Rio Olympics 2016 thread

[remydat]

That is pretty wild.
Phelps is a machine... It's almost inhuman what he's done.

It was an especially nice moment that Phelps estranged father could watch him compete as well.

 

[Monster]

Kucher got bronze in golf.
Nicest guy on tour... Congrats.

 

[xer0h0ur]

US Women's VB is in a heated battle with the right now.

The beach volleyball quarter finals between Brazil and Switzerland was heated as fuck.

 

[ruprecht]

The beach volleyball quarter finals between Brazil and Switzerland was heated as fuck.

Plus who doesnt want to lick some beach volleyball snatch

 

[xer0h0ur]

Plus who doesnt want to lick some beach volleyball snatch

Clearly bitches in bikinis is the only reason I was watching. It just turned out to be a great match too.

 

[remydat]

Wow, Michael Johnson world record broken by South African dude out of lane 8. First time someone has won gold from lane 8.

 

[Spunky Porkstacker]

Plus who doesnt want to lick some beach volleyball snatch

Yep, the only thing is the part when you are spitting out sand.

 

[Houston]

What an amazing 400m run. Thanks to that guy and Usain Bolt, I've seen all the major male track records broken live.

 

[remydat]

US Women's VB is in a heated battle with the right now.

It's probably not necessary to use a slur in order to get your point across dude.

 

[Houston]

 

[remydat]

And Bolt does it again. Dude is unreal!

 

[Warden of the Northeast]

Yep, the only thing is the part when you are spitting out sand.

And the crabs...am I right?

 

[SilenceS]

Originally Posted by HawkBear View Post

US Women's VB is in a heated battle with the right now.

And nobody seems to have a problem with this? Am I dreaming?

What? The post was deleted by me and it seems you tried to bring it back up. So, now, your post will be deleted by me.

 

[dweebs19]

I'm surprised to have seen MJ's 400m record fall. wow...that was impressive. From lane 8 nonetheless. Give this guy lane 4, and I think he could run sub 43. Ridiculous. Also Usain Bolt....wow...could end up retiring without ever having lost an event in the olympics. Could possible be one of the best olympians of all time. Before people come in chiming in about Pjelps, I know he's great but he does a very upperclass type sport. Everyone is born having the ability to run. So that's why I kinda value what Bolt has done. Not to take anything away from Phelps...because that is ridiculous, but he has lost races in swimming while Bolt could retire after Rio without ever having lost an event.

Now, that Ethiopian girl who destroyed the women's 10K WR...wow...by 14 seconds nonetheless. A record that was set in 1993 and with nobody ever getting any closer than 22 secs of that record. That is impressive. I'm glad to be witnessing some of the greatest athletic performances in my lifetime. This is ridiculous.

I know none of these people have ever failed a drg test, but I really hope they stay clean.

 

[Houston]

While I do appreciate that Phelps and other swimmers are basically work horses (in and out of the pool for new races every 30 mins or so), I can't help but take into account how many events they can possibly medal in. The world's best tennis player for example can win what at the Olympics; singles, doubles, and mixed doubles? Three gold medals, something Michael Phelps can get in one night. I obviously respect and appreciate that he's the best swimmer ever, but his very high medal count which people throw around a lot, doesn't really mean anything extra to me. By no stretch of the imagination do I consider him the greatest because he has the most Gold. I think as you mentioned, Usain's perfect 9/9 record that he might get (the Jamaican relay team isn't nearly as good as usual with Yohan Blake not being himself) is more impressive.

 

[Monster]

Very impressive... 9.58 will stand for a long time.

 

[Monster]

While I do appreciate that Phelps and other swimmers are basically work horses (in and out of the pool for new races every 30 mins or so), I can't help but take into account how many events they can possibly medal in. The world's best tennis player for example can win what at the Olympics; singles, doubles, and mixed doubles? Three gold medals, something Michael Phelps can get in one night. I obviously respect and appreciate that he's the best swimmer ever, but his very high medal count which people throw around a lot, doesn't really mean anything extra to me. By no stretch of the imagination do I consider him the greatest because he has the most Gold. I think as you mentioned, Usain's perfect 9/9 record that he might get (the Jamaican relay team isn't nearly as good as usual with Yohan Blake not being himself) is more impressive.

These are good points but consider this would be true for all swimmers, with the second highest career swimming gold count being 9. Which until Phelps came along was the same number as the most career track and field golds with Carl Lewis's 9.

 

[Hawkeye OG]

Clearly bitches in bikinis is the only reason I was watching. It just turned out to be a great match too.

This was my wife and I last night. She wasn't pleased.

 

[remydat]

These are good points but consider this would be true for all swimmers, with the second highest career swimming gold count being 9. Which until Phelps came along was the same number as the most career track and field golds with Carl Lewis's 9.

I believe 10 of those medals are in relays which with the US getting more dominant in swimming over the years makes it pretty much guaranteed medals. In some cases, you remove Phelps from the team and they would likely still have won those medals and there was even one instance where Phelps only took part in the heats and the US still went on to win the gold.

By contrast, it is unlikely that without Bolt, Jamaica wins the 4x100m relays because the gap between the Jamaican team and the other teams is really mostly down to Bolt himself. It's also more remarkable that Jamaica can field a team of 4 runners good enough to help Bolt win the gold given the total population of Jamaica is something like 30 times smaller and they are much poorer than the US.

Not to mention that running as a whole is practiced in some form or fashion by a much larger pool of people than swimming. In a country like America, you still have over half the population that can't swim or don't know all the elements of swimming. That number is much higher in less developed countries. So the talent pool Phelps is ultimately competing against is much smaller than runners because damn near everyone save those with disabilities or injuries can run.

Of course, Phelps is still a once in a lifetime athlete but the most remarkable thing about him is his endurance. There are probably other swimmers out there who if they committed could have mastered several strokes over the same distance but they never had the endurance or desire to do so as they figure it was in their best interest to specialize.

So I would say in terms of pure dominance, I'd take Bolt. In terms of the greatest endurance athlete if by endurance we mean the number of times an athlete has to compete in order to win medals then I'd take Phelps. His recovery time is just remarkable.

 

[Monster]

Good points Remy. It is apples and oranges.
Both are the goats of their trade.

I would say Phelps 2 1/2 times the golds of his nearest peer is greater.