mykeyb Posted July 31, 2012 Share Posted July 31, 2012 How much of our expected success in rowing will be down to people being inspired by Steve Redgrave, similarly in cycling how many were inspired by Chris Boardman. I cannot remember too many swimmers who would have generated interest to the same level. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LondonLax Posted July 31, 2012 Share Posted July 31, 2012 How many golds have the UK missed out on that they were expected to win so far? I think the only race they have had the favourite in is the mens cycling and you can never garentee a win in road cycling. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevo985 Posted July 31, 2012 VT Supporter Share Posted July 31, 2012 I think it's really **** British of us to be turning on the Athletes already and saying performances haven't been good enough. It's day 4 for **** sake. I'd say there's only 1 gold that we "should" have won, and that's the road race. And even that wasn't anyone's fault, GB's talent was their own downfall in so much as no one allied with them in the pellaton. On the flip side, Adlington's Bronze, the gymnasts' bronze and probably Lizzie's silver have all been relatively unexpected. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BOF Posted July 31, 2012 Moderator Share Posted July 31, 2012 I think it's really **** British of us to be turning on the Athletes already and saying performances haven't been good enough. It's day 4 for **** sake. I'd say there's only 1 gold that we "should" have won, and that's the road race. And even that wasn't anyone's fault, GB's talent was their own downfall in so much as no one allied with them in the pellaton. On the flip side, Adlington's Bronze, the gymnasts' bronze and probably Lizzie's silver have all been relatively unexpected. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevo985 Posted July 31, 2012 VT Supporter Share Posted July 31, 2012 Could you stop that, it's really hurting my eye. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RunRickyRun Posted July 31, 2012 Share Posted July 31, 2012 Luis Leon Sanchez is 150-1 for tomorrow's TT (max bet £6.50). He's in good form and finished 3rd in the last tdf TT. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tegis Posted July 31, 2012 VT Supporter Share Posted July 31, 2012 Bollox, sweden missed the gold on the last hurdle in the horsejumping event. Silver instead. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drat01 Posted July 31, 2012 Share Posted July 31, 2012 I think it's really **** British of us to be turning on the Athletes already and saying performances haven't been good enough. It's day 4 for **** sake. I'd say there's only 1 gold that we "should" have won, and that's the road race. And even that wasn't anyone's fault, GB's talent was their own downfall in so much as no one allied with them in the pellaton. On the flip side, Adlington's Bronze, the gymnasts' bronze and probably Lizzie's silver have all been relatively unexpected.Total and utter over reaction on your part there, IMO. The point being raised was simply that the performances to date have been below par, something that even the coaches are now saying. That is not "turning" on the athletes at all. The Olympics should be the pinnacle for most of the events that have run or are running and there have been more than were expected by the coaches etc in sub performances. The other point is about questioning why that is the case and is it down to nerves in a big crowd expectation atmosphere, something most have not experienced before. Adlington's bronze unexpected? Really? She was after all the Olympic champion. The gymnasts did very well and hopefully that will give the impetus needed for other athletes in the team GB. At the moment its somewhat flat. But as with all of these things it could turn around very quickly, and for the thousands who have paid good money to watch and support it would be great if it did so Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drat01 Posted July 31, 2012 Share Posted July 31, 2012 How much of our expected success in rowing will be down to people being inspired by Steve Redgrave, similarly in cycling how many were inspired by Chris Boardman. I cannot remember too many swimmers who would have generated interest to the same level. So the swimming centers that were created like this after Adlington's Beijing experience are to be ignored? link The whole ethos for a lot of the Olympic games has been about "inspire a generation". Let's hope they can do so Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drat01 Posted July 31, 2012 Share Posted July 31, 2012 It's not really about comparing blindly against previous olympics though. It's about comparing against expectations of the athletes competing in the current olympics. You have a medal number you arrive at before the games based on the athletes you think will win; whenever that may be during the course of the olympics. If they don't win, there isn't always someone else who will step up and compensate. That medal is gone. The estimate shifts downwards. If you haven't won what you thought you'd have won at this point based on the athletes who are competing, then you're not automatically going to unearth medals later on by lesser athletes you had no expectations on. Some might step up, but in reality you've a fair idea who is medal-capable and who isn't. Valid points Bri. One of the beauties of the Olympics is that you do get the unexpected happening and someone will win a medal when there was no real expectation for them to do so, the gymnasts being a good case in point. Is the fact that the public can see all of the events at the Olympics live on TV and possibly at the venue (if you can get a ticket) rather than the edited hilights and feeds of previous ones, giving a different perspective? Would the BBC in the past "hidden" some of the events such as archery etc to a 5 min overview from Hazel Irving after midnight? You are right in terms of the league mentality that we now have for Golds etc, but the crowds do want to see success and want to see that all has been given even if medals have not been obtained. I watched a boxer yesterday from Turk....Stan who obviously was at London for a shopping trip. He was booed by a few in the crowd because he had not tried. That is not saying any of the TeamGB athletes have not tried, its just a set of questions as to why so far (and that is still a massive key point) we have not seen much in the way of success in the events held to date Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BOF Posted July 31, 2012 Moderator Share Posted July 31, 2012 Well there are 2 aspects to this. Undoubtedly the superb coverage by the BBC gives everyone the opportunity to comment on every event because they can see every event in it's entirety. That's the subjective discussion about trying and effort and performance etc. Then there's the other aspect which is the medal count. The cold objective look at the medal table based on what you would have expected at this point. TBH I don't know whether the British spectators have been happy with what they've seen from Team GB. If you're saying they're not happy then that to me is worse than a lack of medals because it implies they think the athletes have in some way not given their all or at least not reached their potential. There are 2 ways to not win a medal. One is to do your best, reach your potential and be beaten by the better athlete on the day. Perfectly acceptable. The other is to not reach anything like your best and to basically 'fail'; to put it bluntly. I was harsh on that Hayley (or Hannah?) Mills earlier but I think she actually broke her PB by coming outside the medals so in fairness not much else could be asked of her. Plus I think the dolphin disguised as a Chinese teenager was in that race too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PieFacE Posted July 31, 2012 VT Supporter Share Posted July 31, 2012 Am I the only one who really isn't expecting much from Team GB at all? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coda Posted July 31, 2012 Share Posted July 31, 2012 Am I the only one who really isn't expecting much from Team GB at all?No, English football has taught me to lower my expectations before any sporting tournament. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
veloman Posted July 31, 2012 Share Posted July 31, 2012 I'd say there's only 1 gold that we "should" have won, and that's the road race. And even that wasn't anyone's fault, GB's talent was their own downfall in so much as no one allied with them in the pellaton./quote] An excellent post and probably spot-on. I also think there is a slight chance that the GB riders were still tired from Le Tour; I know they are fit but ... Just consider that footballers seem unable to play twice a week without being 'tired' (but can summon-up enough energy to go clubbing 'til God knows what time). They possibly should have slipped someone into that break but hindsight is a wonderful thing. Also,we have been deprived of two events which were medal possibilities; viz, Individual Pursuit and one other that the sprinters would have done well in but I can't remember which one. If we haven't won a Gold by Saturday look-out for Womens Team Pursuit to be the first ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drat01 Posted July 31, 2012 Share Posted July 31, 2012 Good result by the Ladies Hockey team there - and on a side note how good to have Barry Davis on commentary. Shame the BBC didn't have him on football rather than Jonathon Pearce Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Voinjama Posted July 31, 2012 Share Posted July 31, 2012 I think that there could be a potential bronze in the womens hockey. They are doing well so far. Only 3 days until the athletics. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
villa4europe Posted July 31, 2012 Share Posted July 31, 2012 id heard something earlier on 5live, said that in the judo because our guys as home athletes automatically qualified they didnt have to take part in the qualification tournament, a tournament that impacted world rankings, as a result they all slid down the rankings and ended up with poor seedings in the draw which saw most of them go out really early not sure how many other events have been similary impacted i did see however that world no 1 canoer, silver medalist at beijing, who has done over 3k practice runs on the olympic course went out in the 1st round today Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PieFacE Posted July 31, 2012 VT Supporter Share Posted July 31, 2012 Am I the only one who really isn't expecting much from Team GB at all?No, English football has taught me to lower my expectations before any sporting tournament. haha, I was oh so close to writing that in my original statement. I agree. International football has left me with no expectation at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CI Posted July 31, 2012 Share Posted July 31, 2012 All these empty seats are really peeing me off Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Voinjama Posted July 31, 2012 Share Posted July 31, 2012 Another eventful afternoon in the gymnastics arena at the o2. Romania looking good for a medal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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