The Olympics Thread

[tackle-bag]

Lovely fight from John Joe Nevin, tactically it was precisely the right fight to beat the cuban. Minimised the effect of his left hook almost entirely

I hope to God the Irish fans show up in their droves to support him in the final, as they have done for most of the fights to date. The atmosphere for Conlan's fight this evening was very subdued in relative terms. Let's not forget that Nevin is fighting, against a boxer with home advantage, for what would only be the 10th gold that we have won since independence. It will be one of the most important moments in Irish sporting history.

[suisse]

National day of celebration following Korea's won over Japan. Hopefully the nationalism/racism can take a back seat now.

[Xanthippe]

This arrogant tosser Mick Dowling who keeps referring to himself as an "expert" on RTÉ, despite having no discernible boxing achievements (as far as I can see), has just embarrassed himself by being unable to explain what a "countback" means. Can someone on here do a better job? My understanding was that it was related to the number of punches thrown, in which case Barnes ought to have won by a landslide.

Points are scored if 3 of 5 judges push the appropriately coloured button within one second if they feel a punch has scored.

For a countback, the scores of all 5 judges are counted (44-45 in this case).

Edit - remember its not total punches thrown, its the total number of punches the judges feel were scoring punches.

For anyone who doesn't understand it here's a brief explanation of how boxing scoring works:

Scoring
To have scoring value, a punch - without being blocked or guarded - must land directly with the knuckle part of a closed glove. The blow can strike any part of the front or sides of the head or body above the belt. After each round, the results of the individual scores are calculated separately for each boxer. Each boxer receives a score for each round based on either the similar score of the three judges which are closest together or an average of three of the five judges’ individual scores (discounting the highest and lowest scores).

Calculating the scores
To determine which of the three judges’ scores to take into account, there are two methods:

Similar score (S) - the individual scores of the three judges which are closest to each other are taken into account. So, if the five individual scores are 2, 2, 2, 5, 6, the three scores closest to each other are 2, 2, 2. An average of these scores is then taken (2+2+2 divided by three), meaning this particular boxer would be awarded two points for the round.

Mean system (M) - if the judges’ scores are, for example, 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, then it is impossible to determine which three scores are closest. The highest and lowest individual scores are removed, leaving the three middle scores. An average of these scores is then taken (4+6+8 divided by three) to give the boxer’s score for the round.

In the event of a draw the highest and lowest total scores from the judges are deleted and the winner is determined by the total score from the three remaining judges.

Here's the final score card for Barnes' match



If the scores are still tied, judges will be asked to press the button once for the boxer they think is the winner.

[tackle-bag]

Rob Heffernan comes up just short in the 50km walk, finishing in 4th position and setting a new national record in the process. Very disappointing for him as, realistically, this was his last chance for an Olympic medal. I don't know much about walking as a sport, but it seems that he may have just left his charge a bit too late. With 15 km to go he was outside the top 10 and a couple of minutes back on the leaders.

[Hornet]

Rob Heffernan comes up just short in the 50km walk, finishing in 4th position and setting a new national record in the process. Very disappointing for him as, realistically, this was his last chance for an Olympic medal. I don't know much about walking as a sport, but it seems that he may have just left his charge a bit too late. With 15 km to go he was outside the top 10 and a couple of minutes back on the leaders.

He did a fantastic job, knocking over 7 minutes off his record. He might have been disappointed in coming fourth, but doing that in a world class field was some achievement.

[fourthirtythree]

He was close to, or just inside, the old Olympic record wasn't he? Outstanding. Must be gutted not to get a medal with that.

The second Irish walker delivered a PB also which is fantastic for the team. You want your athletes delivering PBs.

[Donny B.]

Sick for Nevin, but a fair result....

[tackle-bag]

Sick for Nevin, but a fair result....

Definitely a fair result. Nevin didn't perform at all. On the basis of his social media activity over the past few days, I think he may have become a bit complacent. He was smiling and joking with the team on the way out, which can go either way, but in a fast and physical sport I always like to see athletes with a look of ferocious determination on their face.

Have to say I don't understand this lark whereby he raises his right hand in the air the whole time. He was caught in the face on several occasions immediately following the gesture, which is hardly surprising when you're defending with one glove as opposed to two. A very frustrating result given how good Nevin had been in the tournament up until this point; didn't think there was anything special about Campbell at all.

[Dave Cahill]

I'd say that UK Tourism are wetting themselves with the coverage the City of London is getting during the marathon

[Broken Wing]

He lifts his hand to indicate the shot was caught on the glove and wasn't a score. Campbell was doing the same.

He fought a good fight but going into the second and third rounds he had to go at Campbell which was to Campbell's advantage as he's a great counter puncher (as is John Joe).

Disappointed for him but there's no shame in an Olympic Silver.

[Broken Wing]

I'd say that UK Tourism are wetting themselves with the coverage the City of London is getting during the marathon

And rightly so. London had a personality transplant for the games. I've never seen the city so friendly and full of smiling people. Even on the underground in rush hour people stepped back to allow us get a buggy on. The weather was great too.

[mikey]

I'd say that UK Tourism are wetting themselves with the coverage the City of London is getting during the marathon

And rightly so. London had a personality transplant for the games. I've never seen the city so friendly and full of smiling people. Even on the underground in rush hour people stepped back to allow us get a buggy on. The weather was great too.

Let's hope some degree of the spirit of the games persists once it's all over....

[Broken Wing]

Great performance by Natalya Coyle to finish 9th in the Modern Pentathlon.

[Peg Leg]

Have no idea what I'm going to do in my spare time for the next 4 yrs?
Really enjoyable stuff.
Thought RTE were fantastic throughout, the panelists were well read in their respective fields and. Remarkabley informative.
BBC whilst completely 1 eyed put out a fantastic production with some great mini documentaries.

Congrats to Team Ireland, inspiring!

[Dave Cahill]

Oh Canada, Jean Jackets, Really?

[Peg Leg]

Oh Canada, Jean Jackets, Really?

Perhaps they had a sneak preview of the playlist!

[Dave Cahill]

Oh Canada, Jean Jackets, Really?

Perhaps they had a sneak preview of the playlist!

[TerenureJim]

Oh Canada, Jean Jackets, Really?

Yeah Canadian tuxedo, very well known phrase

[RoboProp]

Oh Canada, Jean Jackets, Really?

Yeah Canadian tuxedo, very well known phrase

Beat me to it TJ. Damn you!

[Dave Cahill]

Oh Canada, Jean Jackets, Really?

Yeah Canadian tuxedo, very well known phrase

Ah, Heard of the New Jersey Tuxedo alright.