The one about the Olympic Games 2024

(… not that I’m an athlete.  I’m a wreck.  It was some competition prize or other.)

Mrs S got to see a 2024 Olympic Gold medal in the flesh today at an equestrian event in Lancashire where one of the eventing team was making an appearance.  I guess they all can’t go on the lash for the rest of the olympics after their event has finished although I would if I won gold.

On a similar theme – this country is delusional

27% of Britons reckon that they could qualify for a sport at the 2028 Olympics, if they started training today

% saying they would definitely/probably qualify for…
10m Air Rifle: 15%
Archery: 13%
Badminton: 10%
Table tennis: 9%
Rowing: 7%
100m sprint: 6%
Road race: 6%
100m… pic.twitter.com/I7EMl57SlA

— YouGov (@YouGov) August 10, 2024

I race track. Not well, but am in the bunch. Lifting double my body weight is a totally different thing. Sure the track guys are fast, 60 km/h in the madison, but you and I can ride the velodrome at decent pace. But lifting even my own weight would be a challenge!

Hahaha you just know that all of that 28% voted Brexit

Hahaha you just know that all of that 28% voted Brexit

Taking back control now means they’re free to compete in the Olympics – without any of those immigrant folk like Sir Mo Farah coming over here and stealing our medals.

The 13% who reckon they can do archery is funny. Have you seen how far away the target is?! Most people could barely see it, never mind reliably hit it!

As for track cycling – my fastest time around the black line was about 1″ slower than Chris Hoy’s time when he was warming up for his sprint at the very top of the track, building up speed before diving down to hit the 200m line. He could ride (at warm up pace) around the absolute top of the track, so a long way further than the black line, quicker than I could ride the black line at full speed.

Advertising rules are so tight in venues – only official sponsors and I think athlete’s kit is allowed – so even the Fender on the headstock of the guitars has been taped over.

Fantastic untapped resource of 100 metre runners. Or are they confirming they can run 100 meters?

Psychologists reckon you require about 10,000 hours of practise to reach elite level and there’s about 35,000 hours in 4 years, that’s pretty well 8 hours per day, every day between now and then…what are they waiting for? Chop, chop

He could ride (at warm up pace) around the absolute top of the track, so a long way further than the black line, quicker than I could ride the black line at full speed.

Yeahbut what’s his best ride London time eh? Yours is faster.

Contractually required Tom Cruise on a motorbike

What’s the deal with snoop dogg, is he a party guest who keeps hanging about. salt bae 2

That’s a hell of a pool of potential medal winners we have for LA. If they can be bothered.

Gold medal haul was down – just below the Netherlands.

Well they’ve caught up with us at cycling. Literally and figuratively.

The one event I think people could have a chance at, if they  could be bothered, and have some talent, is 10m air pistol. Little kit is required (just the pistol and a target), you practice indoors, and you can just about do it in a garage. Of course you’ll need five hours per day to train, but it’s doable. 25m rifle is hard as the target is so much smaller and the kit requirements greater. As is the disassembly of the scope for targetting for each discipline.

Instead of looking at them as percentages, I’ll remind you that 6% is 1/17. And do you think 1/17 could train for the Olympic road race in four or eight years ?.

BTW shooting clubs are on their knees. All those potential new members can only be good news!

But lifting even my own weight would be a challenge

Really? What kind of lift? Squat or deadlift? I think you’d be surprised at what you can do with a bit of training around technique. I’m not strong on the bike at all fitness wise, but I can deadlift 2X my bodyweight with ease and my squat is 1.6X BW. My experience suggests the leg strength cyclists have automatically puts them well above most normal folk when it comes to lifting

Archery ?

C’mon… remember Agincourt ? English archers socked it to lefrogs.

We need SKS to pass a law that every man must practice archery for 12 hours every Sunday, just like in the good old days (of rickets, plague and death before 40).  Gold medals a nailed on cert.

Not sure how the local ‘spoons will cope though if their clientele isn’t inside drinking pissy lager from 8.30am onwards.

The archers were Welsh.

Just been to the local Cafe – the Australian womens “breaking” (not sure why we aren’t calling this breakdancing anymore? or if it’s different?) was a wonderfully unifying topic of conversation.

Consensus was:

1.  WTAF was THAT?

2.  Poor woman.  She’s being mocked globally – hope she’s ok.

3.  How did that happen?  We MUST have some Breaking talent in Australia, how did we end up selecting somebody with a PHd in it…. but that can’t actually do it?  Feels like a 99th hour “do we have somebody for this?”, “google says there’s somebody from Macquarie Uni with a PHd in it….. let just ask her if she can come and have a crack”

Remarkable scenes

The one event I think people could have a chance at, if they  could be bothered, and have some talent, is 10m air pistol.

Would agree with that.  I used to spend a quite a bit of time playing darts when I was around 14 and got pretty good just though continual practice of showing the same thing at the same target at the same distance (even got a 9 dart finish).

I reckon if I had spent the same time shooting an air pistol I would have been pretty good.  What is the competition like to qualify though?

On the other side, I also used to play a bit of badminton when same age and thought I was okay.  One game against someone who played for just the county soon put me straight with a 21-0 loss.  I wouldn’t be qualifying for that any time soon!

I think that would be key, how many people are even trying to qualify for the Olympics in the given activity and what level are they – I would guess they are all pretty bloody good.

BTW shooting clubs are on their knees. All those potential new members can only be good news!

Sports and leisure clubs (and facilities in general) are on their knees nationally. Funding cuts for coucnils forcing closure of pools/gyms/playgrounds, school cuts forcing them to sell off their playing fields, lack of qualified teachers, fear of litigation if a child injures themselves. Lack of access – especially in deprived areas, cost of entry to [sport], too much traffic (with secondary effects of fewer people cycling and walking).

And here are the consequences. Yes it’s taken 15 years to work through the system but there are fewer people doing sport, fewer opportunities to be talent spotted and progressed.

Really? What kind of lift? Squat or deadlift? I think you’d be surprised at what you can do with a bit of training around technique.

Neither are Olympic lifts though, the snatch and clean and jerk both require considerable technique and strength – more so than squatting or deadlifts

I wonder how much failure or success in certain Olympic sports effects their grass routes funding for the next 4 years?

For example.. sailing

We usually win a good few medals in this.. except this time due to combination of bad luck, a few bad decisions etc they didn’t do very well.  Will their funding be slashed and be given to synchronised swimming?

They will just convince Ben Ainslie to come back. They don’t innovate, they go back to what worked and repeat. They’d be better looking at how/why USA always come out with a wheelbarrow full of medals.

And don’t bother with the closing ceremony, it was dreary nonsense.

It’s generally a party atmosphere – but not this time.

The one event I think people could have a chance at, if they  could be bothered, and have some talent, is 10m air pistol.

Yeah – good luck with that!!

Hitting a bull 1mm across at 10m isn’t as easy as it looks! :-)

10mm Air Rifle is easier – I know, I’ve done both.

I used to powerlift, former rugby player so it was part of our training. I lifted for about 15 years…..the snatch was always something I was absolutely uesless at. Non dymamic lifting I was fine, standard squats and deads I could lift heavy weights. I could clean ok, but snatch was just something I couldn’t master. I couldn’t imagine much of the British population being able to make olympic level. I’ve watched quite a fair few European level powerlifting comps and those boys and girls are incredibly strong and dynamic.

In terms of shooting clubs being on their backsides…..I’m not surprised. I tried to join two this year. The first three months you have to be accompanied, when it suits the chair person/instructor. Attitudes to new members was disgusting. It was my dad, me and my brother trying to join. At both clubs the person doing the 3 month assessment was retired, so we could attend during the weekday or not at all. Incredibly unhelpful attitude.

What sort of shooting clubs were they @w00dster?

Going straight into firearms clubs (proper bullets) is usually met with some caution – they are under such tight regulation they have to be very careful.

It’s much easier if you start with airgun only clubs (and field target ones are easier to find) or clay pigeon shooting. Get to know people and they will know people who can recommend you.

 I couldn’t imagine much of the British population being able to make olympic level.

Nowhere close. The problem is that pros make it look easy, the TV doesn’t portray the speed, precision and power effectively so you end up with some couch potato stuffing their face with crisps who reckons they could do that.

There was a swimming video where an Olympian gave a bunch of swimming club folk a head start over 50m breaststroke – the all dived in and set off like the clappers and he casually strolled up to the blocks, waited another moment, dived in and overtook them before the end of the length. They’d had about half / two-thirds of a length head start!

I’d be (at best !) 50:50 to win a match sprint against Emma Finucane if she gave me a 2.75 lap head start. If it was equal start, I’d be dropped within 20m. More likely 10m.

Nowhere close. The problem is that pros make it look easy, the TV doesn’t portray the speed, precision and power effectively so you end up with some couch potato stuffing their face with crisps who reckons they could do that.

So much this. Cavendish reckoned that a good club racer, 1st cat, wouldn’t even last the neutralised start at the tour.

lifting twice your own body weight in a deadlift and 1.5 x for a squat is maybe something I could do when seriously training and younger. I am pretty far away from deadlifting 200 kgs now and I use the gym pretty regularly.

The one event I think people could have a chance at, if they  could be bothered, and have some talent, is 10m air pistol. Little kit is required (just the pistol and a target), you practice indoors, and you can just about do it in a garage. Of course you’ll need five hours per day to train, but it’s doable.

I think my tactic would be to start out with the 10m air pistol and if it was looking good, move to the Isle of Man and take up 25m pistol . You’d have less competition to make the UK squad!

I used to do a fair bit of sporting clay shooting when I was a teenager. I did get spotted by the UK skeet coach at the time, who said he reckoned I could make the Olympic skeet team if put in the practice. My parents decided concentrating on school was a better plan. I do still wonder if I won the lottery tomorrow, whether it would be feasible to jack in work and see if I could make it – guess that puts me in the 27%!

Find yourself an adopted nation and the dream of a major international games probably isn’t beyond alot of folks if you choose the right sport

As a bang average mid 40s bloke I can confidently say I wouldn’t have come last, or even close to last, at the time trial at the commonwealth games in Birmingham. And given I qualify for a Mauritian passport my ears pricked up when their competitor rolled on to the start ramp. Turns out he wasn’t actually awful, but if my grandad had been from St kitts instead, I’d be a fully fledged international athlete by now

Tbh you don’t even need to look for a passport. Take a shortcut and move to the Falkland Isles and a spot on their commonwealth team is yours..

Nowhere close. The problem is that pros make it look easy, the TV doesn’t portray the speed, precision and power effectively so you end up with some couch potato stuffing their face with crisps who reckons they could do that.

My daughter had ambitions to be an event rider, she’s a good rider and nothing much fazed her. For the last four years she’s worked as a groom for a double olympic silver-medal winning event rider and seen first hand the work that goes in, the skill involved and the slightly un-hinged balls-of-steel required!

She’s now reigned* in her ambitions somewhat and is concentrating on other aspects of an equestrian career.

(*pun intended!)

For example.. sailing

There can’t be any sport that have had such a radical overhaul as ‘sailing’* over the last few Olympic cycles. Very much for the better I’d say. It’s going to bring different people to the top.

But yes, I’d imagine BC’s track cycling’s budget is going to be torn a new one you’d imagine. I do hope they don’t ‘borrow’ from the mountain biking success and put it the way of the track because in theory TP should have earn BC a few pennies of lottery funding.

My philosophy on the funding is probably not elitist and medal hungry enough (I’ve lost my competitive mojo) – but given that 99.9% of all people who start the move from recreational participants, through levels of elite, before becoming GB Olympians fail in their endeavours my priority for the funding would be that the journey has been a fulfilling one with lifelong benefits. And habits. All those early morning starts and poolside mums and dads – the vast vast majority are wasting their time if it’s only about trying to be the one that goes to the Olympics. If you are one of the 99.9% that get spat out or just give up because you know it’s not going to be you – you really want them to do something with it – sustain an active lifestyle, promote sport as a way of life, become a coach. Something. If I was a dad of a potential Olympian sproglet, I’d far prefer it if their chosen sport was something that you could revert back to doing recreationally or the physical and mental attributes could be repurposed. And I guess if you stay in it long enough to get to the top it does not damage your body for the rest of your days.

* – sailing. Not sure it’s quite the right word anymore. I know no kite boarder that regards themselves as a sailor. ‘Wind sports’ maybe.

So much this. Cavendish reckoned that a good club racer, 1st cat, wouldn’t even last the neutralised start at the tour.

I suspect that’s utter bollocks from cav.

The average power over an ‘easier’ entire tour stage is about 250 watts, which obviously includes all the surges and uphill bits as well. So the neutralized bit will be significantly less than 250 watts

Any cat one racer could easily keep up with that

10mm Air Rifle is easier

I think most people would be able to hit the ‘bullseye’ at 10mm!!!

I used to be fairly handy with a rifle, 20 years or so ago I won a bronze medal in a competition at Bisley, but taking it to the next level requires hours of practice, not to mention all the travel to competitions. You have to dedicate your life to it, and I enjoy other stuff (cycling, canoeing, family time) too much, so I just stopped.

Air pistol postal competitions used to be a bit of fun and you can see how you measure up to the competition.

I do still wonder if I won the lottery tomorrow, whether it would be feasible to jack in work and see if I could make it – guess that puts me in the 27%!

the thing the proper events is that they require peak athletic ability – the fact that we’re simply too old (people on here anyway!) means none of us would be able to compete! So shooting etc, disciplines would be the obvious ones to target (as proven by Yusuf Dikec :) )

Co-incidentally the subject of the latest Freakonomics podcast is exactly this – why most of us (even those with exceptional talent) will never be elite/olympic athletes.

It’s a tough one….  the commitment to not only start the journey to success is long and hard.. and can be very disappointing.

My own, personal, experience was in kayak racing (not even a team sent to Paris this year). Started early teens and won a lot of marathon races across the country, won the junior Descenso del Sella in Spain in1965, became K1 and K2 National Champion at 500 metres, did a few international sprint races and got into the  GB training squad as a potential for the1968 Olympic team (Mexico). My K2 partner got badly injured in a cycling accident so that was a bit of a blow. Competed in all the knock out Olympic trials and never made the team. Whilst this was disappointing, it was fair.

I carried on training and made the team for the 1969 European Sprint Championships in Moscow.  Then I got the call so say they never had enough funding and they were cutting the team right back and they couldn’t send me.  I disappeared with my girlfriend (now my wife) to watch the European ATHLETIC Championships in Athens instead.

At that time I pretty much walked away from kayaking. I was holding down a full time job, training around 3 to 4 hours a day and what for…  I needed to think about my future and my job.

Cavendish reckoned that a good club racer, 1st cat, wouldn’t even last the neutralised start at the tour.

At an evening event a number of years back, David Miller opined something similar. He thought any climb or sudden increase in speed, and you’d be spat out the back in very short order. I think given the speed of the modern peloton, the difference would be even more obvious

It’s been said before and I still think it would be a fun ide to have an ‘average Joe’ take part in some events just for comparison, so that everyone’s quite clear about what it is they’re watching

Cav’s comment about the neutralised zone was related to all the jostling for position, avoiding road furniture etc that takes place more than power outputs of the riders.