Now that was fun!
Ganna 😳
In the team pursuit, the lead Danish rider was looking at the floor for an extended period of time in order to be as aero as possible, this caused him to crash into the trailing UK rider.
Seems pretty crazy that UCI makes all sorts of rules for sock height, banning supertuck, etc but have nothing targeted towards lead riders maintain some forward situational awareness.
I admit, at this level of riding you would not expect the 3rd competing rider to have fallen so far back, but all sorts of hazards can occur on the track - fallen rider/equipment issue etc. Surely it is reasonable to expect lead riders to maintain a bit of forward vision and try to avoid hazards?
Surely it is reasonable to expect lead riders to maintain a bit of forward vision and try to avoid hazards?
Agreed, but it would have been a bit of a travesty if gb were advanced ahead of the Danes. Was quite pleased to see Italy win though.
I dont understand why we were in the seventh/eighth race, surely the point of the round against the clock is to find the fastest teams after that it should be a simple knock out so we would have gone into the bronze run off. What would have happened if we had been caught and had no time, which race would we have gone in?
What would have happened if we had been caught and had no time, which race would we have gone in?
3/4 (i think)
No, the seeding means that the winners of 1v4 and 2v3 will go into gold medal race. For the other 6, it's just ranking on fastest times in their races. As slowest we were in 8th pos, but even without a crash Charlie was way off the pace and we'd have been well down
On another note, I've managed to watch the speed clmbing and the leading from the mean's climbing yesterday, ahas anyone got a link to coverage of the buoldering?
No, the seeding means that the winners of 1v4 and 2v3 will go into gold medal race. For the other 6, it’s just ranking on fastest times in their races. As slowest we were in 8th pos, but even without a crash Charlie was way off the pace and we’d have been well down
But this is illogical you are mixing two race formats in one race - a head to head and a time trial - it should be solely be one or the other and if the latter why bother as you have already done one.
But this is illogical you are mixing two race formats in one race – a head to head and a time trial – it should be solely be one or the other and if the latter why bother as you have already done one.
It's long been a complaint in the TP.
The qualification run (only one team on the track) is based on time to give a seeding.
Only the top four teams can compete for the gold medal, with teams fifth and lower only able to reach the bronze final at best (that's a fairly recent rule change, it used to be 1st vs 8th, 2nd vs 7th and so on).
In the next round, the fastest team takes on the fourth fastest, and the second and third ride against each other – with the winner of each match-up progressing to the gold medal final.
The bottom four teams are also seeded against each other, and the two fastest teams not to reach the gold-medal final, contest the bronze-medal final.
In the finals, there are the two medal finals, as well as a placings final to determine who finishes fifth and sixth, and seventh and eighth.
Problem is that you can end up in a situation where a ride off for Bronze or a minor placing actually records a faster time than the Gold/Silver ride off. It's unlikely since by definition the fastest teams in qualifying should have got through but it has happened.
Today for example, GB went in the 7th / 8th place ride off and GB got a 3.45. That was faster than the time that Canada did to win the 5th / 6th ride off. If you were basing it on a purely TT format, GB would have come 4th.
This^
Don't know why rules changed, but it is now effectively a 4km time trial for all but the gold-silver race
If you can't win your semi, you now have to bury yourself still to make the 3/4 race, where you could have 'conceded' and rolled in saving yourselves. I think it also plays against the idea of a pursuit, eg going out super fast to try to get the others to have to change their plans and speed up beyond their comfort and hope they blow up worse than you do. You might win your race by winning the pursuit but still not progress.
Not a fan of the change
Standard of women's skateboarding is stunning.
Standard of women’s skateboarding is stunning.
I know, watching a thirteen year old riding a ‘board like she does is humbling, but she’s been riding since she was five. But it’s the fact she survived a horrible crash, was back on a board two weeks later with her arm in a cast, and pulls off a performance like that not that long after. Youngest ever Olympian, too.
I can barely stand upright on a bloody skateboard!
Youngest ever Olympian
British.
She's a vet compared to the 12yo Japanese girl that won silver.
I think the BBC said that the combined age of the podiums in the women's streetstyle and park was 86. Bloody kids!!
Is there a better Olympic spectacle than the weightlifting? Where else can you see the competitors compete for second place#. Finish their competition and then watch the star come out and win Gold o first lift, then obliterate records at a whim. You owe it to familiarize with the rules and watch on catch up. Just remarkable.
The skateboarding was a great watch. I’m won over, for sure.
It's brilliant. Right up until the point where I was just channel flicking one night and saw a weightlifter dislocate his elbow doing a lift.
I can just about watch it on highlights assuming they won't show something like that, but still the memory means I wince at every lift and watch from behind the settee. My arse is knitting buttons just thinking about it.
Still, quarter of a tonne give or take!
The skateboarding was a great watch. I’m won over, for sure.
No no no no no.
No place for any sports that need judges :rollseyes:
If you can’t win your semi, you now have to bury yourself still to make the 3/4 race, where you could have ‘conceded’ and rolled in saving yourselves. I think it also plays against the idea of a pursuit, eg going out super fast to try to get the others to have to change their plans and speed up beyond their comfort and hope they blow up worse than you do. You might win your race by winning the pursuit but still not progress.
I dont think your conclusion is right the winner will go through, but the sentiment is correct as there is jeopardy to going all out to catch a stronger team as you may blow up and do worse than your best and thus lose your chance at a bronze, which in my view is wrong and makes it a bugger's muddle. The previous system was better.
No place for any sports that need judges
You mean you don’t like horse dancing? 😳
I love them all, but there was a discussion a few pages back (as there always is around Olympics time) about 'judged' sports not really being sports.
Which is clearly bollocks
Teams have worked out how to beat us in the cycling then - just ride into us!
Just watching the woman's platform diving, absolutely incredible performance from the Chinese divers.
This surprised me. Has it really never happened before?
https://twitter.com/Tokyo2020/status/1423181987959873538
Teams have worked out how to beat us in the cycling then – just ride into us!
That was the rider in 4th place moving up, the Dutch rider behind jinked to try and avoid her, clipped the wheel anyway and went straight into GB.
It's actually quite upsetting that a simple crash like that can completely obliterate any chance of a medal. 4 years of work and training wiped out in half a second through no fault of your own. 🙁
a simple crash like that can completely obliterate any chance of a medal
Your surname is Roglic and I claim my five pounds. It’s a cruel sport sometimes.
Yeah and I've been a victim of that too (at the vastly lower level of the local 3rd/4th cat races!) but it's not really the way you want to see a race progress.
Men's Omnium is good fun, enjoying this.
Brilliant assassin ride from Walls in the devil there!
And my 10am meeting has just been cancelled! 🙂
when is the final race? I may need to cancel some meetings myself.
Fair bit still to go - keirin final, points in the omnium plus the minor sprint final races. Think we're here till 11.
i mean final omnium race
Think it's next (if you're watching BBC1). Schedule says 0955 but I guess they're a bit behind after the Dutch rider's crash earlier.
This surprised me. Has it really never happened before?
Makes note for Tricast bet in 2024 😉
You'd have thought that Matt Walls might have been a bit closer marked! He's done a phenomenal ride. 🙂
Looking forward to seeing Laura Kenny in the Women's Omnium as well. Be a bit of a change for GB after routinely getting Gold in the Pursuit to be picking up Golds in the Omnium which was never really focussed on as much.
Is there a better Olympic spectacle than the weightlifting? Where else can you see the competitors compete for second place#. Finish their competition and then watch the star come out and win Gold o first lift, then obliterate records at a whim. You owe it to familiarize with the rules and watch on catch up. Just remarkable.
We've watched a couple of the different sessions, now watching the 109kg+ men on catch-up. It's great, MsBeej is very into it.
I've been watching the Men's Skateboard on the Beeb. Ed's commentary sounds like a round of Mornington Crescent. It's all nonsense to me.
My footnote was lost. But for those that don’t know, in weightlifting you post the weight you plan to lift. The weight standard then increases, so you have to attempt at least the standard. You get three lifts. Now for mind games, one lifter can hold out until the standard gets high and come in for their first lift. There are two lift types and you have a Snatch weight, a clean and jerk. And the sum. Weight records were reset a few years ago.
In the 109+ kg there is a current star, Lasha Talakhadze who’s first lift is already proposed as higher than the rest. And if he walks on and lifts that weight, he wins gold essentially competing against himself. He’s 10% better than the nearest competitor. That good.
Nothing else like it.
The cynic in me thinks we've seen plenty like it before @TiRed. The Armstrong era for instance.
Well Lasha served a two year ban for stanazole. I’m under no illusions about the cleanliness of weightlifting, boxing and powerlifting. These are second only to rugby for UKAD. But still a spectacle.
I'm a big rugby fan, always assumed that a significant proportion are on gear....however aren't quite a lot of them just caught using the old 'Colombian Marching Powder'?
I did enjoy watching the weightlifting tbf!
Colombian Marching Powder tends to be the preserve of motorsports participants. Steroids for weights and rugby, EPO for cycling. A lot of other sports are also steroid positives, sometimes for contamination. Needless to say this is one of my other hobbies/busman’s holiday.
On another note, I’ve managed to watch the speed clmbing and the leading from the mean’s climbing yesterday, ahas anyone got a link to coverage of the buoldering?
iPlayer?
I’ve been watching the Men’s Skateboard on the Beeb. Ed’s commentary sounds like a round of Mornington Crescent. It’s all nonsense to me.
There speaks someone who's never played SSX Tricky.
whether he's ripped to his tits on whatever or squeaky clean, that's still quarter of a tonne he's throwing above his head.
Just cannot take the race walking seriously, looks suspiciously like a jog at times.
We ended up watching a bit of the 20km whilst trying to find the climbing. It's utterly ridiculous, like you say, they seem to jog whenever they think a judge isn't looking! The bloke in second place was practically running at one point.....and even if they do stick to a 'walk' it's just ludicrous, surely the point of a race is to get there in the fastest time,ie by running!
It's like having a Road Race category where everyone has to do it on a shopping bike.
That's too similar to real bike riding, the rider with the most power would still win.
What we need to see is everyone on a 1:1 ratio fixed gear bike, where you have to stand up the whole way.