2020 Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo

[Paskud]

43 minutes ago, sallycinnamon said:

My cousin is doing OK in sailing, she was a bit unlucky (not a strong start, she once collided with another sailor, but at one of the races she finished 2nd). It'd be nice if she could get better and finish somewhere in Top 10. 

Good luck to her!

[Kizuna]

On 7/28/2021 at 10:18 PM, yuzupon said:

Biles is out from all-around as well. Whew.

 

The only sport I truly follow closely is badminton (I am an Indonesian, despite the flag in my profile). And today, the men's single group stage matches have been full of surprised. Seeded players defeated by those ranked waaay below, and the World's number 1, which is the host's heavy favourite for gold, Kento Momota is ousted by Korean Heo KwangHee (currently ranked 38) in 2 straight games. Commentators were speechless for awhile after the match.

 

My country's 2nd player also gave me unhealthy heart palpitations for a bit, but thankfully he pulled through. Ugh.

 

Ah, I didn't follow the match, but I was surprised by Momota's defeat too! That must be hard to take.

 

I don't follow badminton that much, but everyone in my country pays at least a little attention to badminton since our most successful Olympian won silver three consecutive times in men's singles at the last three Olympics. Just now, my country's sole player in the men's singles was defeated in the round of 16 by the reigning Olympic champion Chen Long, ending our medal streak in men's singles. 

[sallycinnamon]

1 hour ago, Paskud said:

Good luck to her!

 

Thank you!  

[yuzupon]

3 hours ago, sallycinnamon said:

 

Maybe there are more unexpected results because of the postponement of the Olympics and for some reason badminton is more affected than other sports. Many athletes didn't have the same preparation as before the virues and I think for older athletes it is harder to get back into shape. For the younger athletes especially those who could qualify to the Games competing here might give them a bigger boost. But I don't follow badminton so I don't know what really happened.

 

I finished watching women gymnastics AA final. With the absence of Simone Biles the competition was open and it was interesting to watch. Sunisa Lee (USA) won, second is Rebeca Andrade (BRA) and third is Angelina Melnikova (Russia). I think after Russia's team gold they tried to help Sunisa with the scoring here. Rebeca's scores a bit low, the Brazilian federation even sent an inquiry which got accepted and her scores were corrected. But it wasn't enough. 

I'll be curious if Simone Biles will compete in the individual apparatus finals or she'll WD from there as well.

 

I watched some swimming heats and will wake up again this night and on Saturday to watch some of the finals. There are so many other sports I'd like to follow but there aren't enough time to watch everything.

My cousin is doing OK in sailing, she was a bit unlucky (not a strong start, she once collided with another sailor, but at one of the races she finished 2nd). It'd be nice if she could get better and finish somewhere in Top 10. 

 

It's a strong week for Japan so far. I think usually the first week is stronger for them because of judo. Next week is athletics so I think USA will get more golds. The standings so far: https://olympics.com/tokyo-2020/olympic-games/en/results/all-sports/medal-standings.htm

Re badminton: it could very well be, except for the fact that one of the top countries, China, has been away from international competitions for the entirety of the pandemic, and the Olympics is literally their comeback. Out of 9 representatives that they sent, only 1 has been defeated so far. And while they do not have overly old shuttlers (the oldest, iirc, is the reigining men's single Olympics champion as @Kizuna mentioned - the only one defending the title. He is 32 yo lol there are many shuttlers older than him, I know at least 3 still in competition this Oly), they are not the young crops of athletes either. Whew.

Today, more world's no.1 are sent home: men's double (who are from Indonesia, so I weep a bit) and women's double (who are from Japan - with their defeat, Japan now only has their 2 women's single players remaining for gold medal contentions, having started with strong contenders in all 5 fields).

 

Re: gymnastic... yeah, they definitely help Lee's scoring. But it didn't help that Andrade step a bit out of the floor twice. It made it easier to 'punish' her. I still enjoy the Russians the most, and feel a bit guilty about it, cz it almost like falling into the commentators trap of Russian = balletic vs American = athletic. Andrade actually has the best balance of both. I was rooting for her. Alas.

 

Re: your cousin! OMG! Good luck to her!!

 

2 hours ago, Kizuna said:

 

Ah, I didn't follow the match, but I was surprised by Momota's defeat too! That must be hard to take.

 

I don't follow badminton that much, but everyone in my country pays at least a little attention to badminton since our most successful Olympian won silver three consecutive times in men's singles at the last three Olympics. Just now, my country's sole player in the men's singles was defeated in the round of 16 by the reigning Olympic champion Chen Long, ending our medal streak in men's singles. 

It must have been hard, esp cz it sort of started the avalanche of Japanese shuttlers dropping out.

 

I watched that match with Chen Long vs Lee Zii Jia. Lee won the 1st game so decisively, I was sure he'd won the game. Alas, Chen's mental game is stronger this time. In the 3rd game Lee looks like he gave up. In other news, your men's double team defeated the world's no.1, so that's something!

[Kizuna]

7 hours ago, yuzupon said:

I watched that match with Chen Long vs Lee Zii Jia. Lee won the 1st game so decisively, I was sure he'd won the game. Alas, Chen's mental game is stronger this time. In the 3rd game Lee looks like he gave up. In other news, your men's double team defeated the world's no.1, so that's something!

 

Yes, being Lee's first Olympics, I hope he uses this experience to grow in the future.

 

Oops, it didn't occur to me that it was Indonesia's world no. 1 that they defeated until now, sorry about that.  Indonesia is still doing pretty well in badminton, good luck to them! 

[ralucutzagy]

 

 

 

 

 

[ralucutzagy]

 

 

 

 

[ralucutzagy]

 

 

 

 

[ralucutzagy]

 

 

 

 

[Paskud]

[NEWS] 

Quote

Shohei Ono became the fourth Japanese man to win back-to-back Olympics [in Judo], a feat that even coach Kosei Inoue could not accomplish, and although his expression did not change, a sense of accomplishment welled up from his words.

After winning the Rio de Janeiro Olympics in overwhelming fashion, the expectation of winning again was waiting for them. It's not something you can imitate," he said. He was guided by the words of coach Inoue. "He told me, "Since you have one gold medal, you should face it fairly and squarely," and at the same time told me to be extraordinary."

Inoue won the 2000 Sydney Olympics all by himself, but missed out on a medal at the 2004 Athens Olympics. Citing figure skater Yuzuru Hanyu (ANA), who won the Winter Olympics in consecutive years, he said, "He has a top-notch strength that allows him to get focused on himself and play. He asked the athletes whether they could prepare stoically without compromising or holding back, even if they were struggling with anxiety or fear, which is extraordinary."

(...)

https://www.nishinippon.co.jp/item/n/776084/

[yude]

Teddy Riner of Judo lost in quarterfinal of +100kg event, that's shocking. 

 

Daiya Seto and Kosuke Hagino, they couldn't get the medal but finished in 4th and 6th place with smiles. Hagino said after semi-final in tears that he was so happy to do one more race with Daiya, he felt it was the gift from god. They are good friends and rivals since their childhood, and their lives after the last Olympics had ups and down (in both private lives and swimming lives). I wish them good luck in their future 

 

 

 

[sallycinnamon]

15 hours ago, yuzupon said:

Re badminton: it could very well be, except for the fact that one of the top countries, China, has been away from international competitions for the entirety of the pandemic, and the Olympics is literally their comeback. Out of 9 representatives that they sent, only 1 has been defeated so far. And while they do not have overly old shuttlers (the oldest, iirc, is the reigining men's single Olympics champion as @Kizuna mentioned - the only one defending the title. He is 32 yo lol there are many shuttlers older than him, I know at least 3 still in competition this Oly), they are not the young crops of athletes either. Whew.

Today, more world's no.1 are sent home: men's double (who are from Indonesia, so I weep a bit) and women's double (who are from Japan - with their defeat, Japan now only has their 2 women's single players remaining for gold medal contentions, having started with strong contenders in all 5 fields).

 

Re: gymnastic... yeah, they definitely help Lee's scoring. But it didn't help that Andrade step a bit out of the floor twice. It made it easier to 'punish' her. I still enjoy the Russians the most, and feel a bit guilty about it, cz it almost like falling into the commentators trap of Russian = balletic vs American = athletic. Andrade actually has the best balance of both. I was rooting for her. Alas.

 

Re: your cousin! OMG! Good luck to her!!

 

Thank you!!

 

re badminton: it sounds like Team China had better preparation and they probably peaked better than others too. 

 

re gymnastics: I liked the Russians too, maybe it's a trap but they really look more artistic than Americans who are very athletic. It's artistic gymnastics after all!

 

35 minutes ago, yude said:

Daiya Seto and Kosuke Hagino, they couldn't get the medal but finished in 4th and 6th place with smiles. Hagino said after semi-final in tears that he was so happy to do one more race with Daiya, he felt it was the gift from god. They are good friends and rivals since their childhood, and their lives after the last Olympics had ups and down (in both private lives and swimming lives). I wish them good luck in their future 

 

 

 

 

I watched the 200 m individual medley final in the men's and saw that Seto and Hagino finished well but they couldn't get a medal this time. Any news if they want to continue swimming in the next Olympic cycle?

 

I woke up for this final because it was Laszlo Cseh's final race before his retirement.  I've been following him since around 2003 and cheered for him at all major competitions. I think half of the country woke up to watch him even though we knew there was no real chance for him to get a medal because of his old age. He was 8 years older than the second oldest swimmer in the final  With skating comparison, his 35 year old age is like a 35 year old male skater who still manages to skate in the last group of the Olympics/Worlds and finish somewhere in the Top 6-Top 8. It sounds almost impossible.

 

Cseh was swimming in Michael Phelps' shadows in the late 00s and early 2010s and won 3 silver medals behind Phelps at Beijing 2008. His first Olympics was in 2004, and he medaled in all Olympics between 2004 and 2016, winning silvers and bronzes. He never gave up and fought to improve and get better all the time, his perserverance was really one of a kind. Many people thought he'd retire after 2012 but he still didn't give up, became World champion in 2015 again and stood on the podium with Phelps and Olympic champion Joseph Schooling in 2016 Rio.

Last year he was voted as the most successful male swimmer ever who has never won an Olympic gold. 

 

He was unsure about Tokyo 2020 but he then decided he'd give it a go before his retirement. It is even difficult to qualify for the final at the Olympics, so his 7th place is a really good result considering everything.

 

After the race today Cseh went to Shun Wang to congratulate him for his Olympic gold medal, but Shun bowed to him instead, it was a very nice moment. Some others told him that it was an honour to swim with him at this race. 

 

 

The result:

 

 

In the women I liked Shoenmaker's race where she got a new world record in 200 m breaststroke. So far there were barely any new WRs (it's not surprising because of the schedule) and she was an exception here.

 

Tomorrow I'll wake up for 100 m butterfly in the men's. Dressel will likely win (possibly with a new WR) but I will cheer for Milak to get another medal next to his gold.

 

 

[Henni147]

On 7/30/2021 at 12:01 PM, sallycinnamon said:

I woke up for this final because it was Laszlo Cseh's final race before his retirement.  I've been following him since around 2003 and cheered for him at all major competitions. I think half of the country woke up to watch him even though we knew there was no real chance for him to get a medal because of his old age. He was 8 years older than the second oldest swimmer in the final  With skating comparison, his 35 year old age is like a 35 year old male skater who still manages to skate in the last group of the Olympics/Worlds and finish somewhere in the Top 6-Top 8. It sounds almost impossible.

 

After the race today Cseh went to Shun Wang to congratulate him for his Olympic gold medal, but Shun bowed to him instead, it was a very nice moment. Some others told him that it was an honour to swim with him at this race. 

 

In the women I liked Shoenmaker's race where she got a new world record in 200 m breaststroke. So far there were barely any new WRs (it's not surprising because of the schedule) and she was an exception here.

 

Tomorrow I'll wake up for 100 m butterfly in the men's. Dressel will likely win (possibly with a new WR) but I will cheer for Milak to get another medal next to his gold.

 

Big YES to all three!!

 

My whole family woke up to watch Cseh's final race and celebrate him! He will always have a very special place in my heart, both as a swimmer and a person. I was a kid, when he competed at his first Olympics in Athens, and I've been following his incredible career ever since!

We will also root together for Milak tomorrow. It's unlikely that he can beat Dressel, but a medal of any color would be a sensational result in this exremely strong field. Probably the strongest in history on 100m butterfly. Ever.

 

Also loved Schoenmaker's emotional reaction to her victory and the world record. She definitely has a new fan here 

 

 

To beat Novak Djokovic from 1-6 down after the first set is huge.

 

 

[sallycinnamon]

1 hour ago, Henni147 said:

 

Big YES to all three!!

 

My whole family woke up to watch Cseh's final race and celebrate him! He will always have a very special place in my heart, both as a swimmer and a person. I was a kid, when he competed at his first Olympics in Athens, and I've been following his incredible career ever since!

We will also root together for Milak tomorrow. It's unlikely that he can beat Dressel, but a medal of any color would be a sensational result in this exremely strong field. Probably the strongest in history on 100m butterfly. Ever.

 

Also loved Schoenmaker's emotional reaction to her victory and the world record. She definitely has a new fan here 

 

 

I'm still in awe of Sasha Zverev. His match against Novak was absolutely insane and I'm a bit in tears that he managed to turn the match from 1-6 down in the first set. That was HUGE 

 

 

 

It's nice that you also woke up for the 200m IM final. I know so many people who woke up today for him  He is really legendary and also a very likeable person.

 

After 100 m backstroke Evgeni Rylov won the 200 m backstroke, too. 3-time Olympic champion Ryan Murphy who got silver seemed to imply he didn't swim clean. It's really not good to make such statements because 1. they have no evidence 2. it seems Murphy is a sour grape because he couldn't win a gold so far here while he was very successful in Rio 3. Rylov handled the whole situation classily

Rylov also wins the cutest mask competition too with his cat mask:

 

 

re Djokovic losing: Zverev is a great player so it isn't so surprising. It must be tough to do RG - > Wimbledon - > Olympic and try to win all of them. So it means no Golden Slam for Djokovic (if he wins US Open later this year) and Steffi Graf remains the only tennis player who wins all 4 GSs and the Olympics in a year.

 

Congratulations to Sone Akira & the men's épée team:

 

 

Czechs are doing great these past few days too. This time they won a gold in judo:

 

 

...and in rowing too:

 

 

Also congrats to An San to the third Olympic gold. Fantastic dominance.

 

And finally my cousin finished on 13th place at the Olympics. She said she gave her all all week and this is where it got her. She wanted to do better but she feels motived to do better as she moves forward, and now she closes this chapter with a smile. I'm happy for her!

 

(x)

[Sombreuil]

My view on the lighting of the flame- it should have been someone from a sport in which an Olympic medal is the pinnacle of achievement rather than an add on.  Tennis,golf, football etc all see the Olympics as an optional extra, for athletics, swimming etc it’s a crowning achievement.  My candidate would have been Kato Sawao the gymnast.