All Things 2024 Olympics!!

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Gopher_In_NYC

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I love the Olympics and will watch a ton, sorry Twins🥲

Thought it would be fun to start a thread dedicated to it.

Congrats to Simone Biles for making the team at 27, which is ancient for gymnastics; the average age of the team is 20 apparently.

I respect her so much for taking a break and advocating for herself and her mental health; I can’t imagine how many people she may have helped by doing so.

Can’t wait for track and field, swimming and gymnastics.

This is one of my bucket list items to do in a fun foreign country.
 

Gopher_In_NYC said:
I love the Olympics and will watch a ton, sorry Twins🥲

Thought it would be fun to start a thread dedicated to it.

Congrats to Simone Biles for making the team at 27, which is ancient for gymnastics; the average age of the team is 20 apparently.

I respect her so much for taking a break and advocating for herself and her mental health; I can’t imagine how many people she may have helped by doing so.

Can’t wait for track and field, swimming and gymnastics.

This is one of my bucket list items to do in a fun foreign country.
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Great thread.

Disappointed the Gopher gymnast Shane Wiskus was only selected as an alternate despite finishing 3rd overall.

Agreed on Biles, she's in the conversation as greatest athlete alive right now. If she can come back and win Gold after what happened in 2020 it would be remarkable.

Go USA!!
 





1st - if I am correct, Paris is 6 hours ahead of the
Eastern US time zone.

tried to find a concise schedule of events, but so far, not much luck. by my count, 39 sports are listed.

a few notes
Soccer - group stage begins Weds, July 24 (US Men play France at 2pm Central time. US women meet Zambia on July 25 at 2pm Central time)
Opening Ceremonies - Fri, July 26
Basketball - begins Sat, July 27
Boxing - begins Sat, July 27
Gymnastics - also begins July 27
Swimming - begins July 27
Track & Field - looks like it starts Thurs, Aug 1

(don't want to go on a long rant, but there are just too many sports and too many non-traditional sports at the Olympics. I mean, Skateboarding - Sport Climbing - WTF?)

But, since I signed up for a year of Peacock for $19.99, I will at least have the ability to watch most of the events I care about.
 

I used to volunteer for the Winter Olympics, I worked on the women's alpine events, but stopped when the games were held in Russia (couldn't get away from work that year). If you really want to be part of the "Olympic Experience", volunteer to help out at the games. BTW, the best slots for volunteers are translators as they get to go to all the high-end parties, the worst job are the dentists, don't volunteer to be a dentist.
 

Full Speed Ahead said:
I used to volunteer for the Winter Olympics, I worked on the women's alpine events, but stopped when the games were held in Russia (couldn't get away from work that year). If you really want to be part of the "Olympic Experience", volunteer to help out at the games. BTW, the best slots for volunteers are translators as they get to go to all the high-end parties, the worst job are the dentists, don't volunteer to be a dentist.
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Very Interesting.

Can you give a little info on what your volunteer experience entailed?

Who’s the most famous skier you saw up close and personal? Do you get comps for other events?

Also, is there a call for lots of dental work? I could see with winter sports, more so than summer.
 
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I'm looking forward to AI Al Michaels.
 




Gopher_In_NYC said:
Very Interesting.

Can you give a little info on what your volunteer experience entailed?
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Wake up early (as in 4AM), set fencing, watch the race, take down fencing, hang out in the evening with other volunteers, and repeat. It's more fun than I make it sound. It's neat being that close to the race.
Gopher_In_NYC said:
Who’s the most famous skier you saw up close and personal? Do you get comps for other events?
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I guess some volunteers would meet a lot of athletes, depends on what you're doing. In my case, I'm just setting fencing for the race, so basically all I saw of the skiers is them flying by at 60 mph (and during course inspection, but you'd never talk with an athlete during the inspection). There is a bit of a core group of Minnesotans that helped with the games and I know a few of them seemed to know the Vonn family (or at least said they did), but mostly it's people from out east.
Gopher_In_NYC said:
Also, is there a call for lots of dental work? I could see with winter sports, more so than summer.
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The dental work is sort of a legend running around the volunteers. The story is that each athlete in the Olympics gets to bring their own team of coaches, and those coaches (plus the athletes) get free medical care during the games. So, if you have a relative who hasn't seen a dentist in say 40 years and now needs new teeth, bring 'em along to the games with you as your "coach".
 

Full Speed Ahead said:
Wake up early (as in 4AM), set fencing, watch the race, take down fencing, hang out in the evening with other volunteers, and repeat. It's more fun than I make it sound. It's neat being that close to the race.

I guess some volunteers would meet a lot of athletes, depends on what you're doing. In my case, I'm just setting fencing for the race, so basically all I saw of the skiers is them flying by at 60 mph (and during course inspection, but you'd never talk with an athlete during the inspection). There is a bit of a core group of Minnesotans that helped with the games and I know a few of them seemed to know the Vonn family (or at least said they did), but mostly it's people from out east.

The dental work is sort of a legend running around the volunteers. The story is that each athlete in the Olympics gets to bring their own team of coaches, and those coaches (plus the athletes) get free medical care during the games. So, if you have a relative who hasn't seen a dentist in say 40 years and now needs new teeth, bring 'em along to the games with you as your "coach".
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Thanks for the detailed response: great stuff and what an amazing experience😃.

The “dental work” is a great anecdote and there’s a good book/movie in there somewhere.
 







I still enjoy the Olympics, but I'm getting tired of all the cheating/doping etc.
 

#2Gopher said:
I still enjoy the Olympics, but I'm getting tired of all the cheating/doping etc.
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My enjoyment pretty much turned on a dime with Ben Johnson. Cold War ending and allowing full blown Pros in made it game-set-match as far as following the event for me.
 


Per Axios:

1,000 suspected spies have been blocked from attending the Paris Olympics, AP reports.
  • French officials said they've conducted 1 million background checks ahead of the Games and have turned away about 5,000 people — the 1,000 potential spies and another 4,000 who were flagged for political extremism or other security concerns.
🇫🇷 "We're here to make sure ... that sport isn't used for spying, for cyberattacks or to criticize and sometimes even lie about France and the French," Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said.

Go USA!!
 


The games for the US start tomorrow: USA vs France in soccer.

Kick off: 3pm ET, Wednesday (July 24)
Location: Marseille
TV Channel: USA Network
 

Watching the US Men's soccer team vs. France. Reminder - this is not the National team - there is an age limit so this is a younger group. France up 3-0 at the 87-minute mark. No offense for US. had one decent scoring chance and hit the crossbar. Don't see a medal coming for this team.
 


short ornery norwegian said:
Watching the US Men's soccer team vs. France. Reminder - this is not the National team - there is an age limit so this is a younger group. France up 3-0 at the 87-minute mark. No offense for US. had one decent scoring chance and hit the crossbar. Don't see a medal coming for this team.
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That it was 0-0 at HT surprised me. I thought the back line did a great job keeping organized for that half.

No Pepi or Reyna (who are both age eligible). Blame PSV and Dortmund for not releasing them. Unlike official FIFA tournaments, clubs do not have to release players for the Olympics.
 



gophersfan said:
apnews.com

Canada women's soccer coach suspended over drone scandal, which may be part of 'systemic' issues

Canada women’s soccer coach Bev Priestman has been suspended and removed from the team for the Paris Olympics in the wake of a drone-spying scandal.
apnews.com apnews.com
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giphy.gif
 


GophersInIowa said:
I've been watching a descent amount of the Rugby 7's games. Quick and fun, lots of action.
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Rugby 7's is perfect for the American short attention span. Seven on a side makes the action go very fast, and 7 minute halves means you don't have to pay attention very long.
 

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