Figure skating et al at the Olympics

[Macdoc]

Always liked it especially after seeing Bolero from Torval and Dean...still the only pair to get 6.0 across the board.



It's very good at the Olympics just now with excellent feeds from Korea.

This girl from Russia is a force of nature tho.

GANGNEUNG (South Korea) (Sputnik) - Figure skater from Russia Evgenia Medvedeva set a new world record, having scored 81.06 in the short program in team competition in the Winter Olympic Games in South Korea on Sunday.
Medvedeva's previous record, 80.85, was set last year at the World Team Trophy in Tokyo.

Last year, Evgenia Medvedeva won the European Championships in Ostava, Czech Republic, setting world records in the short and free skate programs, and breaking South Korea’s Yuna Kim’s world record total score from the 2010 Olympics with a total score of 229.71.

Nice coverage on EuroSport with multiple streams.

Short kid from the US blindsided our gold shot for the snowboarding free .....only 17 and he certainly deserved the medal.
Still Silver and Bronze okay.

The shrimp in the middle is stole our glory but what a boarder...



I prefer the winter olympics over the summer.

[UncertainSloth]

enjoyed what i've seen so far (and think the canadians' coats are fab.. )

was watching the snowboarding as well at some freaky time this morning

[Scot Dutchy]

We are doing nicely:



And more to come.

[Macdoc]

Norway sweeps the 30k cross country .....and Kruger fell at the beginning and came back to win the gold.
Quite the race.

Speedskating and slopestyle coming up....still no downhill.

Loving the Polo commercials



Geez Kramer is a skate monster....3 golds in the same race AND an Olympic record

[Macdoc]

Kinda neat the last Canadian pair come on the ice after Canada already having won the team gold. Skate with no pressure or what. Moulin Rouge as the theme.
Apparently they had to make the routine more family friendly ....

[monkeyboy]

Whilst I appreciate the skill on offer and the visual majesty of the dancing, the interpretation of the music etc, isn't ice dancing/figure skating less of a sport and more, well.....twatting about on ice in frocks? It's not like who went fastest or furthest, it's down to who impressed the judges most. I always struggle with these "sports"

[Scot Dutchy]

[quote="monkeyboy";p="2614105"]Whilst I appreciate the skill on offer and the visual majesty of the dancing, the interpretation of the music etc, isn't ice dancing/figure skating less of a sport and more, well.....twatting about on ice in frocks? It's not like who went fastest or furthest, it's down to who impressed the judges most. I always struggle with these "sports"[/quote]

I agree. Any sport that requires judges to determine who wins as opposed to making sure they keep to the rules is not a sport for me. Why are style points given in ski jumping? It should be purely based on distance surely.

[zulumoose]

Any sport that requires judges to determine who wins as opposed to making sure they keep to the rules is not a sport for me

That's a bit broad, even things like boxing and wrestling which are true to the origins of the Olympics are scored differently by different judges. Gymnastics as well, difference in earned scores in some performances are likely impossible for the inexperienced to measure.

[Scot Dutchy]

[quote="zulumoose";p="2614117"]

Any sport that requires judges to determine who wins as opposed to making sure they keep to the rules is not a sport for me

That's a bit broad, even things like boxing and wrestling which are true to the origins of the Olympics are scored differently by different judges. Gymnastics as well, difference in earned scores in some performances are likely impossible for the inexperienced to measure.[/quote]

Any subjective decision is not a good one. Gymnastics is riddled with corruption. Who is experienced to judge? Only if it can be objectively measured should it count.

[zulumoose]

Only if it can be objectively measured should it count.

Wouldn't that limit the Olympics to little more than track and field?
I think much more would be lost than gained by such an approach. Human interest seems to be largely centred around the subjective, which may frustrate the hell out of many of us, but such is life.

[LucidFlight]

I'm surprised there hasn't been more of a move recently to have same-sex pairs skating.

[zulumoose]

Love that movie, has exactly the right level of dumb slapstick that occasionally appeals to me. If you like it I recommend Talledago nights, The Waterboy, Dodgeball, Mystery Men, and Walk Hard to add to your collection.

A friend fell onto his own skate once, at his birthday party, which skewered his leg right through the calf muscle. Hard to imagine how he did it, but he will be forever teased about attempting the Iron Lotus.

[Crocodile Gandhi]

I enjoy watching the Winter Olympics but I don't like how many o the events rely on scoring by judges. I'm watching the moguls right now. It's impossible for anyone who isn't an expert to discern which athlete is better than the others. At least most of the summer events have a definitive winner. I know who won the Javelin or the 100m sprint. Bit harder to know whether one snowboarder's corked 1440 was better than the other's smooth triple flip 900 (or whatever the hell they're doing).

[mattthomas]

As a skater myself, it's probably the only sport I am prepared to sit and watch. Caught some last night and loved it.

I did watch some curling because it just boggles the mind how people decide that that's what they want to do with their life!

[Scot Dutchy]

[quote="zulumoose";p="2614119"]

Only if it can be objectively measured should it count.

Wouldn't that limit the Olympics to little more than track and field?
I think much more would be lost than gained by such an approach. Human interest seems to be largely centred around the subjective, which may frustrate the hell out of many of us, but such is life.[/quote]

Well that was the original games. The motto after all is ‘Citius, Altius, Fortius'; faster, higher, stronger. Nothing about prettier?

[Crocodile Gandhi]

[quote="zulumoose";p="2614119"]

Only if it can be objectively measured should it count.

Wouldn't that limit the Olympics to little more than track and field?
I think much more would be lost than gained by such an approach. Human interest seems to be largely centred around the subjective, which may frustrate the hell out of many of us, but such is life.[/quote]

There are loads of team sports outside of track and field that are objective. One team scores more than the other in field hockey, water polo, rugby 7s, volleyball (beach and indoor), handball, badminton, table tennis, football (though I don't think it should be an olympic sport) and actual tennis (I have the same feelings about this as football). Then outside of track and field you have all of the swimming, cycling (road and track), canoeing, rowing, triathlon where someone does something objectively faster. Then there are the accuracy sports like archery and shooting. Also strength sports like weightlifting.

I'm not saying that subjective sports should be banned. I enjoy watching gymnastics and diving. I enjoy watching the snowboard slopestyle and halfpipe. But when I watch the swimming, I know who won. When I watch the moguls, I can like what I see but have no idea whether a run is worth 80.5 points or 65.7

[zulumoose]

[quote="Scot Dutchy";p="2614136"]
Well that was the original games. The motto after all is ‘Citius, Altius, Fortius'; faster, higher, stronger. Nothing about prettier?[/quote]

The originals included boxing and wrestling, which would have had to include judgement on the validity of scoring moves.

[Scot Dutchy]

[quote="zulumoose";p="2614143"][quote="Scot Dutchy";p="2614136"]
Well that was the original games. The motto after all is ‘Citius, Altius, Fortius'; faster, higher, stronger. Nothing about prettier?[/quote]

The originals included boxing and wrestling, which would have had to include judgement on the validity of scoring moves.[/quote]

Not in ancient Greek times. Boxing (bare fisted) was a knock out and wrestling was a submission.

[zulumoose]

Boxing (bare fisted) was a knock out and wrestling was a submission.

Neither of those are correct according to the site I checked - wrestling was 3 ground contacts which could be a shoulder, knee etc, and boxing was with leather on the fists.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_Olympic_Games

[/Wrestling (pale) is recorded as being introduced at the 18th Olympiad. Three throws were necessary for a win. A throw was counted if the body, hip, back or shoulder (and possibly knee) touched the ground. If both competitors fell nothing was counted. Unlike its modern counterpart Greco-Roman wrestling, it is likely that tripping was allowed.[56]

Boxing (pygmachia) was first listed in 688 BC,[57] the boys event sixty years later. The laws of boxing were ascribed to the first Olympic champion Onomastus of Smyrna.[58] It appears body-blows were either not permitted or not practised.[59][60] The Spartans, who claimed to have invented boxing, quickly abandoned it and did not take part in boxing competitions.[58] At first the boxers wore himantes (sing. himas), long leather strips which were wrapped around their hands.[57]
quote]

[Macdoc]

Olympic hopes and funding are important to a lot of sports associations so whinging about needing judging makes zero sense as many sports have a style component ..gymnastics notably, diving, etc.
Having a mix is fine.
Getting the national bias out of the judging is critical and I like what the figure skating has done with their judging to lose the scandals.

Despite the downsides ....sports diplomacy has a long history and notably with Korea just now ( ping pong for China )

Nice to see Canada with another gold...