Olympic GDT - 11 August

[Hells Bells]

Originally Posted by SebC

They can forgive him, but if they tell him it's not his fault that would just be empty platitudes - it was his fault.

I can't even count the amount of times I've told someone it wasn't their fault when it clearly was.

You can call it empty platitudes, I call it being a good friend and teammate.

[chemgear]

Originally Posted by SebC

They can forgive him, but if they tell him it's not his fault that would just be empty platitudes - it was his fault.

Meh you could also argue that had he not cut it that close/step on the line, they never would have been able to finish in 3rd in the first place.

In my head, I could easily see that exact scenario - Ranked 11th coming in and finishing in a surprising 4th. Commentators would have said what a pleasant surprise it was, good building block for 2016, focus on the Jamaican time, how the US beat the old record but still lost, etc. Instead, it's just the crushing story of thinking you won a medal and then not.

[Bertuzzied]

wootttttt Just watched the highlights! soooo sad i missed the 4X100 relay! stuck in Edmonton selling comics to half naked anime chicks. hehehhehe

Sucks to be the Cdn team. so do they video review EVERY team in the relay from start to finish? it's not like he interferred with the other runner. how would they know he took one step over?

Bolt has now overtaken Federer as my favorite athlete in the world.

[chemgear]

Originally Posted by Bertuzzied

it's not like he interferred with the other runner. how would they know he took one step over?

It was VERY clear he stepped on the line - it is all you need to do to get DQ'd.

EDIT: They just showed the replay on TSN. The angle they showed makes it look like he not just stepped on the white line (already a DQ) but he could have put a small part of his foot past into the other lane. With the 3rd and 4th being so tight, I'd say it would be very close for Canada to be third if that leg of the run had been clean - we'll never know.

[Hells Bells]

Originally Posted by Bertuzzied

Bolt has now overtaken Federer as my favorite athlete in the world.

Two polar opposite athletes.

Both are the best at what they do, one is very humble while the other is very arrogant. Don't get me wrong, I have a ton of respect for the athleticism of Bolt, but no way could I ever label someone like him as my favorite athlete.

To each his own though.

[Hemi-Cuda]

i have no idea what i'm watching, but i think this rhythmic gymnastics may be one of my new favorite sports

[chemgear]

Originally Posted by Hemi-Cuda

i have no idea what i'm watching, but i think this rhythmic gymnastics may be one of my new favorite sports

I don't know man, it was probably the least impressive event I had tickets to in Beijing.

[Canada 02]

if you aren't watching NBC, Tom Brokaws 'Olympic' documentary is a great watch; as good as the one he did of Vancouver/Canada in 2010

[chemgear]

Originally Posted by fotze

Wow, you waste money on going to events instead of tangible things like real estate. Foolish

Hmmm, let me channel my inner Champion . . .

". . . Psh, you gotta spend AT LEAST $65,000 on your yearly vacations. Anything less is an embarrassment that your friends will always remember about you. Real estate? I make so much money every year that I couldn’t care less about it - why bother with such trivialities?!?”

[chemgear]

Originally Posted by Canada 02

if you aren't watching NBC, Tom Brokaws 'Olympic' documentary is a great watch; as good as the one he did of Vancouver/Canada in 2010

I have generally tried to avoid the NBC stream so far, but that's just me.

[SebC]

Originally Posted by MrMastodonFarm

A lesson has been learned by all here this afternoon, you don't let the whites run track and field for you. Leave it for the blacks, they're superior.

[cDnStealth]

Just caught the highlights of the men's relay. I feel terrible for our team but on the bright side they ran a very good race and it was very exciting to see Canada in the mix for sprinting again. Hopefully the team continues to work hard and they get a better result in Rio.

[Bertuzzied]

Originally Posted by Hells Bells

Two polar opposite athletes.

Both are the best at what they do, one is very humble while the other is very arrogant. Don't get me wrong, I have a ton of respect for the athleticism of Bolt, but no way could I ever label someone like him as my favorite athlete.

To each his own though.

arrogant? he might be the least arrogant sprinter ever! How many guys gives fist bumps and high fives to the volunteers before their race?

and him calling out Carl Lewis, the most hated sprinter of all time was awesome! that was what put him over the top for me. Lewis was on drugs just like the rest of them, like Johnson, like Christie, like Williams. He just didn't get caught.

One of the biggest travestys for sprinting in the past 100 years is that Carl Lewis never tested positive and FloJo never tested positive even the whole world knew they were doping.

[Hells Bells]

Originally Posted by Bertuzzied

arrogant? he might be the least arrogant sprinter ever! How many guys gives fist bumps and high fives to the volunteers before their race?

and him calling out Carl Lewis, the most hated sprinter of all time was awesome! that was what put him over the top for me. Lewis was on drugs just like the rest of them, like Johnson, like Christie, like Williams. He just didn't get caught.

One of the biggest travestys for sprinting in the past 100 years is that Carl Lewis never tested positive and FloJo never tested positive even the whole world knew they were doping.

I'm sorry but giving high fives and fist bumps to volunteers does not mean you can't be arrogant. It means he's a showman along with being arrogant IMO. I just don't care for the poses, the hand gestures and the slowing down at the end to show up the other runners.

I honestly couldn't give a rats @$$ what he said about Lewis, that has nothing to do with my opinion that he is arrogant. Any criticism of Lewis is well deserved IMO.

It's not a big deal, I see arrogance in him and you don't, its as simple as that. He has the right to be arrogant, just as Roger Federer does, I just don't see the arrogance in Federer that I do in Bolt. I'm not saying he's the most arrogant person in sports, I'm only comparing him to Federer and he is not nearly as humble and likable as Roger IMO.

[chemgear]

Heh, you guys see Rogge's comment today and Bolt's reaction?

[trackercowe]

Originally Posted by chemgear

Heh, you guys see Rogge's comment today and Bolt's reaction?

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/oly...ues-Rogge.html

Bolt himself, however, didn’t appear overly enthusiastic about following Rogge’s suggestion and competing in Olympics after Olympics.
Asked what he thought he might be doing in ten years’ time, he replied: “How do I see myself in 2022? Hopefully chilling somewhere. I’m a lazy person.”

Haha awesome. But I agree if Bolt is not considered a legend at this point then who is? I guess Bolt doesn't compare to Rogge's legendary career in yachting who never won anything at the Olympics. No one will ever surpass his greatness.

Obviously Rogge wants to prod Bolt to come back to the Olympics as many times as possible as he knows Bolt will be the main attraction as long as he's around. But, it shouldn't be Bolt's responsibility to keep the games afloat. Rogge is the one who needs to sell the Olympics and fix many of its issues, something that I feel he is doing a very poor job at. He's just damn lucky there has been so many prominent athletes and stories coming from the last few Olympic's.

[browna]

Rogge pumping up the tires of Lewis' steroid fuelled medal count speaks for itself as far as him being stuck in the old blind IOC ways from the 80's and early 90's. He wasn't in the IOC, but in Euro Olympic circles, so I am sure he new what was going on behind the scenes.

Recall too that was the era of host cities buying members, no doubt the USOC greased the wheels of the IOC back then too to look the other way for Lewis and the other US track athletes chemically induced performance.

Also in this day and age, Bolt's made more money then he knows what to do with, and will make even more from this. Do a couple seasons of Golden League to cash in on that, and the decide if there is a push for Rio 2 years after that. He owes Rogge nothing...track athletes have a short lifespan career wise.

Still gutted about that bronze lost. Even though Gord Miller (Don Whittman RIP) botched the call a bit, with so much focus on Bolt and not mentioning Canada got third until a good 30 seconds after the race, that was the most exciting track moment since 1996 for Canada IMO until the DQ.

[trackercowe]

I think Bolt will still be around in 2016. It has to be difficult for someone his age to consider retiring during the prime of his career. I realize by then he will be pushing 30, but there are still many runners competing at that age. Most of the top American runners (Gay, Gatlin, Spearman) are all still contending past the age of 30, the same can be said for his fellow countryman in Asafa Powell.

It will mostly come down to if he is still dominant at the sports, as he'll likely only want to come back if he is likely to win gold all over again. However, barring injuries or Blake finding a way to cut down his time, I do envision Bolt coming back even in four years.

I also think there is a good chance Phelps may come back in 2016 as well. Less likely of course, but it has to be painful for these guys to retire at such an early age in life when they are still the best in the world at what they do.

Even with all the money and notoriety in the world, turning down the limelight and retiring at such a young age must be very difficult.

[browna]

Originally Posted by trackercowe

I think Bolt will still be around in 2016. It has to be difficult for someone his age to consider retiring during the prime of his career. I realize by then he will be pushing 30, but there are still many runners competing at that age. Most of the top American runners (Gay, Gatlin, Spearman) are all still contending past the age of 30, the same can be said for his fellow countryman in Asafa Powell.

It will mostly come down to if he is still dominant at the sports, as he'll likely only want to come back if he is likely to win gold all over again. However, barring injuries or Blake finding a way to cut down his time, I do envision Bolt coming back even in four years.

I also think there is a good chance Phelps may come back in 2016 as well. Less likely of course, but it has to be painful for these guys to retire at such an early age in life when they are still the best in the world at what they do.

Even with all the money and notoriety in the world, turning down the limelight and retiring at such a young age must be very difficult.

No matter who you are, training everyday for (hopefully) your single moment(s) in the bright spotlight 4 years away seems like an eternity right now, especially if someone's already done that done that for the last 6-10+ years.

Add to that the millions he has sitting in the bank, and and proved all he's needed to prove by smashing world records again. On that note, for another guy who is at the top for the past two Olympics, I can't see Phelps automaitcally coming back and tarnishing his image by being outside favourite in his races 4 years. They may well continue on and comeback, because they don't know anything else since they've dedicated so much of their youth to training ay after day after day, but when you have 19 medals and may not get another you have to figure out if its worth it.

[TurnedTheCorner]

Phelps barely came back for these Olympics. Pretty sure he's done with competitive swimming.