Paris Olympics 2024 Discussion Thread

[Lone Wolf]

1 hour ago, Kron said:

@Lone Wolf

 

This benchoth lowda is the reason for vegetarianism. 

 

Before him we used to consume plenty of meat. 

 

The 5th-century CE Tamil scholar Valluvar, in his Tirukkural, taught ahimsa and moral vegetarianism as personal virtues. The plaque in this statue of Valluvar at an animal sanctuary at Tiruvallur describes the Kural's teachings on ahimsa and non-killing, summing them up with the definition of veganism.

Cholas should have executed this dude in worst way possible  Guess he was lucky they weren't that powerful in 5th century ... He should have been sent up north to his contemporary Mihirkula the most brutal King in Indian history lol

[Gollum]

1 hour ago, Lone Wolf said:

Cholas should have executed this dude in worst way possible  Guess he was lucky they weren't that powerful in 5th century ... He should have been sent up north to his contemporary Mihirkula the most brutal King in Indian history lol

 

2 hours ago, Kron said:

@Lone Wolf

 

This benchoth lowda is the reason for vegetarianism. 

 

Before him we used to consume plenty of meat. 

 

The 5th-century CE Tamil scholar Valluvar, in his Tirukkural, taught ahimsa and moral vegetarianism as personal virtues. The plaque in this statue of Valluvar at an animal sanctuary at Tiruvallur describes the Kural's teachings on ahimsa and non-killing, summing them up with the definition of veganism.

Appalling posts. Really hope you guys were drunk when you wrote this, because you are good posters. 

 

@Kron please mind your language here, this is not like X or instagram where you can get away with anything. 

 

Many rishis, saints, Buddha, Mahavira, Sikh Gurus etc. were born in this land and have given us many teachings. You talk as if our people are following all of that, are we truthful? Have we abolished casteism in our society? Do we treat our downtrodden well? Are we charitable? So many other things. You forget all of that and focus on one teaching of theirs and try to link it with why we do poorly at sports. That too considering 97+% of Southies consume meat. 

 

As Indians (doesn't matter which part) we must be proud of a body of work like Thirukkural, and not degrade the person who wrote it. 

Edited August 12, 2024 by Gollum

[Gollum]

1 hour ago, Vicks57 said:

 

@Kron @Lone Wolf

 

Any disrespect to Valluvar will not be tolerated..  Refrain from using foul language to describe him or his book.

 

Majority of Tamils (more than 90 percent) are non-vegetarians.

 

Thirukurral is easily the best book on moral compass. 

 

Bible, Quran, Gita do not stand a chance when compared with Valluvar's Thirukurral.

 

Manusmriti should be spit on and burnt. Old testament is equally violent from my limited exposure.

Don't want to compare religious/ethics/morality texts. But on its own Thirukurral is a legendary piece of work, ahead of its time. Even Modi quotes it so often in his speeches. I must admit I don't know 99% its teachings (have just read one or two translations before, ahead of its time and lots of wisdom), because I can't read Tamil and the beauty of the language probably gets lost in translation.  

 

But all Indians must take pride in such kind of literature (not the controversial or divisive ones), core of our civilization. Our civilizational enemies (Islamists or white nationalists, evangelicals) as such abuse our dharma and culture 24x7. Why should we behave like them? Self hate much? 

 

We don't do well in sports/Olympics, 10001 reasons, no need to take partial one line extract from a 2 millennia old book and somehow link it to why we got less medals in 2024. Lot has happened since this text was written, heck even post 1947 so many mistakes have been made. 

Edited August 12, 2024 by Gollum

[Gollum]

6 hours ago, zen said:

Even in cricket, if we have standard sporting pitches everywhere (like in hockey or football), India will lose its relative competitiveness despite BCCI’s $$$s. 
 

 

Hockey is the wrong example dude. Astro turf, no offside, change in hockey stick head design, all moves done by goras to end SC domination, make it less about stickwork and amplify their strengths.

 

Equivalent in cricket would be to standardize all pitches in the world as dustbowls, impose restrictions on fast bowling and athletic fielding, power shots etc.

 

Go back to original hockey rules and the goras would have no answers to the Indian dribble. 

 

Nothing fair in today's hockey, least of all the officiating. Whitest sport now, and few countries are gatekeeping it. Even China can't flex its muscles like in other sports, check out how their women were robbed against Dutch. 

[vvvslaxman]

California alone finishes at 6th in olympics if we count their total medals.

 

Statewise medal count

 

 

[Gollum]

5 minutes ago, vvvslaxman said:

California alone finishes at 6th in olympics if we count their total medals.

 

Statewise medal count

 

 

Stanford, UCLA, Berkley, USC are top NCAA D1 colleges. Almost their entire swim team is from these unis.

 

Still Cal has a huge population, almost twice of that of Australia. Texas, Florida too pretty high in pop. Kind of expected. 

Edited August 12, 2024 by Gollum

[vvvslaxman]

Apparently not all Chinese citizens are happy lol

 

https://www.asianews.it/news-en/Beijing-exalts-Olympians%2C-Chinese-criticise-costs-and-waste-61315.html

 

Beijing (AsiaNews) – The Games of the XXXIII Olympiad, Paris 2024, ended yesterday, with the last day of competitions and the closing ceremony, extensively covered by China’s media, narrating the exploits of its more than 400 athletes seeking medals and records.

For Beijing, the Games mattered as a race to the last triumph with the United States which, once again, saw the Stars and Stripes triumph. The United States won 40 golds, 44 silvers and 42 bronzes for a total of 126 medals. China had to “settle” for second place with 40 golds, 27 silvers and 24 bronzes for a total of 91 athletes on the podium.

All this hype was met with a lack of enthusiasm at home, where people seem to have followed the Olympic Games with indifference and even a bit of resentment.

The reasons for this lack of interest can be gauged from the thousands of comments left during the weeks of competitions by netizens on Toutiao and Weibo, popular Chinese social platforms. Many of those who posted their comments expressed concern over the cost of the huge Olympic delegation sent to Paris at a time of economic woes at home.

“Seven hundred people. How much does that cost? It’s a waste of taxpayers’ money,” complained one netizen. “What the hell does winning gold medals have to do with us ordinary people?” another responded: “All that money would be better spent improving people’s lives!”

 

“Leisure activities are for the rich. Nobody here’s got any money, so nobody here cares,” someone wrote. “Where’s a job for my son? That’s what I care about,” noted another.

These statements clearly suggest that attitudes towards the Olympics have changed in China over time. If in the past, winning medals was considered a necessary form of national redemption and a source of pride, today the priority is undoubtedly to make ends meet. In fact, patriotic pride is of little use if it “can't fill your belly", said a Weibo aficionado laconically.

It is not hard to understand the outrage of some Chinese netizens at the news that the Chinese delegation brought air conditioners to the Olympic Village, rebuffing Games organisers who, for environmental reasons, chose alternative solutions.

The impact of Paris heat on athlete performances is of little interest to those who are forced to endure high temperatures every day to save on bills or to work outdoors.

“At Paris’ current temperature, your parents would curse you out for turning on the AC if it was China,” one commentator wrote.

Others, referring to Xi Jinping’s call for Chinese youth to “eat bitterness,” (chi ku) sarcastically asked, “Where’s all the rhetoric about the virtues of hard work and enduring hardship now?”

Even before the start of the Games, the head of the Chinese Olympic tennis table team caused a stir, when he revealed that Chinese athletes only eat pork flown in from special state farms that do not use clenbuterol.

Although banned in China, this drug continues to be used to improve pig production but can have doping effects on humans, damaging their health in the long run.

Unfortunately, not all Chinese can afford to eat food uncontaminated by harmful substances, noted a blogger on WeChat, mindful of the recent food scandal that hit China.

The state broadcaster CCTV itself was mocked for the high number of journalists, more than 2,000, sent to Paris to cover the Olympics.

"Why is CCTV sending so many reporters?” asked one Weibo user. “Are they trying to scare the French silly?” “There will be more journalists than athletes,” said another.

To give the event even greater resonance, this year for the first time, the Olympic competitions most loved by the Chinese were screened live in the country’s cinemas, thanks to joint efforts by CCTV and China Film, the country’s main film distribution company.

The initiative, however, does not seem to have met with the desired success. A survey by the China Daily newspaper found that 70 per cent of respondents would not cheer their favourites in front of the big screen, opting instead for the comforts of their own home.

The opening ceremony of the Olympic Games already was met with apathy; in Shanghai, only two of the 20 cinemas slated to screen the event actually did so because of poor bookings. While in Tianjin it was cancelled after only six tickets were sold, partly due to the time zone difference.

[zen]

19 minutes ago, Gollum said:

Hockey is the wrong example dude. Astro turf, no offside, change in hockey stick head design, all moves done by goras to end SC domination, make it less about stickwork and amplify their strengths.

 

Equivalent in cricket would be to standardize all pitches in the world as dustbowls, impose restrictions on fast bowling and athletic fielding, power shots etc.

 

Go back to original hockey rules and the goras would have no answers to the Indian dribble. 

 

Nothing fair in today's hockey, least of all the officiating. Whitest sport now, and few countries are gatekeeping it. Even China can't flex its muscles like in other sports, check out how their women were robbed against Dutch. 

But hasn’t the design of bats, tennis rackets, etc., too changed over the years? 
 

How would one forcast that Asian hockey would struggle due to astro turf? If I recall correctly, Pak used to do well on Astro turf. 
 

PS I have played hockey on grass and even on grounds with no grass, and if the ground is not maintained properly (or even uneven), it is not fun. 

Edited August 12, 2024 by zen

[Gollum]

2 minutes ago, zen said:

But hasn’t the design of bats, tennis rackets, etc., too changed over the years? 

But not the pitch, or rules (why don't they remove offside in football?).

2 minutes ago, zen said:

How would one forcast that Asian hockey would struggle due to astro turf? If I recall correctly, Pak used to do well on Astro turf. 

Quite expensive. India has 40 astros, Netherlands has 600+. Almost all our players transition to astro quite late.

 

Till circa 2010 Pak had more astros than India, their hockey was financially better off and their administrator Nur Khan gave it top priority. Anyway not sustainable, today Pak is struggling to hang on to top 20, have missed 3 straight Olympics, last WC. 

 

Like tennis they can have a mixture of surfaces, alternating between grass and astro, to test different skills and tactics/strategies. Our hockey team right now is similar to Pak of late 80s, we can match up with the big boys but will require us to peak every single time. Also the artistry is gone in the sport, all about scoops, one touch passes, PCs. 

[Gollum]

Argentina and Portugal have been quite poor in Olympics. Both now, and historically. 

[zen]

1 minute ago, Gollum said:

But not the pitch, or rules (why don't they remove offside in football?).

Quite expensive. India has 40 astros, Netherlands has 600+. Almost all our players transition to astro quite late.

 

Till circa 2010 Pak had more astros than India, their hockey was financially better off and their administrator Nur Khan gave it top priority. Anyway not sustainable, today Pak is struggling to hang on to top 20, have missed 3 straight Olympics, last WC. 

 

Like tennis they can have a mixture of surfaces, alternating between grass and astro, to test different skills and tactics/strategies. Our hockey team right now is similar to Pak of late 80s, we can match up with the big boys but will require us to peak every single time. Also the artistry is gone in the sport, all about scoops, one touch passes, PCs. 

I think the off side rule in football should be removed too. It would create more gaps. 
 

Let’s say if countries are allowed to use surfaces of their choice like in tennis or cricket, most of the key tournaments would take place in countries that use Astro turf, so countries relying on grass or even maidans would continue to be at a disadvantage in the long run. 

[Gollum]

Americans spectators have too much influence on Olympics , like Indians with cricket.

 

They have a strong preference for June-July Summer Oly, which most certainly rules out any of the Gulf states hosting it.

 

Developed Western and East Asian nations too are realizing the financial downside of hosting such a large scale event. You can see reduced interest in bids. Developing countries too will burn their fingers once they host these games. 

 

Can the Olympics in its present form survive 3 decades from now? Aura has certainly diminished. 

Edited August 12, 2024 by Gollum

[Gollum]

Look at Sreejesh's arm !!!

 

Neeraj Chopra was initially considered to be India's flagbearer for the closing ceremony along with Manu Bhaker.

Neeraj, being the absolute gem that he is, suggested PR Sreejesh's name instead.

“He told me ‘Ma’am, even if you had not asked me, I would have suggested Sree bhai’s… pic.twitter.com/pdxMBSdhRN

— Shyam Vasudevan (@JesuisShyam) August 11, 2024

Edited August 12, 2024 by Gollum

[zen]

In football, the ball is larger in diameter. And it is kicked around a lot in air (heading, etc.) and you can use your body (apart from hands) to control the ball so grass works. 
 

In hockey, the ball is played along the ground (apart from scoops which need to be handled properly) and controlled through the stick, so evenness of ground is important. 
 

As someone who played hockey on not so great grounds in India, I can see why astro turf is popular. 

Edited August 12, 2024 by zen

[cricketfan28]

Will do better in 28.

[Number]

8 hours ago, Kron said:

She is a lovely elegant lady. Very strong and mentally tough lady. She actually came to Australia once and I have seen her in an event. Humble too. 

Yeah. I was a big fan of Anju Bobby George and followed her event in Athens Olympics. She produced her personal best in the finals but Russians had 3 atheletes on steroids who finished at 1-2-3.

All of them Russians later tested positive for doping and their achievements are all struck off. 

There were reports that she will get her Olympics Silver medal.

 

[RizBarKhan]

South Asian games are in 6 months in Pakistan , I think Pakistan will top the table as we have home advantage 

[deathmonger]

28 minutes ago, Number said:

Yeah. I was a big fan of Anju Bobby George and followed her event in Athens Olympics. She produced her personal best in the finals but Russians had 3 atheletes on steroids who finished at 1-2-3.

All of them Russians later tested positive for doping and their achievements are all struck off. 

There were reports that she will get her Olympics Silver medal.

 

Her PB was 6.83.

 

The girl she is training, Shaili has 6.76 PB at age 19 and was silver medalist in World U20 Championships.

[deathmonger]

3 hours ago, RizBarKhan said:

South Asian games are in 6 months in Pakistan , I think Pakistan will top the table as we have home advantage 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2004_South_Asian_Games

[deathmonger]

still the greatest moment by a chinese/asian athelete