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The Olympics 2020/1 Japan.

I suspect that the invention of handball was primarily motivated by the fact that it could have that name and thus fill what seems an obvious sporting gap in the market.

A shame they didn't also think to come up with any decent rules. It seems nobody asked "but how do you tackle?" until it was too late.

Perhaps footbat would have been the better sport? o_O
 
The climbing is pretty bonkers. I caught the womens speed and mens other type with all the out-hanging bits. Good fun.

PS The cycling has been consistently excellent, I've caught most of the track stuff over the last few days and really enjoyed it.
 
Tony L said:
The climbing is pretty bonkers. I caught the womens speed and mens other type with all the out-hanging bits. Good fun.

PS The cycling has been consistently excellent, I've caught most of the track stuff over the last few days and really enjoyed it.
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Have you ever been to watch it live at a velodrome? Utterly bonkers levels of speed & skill.
 
Woodface said:
Have you ever been to watch it live at a velodrome? Utterly bonkers levels of speed & skill.
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No, I’d quite like to sometime. I’d actually love to have a go, not in any way competitively for obvious reasons, just on my own to see what riding that sort of banking felt like.
 
Bob McC said:
I notice breakdancing is included in the Paris games of 2024.

Can’t wait.
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I don’t think you are in with a chance of a medal.

Although I would pay money to see you have a go.
That, or Beatboxing.
Maaan I bet you could lay down some phat beats.

“Boots n Cats n Boots n Cats n Boots n Cats n Boots n Cats… “ play along now :)
 
I did a Master degree in the early '80's and one of my classmates was a NY graduate Cop. He had quite a lot of break dance moves, he had the physique of a gymnast and essentially it's a street version of gymnastics. It was rather astonishing what he could do. The Olympics are a developing celebration of what's great.
For three decades at the beginning of the last Century you could get a Gold Medal for submitting the best painting! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Art_competitions_at_the_Summer_Olympics
http://www.nationalcyclingcentre.com/track/taster-sessions/taster/ I've ridden on the London 2012 velodrome a few times. A decent coach will get you to the top of the 42 degrees in a lap or two. It's the equivalent of jumping in at the deep end. As long as you go over 12mph you'll keep upright and not slip down! All you need to do is pedal and look every time you change position. At Stratford the bikes have either straps for your shoes ( trainers ) or Look cleats. I use Shimano SPD's but put a pair of Look cleats on my shoes so that I could clip in and out rather than mess with the straps. Stratford won't let you change the pedals.
 
andrew d said:
I did a Master degree in the early '80's and one of my classmates was a NY graduate Cop. He had quite a lot of break dance moves, he had the physique of a gymnast and essentially it's a street version of gymnastics. It was rather astonishing what he could do.
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I love breakdancing and body popping. I had about 4 moves, but had a good pop going on if I was lucky. To me it was an extension of dancing to Northern Soul.
Lots of skateboarders I knew were into breakdancing in the 80’s and 90’s+.
I have a big sticker on a record box from the 2004 World B-Boy championship- Wembley Arena :cool:
 
Big Tabs said:
I don’t think you are in with a chance of a medal.

Although I would pay money to see you have a go.
That, or Beatboxing.
Maaan I bet you could lay down some phat beats.

“Boots n Cats n Boots n Cats n Boots n Cats n Boots n Cats… “ play along now :)
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It’s turning into a farce.
Let’s see a return of tug of war.
Not had that since 1920.
 
Tony L said:
No, I’d quite like to sometime. I’d actually love to have a go, not in any way competitively for obvious reasons, just on my own to see what riding that sort of banking felt like.
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I’ve been once to Manchester Velodrome to watch the national champs, very good entertainment & excellent to watch them climb the banking. Never had a go myself but have a few pals who have; it is a bit nerve wracking at first but quite exhilarating once you get going.

Would love to have a velodrome nearby so I could get some decent winter training in. Track bikes are not that expensive on a basic level.
 
Climbing was great fun to watch.
As often the case, the new sports are hugely visually entertaining, climbing, skateboarding, BMX.

Huge thumbs up to Laura Muir, fantastic race.
 
Bob McC said:
It’s turning into a farce.
Let’s see a return of tug of war.
Not had that since 1920.
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I agree with you. About the Tug O War. Definitely. Again, I think you would not get a medal, but would donate to a charity to see you on the end of a rope. [insert smiley face]
 
Rob998 said:
Both my daughters ride and watched this. They both were saying a lot of it was down to the rider, fair enough the horse was obviously slightly spooked to begin with but the rider's reaction made it worse. She might already have had a problem with the horse because another competitor had issues with it in an earlier round. Horses are actually very sensitive to their rider's attitude/mood and if the human isn't able to inspire confidence then this is the result.

Every horse in the pool is a highly experienced show jumper and should be able to produce a decent performance, but as the saying goes, it takes two baby.
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I just watched the highlights program about this and the comments from the 2012 silver medalist seem to bear this out. The horses are all test jumped around the course and the athletes can swap horses as well so maybe she should have done that seeing the bad round from earlier. She made the point that the reserve horses are reserve for a reason as well.

Definitely mentioned she was stiff and anxious going into the round which clearly affected the horse. Equally mentioned this is part of the sport and they are used to this at every competition.
 
Tony L said:
No, I’d quite like to sometime. I’d actually love to have a go, not in any way competitively for obvious reasons, just on my own to see what riding that sort of banking felt like.
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It’s frightening! Once you’re at speed and approach the bend it looks like a solid wall. Only done it once for the experience.
 
Our cycling club has had a few sessions at Manchester - once you get used to travelling at a decent speed then you can’t fall off, regardless of what your brain is telling you in the corners
 
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