Summer Olympics 2024

[Kemarit]

What really sucks is that we no longer get to see Usain Bolt (was a big fan of Yohan Blake as well).  For me, my favorite Olympic sport hands down is the 100 and 200 meter dash.  After that it would definitely have to basketball. 

It's the centerpiece of the Olympics, and I think it is also one of the most watch games when Bolt was in his prime as he was literally blazing in every win and no one can touch him. He is already retired, enjoying life as he had earn a lot of money from sponsorship. As far as Yohan Blake goes, not sure, I haven't followed him, but it looks like he is also retired and so it's time for Jamaica to develop new set of sprinters. Their women side is still battling the US team for supremacy.

As for betting, I'll likely only bet Basketball.  I know I'm going to put down a bet on the US to win it all, who is going to absolutely destroy everyone as this year all the best players decided to play.  Does anyone have a casino they use that allows for US Mens basketball bets to be made now?  The casinos I use for whatever reason only have womens basketball available.  I assume that some of the best international (outside the US) players perhaps havent committed yet?

Of course everyone has his favorite sports to bet, I'm not much into basketball though. But from what I read, the US is going to send a strong team compose of NBA players. So it's exciting to see. Swimming though might be a good event to watch and so is boxing. And everyone is talking about break dancing, LOL, I never thought that it will be introduce as a sports but what can we say, IOC is also evolving.

[Sithara007]

Of course everyone has his favorite sports to bet, I'm not much into basketball though. But from what I read, the US is going to send a strong team compose of NBA players. So it's exciting to see. Swimming though might be a good event to watch and so is boxing. And everyone is talking about break dancing, LOL, I never thought that it will be introduce as a sports but what can we say, IOC is also evolving.

Last time (during the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo) also they sent a strong team with NBA players such as Kevin Durant and Jayson Tatum, and ended up winning the gold medal in both men's and women's categories. This time also we can expect the same. Basketball is one of the most predictable sports. There is a huge gap between the US at the top, and the other teams such as France and Serbia. For this edition, the basketball competition will be starting from 27 July.

[AHOYBRAUSE]

Of course everyone has his favorite sports to bet, I'm not much into basketball though. But from what I read, the US is going to send a strong team compose of NBA players. So it's exciting to see. Swimming though might be a good event to watch and so is boxing. And everyone is talking about break dancing, LOL, I never thought that it will be introduce as a sports but what can we say, IOC is also evolving.

Last time (during the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo) also they sent a strong team with NBA players such as Kevin Durant and Jayson Tatum, and ended up winning the gold medal in both men's and women's categories. This time also we can expect the same. Basketball is one of the most predictable sports. There is a huge gap between the US at the top, and the other teams such as France and Serbia. For this edition, the basketball competition will be starting from 27 July.

For 30 years they are sending teams with NBA players, that's nothing new. But often enough some of the super stars are missing because they don't want to spend a whole summer ballin.
Last world cup, where they became 4th  the whole squad of course was made of NBA players and they lost against Germany and Canada.

At big events teams are often judged by how many NBA players they have. The US having a whole squad and still frequently fail is just hilarious

.

[Sithara007]

For 30 years they are sending teams with NBA players, that's nothing new. But often enough some of the super stars are missing because they don't want to spend a whole summer ballin.
Last world cup, where they became 4th  the whole squad of course was made of NBA players and they lost against Germany and Canada.

At big events teams are often judged by how many NBA players they have. The US having a whole squad and still frequently fail is just hilarious

.

They don't need their full strength squad to win gold at the Olympics. Even a second string team is more than enough, and that was proved during the 2021 Tokyo Olympics. Last time they lost to France in group phase and failed to finish as the group toppers. Evan Mehdi Fournier scored 28 points in that match against the Americans. But during the gold medal match, they managed to defeat France by a large margin (87-82), with Kevin Durant scoring 29 points. Anyway, this time also they are going to face some tough challenge from the French.

[MusaMohamed]

This topic will be used for posting predictions, news and for talking everything about Summer Olympics.

Before predicting, people can spend some time to look at Tokyo Olympics 2021 with some stats and charts.
https://www.kaggle.com/code/ankitkalauni/tokyo-olympic-2021-starter-clean-eda

You can see them all with the given link and a note is in this 2024 Olympics in Paris, Russia and Belarus are not invited and allowed to participate in.

Q&A regarding to Russian and Belarussian athletes in Paris 2024 Olympics

[Sithara007]

You can see them all with the given link and a note is in this 2024 Olympics in Paris, Russia and Belarus are not invited and allowed to participate in.

Q&A regarding to Russian and Belarussian athletes in Paris 2024 Olympics

It is a bit confusing. Back in 2021, Russian athletes were able to compete in team sports. So if I am understanding it correctly, this time no Russian athlete can take part in team sports. Only individual athletes can take part, under the neutral flag. These players can't display any sort of flags, anthems or emblems. And from what I have heard, a total of 56 athletes are allowed into the games as neutral athletes (30 from Belarus, 26 from Russia). Out of this 26 athletes will take part in wrestling.

[AHOYBRAUSE]

For 30 years they are sending teams with NBA players, that's nothing new. But often enough some of the super stars are missing because they don't want to spend a whole summer ballin.
Last world cup, where they became 4th  the whole squad of course was made of NBA players and they lost against Germany and Canada.

At big events teams are often judged by how many NBA players they have. The US having a whole squad and still frequently fail is just hilarious

.

They don't need their full strength squad to win gold at the Olympics. Even a second string team is more than enough, and that was proved during the 2021 Tokyo Olympics. Last time they lost to France in group phase and failed to finish as the group toppers. Evan Mehdi Fournier scored 28 points in that match against the Americans. But during the gold medal match, they managed to defeat France by a large margin (87-82), with Kevin Durant scoring 29 points. Anyway, this time also they are going to face some tough challenge from the French.

LOL, you mean like the 2nd string that played at the FIBA world cup last year?   
Didn't look like it was enough, not even for 3rd place. 

What are you even talking about here??

Of course they need a full strength squad now. You see what happens if they don't. The rest of the world has closed the gap even further. Team basketball can compete with the best players from the US.
That's why they made this team this year. You think Curry, Lebron and KD really need to participate in the Olympics at their age? Normally they need the offseason to recover but here we are, yet another "redeem team" because they got embarrassed last year, again.

[Kavelj22]

In relation to the countries of the Russian Federation participating in the Olympics, and after the International Olympic Committee allowed the Russians and Belarusians to participate in the Olympic Games in Paris as individual neutral athletes, provided that athletes who support the Russian special military operation in Ukraine, or who have connections to the armed forces or agencies, to participate in the competition. In addition, representatives of team sports will be absent from the tournament. The website "Russia Today" in Arabic published on its official page that the Director of the Consular Department of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has warned of the possibility of provocations against the Russians. He also said that the current French authorities are generally following an unfriendly course towards Russia, and the French media are strongly influenced by aggressive Russophobia, which cannot but have a negative impact on the general atmosphere in France regarding Russia and its citizens.
According to him, the recent statements of the Mayor of Paris that Russian athletes will not be welcomed indicate the sentiments spread by official institutions. The Russian diplomat also pointed out that such a situation, of course, creates fertile ground for the emergence and activation of all kinds of provocateurs against the Russians.

[TopTort777]

Do I get it correct? The number next to sport means number of medal sets to be distributed? I look at swimming, remember Michael Phelps and his 8 gold medals in Beijing. Imho this is unfair towards total standing in table. Some countries get 8 medals in 8 different sports, then one guy came and make 8 medals in swimming only. Either Olympic Games must add new sports, or decrease swimming styles and distances. Freestyle - 6 different distances + team relay. Invest money in one guy, train him and become one of most successful teams in Olympics. Seems unfair.

What do you mean? Yes there are countries that might struggle to win a single medal in an Olympics, but you can't blame it on Michael Phelps. It's that it just shows that there are still disparity even in sports. Top tier countries against those who struggled, but still this is sports and we can't do anything about it as they are considered "fair". They have the facilities and training equipment to be on top of the game, but there are others too who can pull an upsets and there are swimmers who beat Michael Phelps or even the most decorated Olympics medalist.

I am not blaming Phelps directly, I am blaming amount of disciplines. If a country wants to be on top in overall medal ranking, they dont have to invest in training many athletes. All they can do is to train swimmers. You can basically train one or two guys and get 5-10 gold medals. Even athletics is way more various. Not the same person participates in sprint race, 110m hurdles, 1500m and wins all the medals.

[Yaunfitda]

Do I get it correct? The number next to sport means number of medal sets to be distributed? I look at swimming, remember Michael Phelps and his 8 gold medals in Beijing. Imho this is unfair towards total standing in table. Some countries get 8 medals in 8 different sports, then one guy came and make 8 medals in swimming only. Either Olympic Games must add new sports, or decrease swimming styles and distances. Freestyle - 6 different distances + team relay. Invest money in one guy, train him and become one of most successful teams in Olympics. Seems unfair.

What do you mean? Yes there are countries that might struggle to win a single medal in an Olympics, but you can't blame it on Michael Phelps. It's that it just shows that there are still disparity even in sports. Top tier countries against those who struggled, but still this is sports and we can't do anything about it as they are considered "fair". They have the facilities and training equipment to be on top of the game, but there are others too who can pull an upsets and there are swimmers who beat Michael Phelps or even the most decorated Olympics medalist.

I am not blaming Phelps directly, I am blaming amount of disciplines. If a country wants to be on top in overall medal ranking, they dont have to invest in training many athletes. All they can do is to train swimmers. You can basically train one or two guys and get 5-10 gold medals. Even athletics is way more various. Not the same person participates in sprint race, 110m hurdles, 1500m and wins all the medals.

It might work, but the thing is that it's really hard to compete with countries like US or China because of the advancement of technology in swimming or even their swimming suits. If I'm not mistaken, swim suits developed by Speedo was banned by the Olympics because of the design that it can make the swimmer go faster. So just imagine a 3rd world nation who hasn't won a medal just focusing on 1 or 2 of their athletes to train and then put a lot of money in it but still can't make it to the podium because 1st world countries are ahead of the game. And when they thought that their athletes have done enough, suddenly a new technology was developed and push the envelope of their athletes to win more golds and break records.

[o48o]

-cut-
I assume the Russian federation won't be participating in this Olympics because what is going on in the War between them and Ukraine, though.
-cut-

Nope, they won't be participating, which cool in my book, but for some reason Israel can even with ICC arrest warrant for their president.

Break dancing is a sports now? I'm not really buying that is a sport but I guess when there's a competition and it involves the kinetics of the human body, I guess I'll try to understand why it's considered as a sport. Now, you got me curious about this one because I really want to see this one, would there be like some kind of production that will accompany the breakdancing act because that would be really awesome and it will probably make the Olympics a bit more colorful than usual. Who will be competing on the track and field? Is there a roster of the players that would participate? Also, would North Korea participate in the games too?

I totally understand why breakdancing is a sport there. Olympics is all about media and optics, and promoting healthy, drug free lifestyle (i am ignoring the doping for this).

And showing athlete people in slow mo is part of it and it looks really cool what they can do. Imho all sorts of dances and body control artforms should be in there, especially something like parkour, which is like watching jackie chan movies, if done well.

And health / social aspect of it is cool as well, as some young people might see old sports as uncool, especially, if they were bullied in school by athletes.
So they never get to sports and might start to hate it, but seeing something different, that looks cool, might help these young people to start moving more. Which helps with them by keeping up both physical and mental health. I don't really see anything negative in that.

[crwth]

Some information that I saw on the web that is related to the Paris 2024

• Breakdancing Debut - It will be a formal competition for the olympics
• Updates on Paris 2024 for the latest news

I see a lot of qualifiers and competitions being held before the official Olympics starts. I'm excited to watch.

[TopTort777]

Do I get it correct? The number next to sport means number of medal sets to be distributed? I look at swimming, remember Michael Phelps and his 8 gold medals in Beijing. Imho this is unfair towards total standing in table. Some countries get 8 medals in 8 different sports, then one guy came and make 8 medals in swimming only. Either Olympic Games must add new sports, or decrease swimming styles and distances. Freestyle - 6 different distances + team relay. Invest money in one guy, train him and become one of most successful teams in Olympics. Seems unfair.

What do you mean? Yes there are countries that might struggle to win a single medal in an Olympics, but you can't blame it on Michael Phelps. It's that it just shows that there are still disparity even in sports. Top tier countries against those who struggled, but still this is sports and we can't do anything about it as they are considered "fair". They have the facilities and training equipment to be on top of the game, but there are others too who can pull an upsets and there are swimmers who beat Michael Phelps or even the most decorated Olympics medalist.

I am not blaming Phelps directly, I am blaming amount of disciplines. If a country wants to be on top in overall medal ranking, they dont have to invest in training many athletes. All they can do is to train swimmers. You can basically train one or two guys and get 5-10 gold medals. Even athletics is way more various. Not the same person participates in sprint race, 110m hurdles, 1500m and wins all the medals.

It might work, but the thing is that it's really hard to compete with countries like US or China because of the advancement of technology in swimming or even their swimming suits. If I'm not mistaken, swim suits developed by Speedo was banned by the Olympics because of the design that it can make the swimmer go faster. So just imagine a 3rd world nation who hasn't won a medal just focusing on 1 or 2 of their athletes to train and then put a lot of money in it but still can't make it to the podium because 1st world countries are ahead of the game. And when they thought that their athletes have done enough, suddenly a new technology was developed and push the envelope of their athletes to win more golds and break records.

Why I jumped on swimming if because of one single reason. One guy can get to many medals. When I look at the ranking and number of medals received by the end of the games I see something like this (random numbers):

Team USA - 200 athletes - 30 gold medals
Team China - 300 athletes - 25 gold medals
Team Germany - 150 athletes - 20 gold medals.

And among those 30 gold medals, 8 were one by one guy in swimming. That swimming thing changes overall ranking greatly. It is prestigious to win Olympic games. Athletes compete for days, then swimming starts and the country who has got 1 best swimmer takes the lead in overall ranking.

[acroman08]

If break dancing became an Olympic sports , why are not Esports there ? they have much more influence on people , they attract way more viewers and the young generation simply loves to watch some CounterStrike, Dota2 , League of Legends and other esports games so I think some sports deserve a chance to shine at Olympics. Overall , break-dancing competition will be wild and I'm sure they will put up a show to remember.

I don't think it is about influence or if it will attract more viewers, I am not really sure if the ICC is the one who said it or not but from what I remember one of the talking points that is being made about why Esports should not be in the Olympics is that it is not a physical sport(not as physical as all the sports currently available in the Olympics), also, I think they have the same sentiment as to why chess is not in the Olympics.

[btc_angela]

If break dancing became an Olympic sports , why are not Esports there ? they have much more influence on people , they attract way more viewers and the young generation simply loves to watch some CounterStrike, Dota2 , League of Legends and other esports games so I think some sports deserve a chance to shine at Olympics. Overall , break-dancing competition will be wild and I'm sure they will put up a show to remember.

I don't think it is about influence or if it will attract more viewers, I am not really sure if the ICC is the one who said it or not but from what I remember one of the talking points that is being made about why Esports should not be in the Olympics is that it is not a physical sport(not as physical as all the sports currently available in the Olympics), also, I think they have the same sentiment as to why chess is not in the Olympics.

Yes, it's more likely that Esports is not physical enough for them to be considered as a sports, so no dice for them and sorry for those fan based here. Maybe you mean IOC though International Olympic Committee, instead of ICC.

Let's see how break dancing will be, for sure with so many youth into it, might be one of the most anticipated enough, together with the Mens Basketball as US is sending the best NBA players they got, and then track and field.