony? Our world today needs harmony. Not only in China, but the whole world needs it."

One star in attendance was former Miss World China model Zhang Zilin.

Zhang said, "We feel so proud for Beijing from the first "Beijing Welcomes You" song to today. We hope that Beijing can continue to improve and we wish good luck to the Chinese athletes competing in London."

The London Olympics begins on July 27th in Stratford in East London

[Hebrew Hammer]

i never watch olympics. i think its stupid. ill only start watching when they reintroduce pankration.

Look, you couldn't even recognized fully clothed pankration and secondly don't be bitter cuz Canada never medals. USA! USA!! USA!!!

[bawang]

Look, you couldn't even recognized fully clothed pankration and secondly don't be bitter cuz Canada never medals. USA! USA!! USA!!!

its not real pankration unless its nude and to the death.

[Hebrew Hammer]

its not real pankration unless its nude and to the death.

LOL true enough :D That's why I'm undefeated in three states.

[bawang]

this brings me to tears

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Zwf6xzXGxQ


real spirit of olympics

[GeneChing]

Posted at 03:25 PM ET, 07/23/2012
Olympics uniforms will be ‘Made in America’ starting in 2014, USOC and lawmakers say (http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/2chambers/post/olympics-uniforms-will-be-made-in-america-starting-in-2014-usoc-and-lawmakers-say/2012/07/23/gJQAZ4Pu4W_blog.html)
By Ed O'Keefe

http://www.washingtonpost.com/rf/image_606w/WashingtonPost/Content/Blogs/arts-post/Images/Olympics_US_Uniforms_0f32d.jpg?uuid=SSEFmMtYEeGA3_ zcWgvyag
This image released by Ralph Lauren shows U.S. Olympic athletes donning the ceremonial uniforms to be worn at Friday’s Opening Ceremony in London. (AP) Uniforms worn by U.S. athletes during future opening and closing ceremonies of the Olympic Games will be manufactured in the United States as part of an agreement announced Monday.

The office of Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) announced the agreement Monday, one week after Senate Democrats unveiled legislation that would force USOC to adopt “Made in America” uniform standards or face the prospect of losing its charter to oversee the U.S. Olympic program.

From now on, U.S. athletes will don ceremonial uniforms manufactured in the United States, but designers and manufacturers will be permitted to use materials from foreign sources if they are not manufactured in the U.S., or if obtaining American-made materials would cause a delay or high costs. The new agreement begins with uniforms worn during the opening and closing ceremony at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, according to Menendez’s office.

Manufacturers may also use foreign materials if for some reason using U.S.-made products would violate International Olympic Committee or local organizing committee policies. The USOC will have to explain in writing if it must use foreign-made products in the ceremonial uniforms.

Scott Blackmun, CEO of the USOC said he was “pleased” to work with Menendez and Senate Democrats to address concerns about Team USA’s parade uniforms. “After listening to feedback from members of Congress, we have committed, along with our partners at Ralph Lauren, to make future parade uniforms in the United States,” Blackmun said in a statement released by Menendez’s office.

The new deal does not apply to athletic uniforms worn during sporting events, because Senate aides said that several athletes may opt to use specific uniforms and products not manufactured in the United States in order to compete effectively.”

“At a minimum, the Senators believe it makes sense for the U.S. Olympic Committee to seek to procure the team’s ceremonial uniforms – the uniforms our American athletes proudly wear when they walk behind the US flag during the opening ceremony – from American manufacturers,” said Menendez spokeswoman Tricia Enright.

Senators met last Wednesday with USOC officials in Washington to discuss changing the uniform policy, which faced widespread criticism after news reports revealed that uniforms to be worn this Friday during the Opening Ceremony in London were designed by Ralph Lauren, but manufactured in China.

The reports sparked angry reactions from lawmakers, most notably Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.), who said the USOC “should take all the uniforms, put them in a big pile and burn them and start all over again.”

Within hours, Menendez and several Democratic colleagues seized on the outrage — and the souring national mood toward China — and unveiled a bill that would force the USOC to adopt the stricter standards.
Worst US uniforms ever. :rolleyes:

[Hebrew Hammer]

Double breasted suits and berets! LOL What could be more American than that?

[bawang]

LOL What could be more American than that?

they can smear them with the blood of black people

[Hebrew Hammer]

this brings me to tears

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Zwf6xzXGxQ


real spirit of olympics

Perhaps you are mistaken...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b1Ga0EMV2z0&feature=related

[JamesC]

I'm excited to watch the weightlifting, swimming, gymnastics(they are incredibly athletic), and i'd like to get a glimpse of the tae kwon do and judo.

The judo is usually kinda boring because they are just all so dang good, but I still like to watch it.

The TKD guys crack me up. I love watching people catch a foot to the face because their hands weren't up.

[GeneChing]

A schedule of for the martial sports....some of them, at least.

Live Olympics event schedules: archery, boxing, fencing, judo, shooting, taekwondo, weightlifting, wrestling (http://communities.washingtontimes.com/neighborhood/london-2012-summer-olympic-games/2012/jul/9/live-event-schedule-boxing-shooting-archery-fencin/)

Nine of the 33 sports in the Olympic Games feature tests of strength and skill for human survival.

Monday, July 9, 2012 - London 2012 Summer Olympic Games by Gayle Falkenthal

SAN DIEGO, July 10, 2012 – Nine of the 33 sports in the 2012 Summer Olympic Games feature men and women participating in survival skills, whether with weapons created by people for protection like bows and firearms, or with their bare hands and physical strength. Whether they demand precision, strength, speed, or technique, they all demand excellence.

Below find the links to the full schedules, the history of medals awarded for each sport, and the dates and times of the gold medal contests for each sport.
ALL TIMES ARE EASTERN (U.S.) TIME

Archery Schedule
Medal Standings
July 28, 1 p.m.: Men’s team gold medal match
July 29, 1 p.m.: Women’s team gold medal match
August 2, 10:30 a.m.: Women’s individual gold medal match
August 3, 10:30 a.m.: Men’s individual gold medal match

Boxing Schedule
Medal standings
August 9, 11:30 a.m. – 1 p.m. Women’s gold medal bouts, three weight classes: flyweight, lightweight, middleweight
August 11, 3:30 p.m. – 5:45 p.m. Men’s gold medal bouts: light flyweight, bantamweight, welterweight, middleweight, heavyweight
August 12, 8:30 a.m. – 10:45 a.m. Men’s gold medal bouts: flyweight, lightweight, super welterweight, light heavyweight, super heavyweight

Fencing Schedule
Medal standings
July 28, 2:40 p.m. Womens’ individual foil
July 29, 2:10 p.m. Mens’ individual sabre
July 30, 2:40 p.m. Womens’ individual epee
July 31, 2:40 p.m. Mens;’ individual foil
August 1, 3 p.m. Mens’ individual epee; and 3:30 p.m. womens’ individual sabre
August 2, 2:15 p.m. Womens’ team foil
August 3, 1:45 p.m. Mens’ team sabre
August 4, 2:15 p.m. Womens’ team epee
August 5, 2:15 p.m. Mens’ team foil

Judo Schedule
Medal standings
July 28, 11 a.m. Womens’ and mens’ extra lightweight finals
July 29, 11 a.m. Women’s and mens’ half lightweight finals
July 30, 11 a.m. Womens’ and mens lightweight finals
July 31, 11 a.m. Womens’ and mens’ half middleweight finals
August 1, 11 a.m. Womens’ and mens’ middleweight finals
August 2, 11 a.m. Womens’ and mens’ half heavyweight finals
August 3, 11 a.m. Womens’ and mens’ heavyweight finals

Modern Pentathlon Schedule
Medal standings
August 11, 1:45 p.m. Mens’ final
August 12, 1 p.m. Womens’ final

Shooting Schedule
Medal standings
July 28, 6 a.m. Women's 10m Air Rifle – Final; 10:30 a.m., Men's 10m Air Pistol – Final
July 29, 6:45 a.m., Women's 10m Air Pistol – Final; 9 a.m., Women's Skeet – Final
July 30, 7:15 a.m. Men's 10m Air Rifle – Final
July 31, 9 a.m., Men's Skeet – Final
August 1, 9:30 a.m., Women's 25m Pistol - Final
August 2, 9 a.m., Men's Double Trap – Final
August 3, 7 a.m., Men's 50m Rifle, Prone – Final; 9:30 a.m., Men's 25m Rapid Fire Pistol – Final
August 4: 7:45 a.m., Women's 50m Rifle, 3 Pos. – Final; 10 a.m., Women’s Trap – Final
August 5, 7:30 a.m., Men's 50m Pistol – Final
August 6, 8:45 a.m., Men's 50m Rifle, 3 Pos. – Final; 11 a.m., Men’s Trap – Final

Taekwando Schedule
Medal standings
August 8, 5:15 p.m.: Women's 49kg - Gold Medal Final; 5:30 p.m., Men's 58kg - Gold Medal Final
August 9, 5:15 p.m.: Women's 57kg - Gold Medal Final; 5:30 p.m., Men’s 68kg – Gold Medal Final
August 10, 5:15 p.m.: Women's 67kg - Gold Medal Final; 5:30 p.m., Men’s 80kg – Gold Medal Final
August 11, 5:15 p.m.: Women's +67kg - Gold Medal Final; 5:30 p.m., Men’s +80kg – Gold Medal Final

Weightlifting Schedule
Medal standings
July 28, 10:30 a.m.: Women's 48kg/106 lbs
July 29, 10:30 a.m. Women's 53kg/117 lbs.; 2 p.m., Men's 56kg/123 lbs
July 30, 10:30 a.m.: Women's 58kg/128 lbs; 2 p.m., Men's 62kg/137 lbs
July 31, 10:30 a.m.: Women's 63kg/139 lbs; 2 p.m., Men's 69kg/152 lbs
August 1, 10:30 a.m.: Women's 69kg/152 lbs, 2 p.m., Men's 77kg/170 lbs
August 3, 10:30 a.m.: Women's 75kg/165 lbs, 2 p.m., Men's 85kg/187 lbs
August 4, 2 p.m., Men's 94kg/207 lbs
August 5, 10:30 a.m., Women's +75kg/+165 lbs
August 6, 2 p.m., Men's 105kg/231 lbs
August 7, 2 p.m.: Men's +105kg/+231 lbs

Wrestling Schedule
Medal standing
August 5, 1:25 p.m.: Men's Greco-Roman 55kg - Gold Final; Men's Greco-Roman 74kg - Gold Fina
August 6, 1:25 p.m.: Men's Greco-Roman 60kg - Gold Final; Men's Greco-Roman 84kg - Gold Final; Men's Greco-Roman 120kg - Gold Final
August 7, 1:25 p.m.: Men's Greco-Roman 66kg - Gold Final; Men's Greco-Roman 96kg - Gold Final
August 8, 1:15 p.m.: Women's Freestyle 48kg - Gold Final; Women's Freestyle 63kg - Gold Final
August 9, 1:15 p.m.: Women's Freestyle 55kg - Gold Final Women's Freestyle 72kg - Gold Final
August 10, 1:25 p.m.: Men's Freestyle 55kg - Gold Final; Men's Freestyle 74kg - Gold Final
August 11, 1:25 p.m.: Men's Freestyle 60kg - Gold Final; Men's Freestyle 84kg - Gold Final; Men's Freestyle 120kg - Gold Final
August 12, 8:25 a.m.: Men's Freestyle 66kg Gold Final; Men's Freestyle 96kg - Gold Final

[GeneChing]

Taekwondo president gets a kick out of tech changes (http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/olympics/sns-rt-us-oly-taek-scoring-adv2bre86o150-20120725,0,7867387.story)
Peter Rutherford Reuters
10:40 a.m. CDT, July 25, 2012

LONDON (Reuters) - While technology's place in soccer continues to divide the game's powerbrokers, the president of the World Taekwondo Federation believes a new high-tech scoring system will cement his sport's place on the Olympic Program.

After debuting as a demonstration sport at the 1988 Games in Seoul, taekwondo became a full medal sport 12 years later in Sydney. The Korean martial arts spectacular spinning, jumping, flying kicks could captivate the crowd, but it suffered from inconsistent judging and a complex scoring system.

Despite its global popularity, with an estimated 70 million practitioners worldwide, the knives were out for taekwondo and its place on the Olympic Program seemed to be in jeopardy.

However, WTF President Choue Chung-won told Reuters in an interview on Wednesday the sport had undergone a major overhaul ahead of the London Games aimed at securing its Olympic place.

The introduction of the Protector and Scoring System (PSS), which will automatically measure the strength of a kick to the body and score it, as well as an instant video replay system would ensure the fairest and most transparent taekwondo competition possible.

"I think taekwondo will really benefit from the technology because it will ensure the medals go to the best athletes, not to someone else because of a mistake from a referee or a judge," Choue said.

"This is a wonderful opportunity for us to remain in the Olympics. Not many sports have this kind of technology ... it will help eliminate human error in taekwondo.

"We will have six video cameras watching the games and if there are any human errors by the judges or referees we will correct them immediately."

KOREA'S GIFT

The system, which had been trialed and tested in competition over the last two years, was demonstrated to reporters on Wednesday by members of Britain's junior taekwondo team on the rooftop of a carpark near the Olympic Stadium.

Whirling, lashing kicks landed, points registered on the computer, President Choue smiled.

"Things must change with the times, and sport is no different, it must follow the new generation," he said.

"This is what the Olympics is all about - transparency and fair competition."

Choue, who received his taekwondo black belt in the Korean army in the 1960's, said any of the 63 countries taking part in the taekwondo competition could win a medal and he would not be upset even if his native South Korea failed to win a gold.

"I'm president of the WTF, so that means I don't have any nationality," he added. "I'm happy that taekwondo started in Korea but now it's a truly global sport.

"Taekwondo is Korea's gift to the world." Here I've been thinking Korea's gift to the world was kimchee. The WTF should really change it's acronym...

[Hebrew Hammer]

Most of the fighting sports have been defanged, turned into two hand/foot touch...I can't stand to watch the boxing, the scoring system is terrible...although wrestling and judo are still fun to watch.

For the summer Olympics I enjoy just about all the events...they never have enough coverage of the events the USA isn't expected to medal in...like ping pong, judo, etc.

I do love rooting for the underdogs, seeing some country like Mongolia get its only bronze (or whatever medal) and seeing the country go nuts. The Olympic spirit. :D

I will miss the East German women's bikini contest! Vee Vill Conquer Zee Vorld!!!!

[GeneChing]

Although I'd argue that the electrification of Fencing scoring was a definite improvement on the sport. Anyone who has worked with live blades knows that they can cut very discreetly - sort of the paper cut principle, if you will - and that can be undetectable by the human eye. I'm not sure how that works with Taekwondo. I've seen the electric scoring vests, but I've never tried one.

Speaking of Fencing, I want to mention that the son of one of my old teammates will be representing the U.S. in Foil: Alex Massialas. He's just 18, but at age 16, he became the youngest ever to win a Men's Foil Division 1 National title. His dad is Greg Massialas, a 3-time Olympian, and a former member of the San Jose State University fencing team, which I was also a member. Greg was actually a generation ahead of me, so we never competed together, but he would come by to kick our asses and show us new kids what fencing was really about, and he coached at some of the clubs where I trained. I took a few lessons with him, back in the day. He was blindingly quick.

Most all of the events that interest me will be held in the ExCel Center: Boxing, Fencing, Judo, Table Tennis (well, I'm not that interested in that although two of the U.S team are local- Ariel Hsing and Lily Zhang), Taekwondo, Weightlifting (not so interested in that either), and Wrestling. Artistic Gymnastics and Trampoline will be held nearby in the North Greenwich Arena. I got to see the Womens' semis and finals a few weeks ago, which were held in San Jose. Rhythmic is across London at Wembley. Archery is a Lord's Cricket Ground. Pentathlon is spread out across the Aquatics Center, Copper Box and Greenwich Park. Shooting is at the Royal Artillery Barracks.

Beach Volleyball will be at the Horse Guards Parade, but I just heard on the news today that the weather is getting foul and the competitors might have to don longjohns, which would totally spoil any enjoyment of that event.

[GeneChing]

...Laser guns? Seriously? What next? Light sabers?

Well, the running and shooting is kind of cool.


This year’s modern pentathlon involves laser guns, combines running and shooting (http://ca.sports.yahoo.com/blogs/eh-game/modern-pentathlon-involves-laser-guns-combines-running-shooting-091151431.html)
By Andrew Bucholtz | Eh Game – 8 hours ago

http://l3.yimg.com/bt/api/res/1.2/j_M_EbGGFPRcF6Ms_z71IQ--/YXBwaWQ9eW5ld3M7cT04NTt3PTYzMA--/http://media.zenfs.com/en/blogs/sptcablogs/Donna-Vakalis.jpg
Donna Vakalis will be using a new laser pistol in this year's modern pentathlon.

The modern pentathlon will get a bit futuristic at this year's Olympics. London 2012 will be the first Games to replace the traditional air pistols with the laser guns brought into worldwide modern pentathlon events in 2011, and it will also be the first Olympics where the five-sport event is held under new rules implemented in 2009 that combine the running and shooting portions. Canadian competitor Donna Vakalis told The Toronto Star's Josh Tapper that amalgamating the running and shooting events in particular poses some new challenges for the athletes:

"It's very much a mental game, but it's also a physical game now," said Vakalis, who will be joined in London by Melanie McCann.

"Your heart is racing. You kind of want to heave and breathe and take in as much oxygen as you can. You can't allow yourself to do that. You just have to keep your breath on a steady rhythm and hold your breath with each shot."

Modern pentathlon hasn't always been the biggest draw for Olympic viewers, but the changes might help improve its popularity. Sure, laser guns are cool, but it's the combination of running and shooting that might make this event particularly fun to watch. Rather than holding those competitions separately, athletes will now shoot five targets, then run 1,000 metres, then shoot another five targets, then run another 1,000 metres, then shoot a final five targets, then run 1,000 metres further. It's not about hitting targets dead centre, but about hitting five in quick succession so you can start your run; however, despite the new, pricey laser guns (Vakalis' cost $2,725), the sport still requires the detailed reloading procedure used with the old air pistols, so it's not just blasting away.

The best shooters have the shoot and reload cycle down pat and can and hit all five targets in about 30 seconds, potentially giving them a 40-second advantage over the worst shooters in every shooting round (as athletes are allowed to start their run after 70 seconds if they haven't hit all the targets). The combination of running and shooting, which was a contentious move back in 2008, should make for a big finish. The other three events (épée fencing, a 200-metre swim, and show jumping with an unfamiliar horse) are held separately and scored on a points basis, which is used to determine when athletes start the final run-and-shoot competition, so the first athlete to cross the finish line will win. Combining running and shooting with the new guns should provide a remarkable, made-for-TV finish.

Interestingly enough, the future-focused changes to the modern pentathlon have perhaps brought the sport closer to its ancestral roots. The "modern" differentiates it from the original pentathlon used at the ancient Olympics in Greece, which comprised a stadion foot race (about 200 metres), wrestling, long jump, javelin, and discus, five events that were thought to show off abilities essential for soldiers of the day. Baron Pierre de Coubertin, who founded the modern Olympics, also came up with modern pentathlon (which was first contested at the 1912 Games), keeping the same focus on five skills officers of the day were thought to have needed; running, swimming, shooting, riding an unfamiliar horse and swordsmanship.

While there aren't huge roles for fencing or equestrian skills in today's armies, though, an ability to shoot accurately after running certainly is valuable. This also helps distinguish pentathlon amongst the pack of Olympic sports, as while the equestrian competitions, fencing and swimming all have their own Olympic events, nothing else combines running and shooting (unless you're talking about the offence famously used by the old Houston Oilers). The ancient Greeks didn't have laser guns, and they might even quibble with this being termed a pentathlon rather than a tetrathlon (as some feel the run-and-shoot combination is only one sport), but they might well appreciate the changes here. Television viewers likely will.

[sanjuro_ronin]

It's funny but if you added some form of H2H combat, then it would be the ideal MA testing venue !
LOL !
I would change it to ( in no particular order):
Sword fighting
Stick fighting
H2H (MMA/Sanda type)
Shooting
Archery

[Brule]

Is this the first of many.....

http://www.latimes.com/sports/olympics/olympicsnow/la-sp-on-flag-soccer-20120725,0,4843945.story

[GeneChing]

Here's more on flags and fencers.


Mariel Zagunis Selected as Flag Bearer for 2012 U.S. Olympic Team (http://usfencing.org/news/2012/07/25/mariel-zagunis-selected-as-flag-bearer-for-2012-u-s-olympic-team/49534)
July 25, 2012

http://s4.assets.usoc.org/assets/images/article/photo/49534/mid/USOC02_MarielZagunis_Flag-027_300_x_375.jpg
(London) - Two-time Olympic Champion fencer Mariel Zagunis (Beaverton, Ore.) was today selected to lead the 529-member 2012 U.S. Olympic Team into the Opening Ceremony as flag bearer, as announced today by the United States Olympic Committee. Zagunis was chosen by a vote of fellow members of Team USA.

"I'm extremely humbled by this incredible privilege," said Zagunis. "As an athlete, I can't imagine a higher honor than to lead Team USA into the Olympic Games, which are the pinnacle of sport and a platform for world peace. I am tremendously proud to represent my sport, our team and, most importantly, the United States of America."

"I'd like to congratulate Mariel on this tremendous honor," said USOC CEO Scott Blackmun. "It's especially fitting in the year of the 40th anniversary of Title IX, when Team USA for the first time in history has more women than men, that Mariel receive the extraordinary honor that is carrying our nation's flag into this celebration of humanity."

Since becoming the first U.S. fencer to win gold at an Olympic Games in a hundred years with her podium finish in 2004, Zagunis has been virtually unstoppable. The top-ranked women's saber fencer in the world, Zagunis won gold as a 19-year-old at the Athens Games in 2004 and went on to defend her title in Beijing before taking the individual Senior World Championship titles in 2009 and 2010. Zagunis closed out the 2011 season with a silver medal at the Senior Worlds to finish the season as the top-ranked fencer in the world for the third straight season. This year, Zagunis has held onto her position as the #1 fencer in the world after eight podium wins during the nine-event international season.

Zagunis is the third fencing athlete to serve as flag bearer. Norman Armitage carried the flag in both 1952 and 1956, and Janice Lee Romary held the honor in 1968.

Zagunis will compete in the individual saber competition on Aug. 1.

MEDIA AVAILABILITY
Zagunis will be available to the media during the USOC leadership press conference at the Main Press Center tomorrow (July 26) at 1 p.m.

U.S. OLYMPIC TEAM FLAG BEARERS
1908 Ralph Rose, Track & Field
1912 George V. Bonhag, Track & Field
1920 Patrick J. McDonald, Track & Field
1924 Patrick J. McDonald, Track & Field
1928 Lemuel (Bud) C. Houser, Track & Field
1932 F. Morgan Taylor, Track & Field
1936 Alfred A. Jochim, Gymnastics
1948 Ralph C. Craig, Yachting
1952 Norman C. Armitage, Fencing
1956 Norman C. Armitage, Fencing
Warren B. Wooford, Equestrian*
1960 Rafer L. Johnson, Track & Field
1964 William Parry O'Brien, Track & Field
1968 Janice Lee Romary, Fencing
1972 Olga Fikotova Connolly, Track & Field
1976 Gary W. Hall, Swimming
1980 U.S. did not attend
1984 Edward Burke, Track & Field
1988 Evelyn Ashford, Track & Field
1992 Francie Larrieu Smith, Track & Field
1996 Bruce Baumgartner, Wrestling
2000 Cliff Meidl, Canoe/Kayak
2004 Dawn Staley, Basketball
2008 Lopez Lomong, Track & Field
2012 Mariel Zagunis, Fencing

*Due to Australia's immigration laws for horses, the 1956 equestrian events were held in Stockholm, Sweden.

[mickey]

Greetings,

Track and Field Competition is from August 3rd to August 11th.



mickey

[GeneChing]

Will wonders never cease?

:D


NBC Networks to Televise Fencing at the Olympic Games (http://usfencing.org/news/2012/07/26/nbc-networks-to-televise-fencing-at-the-olympic-games/49643)
Nicole Jomantas July 26, 2012

(London) – NBC has announced that its networks will televise fencing from London during the Olympic Games beginning on Saturday.

MSNBC will air highlights from the women’s foil preliminary rounds from 9 – 9:30 a.m. Eastern followed by the gold medal finals from 4 – 4:30 p.m.

MSNBC also will air the women’s saber rounds live beginning with the quarter-finals on Aug. 1 with the schedule is as follows as two-time Olympic Champion Mariel Zagunis (Beaverton, Ore.) and two-time Senior World medalist Dagmara Wozniak (Avenel, N.J.) battle the world in pursuit of gold:

Wednesday, Aug. 1
10:30 – 11 a.m.
Women’s saber quarter-finals

1:45 – 3 p.m.
Women’s saber semifinals and bronze medal bout

3:30 – 3:50 p.m.
Women’s saber gold medal final

[Raipizo]

So yeah will one hannel just air it all? I tried looking to DVD it and it seemed different channels had different stuff on :( which makes it hard to dvr all the events.

[GeneChing]

So they are aired on several channels. Here in America, MSNBC will be covering it for general broadcast. I usually wind up watching some Telemundo and the Chinese stations (not sure which network yet) because they air different coverage. You can see the broadcast schedule here (http://www.nbcolympics.com/tv-listings/index.html). You can also stream it (http://www.nbcolympics.com/liveextra/index.html).


The price of Gold: Chinese athletes left with huge spots after 'cupping' therapy in quest for Olympic glory (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1041370/The-price-Gold-Chinese-athletes-left-huge-spots-cupping-therapy-quest-Olympic-glory.html)
By Katy Hastings
UPDATED: 09:22 EST, 4 August 2008


It might look like a giant case of chicken pox but in fact this Olympic swimmer is hoping her spots will lead her to a place on the medal podium.

Chinese swimmer Wang Qun was doing some last minute training in Beijing with marks left by cupping - a Chinese medicine technique to relieve ailments including back neck and shoulder pain.

http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2008/08/04/article-0-022959FE00000578-480_468x591.jpg
Wang Qun's cupping marks are clear to see while she trains at the National Aquatics Centre with just a few days to the games to go.

The procedure is said to move the energy, or 'qi', in the body and is used widely in folk medicine in eastern European and Asia.

It is performed by placing cups onto the skin by way of either heat or suction.

http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2008/08/04/article-0-02295A2200000578-800_468x541.jpg
The spots are a tell tale sign of the treatment.

http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2008/08/04/article-0-0229659500000578-84_468x590.jpg
The swimmer limbers up at the pool following her treatment. The technique is said to help shoulder pain which swimmers in particular can be susceptible to.

The technique works by creating a vacuum inside a cup by inserting a flame, removing it and quickly placing the cup on to the body before the vacuum is lost.

The suction anchors the cup to the body and the skin covered is drawn up into it by a few millimetres.

Cupping is an ancient therapy which is said to help back complaints and draw toxins from the skin.

The cups are left on the body while the area beneath is treated and the energy, or qi, is moved.

Mild reddening is common, however this disappears after a few days.

http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2008/08/04/article-1041370-013798650000044D-681_468x499.jpg
Gwyneth Paltrow includes cupping as one of the many alternative therapies she uses.

A number of celebrities are fans of this form of acupuncture including Geri Haliwell Paris Hilton and Gwyneth Paltrow - who have even been spotted sporting the tell-tale circular marks herself.

Miss Paltrow made no secret of her preference for the remedy when she appeared at a New York premiere several years ago covered in the large circular spots.

[GeneChing]

Just for fun, check out this article...from Borneo no less. :rolleyes:


Wushu eyes 2020 Olympic inclusion (http://www.theborneopost.com/2012/07/15/wushu-eyes-2020-olympic-inclusion/)
by Philip Wong, reporters@theborneopost.com. Posted on July 15, 2012, Sunday

http://cdn.theborneopost.com/newsimages/2012/07/B0979.jpg
SUPPORT FROM THE TOP: Wong (centre) affixes his signature to officiate the opening of the 5th Borneo Cup International Martial Arts Tournament.

SIBU: Second Finance Minister Dato Sri Wong Soon Koh foresees a bright future for wushu to be eventually included in the 2020 Olympic Games.

He said the sport was gaining worldwide attention in recent years and for it to be included in the 2020 Olympic Games was not an impossible dream.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) had short listed eight sports to be included in the 2020 Olympic Games and wushu currently hold the biggest prospect to be considered.

“It will be very meaningful and a great honour to the Chinese community if wushu is eventually given the nod to be included in the 2020 Olympic Games,” he said yesterday at the opening of the 5th Borneo Cup International Martial Arts Tournament held at the Sibu Trade and Exhibition Centre.

About 200 martial art exponents from 18 teams took part in the three-day championship aimed at upgrading the standard of Wushu.

Among those included two from Chinese Macau, one from Indonesia and the rest from the Peninsula with the local exponents making up the bulk.

The competition was divided into several categories namely, sanda, which combined kickboxing and wrestling technique, wushu and taichi and chen style taiqi.

Wong, however, said the promotion of wushu depended very much on the people’s support and cooperation from all parties, especially those from the martial arts fraternity.

He was grateful to those who had helped the game persevere and returned with good results.

“Your persistence and dedication shown towards the promotion of wushu was certainly worth our appreciation and acknowledgement,” he added.

Wong said the government had always been very supportive of wushu and had even included it as one of the school extracurricular activities, effective this year.

Besides, he said wushu was also one of the core sports for the state government.

“That is why we have wushu elite centre set up in Sibu, Kuching, Miri to scout and train potential wushu exponents,” he said.

Wong added that Sarawak also had 12 wushu exponents taking part in the ongoing Pahang Sukma and they returned triumphantly with 7 gold, 7 silver and 3 bronze medals to emerge overall champion in wushu.

Wong concurred that wushu was worth promoting as it was not only martial arts but at the same time, it help to shape and chart the character of an individual into a better person.

[IronFist]

So I'm watching judo on the Olympics. Why do they stop it every 3 seconds? But then sometimes they don't stop it and they grapple for a little bit.

What determines if they're allowed to grapple or if they stop the fight? Do you get points for the throw?

[wushuaddict]

Hi guys,

First post here and not sure if this has already been touched upon in another post, but I was wondering if anyone had heard anything about Sport Sanda (Sanshou) was being included in the 2016 Rio de Jeneiro Olympic games? It kind of sounds like a rumor or a hoped for thing, but if anyone could confirm, I'd be pretty ecstatic about it!

Thanks

[Ben Gash]

There was an announcement last year, but it was quickly retracted.
Although of course...... http://swindonkungfu.blogspot.co.uk/2012/03/do-we-really-want-to-be-in-olympics.html

[MightyB]

Judo is mainly an art of throwing. The goal is Ippon - or a full point score. You get that by cleanly throwing someone so that they land on the flat of their back, and you have to show control and force during the throw.

An Ippon is an immediate victory. Now sometimes the throws don't go so clean and the person doesn't fall on their back - so you get the partial scores of Yuko and Wazari. A Yuko is a partial point, and a Wazari is a half point. Two Wazari's equals Ippon, but Yuko's do not stack - so you could get a million Yukos and still not equal a point... anyway.

Ground work is encouraged - kind've, and is allowed, and is a means of victory. But it's definitely not what the sport is about. So how does it work and how is it incorporated? Basically if you throw and it's not ippon, you follow into groundwork or newaza. If the ref judges that you are not in a dominant position, and you are not working for a submission or hold down, then it's immediately broken and you are both stood back up. Sometimes the refs will call sono mama, which will halt the competitors, they are supposed to remain motionless while the refs discuss some finer point, like maybe they feel you aren't in a dominant position, or there's lack of an attack, etc. They will call for the action to start again once their discussion is over. In judo, you should be taught to execute all throws with an immediate follow up ground technique that leads to a very quick submission. BJJ like wrestling is not encouraged, and if you are both somewhat neutral on the ground, it will be stopped. So you will not see a long drawn out guard or half guard game.

[Hebrew Hammer]

Wasn't it a demonstration sport in the Beijing games? Or was that Wushu? I was just thinking it would be a great addition meself...you could get K1 and Muay Thai fighters as well...MMA is so huge right now, I wouldn't mind even seeing BJJ as another grappling sport as well.

[Ben Gash]

No, they (in direct violation of IOC rules) held a Wushu tournament at the same time as the Olympics.

[GeneChing]

Sanshou is a division of modern wushu, and we've covered its inclusion in the Olympics at length. In fact, we were the only U.S. media outlet to give this any coverage at all. There's eve references here on this thread. (http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?p=1034142#post1034142) Sanshou has never been part of the Olympic bid, only Taolu. At the time of the bid, Sanshou wasn't open to females, and even though some sex-specific sports still remain in the Games (like rhythmic gymnastics which is women only), at the time of the bid, Sanshou didn't qualify as there weren't enough participants and no women. MMA isn't even in the running at all. There isn't an international governing body that is anywhere near encompassing enough to meet IOC standards, and frankly, despite our adoration of it, MMA is still not accepted that way yet. You don't even see it covered in the sports sections very much.

The Wushu Tournament Beijing was held in the Olympic Park in 2008 in Beijing under the auspices of the IOC. It included both Taolu and Sanshou. Wushu is still recognized as an Olympic International Federation (aka IF) but did not make a bid for this year and it's unlikely that it will do so for Rio.

Here's some of our coverage:
For the most in-depth coverage, read Beijing in their own words: American Athletes Reflect on the Wushu Tournament Beijing By Elly Duchamp from our 2009 January/February (http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/magazine/article.php?article=797). It's a very hard-hitting article from the athletes themselves. The contrast between the reports of the Taolu and Sanshou athletes is very telling.

Here's some background. I wrote this with Andy Ching back right after Beijing was announced as the host country. It's got a lot of Olympic martial history. China Gets the Gold! The Beijing Olympics (http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/ezine/article.php?article=368).

Here's the USAWKF spin: Wushu is Now (Almost) an Olympic Event (http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/ezine/article.php?article=791) by Anthony Roberts

It's also mentioned in my cover story: The Wushu Champion from Shaolin (http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/magazine/article.php?article=939)

On a related note, I'm so bummed about Jordan Wieber. She is my fav female gymnast now and she was totally cheated out of the All-Around qual. Those deductions were way too harsh in comparison with everyone else's scores.

[Lucas]

whats truly amazing is the amount of condoms the olympic participants go through...

[MightyB]

So the white score marker is a wazari and the gold is the ippon if you're watching the Olympic coverage or highlights. The Yukos are only for the judges and you'll see them calling them but no scores being highlighted. Like I said, Yukos don't stack - but they do help if the judges have to make a decision.

Sometimes a person will play koka-jitsu judo if they want to be competitive. A koka used to be a type of point call that was even lower than a yuko, but they've been dropped... anyway. Koka-jitsu is a master of rules. So what you'd do is you'd try to trip the guy up enough to get a koka, then run the time out by not stalling but stalling. It's a fine art. You have to look aggressive and be busy without being aggressive if you catch my drift. On the ground you can stall more easily because you won't be called for stalling on the ground. You adopt a defensive position that doesn't allow for you to be submitted or held down with any of the core hold down techniques. If you can, you hold a person down in a scarf hold, shoulder hold, north south, side control, etc and you can win if it's a clean hold and you hold them for 30 seconds. This is cumulative, so if I hold you for 20, and then the action is broken, all I have to do is get another hold down and pin you for 10 more seconds for the ippon. An easy way to break a hold down attempt is to wrap your legs around your opponent. If you can wrap your legs (as long as it's not a closed guard because closed guards are now illegal) you are considered to nullify your opponent's dominant position. Then, if nothing happens for a couple of seconds - you are both stood back up.

Again, the throws are what's important and they are what people want to see, so there isn't much room given by the refs for ground work. They will stand you up as soon as they can.

[GeneChing]

...anyone see this and care to comment? I haven't watched any judo yet.

Monday, July 30, 2012

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/images/photos2012/so20120730j2a.jpg
Web of confusion: Masashi Ebinuma (in white) competes against South Korea's Cho Jun Ho in the quarterfinals of the men's 66-kg Olympic judo competition on Sunday. AP

Ebinuma judo quarterfinal ends in controversy (http://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/so20120730j2.html)
Kyodo

LONDON — Reigning world champion Masashi Ebinuma reached the semifinals of the men's judo 66-kg competition after winning a controversial decision Sunday at the London Games.

There were, however, more tears of despair for Japan's women on the second day after Beijing Olympic bronze medalist Misato Nakamura crashed out in the women's 52-kg class, losing her first match in the second round to Beijing silver medalist An Kum Ae of North Korea.

A roar of boos rained out from a confused crowd when the three judges raised three blue flags in favor of South Korea's Cho Jun Ho following the overtime golden score, where Ebinuma's inner-thigh throw had been disallowed after further video inspection.

In what looked like a parody of "The Three Stooges," the three judges then overturned their initial ruling after a short conference, raising three white flags for Ebinuma.

Ebinuma, who won his first world championship in Paris last year, had too much weaponry for Canada's Sasha Mehmedovic in his first match, rattling off a hip and shoulder throw for yuko and waza-ari points before ending it in dramatic fashion with an inner-thigh sweep.

The 22-year-old Tochigi native outlasted Sergey Lim of Kazakhstan in a lung-busting second match, beating his opponent with a left-handed "seoinage" shoulder throw with 58 seconds remaining in the golden score period.

Ebinuma, a winner of three consecutive titles at the national invitational weight-class championships, was set to face Georgia's Lasha Shavdatuashvili in the semifinals.

Nakamura, the world champion in 2009 and 2011, could find no key openings against An, the same opponent she lost to in the semifinals at the Beijing Games.

An scored a waza-ari on an outer leg trip almost immediately, and Nakamura appeared to have scored waza-ari after 1 minute, 38 seconds, but it was changed to yuko after judges reviewed video. The Japanese judoka came within 10-2 on two shido against the North Korean.

"This has been a big miscalculation," said Japan women's coach Ryuji Sonoda. "Had things gone as planned, we would have had two (gold medals). At least we expected to have one. Having none at this point is a hard pill to swallow."

On Saturday, Hiroaki Hiraoka won the men's 60-kg silver, but tournament favorite Tomoko Fukumi saw her dream of Olympic gold shattered as she finished outside the medals in fifth place in the women's 48-kg class.

[sanjuro_ronin]

Video reply in judo *shakes head*...

[Hebrew Hammer]

The gear on the bows used in Archery is ridiculous...all they're missing is a sight reticule and a laser range finder.

New event for 2016, the Hopolite Heptathlon:

1) Archery
2)Javelin
3)Wrestling
4)Fencing
5)Boxing
6)Marathon
7)Mud run obstacle course for time.

That would be a hell of an athlete. This is Sparta!!!

Womens soccer is awesome, why can't the men play that well? And no flopping!

Why isn't there a professional women's indoor volleyball league? I never get tired of watching it...great action and tight shorts. :D

[SimonM]

http://www.ctvolympics.ca/combat-sports/news/article/valois-fortier-pulls-off-upset-men-judo.html

Booyeah!

[GeneChing]

W&M are bordering on my fav mascots ever. Who thought them up? H.P. Lovecraft?

Wenlock and Mandeville (https://mascot-games.london2012.com/)

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/66/Olympic_mascots_%28cropped%29.jpg/800px-Olympic_mascots_%28cropped%29.jpg

I've only been watching on the telly (antenna). Men's art gymno was all about pommel horse. Great to see a Brit team win. Missy Franklin is looking like America's new Olympian sweetheart. An anglophile too - how diplomatic. I caught a boxing match on Telemundo last night: Ehsan Rouzbehani IRI def. Colombian Monra Valera. It was very entertaining. Also caught some Men's C2, which looked pretty fun. There's too **** many websites and none of them are streaming well for me.

[MightyB]

without seeing the matches - my hunch is just a guess.

About his match with the Korean - The Korean probably had more Yukos prompting the first call for his win, but the judges probably got together after hearing all of the boos and probably cited some nonsense about Ebinuma displaying more of the spirit of judo, being aggressive, etc... and lo and behold he wins because heaven forbid that no Japanese are represented in their sport in a prime weight category. (too many Euros were winning with their hybrid wrestling so the Kodokan changed the rules last year - you make your own assumption, but my feeling is the Kodokan always changes the rules to favor the Japanese throwers).


The second bout - maybe the ippon wasn't an ippon and was judged a wazari because he didn't fall on the flat of his back. My guess on what really happened though is to see my above comments.

[Hebrew Hammer]

Check out this photo of American Judoka Travis Stevens in his battle against the despised Germans!

Talk about being a warrior...

[GeneChing]

...all I hear is Benny Hill's Yakety Sax. :cool:

There's a lot more photos if you follow the link. I only c&ped the dancers


Benny Hill and bikinis... it's bonkers but brilliant! Beach volleyball hits Horse Guards Parade (and comes with a very strange soundtrack) (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2180540/Olympics-Beach-volleyball-Lifes-beach-Horse-Guards-Parade-beach-volleyball-taken-Britain-storm.html)
By Jane Fryer
PUBLISHED: 04:26 EST, 29 July 2012 | UPDATED: 03:32 EST, 30 July 2012

Maybe it’s the troupe of bikini-clad cheerleaders who keep dashing out to dance the conga and writhe on all fours.

Or it could be the Benny Hill theme tune that blasts out every time the linesmen rush forward to rake the sand off the red court lines.

Or perhaps it’s the DJ yelling: ‘This isn’t Wimbledon, you’re allowed to make some noise here!’

Whatever it is, women’s beach volleyball is not your average Olympic sport.

Victorious: Zara Dampney, left, from Great Britain celebrates with her teammate Shauna Mullin, right, after defeating Canada in their Beach volleyball match on Sunday

The British pair, the country's first female representatives in this sport at the Olympics since 1996, impressed on their way to a 17-21 21-14 15-13 victory

The British pair, the country's first female representatives in this sport at the Olympics since 1996, impressed on their way to a 17-21 21-14 15-13 victory
Great Britain's Shauna Mullin, left, and Zara Dampney embrace after they beat Canada during a beach volleyball match

And when Great Britain’s Shauna Mullin and Zara Dampney jog through the drizzle and a tunnel of cheerleaders into the amazing purple 15,000-seat temporary stadium in Horse Guards Parade, it feels a long way from Chariots Of Fire.

When Olympic tickets went on sale in the ballot, beach volleyball was one of the most oversubscribed events, second only to the 100 metres final. A year on, it remains the hot ticket of the Games.

Or, at least, the women’s beach volleyball does. No one seems quite so interested in the men.

It could, of course, be due to the fact that the women display mesmerising skill, above and beyond their male peers.

A true taste of British summer: Dark skies during Men's Beach Volleyball Preliminary match between Spain and the Netherlands
Spain's Elsa Baquerizo McMillan challenges her Dutch rivals for the ball
Baquerizo embraces teammate Liliana Fernandez, rear, after they beat the Netherlands

But it is more likely to be because men play in singlets, baseball hats and baggy knee-length shorts while the women wear very, very, very small bikinis. Or at least they do when the temperature is above 16C. Regulations dictate that when it’s colder than this, they can wear shorts.

Yesterday afternoon, with thermometers bobbing at a perilous 17C, this revelation was a source of grave concern amongst a group of four men drinking pink champagne from plastic glasses at the bar until the men’s matches had finished.

‘Why would they do that to us? Why would they ruin our Olympic experience? This is the only thing we wanted tickets to!’ gasped Jonathan, a shipbroker from London.

Fortunately, his fears were never realised. As a beach volleyball virgin, I have no idea whether London in the rain has the same je ne sais quoi as the sun-kissed beaches of Ipanema, or Santa Monica. Though I assume the cheerleaders don’t usually stand shivering in dressing gowns between dances.

But it doesn’t matter. It is the noisiest, most colourful, bonkers, flesh-revealing thing you can imagine. A bit like the old Saturday night TV show Gladiators, but louder, more shouty and in bikinis with lager.

http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2012/07/30/article-2180540-1441F68E000005DC-776_964x525.jpg
Bonkers: A group of dancers use beach balls during their routine to keep spectators entertained at the beach volleyball

http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2012/07/29/article-2180540-14422743000005DC-246_964x558.jpg
What a show: Cheerleaders perform during Women's Beach Volleyball on Day 1 of the London 2012 Olympic Games at Horse Guards Parade

http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2012/07/29/article-2180540-14422CFF000005DC-923_964x652.jpg
Beach party vibe: Cheerleaders' dance performances were greeted with cheers as enthusiastic as any those granted any of the sporting prowess on display


And it’s really fun to watch. Every time a point is scored the music blasts – anything from Queen to The Proclaimers, Beyonce to The Rolling Stones.

The rules are brilliantly simple. There are two players on each team and the aim is to ‘ground’ the ball on your opponent’s side of the net, or prevent them from returning it. The first team to reach 21 points wins the set and the best of three sets wins the match.

Players can ‘flick’ the ball to each other up to three times on their side before ‘spiking’ it across the net.

And yes, Federation Internationale de Volleyball really do stipulate that the bottom half of female competitors’ kit can feature ‘no more than 6cm of cloth at the hip’ – unless it’s cooler than 16 degrees.

So it’s vital to have a body that is tanned, smooth and hairless. There’s nothing that moves, wobbles, ripples or bulges. And they all wear make-up and jewellery and patriotically painted nails.

The bodies come at a price. For Dampney and Mullin it was more than four hours of training six days a week for the past five years. They don’t drink alcohol or eat sweets. Fruity: Russia's Anastasia Vasina, right,and Anna Vozakova celebrate at Centre Court of the stadium in Horse Guards Parade at the end of the second set of their women's beach volleyball preliminary phase Fruity: Russia's Anastasia Vasina, right,and Anna Vozakova celebrate at Centre Court of the stadium in Horse Guards Parade at the end of the second set of their women's beach volleyball preliminary phase Pool B match yesterday afternoon
Russia's Anastasia Vasina smashes in front of China's Xue Chen at Centre Court of the stadium in Horse Guards Parade during their women's beach volleyball preliminary phase - Pool B match


Down in the wet sand, they’re halfway through the first set and the cheerleaders are out of their dressing gowns and doing the conga. Helicopters circle overhead (as pilots presumably lean over for a good gawp), the air is thick with the smell of hotdogs and lager and everyone is cheering.

And when Mullin and Dampney win the second set, everyone’s up on their feet dancing.

Suddenly, we’re winning. GB takes the final set and the crowd goes berserk.

Mullin said recently: ‘We don’t play beach volleyball to look good, we play it to win.’ And there’s something about the sport that will win you over.

It’s like a brilliant spoof – a sort of Hugh Hefner bikini Olympics crossed with a ridiculous game show.

It’s not something to take your granny to, or probably even your mum, but it’s a brilliantly fun afternoon. And we won!

[Hebrew Hammer]

As per our previous diatribe on Indian Athleticism, I present this:

A country of 1.2 billion people, one bronze medal in Men's air rifle accurate to 30ft...bravo India :D


Medal Tracker - India
OVERALLATHLETES
Bronze Medals
MEDAL EVENT ATHLETES RESULT
Shooting - Men's 10m Air Rifle Gagan Narang 701.1

Mongolia population 2.8 million also 1 bronze medal...in Judo!


Medal Tracker - Mongolia
OVERALLATHLETES
Bronze Medals
MEDAL EVENT ATHLETES RESULT
Judo - Men's 73kg, Bronze medal match, Sainjargal vs D. Elmont Nyam-Ochir Sainjargal 0011

Care to bet which country brings home more medals?

[sanjuro_ronin]

Kazikstan has 3 gold in weightlifting.
:p

[monk64]

There's been a lot made about how the archery gold medalist is "legally blind".

From what I've read, he could correct his vision with glasses but chooses not to in competition.

I don't know a lot about archery and am not sure how much is vision and how much is muscle control and training to be 100% repeatable all the time.

Of course, it's still an awesome accomplishment to win a gold medal in archery, even if you have perfect vision :-)

[GeneChing]

No pun intended, but I was hoping to see some archery. I was hoping NBC, in their ever-lame coverage wisdom, would know that archery is trending with Brave (http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/ezine/article.php?article=1049), Avengers (http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/ezine/article.php?article=1043) and Hunger Games (http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?t=63225). I'm interested in any of the events that are remotely martial.


Im Dong-hyun Sets World Record At London Olympics: Blind South Korean Archer Breaks 72-Arrow Mark (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/27/im-dong-hyun-olympics-world-record-archery_n_1709248.html)
By BETSY BLANEY 07/27/12 05:35 PM ET AP
http://i.huffpost.com/gen/704123/thumbs/s-IM-DONG-HYUN-large.jpg
Im Dong Hyun of Korea celebrates breaking the World Record during the Men's Individual Archery Ranking Round on Olympics Opening Day as part of the London 2012 Olympic Games at the Lord's Cricket Ground on July 27, 2012 in London, England. (Photo by Paul Gilham/Getty Images)

LONDON — South Korean archer Im Dong-hyun sees only blurred colors and lines when he peers toward the target about 76 yards away, arrow at the ready. It doesn't stop the legally blind Olympian from hitting the grapefruit-sized yellow center – again and again and again.

Im set the first world record of the London Olympics on Friday, breaking his own mark in the 72-arrow event and helping South Korea set a team record in the opening round. He broke the record he set in Turkey in May by three points with a score of 699, hours before the opening ceremony of the 2012 Games.

"This is just the first round, so I will not get too excited by it," said Im, who has 10 percent vision in his left eye and 20 percent in his right.

He combined with Kim Bub-min and Oh Jin-hyek, breaking the record for 216 arrows with a score of 2,087. That was 18 better than the mark South Korea set in May.

The 26-year-old Im does not wear glasses in competition, saying he relies on distinguishing between the bright colors of the target. He won gold in the team event at the 2004 and 2008 Olympics.

South Korean coach Jang Young Sool also didn't seem too impressed by his team's accomplishment. He said his archers must get ready their next test.

"We will have a day of rest now and prepare for tomorrow," he said of the gold-medal match Saturday.

France finished second in the team event, followed by China and the U.S., which was ranked No. 1 coming into the event. The U.S. men beat South Korea last October in London.

Brady Ellison, world No. 1 individual archer, said the conditions were ideal Friday and he wasn't surprised the individual world record fell.

"I don't think you get those types of scores anywhere if the weather wasn't just perfect today," the American said. "Korea shoots good, and if you look at the scores, they're always top in the ranking round."

Also Friday, the American women's team scored a surprising second-place finish. Miranda Leek, Jennifer Nichols and Khatuna Lorig scored 1,979 points with 216 arrows. They were 14 points behind South Korea, which scored 1,993 points.

The U.S. team is ranked No. 6 in the world and qualified for London just last month in Utah.

Lorig, competing in her fifth Olympics, finished fourth in the individual event with 669 points on 72 arrows. She trailed archers from South Korea and Taiwan, all tied at 671 points.

"The ranking round is just a practice," she said. "As a team it is going really well. There is great team spirit and everybody is happy."

Lorig is a naturalized American who's represented the Unified Team of the former Soviet Union, the Republic of Georgia and the U.S. She coached archery to Jennifer Lawrence, star of "The Hunger Games."

Spectators hoping to catch a glimpse of the action Friday were turned away from Lord's cricket ground.

Preliminary rounds were listed as non-ticketed, so several thousand spectators showed up at the venue expecting to get in for free.

A spokeswoman for the London Games organizing committee said tickets were not advertised or sold for the qualifying events and "we have always made it clear" that the early competitions were not open for spectators.

(This version CORRECTS Corrects style on Taiwan; minor edits.)

BTW, heard about Bad Badminton, right?

Olympic badminton players expelled for trying to lose (http://www.usatoday.com/sports/olympics/london/story/2012-07-31/Badminton-players-charged-with-throwing-matches/56630488/1)
By Kevin Johnson, USA TODAY
Updated 1h 35m ago

LONDON – The Badminton World Federation confirms it has disqualified eight female badminton players from China, South Korea and Indonesia from the Olympics doubles competition for trying to lose matches to receive a more favorable draw.

The federation found the players guilty of "not using one's best efforts to win a match" and "conducting oneself in a manner that is clearly abusive or detrimental to the sport" in matches Tuesday night.

Players were roundly booed after they appeared not to exert themselves in preliminary rounds of the round-robin tournament before they were set to move on to elimination competition.

Early Wednesday, the Indonesian pair and both Korean pairs appealed the decision. There was no immediate word on the Chinese.

Then late Wednesday afternoon local time, the Federation announced it had rejected the Korean appeals and that Indonesia had withdrawn its appeal.

According to Niels Nygaard, president of Denmark's National Olympic Committee, this type of play has been "a problem" in other international competitions during qualifying rounds. It crept into the Olympics because this was the first time the Games is holding qualifying rounds rather than all elimination play.

"This was a very good action to take," said Nygaard, who adds that Badminton is very popular in Denmark where 125,000 people play. "It's very important that the players play their best at all times. They always should be expected to play their best."

Martin Kranitz, Germany's badminton team leader, said the federation's decision was "necessary."

"You cannot accept that players manipulate the game," Kranitz said, adding that he witnessed Tuesday's disputed matches. "It was unbelievable. Everybody could see this. This produces a negative image for badminton and a bad image of China."

Kranitz said about 220,000 people play for organized badminton clubs in Germany.

Badminton is not the only sport where competitors did not play to win here. On Wednesday, the coach of the Japanese women's soccer team said he had his team play for a 0-0 tie with South Africa on Tuesday to avoid having to travel to Scotland for the quarterfinals. The outcome left Japan second in Group F, meaning it will now play either Britain or Brazil in Cardiff on Friday. If it had won the match, it would have faced the top-ranked United States or France, another strong team, in Glasgow, also on Friday.

Japan coach Norio Sasaki used substitutes in the second half and told them to keep possession and not score, based on how the other match in Group F was going. In that match, Canada drew 2-2 with Sweden, meaning Sweden topped the group. "It was a different way of playing compared to the usual game, but the players were on the same page as me," he said.

The eliminated badminton players are world doubles champions Wang Xiaoli and Yu Yang of China and their South Korean opponents Jung Kyun Eun and Kim Ha Na, along with South Korea's Ha Jung Eun and Kim Min Jung and Indonesia's Meiliana Jauhari and Greysia Polii.

The doubles pairs were all due to compete in quarterfinals Wednesday afternoon.

China's Lin Dan, the No. 2-ranked men's singles player, said through an interpreter the sport is going to be damaged.

"Especially for the audience," he said before the disqualifications were announced. "This is definitely not within the Olympic spirit. But like I said before, it's not one-sided. Whoever sets the rule should make it knockout so whoever doesn't try will just leave the Olympics."

In one of Tuesday night's matches, pitting Chinese players Wang Xiaoli and Yu Yan against Jung Kyung-eun and Kim Ha-na of South Korea, the players appeared to deliberately serve into the net, triggering a warning from the referee.

The federation examined whether the Chinese players sought to throw the match so that they would not have to meet another Chinese pair in the next round.

A similar controversy erupted a short time later involving another South Korean pair and their Indonesian opponents.

The performances prompted broad condemnation from both the International Olympic Committee and London Olympics chief Sebastian Coe, who said the play was "unacceptable.''

"It's depressing,'' Coe said. "Who wants to sit through something like that. It is unacceptable.''

IOC spokesman Mark Adams also expressed dissatisfaction, saying that the group would support the federation's review.

But London organizers said they would not provide refunds to the spectators at the questioned events.

London Olympics operations director Paul Deighton said the tickets to the disputed events also provided spectators with access to other matches that were not questioned.

"It wasn't a one-off game,'' Deighton said. "No one has asked for a refund.''

[Brule]

A side bar to the badminton things, i found it funny to see Bruce Li was the angle the media played here breifly, although not in this online story but you can see where they got it from.

http://www.ctvolympics.ca/racquet-sports/news/article/canada-benefits-from-badminton-scandal-advances-semis.html

[Hebrew Hammer]

This American kid Brady Ellison was oustanding...US men have won the silver in team competition and Ellison has a shot at gold in the individual.

I'm surprised that some other cultures with a long history of archery aren't more competitive in this event, ie: England, Mongolia, Japan (with Kyudo) or even some representation of native americans on the US Team.

Would be cool if they added a horse back mounted event or two.

[GeneChing]

A side bar to the badminton things, i found it funny to see Bruce Li was the angle the media played here breifly, although not in this online story but you can see where they got it from. Bruce Li. HAAAAAAAAA! I didn't see that until now. Thanks!


There has been some Archery coverage
Really? I missed that. Mind you, I'm watching NBC Broadcast (antenna) and Telemundo. I'm trying not to get sucked into streaming, because then I wouldn't get another thing done until after August 12th. I confess. I'm an Olympics addict. :o

[GeneChing]

London Olympics: Mariel Zagunis fails to medal in women's saber (http://www.oregonlive.com/olympics/index.ssf/2012/08/london_olympics_mariel_zagunis_2.html)
Published: Wednesday, August 01, 2012, 2:04 PM Updated: Wednesday, August 01, 2012, 4:33 PM
Ken Goe, The Oregonian By Ken Goe, The Oregonian

http://media.oregonlive.com/olympics_impact/photo/11378082-large.jpg
LONDON - Mariel Zagunis was rolling in the semifinals Wednesday in the ExCeL Center.

The two-time reigning Olympic gold medalist in women's saber breezed to three, easy preliminary victories and was leading her semifinal round match with South Korea's Jiyeon Kim 12-5.

Then, inexplicably, the bottom dropped out.

"I had a little lapse in concentration," Zagunis said. "I don't know. Things started happening really quickly. I wasn't landing my attacks. All of a sudden it was 12-10, 13-10."

Once the momentum turned, Zagunis couldn't get it back. A Kim counter produced the winning touch in a stunning, 15-13 upset.

That dropped Zagunis into the bronze medal bout against Olga Kharlan of Ukraine. That one went south for Zagunis in mid-match too.

Trailing 10-9, Kharlan reeled off six of the bout's last seven points to win 15-10 and collect the bronze.

“I’m in disbelief,” Zagunis said. “It’ll probably hit me later. I don’t know when.”

Zagunis began the XXX Olympiad carrying the U.S. flag in the Opening Ceremony. Now, for the first time ever, she will return home to Beaverton from an Olympic Games empty handed.

"Everything happened so quickly," Zagunis said. "I wish of course I could turn back the clock now and go back to when it was 12-6 and refocus myself and do it all over again. But that's the thing with saber fencing. Things happen so quickly."

Both Kim and Kharlan used a counterattacking strategy against Zagunis' aggressiveness.

Kim said through an interpreter that she changed tactics in the semifinal bout. She began feinting, waiting for Zagunis to lunge, and then countered.

It seemed to work.

"She was impatient," said U.S. women's saber coach Ed Korfanty, who has worked with Zagunis at the Oregon Fencing Alliance since she picked up the weapon. "She had everything she wanted."

Until she didn’t. After the bout, Zagunis let her helmet fall to the strip in disbelief.

Things had gone so well for so long on Wednesday _ Zagunis won her first three bouts by scores of 15-7, 15-9 and 15-6 _ that perhaps she got into a hurry to get through the semis and onto the main event.

Kim is no slouch. She beat second-seeded Sofa Velikaya of Russia 15-9 in the final to become the first woman other than Zagunis to win the gold since women’s saber became an Olympic sport in 2004.

Zagunis, meanwhile, had to refocus in an hour after her semifinal loss, and it might have been impossible.

“She was a little bit sad,” Korfanty said of Zagunis between the semi and the bronze medal match. “She was crying a little bit. It was tough.”

The No. 1-seeded Zagunis didn’t come to London for bronze.

“It’s difficult to pull yourself back together after losing and have to fence again,” she said. “In all other tournaments, if you lose in the semis then you just get third by default.

“So I never have been in this position before. I tried to pull myself together, and I had a good first half with Kharlan. But she was mentally too strong, and wanted that medal as well.”

The ability to concentrate and focus usually is Zagunis’ best quality.

Korfanty talked earlier in the day about her businesslike approach and her mental toughness.

Afterward, he seemed as much at a loss as anyone else to explain how it unraveled against Kim.

“She didn’t beat me,” Zagunis said. “I beat myself. That’s pretty much how the bouts I lose go. It doesn’t matter whether it’s in the season or in the world championships, or in the Olympics. If I lose it’s generally not that they were the better fencers.

“It’s that I was mentally not there. Because I know when I’m there, I fence like I did in 2004 and 2008, and in the world championships 2009 and 2010. When I’m on like that, nobody can beat me.”

She said she will learn from what happened here, and put the lessons to use going forward.

And, if all goes well, that will include the 2016 Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

The only thing I can really look forward to is Rio,” she said. “My chances here are done.”


Olympics 2012: USA boxing in a sorry state, and it shows (http://aol.sportingnews.com/olympics/story/2012-08-01/olympics-2012-usa-boxing-team-results-london-summer-games-dominic-breazeale)
Published 4 hours and 53 minutes ago
David Whitley AOL FanHouse Columnist

LONDON—A voice kept ringing out between rounds Wednesday at the boxing arena.

It was hard to make out over all of the Russians cheering. But it sounded like the guy knew what he was talking about. And the American fighter certainly could have used the advice.
Team USA boxing's Dominic Breazeale has been in the ring for less than four years, yet was counted on by the U.S. in these 2012 Olympics. (AP Photo)

“He’s in the building,” U.S. assistant coach Charles Leverette assured reporters.

He is head coach Basheer Abdullah. Try as he might, Abdullah couldn’t yell quarterback-turned-boxer Dominic Breazeale to a victory. In those few strange moments, you learned all you need to know about U.S. Olympic boxing.

We sent out a football player, and he was coached by a guy sitting in Section 28.

It would be embarrassing if it weren’t so funny. After a nice start Sunday, the U.S. went 0-for-3 Wednesday. America suddenly is down to four boxers.

U.S. boxers won one piddly bronze in Beijing. Just when you thought things couldn’t get worse, they might.

“You’ve got to think about all the countries out there that have never had an Olympic medal,” Leverette said.

Yeah, but we’re not Bahrain. We’re the country that produced Muhammad Ali, Joe Frazier, George Foreman, Sugar Ray Leonard, the Spinks brothers, Oscar de la Hoya.

They were all Olympic heroes. Remember Howard Cosell announcing all those great prime-time bouts? Bob Costas will spend more time on dressage than boxing in London.

You can’t blame him. And you can’t really blame the guys in the ring. They’re trying.

Blame the system.

USA Boxing could mess up the one-car funeral it’s been overseeing. Abdullah’s role at the games epitomizes the problem.

A coach cannot be in the corner during a fight if he’s worked a professional bout in the prior six months. It’s a dumb rule, but the Olympics must maintain some guise of amateurism.

Abdullah thought he’d be okay, but he worked a women’s bout in March. That started the clock over.

USA Boxing supposedly knew this but got caught in the usual scramble. It didn’t even hire Abdullah until a month before the games.

Even if the coach had been able to scream in Breazeale’s face, it wouldn’t have mattered against Russia’s Magomed Omarov.

But think how preposterous it would be if USA Basketball hired Mike Krzyzewski four weeks ago. And he had to call plays from a dozen rows up.

Leverette initially repeated the party line that the absentee coach routine is not a problem. But he’s too honest a guy to keep up the charade for long.

“In certain ways, of course,” he said. “Any sport you go through, if you don’t know who’s leading, how do you know where to go?”

USA Boxing certainly doesn’t have a clue. America won 10 golds in the boycotted 1984 games. It has two in the past 20 years.

There’s been a dearth of leadership and severe lack of money. But even if Jerry Colangelo were brought in to straighten things out like he did the Dream Team, boxing’s inherent problems might be too much.

It’s a niche sport that most kids aren’t exposed to. There’s no real amateur pipeline. The average American has no idea the name of the heavyweight champion of the world.

The Olympics used to launch fighters into pro stardom. It’s become a chicken-and-egg proposition.

Boxing isn’t popular because there are no Sugar Rays or de la Hoyas coming along. There are no Sugar Rays or de la Hoyas coming along because boxing isn’t popular.

And we haven’t even mentioned the MMA.

All this is how the U.S. ends up with a guy like Breazeale in the ring against a Russian bear. He was a quarterback at Northern Colorado during the last Olympics.

He was 6-foot-7 and obviously a good athlete, but not good enough to make the pros. On a whim, he hooked on with All-American Heavyweights, a program that tries to turn college athletes into boxers.

“I only have 3½ years under my belt,” he said. “And it showed tonight.”

The judges scored it 19-8 for Omarov. If only the Russian would have grabbed the microphone and yelled, “Now I want Tebow!” it would have been the perfect farcical ending.

At least the other two American fights were closer. But it’s obvious the problems that ailed us in the ring aren’t getting much better.

“It’s unfortunate,” Leverette said. “We’ll go back and regroup and light a fire under these kids again.”

Here’s hoping the Abdullah has a very long match.


At least the Fab Five took gold. Like I said, I was at the Olympic Trials which were in San Jose this year, so I've been following gymnastics more closely than ever.

[Hebrew Hammer]

Bruce Li. HAAAAAAAAA! I didn't see that until now. Thanks!


Really? I missed that. Mind you, I'm watching NBC Broadcast (antenna) and Telemundo. I'm trying not to get sucked into streaming, because then I wouldn't get another thing done until after August 12th. I confess. I'm an Olympics addict. :o

Its called Cable or DSL Gene...they have about 4-5 channels of coverage going throughout the day.

[IronFist]

The Chinese government's attitude towards the performances of its athletes is now coming under greater scrutiny than ever before. Messages of congratulations from the government to athletes through the state news agency have been sent only to gold medalists, not those winning silver or bronze.Also they basically take you from your family and put you in government sports camp:

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/olympics--family-kept-grandparents--deaths-secret-from-chinese-diver-until-she-won-gold-medal.html

The girl in that article's grandparents died over a year ago but they never told her because she was training for the Olympics.

[wenshu]

Reuters (I think) reported it was actually the athelete's father who withheld the information about the grandparents death and the mother's cancer from her.

If you've ever had a Chinese coach you understand the lack of praise for anything other than first, and even then expect more criticism than praise. It's not just the government.

[Hebrew Hammer]

The funnest event looks like the white water canoeing...not sure how it ever became an Olympic event. The Brits just won Gold and a Silver...the place went nuts.

[Hebrew Hammer]

Also they basically take you from your family and put you in government sports camp:

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/olympics--family-kept-grandparents--deaths-secret-from-chinese-diver-until-she-won-gold-medal.html

The girl in that article's grandparents died over a year ago but they never told her because she was training for the Olympics.

I'm not so sure the Gov't is the big bad guy here...I think probably lots of parents would want their kids in these sports camps. It happens here in the USA, parents send their kids across country to Olympic training locations or special coaches.

Although this article does remind me of the old 'sunshine' policy, where the state run news agency always declared the weather forecast as sunny and 75 degrees F every day for decades because they didn't want people feel bad about poor weather conditions.

[sanjuro_ronin]

Reuters (I think) reported it was actually the athelete's father who withheld the information about the grandparents death and the mother's cancer from her.

If you've ever had a Chinese coach you understand the lack of praise for anything other than first, and even then expect more criticism than praise. It's not just the government.

Correct, something typical of eastern bloc coaches as well.
Its a cultural thing too.
Asian coaches are NOT happy people, LOL !
Unless they win of course.

[IronFist]

I'm not so sure the Gov't is the big bad guy here...I think probably lots of parents would want their kids in these sports camps. It happens here in the USA, parents send their kids across country to Olympic training locations or special coaches.

Although this article does remind me of the old 'sunshine' policy, where the state run news agency always declared the weather forecast as sunny and 75 degrees F every day for decades because they didn't want people feel bad about poor weather conditions.

What state did that?

[GeneChing]

...it's just not as entertaining in long johns. I'll tune back into the sport for Rio. :cool:


Its called Cable or DSL Gene...they have about 4-5 channels of coverage going throughout the day.
Yeah, I know, but I don't have cable and NBC has restricted online access to cable users. I'm a TV addict. Having cable would be like giving a methhead a sudafed factory. Besides, NBC's ethnocentric pop culture programming gives me something to whine about. I'm done with swimming and volleyball semis. With so many events, why would I want to watch quals and semis? If they just showed all the medal finals for all the events, that would be so cool.


If you've ever had a Chinese coach you understand the lack of praise for anything other than first, and even then expect more criticism than praise. It's not just the government. You know, I know American coaches and 'stage' parents that are this extreme. And that's for level 8 gymnasts and martial arts kids (which is so far from the Olympic podium, it's absurd).


The funnest event looks like the white water canoeing...not sure how it ever became an Olympic event. The Brits just won Gold and a Silver...the place went nuts. I dig Canoe Slalom. The fact that they build a freaking whitewater course like that is amazing. Plus I used to dabble in whitewater rafting (not canoe) so I respect it. I rafted the River Pacuare in Costa Rica, which was an outrageous adventure of my youth.



02 August 201216:27
Harrison and Khaibulaev take Judo golds (http://www.london2012.com/news/articles/harrison-and-khaibulaev-take-judo-golds.html)
Kayla Harrison won gold in the women's -78kg final - the USA's first ever Judo Olympic title - while Tagir Khaibulaev of Russia won the men's -100kg title.

JUDO (http://www.martialartsmart.com/judo-jujitsu-styles.html) GOLD for USA! :)
http://www.london2012.com/mm/Photo/sport/General/01/31/97/48/1319748_M01.jpg
Kayla Harrison of the United States takes Women's -78 kg Judo gold

Gemma Gibbons delivered Great Britain's first Olympic Judo medal in 12 years with a silver after losing to Harrison.

Gibbons caught the attention of the ExCeL crowd as she battled through to the semi-finals and then disposed of world champion Audrey Tcheumeo with an Ippon throw in golden score.

Tcheumeo picked herself up to win the bronze-medal fight against Abigel Joo of Hungary.

Top-seeded Brazilian Mayra Aguiar also made the podium when she beat Marhinde Verkerk on an Ippon score.

The gold proved just out of reach for the 25-year-old Gibbons as the fourth-seeded Harrison claimed a narrow 2-0 victory.

In the men's contest, Khaibulaev of Russia defeated Mongolian Tuvshinbayar Naidan to claim gold.

A bronze medal went to Henk Grol, the number two seed from the Netherlands. Defeated semi-finalist, German Dimitri Peters, also won bronze.

[Hebrew Hammer]

What state did that?

Sorry, the Chinese state...under the older Communist Mao regime.

[Hebrew Hammer]

See what you've been missing Gene


NBC: Archery most viewed sport
Updated: August 2, 2012, 1:16 PM ET
Associated Press

NEW YORK -- Archery is the new curling.

NBC said Thursday that during the first few days of its Olympics coverage, archery was the most popular sport of any that it aired on its cable networks -- bigger even than basketball. Archery averaged 1.5 million viewers when it came on TV.

NBC Sports Group chairman Mark Lazarus attributed the interest in part to the popularity of "The Hunger Games" getting young people interested in bows and arrows. American archer Brady Ellison is also a big draw.

It is reminiscent of when recent Winter Olympics telecasts fueled an interest in curling.


Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press

[GeneChing]

Now if only NBC understood that for their antenna broadcast, but their holding all that stuff to try to get people hooked into being cable subscribers. :mad:

[wenshu]

You know, I know American coaches and 'stage' parents that are this extreme. And that's for level 8 gymnasts and martial arts kids (which is so far from the Olympic podium, it's absurd).

I believe it.

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-n34u0WeCxPQ/T9Z3khZ3j8I/AAAAAAAAAzs/g3SAjwZIL1E/s1600/Toddlers-and-Tiaras-Star-Eden-Wood-9.png

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6EkqfPPNewk

Now that I think about it I find some odd similarities between toddler beauty pageants and wushu. . .

But there is something distinctly east asian about the whole minimal constructive input maximum criticism.

http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lbykmsxSaV1qakgigo1_500.jpg

http://chzmemebase.files.wordpress.com/2012/03/internet-memes-meme-madness-high-expectations-asian-dad.jpg

http://28.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lws8trvROO1qakgigo1_500.jpg

[Hebrew Hammer]

I continue to be impressed by the South Koreans...they've been great in the martial events, soccer, and weight lifting...but check out this horrific elbow injury...if you weigh 170lbs snatching 367lbs might not be a good idea.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/01/sa-jae-hyouk-weightlifting-injury_n_1730902.html

[Hebrew Hammer]

Whatever happened to the 'sweet science'? Even amateur and Olympic boxing is being destroyed. Japanese boxer dominates Azerbaijan fighter knocking him down some 6 times only to have fight awarded to the other fighter. Fight is eventually overturned and ref banned but its amazing.

http://www.nbcolympics.com/video/boxing/highlights-japanese-boxer-robbed-by-controversial-decision.html

BBC has published another article some ten months ago regarding Azerbaijan trying to buy 2 Olympic Gold Medals for $10million.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-15034317

[Hebrew Hammer]

That US women's soccer match vs Canada is one of the best I've ever seen.

I think I'm in love with Jessica Ennis, the British Heptathlete. I could watch her bum all day!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KdWwNql5fOc

So what do you lads think? Is Michael Phelps the greatest American Olympian ever?? Based on total medals yes, but not all athletes can compete in multiple events in their sports. Discuss.

[MightyB]

Who says Judo guys (http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10000872396390444246904577573012959968488.html) don't know how to party?


Olympic judo fighter Nicholas Delpopolo, who claims he accidentally ate food laced with marijuana, is the first U.S. Athlete to be expelled from the Games because of doping violations.

[sanjuro_ronin]

Whatever happened to the 'sweet science'? Even amateur and Olympic boxing is being destroyed. Japanese boxer dominates Azerbaijan fighter knocking him down some 6 times only to have fight awarded to the other fighter. Fight is eventually overturned and ref banned but its amazing.

http://www.nbcolympics.com/video/boxing/highlights-japanese-boxer-robbed-by-controversial-decision.html

BBC has published another article some ten months ago regarding Azerbaijan trying to buy 2 Olympic Gold Medals for $10million.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-15034317

Typicla of olympic boxing.

[sanjuro_ronin]

That US women's soccer match vs Canada is one of the best I've ever seen.

I think I'm in love with Jessica Ennis, the British Heptathlete. I could watch her bum all day!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KdWwNql5fOc

So what do you lads think? Is Michael Phelps the greatest American Olympian ever?? Based on total medals yes, but not all athletes can compete in multiple events in their sports. Discuss.

Ennis is super hot, no doubt.
Yeah, that was one of the best games of futebol I have ever seen.

[Hebrew Hammer]

Who says Judo guys (http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10000872396390444246904577573012959968488.html) don't know how to party?

That's hilarious...I saw that on the news last night, apparently MMA and drugs do mix. It's either pot or the other 'dope' for the drug of choice.

[Lucas]

So what do you lads think? Is Michael Phelps the greatest American Olympian ever?? Based on total medals yes, but not all athletes can compete in multiple events in their sports. Discuss.

No, not at all, imo. Sure the guy has a lot of medals...for swimming around all fast like. But the greatest Olympian? No way. If he could medal in seperate sports that would be another matter, regardless of the medal achieved. But its like, ya dude so you are really good at swimming. Whoop de freakin doo. But the real question is, can he get even bronze in anything other than swimming? If I see a person get medal in two totally seperate non related sports, now THATS a great Olympian. Not many have but there have been some people who have, for instance, competed in cross country skiing as well as biathlon.

So while he is the greatest swimmer, not even close to the greatest Olympian. He could prove me wrong by getting bronze in anything else, but he wont.

IMO

[Lucas]

Fernand de Montigny won 2 silver and 2 bronze in fencing and a bronze in hockey. thats more impressive to me than all of phelps golds. AND he was the architect of the 1920 olympic stadium...beat that phelps!

[Hebrew Hammer]

No, not at all, imo. Sure the guy has a lot of medals...for swimming around all fast like. But the greatest Olympian? No way. If he could medal in seperate sports that would be another matter, regardless of the medal achieved. But its like, ya dude so you are really good at swimming. Whoop de freakin doo. But the real question is, can he get even bronze in anything other than swimming? If I see a person get medal in two totally seperate non related sports, now THATS a great Olympian. Not many have but there have been some people who have, for instance, competed in cross country skiing as well as biathlon.

So while he is the greatest swimmer, not even close to the greatest Olympian. He could prove me wrong by getting bronze in anything else, but he wont.

IMO

Are you talking about the best athlete or best Olympian? I think you have to go on what one has achieved as opposed to speculating on what they could or couldn't have done in some other sport. He may have been able to be a great volleyball or basketball player with that wing span. So who is your greatest American Olympian? I think the standard for the discussion would be getting gold in 3 different Olympics...just to be in consideration...someone like Carl Lewis.

[Lucas]

Oh i also didnt notice the part about AMERICAN olympian... my bad.

[Hebrew Hammer]

Fernand de Montigny won 2 silver and 2 bronze in fencing and a bronze in hockey. thats more impressive to me than all of phelps golds. AND he was the architect of the 1920 olympic stadium...beat that phelps!

Never heard of this guy and that is amazing. I'll entertain other arguments for best Olympian...not Americans only.

[Brule]

Going by Lucas' criteria, have a google on Clara Hughes. Olympic medalist in summer and winter Olympics. Great achievement by far, but IMO not greatest Olympian. Just threw it out there as food for thought.

[Lucas]

Ya the thing is, now days, the competition is so high, its nearly impossible for someone to medal in more than one sport, you need to spend ALL your time just get medal in one event, let alone two.

Ya phelps has a lot of golds, and swimming is cool and all that, i just personally dont get impressed by swimmers. Its the martial artist in me, I know that my view is skewed.

Now, if they had full contact swimming...

[Vajramusti]

So what do you lads think? Is Michael Phelps the greatest American Olympian ever?? Based on total medals yes, but not all athletes can compete in multiple events in their sports. Discuss.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
By far:

Jim Thorpe, Sauk and Fox Indian from Oklahoma- excellence in multiple events requiring vastly different skills before, during and after the Olympics..

[Lucas]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
By far:

Jim Thorpe, Sauk and Fox Indian from Oklahoma- excellence in multiple events requiring vastly different skills before, during and after the Olympics..

oh wow after looking up jim thorpe...that guy blows phelps...outa the water (pun intended)

[Hebrew Hammer]

Jim Thorpe definitely has to be under consideration, an Olympic legend. If I recall a he played college football too?

@Lucas, you are very correct in terms of the level of competition thats what makes Phelps accomplishments even more impressive. Over 3 separate Olympics. Full contact swimming does exist, it's called Water Polo. Lots of grappling and striking.

For me the greatest athletes or the events that require the highest levels of athleticism are the gymnasts, decathlete/heptathletes in the Summer games and the Ice skaters in the winter games. Nothing requires more practice, dexterity, and precision...in my mind. Very very few people could compete in these events.

I'd like to see a Cross Fit event added in the future if that sport continues to grow internationally. Iceland Amy!

[Hebrew Hammer]

Going by Lucas' criteria, have a google on Clara Hughes. Olympic medalist in summer and winter Olympics. Great achievement by far, but IMO not greatest Olympian. Just threw it out there as food for thought.

She is impressive!!! The only person I've ever heard of who medaled in both winter and summer games.

[Lucas]

Jim Thorpe definitely has to be under consideration, an Olympic legend. If I recall a he played college football too?

@Lucas, you are very correct in terms of the level of competition thats what makes Phelps accomplishments even more impressive. Over 3 separate Olympics. Full contact swimming does exist, it's called Water Polo. Lots of grappling and striking.

For me the greatest athletes or the events that require the highest levels of athleticism are the gymnasts, decathlete/heptathletes in the Summer games and the Ice skaters in the winter games. Nothing requires more practice, dexterity, and precision...in my mind. Very very few people could compete in these events.

I'd like to see a Cross Fit event added in the future if that sport continues to grow internationally. Iceland Amy!

hey screw you and your smarty pants

[Vajramusti]

[QUOTE=Hebrew Hammer;1182398]Jim Thorpe definitely has to be under consideration, an Olympic legend. If I recall a he played college football too?
----

Individual event recirds broken- but look at his total achievements and skills.

Pentathlon, decathlon-you name it:

Jacobus Franciscus "Jim" Thorpe (1887-1953).
Born May 28, 1887, near Prague, Oklahoma.
Tribal: Sac & Fox mother, Sac & Fox Nation, Oklahoma.
Raised in Sac & Fox community.
Indian Name: Wa-Tho-Huck (Bright Path)
Education: Carlisle Industrial School, Pennsylvania.
Nicknames: "World's Greatest Athlete".
Sports: Baseball, Basketball, Football, Track & Field.
Pro Football Hall of Fame: Inducted 1963.
National Footbal League:
• Charter president and founding member of the American Professional Football Conference (1920), which was renamed the National Football League in 1922.
• Member of the Canton Bulldogs of Ohio League (1915-1919).
• Played eight years in NFL: Bulldogs (1920, 1926); Cleveland Indians (1921); Oorang Indians (1922-1923); Toledo Maroons (1923); Rock Island Independents (1924); New York Giants (1925); Chicago Cardinals (1928).

[GeneChing]

Who says Judo guys (http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10000872396390444246904577573012959968488.html) don't know how to party?


Delpopolo ban nonsensical (http://www.timesunion.com/sports/article/Delpopolo-ban-nonsensical-3767263.php)
PETE IORIZZO, COMMENTARY
Updated 7:27 a.m., Tuesday, August 7, 2012

http://ww2.hdnux.com/photos/14/33/25/3257725/11/628x471.jpg
United States' Nicholas Delpopolo looks on during the men's -73kg judo contest of the London 2012 Olympic Games on July 30, 2012 at the ExCel arena in London. AFP PHOTO / FRANCK FIFEFRANCK FIFE/AFP/GettyImages Photo: FRANCK FIFE / AL

Because he tested positive for marijuana, Burnt Hills grad Nick Delpopolo was booted from the Olympics, a penalty that only would make sense if either of the following were true:

-- Delpopolo's Olympic event were the Cheetos-eating competition.

-- A gold medal were awarded to the athlete who can recite the most lines from "Dude, Where's My Car?"

But since I can't think of any way a pot brownie would enhance Delpopolo's performance in judo, the sport in which he placed seventh in his weight class July 30, I have to wonder:

What is the World Anti-Doping Agency smoking?

"I don't understand it," said Delpopolo's father, Dominic. "You know what? Most of those athletes do that stuff. I don't do it. I don't recommend it. But if you take the whole population, it's pretty normal."

When Delpopolo's test came back positive, he became of the first of more than 10,000 London athletes to flunk an in-competition test for a banned substance.

Some other banned substances include muscle-inflating testosterone and endurance-building EPO, drugs that skew the playing field.

But then there's marijuana, a performance inhibitor in all things, save the munchies. There's a reason the Cheech and Chong series didn't include "Feats of Olympic Glory."

Delpopolo released a statement Monday saying he inadvertently consumed the marijuana before he left for London. The pot, he said, had been baked into something he ate, a story many will consider ... um ... half-baked.

Even taking Delpopolo at his word, he bears a certain amount of responsibility. Elite athletes are near-maniacal about what goes into their bodies. Given most baked goods don't contain spinach or parsley, Delpopolo ought to have been more skeptical of whatever pot-infused product he was handed.

He seems to recognize as much, because his statement included an apology to the U.S. Olympic committee, his fans and teammates.

But this isn't a lesson WADA needed to teach him.

WADA's function should be to ensure our Games are played fairly by catching the cheaters, something Delpopolo most certainly is not.

***

The real shame is, the consequences of Delpopolo's positive test go beyond being disqualified from his first Games. He's now subject to worldwide ridicule for something he legally could do in Amsterdam, a six-hour train ride from London.

Before Monday, we knew Delpopolo mostly as a feel-good story: Born in Montenegro, he was adopted from an orphanage by Dominic and his wife, Joyce, who live in Westfield, N.J.

During high school, Delpopolo moved to Glenville to train with Jason Morris, a 1992 Olympic silver medalist.

Morris is a guy so strait-laced he doesn't have a drop of alcohol in his home. One of his pet peeves is teenagers chewing tobacco. If he caught of one of his younger students using marijuana, he'd call the students' parents and have an intervention.

Morris wouldn't criticize WADA testing for pot. He feels too strongly that kids shouldn't be using, anyway.

But he did note that a photo once surfaced of Michael Phelps taking a bong hit, a story line that faded as we grew more interested in his gold than his ganja.

The point: Young athletes do stupid things, like smoke pot.

"It shouldn't define them," Morris said.

It shouldn't get them kicked out of the Olympics, either — unless, of course, the event is a race to the bottom of a Cheetos bag.

In contrast, Solomon has redeemed judo (http://www.martialartsmart.com/judo-jujitsu-styles.html) in the wake of Delpopolo.


Solomon: Judo star versus drunk fan; judo star wins (http://blog.chron.com/olympics/2012/08/solomon-judo-star-versus-drunk-fan-judo-star-wins/)
http://blog.chron.com/olympics/files/2012/08/edith.bosch_-600x428.jpg
Unruly fans would be wise not to sit near judo star Edith Bosch. (Paul Sancya/Associated Press)

You have probably heard about this already, but I was late to the news because I was working like crazy yesterday – four stadiums, three stories, two radio interviews, one TV appearance, 19 hours on the clock.

Edith Bosch is now on my short list of favorite athletes from these Games.

The world champion and judo bronze medalist delivered some shots that almost all sports fans have wanted to see done at some point or another.

She beat up some clown, who almost ruined the biggest race at the Olympics.

I was at the men’s 100-meter dash Sunday night, but as I was seated at the finish line (if I were any closer than this, I’d have to put on tights and enter a race), I completely missed a bottle-throwing incident.

This drunken yob (gotta add that word to my vocabulary) had been making a nuisance of himself all evening, then he hurled a bottle onto the track while the runners were in their blocks.

Bosch was so upset at this knucklehead that she put a quick whipping on him before the police came in and dragged him away.

She posted this about the incident on Twitter.

“Een dronken gast voor mij gooit een flesje op de baan!! IK HEB HEM GESLAGEN…. Ongelofelijk!! #boos #respectloos “

Hilarious. Way to go girl.

Oh, not hip to Dutch? Sorry about that.

For you English speakers:

“A drunken guest threw a bottle on the track! I have beaten him … unbelievable!”

Who wouldn’t want to have her sitting in their section at a football game? Other than the drunks, that is.

[Hebrew Hammer]

[QUOTE=Hebrew Hammer;1182398]Jim Thorpe definitely has to be under consideration, an Olympic legend. If I recall a he played college football too?
----

Individual event recirds broken- but look at his total achievements and skills.

Pentathlon, decathlon-you name it:

Jacobus Franciscus "Jim" Thorpe (1887-1953).
Born May 28, 1887, near Prague, Oklahoma.
Tribal: Sac & Fox mother, Sac & Fox Nation, Oklahoma.
Raised in Sac & Fox community.
Indian Name: Wa-Tho-Huck (Bright Path)
Education: Carlisle Industrial School, Pennsylvania.
Nicknames: "World's Greatest Athlete".
Sports: Baseball, Basketball, Football, Track & Field.
Pro Football Hall of Fame: Inducted 1963.
National Footbal League:
• Charter president and founding member of the American Professional Football Conference (1920), which was renamed the National Football League in 1922.
• Member of the Canton Bulldogs of Ohio League (1915-1919).
• Played eight years in NFL: Bulldogs (1920, 1926); Cleveland Indians (1921); Oorang Indians (1922-1923); Toledo Maroons (1923); Rock Island Independents (1924); New York Giants (1925); Chicago Cardinals (1928).

OK I'm sold!!! All bow to the great Jim Thorpe! :D I wonder if there will ever be another in modern athletics.

[MightyB]

WTF?!?!

How soon you all forget :mad:

This is the greatest Olympian. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tMgmYutL9W0&feature=player_embedded)

[Lucas]

WTF?!?!

How soon you all forget :mad:

This is the greatest Olympian. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tMgmYutL9W0&feature=player_embedded)

ok bro. somehow your argument is very convincing. you have swayed me.

[Hebrew Hammer]

Remember kids they don't call it 'dope' for nothing. Who really cares about pot? Is it any more dangerous than drinking?

Let me put this disclaimer out there, I don't like pot and I even hate talking with someone who is stoned more, but I'm also done with war on drugs. What a waste of resources, testing, prosecuting and jailing marijuana offenders. We should be taxing them. Sorry, had to get on my soapbox, back on topic!

That Aussie is a hottie but we'll see about her qualifications over dinner and drinks.

[GeneChing]

There's the greatest Olympian of all time. Then there are the hottest Olympians.

And then, there are the Olympic stoners

And then there is Phelps


Michael Phelps: Greatest Olympian Ever (Who Also Happened to Smoke Pot) (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/anthony-papa/michael-phelps-greatest-o_b_1737863.html)
Posted: 08/03/2012 11:55 am

News outlets across the world are reporting about Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps' feat of breaking the record for the most medals ever won by an Olympian. On Thursday night he won his record twentieth career Olympic medal. But the road to being the world's greatest swimmer did not come easy.

In February of 2009, 23-year-old Michael Phelps apologized for his youthful indiscretion when he was caught on camera at a party smoking a bong that allegedly contained marijuana. The party took place three months after the Olympics while he was taking a break from training after he had won 8 gold medals. It is not clear how often Phelps indulged in the consumption of marijuana. But common sense tells me it was not the first time. At that time the Associated Press reported that Phelps said:

I engaged in behavior which was regrettable and demonstrated bad judgment. I'm 23 years old and despite the successes I've had in the pool, I acted in a youthful and inappropriate way, not in a manner people have come to expect from me. For this, I am sorry. I promise my fans and the public it will not happen again.

It seems that his apology was accepted by most Americans and majority of his corporate sponsors stood by him. The damage to his career was minimal when he was slapped with a three-month suspension from USA Swimming and his face was removed from the Kellogg's cereal box. But Phelps made a point then that reached well-beyond a box of Corn Flakes when he revealed to the world that smoking marijuana did not affect his ability to excel. Millions of Americans are recreational drug users who use drugs responsibly and lead normal lives. Phelps could be a testament to this, even though he might not admit it in fear of the repercussions that come along with telling the truth. Because of the war on drugs and its zero-tolerance policy, the truth sometimes becomes buried because of the stigma that is attached to being an drug user.

There might be a question in defining if Phelps can be considered a recreational user if he only used during extended breaks from his training. We have no way of knowing his drug use beyond the one incident mentioned above, but for the sake of argument, if Phelps could be considered a recreational user, he would be a high-profile example of people who engage in recreational drug use and suffer no adverse effects -- other than exposing themselves to criminal penalties due to drug prohibition. It may be true that some people struggle with drug addiction and sadly for the most part they are treated like criminals instead of being treated like people with medical problems.

Another example of recreational drug use gone wrong occurred in 2009 when Cy Young award winner Tim Lincecum was cited for misdemeanor marijuana possession of three grams in Washington State when he was stopped by a cop while driving and caught with marijuana and a pipe. Luckily, he was not suspended and following that season, Lincecum was named Sporting News National League Pitcher of the Year for the second-consecutive year.

Recreational drug users, and people wrestling with addiction everywhere, are routinely demonized by the moral majority who refuse to recognize that the criminal sanctions for using illegal drugs is in itself totally immoral.

Michael Phelps is an American hero who proved to the world that people who smoke or have smoked marijuana can be functional and successful in their lives. Maybe the record 20 medals he has won will lead the way to a change in the way people think about recreational drug use.

Also worthy of note - Ryan Lochte's favorites (http://www.vh1.com/celebrity/2012-06-26/ryan-lochte-here-are-20-reasons-wed-like-to-go-for-a-swim-with-you/):

Favorite movie: Cheech and Chong’s Up in Smoke (uh-oh!)
Favorite TV show: The Simpsons
Wonder if his favorite food is Cheetos...

[sanjuro_ronin]

Seriously, make Phelps an example that smoking pot is "OK" is like using Michael Myers as an example to show how important it is to keep a knife sharp.

Being successful IN SPITE of something is NOT an advocacy for that something.

Many athletes use pot to relax and unwind and to help in the recovery process from intense workouts.
Many do NOT.
I've know a few people that function perfectly fine on pot and others that are unfunctioning idiots.

Who gives a flying ****?

[Vajramusti]

545 pounds in the clean and jerk for the Olympic gold by an Iranian 22 year old. Silver- another Iranian.

[Frost]

Iran also won the most golds in greco this time around, three to russias 2, first time they have beaten them at the games

Somehow think the russians will still dominate the freestyle though

[GeneChing]

Now this has gotta hurt.


Weightlifter Matthias Steiner Drops 196kg On Head At London 2012 Olympics (http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2012/08/08/weightlifter-matthias-steiner-drops-weights-head_n_1754697.html?utm_hp_ref=uk)
The Huffington Post UK | By Samuel Luckhurst Posted: 08/08/2012 09:58 Updated: 08/08/2012 12:21

Losing your title may be painful, but rarely in the literal sense. For Beijing Olympic weightlifting champion Matthias Steiner, it really was at London 2012.

http://i.huffpost.com/gen/720662/thumbs/o-STEINER-570.jpg?4

While trying to lift a staggering 196kg with his second lift, the Austrian-born weightlifter buckled under the weight and the bar crashed down onto his head and neck.

http://i.huffpost.com/gen/720668/thumbs/o-STEINER-570.jpg?1

The Viennese bowed out and did not return to lift the weight for a third occasion.

http://i.huffpost.com/gen/720669/thumbs/o-STEINER-570.jpg?1

Steiner has represented Germany since 2005, and the country's Olympic Committee spokesman Michael Vesper said Steiner confirmed he was taken to hospital but was not seriously injured. I'm almost more impressed that he survived this unharmed than I would be if he successfully lifted it.

Follow the link below for a vid.

Worst Olympic Dive: Stephan Feck's London Flop Goes Viral (VIDEO) (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/07/stephan-feck-video-worst-olympic-dive_n_1752738.html?utm_hp_ref=fb&utm_campaign=080812&utm_medium=email&utm_content=NewsEntry&utm_term=Daily+Brief&src=sp&comm_ref=false#sb=3172081,b=facebook)
The Huffington Post | By Cavan Sieczkowski Posted: 08/07/2012 5:03 pm Updated: 08/08/2012 12:10 pm

Stephan Feck probably didn't plan on finishing last in the men's 3-meter springboard diving preliminaries, but he most certainly did not plan on his dive becoming an Internet viral sensation, earning the title of "Worst Olympic Dive."

Feck's embarrassing performance at the Aquatics Centre will likely go down as one of the worst flops of the 2012 London Olympics.

The German competitor's dive seemed like it had solid momentum when Feck first catapulted off the springboard. However, the athlete's hand soon slipped from his thigh, causing him to lose his tuck and land smack on his back in a devastating, backward bellyflop.

Feck failed to qualify, finishing dead last with a score of 133.80. This score put him 167.65 points behind the second-to-last diver. The dive, a forward 3 1/2 somersault and his second of the round, garnered nothing but zeroes from the judges.

"So what the Feck happened?" SB Nation's Ryan Hudson asked. "Quite simply, he performed one of the worst dives ever in Olympic competition... but made himself forever Internet famous."

Headlines did not spare the athlete, either.

The Herald Sun crowed "German Stephan Feck complete dive disaster at Games" while the Mirror went with "Oh Feck! German diver Stephan Feck causes waves with back-slapping dive."

Feck was probably quite sore after his major mishap. Australian rookie Ethan Warren told the Sydney Morning Herald that a fumbled dive can leave some bruises. "It depends how you hit the water, really," he told SMH. "You get this big sort of burning, stinging sensation. A bit of bruising, some blood vessels can pop, but overall that's sport."

Nevertheless, Feck did earn Internet fame -- and some pity.

"We thought this unorthodox attempt was a charming way to break the monotony of seeing every dive performed to perfection. Alas, this whimsy was lost on the judges," wrote Yahoo! Sports writer Greg Wyshynski. "But hey, in the end, the dude still made the Olympics. He probably doesn't give a Feck ..."

[Hebrew Hammer]

http://www.nbcolympics.com/video/track-and-field/highlight-lazaro-borges-snaps-his-pole.html

[Hebrew Hammer]

1. Women's weightlifting commentator: "This is Gregoriava from Bulgaria...... I saw her snatch this morning during her warm up and it was amazing."

2. Dressage commentator: "This is a really lovely horse and I speak from personal experience... since I once mounted her mother."

3. Paul Hamm, Gymnast: "I owe a lot to my parents, especially my mother and father."

4. Boxing Analyst: "Sure there have been injuries, and even some deaths in boxing, but none of them were really that serious."

5. Softball announcer: "If history repeats itself, I should think we can expect the same thing again."

6. Basketball analyst: "He dribbles a lot and the opposition doesn't like it. In fact you can see it all over their faces."

7. At the rowing medal ceremony: "Ah-h, isn't that nice.... the wife of the IOC president is hugging the cox of the British crew."

8. Men's soccer commentator: "Julian ****s is everywhere. It's like they've got eleven ****s on the field."

9. Tennis commentator: "One of the reasons Andy is playing so well is that, before the final rounds, his wife takes out his balls and kisses them... Oh My God, what have I just said.....?"

[Lucas]

hammer that is freaking funny man, thx for posting that.

[GeneChing]

Hold the phone. USA has a shot at a gold in boxing tomorrow? :)

Claressa Shields earns shot at gold (http://espn.go.com/olympics/summer/2012/boxing/story/_/id/8246843/2012-london-olympics-us-claressa-shields-advances-gold-medal-bout)
Updated: August 8, 2012, 12:54 PM ET
Associated Press

LONDON -- The newest American boxing sensation is a ****y teenager with heavy hands, fleet feet and a serious mean streak.

And just like Cassius Clay, Joe Frazier and Oscar De La Hoya before her, Claressa Shields is about to fight for a gold medal.

The 17-year-old middleweight dominated Kazakhstan's Marina Volnova in the semifinals of the first Olympic women's boxing tournament Wednesday, earning a spot in the title bout against Russia's Nadezda Torlopova.

After pounding away at the slower Volnova for most of the 29-15 fight, Shields pounded her taped right fist against her own left shoulder and screamed with joy. The London crowd loved Shields' combination of charisma, skill and strength -- a familiar formula for so many U.S. Olympic boxers over the years, but not lately.

"I'm still kind of shocked," Shields said. "I'm thinking in my head, 'Is it really true? Am I fighting for a gold medal tomorrow?' "

Shields is the last American boxer left in London after flyweight Marlen Esparza lost 10-8 to Chinese world champion Ren Cancan an hour earlier. Ren will fight Britain's Nicola Adams for the flyweight title, while Irish world champion lightweight Katie Taylor also advanced with another strong performance, moving into the championship bout Thursday against Russia's Sofya Ochigava.

Esparza will get a bronze medal, but Shields is the 12-member American team's only shot at gold. All nine men were eliminated in stunning fashion, leaving the winningest team in Olympic history without a medal for the first time.

Shields could give USA Boxing a much-needed boost. The ebullient teenager from Flint, Mich., is one of the sport's fastest-rising stars.

Less than two years after emerging on the American amateur scene, she won her second bout in three days with punishing right hands and relentless aggression, forcing Volnova to take a standing-eight count in each of the last two rounds after she was stunned by vicious combinations.

Shields laughed with joy at the verdict and raised both arms sky-high as she walked to the tunnel after beating up an opponent that wasn't much trouble for her, just as she predicted Monday.

"I was able to put my combinations together, land a lot of clean shots, punch straight," Shields said. "I took the best of her shots and made her miss a lot. I did what I wanted to do with her."

While Shields punched holes in Volnova's defense, Esparza found Ren impenetrable.

Ren's cautious defensive style in her win over the livelier Esparza got the U.S. off to an inauspicious start. The crowd finally got into it when Adams beat Mary Kom of India 11-6, and the ExCel arena turned raucous for Taylor, the Irish world titleholder and pound-for-pound champion of the women's sport.

Taylor didn't disappoint, dominating Tajikistan's impressive teenager, Mavzuna Chorieva. But Taylor didn't impress Ochigava, her longtime nemesis and gold-medal opponent, who said fighters "begin with minus-10 points" against the wildly popular Irish star.

Esparza gamely tried to force Ren into a fight, but the Chinese champion sat back dispassionately and threw counterpunches that scored just enough points to win. Ren's rigid strategy and Esparza's attempts to wait her out earned warnings for both fighters in each of the first three rounds for not throwing enough punches.

Esparza broke down in the fighters' tunnel after the bout, but soon turned her analytical skills on the only opponent who has ever beaten her in two straight meetings.

"It's as boring to me as it is to you," Esparza said. "Everybody can't stand it, but it works. ... I thought I did everything I could do. We knew she wasn't going to commit -- ever -- so the game plan was just to not go forward. When I did go forward, that was when I got caught."

Esparza, the 23-year-old veteran, insists she'll follow through on her plan to retire from boxing and go to college, even though she would still be younger than many of the world's current top amateurs when the Rio Games roll around in 2016.

"My body is falling apart already," she said with a grin. "I'm in sports medicine four hours a day."

[mickey]

Greetings,

I have been following the track competition with great excitement. One thing that I have noticed with two people from the Jamaican track team, Usain Bolt and Shelly Ann Fraser-Pryce, is their sudden association with the consumption of yams as explanation for their improved track performance. This was never done before. When steroids first came out it was called wild yam extract. The association of these two athletes with "yams" makes me feel very uneasy with their victories.

I hope I am wrong about this.

mickey

[Syn7]

The testing is quite strict these days and is even more scrutinized in the track and field sports. I don't think Bolt has done any illegal PED's in the timeframe required to be considered cheating. Maybe he has in the past, maybe not, I dunno. One thing I am sure of today is that he passed the tests and his record will stand. After Ben Johnson, no runner wants to get caught like that. It's one thing to be kicked out for cheating at the worlds, or nationals, it's a whole different and much worse thing when you have you Olympic medals, records and standings erased after the fact. And it's done under the whole worlds dissapointed gaze. No runner will let that happen unless they are completely retarded.

I suppose a few who simply cannot qualify without cheating may come to the conclusion that it's worth it. Better to try and fail than to just not make it at all. But Bolt is different, drugs or not, this cat is a contender. Why would he put himself in the Ben Johnson position when he has a shot even without the dope? He sucks off the blocks but he just takes off at the 30 m mark and that's why people think he cheats, coz he usually comes from behind to win. Of course the odd time he does get a good start, nobody can touch him.

[Syn7]

oh.... and they've been eating yams there forever... this is not new.

[sanjuro_ronin]

I used to train where Ben Johnson trained and saw how he and others trained.
It was some serious freaking training.
I has also seen how the Jamaican team currently trains and it is almost text book like what Ben used to.

RE: Drugs.
There are performance enhancers and then there are "training enhancers" and steroids fall into the "training enhancers".
The allow you to train harder and more because they speed up recovery while "stimulating" your body to increase lean muscle WITH the help of weight training.
Stimulants and "dopping" are performance enhancers.

Over the last few decades we have seen quite a few elite athletes get caught with either PED or training enhancers.
Why?
Lets cut the naive crap for a moment shall we?

They freaking work and there is NO way you get to elite level, having to train like they do, without them.

Period.

They are "SOP" in pro sports and in Olympic sports.

Yes, testing has gotten better BUT so have masking agents and so has the science of "cycling".

If an athelete gets caught nowadays it is usally because they F'ed up on one of the protocols.

[JamesC]

I used to train where Ben Johnson trained and saw how he and others trained.
It was some serious freaking training.
I has also seen how the Jamaican team currently trains and it is almost text book like what Ben used to.

RE: Drugs.
There are performance enhancers and then there are "training enhancers" and steroids fall into the "training enhancers".
The allow you to train harder and more because they speed up recovery while "stimulating" your body to increase lean muscle WITH the help of weight training.
Stimulants and "dopping" are performance enhancers.

Over the last few decades we have seen quite a few elite athletes get caught with either PED or training enhancers.
Why?
Lets cut the naive crap for a moment shall we?

They freaking work and there is NO way you get to elite level, having to train like they do, without them.

Period.

They are "SOP" in pro sports and in Olympic sports.

Yes, testing has gotten better BUT so have masking agents and so has the science of "cycling".

If an athelete gets caught nowadays it is usally because they F'ed up on one of the protocols.

What he said.

Do people actually believe that elite athletes don't use them just because they pass their tests? You HAVE to use them if you want to compete at the elite level.

[Frost]

For those who think the testing is much stricter and harder to get round ….well can you say BALCO and Victor Conte?
A former musician managed to run the most successful PED programme of all time (that we know of) with no medical training and no scientific background, and only got caught years into his scheme because he and his partner fell out and grassed each other up, up until then the fed government was clueless lol
Can you imagine what a real scientist can do?
As for cheating not being that well spread well……How about before the 1984 OL games when the Americans decided to test their athletes a year early so there would be no surprises…and cancelled the programme suddenly and wouldn’t make the findings public (this was when carl lewis tested positive but nothing was done about it)….or how about the fact that at least 5 of Johnsons fellow finalists in 1988 final have been charged with, or accused of taking drugs or dealing them. Or how about the head tester for the US athletic federation who kept all those samples from 1983 and who decided in the wake of the Balco scandal to retest all the samples with the current improved methods…..and found over 50% tested indicated positive and decided to stop there and destroy all samples as he didn’t want to reopen a can of worms

[mickey]

Greetings,

I do believe that the Jamaican sprinters train really hard. If their environmental conditions are right, it can resemble high altitude training, enabling them, in competitions in cooler climates to kick major butt. The reference to an outside substance as an enhancer to their hard work really undermines their efforts, while raising questions as to whether there is a hidden truth to that reference yet to be revealed.

To HAVE to use steroids to maintain oneself at an elite level is one of sadness. I hope things change.

I am aware that they have been eating a lot of yams in Jamaica. There was no reference to Valerie Campbell Brown (Jamaica) eating yams as reason for her abilities.

mickey `

[JamesC]

Greetings,

I do believe that the Jamaican sprinters train really hard. If their environmental conditions are right, it can resemble high altitude training, enabling them, in competitions in cooler climates to kick major butt. The reference to an outside substance as an enhancer to their hard work really undermines their efforts, while raising questions as to whether there is a hidden truth to that reference yet to be revealed.

To HAVE to use steroids to maintain oneself at an elite level is one of sadness. I hope things change.


mickey `

I don't agree. Honestly, what else is there after you've reached your genetic potential?

Is it morally wrong to push those limits once you've reached them? I don't think it is.

[sanjuro_ronin]

I don't know how many know this, but years ago the chinese were getting rgeat results in swimming, results they attributed to cordyceps, a natural energy booster from a mushroom.
It was totally legal.
Recently they discovered that this mushroom doesn't do much at all, BUT it works really well as a "masking agent".
So...

Fact is guys that IF people didn't NEED these things to run 100 meters in 9.58 sec, NO ONE would be taking them.

Am I saying the Bolt and Blake and so many others are taking PED? Nope, what I am saying is that they are taking training/recovery enhancers.

So, here is the thing:
IF they are NOT taking them and they ARE winning, then those "drugs" don't make a difference so DON'T ban them.

Lets be clear about this though, taking something to help you build muscle and aid in recovery is NOT taking a PED, PERIOD.

You STILL have to have the genetic gifts, you STILL have to put in the hours of training everyday and you STILL have to work your freaking ass off !!

[Frost]

High altitude training increasing the number of red blood cells and thus allows you to take in more oxygen, sleeping in a chamber which simulates this altitude also allows this to happen, both of these are legal, extracting your own blood and reinjecting it doe exactly the same thing but is illegal…which is morally wrong and who decides?

And to Ronin are those the same Chinese athletes who hired on mass the east german coaching staff after the wall fell down….:)

[Drake]

Believe it or not, you can run really fast without steroids. It's called hard work. Funny to see such cynicism on a site that eschews the impossible heights attained from hard work.

[sanjuro_ronin]

High altitude training increasing the number of red blood cells and thus allows you to take in more oxygen, sleeping in a chamber which simulates this altitude also allows this to happen, both of these are legal, extracting your own blood and reinjecting it doe exactly the same thing but is illegal…which is morally wrong and who decides?

And to Ronin are those the same Chinese athletes who hired on mass the east german coaching staff after the wall fell down….:)

Yep.
Did you also know that, according to some sources, the coach and trainer of Ben Johnson helped set up the Jamaican sprint program...

I don't think HA training does much for sprinters per say.
I mean, sprint is NOT an endurance event and the main issue is staving off lactic acid build up and sustaining accelration for 10- 20 seconds...

Lets be perfectly clear here that using methods to help you train MORE is NOT cheating and it is silly that the IOC views it as such.

They are penalizing athletes for training more and harder to be the best and break records, the very thing THEY WANT them to do !!

And by they I also mean US.

[sanjuro_ronin]

Believe it or not, you can run really fast without steroids. It's called hard work. Funny to see such cynicism on a site that eschews the impossible heights attained from hard work.

The issue is that steroids do NOT cause ANYONE to run faster !

[David Jamieson]

That's true. There is a spread of 3 seconds in improvement in sprinters in the last 100 years or so. The spread is less than a second in the last 70 years.

The differences are in track surfaces, shoes and training methodology, diet and drugs. And STILL the changes are not hugely significant in the field of human sporting endeavour.

Go figure. lol

[sanjuro_ronin]

That's true. There is a spread of 3 seconds in improvement in sprinters in the last 100 years or so. The spread is less than a second in the last 70 years.

The differences are in track surfaces, shoes and training methodology, diet and drugs. And STILL the changes are not hugely significant in the field of human sporting endeavour.

Go figure. lol

Well, that is a HUGE difference though, LOL !
Fact is that you take two people and clock their 100, then have them take steroids for 3 months and have them do NOTHING but take steroids and clock them again, the difference, if ANY, would be minimal.
The issue is that, with steroids, the runner can train harder and recover quicker, which leads to him/her getting better, faster.
IF THEY TRAIN HARD !

[GeneChing]

...its gonna be reggae. ;)


Condoms breaking Olympic rules (http://msn.foxsports.com/olympics/story/unauthorized-condoms-olympic-village-controversy-london-summer-games-durex-080812)
FOX Sports
Updated Aug 9, 2012 10:06 AM ET

Don’t mess with the official condom of the 2012 London Summer Olympics.

That’s essentially the message being sent by LOCOG, the organizing committee of these games, after a bucket of unauthorized condoms was discovered in the Olympic Village.

Condom-gate came to light when Australian BMX cyclist Caroline Buchanan posted a photo of the bucket on her Twitter account, according to The Guardian newspaper.

The bucket was adorned with a sign bearing the message, “Kangaroos condoms, for the gland downunder," and a photo of a boxing kangaroo.

Organizers of the London Games, following a tradition started in Barcelona in 1992 and backed by the IOC, placed 150,000 free Durex condoms in dispensers for the more than 10,000 athletes competing this summer. Durex paid for the right to supply the condoms.

LOCOG officials are trying to determine how the Kangaroo condoms got into the athletes village, a spokeswoman told The Guardian. The condoms apparently came from Durex rivals Ansell Ltd., an Australian company, and Pasante, a private British firm.

Though athletes and officials were permitted to bring personal items into the village, the spokeswoman told The Guardian that LOCOG "will look into this and ask that they are not handed out to other athletes because Durex are our supplier."

The promotion of products is strictly controlled by Olympic organizers, who make sponsorship deals with a limited number of companies and, thus, want to limit any free publicity by competitors.

A company spokeswoman told The Guardian that Durex was "proud to be supplying free condoms for the Olympics Games" but declined further comment. An Ansell spokeswoman told The Guardian her company was unaware of the situation and suggested it might be a prank. "We have had no official participation or association with the Olympics at all," she said.

Pasante managing director Lawrence Boon denied any involvement by his company and also suggested it was a prank.

"We have no association with the Olympics, but we did launch a gold condom this year for champions," Boon told The Guardian. "With such high teenage pregnancy and STD rates, we try to make people carry condoms by making them fun and interesting."

The number of condoms supplied at London broke the record of 100,000 offered in Beijing four years ago. Organizers of the 2000 Sydney Games had to pull out an additional 20,000 condoms after the athletes worked their way through the initial allocation of 70,000.



Olympic gold also brings athletes green (http://www.sfgate.com/default/article/Olympic-gold-also-brings-athletes-green-3773910.php)
Victoria Black
Updated 8:32 p.m., Wednesday, August 8, 2012

When Kellogg stamped Gabby Douglas' hard-to-forget smile on a box of corn flakes, the company kicked off a string of endorsement deals that will likely make her millions. But even without sponsors, the 16-year-old gymnast will leave London with $50,000, which is what two gold medals is worth in her home country.

Mostly made of silver with at least 6 grams of gold, a gold medal from the 2012 London Olympics is worth about $700. Taking the hard work, dedication and sheer talent of its athletes into account, the United States has upped its assessment, at least with regard to what it will pay.

Relatively modest compared with most of the world's incentives, America pays $25,000 to gold winners, $15,000 to those who earn silver, and $10,000 for bronze.

Singapore, the world leader in Olympic payouts, gives far more, promising its champions a whopping $800,000. Kazakhstan is also a leader in the pecking order of cash prizes. Olga Rypakova, who won the women's triple jump for Kazakhstan, will see $250,000 for her gold. Italy is nearly as generous, giving gold winners up to $182,000.

Awarded at a national level, these bonuses pale in comparison to the prizes local governments are giving. In addition to the $135,000 Russia promises its gold winners, media reports say the regional government of Chelyabinsk Oblast is offering $1 million.

In China, rewards do not stop at cash. Local governments give everything from apartments to luxury cars - and in the case of 2008 weightlifting champion Chen Xiexia, houses for her and for her parents.

Xiexia, who according to media reports won a national award of over $55,000, received double that from Guangdong province, in addition to an Audi Q7.

For the 51 gold medals China took home in 2008, it's estimated that the country paid roughly $55,000 apiece, although the Chinese Olympic Committee has denied this number. The last bonuses China announced go back to 2004, when the country paid roughly $30,000, $18,800 and $12,500 for gold, silver and bronze, respectively. China has not announced its award program for 2012, but Chinese-language Sports Weekly says athletes will probably receive about $51,000.

This year's host country is a bit less generous. Great Britain is awarding no prize money to its medalists, but it will put their faces on Royal Mail stamps. Royalties from postage stamps can reach into the five figures, but unfortunately for tennis star Andy Murray or cyclist Chris Hoy, no Bentleys lie in store for Her Majesty's best.

Britain is the only major medal winner that does not offer cash incentives. The French pay gold medalists $65,000, while South Africa just announced a prize of nearly $55,000. Mexico pays $37,000 for a gold medal - almost twice what Canada offers, which at $20,000 is among the lowest of international payouts.

Victoria Black is an intern for Bloomberg Businessweek. E-mail: business@sfchronicle.com

[MightyB]

NBC pulls ‘creepy’ Olympic video ‘Bodies in Motion’ after backlash (http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/olympics-fourth-place-medal/nbc-pulls-creepy-olympic-video-bodies-motion-backlash-112452501--oly.html)

Watch the Video (http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=bcf_1344586580)

[Frost]

the greatest male freestyle wrestler of the modern age Artur Taymazov does it again
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/olympics/18912848

http://www3.pictures.gi.zimbio.com/Olympics+Day+13+Wrestling+gop5xZWIDhNl.jpg

[Hebrew Hammer]

I thought this was a great Olympics, the coverage and access to all the sports was outstanding...I got to see virtually every event or venue I wanted to watch. It is an incredible production that the IOC and the host country put on, as much as there are examples of poor judging or referrying there are many times as many of solid judiciary.

Highlights for me:

US Women's soccer, indoor and outdoor volleyball, archery, judo, tiny Grenada winning the mens 400m, the entire Dutch Field Hockey team...ladies ladies ladies. I also loved the mens and womens decathlon/pentathlon, the mens 4x100 meter race was absolutely electric. I admire so many of these athletes who don't come from well funded national programs and spend all their lives competing here.

Lowlights:

Most of the scoring in the Martial Arts events. The Tae Kwon Do, no use of hands is rediculous they look like two baby Trex's fighting it out., It was also terribly scored I thought. In boxing some comlpletely wrong decisions were handed down, the wrestling/fencing even with replay I couldn't figure out how some of the judges were reaching points.

I am still waiting to see how many medals will eventually be stripped for athletes using performance enhancing drugs.

Bloody good show England...long live the Queen!!!

[David Jamieson]

Games were good.
I think they did a good job at putting them on.

[Vajramusti]

the greatest male freestyle wrestler of the modern age Artur Taymazov does it again
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/olympics/18912848

http://www3.pictures.gi.zimbio.com/Olympics+Day+13+Wrestling+gop5xZWIDhNl.jpg
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Amazing sense of balance.

[Frost]

------------------------------------------------------------

Amazing sense of balance.

The mere act he was one of only 2 or 3 people to win the par tar when defending the double leg and not attacking with it says everything you need to know about his skill level, I would have entitled the thread the greatest wrestler of modern times but I think this lady takes that title

http://img.rasset.ie/00063fd0-642.jpg

[Vajramusti]

The mere act he was one of only 2 or 3 people to win the par tar when defending the double leg and not attacking with it says everything you need to know about his skill level, I would have entitled the thread the greatest wrestler of modern times but I think this lady takes that title

http://img.rasset.ie/00063fd0-642.jpg
--------------------------------------------------
I understand about his skill...buy who is she? A link...??
Thx.

[CFT]

--------------------------------------------------
I understand about his skill...buy who is she? A link...??
Thx.Kaori Icho?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/olympics/2012/athletes/18ce4cc4-94fe-48cf-ba7e-4c1e1ccbb547

[Vajramusti]

Kaori Icho?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/olympics/2012/athletes/18ce4cc4-94fe-48cf-ba7e-4c1e1ccbb547
------------------------------------
Thanks Chee---she is amazing. What a string of victories.

[Frost]

------------------------------------
Thanks Chee---she is amazing. What a string of victories.

i was actually going with Saori Yoshida the 54kg champ but either one will do lol

About Yoshida

Since her debut in 2002, she has won practically every world- and international-level tournament she has entered. In September 2006, she surpassed a 100-match winning streak. Her streak of 12 consecutive world titles is matched only by Aleksandr Karelin.
Until January 20th, 2008, Yoshida had never lost an international match at the Senior level and held a streak of 119 consecutive victories,
thats 5 more world titles than her team mate lol

[Vajramusti]

i was actually going with Saori Yoshida the 54kg champ but either one will do lol

About Yoshida

thats 5 more world titles than her team mate lol
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Wow!!
A question for Frost----
Karelin was Taymazov's hero.. but now Taymazov has accumulated quite a few medals himself.

Karelin was greco Roman while Taymazov is in free style-a different rule set

All things considered- who do you think was the more accomplished athlete?

FWIW in a previous Olympics Karelin lost to an American- because of the rule regarding loosening a whole.

Karelin's suppl-exes were fearsome.

[Frost]

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Wow!!
A question for Frost----
Karelin was Taymazov's hero.. but now Taymazov has accumulated quite a few medals himself.

Karelin was greco Roman while Taymazov is in free style-a different rule set

All things considered- who do you think was the more accomplished athlete?

FWIW in a previous Olympics Karelin lost to an American- because of the rule regarding loosening a whole.

Karelin's suppl-exes were fearsome.

That’s a good question joy and a hard one lol
Karelin was the most dominant male wrestler in history in my view, they had to change the rules in order for him to lose for lords sake.
He went 13 years undefeated in international competition and six years without giving up a point, heck one competitor from Sweden in the worlds grabbed the mat edge illegally to avoid being gut wrenched and suplexed (how any one can lift a 300 pound man laying face down on the mat and throw them over his head is beyond me)
As an aside when the above happened and the Swedish athlete was kicked out of the competition for grabbing tha mat an American competitor turned to his coach and said that guys a coward and stupid for doing that…. his coach replied he might just be the smartest man in the room because he had finally figured out a way to stop being thrown by Karelin
BUT as you say it was in Greco and the superheavyweight category which was then 130kg, so the pool of talent he faced was less, Taymazov competed in a more competitive field so his accomplishments I feel in the OL games are more impressive BUT he has nowhere near the same number of world titles as Karelin
So on reflection id say Karelin simply because he dominated every competition he entered not just the OL games
Who do you pick?

[Vajramusti]

[QUOTE=Frost;1183427]
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Thanks- me too;
Karelin- without diminishing Taymazov's own great achievements in free style.
In addittion to Karelin's pick ups, turns, throws-specially the awesome supplexes,

I am also factoring in some well known stories:

carrying his own fridge up the stairs to yje top floor of one of those multi story Russian apartment buildings (strength) and spontaneously kicking a chandelier (flexibility)in an hotel lobby (in Rome?).

His runs in rough landscapes hurdling over fallen trees in the snow(wind and stamina)

Gardner "won" because of a rule on maintaining finger locking on a hold!

[Frost]

[QUOTE=Frost;1183427]
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Thanks- me too;
Karelin- without diminishing Taymazov's own great achievements in free style.
In addittion to Karelin's pick ups, turns, throws-specially the awesome supplexes,

I am also factoring in some well known stories:

carrying his own fridge up the stairs to yje top floor of one of those multi story Russian apartment buildings (strength) and spontaneously kicking a chandelier (flexibility)in an hotel lobby (in Rome?).

His runs in rough landscapes hurdling over fallen trees in the snow(wind and stamina)

Gardner "won" because of a rule on maintaining finger locking on a hold!

yep as an athlete he was simply on another level, he scared international level competitors into getting themselves disqualified rather than thrown, that probably says all you need to know about him lol

[GeneChing]

The Paralympics Opening Ceremony: Oh Braver, Newer World! (http://olympics.time.com/2012/08/30/the-paralympics-opening-ceremony-oh-braver-newer-world/)
If the Olympics Opening Ceremony was edgy, the Paralympics Opening Ceremony traveled to the edge and beyond, encouraging the able-bodied among us to look, really look, at people with disabilities and, in so doing, to acknowledge our own.
By Catherine Mayer | @catherine_mayer | August 30, 2012

http://timeolympics.files.wordpress.com/2012/08/london-paralympics-opening.jpg?w=600&h=400&crop=1
Margaret Maughan, Britain's first Paralympic gold medalist, lights the Paralympic flame during the Opening Ceremony for the 2012 Paralympics in London, Aug. 29, 2012.

The Olympics Opening Ceremony confronted us with a vision of the United Kingdom that divided audiences. (Tory backbencher Aidan Burley tweeted that Danny Boyle’s show was “multicultural crap” and “the most leftie opening ceremony I have ever seen.” Britain’s Immigration Minister Damian Green responded by urging fellow Conservatives to pass the “Danny Boyle test and cheer the numerous virtues of Britain in 2012,” including, presumably, universal healthcare, celebrated in the dance routine that provoked Burley’s tweet.) But if Boyle’s show was edgy, Bradley Hemmings and Jenny Sealey, the co-directors of the Paralympics Opening Ceremony, traveled to the edge and beyond, confronting us not just with a vision of the U.K., but the whole world, and setting audiences a much tougher test than Boyle’s. Their show encouraged the able-bodied among us to look, really look, at people with disabilities and, in so doing, to acknowledge our own.

We are frequently deaf to prejudices against people with physical or mental impairments. We routinely turn a blind eye to the architecture of modern life that throws unnecessary steps in the path of wheelchairs and places handles and shelving out of reach. Admonished from an early age that it’s rude to stare, we learn instead to do something far more discourteous: to ignore. The Paralympics is set to provide a dramatic corrective to that tendency, and its opening night couldn’t have been more attention-grabbing.

Nor could it have been more fun—even if the parade of paralympians took almost an hour longer than planned. The athletes’ joy and pride proved infectious, and some of the stories that led them to the Olympic Stadium were, to deploy a word that’s in danger of wearing out from intensive usage over 11 days of competition, inspirational. As Maxine Wiltshire, who lost both legs in a wave of bombings that hit London on 7 July 2005, the day after the city secured the right to host the Games, prepared to enter the stadium as a member of Britain’s sitting volleyball squad, she spoke to Clare Balding, co-hosting the Paralympics for commercial broadcaster Channel 4 after her star turn for the BBC at the Olympics. Fate had brought her to the moment, said Wright, who rather than bemoaning the bad luck that placed her next to a suicide bomber, considers herself lucky to have survived. “Fate is what happens to you, destiny is what you do with it,” replied Balding.

In Channel 4′s commentary box, the broadcaster’s storied news anchor Jon Snow provided a wider, geopolitical context to an event in which many competitors have lost limbs to war and which owes its origins to a pioneering doctor working to rehabilitate servicemen wounded in World War II through sport. As Snow gave learned, and often sober, disquisitions on the countries represented at the Games, a BBC producer called Brendan Miller imagined, on Twitter, how Snow might commentate a soccer match: “There’s Fabregas. He’s from Spain. They’ve got 48% unemployment for under 25s…” Yet, as NBC’s coverage of Boyle’s show demonstrated, better to know too much, rather than too little.

And the commentators knew when to shut up and let others do the talking; and what excellent guides there were during the spectacular sequences of music, movement and drama that bracketed the parade. The Tempest, Shakespeare’s most melancholic comedy, provided themes and a structure for this ceremony, as it had done for Boyle’s and for the Olympics closing show too. Ian McKellen, familiar to international movie audiences as Gandalf and to his compatriots as a passionate campaigner on gay rights and other equality issues, bestrode the stage as Prospero, shepherding young Miranda, played by Nicola Miles-Wildin, an actor with juvenile chronic arthritis. “How beauteous mankind is,” she exclaimed, looking up at an aerial ballet performed by dancers in wheelchairs and without limbs. “Oh brave new world, that has such people in it.”

Her journey of enlightenment was narrated by the physicist Stephen Hawking, brilliant and so physically debilitated by almost half a century of motor neurone disease that he appears eerily close to becoming the disembodied brain of sci fi fantasies. As such, he seemed, at first, a startling choice for a celebration of sporting achievement. Yet, of course, he is the perfect exponent both of the possibilities of mind over matter—the triumph of the will—and the remorseless supremacy of physical principles.

In a hilarious, moving and, yes, inspiring finale to Miranda’s travels, Prospero urged her to her “greatest adventure—be who you are and help to change the world.” This was the signal for dance duo Orbital, accompanied by members of the fabulous Graeae theater company and using samples of Hawking’s electronic voice, to launch into a ferocious cover version of Spasticus Autisticus, the best, nastiest, funniest song about disability to ever set feet and prosthetics tapping. Ian Dury, one of the most idiosyncratic performers to emerge from Britain’s musical new wave and disabled by childhood polio, came up with the track to counter patronizing portrayals of the “handicapped.” The title echoes the climax of Stanley Kubrick’s movie Spartacus, in which slaves pass up the chance of avoiding execution by identifying the eponymous hero, instead expressing solidarity by standing up to cry “I’m Spartacus!” In the stadium thousands, sitting or standing, joined Dury’s chorus, “I’m Spasticus!”, and viewers—a peak of 11.2 million of them in the U.K. alone—were Spasticus too.

It won’t last, that moment of unity and enlightenment. But it was profound, and the Games promise to continue challenging preconceptions and prejudices.

I was forwarded this wonderful webseries:
Blind Judoka Trailer -- Jordan Mouton's Judo Training to Invade London Paralympics (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D5oBL1UrNMA)
Coach Willy Cahill is the designer of Tiger Claw's Cahill Jujitsu uniforms (http://www.martialartsmart.com/11-56.html).

[GeneChing]

Olympic boxer who misplaced bronze medal in 2013 finally finds it…at home (http://en.rocketnews24.com/2016/01/20/olympic-boxer-who-misplaced-his-bronze-medal-in-2013-has-finally-found-it-at-home/)
Preston Phro 2 days ago

https://sociorocketnewsen.files.wordpress.com/2016/01/satoshi.jpg?w=580&h=476

Reported as stolen at one point, Satoshi Shimizu’s 2012 bronze Olympic medal has been recovered. The boxer found it while unpacking after moving!

In 2012, Satoshi Shimizu and Ryōta Murata became the first Japanese boxers to medal at the Olympics since 1968, making Shimizu’s bronze disc incredibly valuable. Unfortunately, said medal went missing after an event at the Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium in March 2013, which led to a report of theft being filed with the police. We can only imagine how distraught Shimizu must have been about the loss of the medal — we definitely would have spent a few days crying into a bottle of cheap bourbon.

However, nearly three years later, Shimizu had a stroke of luck: he found the long-lost medal while unpacking after moving.

Yesterday, the boxer posted an apology on his Facebook page, explaining that the medal had been between some clothes inside a clothes chest for the last three years. He went on to say that the report of theft had been withdrawn, while also extending an apology to everyone at the Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium and all who had supported him. Finally, he promised not to let a mistake like this happen again and to do his best to at the next Olympics, which will be in Rio de Janeiro this year.

While it might be a bit embarrassing for Shimizu, we have to applaud his taking ownership of the situation and publicly stating what happened. And we definitely want to wish him good luck in the upcoming Olympics!

Hopefully he’ll have better luck competing in 2016 than the Japanese committee has had building the stadium for the 2020 Summer Olympics…

Sources: Facebook/Satoshi Shimizu, Asahi Shinbun
Featured image: Facebook/Satoshi Shimizu

punch drunk already, and he's so young...:rolleyes: