Some Olympic Thoughts

[kitmerlot_1213]

My favorite Olympic moments—thus far :)

1.  I adore Bob Costas.  He is unbelievably suave and completely cool and I’d marry him if he’d have me:):)

2.   I hope for the next Olympics,  NBC remembers the Jordyn Wieber debacle and that they stop choosing one athlete to overhype because when the person fails and doesn’t deliver, they won’t be floundering around, completely unprepared because all of their stories are focused on one girl.

3.  I love that Aly Raisman came along and quietly kicked gymnastic ass and took home three medals, two in the event finals.  Personally I think she should have gotten the bronze in the All Around Competition, but Russia’s Aliya Mustafina was rather awesome too, so it’s all good.  And in your face NBC.

4.  I hope that once Russia’s Viktoria Komova goes home, she’s able to relax and realize that the world didn’t end because she and her team didn’t win gold in the team or all around finals.  She was crying like she’d gotten a cancer diagnosis as opposed to winning a silver. 

5.   Did I mention that I adore Bob Costas? :)

Comments

[kapuahi.livejournal.com]

My favourite moment has a tiny bit of backstory. I was once upon a time a Gymnastics and Trampolining judge, as a result I worked at the 1994 world Gymnastics Championships and met and became friends with the then Bulgarian Men's Gymnastics team. My favourite moment was watching two of my 'boys' as they were known at the World's at this games. Iordan Iotvchev still a gymnast, and Krasimir Dunev (Atlanta games High Bar silver Medallist and now Head Bulgarian Coach). Iordan is 39 and he might not have medalled but with about two weeks training under his belt he made the finals and might not have completely stuck his landing but to see the joy on his face when he didn't completely miss it either made the games for me.

To see them all so heartbroken when they don't get gold breaks my heart, and that joy at finishing, not perfectly but tidily was a breath of fresh air.

[kitmerlot1213.livejournal.com]

That is an awesome Olympic moment--just being able to compete is a reward onto itself.

[sinecure.livejournal.com]

Was it Jordan who, when losing the medal, barely acknowledged anyone around her? I love that, in the men's vaults, the US member was as excited as the the Korean who won. Gah, I suck at names this Olympics. And Aly--one name I know only because they were on last night--was very gracious when she thought she'd lost.

I get that losing sucks. I'm a very sore loser. But the female gymnast--I think it was Jordan--was just pouty and rude.

[kitmerlot1213.livejournal.com]

I think you might be thinking about McKayla Maroney--she's our American gymnast who was supposed to win gold on the vault in the event finals and then she fell on her second vault. She was very angry and disappointed in herself and her expression reflected that.

But at least she has a good sense of humor. There is a tumblir called "McKayla is not impressed" and it makes fun of her facial expression during the medal ceremony--here is the link: http://mckaylaisnotimpressed.tumblr.com/

And Mckayla retweets the pics she thinks are funny--I think that's pretty cool :)

[kare.livejournal.com]

I totally haven't watched the Olympics the last two nights, I think I watched too much last week!

[kitmerlot1213.livejournal.com]

It is easy to overdose isn't it? :)

[iolanthealias.livejournal.com]

This is only marginally related, but I still miss the "six" scores that the good gymnasts would get. If you were good, you'd get a 5.8 or 5.9, and if you weren't as good (because no one who made it to the Olympics could be *bad* at gymnastics) you would get a 5.4 or 5.5 or something.

And the scores would be listed right there on the screen, with the judge's country's flag listed above the score they gave that gymnast. So you could tell who thought they were good and who thought they were not so good.


In the misty depths of my memory, I recall... the East German judge would always screw over the Americans. :)

[kitmerlot1213.livejournal.com]

Oh yes, I remember those days as well--that's why the Code of Points had to be instituted in figure skating and gymnastics so that the scores actually reflected the program/performance/routine of the athlete and not the bias of the judges.

But I do sometimes miss the 6.0's :):)

[babydee1.livejournal.com]

I totally need to do an Olympics update post, I have so many favourite moments already.

Komova was a brat who should have stopped blubbering and been grateful for a medal. Silver medallists in general bug me, because they're the only miserable looking sods on the podium. For the most part, Bronze medallists are just happy to have picked up something for four years of.effort. Silver medallists spend the entire ceremony moping and glaring enviously at te shiny Gold around the other person's neck. Not cool.

On to what I did like:

1. Jessica Ennis's quiet determination and focus in the heptathlon whilst carrying the hopes of a nation on her dainty shoulders...and the fact that she delivered in style

2. Three gold medals for Team GB on the first day of athletics in the Olympic stadium

3. The reaction of our news pundits when Mo Farah won the third of those golds. They completely lost their sh*t.

Many more

[kitmerlot1213.livejournal.com]

I do love it that Great Britain is so high up in the medal count as well and how cool was Beth Tweddle's bronze medal on the uneven bars? Awesome :)