2016 Summer Olympics

The Chronicler · **on:** August 04, 2016, 10:30:10 PM

The opening ceremony is tomorrow, so I figured it was time to once again create a new topic for the upcoming Olympic games.

Numerous controversies aside, what is everyone looking forward to seeing over the next few weeks?

rhombus · **Reply #1 on:** August 05, 2016, 10:34:25 AM

I will be curious to see what they have in mind for the opening ceremony. Each host country tries to have something that showcases their unique heritage and perspective to the world at large, and I am curious to see what Brazil would like to present. Though I will be online looking for an actual live stream, as NBC has decided to put the entire ceremony on one-hour delay (or 4 hour delay if you are on the west coast) so that it is on prime time.

The Chronicler · **Reply #2 on:** August 06, 2016, 09:00:06 PM

I liked watching the opening ceremony last night. The beginning which featured the history of the different people coming to Brazil (the natives, the Portuguese explorers, the African slaves, and the Asian immigrants) was interesting. There was also a bit featuring the man that Brazil claims actually made the first powered flight instead of the Wright brothers. But I think by far the most significant part was that powerful message about global warming where they showed what various parts of the world would look like if sea levels were to rise, and in an effort to make a positive contribution to the environment, all of the 11,000 athletes attending will each plant a tree.

So now the games are already underway. Anything of significance happening so far?

ADFan185 · **Reply #3 on:** August 08, 2016, 03:46:25 PM

Well michael phelps won the gold medal witch is good.

rhombus · **Reply #4 on:** August 14, 2016, 10:43:00 AM

A great mixture of highs and lows from this Olympics thus far, with Phelps winning his 23rd (and final) gold medal, an amazing performance by the American gymnastics team, Katie Ledecky's amazing 4 gold medals and a silver, Vietnam winning its first gold medal (in a shooting competition), and numerous other moments of athletic accomplishment. Though, on the not-so-festive side, there have been a few moments that went against the Olympics spirit. One such instance was Hope Solo being a sore loser (calling the Swedish team 'cowards') upon the US team being eliminated due to defensive play from the opposing team. Likewise, an Egyptian Judo competitor refused to shake the hands of his Israeli opponent who had won the match, despite the shaking of hands being part of the usual etiquette of the sport. Now it has been reported that the US veteran swimmer Ryan Lochte has been held up at gunpoint at the Rio Olympics, calling into question the effectiveness of the security at the Olympics.

Update: Despite an initial denial of the story, the IOC is now confirming that 4 Olympic swimmers were robbed at gunpoint by perpetrators who were dressed as police.

ADFan185 · **Reply #5 on:** August 14, 2016, 07:01:37 PM

I loved how they didn't clean the green pool water that smelled badly. They could have taken care of it but it's just laziness in my eyes.

Nick22 · **Reply #6 on:** August 15, 2016, 12:24:05 AM

Usain Bolts wins his 3rd straight 100M gold. and the South African runner broke the record for the 400M at just over 43 seconds.

ADFan185 · **Reply #7 on:** August 15, 2016, 03:41:02 PM

Phelps broke the gold medal world record pretty good to be honest.

The Chronicler · **Reply #8 on:** August 21, 2016, 05:15:24 PM

Yesterday, the Brazilian soccer team finally won an Olympic gold medal for the very first time. After their miserable performance two years ago at the World Cup, it was definitely a great comeback. Even more notable was that the gold medal match they won was against Germany, the same team that had eliminated them in the World Cup two years ago. I have to admit, with all of the problems Brazil has been facing lately, they certainly deserved this moment of triumph.

The closing ceremony will begin in a few hours, so I'll be watching it soon.

Kor · **Reply #9 on:** August 21, 2016, 08:59:40 PM

my GF and I had fun watching the Olympics. It was fun to watch. neat that some of the athletes got gold or silver on their first Olympics. Bolt and Phelps got quite a few.

The Chronicler · **Reply #10 on:** August 22, 2016, 09:00:20 PM

I saw the closing ceremony last night, and I have to say, I really liked the part that featured Tokyo, the host city for the next summer Olympics. Especially notable was the prime minister of Japan himself dressed up as the video game character Super Mario as he seemingly arrived in Rio directly from Tokyo through the center of the earth.

ADFan185 · **Reply #11 on:** August 23, 2016, 03:22:58 AM

The small segment where the American pole vaulting I saw was awesome. How he stopped when the national anthem was played.