Games of the XXIX Olympiad

[Chacor]

Very, very questionable pro-China judging in boxing, shooting, gymnastics and diving.

[RL3AO]

Very, very questionable pro-China judging in boxing, shooting, gymnastics and diving.

How can you have pro-China judging in shooting?

[Chacor]

Very, very questionable pro-China judging in boxing, shooting, gymnastics and diving.

How can you have pro-China judging in shooting?

BBC:

Aussie shooter Russell Mark has now gone one louder, alleging that Chinese judges, influenced by a boistrous home crowd, helped local hope Hu Binyuan win the double trap bronze medal. Mark, the Atlanta Games gold medallist who finished fifth this year, told Australian media that local judges had awarded a hit to Hu even though he missed the target.

As for the others, there is absolutely no question that the boxing judges are ridiculously pro-China, refusing to always score clear hits by boxers against Chinese opponents. Diving is also obvious, although there is little doubt that China has very good divers, even when the entry to the pool is off they still easily score 8.0s to 9.5s on synchronisation. As for gymnastics... well.

The Chinese fans — and I wouldn't be surprised if the Chinese government did this too — have been putting the judges under a lot of pressure. After the so-called "freedom to report" was shattered when two Japanese journalists were attacked by police in Kashgar and then today a British journalist arrested and assaulted just for covering a Free Tibet protest in Beijing today, I would not be surprised if the government was doing the same to judges.

[RL3AO]

Very, very questionable pro-China judging in boxing, shooting, gymnastics and diving.

How can you have pro-China judging in shooting?

BBC:

Aussie shooter Russell Mark has now gone one louder, alleging that Chinese judges, influenced by a boistrous home crowd, helped local hope Hu Binyuan win the double trap bronze medal. Mark, the Atlanta Games gold medallist who finished fifth this year, told Australian media that local judges had awarded a hit to Hu even though he missed the target.

I was watching that when it happened. I thought he missed it but they gave him credit.

[Chacor]

What a finish in the Nigeria–USA football game. So close for the USA, down to ten men after just 3 minutes, losing 2-0, then getting a penalty with 4 minutes left. Converted it for 2-1, then hit the bar just two minutes later. Four minutes of added time produced some very poor defending from both sides but Nigeria hung on to win 2-1, which means the USA men are out of the Games.

[RL3AO]

11 donkeys could finish better than any US team does.

[tropicana]

and Canada so far..... ZERO, zilch, nil, kaputz.

No medals so far, 5 days in. We are still hopeful though.
Go Canada Go!

woohoo

-justin-

[Chacor]

Canada has come very close a couple of times. The weightlifting yesterday, for example, where your women's lifter finished 4th. Just that bit more needed.

[RL3AO]

Georgia beats Russia in beach volleyball 10-21, 22-20, 15-12

[RL3AO]

Georgia wins gold in judo.

[Chacor]

Georgia's Brazil-born players beat Russia in a beach volleyball game that turned sour after the recent fighting between the two countries.

Christine Santanna and Andrezza Chagas took up an invitation to represent Georgia after missing out on Olympic qualification for their native Brazil.

The Russians accused their opponents of parading under a flag of convenience after losing 21-10 20-22 12-15.

But Santanna countered: "I don't want this to be a war between us."

Georgia and Russia called an uneasy truce in the disputed border region of South Ossetia just hours before the beach volleyball contest.

Some 100,000 people are estimated to have been displaced by the conflict, which has created huge tensions in international relations.

The competitors embraced as they entered the arena, but the atmosphere turned sour as Georgia recovered from a set down to triumph.

After the match, Russia's Natalia Uryadova said: "We were not playing against the Georgian team today.

"If they are Georgian they would certainly have been influenced (by world events), but certainly they are not."

Uryadova's team-mate Alexandra Shiryaeva added: "Of course they're not Georgian. They don't even know who the Georgian president is."

Santanna retorted: "Of course I know who the president is.

"It's Mikhail Saakashvili, and I was with his wife here two days ago in the (Olympic) Village.

"I feel Georgian. I've got a Georgian and a Brazilian passport and we did this for the Georgian people. I really didn't want this situation between the players. I respect them."

Georgian beach volleyball leader Levan Akhtulediani added: "It's better to compete on the field rather than outside the field."

Two days ago, the small Georgian team voted to withdraw from the Games because of the events in their homeland but they were persuaded to stay by their president.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/olympic ... 558304.stm

[lurkey]

Talk about sore losers and poor sportmanship . . . .

Georgia wins gold in judo.

1. Was the winner born and raised in Georgia? <we don't want the Russians to cry foul>
2. Please say the winner beat a Russian for the gold. . .

[Brent]

:uarrow: Talk about sore losers and poor sportmanship . . . .

Seriously... and that is really disappointing to happen at the Olympics.

Fast National ratings for Tuesday, Aug. 12, 2008

Michael Phelps and the battle for gold in women's gymnastics carried NBC to another big ratings win Tuesday night.

NBC's 19.0 rating/30 share in primetime was an improvement over Monday's 17.6/28 and once again destroyed the competition. CBS took second at 4.1/6. ABC's 2.9/5 was good for third, while FOX took fourth with a 2.2/4. The CW managed only a 0.6/1.

The Peacock also got a bump in the adults 18-49 demographic, where its 11.1 rating was almost a point better than Monday's tally. CBS, 1.6, edged ABC, 1.5, for second. FOX averaged 1.2 and The CW 0.4.

The 2008 Summer Olympics scored a 16.2/27 at 8 p.m. An "NCIS" rerun on CBS delivered a 4.9/8 to take second. A "Wipeout" rerun on ABC drew a 3.1/5, topping the 2.5/4 for "House" on FOX. The CW aired a "Beauty and the Geek" rerun.

NBC improved to 17.9/28 at 9 p.m. CBS remained in second with "Big Brother 10," 4.3/7. "Wanna Bet," 2.3/4, came in third for ABC. " Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles" scored a 2.0/3 for FOX, keeping the network in front of The CW and "Reaper."

At 10 p.m., the Olympics took a huge jump to 22.8/36 as coverage pinged between the women's gymnastics team final, where China topped the U.S., and swimmer Phelps picking up two more gold medals. ABC's "Primetime: Medical Mysteries," 3.2/5, beat out CBS' "Without a Trace," 3.0/5, for second.

[Brent]

US team blame stadium official for gymnastics loss
Aug 13 07:06 AM US/Eastern

The US women's gymnastics team blamed stadium officials Wednesday for distracting one of their athletes who went on to make crucial mistakes that destroyed their gold medal hopes.

China won its showdown with the United States after Alicia Sacramone fell off the balance beam then slipped over during the floor exercise, opening the way for the home team to post a narrow 2.375 point victory.

US team coordinator Martha Karolyi said officials at Beijing's National Indoor Stadium had disrupted Sacramone's preparations for the beam.

"First they called her name up, then they did not even put her name up even though the Chinese had finished ... (it was) totally unusual holding," she said.

"She was mentally prepared and then she had a mental break, then after not doing the job, the beam, on the floor exercise her concentration was bothered."

Karolyi insisted the world champion US team would have won gold if Sacramone had not become unsettled.

But while she was unhappy with stadium officials, she also questioned Sacramone's temperament, suggesting the gymnast was emotionally vulnerable.

"We developed her into a good competitor but originally she was not necessarily extremely easily focussed and aggressive," she said.

A distraught Sacramone was in tears as she recounted her Olympic nightmare.

"I think everybody knows there'll be good days and bad days, I just wish this was a good day for me," she said.

The 20-year-old said she was trying to perform a backward jumping mount onto the beam when she realised the manoeuvre had gone wrong.

"I tried to adjust in the air but I really couldn't save it, she said. "I tried to step back and there was just nothing."

Sacramone said the mistake on the beam in the third round affected her performance on the fourth and final exercise, the floor routine.

"I guess it was just a little bit too hard to get out of that funk, it affected me on floor a little bit," she said.

Sacramone added that she lost concentration because of the delay leading into her beam performance.

"I was just really eager to do my routine and get the show on the road but they did hold me for quite some time and I guess I lost my nerve a little bit," she said.

Asked how long she could maintain focus while waiting to perform her routines, she repled: "Apparently not long enough."

http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id ... _article=1

[Dee Bee]

I still have a difficult time believing that all the members of the Chinese women's gymnastics team are 16 years old. NBC commentators have certainly offered that opinion more than once, quickly adding that each one's passport indicates being 16 this year, which meets the requirement.

The world, unfortunately, is filled with faked passports. Has anyone read/heard if this issue will be pursued after the games are over?

[vbhoutex]

I still have a difficult time believing that all the members of the Chinese women's gymnastics team are 16 years old. NBC commentators have certainly offered that opinion more than once, quickly adding that each one's passport indicates being 16 this year, which meets the requirement.

The world, unfortunately, is filled with faked passports. Has anyone read/heard if this issue will be pursued after the games are over?

Do they even have to show passports? They are in China.

[RL3AO]

I still have a difficult time believing that all the members of the Chinese women's gymnastics team are 16 years old. NBC commentators have certainly offered that opinion more than once, quickly adding that each one's passport indicates being 16 this year, which meets the requirement.

The world, unfortunately, is filled with faked passports. Has anyone read/heard if this issue will be pursued after the games are over?

Do they even have to show passports? They are in China.

You need your passport to register with the IOC.

[Chacor]

The athletes have to be registered with the IOC, and they have participated in other events overseas which presumably would have conducted medical checks of their own.

Either way, Nadia Comaneci was 14 in Montreal when she scored her perfect 10s, so it shouldn't matter.

[Dee Bee]

The athletes have to be registered with the IOC, and they have participated in other events overseas which presumably would have conducted medical checks of their own.

Either way, Nadia Comaneci was 14 in Montreal when she scored her perfect 10s, so it shouldn't matter.

You make a good point. I'd been under the impression from the tv comments that the minimum age had been raised to 16 since then and that the two smallest, youngest-looking girls were new to the team. But I haven't researched it. ~DeeBee

[Chacor]

Either way, I don't think there's a doubt they were gifted that win (and in men's as well) by the judges.