Topic: London 2012 Olympics

[Najemikon]

Being an International forum, I wondered if any of you had watched the Olympics and what you thought? I surprised myself by being completely and utterly swept up in it and I think we achieved something quite special, from the opening ceremony through all the sports coverage right up to the closing ceremony last night. Being a Queen fan, I got goosebumps on goosebumps when they played a clip of Freddie Mercury on a screen whipping up the crowd at Wembley; the crowd in the stadium last night played along and it was fantastic. Then Brian May played a cracking version of We Will Rock You, and finally, as if I'd scripted the bloody thing, the cauldron was extinguished while the Dances With Wolves theme played!

I don't even like sports! Actually, I think I've realised that my hatred of our national game of football, a moral vacuum of corrupted over-paid moaning so-called-'stars' gave me blinkers to what athletes can achieve and what it means to them. And Team GB had an epic haul of medals, so it was just wonderful stuff. The BBC do a Sports Personality of the Year award and they're going to struggle this year! Jessica Ennis, Mo, Chris Hoy, Bradley Wiggins (1st Briton to win the Tour de France only a couple of weeks ago too!)... the list is endless.

Favourite stat has to be that while Britain were third in the table, well ahead of Australia, if you broke it down into counties, good old Yorkshire (those with the "Ee by gum, lad" accents) would have been 10th. And still ahead of the Aussies! 

This was from the phenomenal opening. Queen Liz was a great sport to hook up with Bond!

 

[Antares]

I used to love the Olympics back in the 70's, but not anymore. I barely watched any of it. It's become too much of a corrupt, PED-enhanced money grab. I wasn't shocked to hear about a lot of the cheating going on.

[Dragonfire]

I saw a little bit of it..some of the gymnastics and swimming.  That is pretty much all I ever watch in the summer.  For winter, ice skating.  I'm not a big sports fan.

[Achim]

I am NOT a sports fan. Period. Neither big nor small, nor at all.

I am cursious about that appearance of Queen (incl. Freddie) during the Closing Ceremony though. Couldn't find videos yet...

[Najemikon]

I used to love the Olympics back in the 70's, but not anymore. I barely watched any of it. It's become too much of a corrupt, PED-enhanced money grab. I wasn't shocked to hear about a lot of the cheating going on.

A "lot"? I heard no such thing. There were only about 5 positive drug tests. A shot putt thrower just lost their medal post games. She's the only one. 

Oh and some corrupt boxing ref was caught early on.

[Kathy]

The first ones that I remember clearly watching was in 1964 and I've loved them every since.

Although there will always be a few cheaters they are usually caught and they can't ruin it for me.

I find the Olympics to be special and the London games were fantastic. I don't often cry but there were several moments during the ceremonies that were very touching. 

I can't wait to see what Rio brings to the table.

[Najemikon]

I am NOT a sports fan. Period. Neither big nor small, nor at all.

Oddly, I'd have said just he same. Hell of a thing when it's in your own country and plastered across the media though! :p

I am cursious about that appearance of Queen (incl. Freddie) during the Closing Ceremony though. Couldn't find videos yet...

Can you access the BBC's videos where you are? Try this: http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/olympics/2012/live-video/p00w33fl

It's the closing ceremony in full and difficult to navigate, but jump to 2h 09m and you'll get a wonderful rendition of Eric Idle doing The Bright Side of Life, followed by Muse (great rock band) and then Freddie, then Brian May and then We Will Rock You.

Section 12 is the extinguishing of the flame, eventually to the sound of Dances With Wolves around the 3hr mark and then you get The Who, if you like them...

[Najemikon]

The first ones that I remember clearly watching was in 1964 and I've loved them every since.

Although there will always be a few cheaters they are usually caught and they can't ruin it for me.

I find the Olympics to be special and the London games were fantastic. I don't often cry but there were several moments during the ceremonies that were very touching. 

I can't wait to see what Rio brings to the table.

After Beijing they said the UK couldn't possibly match them and that's true in sheer spectacle, but I think our games were better for making it about people. Now they're saying how can Rio follow that? But we have to remember, Rio is a party city. It will be epic.

[Dragonfire]

I used to love the Olympics back in the 70's, but not anymore. I barely watched any of it. It's become too much of a corrupt, PED-enhanced money grab. I wasn't shocked to hear about a lot of the cheating going on.

A "lot"? I heard no such thing. There were only about 5 positive drug tests. A shot putt thrower just lost their medal post games. She's the only one. 

Oh and some corrupt boxing ref was caught early on.

There were the drug test issues...There were people disqualified for different things.  There were 3 badminton teams that were deliberately throwing matches so they would get easier teams to go against in the next round. 
The one swimmer that won gold over Phelps by just a second or so has now said publicly that he cheated in the race - he did an extra dolphin kick or something like that.  It almost sounds like he is bragging about what he did.  So there was stuff going on...though there are always people who think they can get around the drug tests. 

[Antares]

I used to love the Olympics back in the 70's, but not anymore. I barely watched any of it. It's become too much of a corrupt, PED-enhanced money grab. I wasn't shocked to hear about a lot of the cheating going on.

A "lot"? I heard no such thing. There were only about 5 positive drug tests. A shot putt thrower just lost their medal post games. She's the only one. 

Oh and some corrupt boxing ref was caught early on.

I wasn't only talking about PED's, I also meant the Badminton thing and the cyclist who fell purposely at a start of race because he knew he would get a restart out of it. I think he won the gold medal too after that shameful episode. Honor or sportsmanship are in very short supply at the Olympics nowadays.

[Achim]

Can you access the BBC's videos where you are? Try this: http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/olympics/2012/live-video/p00w33fl

"I'm sorry, we can't show this content in your area."

I listened to a minute of We Will Rock You in iTunes, unfortunately the two songs before that, Freddie and May solo, were not able to be previewed.

[Najemikon]

I used to love the Olympics back in the 70's, but not anymore. I barely watched any of it. It's become too much of a corrupt, PED-enhanced money grab. I wasn't shocked to hear about a lot of the cheating going on.

A "lot"? I heard no such thing. There were only about 5 positive drug tests. A shot putt thrower just lost their medal post games. She's the only one. 

Oh and some corrupt boxing ref was caught early on.

I wasn't only talking about PED's, I also meant the Badminton thing and the cyclist who fell purposely at a start of race because he knew he would get a restart out of it. I think he won the gold medal too after that shameful episode. Honor or sportsmanship are in very short supply at the Olympics nowadays.

This is what I mean, you speak in absolutes, as if the whole event was rife with cheating, but between us we've come up with the badminton teams (which I'd somehow forgotten about!) who were disqualified, the boxing ref who was sent home and a drugged up shot putter. There was also an American who failed a drugs test and disqualified from Judo, but that caused a laugh because it was Marijuana which is hardly reknowned for its performance enhancing qualities! Marie mentioned the guy who beat Phelps, but that seems odd. Phelps lost that race more than the other guy won it. And as for the cyclist (Hindes), his statement where he seemed to admit he did it on purpose was very confused ("So you pulled a fast one?", "Yes, I wanted a fast start...", etc).

But lets say he absolutely did do it on purpose. That's a handful of cheats out of hundreds of events and thousands of competitors. It's absurd to let the few few colour the rest.

[samuelrichardscott]

The badminton players were not cheats. Bad sportsmen and rightly kicked out, yes, but they never cheated.

I thought the games were fantastic from the off, much better than I had hoped and I was someone who wanted the Games to fail because of the waste of money. I was proved wrong after day 1, and to follow up Beijing so well is great.

Now you listen here Sepp fucking Blatter. Imagine whast it would've been like if we were given the chance to host a sporting event we really love. Give us the World Cup!

[northbloke]

Anyone here watching the Paralympics? I'm not sure what kind of coverage they get abroad, but I wish here in the UK the BBC had kept the TV rights. I don't think Channel 4 aren't doing too bad and there's some fresh ideas in there, but their presenters are pretty inexperienced and there's far too many bloody ad breaks. All I want to see is the sport! 

[Najemikon]

The Paralympics have been a massive success. Could actually lead to a positive change in attitudes. I think Channel 4 have to be congratulated for their effort in promoting it considering that past Paralympics haven't enjoyed anywhere near this exposure.

Have you guys in the US been able to see any of it? I heard someone on the radio saying they hoped the US networks were now realising their mistake in not showing it because it proved so popular. And there is some incredible stuff in there to see, like Wheelchair Rugby. Used to be commonly known as "Murder Ball" for good reason!

And this race with Ellie Simmonds, just one of several medals she would go on to win, is possibly the moment of the whole Olympics. Just magic.