2020 Olympics (in 2021)

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Mendalla

Mendalla

Happy headbanging ape!!
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So, the Olympics are under way in Tokyo, Japan, pandemic notwithstanding. Opening ceremonies were last night. Haven't watched them yet but will later. If you're looking for both live and replay streams, get the CBC Gem app or hit the Gem website.

Canadian hopefuls include Damian Warner in decathlon (local favorite here in London and winner of the Bronze in 2016 as well as a slew of other medals in the Worlds and other events) and the darling of the Rio games, Penny Oleksiuk in swimming (and, indeed, most of the 2016 women's swim team are back I believe).

Not sure how much I'll watch but I might try to catch some.

Of course, as always, there's controversies.

Should they even be having these Games, given that the pandemic is far from over and most Japanese citizens are against it?

Only 80% of athletes are vaccinated. Are the other 20% (includiing a prominent American swimmer who has used anti-vax language in interviews with Fox) a risk to the whole enterprise?

And there's the old question of whither the Olympics in future. Brisbane, Australia got the 2032 games by default. No one else was interested. That's after 2024 and 2028 got divided between Paris and LA, who were the only bidders for the former.

So, this is the 2020(1) Olympics thread, to cheer athletes and discuss the Games. Let the games begin!
 
I think we have half a dozen athletes from Mississauga - yay!
Last evening I watched some of the opening ceremonies - time wise it was the parade of athletes. I'm always fascinated by the team uniforms/costumes. I did notice there were a few countries that I would not be able to point out on a map - must look those up & educate myself.
Watched some of the men's volleyball - wow such power! Not quite like the volleyball I played in high school gym class LOL I'm sure i'd be running from some of those serves, not diving in to reply - which of course is why I'm a spectator!
Heard on radio this morning that the first gold medal of these games went to a woman from China in a shooting event.
 
First Canadian medal is silver and, as in Rio, it's the women's 4x100 relay team anchored by Penny Oleksiak. And Maggie MacNeil, who swam the 2nd leg, also made it through to the final of the 100m butterfly, in which she is the reigning world champion. That race goes tomorrow night our time.
 
I think it's not a great idea to do it now as it's going on. Maybe more of an internationally hosted one, where there could be smaller bubbles, ie. one place for diving, another for track, etc.
I think having so many people from multiple countries in 1 place isn't all that safe for the world in general. Vaccines vary, different variants are affecting different countries, bringing it all together seems rather risky. I hope everyone returning gets a OCVID test, regardless of what's actually required at the time.

Instead of having the Olympics this year, the IOC could have instead done some online events to help deal with the racism, sexism, cheating, etc.
 
Cathal Kelly has a great piece (paywalled, sadly) about Penny Oleksiak. In 2016, she wowed the crowd in Rio, taking 4 medals in her first Olympics at the age of 16. The most ever won by a Canadian Olympian is 6 (Cindy Klassen and Clara Hughes, the latter across both Summer and Winter Games). Last night's medal puts Penny to 5 and she has two events to go in Tokyo, including 100m freestyle, in which she won a gold in 2016. And she's only 21.
 
Last night watched men's doubles rowing - Canadian team got through in preliminaries; some mens' vault - 4 Americans were top of the list but apparently there's a restriction of 2/country to move ahead; some women's beam; and then SKATEBOARDING! Two men's events - very cool, since my kid was a fanatically skater for many years & we had the frequent flier ER status to prove it! Was interesting to see the different events & how they are scored in skateboarding. I'm wondering if there are also women's skateboarding events - I would think so - but last night it was all men (& boys!) competing.

Yes, it's definitely been interesting to the maturation of Oleksiak in the past few years - composed young woman now and such a great athlete.

Cdn women's 3m synchro diving team of Jen Abel & Melissa Citrinni-Beaulieu also won silver in their event. First year diving together - and I bet not the last!
 
And MacNeil does it, adding an Olympic gold to her World Championship gold.
 
Mrs.Anteater said:
I am not following Olympics, just reading headlines- but it seemed to me that so far, all Canadian medals had been won by women?
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I think Rio was like that, too, esp. in the pool. And that streak continued last night/this morning. Women's softball bronze and a gold for weightlifter Maude Charron.

On a less happy note, famed American gymnast Simone Biles has pulled out of the team competition. No word yet on the all-round or the 4 individual events she's in. Left the field while vaulting accompanied by the team doctor so it's apparently medical. Given that she is pretty much the world's top gymnast right now, that's not good news for the US in the team competition where they are already in a tough race with the Russians.
 
Biles is now saying it was a move to protect her mental health. Which is a good sign, perhaps. The sports mentality has always been to "push on through" but now two prominent female athletes have taken a stand on the importance of their mental health this year. The other was tennis player Naomi Osaka who, sadly, just got eliminated in the third round of the Olympic tennis tournament.

 
Oleksiak is back. Silver in the 4x100 free, bronze in the 200 free, and two events to go. She now has the most medals won by a Canadian Summer Olympian and is in a 3 way tie for most medals in any Olympics. And she's only 21 so probably has another games or two in her.

One wonders what achieving that kind of success so early does down the road. How do you measure success at 31 when you were one of the best at 21? You would almost have to start over in something completely new.
 
I'm watching them whilst i do other things. I record the shows, then fast forward through the ton of commercials.
I was in awe of Maude Charron's clean & jerk.

The women's 8 was a great race, and the joy when they won.

Anyhow, i'm enjoying, and though I know folks don't feel it should have continued, dang, those athletes have worked so hard. I am good with it running.
 
The question now is when do the Canadian men step up and which ones. So far, all of our medals have been won by women. Which is, to be clear, not a bad thing. But dang, we guys need to step up and pull our weight. Other than de Grasse and Warner in athletics (aka track & field), I don't actually know of any male Canadian hopefuls at this Games.
 
Just been reading about the 2020 100m men's. Not only has Usain Bolt retired, but American star Justin Gatlin failed to make the US team and world champion Christian Coleman, also American, is under a doping suspension. So a lot of the "big guns" are out, leaving more room for other top runners like de Grasse (bronze in 2016 and at the 2019 worlds) to shoot for top of the podium. Should be an interesting race after 3 Olympics in which Bolt taking gold was basically a sure bet.

And Penny Oleksiak does have one more race left. She is swimming the freestyle leg of the 4x100 medley (she sat out the heats but is coming in for the final). Canada had the best time in the heats. 100m butterfly gold medalist Maggie Mac Neil is also on the team, looking for her third Olympic medal.
 
I seem to be getting in the Simone Biles algorithm, getting lots of it on social media, news apps, etc.

I'm a bit fed up with the polarization with neither side seeming to get it. There's the mostly middle aged or older men who criticize Biles for basically wimping out. Totally ridiculous but to be expected from their type.

Tgen there's those who are championing Biles for putting her mental health as the top priority, that's not what I see.

She has come out and said she has the twisties- basically getting disoriented in midair. Is the cause mental? Neurological? Both? Doesn't really matter the why. The result is she's prioritizing her physical safety. Competing when there's the possibility of landing on the head or beck is dsngerous. Even if it's a mental issue causing it, pulling out for now isn't what I consider putting her mental health first.
 
ChemGal said:
I seem to be getting in the Simone Biles algorithm, getting lots of it on social media, news apps, etc.

I'm a bit fed up with the polarization with neither side seeming to get it. There's the mostly middle aged or older men who criticize Biles for basically wimping out. Totally ridiculous but to be expected from their type.

Tgen there's those who are championing Biles for putting her mental health as the top priority, that's not what I see.

She has come out and said she has the twisties- basically getting disoriented in midair. Is the cause mental? Neurological? Both? Doesn't really matter the why. The result is she's prioritizing her physical safety. Competing when there's the possibility of landing on the head or beck is dsngerous. Even if it's a mental issue causing it, pulling out for now isn't what I consider putting her mental health first.
Click to expand...
It's really time we put our so called understanding of mental health issues into action. Despite acknowledging it more and more as being as legitimate as any physical injury, our true colors continue to expose themselves.
Good on her for being open about it without shame, her truth will help others to speak out and legitimize mental health issues without a stigma attached to something that is experienced by everyone in their lifetime. Our health has always included many layers that includes mental health, but many people still regard this area as the same as admitting one is crazy. She's not....
 
I've been told by several highly educated persons that mental things cannot exist due to the abstract nature of such comprehension ... as no one has observed it ... thus contrary sides to the absolute psyche that believes they have blindly secured it!

There may be a vast amount more out there drifting about ... like herd mentality waiting to be encountered by BS! This may be construed as unbelievable ... then what mortally comes up is not immortal ... as thoughts derived form myth do alter .. like word and communication skills that can baffle some containments ... and thoughts may cause rheumatoid conditions and weep age ... drips?

Try spelunking ... underground craft! How to teach other things through the means and medium of myth ... as untouchable they creep as macabre! Thus folk fear the psyche as something few have gotten a grip on ... perhaps because of fluid seepage?

One may construct something of this if you can toughen the alien to mortal conception ... yet even then none would believe something that can change so readily! Consider the broad spread mind ... a bummer? Mutually parasitic and generally unconscious in its greater activity ... autonomously it may learn faster ... in a blink! Thus those odd blips ... shady thoughts? Still vastly unseen as compared through metaphor ...

Ideal mental cases are far out of reach ... especially of the ordinary cognizance! Maintains the psyche enigma or the vast night of sol ... predicted by St Nick of Coosa and behavior around flues ... the hot ones rise and perhaps not as Eire ...

Of course as someone below ordinary I am not supposed to be privileged to observations that just stand out unless one is blind to (th)em in the travel through vast mental space ... immortal ideology? Yet is is said to avoid idols and signs .. including marks on medium ... thus accomplishing the goal of keeping the alternate stunned!

The goal? Keep the entire thing stunned ... but the condition rubs off ... like what's good for the goose ... Golden Rules? That's the rub ...
 
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Can it even be true or is it even possible that one can become a multiple medal Olympic winner and stay mentally and physically intact?
 
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