London Olympics 2012

Tommi · 08-08-2012, 10:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ruffryder

LIU XIANG CRASHES OUT OF HURDLES

YOU CAN'T HELP BUT FEEL THE STORIES AND EMOTIONS OF THESE OLYMPIANS. MY HEART AND RESPECT GO OUT TO ALL OF THEM. THE OLYMPICS, WHAT AN ACCOMPLISHMENT TO AN ATHLETE!

CONGRATS TO ALL!

DITTO. Amazing what they are all about, and we have the ability to see and hear about all the champions of the world, gold or not. I heard a story about a village waiting to see the newspaper story and pictures on their Olympian.

UofMfan · 08-08-2012, 03:18 PM

Our fifth medal, a bronze, brought to us by Oscar in Taekwondo!

UofMfan · 08-10-2012, 02:42 PM

Now we have eight, including today's GOLD!

I am so proud of our Colombian athletes who have to overcome so much to reach the podium.

Ciaran · 08-12-2012, 03:58 AM

The games are coming to an end today. I've enjoyed it more and more over the two weeks and think it's really showcased London and the UK in a very positive light. I'm almost sad that it's now coming to an end - a very different reaction from that I expected before the games.

The only sport I love is soccer so most of the actual Olympic sports don't interest me. However, the stories and the competing nations do. Most pleasing for me has not only been the success of the UK team, now guaranteed to be in third medal position, but equally the reception afforded to the Irish competitors from the British crowds.

This was best demonstrated by the reaction to Katie Taylor's success in winning gold for Ireland in one of the women's boxing competitions. She was cheered passionately by 62,000 British and Irish singing and standing together in the Excel arena - something largely unthinkable a generation ago and, once again, helping to strengthen the strong bonds between our two islands.

I was also fortunate to attend yesterday's men's soccer final between Brazil and Mexico at Wembley Stadium. It was my first time at Wembley in almost 27 years, when as a child I'd traveled over from Belfast to London with my dad to watch Northern Ireland play England. Being there yesterday helped to bring back so many memories.

Yesterday's game was fantastic with many thousands having traveled over from both Mexico and Brazil for the game and many thousands more ex-pats in attendance. Truly beautiful atmosphere and certainly the highlight, for me, of the various Olympic events I've been able to attend. Mexico, the underdogs, won what was their first major international tournament - very pleasing as I've had a strong interest in Mexican soccer ever since Mexico hosted the 1986 World Cup Finals.

I partied a bit with a few Mexicans after the game and am meeting a lovely Mexican lady this afternoon - she had traveled over with her family from LA and is leaving London on Tuesday so I've agreed to play tour guide today ..... which is always very dangerous as I have no real knowledge of London and an absolutely terrible sense of direction !!!

Farewell London 2012.

girl_dee · 08-12-2012, 05:48 AM

Joining the party rather late, we don't even own a TV here at the farm so i've been missing the Olympics, one of my favorite things.

We found out it's been online all this time! UGH!

So i tuned in last night to see the heartbreaking loss of the Canadians in the relay race due to that 1 inch stepping on the line thing, but that's not what bothered me more than the way they handled it.

I feel it sucked to announce them as the medal winners, put their name up on the board then say, let them do the victory dance.. then say *oops you stepped on the line, you are disqualified....*

I heard the same thing happened to an athelete from China during the Hammer Throw.

The judges need to all give the OK before they announce winners!

Also the interviewer I saw made me grit my teeth as the thanked the Canadian athlete for *MAN*ing up and offering an apology. Man up? Really? What phrase would he have used for a woman athlete? Maybe i am sensitive but i have issues around the term "man up".

I truly enjoy competing at things and love watching competition, and for me, i usually pull for the team/athlete whose never won before!

girl_dee · 08-12-2012, 07:49 PM

i wanted to watch the closing ceremony (since i missed the opener!) and waited all day while the marathon was taking place, only the internet version replayed the whole marathon so i thought those poor guys were running all damn day, then i realized it was a repeat and i missed the closer!

i replayed it and then started doing something else, then something else, and then something else...

was it good?

Ciaran · 09-09-2012, 06:47 AM

Today marks the final day of London 2012 with the Paralympics 2012 coming to an end this evening.

This year's Paralympic Games are commonly viewed as having been the most successful to date with over 4,000 athletes from across 165 nations and, more importantly, these athletes being accepted / appreciated as world class sportsmen and sportswomen in their own right.

In particular, the UK has a number of new sporting heroes and heroines, including swimmer Ellie Simmonds (only 17 and has won 4 Paralympic golds, including 2 @ Beijing 2008) and 19 year-old Johnnie Peacock who won the 100m sprint in front of over 80,000 at the Olympic Stadium last Thursday - his success was greeted with the most fanfare of any sporting success at London 2012.

There's no doubt that there's more to be done in embracing Paralympic sports and more funding is required but, even before London won the right to stage the 2012 Olympics, the UK and Ireland were both ahead of the curve in terms of support for Paralympic athletes. For most Olympic / Paralympic sports, the UK & Irish Paralympic and Olympic athletes train side-by-side.

This year has been a record year for Team GB, third in the medal table and live TV coverage of almost all the events with up to 7 million watching at times (good viewing figures for a population of less than 60 million). Almost all Paralympic events have sold out, with 80,000 at the main stadium each day and a total of 2.5 million attending the various events in person over the past 10 days.

What's been most uplifting has been the personal stories of many of the athletes, non more so than Martine Wright. She played for the UK in the wheelchair volleyball, having lost both her legs in the July 7th 2005 terrorist bombings, ironically the day after London was awarded the games.

The Paralympics Opening Ceremony, starring a wide range of celebrities including Stephen Hawking, was generally perceived as being more entertaining than either the Opening or Closing Ceremony of the Olympics and am very much looking forward to tonight's Closing Ceremony - a fitting end to 2012 and, as should be the case, setting the bar very high for Rio 2016.

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08-08-2012, 03:18 PM	#2
UofMfan Infamous Member How Do You Identify?: Butch Relationship Status: A very happy Mr. Grumpy Cat Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Neither here or there Posts: 7,987 My Photo Gallery Thanks: 27,733 Thanked 18,936 Times in 4,705 Posts Rep Power: 21474859	Our fifth medal, a bronze, brought to us by Oscar in Taekwondo!

08-10-2012, 02:42 PM	#3
UofMfan Infamous Member How Do You Identify?: Butch Relationship Status: A very happy Mr. Grumpy Cat Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Neither here or there Posts: 7,987 My Photo Gallery Thanks: 27,733 Thanked 18,936 Times in 4,705 Posts Rep Power: 21474859	Now we have eight, including today's GOLD! I am so proud of our Colombian athletes who have to overcome so much to reach the podium.

08-12-2012, 03:58 AM	#4
Ciaran Member How Do You Identify?: Altocalciphilic Preferred Pronoun?: Papa Smurf Relationship Status: Curmudgeonous spinster Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: London (but from Belfast) Posts: 678 My Photo Gallery Thanks: 471 Thanked 3,654 Times in 602 Posts Rep Power: 21474852	The games are coming to an end today. I've enjoyed it more and more over the two weeks and think it's really showcased London and the UK in a very positive light. I'm almost sad that it's now coming to an end - a very different reaction from that I expected before the games. The only sport I love is soccer so most of the actual Olympic sports don't interest me. However, the stories and the competing nations do. Most pleasing for me has not only been the success of the UK team, now guaranteed to be in third medal position, but equally the reception afforded to the Irish competitors from the British crowds. This was best demonstrated by the reaction to Katie Taylor's success in winning gold for Ireland in one of the women's boxing competitions. She was cheered passionately by 62,000 British and Irish singing and standing together in the Excel arena - something largely unthinkable a generation ago and, once again, helping to strengthen the strong bonds between our two islands. I was also fortunate to attend yesterday's men's soccer final between Brazil and Mexico at Wembley Stadium. It was my first time at Wembley in almost 27 years, when as a child I'd traveled over from Belfast to London with my dad to watch Northern Ireland play England. Being there yesterday helped to bring back so many memories. Yesterday's game was fantastic with many thousands having traveled over from both Mexico and Brazil for the game and many thousands more ex-pats in attendance. Truly beautiful atmosphere and certainly the highlight, for me, of the various Olympic events I've been able to attend. Mexico, the underdogs, won what was their first major international tournament - very pleasing as I've had a strong interest in Mexican soccer ever since Mexico hosted the 1986 World Cup Finals. I partied a bit with a few Mexicans after the game and am meeting a lovely Mexican lady this afternoon - she had traveled over with her family from LA and is leaving London on Tuesday so I've agreed to play tour guide today ..... which is always very dangerous as I have no real knowledge of London and an absolutely terrible sense of direction !!! Farewell London 2012.

08-12-2012, 05:48 AM	#5
girl_dee Practically Lives Here How Do You Identify?: Femme Preferred Pronoun?: dee Relationship Status: Hitched up Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Livin’ the Dream Posts: 24,079 My Photo Gallery Thanks: 30,560 Thanked 54,830 Times in 13,908 Posts Rep Power: 21474873	Joining the party rather late, we don't even own a TV here at the farm so i've been missing the Olympics, one of my favorite things. We found out it's been online all this time! UGH! So i tuned in last night to see the heartbreaking loss of the Canadians in the relay race due to that 1 inch stepping on the line thing, but that's not what bothered me more than the way they handled it. I feel it sucked to announce them as the medal winners, put their name up on the board then say, let them do the victory dance.. then say oops you stepped on the line, you are disqualified.... I heard the same thing happened to an athelete from China during the Hammer Throw. The judges need to all give the OK before they announce winners! Also the interviewer I saw made me grit my teeth as the thanked the Canadian athlete for MANing up and offering an apology. Man up? Really? What phrase would he have used for a woman athlete? Maybe i am sensitive but i have issues around the term "man up". I truly enjoy competing at things and love watching competition, and for me, i usually pull for the team/athlete whose never won before!

08-12-2012, 07:49 PM	#6
girl_dee Practically Lives Here How Do You Identify?: Femme Preferred Pronoun?: dee Relationship Status: Hitched up Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Livin’ the Dream Posts: 24,079 My Photo Gallery Thanks: 30,560 Thanked 54,830 Times in 13,908 Posts Rep Power: 21474873	i wanted to watch the closing ceremony (since i missed the opener!) and waited all day while the marathon was taking place, only the internet version replayed the whole marathon so i thought those poor guys were running all damn day, then i realized it was a repeat and i missed the closer! i replayed it and then started doing something else, then something else, and then something else... was it good?

09-09-2012, 06:47 AM	#7
Ciaran Member How Do You Identify?: Altocalciphilic Preferred Pronoun?: Papa Smurf Relationship Status: Curmudgeonous spinster Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: London (but from Belfast) Posts: 678 My Photo Gallery Thanks: 471 Thanked 3,654 Times in 602 Posts Rep Power: 21474852	Today marks the final day of London 2012 with the Paralympics 2012 coming to an end this evening. This year's Paralympic Games are commonly viewed as having been the most successful to date with over 4,000 athletes from across 165 nations and, more importantly, these athletes being accepted / appreciated as world class sportsmen and sportswomen in their own right. In particular, the UK has a number of new sporting heroes and heroines, including swimmer Ellie Simmonds (only 17 and has won 4 Paralympic golds, including 2 @ Beijing 2008) and 19 year-old Johnnie Peacock who won the 100m sprint in front of over 80,000 at the Olympic Stadium last Thursday - his success was greeted with the most fanfare of any sporting success at London 2012. There's no doubt that there's more to be done in embracing Paralympic sports and more funding is required but, even before London won the right to stage the 2012 Olympics, the UK and Ireland were both ahead of the curve in terms of support for Paralympic athletes. For most Olympic / Paralympic sports, the UK & Irish Paralympic and Olympic athletes train side-by-side. This year has been a record year for Team GB, third in the medal table and live TV coverage of almost all the events with up to 7 million watching at times (good viewing figures for a population of less than 60 million). Almost all Paralympic events have sold out, with 80,000 at the main stadium each day and a total of 2.5 million attending the various events in person over the past 10 days. What's been most uplifting has been the personal stories of many of the athletes, non more so than Martine Wright. She played for the UK in the wheelchair volleyball, having lost both her legs in the July 7th 2005 terrorist bombings, ironically the day after London was awarded the games. The Paralympics Opening Ceremony, starring a wide range of celebrities including Stephen Hawking, was generally perceived as being more entertaining than either the Opening or Closing Ceremony of the Olympics and am very much looking forward to tonight's Closing Ceremony - a fitting end to 2012 and, as should be the case, setting the bar very high for Rio 2016.