Which Olympic sports are you watching?

[Imora]

Wtf? Gabby Douglas is not only an incredible gymnast but is also extremely pretty. Not that her looks matter but what the hell are these people on about?

Tall Poppy Syndrome - see it so much at these type of events.

I especially hate seeing it done to the young ones.

[JesusFightClub]

That picture of Gabby doing a split (while she's upside down) hovering over the beam is amazing.

http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/olymp ... -1.1128000

Olympics! Stop making me cry!

[Imora]

Olympics! Stop making me cry!

Don't care what country you are from, she is amazing!

:clap: :clap:

[Guest Anonymous]

Who saw this and thought "Yeah, let's mock this girl's hair. That's the most important thing in all this"? Cretins!

[pomology]

Who saw this and thought "Yeah, let's mock this girl's hair. That's the most important thing in all this"? Cretins!

Somebody who was obviously jealous of her amazingness. Seriously, I don't care about gymnastics in the least, but the fact that a person could do that? That's freaking amazing.

[pomology]

MY FENCING HERO WON A BRONZE MEDAL! GO USA WOMEN'S TEAM EPEE!

I haven't seen the bout yet--I was out. Which I guess was good because it was apparently SUPER close and I would have been soooo anxious. And wouldn't have eaten lunch. But I can't wait for it to be up. I'm so excited!

I kind of want to be stereotypical and shout USA! USA!, but there is nobody around to hear me (maybe it's better that way). I've already screamed a few times and will surely scream several more once I'm actually able to stream it.

[galaxygirl]

We were watching the Trampoline event yesterday, which was won by a guy named Dong Dong. Which made my husband giggle every time it was said. I'm married to such a 5 year old lol.

[terranova]

We were watching the Trampoline event yesterday, which was won by a guy named Dong Dong. Which made my husband giggle every time it was said. I'm married to such a 5 year old lol.

Hah! We must be married to the same man! Small things for small minds :D

[moreorlessnu]

And this was just the 1st picture I could find. I've seen a better version of this picture where both legs are curved/arched down (like a frown). It's an amazing shot.

[JesusFightClub]

MY FENCING HERO WON A BRONZE MEDAL! GO USA WOMEN'S TEAM EPEE!

I haven't seen the bout yet--I was out. Which I guess was good because it was apparently SUPER close and I would have been soooo anxious. And wouldn't have eaten lunch. But I can't wait for it to be up. I'm so excited!

I kind of want to be stereotypical and shout USA! USA!, but there is nobody around to hear me (maybe it's better that way). I've already screamed a few times and will surely scream several more once I'm actually able to stream it.

Hah, everyone feels nationalistic at the Olympics! I am a Scottish nationalist and still supported Team GB, which made me laugh :lol:

The US competitors are amazing! Their skills are fantastic. I've especially enjoyed seeing you guys in the swimming. Fucking stunning.

[OddlyAmused]

Hah, everyone feels nationalistic at the Olympics! I am a Scottish nationalist and still supported Team GB, which made me laugh :lol:

The US competitors are amazing! Their skills are fantastic. I've especially enjoyed seeing you guys in the swimming. Fucking stunning.

The Olympics are some of the rare times when I actually have patriotic feelings. I have individuals I root for, but I can't help but root for the US team.

[Lillybee]

Fox news is now bitching because the American uniforms aren't patriotic enough. They especially dinged the gymnastic leotards.

[terranova]

I love Usain Bolt, he's everything an athlete should be. He's amazing at his sport, he's fun, seems to enjoy what he does, yet he's respectful, signs autographs and gives tv interviews willingly. I think a lot of athletes could learn from him :)

[PennySycamore]

If other global sporting events of this level were easily seen, I don't think I'd find the Olympics all that great. But outside of a few sports like gymnastics and soccer, how often do you get to see athletes like this? But the nationalism is silly. "Ha, the best [sport] athlete is the world was coincidentally born in our country! Take that!"

It's interesting, but after the Munich massacre where 11 Israeli athletes were killed, there was some talk about downplaying the nationalism aspect. There was even some talk about eliminating national teams. I think that could have worked for the elite athletes, but those athletes whose goal is just to compete would probably not be able to get to the Games.

[freejoytoo]

I found out Jenny Pinches went to school with me today!

[Lillybee]

The soccer match between the US and Canada was awesome. US wins and goes to the gold metal round against Japan.

[JesusFightClub]

The US womens' team are fantastic. They're so skilled!

Because I love bizarre facts - a member of the UK womens' team writes a sports column for a communist newspaper here. Alex Scott, who I think is Arsenal Ladies. I buy this paper (although I shouldn't, wrong tendency and long story). She writes very well and I enjoy it. She is talented on the field and in writing.

[PennySycamore]

I like pretty much everything except boxing and I refuse to watch the men's basketball team from the USA. I'm old school about the Olympics and I don't want to see athletes that get a gajillion dollars a year already compete in them.

I will admit that I wouldn't mind (or wouldn't have minded) seeing Laila Ali box, though. And Zara Philips compete in Eventing, for that matter. Both of these women had dads that were gold medalists and Zara's mother herself competed in the Games in Montral in '76. I remember watching Princess Anne compete.

I am not sick of beach volleyball, but I would like to see other sports (weightlifting? sailing?) covered.

[MaroonMandy]

I just watched Lashinda Demus compete in the 400 meter hurdles and they showed her twin boys yelling "Go Mommy! Go Mommy!" So stinking cute!

[wtfrenchtoast]

I feel like the only person in the world who is bored by the Olympics. I just tried to turn it on and could only stand like five seconds. I like watching gymnastics, but that's about it. Also, the nationalism gets SO annoying. All my roommate talks about lately is how many medals the US has compared to China, and how their athletes are all forced to compete, so we're the "real" winners in terms of medals. Who cares?

Also, one of my friends showed me dressage the other day. Most ridiculous thing ever.

[Naga Viper]

You're not the only person who's not into the Olympics. A fair percentage of my Facebook feed has been taken up by people saying they were already over it—a week ago. Personally, I tend to get pretty excited about the summer games but am more neutral about the winter ones, probably because I've spent most of my life in coastal California and so anything involving snow is kind of abstract to me. Now, if they had games centered around rain and fog...

Going back to Team USA's uniforms for a minute, you know, I like the design of the American flag, but the problem is that it's idiosyncratic enough that it just does not translate to clothing well, if that was the reasoning behind the criticism. If it was the gymnastic team's uniforms not reflecting US colors, though, that I can see (seriously, magenta?). I did like Yamilet Pena's outfits and the way they used the colors of the Dominican Republic's flag without being a literal take on the flag—I just wish I could find a good image of the one she wore for the vault yesterday, which had a better design than this one:

[SpeshulTaterTot]

I saw Usain Bolt run the world record in Berlin and have been a fan ever since. It's one thing to see it on TV, but seeing it live at the stadium is a whole nother story.

I usually really like gymnastics because I was a gymnast a long, long time ago, but I didn't watch that much this year.

I love watching swimming and diving. And today, on my day off, I had plans but have been stuck watching the triathlon for the past hour an a half. Definitely one of my favorite competitions.

[meda]

I must confess, after spending way too many of my formative years involved in the sport, and enduring way to many "have you seen the SNL skit" comments, I was really glad at NBC showed the synchronized swimming this past weekend.

[JesusFightClub]

STT, I cried a stupid amount watching the Chinese gymnasts on the balance beam. :lol:

They were just so adorable, skilled and wee. I could just hug the both of them. And I did cry when their coaches embraced them and at the slo-mo shots as they danced along the beam.

Yesterday (and today) I'm a bit emotional ;) But they are fantastic athletes.

[MaroonMandy]

I get emotional with the Olympics too. We also get "Thank you, Mom" commercials with the athletes (not sure if that's just a U.S. thing) that make me tear up and feel like I need to call my mom just to say hi and I miss you.