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Archive through August 15, 2008

Reality TVClubHouse Discussions: General Discussions ARCHIVES: July 2008 - Sept 2008: The Cheap Seats: Sports : 2008 Beijing Olympics : 2008 Beijing Olympics: General Discussion About the 2008 Olympics: Archive through August 15, 2008 users admin

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Grooch
Member

06-16-2006

Wednesday, August 13, 2008 - 12:05 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Grooch a private message Print Post    
About the women's gymnastics, what was up with all that blue eyeshadow that both the Chinese and US team were wearing? It kept making me cringe everytime I saw it.

Also, did the US womans' uniforms look like the coca-cola cans they are selling right now, that are supposed to be collectables, to anybody else?

Talk about subliminal advertising.

Whoami
Member

08-03-2001

Wednesday, August 13, 2008 - 12:20 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Whoami a private message Print Post    
Grooch, on the figure skating board I routinely visit, they had a discussion going on the women's gymnastics. And yes, they also brought up the idea that the USA girl's leotards looked like the coca-cola cans.

Grooch
Member

06-16-2006

Wednesday, August 13, 2008 - 1:17 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Grooch a private message Print Post    
Thanks, Who. At least I know now that I am not THAT crazy. lol!

Roxip
Member

01-29-2004

Wednesday, August 13, 2008 - 1:30 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Roxip a private message Print Post    
I kind of liked the USA uniforms. I thought they were a beautiful color of red. But I agree about that horrible blue eyeshadow. Perhaps it is better from a distance when you are in the gym...makes their features stand out or something.

Did you hear what Bela Karolyi (sp?) said? He was funny last night. He said something to the effect that...the more experienced US women (experienced as in World competition) sometimes have a harder time because they know what they are facing...these young 14-16 year old Chinese girls don't know how momentous the event is...LOL!

Cinnamongirl
Member

01-10-2001

Wednesday, August 13, 2008 - 1:39 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Cinnamongirl a private message Print Post    
I haven't seen any womens gymnastics yet so hunted down some pics..

Holy cow, they do look young don't they?



Kookliebird
Member

08-04-2005

Wednesday, August 13, 2008 - 1:40 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Kookliebird a private message Print Post    
You did better than I did. I couldn't understand Bela most of the time, although I do think he is a bit of a teddy bear.

Karuuna
Board Administrator

08-31-2000

Wednesday, August 13, 2008 - 2:24 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Karuuna a private message Print Post    
OH my heck, why do I watch these things? They showed a weightlifter in the MSNBC update whose elbow dislocated during his lift (his arm bent backwards, then he fell down). Apparently they plan for these things, however, because several stage hands immediately lined up in front of him with large white signs to cover him up. Yikes!

Jimmer
Moderator

08-30-2000

Wednesday, August 13, 2008 - 2:35 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Jimmer a private message Print Post    
Ouch! Poor guy. I've seen that before and it isn't pleasant.

Wargod
Moderator

07-16-2001

Wednesday, August 13, 2008 - 4:16 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Wargod a private message Print Post    
Oh, geez, Kar, we saw that too! Even though they talked about how cringe worthy it was and how they werne't watching it, I still wasn't expecting it to be that bad. The thing I think that bothered me the most...when he went down, that bar struck him on the back of the head or neck area (and ya know it had to hurt too) but he didn't even flinch about that, was too busy grabbing his arm! It was horrible to watch!

Ladytex
Member

09-27-2001

Thursday, August 14, 2008 - 8:21 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Ladytex a private message Print Post    
Yay for James Blake!!!

Tiernet
Member

06-07-2004

Thursday, August 14, 2008 - 9:07 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Tiernet a private message Print Post    
regarding the elbow thing: The had those white blocker things but yet the network kept on showing the thing over and over with each camera angle...

Allietex
Member

08-16-2002

Thursday, August 14, 2008 - 9:09 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Allietex a private message Print Post    
I saw a report this morning on the Yahoo site that quoted a Chinese article written 9 months before the Olympics. In it they did a story on the tiny girl named He. Her age was given as 13, and they called her "this little girl." Of course now the Chinese say it was just a mistake.

Sorry I did not mark the site. Don't know if it I can find it again. There are dozens of articles on this subject.

The IOC accepts the age on a passport as proof of age. But in a totalarian country where the government can do pretty much what it wants to, that would not be hard to arrange. Perhaps it is time to require a deeper layer of proof. Of course since they take the girls at three years of age, that could also be arranged.

Not saying these girls actually are underage, but the question remains.

I have heard people say it makes no difference because they are younger not older, and why would you send younger atheletes? But with the Olympics you have to remember that atheletes in certain sports reach a top potential within a certain span of years. Say she is 14 now, and performing at the level we saw. In 4 years she will be 18. Who knows what will happen? Injuries, other performers who emerge that are better. I can see why a country would be tempted to send underage performers if it increased their chances at the gold. And let's face it, China really, really, really wants those golds at home.

Chaplin
Member

01-08-2006

Thursday, August 14, 2008 - 9:12 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Chaplin a private message Print Post    
Did anyone see the wrestling controversy with the medalists yesterday? Sweden was awarded a bronze medal and their wrestler left the podium after he got his medal before the anthems and dropped his medal on the podium as he left protesting the officiating. Anyway CBC Sports got it on video and have a 17 second clip of it on their Bell Moments Of The Day section. I remember one other athlete doing that on a podium and I am not sure if it was the Olympics or not and that was that French Female Skater Sarena Bonnelly and she was despised after that. Well she was not really well liked to begin with anyway.

Darrellh
Member

07-21-2004

Thursday, August 14, 2008 - 10:05 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Darrellh a private message Print Post    
Angry Swede throws down medal, quits
6 hours, 42 minutes ago

Reuters - Aug 14, 6:20 am EDT

AP - Aug 14, 8:55 am EDT
1 of 4 Olympics Gallery By Douglas Hamilton

BEIJING, Aug 14 (Reuters) - Swedish wrestler Ara Abrahamian threw down his greco-roman bronze medal in protest on Thursday after his bid for Olympic gold was ended by a decision denounced by the Swedish coach as “politics.”

Abrahamian took the bronze from around his neck during the medal ceremony, stepped from the podium and dropped it in the middle of the wrestling mat then walked off.

“I don’t care about this medal. I wanted gold,” he said.

A bitter Abrahamian, silver medalist at Athens 2004 who had high hopes of top honors in the 84kg competition in Beijing, announced he was quitting the sport.

“This will be my last match. I wanted to take gold, so I consider this Olympics a failure,” he said.

The Swedish wrestler had to be restrained by teammates earlier when a row erupted with judges over the decision in a semifinal bout at the Chinese Agricultural University Gym with Andrea Minguzzi of Italy, who went on the take gold.

Abrahamian shouted at the referee and judges then went over to their seats to speak to them up close. He angrily threw off the restraining arm of a team official then turned and left.


(L-R) Silver medallist Zoltan …

Reuters - Aug 14, 6:16 am EDT
Swedish fans booed loudly as the judges filed out of the arena. Abrahamian said nothing to waiting reporters but whacked an aluminium barricade with his fist as he left the hall.

Abrahamian later said he believed his loss to the eventual gold medalist Minguzzi was “totally unjustified.” The wrestler said his friends “called me just 20 minutes before the (bronze) competition, begging me to compete.”

“I decided that I had come this far and didn’t want to let them down, so I wrestled,” he said.

Swedish coach Leo Myllari said: “It’s all politics.”

Myllari did not say if he intended to lodge a formal protest over the decision by referee Jean-Marc Petoud of Switzerland, judge Lee Ronald Mackay of Canada, and mat chairman Guillermo Orestes Molina of Cuba.

Other favourites went out in the semi-finals or earlier.

Athens 96kg gold medallist Karam Gaber of Egypt failed to make it to the quarterfinals. Aleksey Mishin of Russia, who took Athens gold in the 84kg class, was beaten by Minguzzi. Ramaz Nozazde of Georgia, who took silver in Athens, succumbed to Marek Svec of the Czech Republic, still fighting at age 35. Svec then lost to Russia’s European champion Aslanbek Kushtov, who caught him with a spectacular fall.

In the heavyweight 120kg class, Armenia’s Yuri Patrikeev and Dremiel Byers of the United States, both favored as finalists, failed to go through.

Nickovtyme
Member

07-29-2004

Thursday, August 14, 2008 - 3:47 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Nickovtyme a private message Print Post    
LINK


State-media story fuels questions on gymnast’s age

By JOHN LEICESTER, Associated Press Writer 10 hours, 5 minutes ago

BEIJING (AP)—Just nine months before the Beijing Olympics, the Chinese government’s news agency, Xinhua, reported that gymnast He Kexin was 13, which would have made her ineligible to be on the team that won a gold medal this week.

In its report Nov. 3, Xinhua identified He as one of “10 big new stars” who made a splash at China’s Cities Games. It gave her age as 13 and reported that she beat Yang Yilin on the uneven bars at those games. In the final, “this little girl” pulled off a difficult release move on the bars known as the Li Na, named for another Chinese gymnast, Xinhua said in the report, which appeared on one of its Web sites, www.hb.xinhuanet.com

The Associated Press found the Xinhua report on the site Thursday morning and saved a copy of the page. Later that afternoon, the Web site was still working but the page was no longer accessible. Sports editors at the state-run news agency would not comment for publication.

If the age reported by Xinhua was correct, that would have meant He was too young to be on the Chinese team that beat the United States on Wednesday and clinched China’s first women’s team Olympic gold in gymnastics. He is also a favorite for gold in Monday’s uneven bars final.

Yang was also on Wednesday’s winning team. Questions have also been raised about her age and that of a third team member, Jiang Yuyuan.

Gymnasts have to be 16 during the Olympic year to be eligible for the games. He’s birthday is listed as Jan. 1, 1992.

Chinese authorities insist that all three are old enough to compete. He herself told reporters after Wednesday’s final that “my real age is 16. I don’t pay any attention to what everyone says.”

Zhang Hongliang, an official with China’s gymnastics delegation at the games, said Thursday the differing ages which have appeared in Chinese media reports had not been checked in advance with the gymnastics federation.

“It’s definitely a mistake,” Zhang said of the Xinhua report, speaking in a telephone interview. “Never has any media outlet called me to check the athletes’ ages.”

Asked whether the federation had changed their ages to make them eligible, Zhang said: “We are a sports department. How would we have the ability to do that?”

“We already explained this very clearly. There’s no need to discuss this thing again.”

The International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) has said repeatedly that a passport is the “accepted proof of a gymnast’s eligibility,” and that He and China’s other gymnasts have presented ones that show they are age eligible. The IOC also checked the girls’ passports and deemed them valid.

A May 23 story in the China Daily newspaper, the official English-language paper of the Chinese government, said He was 14. The story was later corrected to list her as 16.

“This is not a USAG issue,” said Steve Penny, president of USA Gymnastics. “The FIG and the IOC are the proper bodies to handle this.”

Teachmichigan
Member

07-22-2001

Thursday, August 14, 2008 - 7:47 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Teachmichigan a private message Print Post    
Is it just me, or is reading that article in English tremendously difficult because my brain must constantly readjust "HE" from a masculine pronoun to a girl's name??

As far as the politics - well, in these days, I'd getting so cynical I don't think there's any gov't out there that isn't corrupt. Ages of gymnasts seems pretty far down the list of "horrible" things a gov't can do, but the cheating aspect of it makes me upset.

Ladytex
Member

09-27-2001

Thursday, August 14, 2008 - 8:53 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Ladytex a private message Print Post    
This has been some of the most badly scored gymnastics that I've seen in a long time ... very badly scored, not consistent at all ... very unfair to these girls ... pffttt...

Chaplin
Member

01-08-2006

Thursday, August 14, 2008 - 9:35 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Chaplin a private message Print Post    
There has been a lot of cheating at these Olympics by the officiators and I am sick of it. One of our male gymnasts for Canada lost out on the all round because of bad judging. Also one of our Fencer's also lost and also there was bad officials at the Water Polo venue. Changes to skating marks and also gymnastics were supposed to stop all this. There needs to more international outrage. The press writes, but no one does anything. I dislike Rogge the head of the IOC and think he is the biggest part of the problem.

Rosie
Member

11-12-2003

Thursday, August 14, 2008 - 9:37 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Rosie a private message Print Post    
Yay! I only missed the beach volleyball.

Now I can watch Phelps and the girl's gymnastics.

Serate
Member

08-21-2001

Thursday, August 14, 2008 - 9:51 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Serate a private message Print Post    
Happy that the US went Gold Silver in women's gymnastics, but kinda sad that the "hometown" girl didn't get the gold. Congrats Nastia and Shawn!

Ladytex
Member

09-27-2001

Thursday, August 14, 2008 - 10:06 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Ladytex a private message Print Post    
The difference between gold and silver was stuck landings ... Nastia stuck 'em, Shawn stepped.

Neko
Member

08-03-2001

Friday, August 15, 2008 - 5:48 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Neko a private message Print Post    
So did anyone end up watching the guys I told you about?
Jessica's (Zelinka) is 7th after hurdles and high jump. Dylan (Armstrong) got 3rd in the qualifying in shotput so he's looking good for the final.
James (Steacy) made in to the finals in hammer throw, but just BARELY so hopefully he was just holding back at the qualifying rounds.

Allietex
Member

08-16-2002

Friday, August 15, 2008 - 8:02 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Allietex a private message Print Post    
LINK

Just read this article. Great story about Nastia and her family.

I was saddened by the comment by the Chinese girl who won the bronze. She said she had no comment for her parents and did not know if they were watching her.

That just breaks my heart. There is just something wrong about a system that takes these girls away from their parents at three years old and esentially distroys the parent-child relationship. I don't care how great winning medals is, family is just more important.

Chaplin
Member

01-08-2006

Friday, August 15, 2008 - 8:55 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Chaplin a private message Print Post    
Allitex that is often the way it is though in many Chinese families especially with the lack of demonstration of love towards girls. Boys are revered and often more spoiled whereas girls are brought up the way she was. It is not unheard of for children both boys and girls to spend many years there away from their families in State run facilities either sports oriented or academic oriented. There was a documentary on CBC on Chinese Boarding Schools and some of the children were as young as 2 1/2 yrs and barely toilet trained. It is sad I agree. Unfortunately it is also making for emotionless children incapable of showing feelings. In Israel it was also done in the 1950's and 1960's in Kibbutzes and while they found it raised amazing soldiers they found their divorce rates there to be some of the highest in the world. It was widely studied by Psychologist Bruno Bettleheim and he found the widely used system to be detrimentally bad to the psyche so Israel has tried to go away as much as possible from that system and way of life and is teaching families how to be close again. Part of the reason they did it was as Bettleheim pointed out many Israeli's in the 1950's had just survived the brutalities of the Holocaust many losing children. When they had their children they wanted them raised apart from them in case there was another Holocaust or threat of being wiped off the earth from their enemies surrounding their tiny country. Why China does it is not really know. However, it was common practice in Communist era Russia and also Romania. Nadia was brought up in a similar austere way in boarding facilities away from her family. After her competition days she did not relate at all to her family.

Escapee
Member

06-15-2004

Friday, August 15, 2008 - 9:03 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Escapee a private message Print Post    
I often wonder about parents in other countries. Let me see if I can explain this: How can you send your own child, flesh and blood away? I would be just heart broken. I would do anything to be with my children, to cherish moments of them growing up. Why would you have children if you are going to send them away? Do parents in other country's not love their children the way we do?