# 2024 Summer Olympics Thread **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Tags:** olympic-sports-track\ **Created:** [July 10, 2024, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2024-summer-olympics-thread/1004019 "2024-07-10T20:21:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 30
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2024, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2024-summer-olympics-thread/1004019/581 "2024-08-08T02:47:07Z")
One of the runners in the Men’s steeplechase took a bad fall on the last lap and hit the track. It took the medics a while to tend to him and get him off the track. Turico on NBC just showed a picture of him in the hospital, hopefully recovering. It did make me wonder what would have happened if it wasn’t the final lap? Would the medics have loaded him on a stretcher and hustled him out of the way before the runners came around again, or is there some other provision for the runners to go around someone who’s receiving attention on the track? ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2024, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2024-summer-olympics-thread/1004019/582 "2024-08-08T03:15:04Z")
> [@Toxylon](#): > > Canada is a hammer-throwing nation. > [@Maserschmidt](#): > > I mean, aren’t a third of the men lumberjacks? And they’re OK. …someone had to do it and I am old geek enough to. ---
**Author:** ![DKW](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dkw/32/3118_2.png) [@DKW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DKW)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2024, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2024-summer-olympics-thread/1004019/583 "2024-08-08T05:03:47Z")
Wrestling: Wait, what’s this doing here? Didn’t the IOC give it the ax in ’21 to make room for surfing or whatever? I’ve seen various competitions over the decades, some good, some bad, and the key factors that determine the quality of any given match are: 1. How aggressive on the attack the competitors are, 2. how effective these attacks are, and 3. how _unevenly_ matched they are. The super sucky, hyperboring, soul-draining, this-is-better-than-Texas-Hold-‘Em-how-exactly matches are when the competitors are so even and both unable and unwilling to impose their will on the other that it’s basically six minutes of two brick walls trying to topple the other. (I remember one particularly execrable bout where both men did virtually nothing but timidly paw at each other and rack up passivity violations. And this was _freestyle!_) When they’re on the attack, moving around, working, looking for openings, _making things happen_ or at least trying to, _that’s_ when it gets entertaining. And when one of them is superior and has the muscle and know-how to execute a winning strategy, that’s even better. So far NBC’s offerings have been on the plus end, although I suspect that with so many other sports to cover they can’t afford to lose viewers with a dragfest. Artistic swimming: No synchronicity, just a whole lot of coordination, acrobatics, and superhuman breath control. I recall discussing “Olympic events that should not get the same award as real sports” many years ago, and this is a perfect example. Look, I don’t doubt for a second that it’s beautiful, or it requires a ton of work, or it’s dangerous, or it’s extremely physically demanding, or it’s really hard to get waterproof makeup just right. I like it as a _spectacle._ As a _sport,_ what does it take to win? What are the “elements” and “artistry”? How are they scored? What takes off points? Is anyone even _trying_ to explain any of this? The scores go into _7 digits._ That doesn’t look right to me! And I’d like to renew my periodic gripe about sportscasters claiming that past gold medal winners are ””””defending”””” their medals, much less that utter BS about Simone Biles “”””””””””regaining”””””””””” the individual all-around gold. 🤬 Like, it’s bad enough when you’re talking about an even that happens **every** year. Did you know that 90% of Olympians will only ever be in one Olympiad? Sheesh… 🙄 Railer13 - I’d already found it on my DVR, but thanks. I’m not really hip to track drama (nor do I have any desire to be, ever, at all), so I just saw a front-runner get caught and a thrilling finish. Mainly it goes to show just how much pressure runners are under. Jocks win championships by big or even overwhelming margins all the time…look at the Golden State Warriors and Boston Celtics, much of Steffi Graf’s career, Royce Gracie’s early career, Tiger Woods, Max Verstappen, heck, look at much of the history of the Super Bowl. But track produces razor-tight, final-millisecond, dang-why-can’t-American-Ninja-Warrior-have-more-of-these finishes all the time. It’s possible to lose out on a gold medal, or any medal at all, by a hundredth of a second OR LESS. (What was Noah Lyles’ margin at the 100, .005?) It’s especially intense when they know that they won’t get another chance for four long years, if ever. Besides that, I’d like to know what _Josh Kerr_ was thinking. He was the one who started this dumb rivalry with Ingebrigtsen to begin with, so I had to figure he had to have some seriously mixed emotions. suranyi - Oh, yeah, I (very) dimly remember something like that happening. Eh. That’s life. 🤷‍♂️ ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2024, 5:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2024-summer-olympics-thread/1004019/584 "2024-08-08T05:36:07Z")
> [@DKW](#): > > Wrestling: Wait, what’s this doing here? Didn’t the IOC give it the ax in ’21 to make room for surfing or whatever? It was actually dropped in 2013, but changes to the organizing body, and rules revisions, got it reinstated in time for the 2016 Games. ---
**Author:** ![Dead\_Cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9fc29f/32.png) [@Dead\_Cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dead_Cat)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2024, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2024-summer-olympics-thread/1004019/585 "2024-08-08T14:23:06Z")
I have to admit, as a Brit, that once was bad enough, twice was particularly galling. It just didn’t look _possible_ for either American to keep going to the line, but they did. Huge kudos to them. ---
**Author:** ![Great\_Antibob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Great\_Antibob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Great_Antibob)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2024, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2024-summer-olympics-thread/1004019/586 "2024-08-08T14:35:09Z")
If I were a coach, I’d play the end of those races for the rest of the year and tell my athletes that’s exactly why you push to the end no matter how far behind you feel ---
**Author:** ![TroutMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troutman/32/6721_2.png) [@TroutMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroutMan)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2024, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2024-summer-olympics-thread/1004019/587 "2024-08-08T15:03:02Z")
Or no matter how far _ahead_ you feel. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2024, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2024-summer-olympics-thread/1004019/588 "2024-08-08T15:29:36Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > It was actually dropped in 2013, but changes to the organizing body, and rules revisions, got it reinstated in time for the 2016 Games. Yes, and there was a lot of outrage from countries that rely on wrestling as one of their main events. I think even North Korea possibly does wrestling and gets medals. Looks like they got a bronze this year, but they’ve been more competitive. It’s mostly weightlifting and wrestling. ---
**Author:** ![mcgato](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac8455/32.png) [@mcgato](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mcgato)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2024, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2024-summer-olympics-thread/1004019/589 "2024-08-08T15:35:34Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > One of the runners in the Men’s steeplechase took a bad fall on the last lap and hit the track. It took the medics a while to tend to him and get him off the track. Turico on NBC just showed a picture of him in the hospital, hopefully recovering. > > It did make me wonder what would have happened if it wasn’t the final lap? Would the medics have loaded him on a stretcher and hustled him out of the way before the runners came around again, or is there some other provision for the runners to go around someone who’s receiving attention on the track? I’ve seen a steeplechase race where a guy got clipped right before a barrier and fell face first into the barrier. This was on the first or second lap. Officials quickly tended to him and moved him to the side before the runners came back around. It can be a dangerous event. ---
**Author:** ![Railer13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/railer13/32/9742_2.png) [@Railer13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Railer13)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2024, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2024-summer-olympics-thread/1004019/590 "2024-08-08T18:41:22Z")
Letsile Tebogo of Botswana just won the Gold in the Men’s 200 meter. Bednarek and Lyles of the USA won silver and bronze. Tebogo led from start to finish and won handily. ---
**Author:** ![Mighty\_Mouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mighty_mouse/32/7776_2.png) [@Mighty\_Mouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Mouse)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2024, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2024-summer-olympics-thread/1004019/591 "2024-08-08T18:47:10Z")
Netherlands beats Germany in the [real] hockey men’s final. Now de oranje are two golds ahead of Germany with a real chance of finishing ahead of their rivals. ---
**Author:** ![Fiendish\_Astronaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiendish_astronaut/32/3295_2.png) [@Fiendish\_Astronaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiendish_Astronaut)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2024, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2024-summer-olympics-thread/1004019/592 "2024-08-08T18:58:00Z")
Noah Lyles lost the 200m final but it turns out he was running with Covid. Not sure I’d be too happy about that if I was one of the competitors sharing the call room with him. He was wearing a face mask at least. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2024, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2024-summer-olympics-thread/1004019/593 "2024-08-08T19:24:28Z")
US Basketball losing at halftime. ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2024, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2024-summer-olympics-thread/1004019/594 "2024-08-08T19:30:59Z")
Second quarter. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2024, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2024-summer-olympics-thread/1004019/595 "2024-08-08T19:32:06Z")
> [@DCnDC](#): > > Second quarter… Huh??? ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2024, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2024-summer-olympics-thread/1004019/596 "2024-08-08T19:33:17Z")
Maybe I’m looking at it on delay, but I’m seeing 25-39 Serbia with 6:35 left in the 2nd quarter. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2024, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2024-summer-olympics-thread/1004019/597 "2024-08-08T19:33:40Z")
No, it’s halftime. You are delayed. Edit: I am wrong. It’s second quarter. ---
**Author:** ![Railer13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/railer13/32/9742_2.png) [@Railer13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Railer13)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2024, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2024-summer-olympics-thread/1004019/598 "2024-08-08T19:55:05Z")
Serbia leads by 11 at halftime. ---
**Author:** ![Toxylon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f05b48/32.png) [@Toxylon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Toxylon)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2024, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2024-summer-olympics-thread/1004019/599 "2024-08-08T19:57:18Z")
Men’s javelin final was stronger than ever, with massive throws needed to get anywhere on the results list. But Pakistan’s Nadeem wiped the floor with everyone, throwing an Olympic Record meters ahead of everyone else. And he would’ve won easily with his second best, as well. ---
**Author:** ![Railer13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/railer13/32/9742_2.png) [@Railer13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Railer13)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2024, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2024-summer-olympics-thread/1004019/600 "2024-08-08T20:05:45Z")
USA goes 1-2 in the men’s 110 m hurdles. Second was ahead of third by .003 seconds. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2024-summer-olympics-thread/1004019.md?page=29) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2024-summer-olympics-thread/1004019.md?page=31)