2012 London Olympics - Official thread

[never kickt a ball]

People bang on about the scoring in boxing, but 10-8 looked about right to me. Great stuff.

+1

I've been guilty of that deiseach but 10-8 looked about spot on

20 years (and one day) since Michael Carruth won in Barca.

Wasn't sure about the scoring in the second round and had her only win ning the 3rd by 2 by overall it was fair enough. The Russian's tactics were the same as in the world final and bloody southpaws are a mess to fight against so it made for nervy watching. Katie is pure class that trancends our norms of comprehension.

The scoring. One judge had her losing the second round 2-0.

http://www.london2012.com/boxing/event/women-light-60kg/match=bxw060101/index.html

The fight and ceremony:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/olympics/2012/live-video/p00w32lf

[ziggy90]

Clean sweep for Jamaica, chuffed to bits for them. They did their training here in Birmingham and lit up the city with their delightful attitude.

[Minder]

I don't know if any of you are watching BBC at the moment. Michael Johnson is talking about Black v White sprinters. There's been 82 runs of under 10secs in the 100 metres only one of them has been a white man. Johnson reckons it has nothing to do with the gene pool instead it's more to do with environment and commitment. I can't say I agree.

Anyway c'mon Usain.

Matthew Syed had this article today in the Times, he goes into it in more detail in his book, Bounce.


When we say 'blacks' are better at sprinting, we are indulging in an unstated generalisation
Black men have dominated the sprints again. All the finalists in the 100 metres were black, as they have been at every Olympic final for more than a quarter of a century.
The past 25 holders of the world record for the 100 metres have been black and data compiled in 2007 revealed that 494 of the 500 best 100 metres times were recorded by black athletes.
The 200 metres will doubtless be won by a black man tonight, too. Usain Bolt is the hot favourite and Yohan Blake, his fellow Jamaican, could take silver, as he did in the 100 metres. Christophe Lemaitre, of France, who reached the final as a fastest loser last night with a time of 20.03sec, is, perhaps, the only white man with a possibility of making the top five. And even that is a long shot.
The preponderance of blacks in the sprints led to a curious exchange on the BBC on the night of the 100 metres final. Allan Wells was asked by Gabby Logan to describe his emotions when he won the Olympic 100 metres final in Moscow in 1980.


The Scot started a sentence, reconsidered, started once more, and then paused again. If he had been as indecisive on the start line, he would not have made the final.
Eventually he said: "Well, that was the last time a white man was in the Olympic final. And I managed to win it as well." As a statement of fact, it was incontestable, but Logan swiftly and wisely moved the conversation on.
She knew that beneath the surface of what was doubtless intended as an innocent observation lurked a ticking time bomb of political and scientific controversy.
When Lemaitre became the first white man to run under ten seconds in the 100 metres in 2010, it was less a sporting story than an ideological one.


The Frenchman, who did not enter the 100 metres in London because he and his coach concluded that he could not contend for a medal, was dubbed "White Lightning" in the French press and asked a lot of questions about the "racial" distribution of success in sprinting. He was also asked to comment on what this might tell us about the world beyond sport. Little wonder that the Frenchman has seemed, at times, a little bemused.
"We are used to seeing black people winning in the sprints, it has always been about colour, it's nothing new," he said in one interview, adding: "It's always just been black sprinters before because, physically, black people become stronger and faster younger than the rest of us. We always thought they were better built to be athletes than white people. But I think that's too stereotyped because if a white guy works hard, he can also achieve a lot."


The question that underpins the fascination with Lemaitre is simple: is the success of black sprinters based on a genetic advantage? For many, the answer is obvious. What other explanation could there be for why blacks dominate an event that is both objective and transparent? Anything less than an unequivocal "yes" is a testament to the power of political correctness.
But take a look at the data once more: 494 of the 500 fastest times were achieved by black sprinters. But there is something else about these men. Almost all of them were either born in West Africa or can trace their forebears to that region. In other words, East, Southern and other Africans have had almost no success in the sprints. But these athletes are black, too.


The logical fallacy is a simple one. When we say "blacks" are better at sprinting, we are indulging in an unstated generalisation. "Black" is a term that contains all sorts of variety, genetic and otherwise. The pygmies in central Africa, the Nandi and the Masai all have black skin pigmentation.
However, they are, in anatomical terms, very different. To watch a tiny subset of dark-skinned people succeed in a particular event and to infer that this superiority is shared by all dark-skinned people is to go way beyond the available evidence.
Even if we were to redefine sprinting supremacy as a West African trait, we will still confront obvious problems. Not a single sprinting medal has been won at the Olympic Games or the World Championships by Mauritania, Guinea-Bissau, Sierra Leone, the Republic of Guinea, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Togo, Niger, Benin, Mali, The Gambia, Equatorial Guinea, Ghana, Gabon, Senegal, Congo and Angola. Yet these are all West African states.


Success in modern sprinting has, in fact, been concentrated among two population groups: Jamaicans and African Americans. It may be that these two groups have a natural advantage (whether on average in the population or among their fastest sprinters, or both). But this is a world away from the assertion that blacks in general are better sprinters.
Research undertaken in 2003 found that variation in a particular gene called ACTN3 is associated with sprinting success (through its impact on fast-twitch muscle fibres), and that the "sprint" version of this gene is more common among Jamaicans than other populations. This led to headlines suggesting that Jamaican sprinting success is hereditary. A book by a leading French journalist also made this claim.


But the reality is more complex. Although 98 per cent of Jamaicans have the relevant gene, so, too, do 82 per cent of Europeans. In other words, both these populations have a huge majority of individuals with an ACTN3 gene conducive to sprinting success.
Further research has found that Kenyans (who win distance events but have virtually no success in sprinting) have an even higher frequency of the relevant gene than Jamaicans.
It turns out that most of the genetic diversity within mankind is contained within racial groups, rather than between them. At these Olympics, blacks, who have often been under-represented in swimming events, have started making it into the United States team.


It is possible, although not certain, that patterns of national dominance in swimming and athletics will change over time, as the popularity of different sports shifts. What is certain is that the very notion of "black" athletic superiority is deeply misguided.

[Sportacus]

Flick over to BBC three. Flipping heck, go on the Dutch.  Congrats Katie.

[ziggy90]

What is certain is that the very notion of "black" athletic superiority is deeply misguided spot on.

Great endorsement there from the Jamaicans for the city & people of Birmingham .

[Declan]

What a fantastic day. Katie Taylor epitomises everything that is positive about sport. Talented, hard working, gracious, humble and a well deserving Olympic champion. Restores your faith in the values of honesty, integrity and a reminder that you can achieve your dreams. The noise, the fans, the emotions when her hand was raised and when the anthem was played - just great.
An icon no doubt and the very best of luck to her and her family in whatever she chooses to do with the rest of her life.

Then to watch Rushida and Usain just rounded off a wonderful today. Legendary status guaranteed for them all.

Isn't sport just wonderful when it's like this? 

[ziggy90]

What a fantastic day. Katie Taylor epitomises everything that is positive about sport. Talented, hard working, gracious, humble and a well deserving Olympic champion. Restores your faith in the values of honesty, integrity and a reminder that you can achieve your dreams. The noise, the fans, the emotions when her hand was raised and when the anthem was played - just great.
An icon no doubt and the very best of luck to her and her family in whatever she chooses to do with the rest of her life.

Then to watch Rushida and Usain just rounded off a wonderful today. Legendary status guaranteed for them all.

Isn't sport just wonderful when it's like this? 

Yes, great post.

[laoislad]

Clean sweep for Jamaica, chuffed to bits for them. They did their training here in Birmingham and lit up the city with their delightful attitude.

Jamaicans are good alright.
They might try the Winter Olympics next,I reckon they would make a good bobsleigh team.

[ziggy90]

Pretty predictable that one .

[Onion Bag]

Am I hearing right that Katie Taylor fought her last fight today?

[Hoof Hearted]

Bolt stopped his interview so he could pay respect to the Kenyan anthem !

[ziggy90]

And the BBC w**ker interviewer pulled the young lad in instead. Talk about ignorance/arrogance.

[armaghniac]

Men's beach volleyball. What's the purpose of that?

[the Deel Rover]

Lovely interview with Bill and Katie and her dad. Classic line by Kenny Egan at the end about whether Katie stays Amateur or goes pro "it's all about the benjamins " says he  bill didn't know what he was on about.

[All of a Sludden]

Does anyone know what time the Irish fighters are in the ring tomorrow?