<p>BB, are you sure you’re not thinking of the 200 IM? The final for that isn’t til tomorrow.</p>
<p>The 100BR was won by Meilutyte Ruta.</p>
<p>Alwaysamom, i was talking about both! A friend of our exchange girl was swimming in the 100 br final. She did not medal. 
As I was typing that post, Ariana was going against the Chinese girl in the 200 IM, and I was watching her splits posted on NBC. Could not bear to watch the swim!</p>
<p>Phew, the 200 IM results are out on NBC. Yay!!! Ariana is in the final!</p>
<p>nj2011mom - My comment may not have translated properly. By ‘hard fought’ I meant he really poured it on. Without seeing splits the last 50 appeared to be where he put on the afterburners. I agree that his placement in the finals is key and will push him on. </p>
<p>It was so wonderful to see Missy Franklin’s medal ceremony. You could see her get a bit emotional. Such a great moment for her.</p>
<p>Back on women’s gymnastics:</p>
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<p>I’m not sure I’d go as far as geeps, but it just seems terribly wrong to me that the gymnast with the 4th-best qualifying score (Jordyn Wieber) doesn’t get to compete in the finals while 20 gymnasts who scored worse than her in the qualifying round get to go on. That’s just nuts. So the finals will consist of those who came in #1, #2, #3, #5, #6, #7, #8, #9, #10, #11, #13, #14, #16, #17, #18, #19, #20, #23, #24, #25, #26, #27, and #28. Those who came in #4, #12, #21, and #22 are all disqualified because two from the same country were already in.</p>
<p>At a certain level the two-per-country rule makes sense. But seriously, when that rule disqualifies the #4 top scorer? Someone who comes in #4 in qualifying is clearly someone who on athletic merit has a very strong shot at a medal, even gold. I’m less concerned about bumping people from the the #21 and #22 slots because they’re pretty clearly not going be factors anyway, but we could be disqualifying someone who might very well turn out to be the best all-around gymnast in the world if allowed to compete, because in the qualifying round she was edged out by tenths of a point by two of her own teammates. And meanwhile most of those who do go on to the finals will be gymnasts who scored anywhere from 2 to 6 full points below her in the qualifying round, i.e., clearly inferior gymnasts. To me, this doesn’t “build interest” in the event; it makes a mockery of it by excluding one of the very strongest competitors. It’s just a terrible, terrible rule.</p>
<p>Yes, Jordyn made some uncharacteristic mistakes and it cost her dearly. But c’mon; even with those little mistakes she still came in 4th in qualifying, which to me says if she just cleans up those little mistakes she’s right in there in the hunt for the gold. But no, she’s out so we can give a chance to Ashleigh Brennan of Australia, to see if she can move up from her 28th-place finish in the qualifying round to, say #25 or something in the finals. It really stinks, and the competition is much the worse for it. Whoever wins, I’m going to view it as tainted because one of the very strongest competitors was excluded from the field by a numbskull, arbitrary rule. We’ll know who wins the medals; we’ll never know who were the best gymnasts at the 2012 Olympics.</p>
<p>Obviously I’m a little late to the party, but I’m disappointed to read so many people who “aren’t fans of Gabby Douglas” and were saying how she shouldn’t have even had the opportunity to compete for AA. And a poster who wondered how she even made the Olympic team.</p>
<p>Douglas WON the trials, fair and square, and guaranteed herself a spot. Yes, she is a little rough around the edges, but she has immense natural talent, and has been getting better and better over the past few months. She’s phenomenally talented and it saddens me to see people suggest that she somehow doesn’t deserve to compete for AA.</p>
<p>To the people who are wondering how Jordyn was beaten out in scoring by Gabby and Aly: yes, Jordyn’s mistakes looked more minor, but her starting scores were much lower than both Douglas and Raisman, so even small errors on her part and larger errors on the other girls’ parts could have led to scores hat are virtually the same. However, Douglas and Raisman <em>didn’t</em> mess up the other events, and their routines were more difficult. Raisman’s dismount on the beam is one of the most difficult dismounts in competition.</p>
<p>Also - for those talking about the steps out of bounds - Yes, Gabby had a huge step out of bounds and Jordyn took one step. They were penalized accordingly; if I remember correctly, Jordyn’s floor score was higher than Gabby’s, even though Gabby had a higher degree of difficulty. But going into the events, Gabby had over a 1.0 lead over Jordyn, because of her spectacular performance on bars and solid beam performance, and Jordyn’s floor score, while higher than Gabby’s, still couldn’t push her past Gabby’s score. Aly Raisman, on the other hand, had an extremely difficult floor routine, is the defending World bronze medalist in the event, and is arguably the best at that event, so she was chosen to anchor. She performed without errors and deserved the score she got - her passes are incredible.</p>
<p>I feel terrible for Jordyn, but seeing the lack of appreciation that the other two gymnasts are getting makes me sad…not that the commentators helped at all. Although I do think that the rule is stupid, and I think Jordyn should have the opportunity to compete. Then again, the USA was all for that rule when it was instituted…</p>
<p>BB, got it. 
Good luck to Ariana in the final!</p>
<p>Medal ceremony for the Men’s gymnasts team final. So exciting for the Brits!</p>
<p>Count me as a Gabby fan, she’s the only one who doesn’t look like a robot. I do agree, that only 2 from each country seems like a silly rule, though I understand why it got instituted. Maybe they should have an exception for anyone in the top 10.</p>
<p>Just saw the kayaking - so much fun to watch though we didn’t do well!</p>
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<p>Then you know nothing about dressage. The riders are incredible athletes too and the only ones who control not only every muscle of their own bodies but of another living being who really doesn’t do any of this stuff naturally. Many believe the horses are trained and just go out there and do a routine. Instead, the rider is telling the horse every move to make, when to make it, and how fast or slow to make it. The legs are giving constant direction to the horse - not just the at the stirrup level but all the way up the leg. A squeeze of the thigh is a signal to these horses. If you squeeze too hard or light for a particular move, you do not get it. Additionally, the riders’ legs are often doing two different things. One leg will be pushing the horse out at an angle for example while the other leg is holding and restricting that movement. At the same time. the rider is constantly adjusting seat pressure. The horses react to the squeeze of the buttocks too. Remember, they can feel a fly on their backs so rider movement is naturally complete overstimulation that must be carefully controlled. Imagine how much training goes into communicating with your buttocks? The body position changes too, impacting the balance and speed of the horse. The rider may turn the shoulders and body out a bit and then quickly square up once the desired movement is achieved. All of this is without what goes on in the hands and arms communicating through the reins. A little wiggle of one finger is felt in the horse’s mouth. So one of those movements is the result of various pressures by the legs on different parts of the horse’s side, the simultaneous shifting of weight in the saddle with the simultaneous pressure (give and take) in the reins. All of this must be done so that it is almost impossible to see, with no voice commands. The riders train hours and hours a day for the equestrian events. They have to ride several horses to get the training in because you cannot ride one horse 8-10 hrs a day. Each horse if very different and you never know how any horse will react and respond on any given day. Horses are prey animals so their instinct is to run from things that are unfamiliar so the rider is also controlling the horse’s emotions. If they do not completely trust the rider and feel confident, they are as likely to buck and bolt as they are to allow you to even take them into the arena. </p>
<p>I know dressage can be boring to watch but that is part of the sport - that the spectator enjoy the movement of the horse without noticing all the work the rider is doing.</p>
<p>Switzerland beat Japan in that tennis match So close.</p>
<p>Thanks for the explanation about dressage. Here’s the next one. Explain the skill required for rowing. I admittedly know nothing about the sport, but it seems like it takes strength and endurance…but what is the technique or skill required? (Serious question - I assume there is some - I just don’t know what it is.)</p>
<p>Also, why is lacrosse not an Olympic sport?</p>
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<p>I also really don’t understand people who don’t think Douglas is very good. Perhaps this is partially influenced by the fact that Raisman is my least favorite gymnast on the US team, so I can never empathize with anyone who prefers Raisman over Douglas.</p>
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<p>Not sure the Olympic village could handle “Brolympics.”</p>
<p>Yes, its quite a surprise that the combination of #1 (Federer) & #24 ATP ranked player beat the combination of ATP ranked #17 (Nishikori) & ranked #54. :rolleyes:</p>
<p>It’s not really a surprise overall as they also won gold in Beijing, but Japan played a great 1.5 sets with some spectacular points. I think it’s my favorite match so far.</p>
<p>Definitely made me a fan of Nishikori and Soeda (who’s already out, lol.)</p>
<p>[Federer</a> Wawrinka best point London 2012 - YouTube](<a href=“Federer Wawrinka best point London 2012 - YouTube”>Federer Wawrinka best point London 2012 - YouTube)</p>
<p>^missypie</p>
<p>I know nothing about it either. But I can imagine how deep you paddle and the rhythm matter. I don’t think it requires any less skills or coordination…etc than, say, running. Also, many countries participate.</p>
<p>Is lax played in other countries?</p>
<p>Back to badminton: for those who haven’t seen a competitive match before, it is probably the most exciting racquet sport to watch. At the high level, there are a lot more back and fro before one side scores a winner or makes an unforced error. There are also not as many breaks (fillers). Also, at the high level and contrary to what many may think, it’s faster and more intense than tennis. I work up more sweat in shorter duration than if I play tennis.</p>
<p>[Badminton</a> - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia](<a href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Badminton]Badminton”>Badminton - Wikipedia)</p>
<p>cartera, thanks for the dressage info. I enjoy watching and have great admiration for both the humans and the horses. One of the Canadian athletes was thrown from her horse today in a cross country event. Very scary.</p>
<p>Watched the Canadians play Romania in doubles tennis. Bravo to the ‘old man’ Daniel Nestor and his young partner on the win. Question for you tennis fans, does Federer ever play doubles other than in the Olympics?</p>
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<p>I always think that the figure skating commentators do a good job of educating those of us who pay attention to the sport once every four years…they explain the edges, and how the various jumps differ from one another. I wish the commentators at this Olympics would realize that most of the audience is watching some of the sports for the first time or once every 4 years and explain, without being insulting to the people who know the sport, not only the rules, but what skill is involved, what types of things the coaches must be saying, the strategy involved, etc.</p>
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<p>Agree with this!</p>
<p>Also, I find that women’s handball is very fast paced and fun to watch.</p>
<p>Does anyone know what the basis for Japan’s protest was in men’s gymnastics?</p>