2016 Rio Olympics

[MadAsHell 4,212]

Couple more silver medals in the sailing overnight, as they continue their strong form.

Gets Australia to 27 medals with the same amount of gold, but more silver then we had in Barcelona 92'. So they've avoided tge worst games in 28 years tag.

[Macca 16,902]

If we took a realistic view on how we'd fair at these games we're tracking reasonably well.  Whilst I'd like more gold, the reasoning behind our low tally of gold medals can be explained ... that explanation is a complex one though. 

There's sure to be a comprehensive review but I'm not sure that some of the issues involved are necessarily a management or athlete issue (funding is at the top of the list in my opinion)

Anyway, 2 more silver medals overnight ... a fantastic achievement by both crews.

Rio 2016: Australia's Olympic sailing silver medals in 470 and 49er classes built on family environment

 

Daily schedule from NBC.com

Chronological summary, results & scheduling of each day of the 2016 Rio Olympics (Wiki)

                        Friday August 19th (morning)

9.30am   Track & Field ........................ Men's shot put: final (9.30am) * * *

                                                              Women's javelin: final - Kathryn Mitchell (10.10am) * * *

                                                     * * * Men's decathlon 1500m: final discipline - Cedric Dubler (10.45am)

                                                              Women's 400m hurdles: final (11.15am) * * *

                                                              Men's 200m: final (11.30am) * * *

1.00pm    Beach Volleyball (M) ........... Men's gold medal match (Brazil vs Italy) * * *

                            Friday August 19th (evening)

9.00pm   Track & Field ........................ Men's 50km race walk final * * *

11.00pm  Equestrian ........................... Individual Jumping finals * * *

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

                           Saturday August 20th (morning)

3.00am   Boxing .................................. Q/F's & S/F's 

                                                              Women's lightweight gold medal match * * *

3.30am   Track & Field ........................ Women's 20km race walking final * * *

4.00am  Women's BMX ..................... Women's individual final * * *

4.10am   Men's BMX ........................... Men's individual final * * *

4.30am   Women's Waterpolo ............. Women's gold medal match * * *

6.00am   Women's Hockey ................. Women's gold medal match * * *

6.30am   Women's Soccer .................. Women's gold medal match * * *

8.00am   Men's Basketball .................. Boomers vs Serbia (semi final)

9.10am   Track & Field ........................ Women's pole vault: final (9,30am) * * *

                                                               Men's hammer throw: final (10.05am) * * *

                                                               Women's 5000m: final (10.30am) * * *

                                                               Women's 4 x 100m: final (11.15am) * * *

                                                               Men's 4 x 100m: final (11.35am)  * * *

Edited August 19, 2016 by Macca

[Macca 16,902]

Jared Tallent in the 50k walk looms as a real medal chance tonight (9.00pm) whilst we may surprise in the equestrian individual jumping and in the women's 20k walk. 

Our BMX riders are also very well placed in both the women's & men's whilst Alana Boyd is an outside chance in the women's pole vault.

And then there's the big one in the morning ... The Boomers vs Serbia in a men's basketball semi final (8.00am Saturday morning AEST)

Daily schedule from NBC.com

Chronological summary, results & scheduling of each day of the 2016 Rio Olympics (Wiki)

                            Friday August 19th (evening)

9.00pm   Track & Field ........................ Men's 50km race walk final * * *

                                                              Chris Erickson, Brendon Reading, Jared Tallent * * *

11.00pm & 2.30am Equestrian ........... Individual Jumping finals * * *

                                                              Matt Williams, Edwina Tops-Alexander * * *

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

                           Saturday August 20th (morning)

2.30am & 4.00am  Women's BMX .... Women's individual semi finals & final * * *

                                                              Lauren Williams, Caroline Buchanan * * *

2.38am & 4.10am   Men's BMX ........... Men's individual semi final & final * * *

                                                              Anthony Dean, Sam Willoughby * * *

3.00am   Boxing .................................. Q/F's & S/F's 

                                                              Women's lightweight gold medal match * * *

3.30am   Track & Field ........................ Women's 20km race walking final * * *

                                                              - Tanya Holliday, Regan Lamble, Rachel Tallent * * *

4.30am   Women's Waterpolo ............. Women's gold medal match (USA vs Italy) * * *

4.30am   Men's Basketball .................. USA vs Spain (semi final)

6.00am   Women's Hockey ................. Women's gold medal match (Netherlands vs Great Britain) * * *

6.30am   Women's Soccer .................. Women's gold medal match (Germany vs Sweden) * * *

8.00am   Men's Basketball .................. Boomers vs Serbia (semi final)

9.10am   Track & Field ........................ Women's pole vault: final (9,30am) - Alana Boyd * * *

                                                               Men's hammer throw: final (10.05am) * * *

                                                               Women's 5000m: final (10.30am) * * *

                                                               Eloise Wellings, Genevieve LaCaze, Madeline Hills * * *

                                                               Women's 4 x 100m: final (11.15am) * * *

                                                               Men's 4 x 100m: final (11.35am)  * * *

                          Saturday August 20th (evening)

10.00pm  Canoe/Kayak (finals) ......... Men's kayak single 200m -  Stephen Bird (L6) (10.12pm) * * *

                                                                Men's canoe double 1000m (10.22pm) * * *

                                                                Women's kayak four 500m (10.47pm) * * *

                                                                Men's kayak four 1000m -  Australia (L3) (11.12pm) * * *

11.55pm  Triathlon ................................. Women's final * * *

                                                                 Erin Densham, Ashleigh Gentle, Emma Moffatt * * *

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

                            Sunday August 21st (morning)

3.00am   Boxing .................................... Women's flyweight gold medal match * * *

                                                                Men's bantamweight gold medal match * * *

                                                                Men's middleweight gold medal match * * *

4.30am  Women's Basketball ........ .... Women's gold medal match (USA vs Spain)  * * *

5.30am   Diving ..................................... Men's 10m platform final  * * *

6.30am   Men's Soccer ......................... Men's gold medal match (Brazil vs Germany) * * *

6.50am  Men's Waterpolo ..................... Men's gold medal match (Croatia vs Serbia) * * *

9.10am   Track & Field .......................... Women's high jump: final (9.30am) * * *

                                                                Men's javelin: final (9.55am) * * *

                                                                Men's 1500m: final (10.00am) * * *

                                                                Women's 800m: final (10.15am) * * *

                                                                Men's 5000m: final (10.30am) * * *

                                                                Womens 4 x 400m relay: final (11.00am) * * *

                                                                Men's 4 x 400m relay: final (11.35am) * * *

11.15am   Women's Volleyball .............. Women's gold medal match (China vs Serbia)  * * *

Edited August 19, 2016 by Macca

[MadAsHell 4,212]

2 hours ago, Macca said:

Jared Tallent in the 50k walk looms as a real medal chance tonight (9.00pm) whilst we may surprise in the equestrian individual jumping and in the women's 20k walk. 

Our BMX riders are also very well placed in both the women's & men's whilst Alana Boyd is an outside chance in the women's pole vault.

And then there's the big one in the morning ... The Boomers vs Serbia in a men's basketball semi final (8.00am Saturday morning AEST)

I'm reasonably optimistic about our chances in the BMX & Mens 50km walk Macca. Haven't given up hope on us getting to that 9 gold medal mark.

And as you said, the big one is 8am in the morning with Boomers v Serbia. For mine this is the biggest game in Australian Basketball history. Win this and they're guaranteed Australia's first ever medal in men's basketball.  Loose, and they face a bronze medal match against a tougher opponent in the USA or Spain. Big opportunity for them!

[Macca 16,902]

15 minutes ago, AngryAtCasey said:

I'm reasonably optimistic about our chances in the BMX & Mens 50km walk Macca. Haven't given up hope on us getting to that 9 gold medal mark.

And as you said, the big one is 8am in the morning with Boomers v Serbia. For mine this is the biggest game in Australian Basketball history. Win this and they're guaranteed Australia's first ever medal in men's basketball.  Loose, and they face a bronze medal match against a tougher opponent in the USA or Spain. Big opportunity for them!

Yep, on the money there TD.  And the game will have a huge audience here in Australia too.  The men's basketball gold medal match is the final event in the Olympics and it would be fantastic if we could be a part of it. 

But this Boomers team is only thinking of success and has genuine belief & purpose so we're a real chance to make it.

The USA play Spain at 4.30am (preceding our match) and that could be a cracker of a game too. 

 

[Macca 16,902]

Looks like the Australian sports commission are wanting to copy the UK model of funding ... they're aggressively pushing for a 'National lottery' scheme and they may well get a positive result. 

National lottery scheme needed to boost Australia’s Olympic funding before Tokyo 2020

Quote

Winning Edge distributed $134 million in the last financial year, but the national lottery scheme that has powered Great Britain’s success handed $476 million to Olympic sports.

Quote

“It is absolutely clear to me going forward that with no (government) funding increases in seven years, if Australia wants to remain competitive in world sport the financial challenge is increasing and the funding of sport has to increase,” Wylie said.

Quote

“Other countries are investing more and the environment is much more competitive, and we owe it to our athletes to provide the necessary support.

“More funding will be needed and we have to think about where that funding will come from, so we want to look at a sports lottery. We are going to look at it very, very seriously.”

 

[MadAsHell 4,212]

39 minutes ago, Macca said:

Looks like the Australian sports commission are wanting to copy the UK model of funding ... they're aggressively pushing for a 'National lottery' scheme and they may well get a positive result. 

National lottery scheme needed to boost Australia’s Olympic funding before Tokyo 2020

 

This is music to yours and my ears Macca!

[Macca 16,902]

That 50k walk was excruciating to watch ... amazing bravery & perseverance.

Tallent looked quite inconvenienced yet somehow hung on for silver.  The Slovakian was too good and hats off to him but Jared winning silver was exceptional under the circumstances.

I don't know how a number of the competitors even finished ... what a grueling event.

Australian walker Jared Tallent wins Olympic silver medal in 50K walk, then collapses

 

Daily schedule from NBC.com

Chronological summary, results & scheduling of each day of the 2016 Rio Olympics (Wiki)                        

                       

                           Saturday August 20th (morning)

2.30am Equestrian ............................. Individual Jumping finals - Edwina Tops-Alexander * * *

2.30am & 4.00am  Women's BMX .... Women's individual semi finals & final * * *

                                                              Lauren Williams, Caroline Buchanan * * *

2.38am & 4.10am   Men's BMX ........... Men's individual semi finals & final * * *

                                                              Anthony Dean, Sam Willoughby * * *

3.00am   Boxing .................................. Q/F's & S/F's 

                                                              Women's lightweight gold medal match * * *

3.30am   Track & Field ........................ Women's 20km race walking final * * *

                                                              Tanya Holliday, Regan Lamble, Rachel Tallent * * *

4.30am   Women's Waterpolo ............. Women's gold medal match (USA vs Italy) * * *

4.30am   Men's Basketball .................. USA vs Spain (semi final)

6.00am   Women's Hockey ................. Women's gold medal match (Netherlands vs Great Britain) * * *

6.30am   Women's Soccer .................. Women's gold medal match (Germany vs Sweden) * * *

8.00am   Men's Basketball .................. Boomers vs Serbia (semi final)

9.10am   Track & Field ........................ Women's pole vault: final (9,30am) - Alana Boyd * * *

                                                               Men's hammer throw: final (10.05am) * * *

                                                               Women's 5000m: final (10.30am) * * *

                                                               Eloise Wellings, Genevieve LaCaze, Madeline Hills * * *

                                                               Women's 4 x 100m: final (11.15am) * * *

                                                               Men's 4 x 100m: final (11.35am)  * * *

                          Saturday August 20th (evening)

10.00pm  Canoe/Kayak (finals) ......... Men's kayak single 200m -  Stephen Bird (L6) (10.12pm) * * *

                                                                Men's canoe double 1000m (10.22pm) * * *

                                                                Women's kayak four 500m (10.47pm) * * *

                                                                Men's kayak four 1000m -  Australia (L3) (11.12pm) * * *

11.55pm  Triathlon ................................. Women's final * * *

                                                                 Erin Densham, Ashleigh Gentle, Emma Moffatt * * *

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

                            Sunday August 21st (morning)

3.00am   Boxing .................................... Women's flyweight gold medal match * * *

                                                                Men's bantamweight gold medal match * * *

                                                                Men's middleweight gold medal match * * *

4.30am  Women's Basketball ........ .... Women's gold medal match (USA vs Spain)  * * *

5.30am   Diving ..................................... Men's 10m platform final  * * *

6.30am   Men's Soccer ......................... Men's gold medal match (Brazil vs Germany) * * *

6.50am  Men's Waterpolo ..................... Men's gold medal match (Croatia vs Serbia) * * *

9.10am   Track & Field .......................... Women's high jump: final (9.30am) * * *

                                                                Men's javelin: final (9.55am) * * *

                                                                Men's 1500m: final - Ryan Gregson (10.00am) * * *

                                                                Women's 800m: final (10.15am) * * *

                                                                Men's 5000m: final - Brett Robinson (10.30am) * * *

                                                                Womens 4 x 400m relay: final - Australia (11.00am) * * *

                                                                Men's 4 x 400m relay: final (11.35am) * * *

11.15am   Women's Volleyball .............. Women's gold medal match (China vs Serbia)  * * *

 

Edited August 20, 2016 by Macca

[MadAsHell 4,212]

Great effort by Tallent. Feel sorry for him also however, as he really deserved to cross that line first however given everything that has happened with him.

Meanwhile we stunk it up in the BMX. Buchanan seems to have a touch of the Emily Seebohm's about her and can't get it done at Olympic level, bombing out in her semi.

While in the mens Dean was never in it and Willoghby seemed to miss his start and was always playing catch up.

I've given up hope of getting to the 9 gold medal mark, and accept for the 3rd games in a row we've gone backwards. This despite measures being put in place after London to arrest this issue. But as you posted earlier Macca, hopefully they'll look into their own national lottery funding system to stop us falling back to Seoul 88 results compared to the Barcelona 92 results we're seeing now.

Still i keep my fingers crossed for the Boomers, mens K4 1000 and Alana Boyd to produce some miracles!

[Macca 16,902]

6 hours ago, AngryAtCasey said:

Great effort by Tallent. Feel sorry for him also however, as he really deserved to cross that line first however given everything that has happened with him.

Meanwhile we stunk it up in the BMX. Buchanan seems to have a touch of the Emily Seebohm's about her and can't get it done at Olympic level, bombing out in her semi.

While in the mens Dean was never in it and Willoghby seemed to miss his start and was always playing catch up.

I've given up hope of getting to the 9 gold medal mark, and accept for the 3rd games in a row we've gone backwards. This despite measures being put in place after London to arrest this issue. But as you posted earlier Macca, hopefully they'll look into their own national lottery funding system to stop us falling back to Seoul 88 results compared to the Barcelona 92 results we're seeing now.

Still i keep my fingers crossed for the Boomers, mens K4 1000 and Alana Boyd to produce some miracles!

We're now up to 8 gold TD with the unexpected victory to Chloe Esposito ...  Still got Alana in the pole vault and 2 realistic chances in the canoe sprints.

Stephen Boyd in the K1 200 was very impressive last night and he could be a real smoky ... the K4 crew are in with a decent chance too.

Edited August 20, 2016 by Macca

[MadAsHell 4,212]

Great effort from Esposito. Came from nowhere! Channel 7 hadn't even mentioned her at the start of their nightly coverage as a medal chance.

Shame about the Boomers catching what seemed like a bit of stage fright. I hope they can bounce back for bronze, but it will be tough.

[Macca 16,902]

7 minutes ago, AngryAtCasey said:

Great effort from Esposito. Came from nowhere! Channel 7 hadn't even mentioned her at the start of their nightly coverage as a medal chance.

Shame about the Boomers catching what seemed like a bit of stage fright. I hope they can bounce back for bronze, but it will be tough.

The Boomers had their worst game at the worst possible moment ... hopefully it's the only bad game we do have.  If we play like we have done previously in the lead up to the semi final we're a real chance for bronze.

We're not a great team so that 'bad' day was always on the cards.  It happens in all team events in every sport.  I'll cut them some slack as I didn't really believe we'd get this far.  I'm backing them to bounce back but Spain will be tough.

 

footnote: Alana Boyd finished 4th in the pole vault ... bronze was probably her best hope and she jumped about as well as could have been expected (4.80 metres when her PB was 4.81)

[Macca 16,902]

An unexpected bonus Gold in the modern pentathlon ... didn't see this coming.  Just watched the final part (3200m run and shooting) and that was fabulous.  A worthy winner of a truly Olympic event.

Well done to Chloe Esposito!

Australia's Chloe Esposito wins shock gold at Rio Olympics in modern pentathlon

Quote

Australia's Chloe Esposito has produced a stunning final leg in the women's modern pentathlon to win the country's first ever medal in the sport.

Entering the last stage of the competition, the 3200m run and pistol shooting, the 24-year-old was placed seventh, starting 45 seconds behind the leader.  However, she worked her way quickly through the field and with one of the four laps remaining took the lead from Poland's Oktawia Nowacka when she landed five targets quickly.

Esposito, from Sydney, then strode out to win by 16 seconds.  Chloe only took 21 shots to hit the required 20 targets during the whole final stage.

[Macca 16,902]

Whilst our funding hasn't increased in the last 7 years other countries are leaping ahead of us and we're getting left in their wake ... as unpalatable as it sounds, money spent and spent well (in relative terms) = medals & gold medals. 

That's the way it is and that's the way it's nearly always been in the modern era.

First it was the Russians & Eastern bloc nations and the USA then the Chinese joined in later on.  Now the Brits have joined the party and other European nations are sure to follow suit.  (Especially Germany,  France,  Italy,  Spain & the Netherlands)

In the last 7 years the UK have spent nearly 3.5 billion dollars through their equivalent of the AIS whilst we've spent a paltry 900 million in the same time frame.

We can't hope to compete on the world stage until we at least attempt to match the funding of other countries ... yet many Australians probably want to slash spending because we don't win enough.  A toxic thinking abounds but we're getting the results we deserve. 

Perhaps we're actually punching above our weight if we analyse how far behind we are in funding.  It's the equivalent of a footy club who have a football dept spend and salary cap that is less than half that of the other clubs.  That's the brutal reality.

It's easy to take pot shots and point the finger like an angry mob would but if people were to think this whole thing through, they'd probably come up with an even more damning picture than the one I've portrayed.

We might look back at this current medal haul in future years from a different point of view (much like we look back at the results from the Montreal Olympics from a different perspective)

 

[Macca 16,902]

Not sure there has been a day when we haven't been in the hunt for at least 1 medal and tonight is no exception ... whilst a gold medal would surprise we're in with a chance for medals in the K1 & K4 kayak sprint events tonight.  Stephen Bird has been quite impressive in the K1's whilst the K4's have also progressed nicely to tonight's finals.      

We're also got representation in the women's triathlon, men's 10m platform diving & the women's cycling cross country. 

As well as that we've 3 representatives in 3 track & field finals including Ryan Gregson competing in the 1500 metre final ... Ryan has done quite well in a few Diamond league grand prix events this year ... a medal would surprise in such a hot field though.                       

Daily schedule from NBC.com

Chronological summary, results & scheduling of each day of the 2016 Rio Olympics (Wiki)  

                                   Saturday August 20th (evening)

10.00pm  Canoe/Kayak (finals) ......... Men's kayak single 200m -  Stephen Bird (L6) (10.12pm) * * *

                                                                Men's canoe double 1000m (10.22pm) * * *

                                                                Women's kayak four 500m (10.47pm) * * *

                                                                Men's kayak four 1000m -  Australia (L3) (11.12pm) * * *

11.55pm  Triathlon ................................. Women's final * * *

                                                                 Erin Densham, Ashleigh Gentle, Emma Moffatt * * *

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

                            Sunday August 21st (morning)

1.30am   Women's cycling .................. Women's cross country final - Rebecca Henderson  * * *

3.00am   Boxing .................................... Women's flyweight gold medal match * * *

                                                                Men's bantamweight gold medal match * * *

                                                                Men's middleweight gold medal match * * *

4.30am  Women's Basketball ........ .... Women's gold medal match (USA vs Spain)  * * *

5.30am   Diving ..................................... Men's 10m platform final - James Connor (possible) * * *

6.30am   Men's Soccer ......................... Men's gold medal match (Brazil vs Germany) * * *

6.50am  Men's Waterpolo ..................... Men's gold medal match (Croatia vs Serbia) * * *

9.10am   Track & Field .......................... Women's high jump: final (9.30am) * * *

                                                                Men's javelin: final (9.55am) * * *

                                                                Men's 1500m: final - Ryan Gregson (10.00am) * * *

                                                                Women's 800m: final (10.15am) * * *

                                                                Men's 5000m: final - Brett Robinson (10.30am) * * *

                                                                Womens 4 x 400m relay: final - Australia (11.00am) * * *

                                                                Men's 4 x 400m relay: final (11.35am) * * *

11.15am   Women's Volleyball .............. Women's gold medal match (China vs Serbia)  * * *

                              Sunday August 21st (evening)

10.30pm   Track & Field ........................ Men's marathon final * * *

                                                                Liam Adams, Michael Shelley, Scott Westcott * * *

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

                             Monday August 21st (early morning)

12.30am   Men's Basketball ................. Boomers vs Spain (Bronze medal match)

1.30am     Men's Cycling ...................... Men's cross country final - Daniel McConnell * * *

2.15am     Men's Volleyball ................... Men's gold medal match (Italy vs Brazil) * * *

3.00am     Boxing .................................. Women's middleweight gold medal match * * *

                                                                Men's flyweight gold medal match * * *

                                                                Men's light welterweight medal match * * *

                                                                Men's super heavyweight gold medal match * * *

                                Monday August 21st (morning)

4.45am   Men's Basketball .................... Men's gold medal match (USA vs Serbia) * * *

9.00am   Special event .......................... The Closing Ceremony

Edited August 21, 2016 by Macca

[MadAsHell 4,212]

6 hours ago, Macca said:

Whilst our funding hasn't increased in the last 7 years other countries are leaping ahead of us and we're getting left in their wake ... as unpalatable as it sounds, money spent and spent well (in relative terms) = medals & gold medals. 

That's the way it is and that's the way it's nearly always been in the modern era.

First it was the Russians & Eastern bloc nations and the USA then the Chinese joined in later on.  Now the Brits have joined the party and other European nations are sure to follow suit.  (Especially Germany,  France,  Italy,  Spain & the Netherlands)

In the last 7 years the UK have spent nearly 3.5 billion dollars through their equivalent of the AIS whilst we've spent a paltry 900 million in the same time frame.

We can't hope to compete on the world stage until we at least attempt to match the funding of other countries ... yet many Australians probably want to slash spending because we don't win enough.  A toxic thinking abounds but we're getting the results we deserve. 

Perhaps we're actually punching above our weight if we analyse how far behind we are in funding.  It's the equivalent of a footy club who have a football dept spend and salary cap that is less than half that of the other clubs.  That's the brutal reality.

It's easy to take pot shots and point the finger like an angry mob would but if people were to think this whole thing through, they'd probably come up with an even more damning picture than the one I've portrayed.

We might look back at this current medal haul in future years from a different point of view (much like we look back at the results from the Montreal Olympics from a different perspective)

 

Agree with your point about funding Macca, and hopefully this is something that will get addressed into the future.

However i still see these games so far as an underachievement by the Australian team as a whole, despite some great performances. The AOC themselves are the ones that have come out and claimed that we were on track for a total of 37 medals, 13 of which were to be gold with their restructure of funding since London. Well we're currently a total of 8 medals off pace, 5 of which are gold. And the areas i think we've fallen away in are the team sports, swimming and on the cycling track.

I've still enjoyed these games, don't get me wrong, but it is disappointing to see we've fallen further back since London despite the Russians fielding a weaker team these games.

Hopefully that this has happened 2 games in a row now, the proper funding measures can be put in place to help us get more competitive. I don't expect us to get back to Sydney/Athens level straight away, but i'd like to think geting back to Bejing 08 levels isn't unrealistic.

Edited August 20, 2016 by AngryAtCasey

[Macca 16,902]

18 minutes ago, AngryAtCasey said:

Agree with your point about funding Macca, and hopefully this is something that will get addressed into the future.

However i still see these games so far as an underachievement by the Australian team as a whole, despite some great performances. The AOC themselves are the ones that have come out and claimed that we were on track for a total of 37 medals, 13 of which were to be gold with their restructure of funding since London. Well we're currently a total of 8 medals off pace, 5 of which are gold. And the areas i think we've fallen away in are the team sports, swimming and on the cycling track.

I've still enjoyed these games, don't get me wrong, but it is disappointing to see we've fallen further back since London despite the Russians fielding a weaker team these games.

Hopefully that this has happened 2 games in a row now, the proper funding measures can be put in place to help us get more competitive. I don't expect us to get back to Sydney/Athens level straight away, but i'd like to think geting back to Bejing 08 levels isn't unrealistic.

I can honestly say I took very little notice of the predictions from the AOC and other relevant bodies.  I always form my own opinion based on all the information at my disposal.  I now tend to switch off when people start talking things up.  I did have an 'optimistic' prediction of 11-14 gold medals but I'm not going to be disappointed in an optimistic view that doesn't happen.  

It's a bit like the buy-in we have at footy clubs.  We so want our club to do well that we'll end up believing the spin that is thrust in our direction.  That's not to say that the footy club isn't doing things properly now but previously, we got well and truly spun.  I prefer to see a good job done well without any fanfare, big statements or talking tough.  Just get it done quietly with a minimum of fuss. 

But as I've said previously TD, your view is perfectly understandable and represents a view that any number of Australians have.  My view is similar to the view I had 4 years ago ... we've got a major funding issue relative to the rest of the world.  London was the absolute wake up call but London was 4 years ago.

Other countries like Germany would be concerned too so watch for them to take affirmative action - they've only won a total of 35 medals and it's just as well 14 of them are gold.  The Brits have 60 medals with 24 gold (with a few more to come) France,  Italy and a few other European countries may copy the UK model of funding so the flow-on effect is that we could quite conceivably fall even further behind.

A great example is cycling ... we've fallen right away where as the Brits won 6 gold at these games.  They are not only smashing us but the rest of the world as well.  All rivalries aside, theirs is a great success story.

[Macca 16,902]

Not Stephen Bird's night unfortunately and another gold to Great Britain. 

The Brits might exceed the gold tally they obtained in London the way they're going.  They're in with a chance for gold in 2 boxing finals and a real chance in 2 or 3 more events so it's certainly achievable.

The UK had their watershed moment in Atlanta in 1996 when they won just 1 gold medal.

[MadAsHell 4,212]

53 minutes ago, Macca said:

Not Stephen Bird's night unfortunately and another gold to Great Britain. 

The Brits might exceed the gold tally they obtained in London the way they're going.  They're in with a chance for gold in 2 boxing finals and a real chance in 2 or 3 more events so it's certainly achievable.

The UK had their watershed moment in Atlanta in 1996 when they won just 1 gold medal.

The overflow of funding from a home Olympics. Same happened with us as we got more gold in Athens then we did in Sydney.

Mens K4 1000 just never looked in it tonight. Real shame.

[Macca 16,902]

1 minute ago, AngryAtCasey said:

The overflow of funding from a home Olympics. Same happened with us as we got more gold in Athens then we did in Sydney.

Mens K4 1000 just never looked in it tonight. Real shame.

Yep, never a show right from the get-go.  Just didn't have the speed and they were probably never a realistic chance of matching it with the German crew.  Happy to be surprised otherwise but the Boomers look like being our last chance for a medal (unless there's another 'Chloe') 

And I reckon we're going to have to get used to the UK being right up there in the medal tally ... such is the success of their funding that they might up the ante.  Strike while the iron is hot.

They'd be pinching themselves as we would be if we were that successful ... the worst thing to do in that situation is to rest on your laurels or even be happy to maintain the status quo.  They might find a way to increase their funding even further and chase down the Americans.  That's what winners do.

[MadAsHell 4,212]

9 minutes ago, Macca said:

Yep, never a show right from the get-go.  Just didn't have the speed and they were probably never a realistic chance of matching it with the German crew.  Happy to be surprised otherwise but the Boomers look like being our last chance for a medal (unless there's another 'Chloe') 

And I reckon we're going to have to get used to the UK being right up there in the medal tally ... such is the success of their funding that they might up the ante.  Strike while the iron is hot.

They'd be pinching themselves as we would be if we were that successful ... the worst thing to do in that situation is to rest on your laurels or even be happy to maintain the status quo.  They might find a way to increase their funding even further and chase down the Americans.  That's what winners do.

Not wrong Macca, and to take a glass half full approach, it gives us something to chase.

Once the reviews are done and funding restructured, hopefully adopting a similar approach to the UK, we can start to rectify the situation. The Comm Games in April 2018 will be a good measuring stick to see where we're at.

Edited August 20, 2016 by AngryAtCasey

[Macca 16,902]

Mo Farah is an absolute champion ... he's done the double again!

Challenged numerous times in that race (5000m) and just saw them all off.  A true racer.

[Macca 16,902]

The men's marathon and the men's basketball gold medal match are the highlights of the final day but it's not often that we have the Boomers involved as well ... up against Spain in the bronze medal match just after midnight.  A breakthrough medal is long overdue and let's hope they can do it this time. 

I reckon the Americans will win again over Serbia ... a loss would certainly be a talking point though.

Daily schedule from NBC.com

Chronological summary, results & scheduling of each day of the 2016 Rio Olympics (Wiki)  

                             Sunday August 21st (evening)

10.30pm   Track & Field ........................ Men's marathon final * * *

                                                                Liam Adams, Michael Shelley, Scott Westcott * * *

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

                             Monday August 21st (early morning)

12.30am   Men's Basketball ................. Boomers vs Spain (Bronze medal match)

1.30am     Men's Cycling ...................... Men's cross country final - Daniel McConnell * * *

2.15am     Men's Volleyball ................... Men's gold medal match (Italy vs Brazil) * * *

3.00am     Boxing .................................. Women's middleweight gold medal match * * *

                                                                Men's flyweight gold medal match * * *

                                                                Men's light welterweight medal match * * *

                                                                Men's super heavyweight gold medal match * * *

                                Monday August 21st (morning)

4.45am   Men's Basketball .................... Men's gold medal match (USA vs Serbia) * * *

9.00am   Special event .......................... The Closing Ceremony

[MadAsHell 4,212]

Well overal i've enjoyed watching these games, however as a whole i feel the 2016 Rio games will be looked back on as  a bit of a bust.

This isn't just from an Australian medals perspective, but from an event perspective. 

Half empty stadiums, green diving & water polo pools. The french pole vaulter being heckled when getting his medal presented, the ioc official being arrested for scalping, the idiots from the crowd running onto the course at the end of the womens marathon, the ryan lochte debacle, the 9 aussie athletes being arrested and detained for hours for simply sneaking into an event. That happens here and they get kicked out, end of story!

There have been some great moments also like Hamblin & D'Agostino, the Fijian rugby team and the Brazilians in the soccer. But i don't recall a recent Olympics with so many issues throughout.

The IOC may well steer clear of some of the less developed cities in the future and play it a bit more safe.

This bodes poorly for Budapest bid for the 2024 games i feel.

But i'm hoping the boomers can create history and land our 30th medal tonight! And who knows, maybe a miracle in the mountain bike or marathon can land us a final gold and try and claim we've improved on London after all.

Edited August 21, 2016 by AngryAtCasey
Good ythings

[MadAsHell 4,212]

Shattered for the Boomers last night. Deserved to go b out medalists, but a bad call by the ref with 9 seconds to go, plus one bad performance in the semi final ended that dream.

Bad day for results yesterday with Casey, Melbourne and then the Boomers.

Good news for the Boomers is the majority of the team should be able to return for Tokyo 2020. Anderson will retire no doubt. Not sure if Lisch will remain their naturalized player or not? While Bogut will be 35, so hopefully still playing in some capacity.

Throw in Dante Exum, Ben Simmons & Thom Maker and hopefully we can finally secure that medal!

Fair to say this was the best effort by a Boomers tram that we've seen.