Five-ring circus: The Thread of the XXXIII Olympiad

Also untold, unless I missed it: the real "Chariots of Fire" story.

 

Having watched the women's hammer today, I am stunned that hasn't been eliminated or banned. They've got more catch fencing around the circle than a Bristol night race.

A big metal ball attached to the end of a grip by a steel wire -- spun around and around as fast as possible like a minor league Dizzy Bat Race until it reaches an exit velocity of almost 60 mph -- and somehow they let go of the damn thing within a narrow angle that doesn't kill or maim the thrower, the competition, the judges or the spectators.

Perfect!

Full contact demolition curling? Bring it on!

 

NSFW, but needs to be here.

 

Just watched the 1,500, and Tirico was right. I was up and screaming at the TV in the final 200. I thought Hocker's bid was done when Ingebrigtsen cut him off, but damned if he didn't drift out and give Hocker an opening. For all the talk about the rivalry, for neither of them to win is crazy. And man, did Ingebrigtsen die down the stretch. I certainly didn't see that coming.

I am not an Ingebrigtsen fan -- he's a dick, really -- but I love him for going out hot and pushing the pace, forcing everyone else to go with him. That was fun.

 

Sometime in the 1980s, a writer for the Bakersfield Californian was covering the NCAA D-2 meet when he was hit by a hammer and died. Spent about 10 minutes just staring at the screen reading it, and I did not know the guy.

 

That's awful. I know of several javelin incidents. The hammer toss has "really bad Scottish Games idea" vibe to it.

 

A lot of the bad vibes from Ingebrigtsen made a lot more sense after that NBC feature on him where it was clear, even before they showed the news clips, that his dad was abusive.

 

We have spent a fair time critiquing Leigh Diffey on track. I just watched the Peacock call of the 1500. That brit announcer only and I mean only talked about the Norwegian and the brit in the race up until about 100 yards. Then never ever got Hocker's name correct, calling him H0-ker during and after the race about 10 times.

An absolute abortion of a call.

Edit: the announcer's name is Rob Walker and that is fucking embarrassing he got the gold medalist's name wrong 10 times.

 

Crossthreading the discussion of regional hosting sites a few pages ago with the eternal BCS Leagues Expanding thread, here's an idea: how about an Olympics hosted by the (centralized) B1G Ten Conference??

Opening/closing ceremonies at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, capacity 200,000.

Track and Field At Michigan Stadium
Soccer at Ohio Stadium
Basketball at Lucas Oil Stadium
3x3 basketball at outdoor courts set up in Chicago
Triathlon and Canoeing Minnesota and Wisconsin
Equestrian events in Pennsylvania/Maryland
Wrestling in Iowa
Lake surfing/sailing events Lake Michigan


Other events farmed out sport by sport to individual venues. Sports with pool play formats probably broken into regional hubs.

It's an idea anyway, although with the continental rotation concept the IOC likes to stick with if they can decently do it, it's not too likely there'll be another North American Olympics until at least the 2040s, when I'll be in my eighties.

 

He seems pretty self aware that he knows that he should keep his mouth shut but can’t. He also had a pretty gracious Instagram post congratulating the 3 who finished ahead of him.

 

That was probably the world feed, which is slightly less bad, mostly for the fact that NBC didn't hire them.

Without knowing exactly how they're laid out, I'd be surprised if any Big 10 football stadium were wide enough for a full 9-lane track and the various runways and pits and camera areas and such that an Olympic track facility would require. Lot of those aren't even wide enough for proper European soccer exhibitions. The LA Coliseum is one of a very few in the country, which is part of why LA 28 is using it.

 

Michigan Stadium and Ohio Stadium used to include tracks in former decades (I believe many or most B1G football fields had tracks many decades ago) the field levels would have to be raised significantly which would probably eliminate 20-30,000 seats at each venue. I suppose this could physically be done with removable elevated trays.

Holding track and field at a corner of the Brickyard with temporary bleachers enclosing the other two sides of the track would probably be the more feasible idea.