London 2012 Olympics Thread - 27/7/12 - 12/8/12

[Treecko]

The Opening Ceremony was pretty spectacular. I wouldn't say it was as spectacular as Beijing's (particularly the cauldron lighting. Which still takes my breathe away watching), but still fantastic.

I'm currently watching cycling , not really pay attention though, so not sure who's winning.

I'm mostly interested in seeing football and basketball. Apparently there's also a Malaysian shooter who is 8 months pregnant. That sounds pretty interesting to watch her shoot with a baby in her.

 

[Mr Cat Dog]

I was pleasantly surprised by the Opening Ceremony. The first part - with the countryside being torn apart by Kenneth Branagh and the Industrial Revolution - was suitably brilliant and bonkers all at the same time, with the rise of the towers and the smelting of the Olympic rings looking like something out of LotR. The Queen's introduction was kind of inspired, and while no one was expecting her to actually parachute out of a helicopter, that she appeared at all in the pre-made film with Daniel Craig was kind of cool! The NHS/Children's literature segment was also suitably bonkers, although it was worth it to see Voldemort defeated by a phalanx of Mary Poppinses. Still, I dunno how much of that the rest of the world would have gotten. Then it all ground to a halt with that boring-ass 'let's salute British culture!' gimmick with the lost phone. At least it had a nice punchline with Tim Berners-Lee at the end. The Parade of Nations was the typical snooze-fest we'd been led to expect, although I did laugh at some of the outfits that were worn - berets? Really, USA? - but now I empathise with people who think the Oscars are too long and drawn out. Still, the Arctic Monkeys made themselves relevant once again. Good for them! And then the final lighting of the cauldron was all kinds of great. And the bike doves! Oh, and Paul McCartney... because it's like a law that he has to be at every single important British thing ever ever ever.

So, on the whole, I liked it a lot. It was quirky, eccentric and positively weird, but most of it seemed to work in its favour. And now on to the rest of the games! :D

 

[Mentalii]

I loved the opening ceremony, it was awesome. They aimed for originality, and it was very well done. The Mr Bean part was great x)
And then, this first day was pretty interesting. It's always pleasant to watch the JO, even though I'm not a big fan of sports.

 

[Bluerang1]

The gymnasts are really good. Got me interested in the sport.

 

[Firox]

I'm keeping up with the football portion both men's and the women's. During commercials I'll switch over to the Olympics (what ever sport is on). Its fun to watch various sports at ones - football is my choice. I'm cheering for Japan in both Men and the Wormen

 

[Mentalii]

Ahh american gymnasts were excellent, that'll be hard to catch up with them. Some little errors, but it was still awesome.
Beth Tweddle was very impressive on the uneven bars. Just... Wow.
Then, the swimming, both of the finals were great. It was worth seeing !

 

[Captain Fabio]

Well done Zoe Smith; 18 year old British girl breaks the British record in the woman's weightlifting! :3333

Also, the Archery has been my favourite so far.​

​

 

[Esper]

Finally got to the opening ceremony. The lost phone love story was very uninteresting, and Sir Paul can't sing anymore, but aside from that I liked everything. (And Cat Dog, speaking as an American I did get most of what I saw, and I've even heard of Great Ormond Street Hospital). I was really annoyed when I learned that the American broadcasts cut out the salute the health care, and glad I didn't watch it live and have that odd experience.

James Bond with corgis is my new favorite thing, I think. Aside from these guys:

But the outfits during the parade. America's was bad, yeah, but did you see what Germany had? Pink and baby blue.

 

[Golurks Were Meant to Fly]

Well done Zoe Smith; 18 year old British girl breaks the British record in the woman's weightlifting! :3333

Also, the Archery has been my favourite so far.​

Speaking of women's weightlifting, did anyone see the girl from kazakhstan? She lifted, what, 131 lbs?! And she SMILED right after, as if it was as easy as picking up a pencil or something. She set a bunch of records too!

And yay American gymnasts! :]

Also, does anyone know how Italy was able to get gold bronze and silver in women's fencing?

 

[Treecko]

experience.

James Bond with corgis is my new favorite thing, I think. Aside from these guys:

But the outfits during the parade. America's was bad, yeah, but did you see what Germany had? Pink and baby blue.

I love how much spirit those guys had. They had no country to represent themselves and yet they we very proud and excited to be there. They had the most enthusiams I've seen at any Parade of Nations. You can tell that it doesn't matter to them if they don't win any medal, they were there to just have fun doing sports they loved.

Germany outfits....yeah I said to my brother, "Hitler is probably rolling in his grave after seeing Germany's outfits." lol. They were just bad.

 

[Lord Varion]

Might be a litte late for this, but did anyone notice the tardis noises in the background of the opening ceremony?

I did, thought I was just missing Doctor Who too much but,

The Doctor Who official Facebook page even said it was true. c:

 

[Mew~]

What exactly did the Opening Ceremony have to do with sport?

 

[Weeaboo Name]

The ceremony was more to do with the UK than sport.

Also.

4 years late but whatever. Go Matsuda.

 

[Treecko]

What exactly did the Opening Ceremony have to do with sport?

The ceremony was more to do with the UK than sport.

It doesn't have to do with sports, they usually don't really. Beijing's was about Chinese's culture.

Anyway The USA has been lacking in swimming, but congratulation to Missy Franklin for getting gold yesterday!

 

[Richard Nixon]

Japan messed up Britain's chance of a silver medal in gymnastics.

 

[Lord Varion]

What exactly did the Opening Ceremony have to do with sport?

Nothing.
But it had something to do with the olympics.
Which is what this thread is about.

 

[Weeaboo Name]

Japan messed up Britain's chance of a silver medal in gymnastics.

Lots of butthurt on my facebook wall after that.

 

[Mew~]

Nothing.
But it had something to do with the olympics.
Which is what this thread is about.

Last I checked the olympics was about sport. I kind of liked the opening event anyway, it's wasn't very Olympian. I mean, like these two kids dancing and texting and urggg...

Anyway The USA has been lacking in swimming

Didn't Matt Grevers win gold in two events I think, and Rebecca Soni. What really impressed me was that Lithuanian 15 year old girl, she was in complete shock after she'd won gold.

Japan messed up Britain's chance of a silver medal in gymnastics.

Haha, that was annoying. Though, they did say it was their first medal in the event, their last one being 100 years ago. Team GB certainly did do well!

 

[Bluerang1]

Michael Phelps has broken the most decorated Olympian record. Great job to him.

And the Fab Five, US Gymnasts, did great and earned Gold medals.

 

[Mr Cat Dog]

Good on ol' Sideburns for winning both the Tour de France and the Time Trial. I know my dad will be happy with that result, as he's big into cycling.

For me, though, the most emotional moment of these games has had nothing to do with nationalist pride or patriotism or anything like that. Just watching Chad le Clos of South Africa on the gold medal podium after defeating Michael Phelps in the 200m butterfly and having him tear up next to his hero was just strangely beautiful to watch. And when the BBC interviewed his father afterwards, I almost wanted to cry it was so emotional! And I don't particularly care about swimming, Michael Phelps OR South Africa! It was just the culmination of so many things that made that moment so emotionally powerful.