The 2004 Summer Olympics From Athens, Greece

[nausicaa]

SPOILER:

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Women's gymnastics team finals - Romania gold, U.S. silver, Russia bronze. That makes it double silver for U.S. gymnastics. Not shabby at all, considering what happened in 2000.

The Romanians were rock solid, the Americans less so, and nobody on the Russian team fell (a spectacular achievement in itself , considering they weren't even considered medal contenders going in.) Carly Patterson refuses Sveta the Diva's offer of an hug. [edited: my mistake, everybody hugged...russians, romanians, americans, etc]

I'm very upset over China's shut-out, though. Even more ignominous than the men's yesterday. Dammit, get your act together, girls! What's the point of having a communist sports system if you can't reap in the results? (j/k!)

[pineapple]

I apologize on behalf of all Canadians for this stupid turnip

Oh, so that's who that intruder was during the sychronized diving competition.

[coksy]

I'm curious about why beach volleyball is even an Olympic sport.
I mean, come on, it's ridiculous.
There is already regular "wearing clothes" volleyball on the schedule.
They had a story on The Today Show this morning about a bunch of bikini clad dancers from the Canary Islands who do little dance routines during the breaks in the matches.

I like watching this sport, and not for the women in bikinis :rolleyes
I just think it's interesting and seems hard. I suck when I play in a team of 6 and only need to cover a small part, and they are 2 to cover the entire place and do it very well.

Now I need to leave this thread before i accidently read the spoiler about women's gymnastics

[cablejockey]

I had almost forgotten Svetlana the diva of gymnastics, until I saw her team coming in. At first I didn't recognize her, she seems so thin, this time around. I loved it when she was on Rosie Odonnel's show during last summer olympics.

[Alexa]

This is what I love to see, a guy acheiving his dream, he got a bronze but to him it was awesome. This to me means the Olympics not how much pressure a swimmer has on him to achieve 8 gold medals.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/olym...ng/3571638.stm

"This is just brilliant - it's what the Games are all about. I have spent my whole life wanting to get a medal at the Olympics. "

[mstvfan]

Originally Posted by BravoFan
I absolutely feel like I must comment on the attire that the women's beach volleyball players wear.

When did this tradition start? Has it always been this way?

I don't know, it makes ME uncomfortable watching them (not because the bikinis are pretty skimpy, but because it looks like it would be uncomfortable!) When you're participating in sports the last thing you want to worry about is making sure that your underwear/bikini isn't riding up.

Seems like it would have been more sensible to choose something like the cute "boy short" swim suits for women.

Anyone else curious about this?

I agree with your observations, except, where are they going to ride TO? Those suckers are already as far "up" as they can go.
I think the boy shorts idea is a good one too. I'm not sure how much better the people are supposed to play with these rigs but I'd bet they'd be better at the game if they weren't in major pain.
I'm not really too interested in this competition. I would hate for them to eliminate it though, for Paulie's sake.

So far, I have only watched a few minutes of the Olympics, and I had the unfortunate timing to get in on the ladies volleyball match/bikini show. I was slightly grossed out with the skimpiness of their outfits, too. I figured they were likely to cut into the skin and cause irritation, especially if sand got into them. I also felt like they were playing out in their underwear rather than in a worldwide sporting event.

If it were me, I would not be able to concentrate on my game for worrying about an accidental "wardrobe malfunction" at any moment. I'm sure the guys like to watch, but I would even say the same for the swimming guys in their little speedos. While we ladies would enjoy the eye candy also, I think the athletes have crossed the fine line between dressing for comfort and performance and flashing their assets for all the world to see.

[Jaycee0521]

He won another one... 4x200 freestyle relay with aussies a very close second...

side note... too bad popov didn't qualify... wouldve been one of the best races with hoogie thorpe and popov and schoeman on the side. oh well...

[joeguy]

I apologize on behalf of all Canadians for this stupid turnip

ND PLEASE EXPLAIN TO ME ABOUT ALL THE SECURITY THATS SUPPOSE TO BE IN PLACE AND BINKY THE BALLERINA CAN GET BY AND JUMP OFF THE BOARD IN THE MIDDLE OF A COMPETITION?????????

[joeguy]

I love the fact that the american woman in sabre fencing, won the gold and she wasn't suppose to be on the team cause she was "ranked" so low and then got on when someone dropped out, just goes to show ya, that anyone can do good enough to win a medal. It just takes courage and determination

[combatcutie]

Congratulations to the mens relay team for taking the gold

womens gymnastics with silver

and everyone else who placed