Non-motoring > Olympics Miscellaneous
Thread Author: zippy Replies: 91

 Olympics - zippy
Well we are doing rather well and there have been some amazing performances from our team! Adam Peaty alone broke a world twice within a couple of days! Mo Farah went on to win the 10k after falling and Bradley Wiggins showed superb form and news just in our first ever gymnastics gold win with Max Whitlock winning not just 1 but 2 gold medals!

Very Well Done!

Acknowledge Russia are not there in force but it just goes to show that if they didn't take drugs in previous years then the results table may have been very different!

 Olympics - Boxsterboy
Yes, it's amazing that we are second in the medal table considering our small size and how many school playing fields have been sold off for housing! Well ahead of comparable countries (e.g. France and Germany)

Well done to all.
 Olympics - zippy
>> Well done to all.
>>

One of my clients makes a very small thing (a couple of pounds per unit) and a few tens of pence to make that is used on some equipment that our team uses - I am sorry that I cannot be more specific.

The thing took lots of research with the main equipment manufacturer helping and giving ideas to the extent of "it would be wonderful if we could have something that did that and and weighed this" but didn't have the knowledge and scientific expertise in that area to design or make the "thing".

It helps apparently by knocking milliseconds off times but there are lots of these millisecond savings and in the end they all add up.

The athletes do the same. Analysing their performance and making changes that can knock milliseconds off their times.

I think the amazing Mr U Bolt could be even faster if looked at his form even more closely!

 Olympics - Ian (Cape Town)
>>
>> I think the amazing Mr U Bolt could be even faster if looked at his
>> form even more closely!
>>
A certain chap from my neck of the woods took 0.17 off the 400m record last night. He can go faster yet.
Another person from round here is favourite for the 800m.
Contentious issue, and much hypocrisy from Lord Seb... who was about when the eastern Bloc 'women' set a lot of records which still stand today.
 Olympics - Robin O'Reliant
It is surprising how poorly the Germans are at sport in general compared to their dominant position in football. Very few track and field athletes, cyclists or swimmers at the top level.
 Olympics - Ian (Cape Town)
>> It is surprising how poorly the Germans ...

do you think that without the lure of London 2012, and the roaring success of it carrying on, that GB would not be in the same boat?
GB athletics had a massive surge in the late 80s, due to those chaps Coe and Ovett. Everyone wanted to be a mile runner. Then it went into a duldrum of sorts.
 Olympics - sherlock47
The GB difference can be largely explained by the start of lotttery funding in about 1996. In the first year I believe that the available funding that replaced the government ( tax derived) funding went from about £5M to about £50M. This enabled promising athletes to give up full time occupations.

The administration was also tightened up, with under performing sports having grants withdrawn. That made waves! but focussed the minds and ended up with some of the older administrators being replaced by more 'professionally' organised outfits.

Combine that with some of the world class sports science university organisations and you start to see results.

Now all they have to do is get rid of things like dressage ( as near a sport as a dog show) and replace with genuine competitive sports. I do not include darts or snooker as worthy of inclusion, but cricket - baseball - could easily find acclaim. The newly introduced golf this year was definitely a rivetting watch for the last 10 holes.
 Olympics - zippy
>>I do not include darts or snooker as worthy of inclusion...

Here is a documentary of two fine dart players. Suggesting it is not a sport deserves derision IMHO!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=pgap_CzceBM












:-)
 Olympics - Duncan
>> Now all they have to do is get rid of things like dressage ( as
>> near a sport as a dog show) and replace with genuine competitive sports. I do
>> not include darts or snooker as worthy of inclusion, but cricket - baseball - could
>> easily find acclaim. The newly introduced golf this year was definitely a rivetting watch for
>> the last 10 holes.

Quite agree.

Some sports are over provided with events.

Take cycling; much as I enjoy it, there is every permutation of cycle race that you can think of, and then someone must have said, "what about if we have an old bloke on a funny motorbike to ride round with the bikes for a few laps before he packs in and goes for his tea?"

If you tried to make it up, people wouldn't believe you!

 Olympics - rtj70
>> and then someone must have said.... "what about if we have an old bloke on a funny
>> motorbike to ride round with the bikes for a few laps before he packs in and goes for his tea?"

Invented for betting purposes by the Japanese. That's totally believable. From wikipedia:

Keirin (競輪 / ケイリン?, [keiɽiɴ]) "racing wheels" is a form of motor-paced cycle racing in which track cyclists sprint for victory following a speed-controlled start behind a motorized or non-motorized pacer. It was developed in Japan around 1948 for gambling purposes and became an official event at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, Australia.

So if Keirin in Japanese can be written as 競輪... that translates as bicycle race.
 Olympics - henry k
>>"what about if we have an old bloke on a funny motorbike to ride round with the bikes for a few laps

You mean a Derney.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Derny
The Japanese Keirin thing came many decades later later.

motorcycle-74.blogspot.co.uk/2012/12/motor-paced-racing-derny.html
See the first two photos.

The second photo is how I first remembered the Derney.
Always an overweight ex cyclist guy on the Derney who had to pedal it but always with the knees out.
Noisy things but that was part of the event.

The latest Derney with followers in familiar lycra
www.velodromeshop.net/index.php?p=product&id=2286

Elf and safety sanitised it ? :-)
Details of the "current" machine.
www.cyclingweekly.co.uk/news/latest-news/electric-derny-bike-causes-upset-track-world-cup-148491

 Olympics - henry k
Racing with each rider having a Derney to follow.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=zvDXjszm-qM

Or even more exciting on a small track
www.youtube.com/watch?v=CN9wNTgwTR8
 Olympics - smokie
Interesting Henry, I found an article that says

"The Derny pacer will sit close to the back of the bike, in an upright position, with their heels on the pedals and knees turned out, to provide as large a wind break as possible to benefit the cyclist riding behind. There are rules about the number of layers of clothing that can be worn, this is to stop drivers padding themselves out ‘Michelin Man’ style to further add to their bulk and therefore the efficiency of the wind break they can provide for the cyclist behind."

www.bikeenvy.co.uk/article.php?id=397

And an article on training to become a Derney rider

www.southerncyclecoaching.com/uploads/1/3/9/1/13913803/derny_training_resource_manual.pdf

But I'm yet to find out how it isn't the man with the fastest Derney who wins :-)
 Olympics - smokie
I've just watched cycling events for most of the evening and they were the most exciting events I've watched in ages. I'm not yet clear on all the rules, or even the names of the events and how you get a medal, but the more you watch, the more you recognise the tactics and skill of the participants.
 Olympics - rtj70
You watched the omnium as well then. For the final points race I was surprised you got 20 points for lapping... you could do that a few times and then drop back surely? These cyclists are supremely fit.

And how many points for missing a lap? The winner got taken out by Cavendish in the points race.
Last edited by: rtj70 on Mon 15 Aug 16 at 23:23
 Olympics - sooty123
> Quite agree.
>>
>> Some sports are over provided with events.
>>
>> Take cycling; much as I enjoy it, there is every permutation of cycle race that you can think of, and then someone must have said, "what about if we have an old bloke on a funny motorbike to ride round with the bikes for a few laps before he packs in and goes for his tea?"
>>
>> If you tried to make it up, people wouldn't believe you!

The other sports need to get more inventive, perhaps the 100m run backwards or maybe they could stop half way through and do a couple of press ups.
 Olympics - Duncan
>> Take cycling; much as I enjoy it, there is every permutation of cycle race that
>> you can think of, and then someone must have said, "what about if we have
>> an old bloke on a funny motorbike to ride round with the bikes for a
>> few laps before he packs in and goes for his tea?"
>>
>> If you tried to make it up, people wouldn't believe you!


Bit of a shambles in the Keirin this evening!

Two false starts. I thought the British man was going to get disqualified, but then he managed to win gold!

Ban the Keirin!

Ban the Keirin!

Ban the Keirin!
 Olympics - henry k
>>Ban the Keirin!

Nah! Sort out the judging and get some cameras on the job.
A GoPro on a mast on the Derney ?

I say disqualify riders who have the saddle fall off their bike.!

www.reuters.com/article/us-olympic-rio-cycling-track-f-sprint-idUSKCN10R2GL
Last edited by: henry k on Wed 17 Aug 16 at 09:35
 Olympics - tyrednemotional
...especially if the loss takes the weight of the bike below the minimum weight limit.......

(and given that the current limit is fairly easily achievable, I bet not many bikes above the limit - when they start out - are in use. Where's the Parc Ferme when you need it. ;-) )
 Olympics - Stuartli
>>Bit of a shambles in the Keirin this evening!

Two false starts. I thought the British man was going to get disqualified, but then he managed to win gold!

Ban the Keirin!

Ban the Keirin!

Ban the Keirin! >>

It wasn't the riders' fault in any way, but the failure to set up the required and necessary technology. Hence the judges' decision to clear the cyclists in both cases and rightly so.

As for Jason Kenny "managing" to win gold, he was the outright favourite and, despite the two interruptions and other riders' determination to block him, still succeeded in landing the title. Coolness personified.
 Olympics - smokie
I am the first in the queue to praise the team, but Kenny is a rider and he overtook the Derny, how is that not his fault? He escaped a disqualification on a technicality, not because he wasn't guilty. It's like escaping a speeding ban because the road markings were faulty.

Also I suspect the organisers would have some reluctance to ban the favourite, so I expect they were happy when a get-out was found.
 Olympics - Robin O'Reliant
>> I am the first in the queue to praise the team, but Kenny is a
>> rider and he overtook the Derny, how is that not his fault? He escaped a
>> disqualification on a technicality, not because he wasn't guilty. It's like escaping a speeding ban
>> because the road markings were faulty.
>>
>> Also I suspect the organisers would have some reluctance to ban the favourite, so I
>> expect they were happy when a get-out was found.
>>

The problem was not Kenny or the other riders who jumped the motorbike, but the moto itself. The pacer is supposed to accelerate 50 metres before he pulls off and he didn't. The riders were anticipating that he would do that and once you jump it is virtually impossible to slow quickly using only back pressure on the fixed wheel. Track bikes have no brakes.
 Olympics - Armel Coussine
Dressage is very very boring to me. Proper horse racing seems OK though, especially the famous Palio held in the huge cobbled market square of Siena (a town where I am supposed to have my Italian origins). The Palio is very rough and dangerous, yeeeee-hah!

I'm not a horse person at all though. I can sort of stay on one if it doesn't get too frisky.
 Olympics - Robin O'Reliant
>>
>>
>> I'm not a horse person at all though. I can sort of stay on one
>> if it doesn't get too frisky.
>>

Never trust an animal that can crap while it's walking. It isn't natural.
 Olympics - Stuartli
>>The GB difference can be largely explained by the start of lotttery funding in about 1996.>>

Absolutely spot on.

However, your comment about dressage won't go down well with many I know. They have proved absolutely captivated by it and can't believe how remarkable both riders and horses prove when performing.

More a sport than darts or snooker....:-)
 Olympics - zippy
>>More a sport than darts or snooker....:-)

Look, will you stop dissing darts and snooker! Drinking men's sport.

Dressage on the other hand: - horses made to look like performing poodles!

:-)
 Olympics - sooty123
Dressage on the other hand: - horses made to look like performing poodles!
>>
>> :-)
>>

I call it horse dancing, not sure how it made as a sport at the Olympics. Perhaps it was the joker event.
 Olympics - Robin O'Reliant
>> do you think that without the lure of London 2012, and the roaring success of
>> it carrying on, that GB would not be in the same boat?

I'm not talking about their performance in comparison to GB in particular, but their general standing in the sporting hierarchy. Below par for a nation of that size and repute.
Last edited by: VxFan on Tue 16 Aug 16 at 01:28
 Olympics - CGNorwich
What status exactly is acquired by your citizens running the quickest or throwing things the furthest.? It's all great fun but not to be taken seriously
 Olympics - Ian (Cape Town)
>> I'm not talking about their performance in comparison to GB in particular, but their general
>> standing in the sporting hierarchy. Below par for a nation of that size and repute.
>>
Playing fields of Eton, and all that.
While Tom Brown and co were inventing games and exporting them, the hun was busy chopping his schoolmates with a schlager...
Germany does well, as you say, at football.
And also in sports not that popular in the Uk, like basketball and handball.It wpuld seem it is more of a tem sport culture then geared towards individualism.
Obviously tennis is big, as are winter sports.
In the past, the East Germans used sport as a way to get prestige - but used a lot of drugs in the process.
Leading on, though, look at a nation really punching above its weight - New Zealand. For such a small population, they done very well in a lot of sports over the years.
 Olympics - Duncan
>> Leading on, though, look at a nation really punching above its weight - New Zealand.
>> For such a small population, they done very well in a lot of sports over
>> the years.

O.K. Rugby. Agreed.

Right, what else?
 Olympics - Ian (Cape Town)
Well, cricket, netball, cycling, yachting, motorsport, athletics (Walker and Snell spring to mind), rowing (2 golds in rio, 3 in london).
 Olympics - Mapmaker
Personally I think dressage is the Olympic sport most worth watching. It has nothing to do with the ability to train a freak human (Phelps being an extreme, with arms as long as a gibbon and lungs the size of a whale); and everything to do with skill. Best of all, it allows the boys and girls to compete in the same class.

Tennis isn't an Olympic sport; likewise cricket. Far too dull and time consuming.
 Olympics - sherlock47
>>>and everything to do with skill. <<<

Using your criteria, you could validly incude darts, bridge, jenga, and origami.
 Olympics - Robin O'Reliant
I don't see why any sport should be excluded from the Olympics, provided those sports are willing to attend and the logistics make it possible. If a particular sport doesn't appeal you don't have to watch it.
 Olympics - Ian (Cape Town)
That is the catch-all, isn't it?
Apart from the Olympics, how often do we get to see a lot of the smaller sports?
Even in these days of ubiquitous satellite coverage, you'd be hard-pressed to find archery, dressage, trampolining, target shooting, fencing etc at any time in the three yrs 11 months between the games.
Football, athletics, swimming all have their own highly popular world champs, but most other sports will be relegated to a 30 minute highlights package on channel 497 late at night.
I'm just glad that some chaps and chappesses get to show their skills every 4 years. And remember, the reason we love watching sports is to see folk doing stuff we could never do ourselves to that level.
 Olympics - smokie
A friend of a friend has narrowly missed selection for the para team this year, she has been working long hard days for it and is devastated. I think she had the necessary form for 3 years but something happened and others edged her out during the last months or so. She couldn't have done it without lottery funding. All those taking part should be admired for their commitment, even those who get lapped or fall at the first hurdle.
 Olympics - mikeyb
>> A friend of a friend has narrowly missed selection for the para team this year,
>> she has been working long hard days for it and is devastated.

I have a friend who has qualified for the para team and I know how much he has put into it. His sport is Triathlon which I think is a new one for the olympics.

After seeing the commitment, pain, and sacrafice my friend has been through to get to this point I cant begin to imagine how you must feel missing out at the last moment
 Olympics - sooty123
Likewise a chap i used to work with ended up as the first choice in the reserves for the London games in his sport. Pretty impressive as he didn't get that much money and had a full time job.
 Cycling team - smokie
Everyone in the cycling team has won at least one medal. Some seriously good achievements there. The last Omnium thing with Jason in was a nailbiter,
 Cycling team - Ian (Cape Town)
>> Everyone in the cycling team has won at least one medal.

Can Norman Tebbit take the credit for this?
 Cycling team - henry k
>> >> Everyone in the cycling team has won at least one medal.
>>
>> Can Norman Tebbit take the credit for this?
>>
It seems that there is a lot of funding from the lottery that enables the team to have the best of everything.
So many nations are underfunded when compared with our team.

Aussies , the French and some others have questioned our success.
It appears that at this Olympics they are under performing which widens the gap between them and us.

How come there was not such a high level of success just a few weeks ago at the world championships?
The answer to some extent appears to be that the lottery funding spurs the team to get Olympic
medals to keep the funds rolling in. World titles are nice but pay no bills.
They concentrate on the Olympics and attention to details e. g. Not 3 in 1 oil on the chain but the latest "specialised" lubricant.
 Cycling team - smokie
So that'll be a success story then. They seem few and far between these days!! :-)
 Cycling team - Ambo
Aussies , the French......................have questioned our success

Well, they would, wouldn't they?

 Cycling team - Stuartli
>>How come there was not such a high level of success just a few weeks ago at the world championships?>>

The boss of the cycling squad says that the GB team has, in fact, been very successful in recent years and that success is down to concentrating on the essentials, such as the latest equipment and all the support that the cyclists require.

He points out that the Germans, French, Australians etc have failed to keep up to date, hence the fact they have gradually fallen a little behind the UK cyclists' standards.
 Cycling team - sooty123
Watching some of the games, who decides how many finals there are within each sport? Some seem to have a huge amount of finals.
 Cycling team - Dutchie
Not many Russians in the games are there.

Good luck to everybody achieving a medal.Don't want to be clever but we are watching full professionals sponsored with lottery money.
 Cycling team - rtj70
>> Don't want to be clever but we are watching full professionals sponsored with lottery money.

And how much is their income typically?
 Cycling team - CGNorwich
Not typical but Chris Froome earns over £3 million per year.
 Cycling team - rtj70
I would think Trott and Kenny earn quite a bit from sponsorship. I have no problems with that. They are about to earn a lot more.

Probably nowhere near as much as Andy Murray. And way behind some footballers.
Last edited by: rtj70 on Thu 18 Aug 16 at 00:20
 Cycling team - Stuartli
>> Not typical but Chris Froome earns over £3 million per year.>>

...and works a damn sight harder when competing than many who think they are superior, no matter what type of employment in which they are involved.

If people are prepared to put in the sheer effort and dedication required to be successful at any activity, especially when there are many, many others who could very well match them, then they deserve all the financial rewards that come their way.

Far better than those who merely exist by living off the State and having no qualms or shame about doing so.
 Cycling team - Robin O'Reliant
>> Not typical but Chris Froome earns over £3 million per year.
>>
Chris Froome is paid by Sky, his trade team sponsors. He does not receive lottery funding as he is not on the British Cycling squad apart from when he is selected for international championships.
 Cycling team - CGNorwich
But he still earns £3 million a year whoever pays him. There Is serious money to be made in cycling.
 Cycling team - rtj70
>> But he still earns £3 million a year whoever pays him. There Is serious money to be made in cycling.

There is serious money to be made in any sport if you're any good. How much did Andy Murray earn from tennis and sponsorship last year? What about Gareth Bale and football/sponsorship? £3m compared to those too is not that much is it? Isn't Gareth Bales salary alone about £300k per week so about £15m... before sponsorship taken into account.
Last edited by: rtj70 on Thu 18 Aug 16 at 18:13
 Cycling team - CGNorwich
Certainly others earn more but £3 million is still a tidy sum. It's an odd concept when you think about it, professional sport. Getting paid enormous sums to kick a ball about or ride a bicycle quickly. Very odd.
 Cycling team - No FM2R
>> It's an odd concept ..........Getting paid enormous sums to kick a ball about......

I take your point, but they're not really, are they. They are paid to entertain us, albeit by kicking a ball where other sing or act.

It is peculiar that we should pay any entertainer, be that Cristiano Ronaldo (£57m all in, 2015) or Jennifer Lawrence (£43m, 2015, films only) or Elton John (£87m, 2015, entertainment only) that much money to entertain us.

But then pay Doctors, Firemen and the like a comparative pittance.
Last edited by: No FM2R on Thu 18 Aug 16 at 19:13
 Cycling team - Robin O'Reliant
>>
>>
>> But then pay Doctors, Firemen and the like a comparative pittance.
>>

But it's easier to qualify as a doctor or a firefighter (See how PC I am, no sexism there) than it is to win the Tour de France or play top level football.
 Cycling team - No FM2R
>>But it's easier to qualify as a doctor or a firefighter

From some perspectives that is perhaps true, but not all and most certainly not for singers, actors and the like.

And wouldn't you have thought that we would value something by how essential it is to us rather than how much we like it? Or at least, that they would at least be in the same universe and related to each other?

Edit: and thinking about it, I am not sure its true for cyclists or footballers either. I wonder how many hours a footballer trained until he began Premier League footballing, for example as opposed to how many hours a doctor had to train for.

And I'm not sure those hours are comparatively similar in effort either - I don't think footballers train a 40 or 50 hour week.
Last edited by: No FM2R on Thu 18 Aug 16 at 19:26
 Cycling team - Robin O'Reliant
>>
>>
>> Edit: and thinking about it, I am not sure its true for cyclists or footballers
>> either. I wonder how many hours a footballer trained until he began Premier League footballing,
>> for example as opposed to how many hours a doctor had to train for.
>>
>> And I'm not sure those hours are comparatively similar in effort either - I don't
>> think footballers train a 40 or 50 hour week.
>>
But as you know, people are not paid for how hard or how long they work. Wayne Rooney generates many times his income in overseas merchandise sales alone and if he didn't get the money Manchester United would just pocket it. And his tax contributions will fund quite a few doctors and firefighters too.
 Cycling team - No FM2R
Don't get me wrong, I don't begrudge Rooney a penny. As I said, it is what people will pay for that I wonder about, not what they will do for money, or indeed the money they get for what they do.
 Cycling team - CGNorwich
True. I guess the odd thing is our addiction to watching sport. I must say I've always been fairly indifferent although I do watch the occasional game of football on TV or the highlights of the Olympics on the news. Not sure I understand why it is so compelling for many. Can't blame people for cashing in on it though.
 Cycling team - No FM2R
>>Can't blame people for cashing in on it though.

I rarely judge people for cashing in.

I am much more alarmed by what people will pay for, then by what they will do for money.
 Cycling team - Ian (Cape Town)
>> Certainly others earn more but £3 million is still a tidy sum. It's an odd
>> concept when you think about it, professional sport. Getting paid enormous sums to kick a
>> ball about or ride a bicycle quickly. Very odd.
>>
The lads can decide for a 'standard' life, or believe in themselves, and go for gold.
They'll train hours and hours a day in the worst conditions, for their goal... to make it big.
The ultimate gamble.
Make it big, or lose 5 yrs of your life.
Next time you watch a movie, or TV show, work out how good those actor chaps have to be to get to their positions.
I don't begrudge them at all.
Yet some skanks who haul their norks out on Celeb Big Brother make $$$$ purely because they hauled etc etc etc

As I alluded to earlier, we like sportsmen, because they do stuff we can't do ourselves, but wish we could.
Last edited by: Ian (Cape Town) on Thu 18 Aug 16 at 20:44
 Cycling team - CGNorwich
I suppose that must be true for some but I can't say I've ever yearned to jump higher than everyone else or throw a javelin further or indeed particularly want to watch them doing it. I guess there are people who like sport and those that can take it or leave it. I am not sure I find someone who spends five years of their life learning to pedal faster particularly admirable. I have a sneaking feeling that they might have devotedd themselves to something a tad more useful.

Still very little in life makes much sense does it?
 Cycling team - Ian (Cape Town)
CG, it is all about personal choices.
Want to stay in a grey block, doing a grey job, and do a grey commute, drivings a grey car, to earn a pension which will keep your dog in bones? Your call.
Want to have a hell of a lot of fun, maybe, just maybe, earn the admiration of the nation, and make a few bob out of it? GO FOR IT!

A thousand years as a sheep, one day as a tiger!

 Cycling team - CGNorwich
I get all of that but what I can't quite get is why you earn the admiration of the nation and possibly lots of money for throwing a spear or jumping over hurdles but don't for other activities that are far more challenging and worthwhile.

Odd.

 Cycling team - Ian (Cape Town)
>> Watching some of the games, who decides how many finals there are within each sport?
>> Some seem to have a huge amount of finals.
>>

Different disciplines within sports.
Fencing has three swords, shooting has about 10 categories.
same as athletics has 100, 200, 400, 800 etc etc etc... Plus lobbing stuff, and jumping into a sandpit.
All very specialised within their fields.
Imagine a marathon runner v Usain bolt over 5000m?
 Cycling team - sooty123
> All very specialised within their fields.

It sounds it. Mind you i don't take a right lot of notice of the Olympics, it's okay if it's on in the background. outside of the games i have to say i watch no Olympic sports at all(bar football) so it's probably all lost on me.
 Cycling team - smokie
Yeah I'm like that Sooty except my weakness is motor racing not foot, though I do tend to watch international tournaments (Euros & World Cup).

I did sit and watch the cycling over the past few nights but tonight I tried some hockey, high jump and diving but it just doesn't float my boat. Doesn't stop me marvelling at the supreme ability of some of them though.

What strikes me as funny is how we're all experts after an hour or so though :-)

Talking of which, there was apparently a near-no jump last night when the bar fell off after the white flag had been raised to say the jump was good. It took the judges quite a few minutes to decide that the raising of the white flag was the decisive moment. The commentators were saying there is a myth that it's when the athlete gets off the mattress.
Last edited by: smokie on Wed 17 Aug 16 at 22:35
 Cycling team - legacylad
I've watched very little of the Olympics, although that's not to say I don't appreciate their dedication to their particular sport.
Probably because I ski, I have much more of an affinity with the Winter Olympics and can spend hours watching certain events.
I wonder what percentage of Olympic participants actually hold down other full time jobs, and are not ' professional athletes'. That's not to denigrate the professionals, but to succeed and get a medal I imagine training becomes a full time career, allowed by sports funding or private sponsorship.
 Cycling team - smokie
The girl I mentioned above (paralympian) gave up a full time job when her training schedule reached 6+ hours a day, and that was fairly early after her initial selection into Team GB. I'm not sure what she was paid by funding but a figure around £20k is in my mind. She was part;y also dependent on family and spousal support.
 Cycling team - helicopter
Laura Trott does earn money from various sponsors and as a sparky good looking blonde girl she is a sponsors dream but Kenny does not have any sponsors despite his gold medals.

Pre olympics he described himself in an interview with the BBC basically IIRC as having no sponsorship because he was ' a miserable sod who is not marketable'

He dislikes celebrity and just seems to me to be a decent level headed hard working lad who deserves his success.

Now are GB hockey girls going to get gold against the Netherlands Dutchie ??
Last edited by: helicopter on Thu 18 Aug 16 at 08:47
 Cycling team - legacylad
The only Kenny I had previously heard of ( apart from Everett) was in the Simpsons.
I'd never heard of the cycling one, but good luck to him.
 Cycling team - Crankcase
>> The only Kenny I had previously heard of ( apart from Everett) was in the
>> Simpsons.
>

Crikey, Kenny is about the most obscure Simpsons character there is. I had to look him up and even then struggled to recall him, and I know my Simpsons pretty well I thought.
 Cycling team - Ian (Cape Town)
I think he got confused with South Park.
Kenny kept getting killed
 Cycling team - Mapmaker
>>Kenny does not have any sponsors despite his gold medals.

He has a 7-figure sponsor according to today's papers.
 Cycling team - helicopter
He has now. Mappy ....he did not prior to Rio despite his three golds.
 Cycling team - Roger.
So far I have managed to avoid watching the Olympic nonsense - apart from the everlasting TV news coverage glimpsed as the other family member watches it.
 Cycling team - Stuartli
>> So far I have managed to avoid watching the Olympic nonsense - apart from the everlasting TV news coverage glimpsed as the other family member watches it.>>

That's entirely your prerogative but, on the other hand, the last night of the cycling coverage featuring competitors such as Laura Trott and Jason Kenny attracted more than 11M viewers at its peak.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-37110098

So more than a few others followed this particular sport and, of course, the many other exciting and dramatic events...:-)
 Cycling team - Duncan
>> ...the last night of the cycling
>> coverage featuring competitors such as Laura Trott and Jason Kenny attracted more than 11M viewers>> at its peak.
>>
>> www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-37110098
>>
>> So more than a few others followed this particular sport and, of course, the many
>> other exciting and dramatic events...:-)

But it also means that 83.1% of the UK population DIDN'T watch it.
 Cycling team - Stuartli
>>But it also means that 83.1% of the UK population DIDN'T watch it. >>

If you want to use the same analogy, probably something on the lines of 0.0000001 per cent of the UK population have just read your comment.

With so many TV channels competing for viewers, a figure of more than 11M was quite remarkable for this particular coverage.
 Cycling team - CGNorwich

>>
>> If you want to use the same analogy, probably something on the lines of 0.0000001
>> per cent of the UK population have just read your comment.

I make that just over half a person. I knew numbers had dwindled but didn't realis they were that bad.
 Cycling team - Stuartli
>>I make that just over half a person. I knew numbers had dwindled but didn't realis they were that bad.>>

For a guess, it wasn't that far out...:-)

Again, using the same analogy, 63.1 per cent of the UK electorate didn't vote for the Tories in the 2015 General Election and 69.6 per cent didn't vote for Labour.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/election/2015/results

As Mark Twain said (or at least is credited with): "There are lies, damn lies and statistics"..:-)

 Cycling team - Pat
Behave Stuart, you'll only wake WdeB up again!

Pat
 Cycling team - Stuartli
>>Behave Stuart, you'll only wake WdeB up again!>>

Perhaps he was waiting for the 10 o'clock news to eventually start? ...:-)
 Cycling team - Pat
Ooooooo, you do know he gets a bit precious if you call him Mappy, don't you?;)

Pat
 Cycling team - Mapmaker
>> He has now. Mappy ....he did not prior to Rio despite his three golds.
>>

'bout time you learned the difference between 'did' and 'does' then; likewise 'Mappy' which is not my handle, and 'Mapmaker' which is.

Thank you.
 Cycling team - Pat
Told you so, helicopter:)

Pat
 Cycling team - helicopter

Do you think I care Pat :0)

...you are right ..... very precious....
 Cycling team - rtj70
Poor Map maker.
 Cycling team - Dutchie
Tonight the final between Holland and the UK womens hockey.

I do enjoy the Olympics but when I saw the picture of that little lad in Syria in a chair shell shocked.What a crazy world we live in.Total misery on one level and jubilation about a Medal.
 Cycling team - Ian (Cape Town)
>> Tonight the final between Holland and the UK womens hockey.
>>
>> I do enjoy the Olympics but when I saw the picture of that little lad
>> in Syria in a chair shell shocked.What a crazy world we live in.Total misery on
>> one level and jubilation about a Medal.
>>

1) Well done Uk

2) That lad is not going to think well of the 'West' is he?

Want to manufacture terrorists? Try bombing their houses.
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