Beautiful gold, so-so silver and shameful bronze: The running Olympics thread

This just in:
The IOC is meeting to consider the following emergency measures
1) That because China has invested "so much" in the games and the people who rule it, all IOC decisions must be approved by the Chinese government, who will now be in charge of all age certification procedures.
2) Women's basketball, due to smallish crowds in preliminary games caused by U.S. overdominance in the sport, will be dropped from the Games in 2012.
3) Denied an American measure to add bowling and poker in place of baseball and softball.
4) Awarded the games of 2020 and 2024 to Beijing.

 

Are the bars set a standard length apart? I know in covering high school and college gymnastics, I've seen them adjust the spacing for different gymnasts. I assume this is to accommodate their varying heights, much the same way sprinters adjust the spacing on their starting blocks.

Could it be that gymnasts go for more difficult releases that require the bars to be set farther apart than Retton liked them so she could perform her signature move?

 

Typical coach-covering-his-ass/throwing-athlete-under-the-bus, straight out of the textbook of the master, Larry Brown.

"I coached the right way, it's the athletes fucking it up."

 

The way I understood it, the increasing distance between the bars led to the more difficult releases.

 

Re: Beautiful gold, so-so silver and shameful bronze: The running Olympics threa

Surprised there wasn't more discussion of this plunk-fest on the board. Replay I saw sure made it look as tho the catcher was still blocking the plate, but the baserunner still could've avoided the collision easily. The head hunting on LaPorta really pissed me off tho -- would've even if I wasn't an Indians fan. The pitcher gets tossed, but are there any other sanctions levied? Should be for such a dangerous play.

 

Re: Beautiful gold, so-so silver and shameful bronze: The running Olympics threa

Add in that Sopranos-style accent and he won the Gold for douchebag coaching.

That said, what did he mean by the meat grinder between 65 and 80?

 

I too thought he was cruel at a time when he needed to be more comforting. However, the background of the story is interesting. She was an NAIA basketball player. He was an assistant track coach at her college and thought she would be a good pole vaulter. He talked her into giving it a shot and four years later she won a silver medal at the Olympics. He even took out a second mortgage on his house to help her achieve her (or maybe his) goal.

Yes, he came off as a total turd. It's also tough to judge an elite athlete/coach relationship from a :30 second clip following an incredibly emotional event. Both athletes had talked a lot of smack to one another in the media and I'm sure that didn't help things.

 

He meant that she had to jump at a number of different heights, while the winner sat out until it got to a much higher height. They just didn't feel she was on her game so she had to start at a lower height.

 

Re: Beautiful gold, so-so silver and shameful bronze: The running Olympics threa


I believe he was referring to 4.65 meters and 4.80 meters . . . having to jump numerous times at those distances while her opponent was fresh.

 

From Wikipedia:

From that, it sounds like the higher degree of difficulty led to the greater spacing.

 

In track and field, probably.

In other stuff, not necessarily. Heck, they won something like 5-6 medals in fencing. When was the last time that happened?

 

Re: Beautiful gold, so-so silver and shameful bronze: The running Olympics threa

I saw NOTHING these Olympics that even comes close to the Olga Korbut backflip.

Maybe I was just more easily impressed as an 11-year-old.