Animal abuse. Seemingly never-ending doping scandals. Drone spying. A pre-teen competitor. $10 billion to host the games. A broadcast monopoly. Elite athletes who wilt at thought of no air con. I mean, there's a whole wiki page on this year's scandals and it isn't short.

I don't get it any more. There was a time when I enjoyed them -- when television was free for putting up with commercials. I'm not watching them this year. For one thing I don't have a television because in general it's crap; for someone like me, youtube is a goldmine. But even if I did, from what I hear, the coverage is awful and that's been the consensus for years, iirc.

But why the constant cheating? Animal abuse!?!?

They are corrupt beyond measure.

I don't have the energy to care about them.

Maybe. People have always cheated, the Tour de France comes to mind; the age of the amateur is long gone.

But wow, the women's triathlon was entertaining on the wet streets of Paris this morning, the men's fencing on the first day had its moments, and men's BMX biking is spectacular.

Wife watching gymnastics as I write, amazing acrobatics and skill level.
I love it.

It's a cafeteria. Take what you like, leave the rest.

I watch artistic gymnastics, start to finish.

I watch some track and field, but the events that are beyond superhuman (e.g., high jump, long jump) don't get much coverage.

Very interested to see what break dancing could possibly be. Should be fun.

And, of course, I love the tennis.

Read an article about pole vaulting and Mondo Suplantis (spelling). Must watch that.
Pole vaulting is a combination of gymnastics and running that has fascinated me for many years.
Have never tried it.
Watched a beautiful high school senior pole vaulting who was 5 years older when I was young and unaware. That may have something to do with my fascination.

quote:

Originally posted by CHAS:
Read an article about pole vaulting and Mondo Suplantis (spelling). Must watch that.

Did you see what happened to Anthony Ammirati today? How unfortunate (or not?).

quote:

Originally posted by Cindysphinx:
It's a cafeteria. Take what you like, leave the rest.

Yes, of course.

Animal abuse?

Are you talking about the video of Charlotte Dujardin working with a horse and rider that got her suspended from the Olympics? The video that mysteriously just happened to appear, after more than two years, right before the Olympics?

She was being made an example of. Who knows why now, why her. Perhaps a competitor was responsible for leaking it. Her "training" method was obviously, from watching the video, her SOP. But it's also the SOP of most competitive dressage riders. The FEI suspending Dujardin is disingenuous when they sanction all kinds of standards that are harmful to horses. Like Rolkur, which is done to create a false impression of proper carriage.

Anyone who uses animals for a competitive sport is using them. That's not the partnership that dressage is supposed to be about--it's supposed to be about the relationship with the horse, not about winning medals.

quote:

Originally posted by Cindysphinx:

Very interested to see what break dancing could possibly be. Should be fun.

I was thinking about this the other day - how would it be scored? Are there certain moves considered higher difficulty? Are there form judgements that go along with it, like in gymnastics? All that would seem to be the antithesis of the individual expression that is teh hallmark of break.

I agree with you about YouTube, Bernard. It is a gold mine. I don't have tv, either.

Somehow, I feel I should want a TV and aspire to have a nice one. I just don't like them. My brain doesn't deal well with a wall of sound. I really like to start to watch or listen to something specific and then turn it off. Besides, the commercials play at higher volume and that's plain annoying.

I know there's technology to control tv's but it's overly complicated to me and makes it even less enjoyable activity.

I started to feel this way when I lived in a small apartment with concrete block walls, a 13" tv overwhelmed the space, and I got rid of it. I've never wanted to go back to having one.

Anyway, speaking of judging gymnastics, I've said this before but the best Olympic gymnast who's lived since ancient times is--

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nadia_Com%C4%83neci

Her routines in 1976 set a standard that were met with a confluence of her suitability to the sport, her unadulterated genius, and a training regime that no longer exists. They can be found on YouTube.

I used to be able to do a back tuck on a trampoline and a round off and multiple back handsprings.

I've told this story before too but I tempted fate by doing one tumbling run when I was 29 and a final time when I was 36.

I might get an OLED TV if I won the lottery but what I really want is a audiophile quality stereo room dedicated to music listening.

*Note to self-- replace the 5 year old Grado headphones*

I love sports although tennis and gymnastics are the only two I really understand personally.

Is this the pole vaulting incident?

https://youtube.com/shorts/mdZ...?si=rNqi2Q7NFrWGMBCs

Yes. That was the one.