Olympics - Athens 2004

[NESSAussie]

Australia defeated Brazil by 84 points to 66 and finished top of their pool

[ChocoNutz]

Australia defeated Brazil by 84 points to 66 and finished top of their pool

AAAAH! I knowww! lol It sucks cuz Brazil lost too many games haha But yea Australia team is GOOD! yay!

Now the good news is Brazil just won the first (and maybe the only) GOLD MEDAL! Woo hoo!
It was Robert Scheidt in Sailing. He'd won gold in Atlanta and in Sydney he won silver so yay cuz now he won gold again!!
I was just thinkin that it's amazing how the Olympics made me watch something I'd never normally see. Cuz when in my life would I wake up early to watch Sailing competition? lol But anyway, it was cool!

I'll go watch some more now! =]

[HappyZen]

Zena your boy Thorpe, he was a true patriot, he was all about signing proud when he won.

i love THORPEEEDO. i always cheer for him when he's not going up against my man Phelps

Me too ;-) LOL ... OMG he has a new ad for undies ... and OMG he is SO hot! He's smoking!!! .. woah.

LMAO!
my boy indeed LOL
You know we've heard the aussie anthem like ssssssssssssssssssssssssssssoooooooooooooooooo many times, even if you didn't know it by now you would :-P LOL :-)
Nah I think it's mandatory that you learn the anthem in Primary school ... or at least it was in my generation ... good practise for when we win Gold in the olympics nonetheless ;-)

The aussie are doing very very well ...
But now the swimming is over, I doubt we'll win any more LOL :-)
Maybe few more in rowing or horses events ... pansy events like that ...

an "aaaaaaaaaaaawwwwwwwwwwwww" story.
the Polish swimmer (I have no idea what her name is though Oligya I think) was set to win THREE GOLD medals.
In the first race, she came bronze.
In the second race (against Australias Petria Thomas) she got silver
In the third race she finally got gold (second was Australia's Petria). She cried and cried. She was so happy .. all the pressure finally paid off. After all the hard work, this was her just rewards.
(wait there's more) I was so annoyed Australia was second, but then, the story is that she's going to auction off her gold medal to raise money for childrens leukemia research.

How self-less. it's not the medals then is it. Contentment in knowing you're the best.

In other news Iraq is into the semi's of the soccer.
Unbelieveable.

Women's weight lifting must be THE MOST UNGLAMOROUS sport EVER ...
I mean the whole concept of the "one look" being ultra thin just flies out the window!!! Just goes to show, everyone's priotirties are different, and it really doesn't matter!
But they are like the STRONGEST women in the WORLD!!! The record stands at like over 130kgs!! And the olympics are about testing the limits of human beings endurance strength etc ... 130kg ... shit!

[Manda]

we beat japan or china in softball?

 :?

[eclv]

I think it has been proven over and over that Americans don't learn the anthem. It's sad really.

Yay for Deena Kastor bronze in the Women's Marathon. She was all emo, it made me  :cry:  too. I know what it's like to finish a marathon and well when I see someone cry it makes me cry. I am a sap I know.  :oops:

[NESSAussie]

Sarah Ulmer (left) completes a victory
lap with friend and rival Katie Mactier.

ATHENS - Like her riding style, the symmetry was pure perfection. Sarah Ulmer, goddess of the individual pursuit, reigned supreme in the home of the Gods on a sleek black bike christened Zeus.

Ulmer completed her golden treble at the Olympic Velodrome in devastating fashion here today, sweeping to victory with ruthless, robotic efficiency.

The Commonwealth, then world, and now Olympic champion pulverised her opposition, twice rewriting the record books as she inherited the pursuit crown from retiring Dutch legend Leontien Zijlaard-Van Moorsel.

Australian Katie Mactier, a great mate from their road racing days in the States, was her final victim, just as she was at the world championships in Melbourne three months ago.

Twice runner-up at the world level, Mactier feared she would again have to settle for second best, despite significantly improving her personal best since riding on her home track across the road from the MCG.

"It's deja vue," Mactier said with an air of resignation after Ulmer won gold in a world record time of 3min 24.537sec.

Mactier, a pursuiting novice who turned to the track two years ago, feared what was in store when she rubbed out Ulmer's world mark (3min 30.604sec) yesterday.

Her time of 3min 29.945sec lasted just five minutes.

"I thought I better put my hand up and celebrate it because I would have been surprised if Sarah had not gone out there and equalled or bettered it," Mactier said of her brief term as world and Olympic record holder.

Composing herself track-side ahead of her qualifying ride, Ulmer saw 'WR' flash up on the screen but did not panic.

"It was actually quite exciting," Ulmer revealed.

"I was a little bit surprised. I knew the track was fast and that confirmed it.

"I thought it's time for me to do something similar."

Inevitably Ulmer rose to the challenge, erasing Mactier's name with a stunning 3min 26.4000sec for the 3000m endurance test.

She backed up less than an hour later in 33degC heat with a 3min 27.444sec first round effort to demolish the faint claims of Russian road race bronze medallist Olga Slyusareva -- and steam into today's gold medal showdown.

08/23 - Chris Barclay
New Zeeland Herald

[jlmusicchick]

Zena your boy Thorpe, he was a true patriot, he was all about signing proud when he won.

i love THORPEEEDO. i always cheer for him when he's not going up against my man Phelps

Me too ;-) LOL ... OMG he has a new ad for undies ... and OMG he is SO hot! He's smoking!!! .. woah.

LMAO!
my boy indeed LOL
You know we've heard the aussie anthem like ssssssssssssssssssssssssssssoooooooooooooooooo many times, even if you didn't know it by now you would :-P LOL :-)
Nah I think it's mandatory that you learn the anthem in Primary school ... or at least it was in my generation ... good practise for when we win Gold in the olympics nonetheless ;-)

The aussie are doing very very well ...
But now the swimming is over, I doubt we'll win any more LOL :-)
Maybe few more in rowing or horses events ... pansy events like that ...

an "aaaaaaaaaaaawwwwwwwwwwwww" story.
the Polish swimmer (I have no idea what her name is though Oligya I think) was set to win THREE GOLD medals.
In the first race, she came bronze.
In the second race (against Australias Petria Thomas) she got silver
In the third race she finally got gold (second was Australia's Petria). She cried and cried. She was so happy .. all the pressure finally paid off. After all the hard work, this was her just rewards.
(wait there's more) I was so annoyed Australia was second, but then, the story is that she's going to auction off her gold medal to raise money for childrens leukemia research.

How self-less. it's not the medals then is it. Contentment in knowing you're the best.

Really?!?! is there a  place where i can stream this here commercial!??!?! :-D

we learned the national anthem in grade school during "morning program" where the whole school from grades k-3 pile into the gym and sing songs, lol.

and that story is so awesome! SUCH a, like you said, selfless thing to do. Sets a good image for the kids that look up to her too.

[freshlettuce]

And hey know what? The beach volleyball games look cool! There's music and lots of peeps...Ah I wanna be there to watch them live. Looks like a good party! lol

Agreed!  They play fun, up-tempo music between serves and the matches are super entertaining.  It's like tennis in the sand.  It takes a lot of good split-second decision making and strategy to win games.

Remember in Sydney the american girl gymnast that broke her ankle when she landed after
the jumpy apparatus, but didn't clutch until she bowed and did the doby thingy with her arms
(you know how the gymnasts do the dooby ... pose, turn pose to show they "stuck" the jump?)
then she collapsed from pain ...

That was the cutest description ever.  

wrote:
WOAH..
PAUL HAMM .. what a comeback.
seriously amaazing after falling into the judges.

That WAS awesome... his high bar routine was soooo good and he did it like perfectly! But omg,
in interviews his voice is SO weird! Like he's been sucking helium balloons or something o.0

LOL!!!!!!!  My cousin said the same exact thing to me when we saw Paul get interviewed shortly after his being awared the medal.  Ahahahahahahahahahaha!   :lol:

I am just really scared of him and Xuxa and Silvio Santos too.

Xuxa!  Yeah, I remember her vaguely.  She had the children's show right?  She reminded me a bit of Debbie Gibson - you know?  The black hat and the blonde hair...

I am glad Svetlana made the silver to end her career and could be happy about it. I mean Carly
is like almost 10 years younger than her.

That doesn't seem to be the case anymore.  Hmm...

Gymnast Khorkina Says 'Judges Robbed Me'


By Gennady Fyodorov


MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia's Svetlana Khorkina, who was second to American Carly Patterson in the women's all-round gymnastics competition, has accused the judges of robbing her of the gold medal and said "everything was decided in advance."

"I'm just furious," Khorkina, who had been favorite for the coveted title, was quoted as saying in the daily Izvestia. "I knew well in advance, even before I stepped on the stage for my first event, that I was going to lose."

"Everything was decided in advance. I had no illusions about this when the judges gave me 9.462 for the vault after conferring with one another at length.

"I practically did everything right, still they just set me up and fleeced me," she said in the interview published on Saturday.

Asked why she felt she was marked down by the judges, Khorkina said: "You better ask them. I think it's because I'm from Russia, not from America!"

When Khorkina won her silver medal on Thursday, she showed no outward signs of disappointment and said: "I think it's the best day of my life."

The Russian was also favorite for the all-round title four years ago in Sydney, where her hopes were dashed after she crashed to her knees from the vault. It was later discovered the horse had been set five centimeters too short.

She said she was hoping Sydney's experience would cause the judges to be more sympathetic to her plight in Athens -- her third and last Olympics.

Khorkina did not think Patterson was a deserving winner.

Asked if the American was a worthy opponent, she said: "I've seen a much tougher opposition than her. Let's see how long she can remain on top. Can she keep going and compete in two more Olympics like myself."

"No, well, you better write that Patterson is a great champion and she has a great future," she added sarcastically.

Khorkina confirmed that Athens were her last Olympics but she wants to remain in the sport.

"I'd like to work for the International Gymnastics Federation. These competitions have shown the sport needs a lot of changes," she said. "It should be judged primarily on grace, elegance and beauty rather than simply on mechanic tumbling."

On Sunday the Russian will compete in her last event -- the uneven bars, where she is hoping to become the first gymnast in history to win three consecutive Olympic titles on the same apparatus.

So Svetlana didn't even medal on the uneven bars, which are her specialty, because she messed up on a skill and came off the bar.  The skill is even named after her 'cause she invented it!  Can we say karma?


OMG, the Women's 20km Race Walk is live on TV!

Has anyone ever seen this sport before?  I saw a race once in Central Park.  It really mystifies me.  I wanna laugh, but can't.  These women are so in shape - it's crazy.  How on earth do you get your stomach to look like that from walking?  

The commentator just said that race walkers walk like 4 hours a day to train for these races.  I guess that answers my question.

How do you become a faster walker anyway?  ::scratches head::

I can't knock the sport though, 'cause Spain got a Silver in the Men's 20km Race Walk, so Nerea's got to be thrilled.   :lol:

The music choices made by the NBC production staff are hilarious.  Whenever they go into and come out of commercials they have been playing music "relating" to the race walking!  I've already heard Walk This Way and that other song that goes "Ain't nothing gonna break my stride.  Ain't nothing gonna slow me down.  Oh no.  I got to keep on movin...'"

 :lol:

Oh my goodness, yay for Greece! :bday:

[Jay_Oh]

Sarah Ulmer (left) completes a victory
lap with friend and rival Katie Mactier.

ATHENS - Like her riding style, the symmetry was pure perfection. Sarah Ulmer, goddess of the individual pursuit, reigned supreme in the home of the Gods on a sleek black bike christened Zeus.

Ulmer completed her golden treble at the Olympic Velodrome in devastating fashion here today, sweeping to victory with ruthless, robotic efficiency.

The Commonwealth, then world, and now Olympic champion pulverised her opposition, twice rewriting the record books as she inherited the pursuit crown from retiring Dutch legend Leontien Zijlaard-Van Moorsel.

Australian Katie Mactier, a great mate from their road racing days in the States, was her final victim, just as she was at the world championships in Melbourne three months ago.

Twice runner-up at the world level, Mactier feared she would again have to settle for second best, despite significantly improving her personal best since riding on her home track across the road from the MCG.

"It's deja vue," Mactier said with an air of resignation after Ulmer won gold in a world record time of 3min 24.537sec.

Mactier, a pursuiting novice who turned to the track two years ago, feared what was in store when she rubbed out Ulmer's world mark (3min 30.604sec) yesterday.

Her time of 3min 29.945sec lasted just five minutes.

"I thought I better put my hand up and celebrate it because I would have been surprised if Sarah had not gone out there and equalled or bettered it," Mactier said of her brief term as world and Olympic record holder.

Composing herself track-side ahead of her qualifying ride, Ulmer saw 'WR' flash up on the screen but did not panic.

"It was actually quite exciting," Ulmer revealed.

"I was a little bit surprised. I knew the track was fast and that confirmed it.

"I thought it's time for me to do something similar."

Inevitably Ulmer rose to the challenge, erasing Mactier's name with a stunning 3min 26.4000sec for the 3000m endurance test.

She backed up less than an hour later in 33degC heat with a 3min 27.444sec first round effort to demolish the faint claims of Russian road race bronze medallist Olga Slyusareva -- and steam into today's gold medal showdown.

08/23 - Chris Barclay
New Zeeland Herald

Yup, NZ rocks!  

[VaderDawsn]

After reading what Khorkina said, I have lost any respect I had for her...she's a sore loser. She has no grace...

[jlmusicchick]

After reading what Khorkina said, I have lost any respect I had for her...she's a sore loser. She has no grace...

ditto. maybe the judges did rob her, but i highly doubt it was because she wasn't american.  :roll:

[VaderDawsn]

After reading what Khorkina said, I have lost any respect I had for her...she's a sore loser. She has no grace...

ditto. maybe the judges did rob her, but i highly doubt it was because she wasn't american.  :roll:

I watched the competition and have been an avid gymnastics fan for a long time (and I had up until theis point a lot of respect for Khorkina) and if anything, the judges scored her a it too high on some of the events.  She had a lot of form breaks... oh well, she's a sore loser and she should put her head into the game and not her close-up....forgive my venting...this just really frustrates me b/c there used to be a lot of anti-american judging in gymn and to accuse the judges of bias is just ludicrous, they have made a lot reforms in how the sport is judged...I could go on but I'll get off my soapbox...relunctantly ..:razz:

[ChocoNutz]

Women's Beach Volleyball

Hm so Brazil's team Behar/Shelda will play the final match agains the US team May/Kerry.
Brazil's team is good but hey I just watched the American game and o.O they're very good lol
I guess it'll be a good game and well at least Brazil has at least a silver medal! Yay!

[ChocoNutz]

Men's beach volleyball

Good good good! Brazil will also play the final game in this! YAY! I'm just really glad they've made it to the finals... And it was a good game! =]
Hm, they're playing the Spanish team now I believe... There Ne... ;]

Women's soccer

Whaaaaat? Brazil won today and will play the final match against the US! Ok, so you think soccer and you'd say Brazil is good at it. Yeah, we are, but when it comes to men only. The women's team has always been crappy and all. But yay! They're getting better now! So yeah, they probably won't win gold in this one but oh well, congrats anyway!! =]

[emmy]

Ok, so you think soccer and you'd say Brazil is good at it. Yeah, we are, but when it comes to men only.

Teehee, they are sooooo good that they are playing in the olympics right now  :wink:  :wink:

So Svetlana didn't even medal on the uneven bars, which are her specialty, because she messed up on a skill and came off the bar. The skill is even named after her 'cause she invented it! Can we say karma?

Heh, I am glad she didn't win anything... I am sorry, but I was really hoping for her to fall or something so Anna Pavlova would win a medal.  I don't know why, but I felt sorry for her sitting in bronze medal position twice and the first time getting pushed down to fourth and just missing a medal.  Damn, it must stink to be fourth.  I am happy she got a bronze though, good for her.