Olympics 2020/2021 : Discussion & Predictions

[TheNineClub]

Is anyone interested in Olympic skateboarding talks? I will be covering that here so if anyone wants to chime in with predictions beforehand, let's do it! Some huge names are gonna show off their skills, but I can't really think of any situation where the US will not dominate.

Four medal events will be held:

Women & Men
Park
Street

to keep this skateboarding thread alive, here is the ruleset.

• Street
This competition is held on a straight ‘street-like’ course featuring stairs, handrails, curbs, benches, walls and slopes. Each skateboarder performs individually and uses each section to demonstrate a range of skills, or ‘tricks’. Judging takes into account factors such as the degree of difficulty of the tricks, height, speed, originality, execution and the composition of moves, in order to award an overall mark.

Skateboarders often ‘slide’ the wooden deck of their skateboards and ‘grind’ the metal trucks (components which connect the wheels and bearings to the deck of the skateboard) directly along the course's curbs and handrails.

When riding along the course and in order to get their skateboards on top of or over the rails and curbs, competitors often perform an ‘ollie’, a trick whereby the rider and board leap into the air without the use of the rider's hands. Skilled skateboarders make this difficult trick appear easy.

The side-on position taken by riders of surfboards and skateboards is known as their ‘stance’. A position with the left leg facing the direction in which the skateboarder wishes to move is known as ‘regular stance’, while some prefer to position their right leg facing the direction in which they wish to move, which is known as ‘goofy foot’. A skateboarder's usual stance is called their ‘main stance’; when changing the position of the front leg during competition, this is known as ‘switch stance’. The marks awarded for tricks performed with the main stance differ from those performed with switch stance, as the degree of difficulty is increased with the latter.

A common trick for skateboarders is to ollie and then flip the deck of the skateboard in various ways under their feet, miraculously bringing the board back to their feet before landing. An added variation to flipping the board is to also rotate the body at the same time. When performed well, after the board is flipped, the skateboarder can make it appear as if the board reattaches to the feet by magnet. Parallel, length-wise and other dynamic, multi-dimensional flips all require a high level of technique.

• Park
Park competitions take place on a hollowed-out course featuring a series of complicated curves — some resembling large dishes and dome-shaped bowls. From the bottom of the cavity, the curved surfaces rise steeply, with the upper part of the incline either vertical or almost vertical. Among the attractions of park competitions are the immense heights achieved by climbing the curves at speed and performing amazing mid-air tricks.

The variety of tricks available to a skateboarder increases with the height gained launching out of the park’s curves. The degree of difficulty can depend on whether the deck of the skateboard is grabbed with a hand when performing mid-air tricks, which part of the deck is grabbed, which hand is used to grab the deck and the posture of the rider while grabbing the deck.

Difficulty and originality also increase if the deck is rotated in mid-air, flipped or if the competitor is able to rotate their body while in mid-air. Other tricks include variations of balancing (stalls), grinds and slide tricks on the ‘lip’ of the ramp.

Well, here it is, the first ever Men's Street Skateboarding Olympic comp has ended and boy was it a shit show XD Commentating was horrible and judging was iffy at best, but hopefully they learn from this for the next Olympics (If not for the men's Park or women's Street and Park comps)

The results are as follows:

Men's Street Result
Gold: Yuto Horigome (Japan), 37.18
Silver: Kelvin Hoefler (Brazil), 36.15
Bronze: Jagger Eaton (United States), 35.35
4th: Vincent Milou (France), 34.14
5th: Angelo Caro Narvaez (Peru), 32.87
6th: Aurelien Giraud (France), 29.09
7th: Nyjah Huston (United States), 26.10
8th: Gustavo Ribeiro (Portugal), 15.05

Obviously, those are just the finals result's no need for me to post all of the heats. Yuto winning or even finishing on the podium is not a surprise at all, but what is a shock is Nyjah's terrible placement. He was favored to take the gold or at least silver, but he completely fell off. It seems that it's a bad strategy that ended him as he was trying to do harder tricks and failing them where Yuto was doing easier tricks but consistently.

And the first women's Olympic skateboarding event has been held. It's amazing to see how far women's skateboarding has progressed. Yes, skateboarding is predominately a male sport just by the sheer numbers of men doing it, but it's amazing seeing more and more women going into it. Well done!

Women's Street Final
Gold: Momiji Nishiya, Japan (15.26)
Silver: Rayssa Leal, Brazil (14.64)
Bronze: Funa Nakayama, Japan (14.49)
4th: Alexis Sablone, United States (13.57)
5th: Roos Zwetsloot, Netherlands (11.26)
6th: Zeng Wenhui, China (9.66)
7th: Margielyn Didal, Philippines (7.52)
8th: Aori Nishimura, Japan (6.92)

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[bryant.coleman]

In perhaps the biggest upset of today, Kliment Kolesnikov of Russia failed to win the gold medal in Men's 100m backstroke final (he is currently the world record holder in this discipline, as well as in 50m backstroke). Evgeny Rylov of Russian won the gold, while Kolesnikov finished 0.02 seconds behind him. Rylov was not given odds by the bookies, as everyone expected either Kolesnikov or Ryan Murphy (defending champion, from the United States) to win the gold. BTW, there is very tough competition at the top of medals table - China with 9 golds, and US/Japan with 8 each.

[Jackl87]

I just watched a couple of hours of surfing, as I've almost never seen any of it live and it's making its debut at the Olympics this time. I have to say that I am quite disappointed with the entertainment value of this sport. One round lasts 30 minutes and most of the time nothing happens, as the surfers wait for a suitable wave. So it often happens that you don't see any action for 7-8 minutes. I don't think the sport is 100% fair either, because the athletes also need a lot of luck to catch the right wave. If the opponent catches a big wave and can show a jump and you only have small waves, then you almost can't win no matter how good you are.

That's why I also think it's an unsuitable sport to bet on, because you just can't predict nature, at least when the competition is in the ocean.

[Woodie]

In perhaps the biggest upset of today, Kliment Kolesnikov of Russia failed to win the gold medal in Men's 100m backstroke final (he is currently the world record holder in this discipline, as well as in 50m backstroke). Evgeny Rylov of Russian won the gold, while Kolesnikov finished 0.02 seconds behind him. Rylov was not given odds by the bookies, as everyone expected either Kolesnikov or Ryan Murphy (defending champion, from the United States) to win the gold. BTW, there is very tough competition at the top of medals table - China with 9 golds, and US/Japan with 8 each.

For such an upset where favourites are not even given odds what will the competition have 50/1 odds?? I wish I bet on the game as am not fond of betting on favs.

Brazil Women vs Zambia Women

Brazil hasn't been the powerhouse we all thought they where, do you think this could be a high scoring match I don't think so,if it turns out to be am going for a handicap bet in favour of Zambia the team that drew with China 4-4.

[Luzin]

Wow, apparently there are still ones like this, I'm amazed by them.
This is an action that we should emulate and of course the next generation of young sports.


Source: https://twitter.com/BadmintonTalk/status/1419610555904524293?s=20

[joker_josue]

I just watched a couple of hours of surfing, as I've almost never seen any of it live and it's making its debut at the Olympics this time. I have to say that I am quite disappointed with the entertainment value of this sport. One round lasts 30 minutes and most of the time nothing happens, as the surfers wait for a suitable wave. So it often happens that you don't see any action for 7-8 minutes. I don't think the sport is 100% fair either, because the athletes also need a lot of luck to catch the right wave. If the opponent catches a big wave and can show a jump and you only have small waves, then you almost can't win no matter how good you are.

It's not like one catching a big wave and the other not.

Each player has priority to catch the wave, but if he doesn't catch the other he can move forward.
On the other hand, in 30 minutes, it's hard to only have good waves for a single surfer. Hence there are 30 minutes.
Another interesting detail, if you had 3 to 7 minutes waiting for action, it is a sign that the sea was full of waves and surfers could choose. Also, if the surfer who has priority on the next wave does not advance, the other surfer can attack the wave.

It only counts the top two scores, so when there are a lot of waves surfers tend to wait longer, just to make good waves.

[W Jr.]

Today, Turkey - Italy met in group b in the women's volleyball match. Defeating the former Olympic champion China in the first match, Turkey lost 3-1 to strong Italy in the second match. The third game will be against the United States. USA beat China 3-0 today. Lets see what will be the result of this match.

[zanezane]

Congratulations to our very own Hidilyn Diaz! a great woman of determination and she made our country proud. After 97 years without any gold medal for the Olympics, she has broken that long year and was the first-ever to get the gold medal in Tokyo Olympics. It's just sad that despite she had won the gold already, there are making rounds that she's being used with political motives while she's unaware of it.

Yeah, I'm a bit late to the party but I do congratulate Hidilyn for her win, it's a big honor but at the same time, the people that were talking trash of her shouldn't be allowed to congratulate them. I mean, people were mad that she was asking for monetary help from the private sector. We also have to congratulate Margielyn, she's a darling of the Olympics with her positive attitude.

[KTChampions]

China and India have never been involved in the development of football, but China has started to do so by investing a lot of money in buying players for about 10 years and I think in another 10 years they will have a strong generation of players. Thus, China will be added to the already strong South Korea and Japan. As for Africa, there are already many strong teams due to the fact that many players from this continent play in European football.

It is even surprising that with such a large population, neither India nor China are yet achieving noticeable results in the international arena. As far as I know, China used to invest a lot of money in the national championship and inviting expensive foreign players, but now it has started to reduce spending in favor of local players. A lot depends on the status and attitude to the game in the country itself, because everyone knows the cult status of football in Brazil or Spain, when the victories or defeats of national teams are akin to national holidays or national mourning, and football stars have the status of national heroes. Quotas for contingents for major world tournaments, such as the Olympic Games, are a rather delicate topic, because deliberately allowing obviously weak national teams to enter the tournament instead of strong national teams is fraught with a drop in the sports level.

It depends on national traditions, and not on the size of the population. For example, in the United States, European football has been undeveloped and unpopular for a very long time. The reasons are quite obvious - other team sports dominated there, but for about 15 years ago (if I remember correctly) the number of people involved in European football (soccer) exceeded the number of people involved in American football (rugby).

[joker_josue]

(...) American football (rugby).

Just a note: American football is not rugby.
Despite having originated from rugby, American football is very different in style of play and rules.

This article explains these differences well:
https://www.diffen.com/difference/American_Football_vs_Rugby

[Kakmakr]

How controversial will it be if ROC (Russian Olympic Committee) won the 2021 Olympics.    The ROC won the Gold medal for "Women's Artistic Gymnastics" today... so countries like the USA and the UK got Silver and Bronze. Also, these countries might be close to the winner of the Olympics and they might have even won.. if Russia did not compete in the Olympics.

The bookmakers should actually "ignore" the ROC (Russian Olympic Committee) position on the podium in all the events where they are participating and just give it to the Silver & Bronze positions. (shifting them a position up on the podium)

Do you think it is fair for a banned country to participate as individuals to bypass the ban?

[buwaytress]

Surfing fail huh. Some sports just don't quite fit Olympics but I guess people got bored of swimming haha.

For the first time in history, our country PH now finally gets its 1st Gold Medal in the Olympics.

I saw that plastered all over the news, well done my friends and neighbours from my home;) Bermuda also got their first-ever gold so it's so far a great event for all you underdogs.

If only Southeast Asian governments just paid a bit more attention to all the tough nuts out there working hard to bring fame to their country.

[Yogee]

There was also another upset that happened today. Japan won the Gold medal on Table Tennis' mixed doubles event against China who usually dominates this sport.

Wow, apparently there are still ones like this, I'm amazed by them.
This is an action that we should emulate and of course the next generation of young sports.

Great job on the player's part. I'm not surprised with the act and it's common even in other similar sports like Tennis and Table Tennis. You see player's challenging the umpire's call and giving the point to their opponent.

[Vishnu.Reang]

How controversial will it be if ROC (Russian Olympic Committee) won the 2021 Olympics.    The ROC won the Gold medal for "Women's Artistic Gymnastics" today... so countries like the USA and the UK got Silver and Bronze. Also, these countries might be close to the winner of the Olympics and they might have even won.. if Russia did not compete in the Olympics.

The bookmakers should actually "ignore" the ROC (Russian Olympic Committee) position on the podium in all the events where they are participating and just give it to the Silver & Bronze positions. (shifting them a position up on the podium)

Do you think it is fair for a banned country to participate as individuals to bypass the ban?

A lot of people think that the ban itself was unfair. Is it right to ban an entire country, for the actions of a few athletes? And I don't think that the rules have been fairly applied to everyone. Russian gymnasts were banned for using certain medications. But later it was revealed that these same drugs were used by Simone Biles, Venus Williams and Serena Williams of the United States. The Americans gave some silly excuse that Biles was using the drug for ADHD. Obviously the International Olympic Committee don't have the courage to ban any of the American athletes. They can say silly excuses like they need the drug for the treatment of constipation or jock itch.

[snipie]

How controversial will it be if ROC (Russian Olympic Committee) won the 2021 Olympics.    The ROC won the Gold medal for "Women's Artistic Gymnastics" today... so countries like the USA and the UK got Silver and Bronze. Also, these countries might be close to the winner of the Olympics and they might have even won.. if Russia did not compete in the Olympics.

The bookmakers should actually "ignore" the ROC (Russian Olympic Committee) position on the podium in all the events where they are participating and just give it to the Silver & Bronze positions. (shifting them a position up on the podium)

Do you think it is fair for a banned country to participate as individuals to bypass the ban?

Certainly the unfair point is to ban dozens of athletes for things done by others. What's the fault of these players for not lifting a trophy if they were able to? Because another citizen was caught cheating? It is not his fault.
Some players might shine in this Olympic game and fail in the others, people around the world are passing years in training for this moment to find themselves banned? This is unfair for them.

[acroman08]

If only Southeast Asian governments just paid a bit more attention to all the tough nuts out there working hard to bring fame to their country.

yep, the PH government did increase their support to their athletes(at least that is what they said) but it wasn't enough, there are still a lot of athletes struggling for money in order to properly train. I admire her dedication to achieve her goal and bring honor to her country even without the proper support from the government. I hope to see her again at the next Olympics.

[boltz]

David Popovici was so close to take a medal at 200 M free but he missed only by an inch to take 3rd place. I did back him up with a bet on both to win and take a medal and I must say that I'm so proud of our Romanian guy for taking 4th place at his first Olympics at just 16 years old. I'm sure and I'm certain he will dominate this sport in the next coming years and Olympics.

[Fredomago]

If only Southeast Asian governments just paid a bit more attention to all the tough nuts out there working hard to bring fame to their country.

yep, the PH government did increase their support to their athletes(at least that is what they said) but it wasn't enough, there are still a lot of athletes struggling for money in order to properly train. I admire her dedication to achieve her goal and bring honor to her country even without the proper support from the government. I hope to see her again at the next Olympics.

She's still young and still capable to defend her olympic title, not just a gold medal but also breaking the olympic record for 55 kg if I'm not mistaken,

Enough with government not supporting their athletes, she's one of a good example of determination always bring the bacon if you sincerely aiming for the win, she gave everything and it's been paid off.

What about those perks that she's going to received after this win, she's going to have a luxurious life with millions in cash a condo unit and a brand new house and lot.

After 97 years of chasing this very first gold Medal she deserve everything, Congrats again Hidilyn!

[wheelz1200]

I just watched a couple of hours of surfing, as I've almost never seen any of it live and it's making its debut at the Olympics this time. I have to say that I am quite disappointed with the entertainment value of this sport. One round lasts 30 minutes and most of the time nothing happens, as the surfers wait for a suitable wave. So it often happens that you don't see any action for 7-8 minutes. I don't think the sport is 100% fair either, because the athletes also need a lot of luck to catch the right wave. If the opponent catches a big wave and can show a jump and you only have small waves, then you almost can't win no matter how good you are.

It's not like one catching a big wave and the other not.

Each player has priority to catch the wave, but if he doesn't catch the other he can move forward.
On the other hand, in 30 minutes, it's hard to only have good waves for a single surfer. Hence there are 30 minutes.
Another interesting detail, if you had 3 to 7 minutes waiting for action, it is a sign that the sea was full of waves and surfers could choose. Also, if the surfer who has priority on the next wave does not advance, the other surfer can attack the wave.

It only counts the top two scores, so when there are a lot of waves surfers tend to wait longer, just to make good waves.

Yeah surfing has never really been about luck.  I mean the waves are certainly not the same, but at all major surfing events you tend to see the same surfers make the finals.  It's not because they get hit with lucky waves but that they do with the waves they get.  I would agree if there was always shakeup at the top but there isnt.

[joker_josue]

After four days, where medals were awarded in the Olympic Games, Japan continues to surprise as the delegation with the most gold medals.
It's also interesting to see that despite the Russian athletes are not competing on behalf of the country, but of the Russian Olympic Committee, they are very well qualified.