I mean, if they have to have the horse lottery round, why can't they let them all off together for the laser run? Or at equal intervals or something? Your start delay being so wildly impacted by a bolshy horse seems like cruel and unusual punishment.
Coyle and the German girl wouldnt even be engaged on the Laser Run. All their hopes were shattered. Really Really hard luck. We have really had so little luck in these Olympics other than the kind draw Aidan Walsh got. Im sure every country has had a shade of bad luck but in comparison to the medals we won ours hs been horrofic. I doubt GB had 50 hard luck stories.
The concept of the pentathlon is based around the traditional disciplines of combat - shooting, running, fencing, riding etc - and I guess testing a riders ability to handle an unfamiliar horse is a part of that tradition, going all the way back to de Coubertain who devised it. Maybe time to rethink things though, sure there'll be a debate about it anyway.
To be honest I just want the games to be over now. Havents enjoyed a minute since last Sunday.
Out of curiosity why is this event different. Why do you not use your own horse ?
GB have had their fair share of false starts (own fault) crashes (not own fault) and mid race injuries and withdrawals
Was a time if we got 4 medals in a Olympics we nearly have a weeks national holiday..
4 medals is a decent return. Although I think we have the capabilities to try and get 6-8 medals with a little bit more of a push.
We had no luck in those 50/50 situations. O Connor, Sanita, Rhys, Walker, Rory(even ladies been unlucky so far), Coyle and Barr(maybe not medal but top 6 was within reach) were all very unlucky.
With just a bit of luck we could of had 6 medals maybe 7.
If we do get 2 gold's it will be only the 2nd time we have done it with 2 athletes the other in the 30s. The only time we got 3 was Smith so an already good games could be historic by the weeks end.
I agree though that it could have been a little more and we should certainly aim higher next time
When De Coubertin devised the modern pentathlon over a century ago, it was based around the concept of what he believed made up the perfect soldier, so riding and handling an unfamiliar horse was part of that whole concept, something you might have to master if you were in battle as it were. It's tradition basically.
Probably more to do with cost nowadays. Competitors couldnt be hauling horses around the world in a sport with minimal financial reward.
Unlucky?
Ah look..... How was Sunita unlucky? Rory? Walker?
Being beaten in a close contest or not performing on the day isn't bad luck really. It's all about performing under pressure on a given day.
Personally think 5 medals is about par for the course, a second gold would push it from being a decent to a very good games imho.
That's probably true. Though I imagine people will ask if there can't be a better system than pertains now, but I don't know enough about it to have the answer.
I wonder has no flights and strict quarantines anything to do with the massive medal hauls of both Australia and New Zealand?
There are a lot of competitions in the Olympics that don't interest me at all, mainly due to the subjective nature of the scoring.
Anything that needs the opinion of a judge or the cooperation of an animal, I'm out.
Definitely possible I'd say, can't have done any harm anyway. Open to correction but i think all New Zealand's golds have come on the water, apart from 7s rugby. They seem to be very good at targeting events over there.
So no to boxing then. In fairness to judges they have a points system and there are multiple to make it fare. You could say a referee is a judge in a way
Cruel luck on Natalya. It's actually very controversial that she was given a useless and uncooperative horse and that it happened to her and the German girl. A horse playing up to this extent and refusing at smallish fences is not normal.....she has every right to feel devastated. Questions will be asked at how these horses were selected.
I mean boxing has kinda proven to be the most corruptible judges sport in recent years
I doubt it. If anything would it make it harder to go to competitions and all. All top competitors in most countries would have been in there own bubbles anyway. Unless they got qualification due to the years deferment
Not exacly my point. More to do with testers not being able to enter the country without giving notice and quarantine. Just an observation.
Way OTT usual exaggeration
You will always have some fights that are questionable...and even with very close fights you will have idiots shouting robbery and corruption..
The very nature of the sport and the subjectivity will never have a syste that is perfect Vast majority fights see the right winner
I think the fact that it's in the same hemisphere and time zone must also have been a help. I'm guessing many Australian and New Zealand athletes across all sports have actually competed in Japan before, unlike their European and US counterparts.
Well that's a fairly bizarre sideways allegation! I was trying to figure out what you might have meant by your original post, and never got near that for a guess.
Do you think their medals are suspicious?
I'd happily spend all day watching Allyson Felix run, she's just elegance in motion.
But I also doubt GB had 50 good luck stories either to match the Aidan Walsh one you mention. Thats sport.
To be fair Natalyia acknowledged in her interview that she got the good draw for horses in the two previous olympics. I used to think over the last few years we should be trying to get more athletes involved in this sport but when you see what happened today you would be crazy thinking of taking it up if all ready good at another sport
But they'd be testing their own athletes wouldn't they? Unless you're suggesting the Australian OC would be engaged in some sort of conspiracy to enable doping, but I dont think you are.
Did all the judges from Rio not get banned after ?
Also I thought the IOC took over judging this time because the boxing crowd was so dodgy.
So it wasnt questionable it was proven to actually be dodgy
Oh drugs. Maybe doubt it as all been tested I say when getting a medal
They did indeed. AIBA were removed from this Olympics and not allowed judge any boxing bout (quite rightly too....they are clearly dodgy operators).
I say after Rio and how public it was I say it was making more sure.
