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The London 2012 Olympics - The Events

Just including the women's game would actually be good for gender parity. Because even at the Olympics, like in every other football tournament, the men's competition totally dominates the women's in terms of coverage and interest. Apart from possibly tennis, that doesn't seem to happen in any of the other Olympic events.

The men have the biggest sporting event on the planet, and the incredibly lucrative Premier League. They don't need to have a competition in the Olympics as well, especially if none of the best players are even allowed to take part by their clubs (which effectively is what forces the IOC to create the under-23 rule). Either scrap men's football, or scrap football all together. Football is on bloody non-stop all the time anyway, a lot of us find the obsessive football league coverage beyond tedious, let other sports have their turn for just two weeks. :)
 
Sam said:
Tom said:
The fundamental principle of the Olympics is bringing the world together to compete in a friendly manner. Utilising the most popular sport in the world to capture more people's imaginations globally seems logical to me. Football's popularity is more justification for it being there than anything.
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But it's definitely not the most popular sport at the Olympics, it isn't mentioned much. Probably because there's only two medals in it, and when it's up against sports like tennis, cycling or the 100 metres, people realise how boring it is to watch in comparison.

In every other sport at the Olympics (except boxing), the greatest players of that sport compete for a gold medal. In football, the winners of the Olympic gold medal aren't even remotely close to the best players in the world. Which makes it a bit of a joke, really.
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I cannot challenge the under-23 aspect of your argument as it is indeed a defence mechanism against failure to assemble competitive teams as the money-orientated clubs would block players appearing.

However I feel you are judging interest in the football based on this country and the BBC's coverage. There's the situation where this British team is alien to most people and they cannot engage with it easily (although there was evidence support was building) and the BBC have taken your view that it gets enough coverage at other times - but around the world it's of great interest to people I can assure you.
 
I only just spotted this comment but I had to come back to it.

mrbrightside said:
The Olympics is about every sport coming together, not just showcasing the ones that don't get seen. We see a lot of athletics on the BBC, does that mean that we should scrap track and field?
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You're comparing the representation of Track and Field to that of Football? That's like comparing a glass of water to the ocean. In this country Football overpowers all other sports. Just read the last few pages of this topic. Today has been one of our most successful sporting days ever and yet all that's really being discussed is losing at Football and a bit of Tennis (which also has the same popularity issue just not quite to the same degree).

I don't have an issue with Football being in the Olympics I just wish that for two weeks we could enjoy the many athletic skills of this country and not just the best person for kicking a ball around. It just doesn't feel right to see an athlete put so much effort into their sport that they literally can't stand afterwards but that doesn't matter because England are playing Football!
 
Tim said:
I only just spotted this comment but I had to come back to it.

mrbrightside said:
The Olympics is about every sport coming together, not just showcasing the ones that don't get seen. We see a lot of athletics on the BBC, does that mean that we should scrap track and field?
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You're comparing the representation of Track and Field to that of Football? That's like comparing a glass of water to the ocean. In this country Football overpowers all other sports. Just read the last few pages of this topic. Today has been one of our most successful sporting days ever and yet all that's really being discussed is losing at Football and a bit of Tennis (which also has the same popularity issue just not quite to the same degree).

I don't have an issue with Football being in the Olympics I just wish that for two weeks we could enjoy the many athletic skills of this country and not just the best person for kicking a ball around. It just doesn't feel right to see an athlete put so much effort into their sport that they literally can't stand afterwards but that doesn't matter because England are playing Football!
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I couldn't actually give a hoot about Team GB's men's football team because it's not the England team and therefore I can't get behind them in the same way... I cared about Team GB's womens though and a brief look at my Twitter feed from the last week shows how supportive and into many different sports I have been. I could write gushing paragraphs about how well our sportsmen and women have performed today, but I was just responding to Sam's point that the Olympics should just be for under-represented sports. Athletics is actually given a fair bit of airtime on terrestrial television - so I was just saying how it wasn't under represented but still deserves to be part of the bill.
 
Athletics gets far less than one percent of the coverage that football does on British television.

And table tennis/badminton/diving/etc. less than that. I just wish that there could be two weeks without football. Just two weeks.
 
Sam said:
Just including the women's game would actually be good for gender parity. Because even at the Olympics, like in every other football tournament, the men's competition totally dominates the women's in terms of coverage and interest. Apart from possibly tennis, that doesn't seem to happen in any of the other Olympic events.

The men have the biggest sporting event on the planet, and the incredibly lucrative Premier League. They don't need to have a competition in the Olympics as well, especially if none of the best players are even allowed to take part by their clubs (which effectively is what forces the IOC to create the under-23 rule). Either scrap men's football, or scrap football all together. Football is on bloody non-stop all the time anyway, a lot of us find the obsessive football league coverage beyond tedious, let other sports have their turn for just two weeks. :)
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They'd never include the women's but not the men's, even if it does make more sense logically. The Olympics is about everyone getting a chance to compete in every sport, and if football is included then both gender's must be permitted that chance.
 
mrbrightside said:
Tim said:
I only just spotted this comment but I had to come back to it.

mrbrightside said:
The Olympics is about every sport coming together, not just showcasing the ones that don't get seen. We see a lot of athletics on the BBC, does that mean that we should scrap track and field?
Click to expand...

You're comparing the representation of Track and Field to that of Football? That's like comparing a glass of water to the ocean. In this country Football overpowers all other sports. Just read the last few pages of this topic. Today has been one of our most successful sporting days ever and yet all that's really being discussed is losing at Football and a bit of Tennis (which also has the same popularity issue just not quite to the same degree).

I don't have an issue with Football being in the Olympics I just wish that for two weeks we could enjoy the many athletic skills of this country and not just the best person for kicking a ball around. It just doesn't feel right to see an athlete put so much effort into their sport that they literally can't stand afterwards but that doesn't matter because England are playing Football!
Click to expand...
I couldn't actually give a hoot about Team GB's men's football team because it's not the England team and therefore I can't get behind them in the same way... I cared about Team GB's womens though and a brief look at my Twitter feed from the last week shows how supportive and into many different sports I have been. I could write gushing paragraphs about how well our sportsmen and women have performed today, but I was just responding to Sam's point that the Olympics should just be for under-represented sports. Athletics is actually given a fair bit of airtime on terrestrial television - so I was just saying how it wasn't under represented but still deserves to be part of the bill.
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I wasn't actually saying that you were going on about the Football mrbrightside, That was aimed at everyone. I just quoted your post because it highlighted (to me at least) just how under-represented other sports are in this country compared to Football. It may appear on TV every so often but people don't feel it is weird when I say I don't follow athletics, quite the opposite to the response I get when I say I don't support a Football team.
 
Despite my love of Footie, I haven't really been watching it throughout the Olympics. In all honesty, I'm not bothered that it's in the Olympics, but I wouldn't be bothered it was taken out for the 2016 games in Rio. I think it's been one of the popular sports because football in general is very popular in this country.

Mind you though, I have been watching more sports than I usually do. For Instance, before the Olympics, I didn't watch stuff like Rowing, Canoeing, Swimming, Diving and Track and Field, Now I'm I can't get enough of them! ;D

But yesterday was a truly amazing day for British Sport, 3 Golds in half an hour? We seriously got some amazing athletes! COME ON TEAM GB! ;D
 
Just a note to say if you're here looking for the 'Team GB' debate, you might want to pop over the the politics thread, where it is now residing. I couldn't help but agree with Simon's point, as there hadn't been any discussion of any actual sport for a couple of pages.
 
So proud of Team GB, first time we've had 6 medals in one day for over 100 years (possibly ever). Shame that we crashed out on penalties, but we can't do well at every sport.
 
Sam said:
Athletics gets far less than one percent of the coverage that football does on British television.

And table tennis/badminton/diving/etc. less than that. I just wish that there could be two weeks without football. Just two weeks.
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I agree, for the sake of other sports and players tiring over winter and Easter where more games are played and the weather is always nice around Easter to why not whack a badminton court near Wimbledon eh?
 
Gold medal as well to the Tube, which has broken its personal best on two consecutive days. Pretty good considering it's 149. :)

BBC News said:
London 2012: Games bring record London Underground users
More people used the London Underground on Thursday than any other time in its history.

Transport for London said 4.31 million passengers used the Tube that day, breaking the record set on Wednesday, when 4.25 million used the network.

In the same week last year, daily Tube passenger numbers were about 3.8 million.

There have also been record figures for people using the cycle hire scheme and the Docklands Light Railway (DLR).

The previous busiest day in the Tube's history was 9 December 2011, when Christmas shoppers helped raise the figure to 4.17 million, according to Transport for London (TfL) figures.

The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, said: "Sporting records are being smashed on a daily basis in London, and our world-famous Tube is breaking a few records of its own."

The DLR also carried record passengers on Monday 30 July, with almost 500,000 passengers, a 65% increase on normal levels.

The Barclays Cycle Hire scheme broke its previous record with almost 47,000 hires on 26 July - the most in one day since the initiative launched more than two years ago.

There have been a few delays this week with problems on the Central Line and overcrowding at London Bridge station.

But London's Transport Commissioner, Peter Hendy said: "We're carrying these record numbers and keeping London moving and open for business because people are following our advice and planning their travel.

"What we're seeing is some people avoiding the peak hours and travelling at less busy times.

"I would like to thank our passengers for taking our advice on board and helping the transport network to support a great London 2012 Games."
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We can't make a profit from the Olympics, but this is great for local businesses surely then? London will be thriving again after a stroke of genius with the cheap feel-good Olympic Park entry. I just wish I could go, anyone know what is the average cost of a event now? Also I predict 2 golds tomorrow after a amazing 2 days in a row.
 
Doesn't look as if the London attractions (including Merlin) are doing quite so well though...

A spokesman for Historic Royal Palaces, the independent charity which runs the Tower of London as well as Hampton Court, Kensington Palace, Kew Palace and the Banqueting House in Whitehall, said: ‘Overall the visitor figures across the palaces for the week ending July 29 are down 52 per cent on last year.’
Restaurant takings in central London are down by an average of 40 per cent, while Theatreland has also suffered.
Bosses at Merlin Entertainments, the world’s second largest theme park company, which runs Madame Tussauds, the London Eye, the London Dungeon and the Sea Life centre in the Olympic sailing venue of Weymouth, have been bitterly disappointed by the fall in visitor numbers. It had extended the opening hours of the London Eye from 9pm until midnight, however the expected flood of people has not materialised.
A spokesman said: ‘Undoubtedly the level of early Government warnings telling people to stay out of the capital and other Olympic locations like Weymouth have significantly impacted normal visitation patterns.’ Merlin has introduced a two-for-one ticket offer on its leading London attractions to try to boost trade.
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It’s unfortunate that they’ve seen reduced numbers but it was bound to happen. When you've spent all morning sitting down in one of the sporting arenas you don't want to then go and spend even more money sitting around in another London attraction. I did consider going on The London Eye after visiting on Tuesday (my annual pass was still valid then but it isn't in August) but the friends I was with didn't want to spend any more cash than they already had. That's why we headed over to Hyde Park instead because it was free and out in the excellent weather.

However these attractions should see an extra attendance boost after the games when visitors no longer have as much to do. If the Olympics has been successfully it should also encourage more tourists to come, although that depends on how well the games have sold London as a tourist destination.
 
Stelios said:
...cost of a event now?
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It's still near-impossible to get tickets - I've been trying daily for the past week, for my sister, and it's incredibly difficult as the site still shows many available tickets that actually aren't, though you only find that out when you go through the e tire process (including a 10-15 minute wait).
 
The Psychoaster said:
Doesn't look as if the London attractions (including Merlin) are doing quite so well though...

A spokesman for Historic Royal Palaces, the independent charity which runs the Tower of London as well as Hampton Court, Kensington Palace, Kew Palace and the Banqueting House in Whitehall, said: ‘Overall the visitor figures across the palaces for the week ending July 29 are down 52 per cent on last year.’
Restaurant takings in central London are down by an average of 40 per cent, while Theatreland has also suffered.
Bosses at Merlin Entertainments, the world’s second largest theme park company, which runs Madame Tussauds, the London Eye, the London Dungeon and the Sea Life centre in the Olympic sailing venue of Weymouth, have been bitterly disappointed by the fall in visitor numbers. It had extended the opening hours of the London Eye from 9pm until midnight, however the expected flood of people has not materialised.
A spokesman said: ‘Undoubtedly the level of early Government warnings telling people to stay out of the capital and other Olympic locations like Weymouth have significantly impacted normal visitation patterns.’ Merlin has introduced a two-for-one ticket offer on its leading London attractions to try to boost trade.
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After visiting the London Dungeon on Sunday last week and visiting Eye/Tussauds on Thursday, I was honestly surprised to see all three attractions quiet. Whilst the Eye had at least a 15 minute queue, that was merely compact on the side of the Eye with more than enough space for people to walk through to the County Hall/rest of South Bank. Dungeon and Tussauds, in stark contrast to what everybody would think, were genuinely walk in with little busyness.

As for the Olympics themselves, congratulations to the many athletes who have won medals and broken records so far!
 
This is the worst I've ever seen Federer play. Even Murray is playing far from his best, but it's more than enough to win and he seems certain for gold now.
 
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