Your Rio 2016 Summer Olympics anticipation thread!

not sure of all the ins and outs but the IOC's handling of the RUS team seems to have been a total mess. I don't support the entire RUS Olympic squad being banned (because there are several sports, like tennis, where the athletes are much less connected to domestic programs and where the sport already has its own drug-testing procedures) but the loopholes Efimova found were ridiculous.

Ah Frederik what a shithead you are.

x-post: I don't know, afaict the problem was that the russian state put barriers in place to make the sports anti-doping procedures not work. I was thinking more that some sports, such as synchronized diving for instance, probably doesn't benefit from doping as much, and it might be unfair to ban them.

afaict, athletes who could show a clean doping record in international competition independent of Russian domestic testing were mostly cleared to compete by the individual federations. The main national punishment for state involvement is that Russian athletes with prior bans were mostly not allowed to participate, unlike athletes with prior bans from other countries.

The swimming case is mysterious, though, as they banned several athletes with prior convictions and then reversed that ban without any clear public explanation.

Unfortunately it doesn't really prove anything to not have been caught at international competitions, since doping is used mainly during training, and with the goal of the drugs being undetectable at the events. The only reliable method is to have unannounced doping controls during the training period, and those were also obstructed by the Russians, involving help from the FSB.

yes - some sports (like tennis) have independent out-of-competition testing as well. So I don't get why it ever made sense to suspend the entire RUS squad as opposed to on a sport-by-sport basis. (The RUS tennis player who has been caught taking meldonium, Sharapova, has already been suspended by the ITF.)

Yes, it varies sport by sport so some of the ones with long training periods and limited international competition have had blanket bans applied - the entire track and field team is out.

I would guess that swimming has a more rigorous international competition schedule but idk.

Well, problem is that testing really wasn't that independent. The samples were taken to the WADA lab in Moscow, where they were tampered with. FSB would distract WADA testers so they couldn't supervise the testing properly. And some athletes trained in military cities, where civilian testers would have no oversight, iirc. When British testers were put in charge of testing this spring, they reported massive obstruction. When WADA decided to retest B-samples from the Moscow lab, the samples were destroyed or tampered with. So unless the tennis athletes trained abroad - which is definitely possible - the out-of-competition testing proves nothing.

Track-and-field were banned because the original WADA reports from November and January went into details on the organized doping in exactly that sport, not because of anything with training periods and limited competition.

Most of the tennis players do train abroad, as does Efimova - she's based in the US and has an American coach iirc.

In a way, that ban is even more unfair, as the report said that athletic athletes had no choice over whether to dope or not, but were forced to do it if they wanted to be part of the national team.

Efimova has an American coach, yeah. She seems to have kept Russian doctors, though, as meldonium is not approved by the FDA...

Some swimming nerd background info: Morozov and Lobintsev (both sprinters, both on the 4x100 free team that got 4th after loud booing) were named in the McLaren report, but there was no transparency on what they were named *for*. Both train at Trojan/USC and are regularly tested by USADA, so if they had test results 'hidden' by the Moscow lab it's not exactly clear how or when. All the Kazan 2015 Worlds samples have been retested in Barcelona, all clean (or at least that's what we've been told). So that leaves the 2013 Universiade, also in Kazan (Russia dominated - Morozov 2G 1S 1B, Lobintsev 2S, Russia won all 3 men's relays). But we still have no idea what's in the report. Complete mess. Meanwhile Efimova's meldonium use is no worse than any other Russian's (though how did she get it in the US where it's not FDA approved? She's also at USC), but even if she stopped taking it on Dec 31st, she still has the 'advantage' of it in her system, training on a fitness base built on its benefits. What really riled up the swimming community though was her pitifully short ban from 2013 (for a supplement containing DHEA) that was reduced by FINA for literally no reason other than to allow her to compete in a home World Champs, and her utter lack of remorse at the time ("it's just like I've got my driving license back after speeding"). FINA will do nothing about it - they are totally in hock to the Russians (and NBC, for that matter, hence finals finishing at 1am Rio time) and will do anything for their cash. Efimova was Miss July on FINA's 2014 sodding promotional calendar during her ban, ffs! Such a shame, her technique is beautiful to watch.

With the track-and-field band there was an exception made for athletes who could prove they trained outside Russia and submitted to doping agencies in other countries, btw. Darya Klishina was allowed to compete under neutral flag for this reason. Presumably the same exemption should have been made with every other organization.

I think Klishina was exempt because she'd only ever been tested in the US?

I've concluded table tennis is my 'fallback thing to watch if nothing else immediately stands out to me' event. Some NYT piece on noisy Brazilian crowds said that apparently said noise at the venue is throwing a few of the players off because they rely on being able to hear the ball!

I think Klishina was exempt because she'd only ever been tested in the US?

Also va-va-voom.

so i know wente is not liked here but hadn't heard of semenya and the whole transgender thing

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/an-olympic-challenge-testosterone/article31317723/

intersex not trans

the article talks about both

no olympic event is more terrifying than the beam

I just have absolutely no sympathy for Efimova. Saw an interview with her, she's crying and discussing how hard it is, but not a single word about the Russian scandal. Just 'don't judge' and 'everything on the internet is shit'.

no olympic event is more terrifying than the beam

― lex pretend, Tuesday, August 9, 2016 12:39 PM (26 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

agree

omg the fencing! 41-yr-old Hungarian guy was cruising to the gold at 14-9 - wanted to end on a flourish by attacking - and let the 20-yr-old Korean kid take six consecutive points to win.

that was wild ^

Serena down a set and now down a break in the 2nd

Damn, after getting even she just missed six serves in a row to go down a break again

wow she lost :(

Ledecky <3<3<3 so dominant

no olympic event is more terrifying than the beam

― lex pretend, Tuesday, August 9, 2016 12:39 PM (26 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

agree

― Spottie, Wednesday, August 10, 2016 6:07 AM (6 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

would normally agree on sight but the road cycling events this olympics have been especially hairy

in terms of edge-of-your-seat please-don't-fall, it's up there with figure skating for me

the beam i mean

winter sports are a whole other level

21th gold for Phelps

he should donate 10 gold medals to some rando so he can be number one and the rando can tie for #2 with mark spitz

can aly raisman dunk

biles probably can at 4'8"

in terms of edge-of-your-seat please-don't-fall, it's up there with figure skating for me

― have you ever even read The Drudge Report? Have you gone on Stormfron (k3vin k.), Tuesday, August 9, 2016 7:36 PM (3 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Was trying to think of anything else in the summer olympics (sorry don't care about the road race) and maaaaybe the pummel horse? Mens gymnastics in general tho not as interesting to me (outside of the high bar) so my emotional investment isnt as deep. Beam is crazy though it claims victims on the simplest of moves.

Really enjoyed watching Travis Stevens' deep run to the silver medal in Judo today.

i think the vault is potentially more dangerous than the beam (was reading about a vault literally nicknamed the death vault - http://www.wsj.com/articles/the-vault-that-is-too-wild-for-simone-biles-1470539776) but the backflips on the beam - which seem to be a very standard move! - are heart-in-mouth like no other. it's THIS WIDE HOW CAN THEY POSSIBLY DO IT

I dream of a steeplechase x beam combined event

Tonight it's Denmark-Brazil in football. Denmark leads the group with 4 points, Brazil has only 2. Loser will probably be out of the tournament, depending on the result in Iraq-South Africa.

I didn't see the South Africa game but Denmark were terrible against Iraq. I can't see Brazil failing to score for the third consecutive game when the pressure is on.

South Korea vs Mexico should be good.

Denmark were bad against South Africa as well, except for the goalkeeper who had a lot of big saves. He had to. Brazil seems pretty bad as well, though. And they need to win, while Denmark only needs a draw.

I love that one of the cyclists is named Emma Pooley. Hope she wins.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L-J0y-gvQwg

Another silver medal to a Russian drug cheat in womens time trials. Good job to the IOC.

Though complaining about drug cheats in bicycling is pretty pointless, I guess.

was gonna say

It was hard not to be reminded of cheating when the gold medalist was named Armstrong...

that men's all-around gymnastics final! insane quality.