How excited are you about the Olympics?

[Wintermute]

^ I saw on BBC News that London is basically empty, as the regular tourists have decided not to come because of all the supposed traffic problems with the Olympics, and everyone else is just spending their money at the Olympics...

The decline in tourism was predicted many months ago and rubbished by the Games organisers

[de Selby]

Olympic tv is great for painting to. I only have to look up for the duration of the events and the rest is soothing waffle.

Overall I actually enjoy watching people put in supreme effort to doing really well at something. It's like Golden Demons but for running and jumping .

The ceremonies, ludicrous sponsorship deals and general disruption are obviously pretty terrible, but have not affected me so far.

[Arianwen]

Sadly my detailed views on the Olympics cannot be posted without dragging this thread into P 'n' R. Suffice to say, while I am all in support of the sports/athleticism side of it (lack of DH aside), I do not agree with the way the UK government have handled it at all.

[Fizzy]

I really do hate it. To many sit around watching it and it is all over the news and papers. I really do care more about bombings down in the middle east than the olympics.

But winter olympics are far worse here in sweden. Every little person shouts about it on the bus. I could not care less.

[forthegloryofkazadekrund]

I really do hate it. To many sit around watching it and it is all over the news and papers. I really do care more about bombings down in the middle east than the olympics.

Its beginning to annoy me a lot now, everytime i sit down to watch the news its nothing but the Olympics, every time and nearly all of it dedicated to it, im sure there is other things going on.
Be glad when its over

[danny-d-b]

well the cricket is back on, back to spending 10 mins looking over the BBC website to see whats going on and watching the highlights is all the oylmpics needs ATM

[Melkanador]

Olympics are nowadays not very intresting to me due to the doping some/most of the athletes do.

All this half-heartly done anti-doping campaigns/tests are just eye-candy.

They should encourage all the athletes to use doping to enhance their performances. So everyone has the same opportunities.

[Dylius]

Olympics are nowadays not very intresting to me due to the doping some/most of the athletes do.

All this half-heartly done anti-doping campaigns/tests are just eye-candy.

All the athletes take a drug test, so it's almost impossible for them to successfully pull it off (some will probably still try anyway, though). If they're caught, they're disqualified, so it isn't "just eye candy." It's a shame that they're necessary, but there's no other way of enforcing the rule.

They should encourage all the athletes to use doping to enhance their performances. So everyone has the same opportunities.

Or they could just ban them all, so everyone has the same opportunity. Allowing them would not only be dangerous to the athletes, as everyone would be forced to take (possibly) harmful drugs just to compete, it would also send out very negative messages about drug use: "If they can do it, why can't I?"

[Melkanador]

There aren´t any tests available for the latest doping substances.

The tests are always outrun by new substances.

How many one medals winners are there who never achieved anything close to their time/performance at the Olympics? Far too many.

I agree that the OG should be either totally without drugs or with the same drugs available for everyone. I would prefer the former, but knowing human egoism, the later is far closer to what happens nowadays at the OG.

[Wintermute]

There aren´t any tests available for the latest doping substances.

The tests are always outrun by new substances.

This why samples taken are retained for 9 years in order to combat this.

[Melkanador]

This why samples taken are retained for 9 years in order to combat this.

Sure, but it remains that at the OG (& most other sport events) the outcome is biased due to possible/probable doping.

And most athletes earn most of their money after a medall success/OR/WR so if they´re found out guilty of doping it doesn´t really matter to them financially.

[Scammel]

Weather good, toilets plentiful, food decent, great atmosphere, games fantastic. Glad I went and 'pooh to you with knobs on' to the naysayers.

[TheBigBadWolf]

Sure, but it remains that at the OG (& most other sport events) the outcome is biased due to possible/probable doping.

Just utter rubbish.


OT, I am quite enjoying it, I visited the site while it was under construction, the company I work for built the Aquatics centre.

[Burnthem]

And Bolt does it again, incredible race.

[Cosmic_Girl]

Love watching Gymnastics (floor and apparatus), Sync Swimming and Diving because they're really artistic and beautiful sports to watch but anything Australia is competing in is worth a watch, AUSSIE, AUSSIE, AUSSIE! (we're not doing so well atm, but we'll rally!)

Cosmic.

[VanHel]

Sadly it seems that they haven't shown the Fencing in the US. Didn't see the opening (had to work) but my understanding is that they did a tribute to British authors and didn't include Neil Gaimen, so screw them.

[AndrewGPaul]

Pfft. They didn't mention Douglas Adams, the Venerable Bede, Chaucer, Oscar Wilde or H.G. Wells, either. (or Neil Gaiman, either ).

All in all, I've been surprisingly impressed. I didn't give a monkey's beforehand, but I've ended up watching all sorts of things I wouldn't have tought I would - showjumping, athletics, gymnastics and rowing, among others.

[Hrw-Amen]

Dressage!! Can you really tell me the horse actually enjoys being made to do that, I mean, would you?

[The Dire Troll]

I enjoy watching the olympics, but it confuses me what dressage is and why it is in the olympics. I must of missed the part with the author's cant remember who they referenced, but i was sickened that they let J.K Rowling have a part, but that's just me.

[The Marshall]

I do find it a joke when athletes are kicked out for testing positive for recreational drugs like that American judo guy was.

Of course they're illegal but weed is hardly 'performance enhancing'.