Deep, the worst thing in the Olympics, to me, is 4th place. That must be gutting, especially if tenths or hundredths of a second were the difference.
Eh, I dunno...I think when it takes someone as ridiculously head-and-shoulders above the competition as Bolt to get people enthused about watching your sport, that probably doesn't say much for its potential audience.
It seems to me you could just as easily argue (which I wouldn't, but just for the sake of it) that if anything, he's ultimately bad for the sport, because he feeds into the layman's fantasy that greatness=being such a once-in-a-century freak of nature as to make it look positively easy, rather than merely becoming the current best through a combination of talent and gruelingly hard work. 100M records are usually a matter of shaving off a couple hundredths of a second in a race that comes down to a lean, not the visually arresting spectacle of a guy with a dramatically different build from everyone else cruising a full two-tenths of a second ahead of the pack (while visibly slowing down to showboat, and having his shoelace untied...).
David Boudia was amazing ripping those dives, what a performance. I was rooting for Tom Daley too, glad he got the bronze.
What Bob Costas said about Usain Bolt-spot on and finally someone on NBC was honest. I just wonder if he would have said the same thing about an American athlete. He basically said that it's hard to have a higher opinion of Usain Bolt than he has of himself. His act is tiresome, and he manages to make Le Bron et al look humble. People like him usually have a fall, not rooting for that but he needs to be taken down a few notches. A little humility wouldn't hurt.
I wish there was actually some competition in the basketball. Makes it so dull. At least Spain had the lead at one point.
No, Costas would definitely not have said that about an American athlete. I'm sure it annoys him and NBC overall that, as hard as they have tried to make Michael Phelps the star of these games, the real star is Bolt.
Normally the kind of hubris Bolt displays would bother me, but it doesn't with him. Right now he has no reason to be humble. He really is the best sprinter ever and everybody knows it, including his opponents. I think if he tried to be humble it would come across as kind of patronizing the other runners. Plus, I think his pronouncements declaring himself a 'legend' are just another part of his performance like doing the 'royal wave' as he's introduced or clowning around with spectators and race officials. He's putting on a show and track needs that.
If his legend stuff is just part of his schtick, I guess I get that. But last night after he said it for the third time, that was more than enough for me. His talent should just speak for itself. If track needs a show to get more attention I think that could also backfire.
Plus, I think his pronouncements declaring himself a 'legend' are just another part of his performance like doing the 'royal wave' as he's introduced or clowning around with spectators and race officials. He's putting on a show and track needs that.
Normally the kind of hubris Bolt displays would bother me, but it doesn't with him. Right now he has no reason to be humble. He really is the best sprinter ever and everybody knows it, including his opponents. I think if he tried to be humble it would come across as false modesty and patronizing the other runners. Plus, I think his pronouncements declaring himself a 'legend' are just another part of his performance like doing the 'royal wave' as he's introduced or clowning around with spectators and race officials. He's putting on a show and track needs that.
Agree with every word. He shows humility. You just have to give him a chance to do it. I would say he's supremely confident as well he should be. He's just a fascinating figure. I think some people prefer the Tiger Woods 'I'll bore your ass off with greatness' approach. And Tiger Woods isn't the best ever. Not yet. Bolt has created a gulf between him and...let's just say his teammate, the 2nd fastest man ever. Another dude that seems pretty cocky himself. We (the press, the fans) beat the personality straight out of these athletes and then complain when they give interviews like automatons.
I am all for humble athletes. I prefer it that way. I even got on Phelps and Lochte both for being arrogant. But even Phelps isn't as peerless as Bolt. Part of being humble is the recognition that there are others that can do what you do. That's not the case with Bolt. The distance between Phelps and Spitz (for one) is not incredible. Bolt is the best ever, by far, and everyone knows it. Michael Jordan is NOT far and away the best basketball player ever although he is the best basketball player ever. Neither was Muhammad Ali (another cocky, mouthy athlete) far and away the greatest boxer ever or even the greatest heavyweight. He was great but also - a lot of talk. Bolt is the real deal. He's superman. And this sport, like boxing, is global and anyone can relate to trying to run fast. He's playing to a big audience.
And Bolt doesn't belittle his competition. Pulling up before the finish line is showmanship and practically every runner he was up against was displaying some egotistical flash. Believe me, I normally hate cockiness, as I said - Phelps and Lochte were both rubbing me the wrong way.
Anyhow, the moral to the story is that he's trying to entertain people.
It's sports. It's not 'serious business'. It's entertainment. And I say this as a lifetime hardcore sports fan. Also, I've had it with milquetoast athletes, whether they are great or not. Give something back to the fans that make you millionaires. And Bolt probably isn't even that rich. Well, not yet.
All that said, there is a fine line between what Bolt is doing and what Chad Johnson does. Terrell Owens would be a better example because he might be the 2nd best WR to ever play the game. But he is a cancer on his team because of his personality. As far as I can tell, Bolt's teammates like him.
The Kampala Observer (Uganda), Aug. 9
"To say that the Ugandan team will return from the Olympic Games with a medal is similar to believing that Uganda will qualify for the 2014 World Cup...Kiprotich is not expected to mount any challenge in Sunday's marathon"
It's called a 3-turn stagger, that setup (b/c the race proceeds for 3 turns, i.e. the first leg plus 100m of the second, before the second-leg runners break for the inside). The second-leg runner breaks along a marked tangent to the inside of the curve. It's all calculated very precisely to keep each leg at 400m for each runner--though in practice, the 3rd and especially the 2nd leg runners always wind up running a little bit farther, b/c of the running start when taking the baton, the imprecision when following the break path, and the fact that the organizers position the 3rd and 4th leg runners laterally (in order, from the inside, of their team's place in the race) to wait for their incoming teammates, so that some incoming runners have to veer out of place more than others to make the baton exchange.wikiThe 4 x 400 metres relay or long relay is an athletics track event in which teams comprise four runners who each complete 400 metres or one lap. It is traditionally the final event of a track meet. At top class events, the first 500 metres is run in lanes. Start lines are thus staggered over a greater distance than in an individual 400 metres race; the runners then typically move to the inside of the track.
Jason Byrne put it best - "you know the Olympics are nearly over when they start showing the silly walk event"
I like Bolt, but it sickens me that the brilliance of Fraser-Pryce is completely ignored. It's not easy to defend a 100m title, regardless of whether you are a man or a woman.
Marathon was a great race, but how precious are the organisers for not finishing the race in the stadium. That's what makes it cool, reaching the final destination after a marathon trek from the other side of the city. Another, let down to match the lighting of the cauldron by some kids who probably will never win an Olympic medal.
Eh, I dunno...I think when it takes someone as ridiculously head-and-shoulders above the competition as Bolt to get people enthused about watching your sport, that probably doesn't say much for its potential audience. It seems to me you could just as easily argue (which I wouldn't, but just for the sake of it) that if anything, he's ultimately bad for the sport, because he feeds into the layman's fantasy that greatness=being such a once-in-a-century freak of nature as to make it look positively easy, rather than merely becoming the current best through a combination of talent and gruelingly hard work. 100M records are usually a matter of shaving off a couple hundredths of a second in a race that comes down to a lean, not the visually arresting spectacle of a guy with a dramatically different build from everyone else cruising a full two-tenths of a second ahead of the pack (while visibly slowing down to showboat, and having his shoelace untied...).
The Bolt hating is so lame. The guy is by far the most exciting athlete to watch at the Olympics. His actions before and after the races are entertaining and you can tell he's just having a laugh. The people complaining about his ego don't realize that to be great at something, you need to have an ego. It's part of the package and goes a long way to creating greatness. I'd rather have fun watching Bolt and Blake during their post race photoshoot than some boring faux humble 'aw shucks' athlete
The Bolt hating is so lame. The guy is by far the most exciting athlete to watch at the Olympics. His actions before and after the races are entertaining and you can tell he's just having a laugh. The people complaining about his ego don't realize that to be great at something, you need to have an ego. It's part of the package and goes a long way to creating greatness. I'd rather have fun watching Bolt and Blake during their post race photoshoot than some boring faux humble 'aw shucks' athlete
Well of course it would be, but that's not what I was saying at all. It was a devil's advocate argument about what kind of image (and feats) are needed to attract the viewership Bolt does to the men's sprints, in response to someone who was arguing that the lack of recent world records, specifically, is what accounts for the different levels of interest in the men's versus the women's events.This implies that Bolt doesn't train hard, which I'm sure is completely off the mark and unfair.
His actions before and after the races are entertaining and you can tell he's just having a laugh.