Olympics (spoilers)

Submitted by jmblue on
Phelps does it again. Twenty career gold medals. Unbelievable.

EDIT: make that 21. (Forgot he had two events tonight.)
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superstringer

August 9th, 2016 at 11:36 PM ^

USA Gymnastics hs now lapped the field. We dominate women's gym as we do basketball. From the 70s when we were nobodies to this -- totally dominant program. World all-stars would not beat this team.

And the girls look like a cross section of the country: 2 white, 2 black, 1 Latina. That means the entite country is doing this sport and that doesnt bode well for the opposition's chances in the future.



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Michigasling

August 10th, 2016 at 1:11 AM ^

that starting next time only four on a team.  But the primary reason was that the Godmother of the female gym dynasty, longtime coach Marta Karolyi, is retiring.  So they wanted to honor her, as HER final five, as well as the final five-member team. 

But it was a bit weird hearing them say that before we knew the reasoning.

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Rodriguesqe

August 10th, 2016 at 12:07 AM ^

Ryan Lochte has the 13th most Olympic medals all time, men, women, winter and summer.

Any other era he's Olympic royalty. He seems like a db but still feel for him a little.

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jmblue

August 10th, 2016 at 12:23 AM ^

Of course, he does compete in a sport in which there are a lot of medal opportunities - and of his six career gold medals, only two were won individually. So he's also benefitted from the presence of Phelps and his other countrymen. Phelps has won 12 individual gold medals, which is insane.

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M-Dog

August 10th, 2016 at 12:28 AM ^

Phelps and Lochte have competed in five straight Olympics.

That's insane for a sport where the next round of 17 year-olds takes over each time.

 

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stephenrjking

August 10th, 2016 at 12:32 AM ^

Ledecky winning again, too. Wow. She's got a good shot at SI sportsperson of the year. Lebron has already won once (last Olympic year, actually, when I was pulling for Usain Bolt) and is probably "the one" in American team sports this year. Steph Curry could've been the guy last season but lost (understandably) to Serena. It's not that big of a deal, but I still pay attention every year. Olympic years are hard to predict.

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mgoblue0970

August 10th, 2016 at 1:09 AM ^

Le Clos... ba ha ha ha wah ha ha ha he he he ah ha ha ha...

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and your douchebag father too!

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ElBictors

August 10th, 2016 at 1:19 AM ^

I met Phelps in 06 at some wine bar next to Conor ONeils because that place was packed with cigarette smoking 'grad students' for some Trivia Night. He was cool

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kb

August 10th, 2016 at 7:23 AM ^

Look, they are obviously very good at what they do, but if you are really good at swimming in one event, enough talent transfers to other swimming events. That's why you have a single individual winning a lot of medals.

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kb

August 10th, 2016 at 7:23 AM ^

Look, they are obviously very good at what they do, but if you are really good at swimming in one event, enough talent transfers to other swimming events. That's why you have a single individual winning a lot of medals.

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Drbogue

August 10th, 2016 at 7:33 AM ^

You obviously we're not a swimmer. Being good in the fly does not make you great in the breaststroke. A person who excels in distance usually is not great in sprints. If what you say is true, why don't we see someone like Phelps or Ledecky every Olympics? Because it's not true.



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kb

August 10th, 2016 at 8:44 AM ^

I have ran track at the college level, which is probably more than you can say. Couple things: running and swimming are very different - distances between short and long distances are much wider for running than swimming. And, we have seen success over multiple events in swimming before. Spitz, Biondi, etc, swimmers from other countries.

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bcnihao

August 10th, 2016 at 8:55 AM ^

But in the Olympics, most swimmers specialize in one stroke or maybe two, and they might also participate in relays using those same stroke(s).  It's not as if we routinely see someone who's outstanding at butterfly and backstroke and breastroke and freestyle.  Nor does a swimmer usually win at both shorter and longer distances (although Ledecky looks as though she might be an exception).

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Aero01

August 10th, 2016 at 10:09 AM ^

As far as I can tell, swimmimg distances are 50, 100, 200, 400, and either 800 or 1500 meters depending on men vs. women. Running distances are 100, 200, 400, 800, 1500, 5000, and 10,000 meters. So the fact that "distances between short and long distances are much wider for running than swimming" is only because there are more options in track. would you expect a great 100m runner to also be a great 800m runner?

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Drbogue

August 10th, 2016 at 11:55 AM ^

I played water polo in the junior olympics and swam for over 15 years. You don't need to be a jackass because someone disagrees with you. Michael Phelps is a once in a lifetime athlete. Prior to Phelps, Spitz was the only comparable swimmer and that was over 40 years ago. Swimmers have more opportunity for medals because of the multiple relays, but that doesn't take away the accomplishments of their individual races. Not to mention Phelps is in his 5th Olympics and still dominating. Hell, he almost won the 2012 200m fly without training! Dude is a beast. 

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ElBictors

August 10th, 2016 at 12:02 PM ^

My father was an AA swimmer in both HS and college whose arch rival was Hoosier Spitz - fly was both of their best events - and Spitz so despised by his team mates that many openly rooted for my Dad (which is why I laugh at the Phelps/Lochte stuff). Dad always said the track athletes were the biggest pussies. Who the hell cant run? It's what you do right after learning to walk. Pfffft.

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bcnihao

August 10th, 2016 at 9:08 AM ^

A large part of that might be the way the competitions are structured.  For gymnastics, the team competition comes first--each team needs members who are good in several events.  And gymnastics also has an all-around individual winner. 

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