Looks more like he was coming back left to avoid the tree. Don't think there was much thinky about covering a line more "merde, arbre"
Im not seeing any problem with that, he pounced at exactly the right moment with explosive power and got ahead. Very impressive from an athlete at the top of their game
The vid with the Frenchy losing his front wheel, is that immediately before the winning move or some other Time?
Evie Richards needs to be congratulated too. After being badly concussed earlier this year she's hardly done much racing and came in 5th in her race. She also cheered Tom on (which she's done before), such a great female rider.
Koretzky swung across as the course rejoined, obviously hoping he was going to beat Pidcock but clearly didn’t have the acceleration and clipped Pidcock. I’ve watched it several times, and Pidcock had the best, straight line and the speed, Koretzky misjudged the line, timing and just how fast Pidcock was able to put the hammer down and get his wheel in front.
No bias, it’s perfectly clear that Pidcock had the speed in his legs, and the absolute determination to get in front.
Brilliant performance, great racing.
Why is Archery such a thing in S Korea?
It’s part of their history and culture, I think going back to horse-mounted warriors and possibly back to the Mongol horse archers. They really are the team to beat in international competitions. It’s a shame that archery isn’t a bigger part of our culture, considering our history of using archers in battle, even as recently as the 1700’s - musketeers were used extensively at that time, but there were still trained archers in the British army. A warbow practice distance as set by law was twelve score yards (240), or 219 metres, a range that’s now been easily beaten by longbow archers using bows made to medieval pattern, so somewhere close to 8-900 feet.
Trouble there, is, finding the space to safely shoot a bow to those distances, international competitions shoot at 70m, 230ft, at the club I shoot at, I changed from 30 to 40 yds, while changing my sight an arrow just went over the top of the target and I found it at the 70m line; there is a 10° limit on the elevation that you can shoot at, to avoid the risk of arrows going outside the club boundary.
Especially true when shooting compound bows, which aren’t included in Olympic events. Yet.
Someone really needs to explain the judging on the boxing to me. I've seen a few fights now and each time the fighter who's been on the front foot more, Landed more connecting jabs, and more significant blows hasn't won. Latest is the British boxer Delicious Orie.
Bbc4 has an interesting programme on the building Eiffel tower. A tenuous link to the Olympics but interesting.
Latest is the British boxer Delicious Orie.
Just watched that, it was an absolute travesty.
Last lap showed two superb riders at the top of their game. I'm not sure Pidcock would have beaten him up that last slope given how Koretzky went past him to the top. It would certainly have been close.
I did wonder if he'd gone right to cover a potential overtake.
Great race from both (all) riders.
Just watched that, it was an absolute travesty
Not just me thinking that then
I was an archer back in my late teens and we had a woman push a child in a pushchair behind the targets one morning. Had ignored all the warning signs etc. When asked what she was doing she said she thought it was ok as she was behind the targets and not in front...
Koretzky lost that bad, the mistake, then picking the right hand long way, when Pidcock went left via the touch shorter route
bit amateur hour from the pits though, even though they didn't rush or panic in the moment, front wheel/back wheel should have been ready to go every lap without them being surprised it was needed as well as fluids/gels, hell of a come back though
Tom looked casual as **** though, didn’t even take his hand from the bars and drank from the bottle, class!.
Some of the French fans need to go and sit in a quiet room and have a think about how they behaved.
If Pidcock hadn't had the wheel change he would have left Koretzky for dead long before his smart line choice that got their pants in a twist.
I hope Tom had time to shout " ON YOUR LEFT" 🙂
bit amateur hour from the pits though, even though they didn’t rush or panic in the moment
You could argue that he overshot the pit box. Yes they should have been looking out every lap but they had to back up a bit to grab a wheel.
.
Koretzky made two mistakes in the lap that ultimately cost him gold. Pidcock said that the right line was smoother the left line had a hole but any gap at that stage he was going for it.
Pidcock moment of the race for me was leaving the pits with a bottle in his mouth, going full throttle, and then clearing the drop off & jump still clenching the bottle in his teeth. Chapeau!
https://twitter.com/VelonCC/status/1817954468060635394
Just been taking a look at the road race course. There are some steep fast descents on city streets. I hope to god it doesn’t rain or there will be carnage.
Happy birthday Tom.
Pidders has been doing quite a lot of interviews this morning and he confirmed what others have said above, that the mechanic didn't see him waving from the top, pointing out the puncture. I too couldn't understand why the wheels weren't nearer the front, puncture ready. However the change was quick in the end. It was very dusty in the bunnyhop household when Pidders passed that line in gold medal position.
Tom said he was shattered after that race. I'm not surprised. He's now looking forward to Saturday's road race.
Unfortunate, or fortunate depending on how you see it that the Triathlon has been delayed. Speculation that rain may prevent it happening tomorrow too. Which would be a bit shit
Tests are being carried out daily on the water quality in the Seine, which is also due to host the triathlon mixed relay on 5 August, the Olympic marathon swimming on 8 and 9 August, and the Para-triathlon event at the Paralympics, which start on 28 August.
Organisers said about 1.4bn euros (£1.2bn) has been spent on a regeneration project to make the Seine safe to swim in after a 100-year-old ban from doing so.
But as recently as June this year the level of E coli bacteria was 10 times the acceptable level imposed by sports federations.
Which would be a bit shit
Literally 🙂
Just been taking a look at the road race course. There are some steep fast descents on city streets. I hope to god it doesn’t rain or there will be carnage.
I think there is more risk of the tarmac melting now.
Both possibly. It’s going to be 36 in Paris today, then a big Thunderstorm warning from 5PM. I’m due to fly into CDG this afternoon and the wind is Variable 20kts, gusting 50kts!! That’s the sort of wind forecast you usually see in USA with supercells, so going to be a fun evening ??
I'm watching the high speed table tennis gold medal match at the moment. Fast and furious.
I'll watch some BMX tricks later on..
It's sad that Charlotte Worthington has not qualified for the BMX.
Men's trap finals (clay pigeon) on at the mo. GB currently in the lead. Not sure how many clays are involved in the competition.
Not sure how many clays are involved in the competition.
From the BBC site...
The competitors each shoot at 25 targets, at which point the sixth-placed athlete is eliminated. The lowest ranked competitor is then eliminated after every subsequent five shots each.
When only two athletes remain, they each shoot at another 10 targets (thus completing a total of 50 targets in the final), with their overall score determining the winner.
The GB competitor (Hales) scored 24 out of 25 in the initial set.
Silver or gold for GB Nathan Hayles
I read that as "when two athletes remain they shoot at each other"........a new meaning to sudden death final I guess
Wow - new Olympic Record (48/50) and he also holds the World Record at 49/50.
It’s sad that Charlotte Worthington has not qualified for the BMX.
I'm gutted about that! I wonder what happened, it just seemed like her heart wasn't in either of the two runs she did.
Wow – new Olympic Record (48/50) and he also holds the World Record at 49/50.
Previous Olympic record was 43, so a pretty impressive increase! Chinese dude in silver place scored 44 so must be a bit gutted to break the previous record and not even win.
Previous Olympic record was 43, so a pretty impressive increase! Chinese dude in silver place scored 44 so must be a bit gutted to break the previous record and not even win.
Yeah, they both did something special. I watched the last bit of it and I didn't even spot one clay.
Someone really needs to explain the judging on the boxing to me
I've no interest in boxing but a good mate coaches under 18's at a local club, his take when I've asked the same question is basically 'boxing is the most corrupt sport in the world'. My take is that if no one has won by KO the 12th round should continue until someone does, no judges at all
The Pidcock race would make for the perfect Tom Cruise script: our hero is already successful and highly familiar to us. He sets off on his latest mission and all goes to plan until he suffers a major setback. But he is lucky as his back up is relatively close to hand and he has time to make amends. Using his cool calculating head he bides his time on his revenge mission and just as it looks as he is gaining ascendency we realise his foe has something in reserve. The daring fightback looks to be in vain when, with a final piece of quick thinking and skill, he snatches victory from the jaws of defeat.
I had no idea Johnny Vegas was so knowledgeable about gymnastics.
Idly flicking through channels, that US gymnastics floor routine is impressive.
Commentators seem to agree but I have no idea how the scoring or judging works. Kind of like in BMX or skateboarding when the commentators excitedly say what trick it is and all I've seen is a wildly tumbling athlete impossibly spinning around in midair and then a score to 3 decimal places is given.
WTF?!
Also, that Italian - holy ****, how does the human body actually do that?!
Given what's happened in lots of sports I'm slightly to uncomfortable with the middle aged male coaches hugging the gymnasts.
It's bloody impressive but feels a bit odd with the dance elements.
Given what’s happened in lots of sports I’m slightly to uncomfortable with the middle aged male coaches hugging the gymnasts.
I wondered how to phrase that and then decided against mentioning it so I'm glad it's not just me.
Who on earth decided to hold the triathlon swimming in the river in the middle of a huge city like Paris? That’s just an inseine idea!
Especially one where until very recently all the neighbouring streets dumped raw sawage direct into it....
They have been connecting buildings up to sewers over the last four years, but still are only part way through the process.
I don't mind the ambition though - using the prospect of the games to try to drive change that will benefit the residents of Paris in the long term. It could have been quite the Olympic legacy. Unfortunately they didn't quite make it though.
London didn't even bother trying to use the Thames, and it has got progressively more filthy over the past decade.
Tennis: I'm old enough to remember when doubles partners didn't fist pump after every single flipping shot . Even after one of them's done sod all, or screwed up. It's so irritating.
The Great Britain swimmers trackies are a bit on the chavvy side...
