"2024 Summer Olympics" Official Talkback (Spoilers)

[RandomMe]

And now, after 1044 medals, four of them Portuguese, the USA dominating the table by breaking the tie with China because the USA bagged more silver and bronze, and the usual sixteen days, a mixed bag for me comes to a close. Was kinda disappointed at the Portuguese results.

 

[Moe]

There is question for all of you, which Olympic game is your best favorite? As for me, that's hard choice, I barely watch games in Atlanta Olympic but saw their opening ceremony, so I went with 2012 Olympic in London.

Olympic in Paris is solid and good as London, despite some mess with opening ceremony.

 

[J10]

Previous ones are better than this.

Unfortunately, weightlifting is being put on the last days, not in the middle.

Besides, they embarrassed Eman Khalif for her gender by the media and politicians, and she said I’m not a male, her voice was like this, and she was born as a female.

Previous ones, we’re seeing more participations from countries, but here, the US now has much medals, while Chinese and other countries rank 2nd downwards to the last. Some participations has went less than the previous games in the past, as Weighlifter from Qatar team lost the competition, while Kuwait, Iraq, Syria, and Saudi has nothing.

 

[Moe]

Besides, they embarrassed Eman Khalif for her gender by the media and politicians, and she said I’m not a male, her voice was like this, and she was born as a female.

Yeah, I got tired of nonsense from IBA, media and social media. Iman Khalif is born female and there are some women have a lot of natural testosterone. Not every human body is equal from person to person.

IOC has strict rule with transgenders that make difficult and complicated for transgenders who want to compete in Olympics.

As for my opinion, I don't understand about IOC decision since it is very controversial that isn't my wish to get in conflict with others, so I encourage both parties to work together to resolve the conflict.

 

[BigFatHairyDeal]

IOC has strict rule with transgenders that make difficult and complicated for transgenders who want to compete in Olympics.

Nitpick here, but the two headlining boxers would be an intersex issue. Their cases would be more akin to someone like Caster Semenya's. Don't know what they did to get into IBA's crosshairs.

I think the Beijing opening ceremony was still pretty outstanding relative to other Olympics. However, I don't want to praise it too much, due to the working conditions the performers had to endure. If that's what it takes to put on a good show, I'll take a mediocre show.

EDIT: On the athletic performance side, week 2 was fantastic for me. The finishes in the men's 100 m, 1500 m, and 400 m were all dramatic come-from-behind victories. I'm generally not a Steph Curry fan during the NBA season, but his semifinal and final performances were mesmerizing. That last three he hit is just as memorable as Vince Carter's legendary dunk of death.

Finally got to see the infamous Raygun performance. Seems like the viral clips all focused on the worst aspects. I mean, she was clearly subpar relative to the other Olympic performers, but the narrative made her seem much worse than she was on whole. I still think the selection process wasn't the best. Australia's Olympic Committee, and Raygun herself, had to have known there were better Australian breakers out there.

 

[Moe]

Nitpick here, but the two headlining boxers would be an intersex issue. Their cases would be more akin to someone like Caster Semenya's. Don't know what they did to get into IBA's crosshairs.

Interesting and got it now. I don't see your post as nitpicking at all and thank you for taught me. I love to learn a new thing.

 

[wonderfly]

This was much better than the last 3 Olympics (2018, 2021 and 2022).

Women's Gymnastics, Men's Track & Field, and Women's Soccer were highlights for me. I don't like that they wrapped up the "team" competition" for Women's Gymnastics so soon into the schedule. I'm hearing reports in 2028 that they're going to switch it, so that "Track & Field" is the prominent sport the first week and "Gymnastics" will be the prominent sport the 2nd week (whereas it was kind of the reverse here).

Of the three major "Summer" events, (Gymnastics, Track & Field, and Swimming/Diving), I really didn't get to watch that much swimming this year. I must've been tuning in at the wrong times, or something.

There is question for all of you, which Olympic game is your best favorite? As for me, that's hard choice, I barely watch games in Atlanta Olympic but saw their opening ceremony, so I went with 2012 Olympic in London.

Olympic in Paris is solid and good as London, despite some mess with opening ceremony.

My favorite Olympics have been the 2008 to 2014 Olympic games. I really enjoyed all of those.

Oh, and of course the 1996 Olympics, in Atlanta, Georgia (USA). That's probably the most famous games for many of us (and yes, I watched live the "Kerri Strug gets the gold medal". One of the defining "live TV" moments of the 90's.

 

[Moe]

This was much better than the last 3 Olympics (2018, 2021 and 2022).

Agreed, also IOC's corruption was big problem at that time and that how Norway refused to bid on Olympic winter game, so it went to China instead.

Men's Track & Field

Believe or not, I was on track & field team at deaf school in 2003 and scored 1st with 400m, but as for time consecutive with other runners, I ended with 3rd. My experience was rough because of horrible allergy since it was spring 2003 with heavy pollen in Alabama and coach wasn't big of support for team.

When I watched Olympic game, my dream was want to be runner at Olympic and it needs tons of training, also they cost much money.

If I take Olympic seriously, I would end up make it to Paralympic due to my deafblind (limited peripheral vision) and at least, they are better recognizable than Deaflympic that run as totally separate entity.

Oh, and of course the 1996 Olympics, in Atlanta, Georgia (USA). That's probably the most famous games for many of us (and yes, I watched live the "Kerri Strug gets the gold medal". One of the defining "live TV" moments of the 90's.

What is your thought about 1984 LA Olympic? You were probably 8 years old at that time. Look at Karate Kid lol.

 

[BigFatHairyDeal]

Quick rant.

I'm a native Chicagoan. I wanted Chicago to win the 2016 Olympic bid, but because of the costs and IOC corruption, I was okay with not winning the bid. However, one comment about the selection process did strike a bit of a nerve. One of the reasons (allegedly) Rio won the 2016 bid was because the IOC thought it'd be good to have the games in a country/region that hadn't hosted before. It was a good punchline way back in 2009 when the announcement was made. But then the IOC did a 180 and went back to Tokyo (hosted in 1964) for 2020, Paris (hosted twice prior; Western Europe hosted just 12 years prior in London), and Los Angeles (also hosting for the third time, plus ATL/SLC hosted not that long ago). So much for looking for new hosts.

Maybe I should be appalled that Chicago, with its history of corruption, failed to win over an organization also best known for corruption.

 

[LinusFan303]

I was kind of rooting for the Chicago 2016 bid, heh.

Here's a weird fact, my state, the city of Denver actually won the Olympic bid for 1976 -Winter-Olympics. Yeah they won it. Now, you are going to ask Google or Bing or some guy , and you are going to be told that Innsbruck, Austria was the host of the 1976 Olympics , and that is true. Denver beat out Sion, Switzerland; Tampere, Finland; and Vancouver, Canada. Won the bid, and then ... rejected the Olympics.

It went to a ballot to vote on to pay for and like most times when something is on the ballot for the people to pay for in Colorado it failed.

https://kdvr.com/denver-guide/fun-fact-denver-is-the-only-city-to-reject-the-olympics/

So they had to tell the IOC they couldn't do it, and the IOC picked none of the from the final bid.

 

[Moe]

Quick rant.

I'm a native Chicagoan. I wanted Chicago to win the 2016 Olympic bid, but because of the costs and IOC corruption, I was okay with not winning the bid. However, one comment about the selection process did strike a bit of a nerve. One of the reasons (allegedly) Rio won the 2016 bid was because the IOC thought it'd be good to have the games in a country/region that hadn't hosted before. It was a good punchline way back in 2009 when the announcement was made. But then the IOC did a 180 and went back to Tokyo (hosted in 1964) for 2020, Paris (hosted twice prior; Western Europe hosted just 12 years prior in London), and Los Angeles (also hosting for the third time, plus ATL/SLC hosted not that long ago). So much for looking for new hosts.

Maybe I should be appalled that Chicago, with its history of corruption, failed to win over an organization also best known for corruption.

Yes and New York City too for summer Olympic.

There were 1 winter Olympic in New York back in 1980s, I think.

Rio went into financial crisis after hosted Olympic and left stadiums in disrepair, ouch.

I was kind of rooting for the Chicago 2016 bid, heh.

Here's a weird fact, my state, the city of Denver actually won the Olympic bid for 1976 -Winter-Olympics. Yeah they won it. Now, you are going to ask Google or Bing or some guy , and you are going to be told that Innsbruck, Austria was the host of the 1976 Olympics , and that is true. Denver beat out Sion, Switzerland; Tampere, Finland; and Vancouver, Canada. Won the bid, and then ... rejected the Olympics.

It went to a ballot to vote on to pay for and like most times when something is on the ballot for the people to pay for in Colorado it failed.

https://kdvr.com/denver-guide/fun-fact-denver-is-the-only-city-to-reject-the-olympics/

So they had to tell the IOC they couldn't do it, and the IOC picked none of the from the final bid.

I’m surprised IOC picked SLC over Denver, even Denver has superior infrastructure to handle with Olympics.

 

[wonderfly]

What is your thought about 1984 LA Olympic? You were probably 8 years old at that time. Look at Karate Kid lol.

Yeah, I was approx 7 or 8 years old around that time (in 1984) but I wasn't really paying attention to things outside of cartoons in that year (Transformers, GI Joe, etc).

The explosion of the Space Shuttle Challenger in 1986 (and the Presidential election in 1988) were my first "paying attention to what's going on in the world around me".

But I watched a LOT of the 1996 Summer Olympics (I was a slacker out of high school and slowly starting up college around that time). That was truly an iconic Olympics.

On the flip side, I didn't really pay attention to the February 2002 Winter Olympics (in Salt Lake City, Utah). It was still a "Post 9/11" world at that time, and I think I spent most of my time watching NBC or CNN or Fox News (equally, I'll have you know). Or when I wasn't watching the news, I was fully immersed in Cartoon Network.

Quick rant.

I'm a native Chicagoan. I wanted Chicago to win the 2016 Olympic bid, but because of the costs and IOC corruption, I was okay with not winning the bid. However, one comment about the selection process did strike a bit of a nerve. One of the reasons (allegedly) Rio won the 2016 bid was because the IOC thought it'd be good to have the games in a country/region that hadn't hosted before. It was a good punchline way back in 2009 when the announcement was made. But then the IOC did a 180 and went back to Tokyo (hosted in 1964) for 2020, Paris (hosted twice prior; Western Europe hosted just 12 years prior in London), and Los Angeles (also hosting for the third time, plus ATL/SLC hosted not that long ago). So much for looking for new hosts.

Maybe I should be appalled that Chicago, with its history of corruption, failed to win over an organization also best known for corruption.

It does feel strange that it's taken so long for the Olympics to return to the United States. It's been in China twice since 2002.

I got to noticing the schedule for the next 10 years of Olympics:

2026 Winter Olympics: Italy
2028 Summer Olympics: United States
2030: Winter Olympics: France (AGAIN?!?)
2032: Summer Olympics: Australia
2034: Winter Olympics: United States (Salt Lake City - again?!?)

There were 1 winter Olympic in New York back in 1980s, I think.

No, just the Summer Olympics (and not in New York).

 

[LinusFan303]

I’m surprised IOC picked SLC over Denver, even Denver has superior infrastructure to handle with Olympics.

SLC is a good place, and Denver hasn't bid since the election failure of the 1970's.

 

[Moe]

The explosion of the Space Shuttle Challenger in 1986 (and the Presidential election in 1988) were my first "paying attention to what's going on in the world around me".

As for me, my first news was OJ Simpson's Bronco chase in 1994 - it was my dad showed it and he know OJ when OJ was in NFL.

SLC is a good place, and Denver hasn't bid since the election failure of the 1970's.

Yes but would love to see winter sports on Colorado Rockies.

It looks like voters in Colorado capped on tax to make difficult for Denver to raise tax to finance on Olympics.

 

[Space Cadet]

Quick rant.

I'm a native Chicagoan. I wanted Chicago to win the 2016 Olympic bid, but because of the costs and IOC corruption, I was okay with not winning the bid. However, one comment about the selection process did strike a bit of a nerve. One of the reasons (allegedly) Rio won the 2016 bid was because the IOC thought it'd be good to have the games in a country/region that hadn't hosted before. It was a good punchline way back in 2009 when the announcement was made. But then the IOC did a 180 and went back to Tokyo (hosted in 1964) for 2020, Paris (hosted twice prior; Western Europe hosted just 12 years prior in London), and Los Angeles (also hosting for the third time, plus ATL/SLC hosted not that long ago). So much for looking for new hosts.

Maybe I should be appalled that Chicago, with its history of corruption, failed to win over an organization also best known for corruption.

The reason why you don't see a lot of new cities bidding is because of cost. It's not cheap and on top of that, building new stadiums to only use them once isn't good money spent. Also, if you remember, Boston was going to be the front-runner as the American city for the 2028 Games but the people of Boston balked at that and then they went with L.A. since the infrastructure is already in place.

 

[RandomMe]

There were 1 winter Olympic in New York back in 1980s, I think.

Lake Placid 1980. IIRC, WVNY produced the television covedage of the Miracle on Ice game

 

[wonderfly]

Lake Placid 1980. IIRC, WVNY produced the television covedage of the Miracle on Ice game

Huh, after a quick Google search, you're right. Didn't even realize that. Well, if I wasn't paying attention in 1984, I REALLY wasn't paying attention in 1980.

 

[Moe]

Huh, after a quick Google search, you're right. Didn't even realize that. Well, if I wasn't paying attention in 1984, I REALLY wasn't paying attention in 1980.

Believe or not, Olympic village in Lake Placid was soon to be federal prison after Olympic ended, so they converted to federal prison.

Lake Placid 1980. IIRC, WVNY produced the television covedage of the Miracle on Ice game

Yeah, you are right and there was winter Olympic near Lake Tahoe in 1960.

 

[BigFatHairyDeal]

The reason why you don't see a lot of new cities bidding is because of cost. It's not cheap and on top of that, building new stadiums to only use them once isn't good money spent. Also, if you remember, Boston was going to be the front-runner as the American city for the 2028 Games but the people of Boston balked at that and then they went with L.A. since the infrastructure is already in place.

Yeah, IIRC, every bidding city never stays within the originally-allocated budget for the Olympics. Considering how badly Chicago prepped for Millennium Park (I believe the budget was in the $100 million range and set to open in 2000; it cost in the $400 million range and opened in 2004...) and Soldier Field renovations, there was no good reason for me to believe that whatever they set aside was going to cover the costs.

Still, I feel like we were all lied to when the IOC said they gave Rio preference due to being the first S. American host.