Please tell me I missed the OP about the “fans” delaying the men’s 200 M race.
Apparently a Greek racer failed a drug test twice. (Or failed once and refused a 2nd test) Then dropped out. So getting to the start of the race, it was repeatedly postponed because the fans were chanting the name of the Greek racer, and making various ofther distractions.
2 false starts later, the race was finally underway. (Swept by my favorite country)
So what the fuck was the disrespect for? I can see the Euro’s being mad at the Americans. Trust me, I’m still ashamed of the Men’s 4x100 relay team in Sydney. But they were only 3 of the field. The childishness affected all the runners, and may have thrown a few off their game. I was screaming “USA” when we swept, but now I’m wondering if the other athletes were thrown a bit at the start.
I’m proud that the USA took all three medals, but the crowd tonight surpassed the '00 Sydney men’s team as all-time classless shitheels.
Dammit, the OP wasn’t supposed to sound so condemning. There were people from all over the world there. (Though there were a majority chanting the Greek’s name)
I was hoping the first response wouldn’t slam me for slamming Greeks. It wasn’t my intent. It just pissed me off. The Olympics are suppoesed to overcome differences of countries. As the American being interviewed said himself. (I wish I could link to his quote, but can’t right now)
I didn’t catch the event you’re talking about (although you’re not the first person I’ve heard complaining about the booing) but a similar thing happened after the Greece vs USA volleyball match. It was a tight game that went into five sets, and both teams were on match point multiple times. When the US team won many people started booing.
I can understand the disappointment of having your home team lose, especially in such a close match, but booing at the Olympics - which should be about international goodwill - just leaves a sour taste in my mouth.
Something similar happened in yesterday’s basketball match between Greece and Argentina, the greeks booed and were really agressive. But god is fair (at least sometimes) and we sent them packing… you get the idea
I can sort of understand the volleyball match. On the second to last point, someone in the stands blew a whistle, and apparently at least a few members of the Greek team thought it meant the ball was dead. And on the last point, the Greeks thought there was a net foul by the Americans. Kind of a tough way to lose a tightly contested match.
Oh shit Duffer I hadn’t seen that event. Just caught the replay now. You are right. That audience should be very, very ashamed. They did Greece a major disservice.
The announcers of the event made a reference to a press report in a Greek Newpaper that blamed the Americans for the Greek runner not being able to participate. They did not mention specific allegations but clearly thought it contibuted to the hostility of the crowd. Apparently this was a much anticipated race for the Greeks & was the hottest ticket in town before the scandal.
There was considrable booing after the Russian (or Ukranian) gymnast did his excersize on the rings. But they were right to boo. They judges hosed that guy.
The famous (or infamous if you are english) hand of god incident. 20 years later an they are still crying over it Refresh my memory, Argentina won 1-0? because I seem to remember another goal… it must had been a different match.
In all honesty, when the prison abuse story broke I asked a friend if she thought that they’d boo at the Olympics whenever an American took the podium. And IIRC, in a thread about the opening ceremonies, someone here mentioned being a little nervous that the US would be booed as well.
While there seems to be widespread loathing for the administration, the general feeling towards the American people still tends to be fairly decent.
Colin Powell is scheduled to attend the closing ceremonies and there are protests around Athens right now, a long with a substantial police presence, so perhaps that is fueling a bit of the bad behaviour from the locals.
?