Off-Season Olympics Coverage

[xaxat]

Nobody Wants to Host the Winter Olympics It looks like the competition for the 2022 Winter games will be between Almaty, Kazakhstan and Beijing (well, Beijing and a city 100 miles away). The article points out that the combination of climate change and the growing reluctance of Europeans to finance the games will make it harder to find future venues.

 

And in an entirely predictable development, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio Decides Against Bid to Host 2024 Olympics. I think the only person in the entire state pushing for this was Governor Cuomo. 

Edited May 28, 2014 by xaxat

[selkie]

Pyeongchang committee audited

 

http://espn.go.com/olympics/story/_/id/11246162/pyeongchang-2018-olympics-committee-faced-audit

 

 

Tuesday's confirmation by the Seoul-based Board of Audit and Inspection came one day after the resignation of organizing committee chief Kim Jin-sun.

 

here's hoping that South Korea is just being rather cautious and that they pull it together right quick.

[ketchuplover]

Speaking of Olympics the 41st Chess Olympiad will be starting Saturday in Tromso,Norway.  A player from the Phillipines will be in his 22nd.  Judit Polgar the highest rated woman ever will be in the Open/99.999999999999999% men section on team Hungary.  The Olympiad is held every other year.  Go team USA!!!!!

[Rick Kitchen]

The Rio Olympic Organizing Committee has announced that they are not going to be able to clean up the raw sewage in the bay where yachting will occur.

[legaleagle53]

Yuck!  These cities get seven years to prepare for the Olympics.  How is it that Rio is just now figuring out that its planned venue for Yachting is unusable?

 

Sochi is actually starting to look good now compared to Rio and Pyeongchang.

[selkie]

The saga of Rio's drug lab, which lost accreditation earlier in the year after a slew of problems including a number of false=positive tests:

 

http://swimswam.com/rio-without-anti-doping-lab-working-open-new-lab-2016-olympic-games/

[ketchuplover]

USA men ended 14th and the women ended 8th at the chess Olympiad.  Sam Shankland took the gold medal on board 5 tying the best performance ever by a USA player.  2 players died :(

[selkie]

Bizarre for one of the athletes to just drop dead in the middle of a game.

 

Universal sports is covering the Youth Olympic out of China meaning they bought cheap rebroadcast rights to the Eurosport English language feed. Opening ceremonies are going on right now, and their commentators aren't as snarky as the NBC crew but tend toward just as banal.

 

I can understand why the Olympics would want to extend their brand and all, but the elite junior circuit is already pretty entrenched in many sports and they're also seriously limiting entries per country (swimming gets a maximum of 4 boys and 4 girls per country, only enough to put together a relay) so it's like they aren't ever trying to make it a real championship for the under 18s.

[Snowprince]

Didn't know where else to put this, but I did want to acknowledge it. Today marks the 42nd anniversary of the Munich Massacre at the Summer Olympic Games in 1972. I'll never forget Jim McKay's excellent coverage and sad announcement of the outcome..."they're all gone".

 

Needless to say, this tragic event was uppermost in our minds while preparing to host and secure the 1984 Summer Games in Los Angeles. 

Edited September 5, 2014 by Snowprince

[MyAimIsTrue]

I was seven years old in 1972 and while I loved Olga Korbut and Mark Spitz during those games my strongest memory of Munich is still the masked man on the balcony of the Israeli team building.  And although I'm Jewish I was too young then to understand the political reasons behind what was going on.  The words of Jim McKay, "they're all gone," will always bring tears to my eyes.

[Rick Kitchen]

There's now a problem with the golf course in Rio for the 2016 Olympics.  Environmental activists are trying to get it shut down because it's being built in sensitive lands.

[ketchuplover]

The blade runner is found guilty of manslaughter

[Mittengirl]

Michael Phelps got busted for DUI and speeding ( going 85 in a 45). Anyone surprised?

[AimingforYoko]

Anyone surprised?

I'm a little surprised....that it was alcohol.

[xaxat]

Boston is the US nominee for the 2024 games. Their proposal is projected to cost 4.5 billion dollars, which sounds low, even for one that uses a lot of existing facilities. 

 

The article says the IOC is emphasizing cost control for future bids, but I'll believe it when I see it.

[MyAimIsTrue]

The article says the IOC is emphasizing cost control for future bids, but I'll believe it when I see it.

 

You and me both.  I'm an Olympics junkie but these days wish the games would revert back to simpler times where the emphasis was on the competition and the athletes, not the flashy shows and opening numbers.

[Rick Kitchen]

I wonder what it was about Boston's presentation that got them a unanimous vote.  Probably under the table money.

[xaxat]

Perhaps their trump card was the fact that IOC board member Prince Albert of Monaco is an Amherst grad. It also could be a deal where the winner was decided by an initial vote with everyone agreeing to make the final vote unanimous as a show of unity.

Edited January 10, 2015 by xaxat

[AimingforYoko]

From Grantland, how the citizenry pretty much feels about the Olympics coming to Boston:

Quote

Have you ever been to a party where 100 people show up, but the space provided is only really enough for about 20 of them. And only one person that lives there is actually throwing the party, so pretty much all of the people that live there are pissed off that you are there? And the one person throwing the party doesn’t actually have enough money to fund the party, so they had to ask their roommates (who already didn’t want you there) for money, just pissing them off even more? And the party apartment has furniture oddly place around it so its almost impossible to get around as is, let alone with 80% more people in it? Oh, and those roommates that live there and don’t want you there and are already pissed off? They love to drink. Mostly whiskey. So they are definitely going to abrasively let all the outsiders know how they really feel? I give you #Boston2024.
—Matt, Boston

 

[merylinkid]

How did Boston get it over DC?   SImple, Boston has functioning public transportation.   Metro in DC breaks down daily.   And that's with normal transportation loads.   It would implode with the Olympics.

[Ohwell]

I agree about metro in DC.  Actually, I think most of the folks in DC are relieved they didn't get it.  Hell, I think most of us in the metro area are glad DC didn't get it, for a variety of reasons.  Good luck to Boston. 

[SnideAsides]

Australia's getting 14 hours a day of Paralympics coverage in Rio. So that's an unexpected, delightful surprise.

[selkie]

From the no one does weird like racewalking file:

 

So in January, a Canadian racwalking blogger posted about Russian walkers seeming to compete in a domestic indoor meet in late 2014 even though they were currently serving doping bans. The Russian track promptly relabeled those photos as actually being fro ma pre-ban meet in 2012. The problem was that the "2012" photos showed athletes competing in shoes that didn't exist then, even if you were a sponsored athlete getting a test pair. And a few other things didn't add up:

 

http://dunfeewalks.weebly.com/canadian-tf-blog/the-beginning-of-the-end-for-saransk-and-russia

 

And then today the Russians finally kind of had to admit they'd tried to cover up the racing while banned event:

 

http://www.globaltimes.cn/content/914805.shtml

[ketchuplover]

Usain Bolt ran like he was bolted to the track on Saturday's NBC presentation...which the entire universe watched

[legaleagle53]

We may be getting some new sports in the 2020 Tokyo Summer games, including the return of baseball and softball and -- get this -- the debut of bowling.  http://www.mensfitness.com/life/sports/will-baseball-be-back-olympics-2020

 

Still no DanceSport, even though that has been pushing for acceptance for some 25 years now.   It's utterly ridiculous that one of the most athletic events keeps getting snubbed, in my opinion.

 

But the IOC did reject Frisbee and bridge, so there's that.

Edited June 23, 2015 by legaleagle53

[Rick Kitchen]

Bowling was an exhibition sport at the Seoul Olympics.

 

They really need to add speed and artistic roller skating, which has been in the Pan American Games for years.  And why not roller hockey, as well?

Edited June 23, 2015 by Rick Kitchen

[legaleagle53]

This just in:  Rome is going to bid on the 2024 Summer Olympics:  http://espn.go.com/olympics/story/_/id/12031302/rome-announces-2024-olympic-bid

 

According to that same article, Paris is expected to put in a bid as well.  The US will make up its mind on Tuesday.  The US candidate will be Boston, Los Angeles, San Francisco, or New York.

[Rick Kitchen]

Boston sure doesn't sound like they really care if they get it or not.

[Mittengirl]

As an absolute Olympics nut, I would love to live in a city hosting them. But as a tax payer, I can see why many residents don't want them.

[legaleagle53]

As an absolute Olympics nut, I would love to live in a city hosting them. But as a tax payer, I can see why many residents don't want them.

 

It's an interesting experience.  I was living and working in Salt Lake City during the 2002 Winter Olympics and Paralympics (in fact, I worked just a few blocks from what could be considered Ground Zero -- that is, the main venues), and I got to meet some members of the Austrian ski team one evening (none of the athletes but some of the medical and support staff).  My German was fine as far as normal conversation was concerned, but once they broke out into their own Austrian dialect among themselves, I was left in the dust!

 

The weirdest part for me was watching it on television (unfortunately, I couldn't afford tickets to any of the events) and realizing that it wasn't happening halfway around the world, but only a few blocks/miles away (depending on whether I was watching downtown or at home).  But I wouldn't have missed it for anything.

Edited July 5, 2015 by legaleagle53

[Rick Kitchen]

I was living in Virginia in 1983, but was planning on moving to Los Angeles at the end of the year, so I applied for tickets well before I moved (had them delivered to a general delivery address at my new work address).  I managed to see a LOT of the events.  It was great.  And traffic was a breeze - everybody left town or took vacation days out of fear of traffic.

[MyAimIsTrue]

As an absolute Olympics nut, I would love to live in a city hosting them. But as a tax payer, I can see why many residents don't want them.

 

I lived in Atlanta when the city was awarded the Olympics and was probably the only person there who was dead set against the idea (I thought the appropriate choice would have been Athens, recognizing the 100th anniversary of the modern games), and while I moved before 1996 I still think those Atlanta games were probably the most embarrassing in terms of the amount of corporate sponsorship and that ridiculous opening ceremony that featured big pickup trucks as "culture."

[Moose135]

...that ridiculous opening ceremony that featured big pickup trucks as "culture."

Well, it's a Southern thing. ;-)

[irisheyes]

I live in Atlanta now (moved here in 2006), and now the city is dealing with a lot of the venues they built that aren't being used. Rather than adding events, the IOC needs to think about contracting the number of events so cities don't have to build tennis stadiums, etc that are never used again. Or, let a region host the Olympics rather than just one city.

[MyAimIsTrue]

Or, let a region host the Olympics rather than just one city.

 

The Atlanta games did that for soccer.  I moved to Orlando in 1993 and some first round men's games were held here, along with a local opening ceremony (of which I participated) for those teams since they couldn't be in Atlanta for the actual opening ceremony.  I met the Nigerian men's team during the parade and they ended up winning gold, all thanks to me of course! :)

[ketchuplover]

Budapest is the latest to join the hunt for the 2024 games

[SophiaD]

So, I'm watching the Pan-American games, and, I have to say, THAT is what Olympics coverage should be like.  First of all, we get to see a ton of athletes who we don't normally see, as some of the A-list athletes are competing elsewhere, or may have just stayed home.  Then, we actually get to WATCH THE COMPETITIONS without tons of so-called "interest" pieces, sob-story biographies, made-up rivalries or other filler content.  Third, the commentators are actually knowledgeable and love the sports and get as excited about a relatively-unknown athlete having a breakout performance as they would about an established star.  Plus, they're not afraid to rag on the Americans when they aren't having a good showing.

 

If the Olympics were covered like this, I would actually take time off work and park myself in front of the television set.  Alas.

[blackwing]

I was watching Pan Am swimming coverage last night, and was wondering where all the familiar names were.  Then I found out that apparently, if you swim in the World Championships, you can't swim in the Pan Am games.  So Pan Am gets a lot of second stringers, or people who had a poor showing at the year's qualifying event, like Natalie Coughlin.

[selkie]

USA Swimming is deep enough that they can have an A/B/C international team scenario when World Championships, Pan Am Games and World University Games are held in the same year and have their B & C teams do well.  There has been much grumbling though that USAS used results from summer 2014 meets, leaving a Worlds team where Jessica Hardy and Elizabeth Beisel are now coming back from injury, and some people who were on the sick/injured list from last summer like Allison Schmidt and Kelsi Worrell are now healthy and swimming like they should have been on the Worlds squad, and then Katie Melli just had a really awesome 100 breast breakthrough that USAS put her at #2 in thw world this year.

 

You'd think they would have learned their lesson with picking a team a year out in 2011 when Missy Franklin could have won gold in the 200 free and 100 back if she'd actually been on the entry sheets.

[Rick Kitchen]

Tokyo has decided that a $2 BILLION stadium was inappropriate, so they've gone back to the drawing board.

[xaxat]

That's not an insane amount for a prestigious project of that size in a major city. MetLife (Giants and Jets) cost $1.6 billion and it wouldn't surprise me if a new LA football stadium comes in at close to two. A new design isn't going to shave a lot of cost off the project.

 

And of course, the IOC likes new, shiny stuff, so a pre-bid proposal to renovate the stadium used during the 1964 games wasn't seen as viable. They can't go back to that as plan B, because they tore it down.

[xaxat]

Boston has pulled out of consideration as a host for the 2024 games. 

[Rick Kitchen]

The IOC has asked the USOC to come up with another bid city.

 

I guess nobody wants to have to go to games in Budapest or Baku.

[xaxat]

This sounds so awful. I'd be competing in a dry suit.

 

Brazil Olympics: Feces-contaminated waters threaten athletes' health, analysis shows

 

 

The AP commissioned four rounds of testing in each of those three Olympic water venues, and also in the surf off Ipanema Beach, which is popular with tourists but where no events will be held. Thirty-seven samples were checked for three types of human adenovirus, as well as rotavirus, enterovirus and fecal coliforms.

 

The AP viral testing, which will continue in the coming year, found not one water venue safe for swimming or boating, according to global water experts. . . . 

 

"If I were going to be in the Olympics," said Griffith, the California water expert, "I would probably go early and get exposed and build up my immunity system to these viruses before I had to compete, because I don't see how they're going to solve this sewage problem."

 

Ivan Bulaja, the Croatian-born coach of Austria's 49er-class sailing team, has seen it firsthand. His sailors have lost valuable training days after falling ill with vomiting and diarrhea."This is by far the worst water quality we've ever seen in our sailing careers," said Bulaja.

 

Training earlier this month in Guanabara Bay, Austrian sailor David Hussl said he and his teammates take precautions, washing their faces immediately with bottled water when they get splashed by waves and showering the minute they return to shore. And yet Hussl said he's fallen ill several times.

[Rick Kitchen]

I mentioned this sewage problem back last July up above ^^^^^

 

I don't know why this is suddenly appearing in the news. (not blaming you, xaxat)

[merylinkid]

The sewage has been in the news for awhile.   This is just the latest report.   Hello, people, you kinda knew this when you awarded the Games to Rio.   What did you THINK they were going to do about the water pollution?

 

I live in the DC region.   I do not want the Olympics or any big event here.    Mostly because Metro can't function on a regular day without breaking down, injuring and/or killing someone.   They cannot handle the regular commuters AND the Olympic crowds.

[Rick Kitchen]

Part of getting the Games was that Rio was supposed to build water treatment plants.  That never happened.

[xaxat]

I mentioned this sewage problem back last July up above ^^^^^

 

I don't know why this is suddenly appearing in the news. (not blaming you, xaxat)

 

I think it's because this represents the first independent testing and, more importantly, it's no longer an abstract threat. Athletes that will eventually compete in the games are actually getting sick during their preparation there.

[legaleagle53]

So Beijing will host the 2022 Winter Olympics, becoming the first city ever to host both the Winter and Summer Games.  http://news.yahoo.com/almaty-beijing-final-pitches-ahead-22-olympic-vote-023001338--spt.html

 

Good luck with that, Beijing, considering that you don't get any natural snowfall.

[xaxat]

I will be really interested in the bidding for the 2026 Winter Games. Western Europe is increasing skeptical about the merits of hosting (Poland, Norway, Sweden and Switzerland all withdrew from consideration for 2022 because of political opposition.) The US public is increasingly skeptical. South Korea, Japan and Canada will have hosted games relatively recently. So who's left?

Edited July 31, 2015 by xaxat