2024 Summer Olympics [Archive]

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FilmBuff

07-24-24, 11:18 AM

So, are you planning on watching anything?

NBC Universal must be desperate to attract viewers, the opening ceremony will start with a commercial-free hour. (https://deadline.com/2024/07/nbcuniversal-summer-paris-olympics-opening-ceremony-commercial-free-1236019301/)

Six Team USA advertising partners are teaming to make the first hour of NBCUniversal‘s coverage of Friday’s Opening Ceremony of the Paris Olympics commercial-free.

The spectacle kicking off the first full-on Summer Games since 2016 is due to be a splashy affair involving a light show at the Eiffel Tower and boats carrying athletes down a four-mile stretch of the Seine.

NBCUniversal’s live coverage will air Friday on NBC and flagship streaming service Peacock. It will include a commercial-free hour beginning at 1:30 p.m. ET, sponsored by six Team USA partners: The Coca-Cola Company, Delta, Lilly, Toyota Motor Corporation, Visa, and Xfinity. (In the Olympic ad and sponsorship world, Team USA enlists sponsors, which in turn then have spots and presence onsite, on air and online.)

Citizen Rules

07-24-24, 11:57 AM

I use to love watching the Olympics, winter games more than summer but I'm too busy watching movies and I don't have a way to watch the Olympics anyway.

FilmBuff

07-24-24, 12:22 PM

I use to love watching the Olympics, winter games more than summer but I'm too busy watching movies and I don't have a way to watch the Olympics anyway.

You deserve a gold medal for your honesty!

Allaby

07-24-24, 12:50 PM

I may check out some events. I'm not sure which ones, depending on what is on when I'm available.

Nausicaä

07-24-24, 01:00 PM

Yes and looking forwards to it. Basketball in particular. Also love France so that's a bonus, hope they do a good opening ceremony(especially all the athletes going along the seine in boats). Last Olympics opening was disappointing from what I can remember of it.

Also interested in seeing how the break dancing works out. First time at the olympics.

Basketball, Archery, Skateboarding, Wrestling, Weight Lifting, Surfing are the ones I usually try to watch.

FilmBuff

07-26-24, 11:40 AM

This year is the first time (IIRC) that the opening ceremonies will be shown in IMAX theaters around the world.

Let's hope everything goes well.

FilmBuff

07-26-24, 04:56 PM

https://i.postimg.cc/wvY1tDM9/IMG-2091.jpg

AgrippinaX

07-26-24, 05:17 PM

I feel like this one is such a shambles already. The whole running out of chicken and eggs business (huh?), the so-called rail sabotage. What the hell. Going well for them, isn’t it.

Galactic Traveler

07-26-24, 11:18 PM

This drag queen show recreation of the Last Supper was actually a part of the opening ceremony.

https://mustreadalaska.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/burlesque-show-at-Olympics.jpg

GulfportDoc

07-27-24, 07:22 PM

If the event is anything like the opening ceremony, it isn't worth getting into the horses**t to see what the horse ate.

Takoma11

07-27-24, 08:14 PM

I thought the opening ceremony was great. It actually had a personality and was delightfully weird. I've never actually wanted to watch one all the way through, but this one kept me hooked. The fashion show with the young person with the blinged out prosthetic legs, the robot horse riding down the river, the range of musical genres on display . . . the sequence of all the athletes falling in behind the horse was beautifully staged.

Most opening ceremonies feel like Marvel movies to me: technically impressive in the sense of scale, but I don't emotionally click with them. This one felt more like Everything Everywhere All at Once, just taking a ton of swings, not all of them connect, but at least it's something interesting and different. The transition from the decapitated Marie Antoinette to the heavy metal performance was dope.

And I thought that they way that they made space for "political" moments was respectful without letting it take over, like the Algerian team tossing the flowers into the water or the Palestinian team with the embroidered shirts and making the peace signs.

I'd rather watch something that sometimes makes me scratch my head and feel emotions than watch something that makes me go, "Wow, that's a lot of drummers/dancers!".

AgrippinaX

07-27-24, 08:37 PM

If the event is anything like the opening ceremony, it isn't worth getting into the horses**t to see what the horse ate.

Oh my god, I need to write that one down. What a brilliant expression. :lol:

Captain Steel

07-27-24, 10:29 PM

If the event is anything like the opening ceremony, it isn't worth getting into the horses**t to see what the horse ate.

I'm just going to watch Ru Paul's Drag Race instead of the Olympics - the costumes are better and the girls are prettier! ;)

PHOENIX74

07-28-24, 12:37 AM

Best first day for Australia in Olympic history - and Australia at the top of the Olympic Medal Tally woo!!

https://i.ibb.co/HpPVNWs/olympics.jpg

Takoma11

07-28-24, 01:00 AM

Best first day for Australia in Olympic history - and Australia at the top of the Olympic Medal Tally woo!!

https://i.ibb.co/HpPVNWs/olympics.jpg

All those swimming lessons are really paying off!

But can the Aussies break dance?! Or (checks notes) . . . Kayak Cross?

PHOENIX74

07-28-24, 01:12 AM

All those swimming lessons are really paying off!

But can the Aussies break dance?! Or (checks notes) . . . Kayak Cross?

As you can see below, our break dancing needs a little work :

https://gifbin.com/bin/102009/1256036173_breakdance-fail.gif

But just you wait until Brisbane 2032! Break dancing home ground advantage!

StuSmallz

07-28-24, 04:34 AM

The transition from the decapitated Marie Antoinette to the heavy metal performance was dope.You mean Gojira's performance?

Ellie

07-28-24, 06:05 AM

If the event is anything like the opening ceremony, it isn't worth getting into the horses**t to see what the horse ate.
I was watching the opening ceremony and soon switched off, I haven't watched any of it since.

Dead2009

07-28-24, 06:35 AM

Since I'm a sports guy, Ill be watching most of it. I wont watch the breakdancing thing though, its criminal they took away baseball and softball again but added that in.

mrblond

07-28-24, 10:06 AM

Very nice idea for opening ceremony, poorly executed. Obviously the organisers were completely unprepared for plan B - bad weather conditions. That's why, most of the things went greyish and miserable. As for the themes, the rotting civilisation reached its lowest level since the terrorists and orcs took control even of this event and celebrated the era of the dark side. The still free in mind audience was really shocked. I think, at least one third of the countries should withdraw their teams after such an offensive attitude against the last survived cultural states.
Actually no surprise, the Olympics brand was captured since the 80's and serves the political cartels.

AgrippinaX

07-28-24, 11:02 AM

Yay for Simone! 🎉

FilmBuff

07-28-24, 11:11 AM

I feel pretty lucky I got to watch the Opening Ceremony on a gigantic IMAX screen - there were a few lulls but overall it was a pretty exciting one, and the audience reaction made it more so.

Legit wasn't expecting some of the people to stand up for the Olympic Anthem, but they did!

Allaby

07-28-24, 11:23 AM

Gymnastics is the best Olympics sport. For some reason, it speaks to me.

AgrippinaX

07-28-24, 12:49 PM

Gymnastics is the best Olympics sport. For some reason, it speaks to me.

Same here. Mesmerising.

beelzebubble

07-28-24, 04:10 PM

Does anyone have video of the drag segment? They are scrubbing it from the internet and I’m curious to see it in its entirety.

Takoma11

07-28-24, 06:54 PM

You mean Gojira's performance?

Yes. Is heavy metal the wrong genre for them? Not my area of expertise.

Nausicaä

07-28-24, 08:00 PM

Does anyone have video of the drag segment? They are scrubbing it from the internet and I’m curious to see it in its entirety.

Can't find it on youtube right now but the whole opening ceremony is on the BBC iplayer website. If you are outside the UK maybe you can get it working somehow?

https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m0021d39/olympics-opening-ceremony

StuSmallz

07-29-24, 02:15 AM

Yes. Is heavy metal the wrong genre for them? Not my area of expertise.No, they're definitely Metal, I just want everyone to know their name, because I want to promote Metal as much as possible, heh. Anyway, here's my favorite song from them, just in case you're curious:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=H0WyhJseftI&pp=ygUUZ29qaXJhIGZseWluZyB3aGFsZXM%3D

Ellie

07-29-24, 05:10 AM

Yay for Simone! 🎉
I heard on our news that Simone grew up with various foster carers, she has done really well, an inspiration.

WrinkledMind

07-30-24, 05:29 AM

I absolutely love following this. A bit of respite from following Cricket (which interestingly will feature in LA Olympics) & club football.

I have been watching a lot of Judo. Have enjoyed it immensely.
Watched Fencing last night. The venue is stunning, & the men's final was epic.

Volleyball was fun as well. Especially the men's game between Italy & Brazil. So has been badminton.

I usually only watch sports which I don't follow otherwise. So I give football & tennisin Olympics a miss.

Waiting for athletics, Wrestling & weight lifting to start.

Takoma11

07-30-24, 01:24 PM

I absolutely love following this. A bit of respite from following Cricket (which interestingly will feature in LA Olympics) & club football.

I have been watching a lot of Judo. Have enjoyed it immensely

Oh fun. I've really gotten into cricket in the last few years and was wondering if it would make its way into the Olympics.

I'm watching judo right now, and I am enjoying it despite not understanding all of the terminology.

Right now listening to the commentary is like "And it looks like, yes, she's going for garble, waiting a moment and the referee is signaling garble. Obviously Souza on the ground is just hoping to avoid garble, but she'll have to pull out something really special here if she wants to get around her opponent's garble technique."

But that's not really a complaint. Something I really like about a new sport is figuring out what those words mean and not always just having someone explain it.

John McClane

07-30-24, 02:24 PM

So far, the best performance at this Olympics was done by Celine Dion.

Nausicaä

07-30-24, 05:50 PM

^ I'm not a fan but her performance nearly made my eyes water.

https://media.tenor.com/JueBXzCoW2cAAAAM/cloudy-with-a-chance-of-meatballs-animated.gif

Thursday Next

07-31-24, 09:08 AM

I'm enjoying the Olympics so far and Team GB are doing well.

I'm going to Paris next week to watch some athletics so excited about that.

Ellie

08-04-24, 08:24 AM

I've been watching Simone, what a strong focused lady she is. Also cheerleaders, they are very athletic, They should have some place in the Olympics.

Nausicaä

08-04-24, 11:32 AM

I've given up with the Olympics, the BBC have been terrible with the coverage. Just spent the last hour or so watching the Tennis final live, all tied and they cut off to gymnastics and shooting and don't show the rest of the game! Not on the iPlayer or any other sports channel avaliable.

Been lots of complaints about it.

doubledenim

08-04-24, 12:25 PM

Archery. What are we doing? Seems like a little too much technology involved and not in the spirit of the sport.

Takoma11

08-04-24, 01:41 PM

Nausicaä

08-04-24, 04:16 PM

^ Nope. It was avaliable here on Discovery Plus but we don't have that.

Managed to find some live womens Basketball, so watching France vs Australia at the moment. :)

Takoma11

08-04-24, 04:24 PM

^ Nope. It was avaliable here on Discovery Plus but we don't have that.

Managed to find some live womens Basketball, so watching France vs Australia at the moment. :)

That's good. Sorry you don't have an option you really like.

I was watching a women's basketball final one time when in the last two minutes they cut to, like, a boys little league game? It was infuriating.

Because of the time difference between me and Paris, I'm watching about half of the events live and half on the replays that Peacock has. I appreciate that they are full replays instead of just highlights, so you feel like you're experiencing it live. The hardest part is just avoiding spoilers!

Yoda

08-04-24, 08:44 PM

I've removed several posts.

It's beyond obvious that the topics discussed fall under the No Politics rule. And I'm not going to just delete the posts forever: at a certain point, I'll have to conclude the people doing it know better, in which case I'll have to issue warnings and/or temporary bans, or more, depending on how often it happens.

I'll also remind everyone: if you see someone clearly breaking this rule, don't argue with it. And definitely don't just argue with it, without reporting it to a mod. The fact that people feel compelled to argue with this stuff forever is the entire point of the rule.

Nausicaä

08-04-24, 08:49 PM

I was watching a women's basketball final one time when in the last two minutes they cut to, like, a boys little league game? It was infuriating.

That's happened a few times with the live basketball cutting to something else or they just go to the game during the last quarter...

The France vs Australia game lasted the whole game. :D

Takoma11

08-04-24, 08:53 PM

That's happened a few times with the live basketball cutting to something else or they just go to the game during the last quarter...

The France vs Australia game lasted the whole game. :D

Phew!!!

That's partly why I'm enjoying the sport-specific coverage (sorry, not trying to rub it in!). When you watch the general coverage, they do tend to hop between sports. But the sport-specific streams are much better at sticking with one sport.

Captain Steel

08-04-24, 11:02 PM

And now for something completely different... (for sports & satire fans of the early 1970's...)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sriKLIR5JaM

Captain Steel

08-04-24, 11:31 PM

The oft-forgotten 1977 Lympics...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PcwLzq0hm2I

After a short affair with skater Tanya Harding, former contestant Dick Dastardly is now working as an Olympics committee administrator (while his former partner Muttley has resumed a career as a stock-car driver in the Wacky Races)!

WrinkledMind

08-06-24, 04:02 PM

Sedai

08-06-24, 05:44 PM

Since we have the coverage going all day at work, and I have also been watching at home in the evenings, I have seen far more of this year's Olympics than at any other time in my life.

Some thoughts:

Gymnastics

Especially now that I have a daughter - a daughter who is showing interest in gymnastics - I have watched as much of this as possible. I have always been a fan of Olympic gymnastics ever since Mary Lou Retton captured the hearts and minds of America all those years ago, To this day, my favorite team is still The Magnificent Seven from the 1996 games. While I think Simone Biles is inarguably one of the best, and perhaps the GOAT of the sport, I do feel that the evolution and changes to the sport over the years have taken something away from it as far as creativity and approach are concerned. By dialing up the difficulty and focusing on those most difficult skills, I don't see the flow and beauty of years past. Sure, Shannon Miller's beam routine in '96 didn't contain the same level of difficulty, but her perfection, flow, and grace still have me firing up the video from time to time. Back then, people who fell and wobbled around didn't get a medal, but due to the difficulty rating and scoring these days, we see that happen from time to time. Shout out to the '96 team for still being the best overall skills team put together for the US, even if they didn't have someone as ridiculously talented and gifted as Simone. Simone is the best ever, but Miller, Dawes, Moceanu, Chow et. al were the team for me.

Track & Field

The US has some crazy talent out there this year. Every time I look up at the TV when I hear a race ending, I see a US coming in first. You know, except when Pippi Longstocking came out of nowhere to win that 400m relay like a pig-tailed BOSS for NED. That girl can run.

Diving

China is just untouchable here. Legendary grace and precision on the platforms. Glad I am able to witness it.

Swimming

Uh, Katie Ledecky is just unreal. What an absolute legend who just completely dominates her event. We are also witnessing an up and comer from France that by all metrics, might just be superior to Phelps. Time will tell.

Some quick notes:

Some hilarious commentating this year. I hear stuff like "Chang ready to serve, Brazil set to receive, Snoop Dogg watches from the stands..." or "Team USA needs to pull this off for the win, Flav-r-Flav cheering them on..."

Funny shit!

Really enjoying the support I see all the athletes giving one another across most of the events. Win or lose and no matter which country they are from, they are all cheering each other on, giving each other high fives etc. Great to see. You know, except those two goons from GBR and NED that were calling each other ******* and idiot before the Men's 1500M race. Both swaggering around saying they would beat each other and they were the best blah blah. They were neck and neck until about 1450 meters, only to have two US runners somehow find enough burst to overtake the NED guy, pushing him out of medal contention, and seeing the GBR guy get silver. A little less trash talking and a bit more humility next time, boys! ;)

rauldc14

08-06-24, 05:58 PM

Been watching a lot of the track and field events today. Some close calls!

Takoma11

08-06-24, 07:28 PM

I hope you watched the team judo events Takoma11. It was even more fun than the singles events.
Six matches in six weight categories. Team that wins most games progresses. Quite a few of them ended 3-3, which meant doing a lucky draw between weight categories for a golden score match. It was absolute drama.

Whoa, I didn't know that there was team judo! I'll check some of it out, thank you for the tip!

Some hilarious commentating this year. I hear stuff like "Chang ready to serve, Brazil set to receive, Snoop Dogg watches from the stands..." or "Team USA needs to pull this off for the win, Flav-r-Flav cheering them on..."

Did you see the clip of Flavor Flav playing the piano for the US Ambassador to France (https://boingboing.net/2024/08/04/flavor-flavs-wild-piano-playing.html)? (I only learned last year that he's literally a musical prodigy and can pick up and play almost any instrument).

Really enjoying the support I see all the athletes giving one another across most of the events. Win or lose and no matter which country they are from, they are all cheering each other on, giving each other high fives etc.

Yes, for the most part the sportsmanship has been wonderful. Biles and Chiles creating that iconic moment of "bowing down" to Andrade was really beautiful. I've also enjoyed watching teams support each other, for example I really loved watching the team triathlon.

Thursday Next

08-10-24, 07:38 AM

I went to the Stade de France to see the athletics yesterday. Saw some relay heats which were really fun to watch, 800m, hurdles and some of the heptathlon. It was a great atmosphere, with people from lots of different countries. Some very excited Belgians in front of me! The French athletes got the biggest cheers of course. I met the mascot outside afterwards (apparently it's some kind of anthropomorphic hat...)

I also went into the centre of Paris - it's a bit like the centre of Paris itself is the Olympic park, which is kind of cool. You could even see some of the beach volleyball from the Eiffel Tower.

honeykid

08-10-24, 10:24 AM

I met the mascot outside afterwards (apparently it's some kind of anthropomorphic hat...)

Yes, the hats are synonomous with the French Revolution and are also known as Liberty Caps (I can't remember the proper name)

https://i.pinimg.com/736x/5b/a6/e3/5ba6e3cd3a256d6f52f6186e67c606bd.jpg

EDIT: As I found a pic I thought I'd find out and it's called a Phrygian Cap as it was supposed to have been worn by the people of Phrygia, in central Anatolia in antiquity.

I'm not surprised that the Belgians in the crowd were going mad either as Thiam had a stormer of a Heptathlon and won a 3rd straight Olympic gold. KJT got so close (and finally got her Ollympic medal) but Thiam is, arguabley, the best there's ever been.

Dannyvito

08-10-24, 11:18 AM

I only check results sometimes, but i guess I am not interested at all

WrinkledMind

08-10-24, 05:51 PM

Nice drama in high jump today.
Unlike the Tokyo Finals, the last two remaining athletes refused to share the gold, so they went into a jump off.

The Kiwi Hamish Kerr won it.

Takoma11

08-10-24, 08:20 PM

liscarkat

10-14-24, 09:57 PM

In years far past I was a big Olympics fan, but starting in 1984 the U.S. tv coverage became unwatchable, for me. Only focused on U.S. athletes, and obsessed with personal sob stories and crying during medal ceremonies.

In 2024, I only watched the road cycling time trial and road race, both won by Remco Evenepoel. I watched the Eurosport broadcasts.

As for the opening ceremony, what I saw and read of it was a perversion of what the Olympic Games were meant to be.