Paris Olympics - swipes, gripes, controversies and triumphs

[ElwoodBlues1]

I've watched the video today of the Breaker girl who lost in the Olympic qualifiers to Raygun.

I've got to say there wasn't a lot of difference between them, and it sounds like much of the social media and media vitriol is baseless.

I'll say this, the Aussie girls are quite different in moves to most of the international competitors and that seems to be the big issue, most of the international competitors are the same same but different, almost clones, while the Aussie moves and style is drastically different.

Also no doubt also that Breaking is physical enough to be a sport, it's probably as deserving if not more deserving than some of the gymnastic or skating events at various Olympics.

Its rubbish to call it a sport and shouldnt be in the Olympics but the pile on and coverage that Ms Gunn has received is mind boggling, its taken the limelight off the fact that Australia had a mighty fine games and apart from the bozo hockey player who wanted his fix there was plenty to be proud about.

[DJC]

I enjoyed watching most of the Olympic events tuned in for.

The breaker fiasco highlights a problem with several disciplines - they rely on judges, as Lods mentioned and Kruddler emphasised with his "Citius. Altius. Fortius."

Get rid of gymnastics, diving, synchronised swimming, boxing, surfing, dressage, martial arts and pole dancing and bring back sports that rely on individuals or teams beating their opponents by being faster, stronger or scoring more (or less in the case of golf).  Sports like Greco-Roman wrestling should be brought back, along with jousting, netball, darts, spear throwing, handball, snooker, and maybe arm wrestling.  The modern pentathlon should have the horse discipline brought back, but as a cross-country event with laser pistol shooting (or perhaps archery) conducted at several points along the course and from horseback.

[Professer E]

Wasn't pigeon shooting an event?

[Lods]

Wasn't pigeon shooting an event?

It was.
In 1900 Donald Macintosh represented Australia and won a Gold and a Bronze.
Killed a total of 40 birds.

Unfortunately the IOC has amended the records so that the events are now classified as non-olympic.

We lose some medals....but think about the pigeons saved.

[DJC]

Wasn't pigeon shooting an event?

It still is but with clay pigeons.  Penny Smith won a dirty gold medal for us.

While it’s probably not on to kill animals at the Olympics, I reckon there would be interest in events like sheep shearing, rabbit skinning and wood chopping.  We might do OK ?

It’s quite poor of the IOC not recognise the original pigeon shooting.  Trap shooting is really just an evolution of the original “sport” … and pigeons are a feral species and pest throughout much of their range.