# 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:** 8
**Author:** ![YogSothoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/8edcca/32.png) [@YogSothoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YogSothoth)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2012, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olympics-how-is-your-country-faring/629957/141 "2012-08-08T17:40:01Z")
> [@Colophon](#): > > In news that isn’t nearly as smutty as it sounds, somebody has [violated Jessica Ennis’s golden postbox](http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-south-yorkshire-19177730). I think they’re overreacting. From the article: > [@](#): > > “The graffiti, which read “Go Jess”, was scrawled on the postbox in Barkers Pool in the city centre.” It wasn’t a malicious act of vandalism, just a misguided one. Someone was obviously doing that to support Jessica Ennis ---
**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 9, 2012, 7:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olympics-how-is-your-country-faring/629957/142 "2012-08-09T07:07:19Z")
No medals for us yesterday, although we did manage to secure a sailing medal, and make a boxing final. Looking at the events that are left, we shouldn’t expect many more in the final few days of the games. ---
**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 9, 2012, 7:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olympics-how-is-your-country-faring/629957/143 "2012-08-09T07:12:51Z")
I think that as well as those two medals mentioned above, there are three more assured boxing medals. ---
**Author:** ![PrettyVacant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/49beb7/32.png) [@PrettyVacant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PrettyVacant)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2012, 7:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olympics-how-is-your-country-faring/629957/144 "2012-08-09T07:19:57Z")
> [@Novelty\_Bobble](#): > > I like the fact that, after GB won 7 out of 10 golds in the track cycling in 2008, the rules were changed to try and ensure such dominance didn’t happen again. > > Whoops!!! No they didn’t. It just suits UK Cycling to say that. It was changed for reasons of gender equality and to encourage more nations to compete - 202 countries represented at the IOC; the breadth of particpation in track cycling (even compared to road race) is totally embarrassing. A little humility at this point wouldn’t hurt, either. ---
**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 9, 2012, 8:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olympics-how-is-your-country-faring/629957/145 "2012-08-09T08:33:21Z")
> [@PrettyVacant](#): > > No they didn’t. It just suits UK Cycling to say that. It was changed for reasons of gender equality and to encourage more nations to compete - 202 countries represented at the IOC; the breadth of particpation in track cycling (even compared to road race) is totally embarrassing. > > A little humility at this point wouldn’t hurt, either. Well they reduced the number of competitors that each country could submit to some of the events at the same time as removing events that GB do well at. I know it suits the IOC to claim they did it for equality reasons but we know the real reason. And why would any other country even bother turning up anyway? they know the score here. And humility? I see no need for that. We are the greatest cycling nation on earth at the moment and I fully intend to celebrate the fact. We just need to sharpen up on a couple of technical issues and there is no reason why we can’t win all 10 events. Just a shame we can’t enter multiple competitors as we haven’t had a 1-2-3 yet. We now have rowing and cycling wrapped up, boxing is on the up and the really big question is which sport to dominate next…hmmmmmmmmm…swimming I think! plenty of medals on offer there (and multiple competitors allowed) then table tennis. ---
**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 9, 2012, 9:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olympics-how-is-your-country-faring/629957/146 "2012-08-09T09:06:00Z")
> [@Novelty\_Bobble](#): > > We now have rowing and cycling wrapped up, boxing is on the up and the really big question is which sport to dominate next…hmmmmmmmmm…swimming I think! plenty of medals on offer there (and multiple competitors allowed) then table tennis. Yeah, look out Rio, the [Brits are coming](http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-19136815). ---
**Author:** ![the\_diego](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7bcc69/32.png) [@the\_diego](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/the_diego)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2012, 9:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olympics-how-is-your-country-faring/629957/147 "2012-08-09T09:23:33Z")
Did Karpov of Kazakh win the shot put? His were the only ones landing past 16 meters (was watching drunk from a pub.) Guy’s an ogre among ordinary men. correction: decathlon. Was drunk I told ya. ---
**Author:** ![Cumbrian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ce7236/32.png) [@Cumbrian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cumbrian)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2012, 10:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olympics-how-is-your-country-faring/629957/148 "2012-08-09T10:11:23Z")
> [@Novelty\_Bobble](#): > > Well they reduced the number of competitors that each country could submit to some of the events at the same time as removing events that GB do well at. I know it suits the IOC to claim they did it for equality reasons but we know the real reason. > > And why would any other country even bother turning up anyway? they know the score here. > > And humility? I see no need for that. We are the greatest cycling nation on earth at the moment and I fully intend to celebrate the fact. We just need to sharpen up on a couple of technical issues and there is no reason why we can’t win all 10 events. > Just a shame we can’t enter multiple competitors as we haven’t had a 1-2-3 yet. > > We now have rowing and cycling wrapped up, boxing is on the up and the really big question is which sport to dominate next…hmmmmmmmmm…swimming I think! plenty of medals on offer there (and multiple competitors allowed) then table tennis. This is, I guess, a defensible position when asked for humility in victory. I tend to look on it, like a look at the cricket. We’ve been crap (in general) for so long at a whole host of sports, that when we get good, you’d best believe I’m going to enjoy every minute of it. I can crawl back into my hole when the English rugby team get their arses handed to them in the Autumn by the Southern Hemisphere teams. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2012, 11:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olympics-how-is-your-country-faring/629957/149 "2012-08-09T11:54:57Z")
> [@suranyi](#): > > Of course, the big exceptions were Canada’s previous two times they hosted: Calgary 1988 and Montreal 1976. No gold medals either time. I did specify “recently.” As the event grows even more expensive, it becomes even more important to make the home crowd happy. ---
**Author:** ![PrettyVacant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/49beb7/32.png) [@PrettyVacant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PrettyVacant)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2012, 11:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olympics-how-is-your-country-faring/629957/150 "2012-08-09T11:59:56Z")
> [@Novelty\_Bobble](#): > > **We** are the greatest cycling nation on earth at the moment Well done you. > [@Novelty\_Bobble](#): > > **We** now have rowing and cycling wrapped up, boxing is on the up Well done you again. You’re teriffic, you are. ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2012, 12:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olympics-how-is-your-country-faring/629957/151 "2012-08-09T12:09:03Z")
> [@YogSosoth](#): > > I think they’re overreacting. From the article: > > It wasn’t a malicious act of vandalism, just a misguided one. Someone was obviously doing that to support Jessica Ennis Clearly that article has been updated. When the news broke yesterday nobody was reporting what the graffiti said, and it was assumed to be malicious (journalists were asking on Twitter whether anyone had photos!) Still, it gives me another opportunity to use the phrase “Jessica Ennis’s golden postbox”, so I will. ---
**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 9, 2012, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olympics-how-is-your-country-faring/629957/152 "2012-08-09T12:37:26Z")
Great post/username combo! ETA: sorry, didn’t see **Colophon** ’s post. I meant the one prior to 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 9, 2012, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olympics-how-is-your-country-faring/629957/153 "2012-08-09T12:38:50Z")
> [@PrettyVacant](#): > > Well done you. > > Well done you again. > > You’re teriffic, you are. PrettyVacant you silly sausage, I’m joking. See Cumbrian’s comments above. We are having a bit of a light-hearted mock-superiority until the grinding reality of sporting mediocrity is resumed. ---
**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 9, 2012, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olympics-how-is-your-country-faring/629957/154 "2012-08-09T13:33:47Z")
Our swimmer Keri-Anne Payne has just been beaten into 4th place in the 10km swim. By four one-hundredths of a second. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2012, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olympics-how-is-your-country-faring/629957/155 "2012-08-09T13:56:39Z")
Well, a lot of Canadians are pretty happy we pulled the women’s soccer bronze out of a hat there and got something out of the whole soccer ugliness. Honestly, France outplayed them for ninety minutes, and then with 40 seconds left they had a defensive collapse. It was quite honestly the only time they played badly the whole game, and Canada scored, and that’s it. Man, that feels good. But France did not deserve to lose; they dominated play and the ball just would not go in for them. ---
**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 9, 2012, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olympics-how-is-your-country-faring/629957/156 "2012-08-09T13:57:20Z")
> [@Novelty\_Bobble](#): > > We now have rowing and cycling wrapped up, boxing is on the up and the really big question is which sport to dominate next…hmmmmmmmmm… **swimming** I think! plenty of medals on offer there (and multiple competitors allowed) then **table tennis**. Rather than aspire to competitiveness in these sports, it would be more effective to have them removed from the Olympic programme entirely. Perhaps Boris could have conspired with Thames Water to prevent them from filling the pool due to a hose-pipe ban. That would move us ahead of the US and just behind China in the medal table. If we could draft in Darts and Snooker as replacements, the rest of the world would be _fucked_. ---
**Author:** ![Cumbrian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ce7236/32.png) [@Cumbrian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cumbrian)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2012, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olympics-how-is-your-country-faring/629957/157 "2012-08-09T14:00:18Z")
The Chinese are already quite good at snooker. If it were an Olympic sport, I think it is we who would be fucked. Darts on the other hand… ---
**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 9, 2012, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olympics-how-is-your-country-faring/629957/158 "2012-08-09T14:16:07Z")
> [@Cumbrian](#): > > The Chinese are already quite good at snooker. If it were an Olympic sport, I think it is we who would be fucked. The top ranked Chinese player is 9th in the world, the next is 40th. Make Snooker an Olympic sport, give them 4 years and it could easily be another matter though… I’m making a semi-serious point here. While we’ve had a fantastic Olympics, the programme is pretty kind to us. We’ve topped the medal table in a couple minority sports, Cycling and Rowing. It’s much harder to dominate in sports with a wider participation, such as Swimming and Athletics. It makes an interesting hypothetical. How much would it cost the UK to find and train enough talent to top the medal table in the pool? Would it even be possible with our population? ---
**Author:** ![yojimbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yojimbo/32/232_2.png) [@yojimbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yojimbo)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2012, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olympics-how-is-your-country-faring/629957/159 "2012-08-09T15:42:15Z")
Ireland haven’t done great although we never really win big. The country will stop in 10 minutes though while Katie Taylor goes for gold in the woman’s lightweight boxing. [http://www.london2012.com/boxing/event=boxing-women-light-60kg/](http://www.london2012.com/boxing/event=boxing-women-light-60kg/) About 10,000 Irish in the arena and almost everyone at home watching. Everyone in my department has sorted out a wifi connection to watch it at their desk and most workplaces have sorted something out for their staff. GO KATIE!!! [http://www.irishtimes.com/sports/other/2012/0809/1224321854263.html](http://www.irishtimes.com/sports/other/2012/0809/1224321854263.html) ---
**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 9, 2012, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olympics-how-is-your-country-faring/629957/160 "2012-08-09T15:42:39Z")
Britain’s long national nightmare (48hrs) is over - gold and bronze in the freestyle dressage, and the first ever women’s boxing gold. Possibly the two Olympic events that a least like each other? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olympics-how-is-your-country-faring/629957.md?page=7) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olympics-how-is-your-country-faring/629957.md?page=9)