Over the next 16 days, athletes will compete in 41 sports — from Archery to Wrestling. This is up from 32 in 2012.
But am I the only one who fears diminishing returns? Nothing indicates this quite like so many top golfers snubbing their sport’s return to the Olympics after 112 years. I decried this in “Withdrawing from Olympics Over Zika a Betrayal of Olympic Spirit and National Pride,” July 2, 2016.
And can someone explain the appeal of Handball? I get that it’s like Water Polo on land. But, like Curling, Handball strikes me as no more worthy of Olympic competition than Netball or Croquet.
In any event, even though I shall be indiscriminate in my viewing (on TV and online), I shall be very discriminate in my commenting here. It might be helpful to know that my favorite sports are Swimming, Track and Field, and (women’s) Gymnastics … in that order.
Which brings me to another quadrennial pet peeve:
I find it more than a little difficult to reconcile all of the Chinese hype about these Olympic Games being such a source of national pride with all of the empty seats at so many events.
(“Beijing Olympics,” The iPINIONS Journal, August 15, 2008)
I am heartened that the Brazilians in 2016 are doing a slightly better job than the Chinese in 2008 and Britons in 2012 of ensuring that Olympians are not competing in virtually empty venues. That’s not saying much, but it’s all the more remarkable considering how many Brazilians are still protesting against hosting these Games.
Cycling
The Men’s Road Race is usually among the first medal events. But, given so many doping scandals in recent years, beginning with Lance Armstrong, cycling seems unworthy of retaining this vanguard position.
In fact, this race’s only redeeming feature now is the scenic views it provides of host cities. And, with all due respect to Beijing and London, Rio takes the gold in this respect – with its invigorating vistas along beachfronts and city streets and deep into botanical gardens and rain forests.
Still, there’s no denying the suspense and thrill of watching bikers crash along the way; and many did. To be fair, it’s an indication of how “savage” the course is that 71 of the 134 bikers did not finish (DNF). They either crashed or conked out.
But road racing must have the most rabid fans of any sport. Only this explains so many of them running along the course and shouting at bikers like stray dogs running along the road and barking at cars.
In any event, Britons expected their compatriot Chris Froome to “cap a perfect summer” by winning Olympic gold in the six-hour, 150-mile Men’s Road Race, after winning the 21-day Tour de France last month. He did not, and it wasn’t even close. He finished 12th.
I was rooting for Richie Porte of Australia – wholly in solidarity with an Aussie mate. But he crashed out.
- Greg Van Avermaet of Belgium won gold in 6:10:05; Jakob Fuglsang of Denmark, silver; and Rafa Majka of Poland, bronze.
Archery
Who knew Archery could be so competitive and exciting?! But what does it say about an Olympic sport that its best athletes sport more beer bellies than six packs? Thank God none of these latter-day Robin Hoods were … men in tights.
Anyway, I watched the USA shoot it out against South Korea for gold in the Men’s Team event. That the USA knocked South Korea out of the gold-medal round at London 2012, and that South Korea came into these Games as the top-ranked team in the world, heightened the drama considerably. I was rooting for the USA.
- South Korea won gold; the USA, silver (again, having lost gold to Italy in 2012); and Australia, bronze.
Women’s Beach Volleyball
Forgive me, but I have to begin with this abiding pet peeve: I am truly dismayed that the IOC allows women Beach Volleyball players to compete dressed (or undressed) more like pole dancers than athletes.
The rationale seems to be that, because they play on the beach, players should don beachwear. Hence players wearing bikini bottoms that look only slightly more modest than thongs.
For the integrity of their sport, however, Beach Volleyball players should be required to dress the way their indoor Volleyball sisters do, namely in form-fitting clothing that at least seems more suited for athletic competition than priapic titillation. And, for what it’s worth, the indoor players are not only every bit as attractive, their game is even more exciting to watch.
Unfortunately, the sexualizing of female athletes, by female athletes themselves no less, is becoming so pervasive that, instead of beach players dressing more like indoor players, many indoor players are dressing like pole dancers too.
Mind you, I doubt any self-respecting female sports fan would want to watch male athletes playing Beach Volleyball wearing nothing but speedos. What’s more, these same female Beach Volleyball players probably wonder why so many men still treat women as sex objects … no matter the context.
Anyway, I did my best to focus on athletics rather than aesthetics as I watched host country Brazil defeat the Czech Republic in a preliminary (Pool B) round.
Swimming
Michael Phelps is the most decorated Olympian of all time – with 22 medals composed of 18 golds, 2 silvers, and 2 bronzes. Therefore, every other swimmer must fully appreciate that he’s the main attraction not only in this sport but at the whole Games.
I doubt he’ll match his haul of 4 golds and 2 silvers from London 2012, let alone the 8 golds from Beijing 2008. But any medal now is just icing on the cake. Yet I’d bet my life savings that he’ll come away with at least 4, including at least 2 golds, which for any other Olympian would be the haul of a lifetime. The wide world of sports is waiting with bated breath.
I’m sure there will be many other exciting races – complete with new Olympic and World records. But I fear all of them will play out like undercards before the main event (i.e., any race featuring Michael Phelps).
This is the decidedly non-Olympic spirit with which I tuned in earlier to watch a Phelpsless night of swimming. There were four event finals, but only two are really worthy of comment: Men’s 400m Freestyle and the Women’s 400m Individual Medley.
Not least because of this:
Thoughts of juiced-up East Germans came to mind when Sun Yang’s first-ever win for a Chinese male swimmer in the Men’s 400m Freestyle (shattering the Olympic record) was followed in short order by Ye Shiwen’s win in the Women’s 400m Individual Medley (shattering the world record).
The lithe-bodied Chinese dominating the world in the graceful sport of Diving is one thing; but in the grueling sport of Swimming? Something smells … fishy.
(“London Olympics: Day 1,” The iPINIONS Journal, July 28, 2012)
As it happens, I was vindicated in 2014 when Chinese anti-doping authorities sanctioned Sun Yang for doping; albeit under circumstances so mysterious no international anti-doping agency fully understands them to this day.
Yet there he was; poised to defend his title in the Men’s 400m Freestyle. Except that:
- Mack Horton of Australia won gold in 3:41.55; Sun Yang of China, silver; and Gabriele Dettit of Italy, bronze.
Ironically, the circumstances surrounding Ye Shiwen since London are even more mysterious. But I see no point in delving into them. Instead, I shall suffice to note that she’s clearly no longer on the juice. Because she failed to defend her title in the Women’s 400m Individual Medley in a fashion every bit as stunning as when she won it. She placed 27th in the heats, ending up way out of qualifying position for this final.
Never mind that the way Katinka Hosszu blew away Ye Shiwen’s world record tonight is every bit as suspicious as the way Shiwen set it four years ago. I’m just sayin….
- Katinka “Iron Lady” Hosszu of Hungary won gold in 4:26.36; Madeline DiRado of the USA, silver; and Mireia Garcia Belmonte of Spain, bronze.
Incidentally, it’s early days but I feel constrained to note that Japanese swimmers are performing in Rio the way Chinese swimmers performed in London.
For example, in the Men’s 400m Individual Medley, which I referenced in yesterday’s commentary, highlighting the way this event humbled former champions Michael Phelps and Ryan Lochte:
Kosuke Hagino of Japan won gold in 4:06.05; Phelps’s protégé Chase Kalisz of the USA, silver; and Daiya Seto also of Japan, bronze.
I’m reserving judgment, but I’ll be keeping a hairy eyeball on them.
Rifle Shooting
I am giving this sport honorable mention only because it handed out the first gold medal of these Games – in Women’s 10m Air Rifle.
- Ginny Thrasher of the USA won gold; Du Li of China, silver; and Yi Siling of China, bronze.
NOTE: I have seized every opportunity over the past 30 years to make the following point with the Aussie mate I mentioned above:
Only racism, colonialism, and imperialism explain why Australia’s original people were and still are branded “(ab)original” – as in (ab)normal. Surely political correctness, which so many white intellectuals champion, demands correction of this manifest distortion of history. Specifically, we should call the whites who colonized Australia, aborigines, and the “originals” they met there, natives.
MEDAL COUNT: USA – 5; China – 5; Japan– 5