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Post by Jan on Aug 22, 2016 9:37:45 GMT
Wow 66 medals !!! and I was so pleased Bianca Walkden won her bronze medal match in the Taekwondo she looked so disappointed when she lost her semi final. Golden times.  Really quite a cynical approach by UK, buying gold medals. Their approach to doing it is quite interesting though - as soon as lottery money started to be available (under John Major I think) they decided to spend it on a simple quest for gold medals. To do this they selected a small number of sports where a large number of medals were available and had a high cost of entry. So they stopped funding table tennis where only 4 medals are on offer. On the cost of entry criteria they stopped funding sports like weightlifting where an impoverished country (like the ex-Soviet states) could provide the facilities and equipment easily and diverted it all instead to expensive sports like rowing, sailing, cycling, & equestrian where only a handful of relatively wealthy countries can afford to seriously compete. As a result we get a load of gold medals in those - job done - but they are in sports where most young people in UK simply can't hope to participate. Diverting the money instead to fund, say, table tennis at grass roots level would have far greater social benefits. |
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Post by Deleted on Aug 22, 2016 9:54:17 GMT
Diverting the money instead to fund, say, table tennis at grass roots level would have far greater social benefits. And health benefits. |
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Post by Deleted on Aug 22, 2016 10:32:00 GMT
Diverting the money instead to fund, say, table tennis at grass roots level would have far greater social benefits. Table tennis is supposed to be played at table level. But yes, I was thinking about this a couple of days ago. Looking at the medal tables we don't quite have all of our eggs in one basket but we do have 40% of them in three, and if our proficiency in track running or track cycling falls even a little we're going to see a dramatic plunge in medals. I'd find it far more interesting to see much greater diversity in the sports that are promoted and a Briton in every event, even if they don't come home with a medal and never really expect to, and in these games I was more engaged by the obvious jubilation of the plucky competitors who had fought hard to achieve their life-long dream of being right there in an Olympic final than the petulant disappointment of someone who'd had to settle for a mere handful of silvers. |
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Post by Deleted on Aug 22, 2016 10:36:42 GMT
And now, the Paralympics ...
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Post by stefy69 on Aug 22, 2016 10:38:54 GMT
All credit to Joe Joyce our 67th and final medal winner, an excellent attempt to win gold but just not quite enough...
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Post by alece10 on Aug 22, 2016 11:50:51 GMT
I agree with Clare Baldings comments. I don't think I watched any live athletics this time but watched (and enjoyed) a variety of sports I would not normally have watched. Including fencing, canoeing, and my new favourite dancing horses.
Oh and I love Clare Balding. A real class act and so knowledgeable.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 22, 2016 12:01:47 GMT
I don't think people should be so cynical. Okay sure GB do amazing in certain sports like cycling but that's because they've trained for 4 years to get a gold. You can see how they all are so grateful for the national lotto funding (which is amazing!) but they still get medals in a whole diverse of sports. I was reading and Team GB got atleast 1 medal in 17 different sports. Can't we just be proud of this amazing country? I love Britain loads and I think these Olympics will inspire younger athletes
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Post by d'James on Aug 22, 2016 12:11:48 GMT
Oh don't even get me started. It's disgraceful.
Next time they should hold the Paralympics first, although I guess Tokyo won't have a funding shortage.
Even better they should hold them all together. I heard they looked into that for London but logistically it wasn't possible.
The amount of coverage the Paralympics get in America (well, got during London anyway) is shameful.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 22, 2016 12:14:51 GMT
I agree with Clare Baldings comments. I don't think I watched any live athletics this time but watched (and enjoyed) a variety of sports I would not normally have watched. Including fencing, canoeing, and my new favourite dancing horses. Oh and I love Clare Balding. A real class act and so knowledgeable. I agree, she is glorious. She seems to genuinely enjoy the sport she's presenting as well and not just the glory sports. Of course it's natural but she does speak beautifully from the heart when she's talking about the equestrian events and especially the horses themselves. Dame Clare! |
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Aug 22, 2016 12:39:53 GMT
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Post by Jan on Aug 22, 2016 12:39:53 GMT
I don't think people should be so cynical. Okay sure GB do amazing in certain sports like cycling but that's because they've trained for 4 years to get a gold. You can see how they all are so grateful for the national lotto funding (which is amazing!) but they still get medals in a whole diverse of sports. I was reading and Team GB got atleast 1 medal in 17 different sports. Can't we just be proud of this amazing country? I love Britain loads and I think these Olympics will inspire younger athletes I wasn't being cynical I was just telling you how funding is allocated in UK, it is just a fact that their policy, documented and openly stated, is to preferentially fund sports like rowing that few countries can afford to invest in. Just a fact. If children are inspired by rowing golds then how do they take that forward ? |
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Post by Deleted on Aug 22, 2016 14:10:32 GMT
The Olympic entity is Great Britain and the North of Ireland. |
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Post by Deleted on Aug 22, 2016 14:13:06 GMT
Only some of the North of Ireland; northern Irish athletes are allowed to compete under the Ireland flag if they choose, and I believe more of them chose to do that than to leave themselves attached to Team GB.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 22, 2016 14:28:04 GMT
Thank you for that interesting snippet. By the same principle, Andy Murray should have chosen to represent Spain. It's ridiculous that he competes for GB when he had minimal support during his youth and had to relocate to Spain without GB funding.
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Post by Phantom of London on Aug 22, 2016 14:42:38 GMT
Wow 66 medals !!! and I was so pleased Bianca Walkden won her bronze medal match in the Taekwondo she looked so disappointed when she lost her semi final. Golden times. Really quite a cynical approach by UK, buying gold medals. Their approach to doing it is quite interesting though - as soon as lottery money started to be available (under John Major I think) they decided to spend it on a simple quest for gold medals. To do this they selected a small number of sports where a large number of medals were available and had a high cost of entry. So they stopped funding table tennis where only 4 medals are on offer. On the cost of entry criteria they stopped funding sports like weightlifting where an impoverished country (like the ex-Soviet states) could provide the facilities and equipment easily and diverted it all instead to expensive sports like rowing, sailing, cycling, & equestrian where only a handful of relatively wealthy countries can afford to seriously compete. As a result we get a load of gold medals in those - job done - but they are in sports where most young people in UK simply can't hope to participate. Diverting the money instead to fund, say, table tennis at grass roots level would have far greater social benefits. It's great you see free table tennis tables now available in London squares, I've seen them in Leicester Square, Soho Park and Paddington Green. One thing that makes London great, years ago these would've been vandalised, same as those street information kiosks, so kudos to the young.. |
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Post by Phantom of London on Aug 22, 2016 14:47:40 GMT
And now, the Paralympics ... Love Ellie Simmonds. Is it just me who is very angry and upset about the funding for this? The shortfall was bad enough, but I'm wondering why Microsoft, Amazon, Coca-Cola, McDonalds and Google haven't just said, "don't worry, we'll sort it." Stuff any existing sponsorship agreements, the world's Para Olympic athletes deserve way better than this. I actually support scrapping the whole Paralympics and the case in Rio is a good example why they should be scrapped, at least in London Sainsbury's sponsored these games and raised their reputation as being community minded organisation. This has epic failed in Rio. Instead I would have Paralympic events in the main Olympics, then these events will be treated far more seriously than they are now. |
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Post by Deleted on Aug 22, 2016 15:09:59 GMT
Instead I would have Paralympic events in the main Olympics, then these events will be treated far more seriously than they are now. The problem is that they're separate organisations and it would be difficult to maintain financial records if everything was intermingled. There are also logistical problems, as the venue requirements are different for the different types of sport. Host countries already struggle to accommodate two sets of games sequentially, and the problems would only be worse if they had to handle them concurrently. The Paralympics certainly suffer from a public perception of being "The Lesser Olympics" but having the Olympics swallow them up wouldn't improve the situation. |
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Post by Deleted on Aug 22, 2016 15:22:21 GMT
Older generations had books and darts and youth clubs, younger generations aren't immune to the draw of casual vandalism. Props where they're due, good on the current generation of youngsters (apart from the vandals, obvs).  |
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Aug 22, 2016 15:54:01 GMT
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Post by Jan on Aug 22, 2016 15:54:01 GMT
Really quite a cynical approach by UK, buying gold medals. Their approach to doing it is quite interesting though - as soon as lottery money started to be available (under John Major I think) they decided to spend it on a simple quest for gold medals. To do this they selected a small number of sports where a large number of medals were available and had a high cost of entry. So they stopped funding table tennis where only 4 medals are on offer. On the cost of entry criteria they stopped funding sports like weightlifting where an impoverished country (like the ex-Soviet states) could provide the facilities and equipment easily and diverted it all instead to expensive sports like rowing, sailing, cycling, & equestrian where only a handful of relatively wealthy countries can afford to seriously compete. As a result we get a load of gold medals in those - job done - but they are in sports where most young people in UK simply can't hope to participate. Diverting the money instead to fund, say, table tennis at grass roots level would have far greater social benefits. It's great you see free table tennis tables now available in London squares, I've seen them in Leicester Square, Soho Park and Paddington Green. One thing that makes London great, years ago these would've been vandalised, same as those street information kiosks, so kudos to the young.. Yes it is why I used it as an example really, it as taken off as a sport at the lower level with many more opportunities to play (there are hipster bars that have tables too) but it gets no lottery funding at all because we can never win any Olympic medals (as China have millions more players partly). |
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Post by Deleted on Aug 22, 2016 17:41:44 GMT
So how many people are sitting in front of the TV thinking "OK, what was it I used to watch two or three weeks ago?"
("Oh, that's right. Nothing, 'cause it's all crap.")
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Post by Deleted on Aug 22, 2016 18:48:20 GMT
The One Show is back.
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Post by Phantom of London on Aug 23, 2016 0:29:25 GMT
Older generations had books and darts and youth clubs, younger generations aren't immune to the draw of casual vandalism. Props where they're due, good on the current generation of youngsters (apart from the vandals, obvs). Fair comment, Baemax. It's just that where I live you don't see any teens on the streets at all, or if you do, they are oblivious on phones etc. Just no big groups hanging around the tube stations as in my era. It's just different. The younger generation deserve praise on this, you don't see much vandalism now. |
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Post by Phantom of London on Aug 23, 2016 0:38:17 GMT
Instead I would have Paralympic events in the main Olympics, then these events will be treated far more seriously than they are now. The problem is that they're separate organisations and it would be difficult to maintain financial records if everything was intermingled. There are also logistical problems, as the venue requirements are different for the different types of sport. Host countries already struggle to accommodate two sets of games sequentially, and the problems would only be worse if they had to handle them concurrently. The Paralympics certainly suffer from a public perception of being "The Lesser Olympics" but having the Olympics swallow them up wouldn't improve the situation. Let the two organisations work together. Built a bigger sports village, that can be turned into social housing, Rio De Jarnerio certainly can do with it. Spread the Olympics over 3 weeks to factor in the Paralympic events. If Paralympics were part of the main medal table, it will focus the mind of countries that don't take it seriously. I don't believe you can't adapt venue to suit the event quickly. Then maybe you won't have a "The Lesser Olympics". With empty stadia for the main Olympics, so who is going to take the Paralympics more seriously? |
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Post by lynette on Aug 23, 2016 13:08:03 GMT
I like the idea of having the paras in with the main so to speak. Would obs solves the tic thing. You buy for a day and on that day you get a selection of track and field para and non para. Makes sense to me. I think London was the first time the para games had any impact at all. So credit to all and we are moving, albeit painfully and slowly, forwards.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 23, 2016 13:33:52 GMT
So credit to all and we are moving, albeit painfully and slowly, forwards. Appropriately for the Paralympics. |
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Post by Deleted on Aug 23, 2016 13:54:59 GMT
Inappropriately for the board (and general humanity?) though, I'd like to see you beat a Paralympian athlete in a race. |
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