@surfcity
It looks like Nike is the official sponsor of track and field I believe the athletes are not permitted to show different brands of shoes.
http://www.npr.org/2016/08/20/490738761/rule-40-how-the-brands-blackout-impacts-olympic-athletes
That is interesting. In swimming the announcers mentioned the athletes could wear the swimsuits, goggles and caps of their choice because they were considered equipment. It looks like US Swimiming is more flexible than US track.
Interesting. I know Michael Phelps put flag stickers over the logo on his headphones. I can see doing that.
But it does seem like shoes are so important and it might be that a runner can’t run as comfortably in Nike as she can in another brand. I’m surprised that shoes aren’t considered equipment too.
They might custom make the shoes to the athletes needs and comfort. I know they do for the soccer stars.
It’s just sad that with all that money sloshing through the system, virtually none of it ends up going to the athletes. It’s like NCAA football in that regard
Track athletes ARE allowed to wear whatever brand of shoes they want. If the aren’t NIKE logos have to be covered up. It’s Nikes deal with USATF.
@LasMa Gwen Jorgenson made $200,000 in prize money in 2015 plus has endorsements and sponsors. Some of the athletes in Rio are/have been making good money , unlike NCAA athletes.
A very few, sevmom. The overwhelming majority of these athletes will not get prize money or endorsement deals.
“I know Michael Phelps put flag stickers over the logo on his headphones. I can see doing that.”
Because Apple/Beats is not an official sponsor.
Fabulous victory by Matthew Centrowitz in the Men’s 1500m. I watched him win the Footlocker cross country championships back when he was in high school. The most incredible thing was the slow time in tonight’s 1500m. My nephew ran a 1500m race faster than that when he was a freshman in college.
I’m trying to figure out the appeal of HANDBALL.
It’s like waterpolo without the water, without the dirty tricks below the water, and totally without the sex appeal.
http://www.people.com/people/package/article/0,20996464_21025667,00.html
At 32 yrs old, can you still play the “immaturity card”? Or are you just a dyed-in-the-wool jackass?
@Scipio I was thinking the same thing. Many of the races this year were not very fast. My thought is it was due to conditions, i.e, rain and humidity.
-English Gardner helped win the women’s 4x100 relay wearing a pair of slightly-too-big shoes from Allyson Felix.
http://ftw.usatoday.com/2016/08/rio-oympics-allyson-felix-english-gardner-relay-gold-shoes
My father who would be 95 this year played handball (called American handball) during college and after. Apparently it was fairly popular back then. He taught me how to play when I was young but it is very different than what I saw during the Olympics. I enjoyed watching some of the more obscure sports during these telecasts.
Speaking of obscure sports, the US rhythmic gymnast (Laura Zeng from Illinois) missed getting into the rhythmic finals by .1. She did better than any American rhythmic gymnast since rhythmics became an Olympic sport in 1984. She’s only 16, so she may stick around for 2020. She finished 11th and had one routine that was problematic–other 3 were solid.
The US group rhythmic team finished dead last. They made some mistakes, but up until the Olympics the group had performed really well in international competitions, including World Championships where they were 8th. This was the first US rhythmic group that qualified for the Olympics in twenty years.
I’m not much for boxing – but hurray for Claressa Shields!!
The gold medal for the US men basket ball team seems unavoidable. I wonder they can score 100+ points today.
Wasn’t there a poster whose DD was into rhythmic gymnastics?
I have enjoyed watching the Olympics because I got to watch a variety of sports other than football, basketball, and baseball. I know I missed some events but I hope I am able to watch a video of some of those competitions online. It has been fun the last two weeks being glued to the tv every evening.