# Olympics - How is Your Country Faring? **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [July 31, 2012, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olympics-how-is-your-country-faring/629957 "2012-07-31T15:28:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Ximenean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/aca169/32.png) [@Ximenean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ximenean)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2012, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olympics-how-is-your-country-faring/629957/61 "2012-08-03T20:34:00Z")
Whoops. Sorry about that. ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2012, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olympics-how-is-your-country-faring/629957/62 "2012-08-03T20:47:37Z")
> [@Alka\_Seltzer](#): > > If you’ve never seen the Keiran, I can recommend it. For the first few laps, the cyclists are led around the track by an old bloke on a moped, as it slowly increases in speed. It’s hilarious, I want that job. The last few laps are a sprint. Heard a great idea on the radio, replace the Keiran moped guy with Wiggo in full mod regalia on a Vespa. If we can also get him to turn round every so often, shake his fist and shout " d’ya fackin want some?" then so much the better. ---
**Author:** ![Ximenean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/aca169/32.png) [@Ximenean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ximenean)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2012, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olympics-how-is-your-country-faring/629957/63 "2012-08-03T21:07:16Z")
I have spent far too much time on the internet today trying to work out the motivation behind the Keirin event. What I have gathered is this: if you have a sprint event without a pacemaker, all the cyclists will go as slow as possible until the last moment. Otherwise the other riders would be able to benefit from drafting behind the one who set off first. Therefore, it makes sense to introduce a neutral pacemaker, even if it is a slightly ridiculous-looking bloke on a moped, in order to encourage a rolling sprint finish. I still don’t quite see why it is better than the old kind of sprint, though. I used to like it when they did that “I can go slower than you” routine. And in the Olympics, which I understand has a small field compared to regular Keirin, there is relatively little tactical jockeying for position before the moped peels off. So you have to sit through several seemingly pointless laps, and then the race starts. ---
**Author:** ![YogSothoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/8edcca/32.png) [@YogSothoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YogSothoth)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2012, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olympics-how-is-your-country-faring/629957/64 "2012-08-03T22:21:09Z")
Does anyone know, with the US and China going neck and neck in the medal race, how their rate this year compares to Beijing? ---
**Author:** ![Alka\_Seltzer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c89c15/32.png) [@Alka\_Seltzer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alka_Seltzer)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2012, 10:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olympics-how-is-your-country-faring/629957/65 "2012-08-04T10:09:19Z")
> [@Eureka](#): > > You, and others, are correct–the list of countries that have acquired at least one medal is longer than I realized by looking at the list in the local paper. For some, just getting here is a victory in itself. In particular, the [first Saudi Arabian woman](http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/olympics/19111548) to compete in the games. An abusive hashtag on Twitter, which translates as “prostitutes of the Olympics”, has been [hijacked](http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-19107957) and flooded with messages of support. I don’t particularly care about the Equestrian events, but a couple days ago I saw a 71 year old Japanese man competing in the Dressage. He competed in his first Olympics in 1968. > [@Ximenean](#): > > What I have gathered is this: if you have a sprint event without a pacemaker, all the cyclists will go as slow as possible until the last moment. Otherwise the other riders would be able to benefit from drafting behind the one who set off first. Therefore, it makes sense to introduce a neutral pacemaker, even if it is a slightly ridiculous-looking bloke on a moped, in order to encourage a rolling sprint finish. Yes, I think that’s the idea behind it. The event originated in Japan, where it it bet on heavily. Personally, I’d rather see a comedy moped (with or without sideburns) than several laps of slow jockeying. ---
**Author:** ![Alka\_Seltzer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c89c15/32.png) [@Alka\_Seltzer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alka_Seltzer)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2012, 10:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olympics-how-is-your-country-faring/629957/66 "2012-08-04T10:25:56Z")
Just seen a photo finish - in the Women’s triathlon! Good long jump from Jessica Ennis, close to her PB. She has a substantial lead going into the final two events. Looking good, but she still needs a decent throw in the javelin, where she can struggle. ---
**Author:** ![Rayne\_Man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/df705f/32.png) [@Rayne\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rayne_Man)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2012, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olympics-how-is-your-country-faring/629957/67 "2012-08-04T13:18:43Z")
Ennis has got a PB in the Javelin, so looks to be on course for a gold. Team GB now third in the medal table. 25 medals, including 10 golds. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2012, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olympics-how-is-your-country-faring/629957/68 "2012-08-04T20:56:29Z")
Galen Rupp- silver in the mens 10,000m, first American to medal in this event since Billy Mill’s win in 1964. His training partner, Mo Farah, of Great Britain, became the first British athlete to win this event. ---
**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 4, 2012, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olympics-how-is-your-country-faring/629957/69 "2012-08-04T21:23:15Z")
A bit of a quiet day for Team GB. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2012, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olympics-how-is-your-country-faring/629957/70 "2012-08-04T21:24:27Z")
Wow! what a day for GB. 6 Golds, in one day is our best ever haul and we now have 14 Golds and 29 in total. I am having to recalibrate my expectations. I was so glad to see Jess and Mo win, I’d have loved to have been in that stadium tonight. As it was we took the kids up to Wembley to see Senegal vs Mexico in the football quarters. What a great day, there were 82,000 packed in there and it was a super atmosphere. Around us were Russians, Dutch, Mongolians, French, Indians, Chinese. Lord alone knows how many other nationalities were there as well. They were all cheering on whatever was occurring and it was really entertaining game. Mexico wining 4-2 after extra time. It was our kids first time in a big stadium (they are 5 and 7) and they had a whale of a time. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2012, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olympics-how-is-your-country-faring/629957/71 "2012-08-04T21:33:11Z")
I’d say the US of A is doing darn well. Women’s gymnastics - team gold, individual all-around gold. We won our first gold in judo! I think Michael Phelps should be handicapped by having to swim his events with all his medals around his neck - he would sink like a stone. But seriously - 21 medals, 17 of them gold? That’s just other-worldly. And I am glad I am not at the Olympics - I would get arrested for jumping into the pool after Missy Franklin swims in order to drink the water. It’s been a really fun Olympics so far! USA! USA! Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Alka\_Seltzer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c89c15/32.png) [@Alka\_Seltzer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alka_Seltzer)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2012, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olympics-how-is-your-country-faring/629957/72 "2012-08-04T21:54:07Z")
Team GB have had an insane day. Two golds and a silver to finish the rowing events. In the velodrome, the woman’s pursuit team set their 6th consecutive world record to win gold. They have raced together 6 times in total. Murray through to the singles final and the mixed doubles final with Laura Robson. Guaranteed at least two silvers even if he fails to hit a single ball. Jessica Ennis won the 800m to wrap-up Heptathlon gold. A new PB and British record. She is the real poster girl for the games. Obviously, she is easy on the eye, but she also comes across very well when interviewed. She seems to really enjoy her sport, and has a megawatt smile. A few seconds later, with cheers still ringing around the stadium, virtual unknown Greg Rutherford made the winning long jump. (He won a European silver medal back in 2006, but has had constant injury problems since then. He was not tipped for a medal.) The icing on the cake was Mo Farah winning the men’s 10,000m. He’ll also challenge for gold in the 5,000m. That’s the greatest day in British olympic and athletics history. We’ve never won 3 golds in an athletics session before. (Funny moment in the Ennis medal ceremony, they didn’t make the podium high enough. Even standing on the top step, the bronze medallist over-topped her, as she is about 9 inches taller than Ennis. Which didn’t stop Ennis beating her in the high jump.) Ennis may now run in the 100m hurdles, which would be an absolute nightmare for the specialists. She equalled the Beijing winning time in her heat of the Heptathlon. Also saw Phelps win his 18th and final gold medal in the pool. Not many sports-people get to end on a winning note. Despite losing his air of invincibility, he’s still the most successful swimmer in this games. ---
**Author:** ![Alka\_Seltzer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c89c15/32.png) [@Alka\_Seltzer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alka_Seltzer)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2012, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olympics-how-is-your-country-faring/629957/73 "2012-08-04T22:04:10Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > I think Michael Phelps should be handicapped by having to swim his events with all his medals around his neck - he would sink like a stone. That would be about 5.5kg of medals, or 12 pounds. The London medals are about twice the weight of earlier ones, at 400g each. Very bling, I thought this was supposed to be the age of austerity? ---
**Author:** ![Weedy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/weedy/32/301_2.png) [@Weedy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Weedy)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2012, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olympics-how-is-your-country-faring/629957/74 "2012-08-05T00:39:21Z")
> [@BigNik](#): > > Australia, indeed, aren’t doing too well. The narrative seems to be about overconfidence and it’s starting to edge toward “hold on, _how\_much_ are each of these medals costing us?”. > > The pool is where Australia expected to shine, and they’re doing substantially less well than expected. The usual medals from team sports like hockey don’t look like they’re going to eventuate, the athletics aren’t likely to return much, even from those who should be favourites and it’s hard to see where the usual couple of random late golds no-one had any idea of (such as trampolining) probably aren’t going to come off either. > > Fortunately, Australia still has more gold medals than the UK. We might pick up a couple of medals in the sailing. Tom Slingsby has a good shot at gold tomorrow in the Lasers, and the Womens Match Racers have been smoking. Mens 470 team could medal as well. I am excited for Cyprus; they will win their first ever Olympics medal, either gold or silver. Pavlos Kontides is guaranteed at least second place in the Mens Laser Sailing. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2012, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olympics-how-is-your-country-faring/629957/75 "2012-08-05T01:14:49Z")
> [@Alka\_Seltzer](#): > > If you’ve never seen the Keiran, I can recommend it. For the first few laps, the cyclists are led around the track by an old bloke on a moped, as it slowly increases in speed. It’s hilarious, I want that job. The last few laps are a sprint. I saw it, and had no idea what I was watching. My first thought was that the old guy on the moped was like a pace car. And like a pace car, he pulls away and the field explodes into action. The TV announcer helped with understanding this kind of bike racing. I liked it; the last few laps are quite exciting! ---
**Author:** ![MsWhatsit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eb8c5e/32.png) [@MsWhatsit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsWhatsit)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2012, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olympics-how-is-your-country-faring/629957/76 "2012-08-05T01:41:44Z")
The Team GB cyclists are INSANE. So far for me, the cycling has been the most exciting event to watch. I was very pleased with the US silver in women’s team pursuit, because it was pretty damn clear that there was no way in hell they were going to catch the Brits. 🙂 I still say that there are so many swimming events that you should only get to count like, every fifth one or something, in terms of overall medal count. I wish NBC would stop showing so much beach volleyball. I honestly could not care less about that sport. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2012, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olympics-how-is-your-country-faring/629957/77 "2012-08-05T02:03:51Z")
> [@MsWhatsit](#): > > The Team GB cyclists are INSANE. So far for me, the cycling has been the most exciting event to watch. I was very pleased with the US silver in women’s team pursuit, because it was pretty damn clear that there was no way in hell they were going to catch the Brits. 🙂 > > I still say that there are so many swimming events that you should only get to count like, every fifth one or something, in terms of overall medal count. This is one of the reasons medal counts are silly. Michael Phelps is a great athlete and all, but he is the most decorated Olympian of all time not because is the greatest of all time, but because they hand out a huge number of medals for swimming, far more than for any other discipline. I appreciate that they’re sort of different, but it is self-evidently the case that if you can win the gold in eight different events, they are not THAT different. Athletics has many events, but nobody wins eight gold medals because the disciplines are too distinct for anyone to master them all. People have won the 100m and 200m races in the same Olympics, but nobody wins the 100m, 200m, 400m, and 800m. I don’t think anyone even seriously competes in both the 100m and 400m, much less 800m, and of course there’s no equivalent to swimming having four “strokes.” You don’t have a 100m run and a 100m run backwards and a 100m sidestep and a 100m crawl-on-your-hands-and-knees. Swimming seems to parse its events into ridiculous subdivisions in order to get more medals and more attention; there are 34 events in swimming, 17 for each gender. About 11% of all Olympic medals are awarded for swimming. ---
**Author:** ![MsWhatsit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eb8c5e/32.png) [@MsWhatsit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsWhatsit)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2012, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olympics-how-is-your-country-faring/629957/78 "2012-08-05T02:12:57Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > Swimming seems to parse its events into ridiculous subdivisions in order to get more medals and more attention; there are 34 events in swimming, 17 for each gender. About 11% of all Olympic medals are awarded for swimming. Wow. I knew it was a lot, but I didn’t realize it was that much. If they want to keep all the different events for different strokes, fine, but then how about a combined medal? Call it the swimming triathlon and combine the points for your scores in butterfly, freestyle, and backstroke, and give out one medal for the whole thing. ---
**Author:** ![Raygun99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Raygun99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raygun99)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2012, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olympics-how-is-your-country-faring/629957/79 "2012-08-05T02:15:26Z")
> [@Alka\_Seltzer](#): > > Ennis may now run in the 100m hurdles, which would be an absolute nightmare for the specialists. She equalled the Beijing winning time in her heat of the Heptathlon. Jessica Zelinka, the 7th place finisher, also qualified for the hurdles, and was only 9 hundreths back of Ennis. ---
**Author:** ![nachtmusick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ac91a4/32.png) [@nachtmusick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nachtmusick)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2012, 9:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olympics-how-is-your-country-faring/629957/80 "2012-08-05T09:14:49Z")
Jessica Ennis of the United Kingdom won the Heptathlon. Jolly good show, Brits. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olympics-how-is-your-country-faring/629957.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olympics-how-is-your-country-faring/629957.md?page=5)