Olympics: 2022 Beijing Olympics

[Eisen]

When they put the torch in the middle of the snowflake, I kept thinking OK what's next that's going to totally blow us away and then when nothing else happened I was like hmmmm OK. Still good, but didn't expect it to end right there.

Same here. I was expecting something great and then felt sort of anticlimactic. It's still pretty and the idea of saving is good. Just a little bigger would have been cool.

 

[Eisen]

Dang, Frenzel and Weber of the German Nordic Combined team tested positive. Both had a chance for singles gold and without them the team has little chaces as well.

 

[gary69]

A beautiful ceremony even though the flame could have been a bit bigger.

Maybe, but it was still a disgrace in a wider (political) context. Putin pretending to fall asleep when Ukraine athletes showed up and China selecting an Uyghur to light an Olympic flame. Of course Olympics have a history of these kind of incidents with all the Cold war boycotts etc. but this kind of charade just shouldn't be allowed. And to that all with treatment of athletes with Covid "testing" and throwing them to isolation for weeks with starving level food ratios even for regular people, let alone athletes.

Compared to Tokyo games, when the Covid situation was more dangerous, this is just awful. At least the NHL had enough sense to opt out of this madness.

 

[Eisen]

Maybe, but it was still a disgrace in a wider (political) context. Putin pretending to fall asleep when Ukraine athletes showed up and China selecting an Uyghur to light an Olympic flame. Of course Olympics have a history of these kind of incidents with all the Cold war boycotts etc. but this kind of charade just shouldn't be allowed. And to that all with treatment of athletes with Covid "testing" and throwing them to isolation for weeks with starving level food ratios even for regular people, let alone athletes.

Compared to Tokyo games, when the Covid situation was more dangerous, this is just awful. At least the NHL had enough sense to opt out of this madness.

I heard Putin was there but I didn't see a pic. And yeah, I know all that, and I curse the IOC and China for that. But during the games I cheer for athletes and the volunteeres and the Olympic ideals.
What's is the problem with testing athletes, though? German athletes haven't reported any issues yet.

 

[gary69]

For example, just read comments by Finnish ice hockey NT player Marko Anttila (hero of some their latest international tournaments, who has no idea where he has been taken into), Kim Meylemans of Belgium (who had to be smuggled out by IOC back to Olympic village from a Chinese detention center), Russian Valeria Vasnetsova, who has been taken somewhere to isolate after being tested Covid "positive" and left starving in her cell with 3rd World standard care etc.

No sane athlete would go there when they can just be randomly taken from anywhere by Chinese authorities and hauled to unknown places where they can't get any help.

None of this stuff was needed in Tokyo when Covid was more dangerous than it is now, so there is another motive by China behind this actions.

 

[Eisen]

For example, just read comments by Finnish ice hockey NT player Marko Anttila (hero of some their latest international tournaments, who has no idea where he has been taken into), Kim Meylemans of Belgium (who had to be smuggled out by IOC back to Olympic village from a Chinese detention center), Russian Valeria Vasnetsova, who has been taken somewhere to isolate after being tested Covid "positive" and left starving in her cell with 3rd World standard care etc.

No sane athlete would go there when they can just be randomly taken from anywhere by Chinese authorities and hauled to unknown places where they can't get any help.

None of this stuff was needed in Tokyo when Covid was more dangerous than it is now, so there is another motive by China behind this actions.

I read about the Meylemans story. She was tested positive and transferred to some isolation hotels, not detention centres. Some people apparently can't take being isolated.
I read about the vasnetsova case as well. Apparently it differs from hotel to hotel what is given to the athletes. I don't know why think they are in cells.

 

[Eisen]

Looks like Dopehaug will win.

 

[Prntscrn]

Yuck

As always Frida being cocky in the media backfires

 

[Hockeyfrilla]

Yikes bad start

 

[Eisen]

Yuck

As always Frida being cocky in the media backfires

You're referring to Karlsson, right? She's still young.

 

[Prntscrn]

You're referring to Karlsson, right? She's still young.

Yes. But the cockiness in media has to stop, she's done it a few times now and has ended up crying on live TV afterwards I think maybe everytime. Or maybe I mix it up there has been so much crying, but in huge disappointment atleast, last World Championship relay being one of them..

 

[Eisen]

Yes. But the cockiness in media has to stop, she's done it a few times now and has ended up crying on live TV afterwards I think maybe everytime. Or maybe I mix it up there has been so much crying, but in huge disappointment atleast, last World Championship relay being one of them..

What did she say?

 

[Prntscrn]

What did she say?

Last WC she did a thing about how she had the champagne ready for celebration (because they were such favorites for the relay gold..) and the last few days she's been puffing her chest against Johaug. And I mean in a way it fine to be cocky, but if there's gonna be tears on TV for pretty much every mishap I think it should be toned down

Anyway Kalla just came out and blasted the skis, so maybe that can explain the Swedish fiasco

 

[Eisen]

Last WC she did a thing about how she had the champagne ready for celebration (because they were such favorites for the relay gold..) and the last few days she's been puffing her chest against Johaug. And I mean in a way it fine to be cocky, but if there's gonna be tears on TV for pretty much every mishap I think it should be toned down

Anyway Kalla just came out and blasted the skis, so maybe that can explain the Swedish fiasco

Ouch. That's perhaps something that should be kept within the team.

 

[Brunkmeister]

Terrible start at this Olympics. Already sick and tired. van der Poel will probably fail also.

 

[Hockeyfrilla]

4th place in Mixed Biahtlon ayyyye. Norway wins as usual

 

[Eisen]

4th place in Mixed Biahtlon ayyyye. Norway wins as usual

For Germany it's looking grim. Either out of shape or retired with nothing coming after. Where are the athletes that were inspired by the greats of yesteryear? This is easily the worst generation since I follow the sport (80s).

 

[Havre]

Good “first” day for Norway in the Corona Games. I guess we should be happy the Olympics aren’t in Canada - the only place it could be worse than this. Could have had hundreds of thousands watching events in a Norway/Sweden Olympics instead.

Men’s cross country I guess is a fairly healthy event in the sense that except Kruger, who would have been arguable the favourite considering how good he is on high altitude, the best are there. So that will be a cool event tomorrow I think.

Usually Downhill is one of my favourite events, but what a joke of a hill that is. A bit similar to the Biathlon stadium. Wind is fine, but not when it becomes a lottery. Which it will be for most events apparently as it is “always” windy there.

Happy days

 

[Eisen]

Good “first” day for Norway in the Corona Games. I guess we should be happy the Olympics aren’t in Canada - the only place it could be worse than this. Could have had hundreds of thousands watching events in a Norway/Sweden Olympics instead.

Men’s cross country I guess is a fairly healthy event in the sense that except Kruger, who would have been arguable the favourite considering how good he is on high altitude, the best are there. So that will be a cool event tomorrow I think.

Usually Downhill is one of my favourite events, but what a joke of a hill that is. A bit similar to the Biathlon stadium. Wind is fine, but not when it becomes a lottery. Which it will be for most events apparently as it is “always” windy there.

Happy days

The outcome of the mixed biathlon was hardly a surprise. Conditions seemed manageable.

 

[Havre]

The outcome of the mixed biathlon was hardly a surprise. Conditions seemed manageable.

True that the “best” teams ended up in the fight at the end, but in such a random way. Norway won with three penalty laps or something. Should never happen.

5-6 m/s at the stadium is not normal. I kite surf and at 6-7 you can easily go out. On top of that it went from 5-6 to almost nothing back to 5-6 again.

And of course I hope that we can get a bit more lucky with the wind. Even in the windiest of places it is rarely windy absolutely every day.

Obviously wind will influence downhill events occasionally in other places as well, but they couldn’t even finish today’s training and they except a lot of wind tomorrow as well. Something that was known even before the Olympics.

Thankfully this might be the last of the stupid games for some time. Sochi was similar in the sense that it is not a suitable place for the Winter Olympics.

 

[Brunkmeister]

Walter! Now i’m loving the Olympics again

Beating Kingsbury is huge.

 

[Hockeyfrilla]

YES! Gold in "puckelpist"!!

 

[JimmyApples]

The King got robbed, IMO. Thought he clearly had the best run

 

[TheBeastCoast]

The King got robbed, IMO. Thought he clearly had the best run

Agreed.

 

[Brunkmeister]

Salty canadians. Kingsbury were lucky to even be in the final. Walter won by a landslide. Deserved as hell.