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The Olympics -What olympic sporting event is your favourite?

Togri v. 2.0
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Hooooly crap a long opening ceremony but Celine Dion’s song at the end was a pretty amazing way to end it.

My favourite event is probably rowing Eight. I used to row Four in my earlier days and still find it fascinating.
 
Archer
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I thought Serena was going to chuck on the boat! 😁😁😁
 
TimeODanaos
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I genuinely thought the supernatural horse(s) were wonderful.

(Actually, didn't London 2012 pioneer this, with a wooden model soccer player sailing the flame up the Thames?)😉

I will be tuning into tennis, boxing, and rowing, as I have had some direct acquaintance with these sports and their people; volleyball, badminton, and fencing, as these are exciting sports I don't get opportunities to see; track cycling for the racing thrill; maybe skateboarding to see something fresh. (No idea when that leaves me to work or eat...)
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lillatroll
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I have up on watching the opening ceremony after about an hour, couldn't stand anymore of it. Absolutel garbage.
 
Speed2Sea
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I want to thank my local OB for hosting this evening's Olympic Games "Let the Dreams Begin" event. The food, drinks, artisist sketching of attendees and gift bags were all fantastic, but the best part of this event was meeting and talking to so many Omega enthusiasts. And, of course the staff was fantastic as we kept them busy trying on different Omega's.
 
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Gabguzro
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Archer Archer
I thought Serena was going to chuck on the boat! 😁😁😁

Yeah, she was suffering there 😵‍💫

I liked most parts of the ceremony, although it was too French at some points if that makes any sense. They put on a good show even with all that rain.
 
arturo7
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For the summer games its pole vaulting.

Winter is biathlon.
 
Syrte
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Gabguzro Gabguzro
it was too French at some points if that makes any sense..

curious what that means 😜 (I’ll take no offense)
 
Peemacgee
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lillatroll lillatroll
I have up on watching the opening ceremony after about an hour, couldn't stand anymore of it. Absolutel garbage.

ah - you see, it was a marathon not a sprint….😉

There were some good singing performances but you definitely missed the best bit, which was Celine Dion at the end.
The woman has an acknowledged great voice but she really is set apart from the rest when she sings in French.
 
BLOW UP
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TimeODanaos TimeODanaos
I genuinely thought the supernatual horse(s) were wonderful.

(Actually, didn't London 2012 pioneer this, with a wooden soccer player sailing the flame up the Thames?)

%E0%B9%89%E0%B8%B2%E0%B8%A3%E0%B8%B5.gif
 
BLOW UP
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TimeODanaos TimeODanaos
I genuinely thought the supernatual horse(s) were wonderful.

Yeah, it looked really great for about a minute, and if you squinted your eyes ..but it went on and on and on and on and became very tedious..
The effect would have been great if they had hidden the big shaft it was overtly mounted on, and if the transportation was sub-marine instead of a visible catamaran-type ..they could have mitigated some of that with the filming.
Also if it was accompanied by others racing alongside or forming an arrow shape going up the river
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dsio
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Though it’s a winter sport, curling is easily my favourite, it’s such a fascinating sport to watch especially while having a beer.

weight lifting is probably my favourite summer sport, especially the skinny dudes and women and the giant ones.
 
BLOW UP
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Gabguzro Gabguzro
Yeah, she was suffering there 😵‍💫

I liked most parts of the ceremony, although it was too French at some points if that makes any sense. They put on a good show even with all that rain.

Funny enough I didn't think it was anywhere near French enough ..It should have been an absolute celebration (and that didn't need to be expensive) of all that's great about France and French culture; I really didn't understand the Recruitment of people like Lady Gaga and others who were not French (what about Christine and the Queens) ..together with some awful choices in music such as the dirge that is John Lennons' (also not French) Imagine which made an appearance twice in one form or another, he wrote some wonderful songs, but this is probably one of the worst, if not the worst. ..and what was that strange Michael Jackson Thriller video reenactment all about??
Why didn't they have a 3D effigy (ABBA Style) of Little Sparrow singing the entire Non, je ne regrette rien,
or the like?? or dramatic reenactments of great scenes from the incredible French new-wave cinema?? etc etc
The end (Montgolfier brothers' balloon cauldron) was the best bit for me, oh, and they did a very good job lighting up the enormous electricity pylon (as usual)😉
19ebef266d6bb03f93bbda69279853ec.jpg
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Syrte
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Peemacgee Peemacgee
ah - you see, it was a marathon not a sprint….😉

There were some good singing performances but you definitely missed the best bit, which was Celine Dion at the end.
The woman has an acknowledged great voice but she really is set apart from the rest when she sings in French.
The end with Celine Dion was also extremely moving because she hasn’t performed in public for 4 years … she came out a couple years ago revealing she has a rare neurological disease called « stiff man’s disease » which has impaired her vocal chords and she’s been struggling to retain her voice - while singing has been her entire life.

One of the major themes of the ceremony as I understood it was the notion that unity in diversity allows us to face human challenges, which is why they included some paralympic athletes and the oldest living champion on his wheelchair among the final bearers of the torch at the Louvres pyramid.
Also my reading of it was that they made a point, in the face of mounting racism in France, to ask two black French athletes,
A man and a woman, to be the final torch carriers and to light the caldron.
The fact they asked drag queens to take part in the on going fashion show on that lit bridge on the Seine river to me fulfills the same functions, and to invite foreign artists to sing in French and partake in a joint celebration of culture in my opinion fulfills similar purposes.
You may find it quite « woke », but I find it pretty cool to ask the greatest international stars celebrate bonds of togetherness.
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Syrte
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PS here’s a view of air traffic around Paris for the ceremony. They closed airports and took no chances.
 
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BLOW UP
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Syrte Syrte
PS here’s a view of air traffic around Paris for the ceremony. They closed airports and took no chances.
Syrte Syrte
The end with Celine Dion was also extremely moving because she hasn’t performed in public for 4 years … she came out a couple years ago revealing she has a rare neurological disease called « stiff man’s disease » which has impaired her vocal chords and she’s been struggling to retain her voice - while singing has been her entire life.

One of the major themes of the ceremony as I understood it was the notion that unity in diversity allows us to face human challenges, which is why they included some paralympic athletes and the oldest living champion on his wheelchair among the final bearers of the torch at the Louvres pyramid.
Also my reading of it was that they made a point, in the face of mounting racism in France, to ask two black French athletes,
A man and a woman, to be the final torch carriers and to light the caldron.
The fact they asked drag queens to take part in the on going fashion show on that lit bridge on the Seine river to me fulfills the same functions, and to invite foreign artists to sing in French and partake in a joint celebration of culture in my opinion fulfills similar purposes.
You may find it quite « woke », but I find it pretty cool to ask the greatest international stars celebrate bonds of togetherness.

You make a very fair point, and I agree that that's what they were probably trying to do; but, for example, having some Paralympians at the final stages bearing the torch, instead of having people with mixed abilities throughout the entire celebration, draws attention to their differences and comes across as tokenism (which I'm sure this wasn't intended)

I'm genuinely not biased in any way, and I had/have so many problems with London 2012 and its legacy,
but I'll refer to the opening ceremony that included people with all sorts of different abilities, disabilities, wheelchair users etc. throughout the entire ceremony, and I think that's what made it so joyous and genuinely inclusive, I also think it was an utterly gobsmacking multicultural opening ceremony and celebration of Britain and it's achievements (all done on an incredibly tight budget) importantly it also dealt with some of the legacies of empire, colonialism and the 'Commonwealth' etc.
 
BLOW UP
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Favourite events: almost everything track and field for sure!!!
Everything else I kind of dip in and out of depending on what's going on, can be rowing, boxing, cycling, diving, shooting etc..
Don't like equestrian for many reasons, and not so keen on Artistic Gymnastics and the like.
 
Syrte
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@BLOW UP That’s interesting, I did not see the London ceremony except of course for the unbelievable opening featuring James Bond and the Queen - and you make a fair point about being inclusive throughout the ceremony and not just the end.

As for the rest I’m now reading about parts of the ceremony I did not see, and some controversies it sparked.
In any event there are very big differences in perception.
 
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