# Here is a thread about the 2016 Summer Olympics **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [August 6, 2016, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/here-is-a-thread-about-the-2016-summer-olympics/761911 "2016-08-06T05:00:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 25
**Author:** ![dzeiger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/46a35a/32.png) [@dzeiger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dzeiger)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2016, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/here-is-a-thread-about-the-2016-summer-olympics/761911/481 "2016-08-19T19:43:17Z")
> [@Reluctant\_A](#): > > A lot more participate than participate in swimming, though. Why do _you_ think that is? There are provisions that allow under-represented countries to get into some events even if nobody from that country actually meets the qualification conditions. The 100m dash is the most popular of those events. That doesn’t necessarily mean that those countries are any way invested in a track and field program, just that many countries have a guy somewhere who can run 100m in a straight line in a time that’s not completely embarrassing for an initial heat race. ---
**Author:** ![up\_the\_junction](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f1d935/32.png) [@up\_the\_junction](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/up_the_junction)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2016, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/here-is-a-thread-about-the-2016-summer-olympics/761911/482 "2016-08-19T20:03:15Z")
BBC1 prime time Friday night - the womens’ field hockey final live uninterrupted and entirely set in a context to inspire an entire generation of nine year old girls sitting in front of a tv with mum and dad; girls together, teamwork, community, interviews with family, tacticians. And it’s friggin hockey … Have to say the BBC have done a Gold Medal job of framing Rio in such an _inspiring_ context for the kids, they do it every time anyway - public service mandate, etc - but it’s going to be beautiful 3 Olympics after Tokyo. c’mon girls - batter the Dutch! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2016, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/here-is-a-thread-about-the-2016-summer-olympics/761911/483 "2016-08-19T20:55:32Z")
Quite a story. His horse, Big Star is pretty old too. Britain’s teams are doing really well in Rio. [http://m.bbc.com/sport/olympics/36691138](http://m.bbc.com/sport/olympics/36691138) [https://www.rio2016.com/en/news/at-58-equestrian-gold-medallist-nick-skelton-becomes-great-britain-s-oldest](https://www.rio2016.com/en/news/at-58-equestrian-gold-medallist-nick-skelton-becomes-great-britain-s-oldest) > [@](#): > > The victory takes Britain’s Rio tally to 23 golds and a total of 57 medals. > [@](#): > > Skelton said he does not plan to go to Tokyo 2020, when Big Star will be 17 years old. “I’ll never have another horse as good as Big Star. I’ll be too old.” . > [@](#): > > The 58-year-old, who initially retired 16 years ago after breaking his neck in two places, claimed individual gold after a six-way jump-off. > > It is Britain’s first individual show jumping medal since Anne Moore’s silver in 1972, and adds to Skelton’s win in the team event at London 2012. ---
**Author:** ![That\_Don\_Guy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/that_don_guy/32/538_2.png) [@That\_Don\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/That_Don_Guy)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2016, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/here-is-a-thread-about-the-2016-summer-olympics/761911/484 "2016-08-19T22:35:49Z")
> [@dzeiger](#): > > There are provisions that allow under-represented countries to get into some events even if nobody from that country actually meets the qualification conditions. The 100m dash is the most popular of those events. > > That doesn’t necessarily mean that those countries are any way invested in a track and field program, just that many countries have a guy somewhere who can run 100m in a straight line in a time that’s not completely embarrassing for an initial heat race. Both track & field and swimming allow every country to have at least 1 man and at least 1 woman in the Olympics. The 50m freestyle sets aside separate heats for these “underqualified” swimmers, although there were a few that entered the 100m freestyle instead. > [@up\_the\_junction](#): > > BBC1 prime time Friday night - the womens’ field hockey final live uninterrupted and entirely set in a context to inspire an entire generation of nine year old girls sitting in front of a tv with mum and dad; girls together, teamwork, community, interviews with family, tacticians. And it’s friggin hockey … > > Have to say the BBC have done a Gold Medal job of framing Rio in such an _inspiring_ context for the kids, they do it every time anyway - public service mandate, etc - but it’s going to be beautiful 3 Olympics after Tokyo. > > c’mon girls - batter the Dutch! 🙂 4 saves out of 4 in that shootout - I’ll be looking for Maddie Hinch’s name in the New Year’s Honours. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2016, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/here-is-a-thread-about-the-2016-summer-olympics/761911/485 "2016-08-19T22:39:15Z")
NBC news estimated Lochte will lose between 5 and 10 million dollars in endorsements. Brazilian official summed it up nicely. All he had to do was admit he got drunk and did a little damage and it would have blown over. ---
**Author:** ![chizzuk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e36b37/32.png) [@chizzuk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chizzuk)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2016, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/here-is-a-thread-about-the-2016-summer-olympics/761911/486 "2016-08-19T23:02:19Z")
Entertaining men’s 10m platform prelims. A Mexican did the only 4.1 difficulty dive I’ve ever seen (not badly, either) and the first perfect 10 of this Olympics was awarded. Shockingly NOT to a Chinese diver, but Tom Daley. David Boudia did very well but still qualified 50 and 70 points adrift of the Chinese and 80 behind Daley. Tomorrow should be quite a show. ---
**Author:** ![TonySinclair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/49beb7/32.png) [@TonySinclair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TonySinclair)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2016, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/here-is-a-thread-about-the-2016-summer-olympics/761911/487 "2016-08-20T00:42:52Z")
> [@JRDelirious](#): > > Meanwhile, back in the pack of the racewalk, the current world record holder was struck sick, crapped his pants, fainted and collapsed flat on the pavement, and still made it to 8th place. Big deal, I can do four out of five of those things. ---
**Author:** ![up\_the\_junction](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f1d935/32.png) [@up\_the\_junction](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/up_the_junction)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2016, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/here-is-a-thread-about-the-2016-summer-olympics/761911/488 "2016-08-20T00:44:24Z")
Yep, sounds like a normal Friday night in south London. The only thing missing is the Uber to get home. ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2016, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/here-is-a-thread-about-the-2016-summer-olympics/761911/489 "2016-08-20T01:32:14Z")
> [@Rysto](#): > > So, in the 50km men’s racewalking final, a Canadian was bumped by a Japanese and knocked off-stride. The Canadian finished fourth and the Japanese finished third. Canada appealed, and within hours the appeal was upheld and the Canadian was awarded the bronze. The Japanese appealed the appeal, and within hours that appeal was upheld, the Canadian was stripped of the bronze and it was given back to the Japanese. > > Is it just me, or was that a completely bush-league handling of the situation? I certainly don’t claim to know racewalking well enough to say whether the final decision was correct or not. But overturning the final result twice, both times within hours of the event, seems unnecessarily cruel. Why is there not a single appeal with arguments heard from both sides? And now there’s this thing with the UK being disqualified from the 4x400 men’s. There’s still no explanation as to what the violation was. And it puts Brazil in. Seems fishy. ---
**Author:** ![fachverwirrt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/94ad74/32.png) [@fachverwirrt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fachverwirrt)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2016, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/here-is-a-thread-about-the-2016-summer-olympics/761911/490 "2016-08-20T01:37:44Z")
> [@asterion](#): > > And now there’s this thing with the UK being disqualified from the 4x400 men’s. There’s still no explanation as to what the violation was. And it puts Brazil in. Seems fishy. They said “lane violation”, but I haven’t seen a replay. ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2016, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/here-is-a-thread-about-the-2016-summer-olympics/761911/491 "2016-08-20T01:41:59Z")
> [@fachverwirrt](#): > > They said “lane violation”, but I haven’t seen a replay. I’ve seen the replays, and I can’t see anything obvious. The thing that seems so bad is that they’ve been so slow to say what they were actually calling. ---
**Author:** ![fachverwirrt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/94ad74/32.png) [@fachverwirrt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fachverwirrt)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2016, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/here-is-a-thread-about-the-2016-summer-olympics/761911/492 "2016-08-20T01:58:09Z")
And now the US men have been DQ’d in the 4x100. No explanation yet. ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2016, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/here-is-a-thread-about-the-2016-summer-olympics/761911/493 "2016-08-20T02:00:43Z")
Well, it’s Brazil and the IOC. I’m going to assume the fix is in. ---
**Author:** ![fachverwirrt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/94ad74/32.png) [@fachverwirrt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fachverwirrt)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2016, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/here-is-a-thread-about-the-2016-summer-olympics/761911/494 "2016-08-20T02:01:44Z")
They’re saying early pass. ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2016, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/here-is-a-thread-about-the-2016-summer-olympics/761911/495 "2016-08-20T02:04:57Z")
So, dirty officials or incompetent officials? ---
**Author:** ![fachverwirrt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/94ad74/32.png) [@fachverwirrt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fachverwirrt)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2016, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/here-is-a-thread-about-the-2016-summer-olympics/761911/496 "2016-08-20T02:06:11Z")
As corrupt as the IOC is, I can’t see them deliberately colluding to move Brazil into 6th. ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2016, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/here-is-a-thread-about-the-2016-summer-olympics/761911/497 "2016-08-20T02:08:35Z")
> [@fachverwirrt](#): > > As corrupt as the IOC is, I can’t see them deliberately colluding to move Brazil into 6th. But I can definitely see it in the 4x400. ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2016, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/here-is-a-thread-about-the-2016-summer-olympics/761911/498 "2016-08-20T02:08:48Z")
> [@asterion](#): > > So, dirty officials or incompetent officials? Or maybe the judges noticed that Gatlin took the baton too soon? ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2016, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/here-is-a-thread-about-the-2016-summer-olympics/761911/499 "2016-08-20T02:16:34Z")
> [@Baron\_Greenback](#): > > Or maybe the judges noticed that Gatlin took the baton too soon? Still doesn’t explain the radio silence on the 4x400. These judges should have the guts to come out and say exactly what they were calling; not just make everyone guess for hours. ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2016, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/here-is-a-thread-about-the-2016-summer-olympics/761911/500 "2016-08-20T02:19:49Z")
> [@asterion](#): > > Still doesn’t explain the radio silence on the 4x400. These judges should have the guts to come out and say exactly what they were calling; not just make even guess for hours Absolutely - Michael Johnson and Steve Cram have came up with some theories on the BBC coverage, but found nothing damning yet. The IAAF need to explain properly, and not a couple of hours later either. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/here-is-a-thread-about-the-2016-summer-olympics/761911.md?page=24) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/here-is-a-thread-about-the-2016-summer-olympics/761911.md?page=26)