Beijing 2022!

[AlizéeSuperFanFIN]

Well...:o What better entertainment than the Winter Olympics?!:bow::**::yahoo: :agree:

Okay, maybe the Summer Olympics, but the Summer Olympics have, so to speak, "too many sports" to watch them all properly without you going crazy..... :**: :)(: -

Okay, we have Alizée, oc, but she's almost "retired" right now...:fear:

In fact, the games started today with curling and there is an opening ceremony on Friday!

So! Let's see if I have time to comment on the Olympics here in the thread...:p :13:

In the case of Finland, the recession in top sports is great, we are the most successful Olympic country in the world in relation to the population, but thanks to Paavo Nurmi and other flying Finns... :order:

:13: In these winter games, mainly only cross-country skiing superstar Iivo Niskanen and maybe ice hockey teams are "sure medalists"... :order:

[CleverCowboy]

At the beginning of the pandemic in 2020, sporting events were allowed to continue in limited fashion, but no spectators were allowed. In many venues, there were cardboard cutouts of people that were put into the stands by the hundreds or thousands in some cases, depending on the event. Cheering and applause and general "stadium noise" were played from sound tracks to give it a live feeling. Nevertheless it was surreal and there was something lost without the energy of a live audience.

That will be the case for these Olympics. No foreign spectators and just a select group of Chinese nationals will be allowed to attend. It will be that weirdness all over again in my opinion.

Over time I had slowly lost interest in the Olympics and I doubt I'll be paying much attention to it this year, but there was a time when I wouldn't miss them and watched as much as I could.

I enjoy the ice hockey, speed skating and ski jumping events the most for the winter Olympics.

[Scruffydog777]

I'm kind of a creature of habit with the Olympics. Just about every time it rolls around, at first I don't watch it, then I hear about some of the competitions, some of the different stories and start watching it at a late point, a point near the end and at which I regret not watching it more. As CleverCowboy mentioned, not having a crowd also takes away from the event.

[AlizéeSuperFanFIN]

I almost agree that the Games should have been postponed by a year like Tokyo 2020! :13:

In addition, China's covid restrictions are still the strictest in the world.

The IOC should have demanded a little relief from the restrictions if the Games are being held right now!

Of course, I’ve been waiting for these games a lot, so in itself it’s good that they started now! :yay:

---

Ski jumping! Great and good memories! Unfortunately, only Finland has now collapsed in that sport!:(

After all, we were the best, led by Matti Nykänen, then the veterans of that time retired and on top of all that, all TV broadcasts went on pay-TV...:mad::mad:

Juniors gradually disappeared from the sport or at least those masses decreased...:no::order:

And now we're even fighting to get to the second round! :dontknow::facepalm:

Ice Hockey: It is a pity for hockey that the covid caused the NHL to withdraw ...

In women, the level differences are still quite large...

In speed skating I have mainly been a supporter of the Dutchman Sven Kramer, Finland has not become a big name since Clas Thunberg. :w:

The level of speed skating and the ruling countries have varied considerably over the years, as the USA, for example, has experienced - except that the Netherlands always dominates... :)(:

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I enjoy the ice hockey, speed skating and ski jumping events the most for the winter Olympics.

[CleverCowboy]

The Europeans have always done extremely well in the winter games no doubt about that, but the medal count is by country. Finland has only a fraction of the population of USA, Russia and China so the pool of athletes are smaller, so you really have to get behind those that you have. I think if the EU countries had their medals rolled up into a single total for the EU, they would take 1st in the medal count.

[AlizéeSuperFanFIN]

The Europeans have always done extremely well in the winter games no doubt about that, but the medal count is by country. Finland has only a fraction of the population of USA, Russia and China so the pool of athletes are smaller, so you really have to get behind those that you have. I think if the EU countries had their medals rolled up into a single total for the EU, they would take 1st in the medal count.

:thumb: Sometimes someone has suggested that the European Union should be one state (EU federalists), and that would certainly elevate “us” to number one, :13: but I don’t support that, :thumbD:and that’s hardly happening.:agree:

When, for example, Scotland, England, Ireland and Wales even refuse to play football together, that is, under the British flag and so on. :)(:

National feeling most important!:bow::dance::) :yahoo:

The opening ceremony was spectacular. By the way, the United States has the most athletes in these games, 222.

[AlizéeSuperFanFIN]

^Correction: The number of athletes was 224 :13:

Today was the first official day, :yay: six golds have already been settled, :)and luckily the medals went to many different countries!:)

:agree: :yahoo: The variegated medal table is the best!!:p:bow::aha::dance:

[AlizéeSuperFanFIN]

Finland🇫🇮🥉 also opened a medal account when Iivo Niskanen won bronze in the 30km skiathlon. :2_thumbs::13: Alexander Bolshunov's superiority was miraculous.:)(:

This is how 18 different countries have already received medals, great!:dance::)

This was not even the most important competition for Iivo, so the medal was actually a small surprise. :yahoo::agree:

Mention should also be made of the Swedish long-distance speed skater Nils Van der Poel, who has suddenly come to dominate the sport:o (his grandfather is said to be Dutch, again a surprise ...:w:)

[Fall]

When, for example, Scotland, England, Ireland and Wales even refuse to play football together, that is, under the British flag and so on. :)(:

National feeling most important!:bow::dance::) :yahoo:


That's not always true though. In Formula 1 for example there are only "British" drivers, despite the fact that Jim Clark and Jackie Stewart (two of the greatest ever, from anywhere) were born in Scotland. That's five F1 championships between them arguably belonging to Scotland instead of all Britain. It's a weird thing. I'm not from that part of the world, so I have no stake in who competes for what flag.

It sort of reminds me of an old NatGeo article on the 2002 World Cup co-hosted by South Korea and Japan; it commented on how the Koreans had "gone from not allowing the Japanese to enter their borders for a game, to co-hosting the tournament with their old enemies" (paraphrasing). The article suggested that in another 50 years we may see Israel and Palestine co-host the Cup, all we need to do is give it time :13::cool:✌🏽

[AlizéeSuperFanFIN]

:̂^True. :bye: and it came to mind that even British curling teams at the Winter Olympics are always called Scottish teams at other times...? :13::)

And it's true that the British have sometimes played football at the Summer Games...:)

But if someone went to FIFA to propose the unification of these countries, it could lead to a riot! :w::dmi::nervous::blink:

---


Pah, as I guessed, I don’t have much time to update on what’s going on in the games, :confused:as watching these games myself is already a “job” for me!:p

But... Ski jumping :eek: mixed team competition :oshocked the whole sports world today with its Olympic debut, when the jump suits of 4 big countries were disqualifed... Slovenia certainly won as a favorite, but then Russia won the silver and the bronze went to Canada!

Anyone with that trio on betting paper is rich after that, :2_thumbs:because that shouldn’t happen, RUS and CAN have never been able to medal in a ski jumping!:)(::fear:

The most annoying thing is that Finland would have fought now without DQ, at least for bronze, :yay: but the positive covid test prevented our the other man from jumping :yikes: - but why was the substitute not taken from the Nordic combined team? The leaders of the Finnish team have made a big mistake! :thumbD::facepalm::coffee::nono:

In fact, the retired ski jumping legend Janne Ahonen, who just won the Finnish Championship bronze without training, is a commentator and expert on the Finnish TV / YLE in Beijing... And someone suggested him and it would have been a great history, ;):dance::):cool: but he wouldn't even have been technically qualified for the race because participants must have a certain number of valid FIS points...:fear:

[CleverCowboy]

Fun fact -

Greece, despite being the country where the first Olympics were held, never won any Winter Olympics medals.

Unfortunately, nothing should change this year, and they will go home empty-handed again. :( But at least they keep trying! :)

So as of right now, Russia is leading the medal count, which is no great surprise. The Netherlands were leading yesterday, which was a nice surprise, but they have dropped off the top five.

[AlizéeSuperFanFIN]

However, all the exotic countries participating in the Winter Olympics are a nice addition! :)(Okay, Greece isn't that exotic, but...);)

Today was e.g. an interesting cross-country skiing sprint competition in the program! By the way, the bronze was won by the American Jessie Diggins and the Finnish Joni Mäki was not far from the bronze either [was a super surprise]! Finns are still better in classic skiing style, although e.g. in biathlon and Nordic combined competitions, only free style is used anymore!

Edit: Two notable and historical highlights include:

Matthias Mayer [AUT] in alpine skiing and Natalie Geisenberger [GER] in luge won their third personal championship! :yay:

Sledding is an interesting thing, :o :13: it is popular in Central Europe, Russia, Latvia and North America, there are even Jamaicans involved, etc., but then many other traditional winter sports countries are completely out of the races! :)(:

It’s really great that the medal table for these games is really steady!:bow::bow::bow::bow::p:p:p:p

Ps. In America, I guess it is customary to look first at the total number of medals in medal stats?

[CleverCowboy]

Ps. In America, I guess it is customary to look first at the total number of medals in medal stats?

I think to some extent that might still hold true, but for the last few decades the world has gotten much smaller due to the Internet and frequent international travel, so not so much anymore.

For Americans old enough to have watched the Olympics pre-1990 during the Cold War years, the US had an arch rival, which was the Soviet Union. The US was mostly dominating the medal count, but the Soviet Union was right there breathing down our necks. :fear: ;) So in this regard, there was a lot of medal count watching going on.

There were some epic match-ups during those years, including the US vs Soviet Union hockey match in 1980, nicknamed the Miracle on Ice because the US won, being big underdogs. They even made a movie about it!

Even though there was a lot of mystery with the Soviet Union and the other Iron Curtain countries, there was some fascination as well. For example, America fell in love with a little Romanian gymnast named Nadia Comaneci who scored the first perfect 10 in the Olympics. That was back in 1974 I believe. Then there were the Cuban boxers in the 1976 summer games. Cuba was supposed to be our "enemy" and the US was supposedly the best boxing country, but they put together a fantastic boxing team that won many boxing medals. I still remember those epic US vs Cuba matches very well.

So there was a keen sense of patriotism that went along with the Olympics back then. There still is, but not as fervent anymore. Sure, I would like to see the US team do well and win the medal count, but it doesn't bother me in the least bit if they don't. I just want to see the best athletes win, wherever they are from. :)

[AlizéeSuperFanFIN]

I think to some extent that might still hold true, but for the last few decades the world has gotten much smaller due to the Internet and frequent international travel, so not so much anymore.

For Americans old enough to have watched the Olympics pre-1990 during the Cold War years, the US had an arch rival, which was the Soviet Union. The US was mostly dominating the medal count, but the Soviet Union was right there breathing down our necks. :fear: ;) So in this regard, there was a lot of medal count watching going on.

There were some epic match-ups during those years, including the US vs Soviet Union hockey match in 1980, nicknamed the Miracle on Ice because the US won, being big underdogs. They even made a movie about it!

Even though there was a lot of mystery with the Soviet Union and the other Iron Curtain countries, there was some fascination as well. For example, America fell in love with a little Romanian gymnast named Nadia Comaneci who scored the first perfect 10 in the Olympics. That was back in 1974 I believe. Then there were the Cuban boxers in the 1976 summer games. Cuba was supposed to be our "enemy" and the US was supposedly the best boxing country, but they put together a fantastic boxing team that won many boxing medals. I still remember those epic US vs Cuba matches very well.

So there was a keen sense of patriotism that went along with the Olympics back then. There still is, but not as fervent anymore. Sure, I would like to see the US team do well and win the medal count, but it doesn't bother me in the least bit if they don't. I just want to see the best athletes win, wherever they are from. :)
Well said!

I remember the previous Beijing Games, ie the Summer Games 2008 ,:) when China won most gold, but the US had the most medals. :13:

It became, of course, a "controversy", at least in the media, about who was number one now!:)):fear::p:confused:

In fact, I’m always excited about medal stats, except that my own favorites quite rarely win overall stats... :)(: :cool:

[B]Men's ice hockey tournament has now started in the games, and when the NHL is not involved, Finland is a big favorite thanks to Jukka Jalonen's coaching skills... Well, Russia is (always) a favorite... It will be exciting! :clap: :yay:

[AlizéeSuperFanFIN]

Well... :bow: Now Finland also started to succeed when Finnish women won silver and bronze in 10km classic style cross-country skiing! :)Led by iivo's sister Kerttu!!;)

These medals were also pretty big surprises compared to the general level...:13::o

The most annoying thing was that the winner was norwegian, just 0.4 seconds apart and previously convicted of doping!:mad::confused:

Well, on the other hand, the Finn won the bronze in just 0.1 second difference to the Russian!:)) One would not believe that such small time differences are possible after 10 kilometers of skiing! :)(::)(:

In luge, Germany won all four gold! :order::o Today’s last race, the team race, was so tight that Austria almost beat Germany -- a little annoying it didn’t happen!:fear:

Excessive control of one country in one sport is no longer nice...:no::facepalm: Well, Holland does the same in speed skating, but luckily the shorter skating distances are smoother and they are still coming!:agree::dance:

And... Gold for Finland tomorrow! 🇫🇮:yay: :clap: :yahoo: :aha:or what does Bolshunov say? :nervous:

[AlizéeSuperFanFIN]

Well, that's where the gold medal came from! :thumb::)But it was partly a surprise that Iivo Niskanen was historically superior, incomprehensible! :)(::o

Well, because skiing styles vary from race to race,:13: Iivo had been waiting for this trip for 8 years, so he also had time to prepare!:)):p

In general, it is strange and of course great that Finns are now more successful in skiing than in recent years...:bow::dance:

Is it due to China's very difficult circumstances:o and successful preparations? :yahoo:

[Scruffydog777]

Medal distribution seems fairly even so far with maybe the exception of Norway which I guess should be expected. I wonder if the Jamaican bob sled team made it this year?

[AlizéeSuperFanFIN]

I wonder if the Jamaican bob sled team made it this year?
They actually have a “full gang” :D i.e. four-man, two-man and a monobob team involved in the races!:o:)(::o:clap:

:w: Personally, I do not support the athletes of that neighboring country, because its success is questionable, but no more about it here... :w:

So more success for Germany and other countries! :yahoo: :agree::)::p ;)

In addition, the games have now seen one judging mistake that actually took the gold from the host country...

https://whitelines.com/snowboard-culture/scene/interviews/all-rise-olympic-head-snowboard-judge-explains-what-happened-during-the-slopestyle-finals.html

This means that Canada has only one gold [rare thing], :)(: and thus that gold is also questionable... :confused:

[AlizéeSuperFanFIN]

:yay: Russia won the men's cross-country skiing relay with a superior show, I had specifically wished Russia a victory... :yay: That norway would not win!

Huh, :)(: Sweden led Finland 3-1 in the men's hockey shortly before the end of the match, but Finland finally won 4-3, Jukka Jalonen is a sports wizard [at first I didn't even like him because his style of play can be boring at times, but it's really winning! :agree:]

The 500 metres speed skating victory came to the US, :13: it could be called a "return" because USA has been in a couple of previous games almost without medals!:o

The case of Kamila Valieva, :mad:I hope for an exemption from CAS, there's something strange about who would use a substance that doesn't even improve performance :order: - and if you need one, get a special permit for use from WADA!

[AlizéeSuperFanFIN]

Well, bench sports is a pretty hard job!:zz::zz::coffee::coffee::2_thumbs:

Especially when many events went completely wrong than I would have liked!:mad:;)

One has to wonder again about the Germany superiority in sledding, :)(: now also in bobsleigh, the first triple victory of the games in the two-man!

I wish Lochner had won, but of course Friedrich took it... :order:

And...

Tomorrow the Finns will have big medal seams in both cross-country skiing team sprint competitions :p:runaway::bow::)- But let's see!? :)(:

[AlizéeSuperFanFIN]

Well, a couple of medals came from there again:coffee: and the Finnish hockey team, Leijonat, is on its way to gold! :nervous::)

^The previous post was also meant to say that Germany also achieved both golds in skeleton sledding - but there those golds were only their first historical olympic victories! :)(:

[AlizéeSuperFanFIN]

Well... Alizée was supposed to be on fire right now :)(: :)) :D :yay: at the Beijing Olympics Freeski Ski Cross race...!:o:bye::p

[French freestyle skier Alizée Baron,;) I wished her success, just because of the name!...:agree::bow: - Such a rare name for celebrities:cool::coffee:]

https://www.lequipe.fr/Adrenaline/Ski-freestyle/Actualites/Alizee-baron-touchee-au-dos-ne-disputera-pas-le-skicross-des-jo-de-pekin/1317915:o

But she has lower back problems :13: and the result is "DNS", :fear:a pity that Alizée is not succeeding now because she was already the fifth in Pyeonchang!:)

[Scruffydog777]

Well... Alizée was supposed to be on fire right now :)(: :)) :D :yay: at the Beijing Olympics Freeski Ski Cross race...!:o:bye::p

[French freestyle skier Alizée Baron,;) I wished her success, just because of the name!...:agree::bow: - Such a rare name for celebrities:cool::coffee:]

https://www.lequipe.fr/Adrenaline/Ski-freestyle/Actualites/Alizee-baron-touchee-au-dos-ne-disputera-pas-le-skicross-des-jo-de-pekin/1317915:o

But she has lower back problems :13: and the result is "DNS", :fear:a pity that Alizée is not succeeding now because she was already the fifth in Pyeonchang!:)

I see she was born in 1992, long before Alizée became a very popular name, at least as far as the music industry. So she didn't get her name because of Alizée but I wonder how many babies did?

[CleverCowboy]

I see she was born in 1992, long before Alizée became a very popular name, at least as far as the music industry. So she didn't get her name because of Alizée but I wonder how many babies did?

From Wiki:

Alizé, or Alizée, is a female given name, taken from the word alizé, describing an intertropical trade wind. It has the variants Alysée, Alisée and Aliséa. The name is common in France, Italy and Spain. Alizay is another variation of the name, more common in South Asia.

The name gained rapid popularity in the 1980s.

People with this given name include:

Alizée (born 1984), born Alizée Jacotey, French singer
Alizé Cornet (born 1990), a French tennis player
Alizée Baron (born 1992), French skier
Alizée Brien (born 1993), Canadian racing cyclist
Alizée Costes (born 1994), a French rhythmic gymnast
Alizée Crozet (born 2000), French figure skater
Alizée Dufraisse (born 1987), a French rock climber
Alizée Gaillard (born 1985), a Swiss model
Alizé Jones (born 1997), American football tight end
Alize Lily Mounter (born 1988), Welsh journalist and beauty queen
Alizé Lim (born 1990), a French tennis player
Alizé Mack (born 1997), American football player
Alizée Poulicek (born 1987), a Belgian model

[Scruffydog777]

I see she was born in 1992, long before Alizée became a very popular name, at least as far as the music industry. So she didn't get her name because of Alizée but I wonder how many babies did?

From Wiki:

Alizé, or Alizée, is a female given name, taken from the word alizé, describing an intertropical trade wind. It has the variants Alysée, Alisée and Aliséa. The name is common in France, Italy and Spain. Alizay is another variation of the name, more common in South Asia.

The name gained rapid popularity in the 1980s.

People with this given name include:


Alizée (born 1984), born Alizée Jacotey, French singer
Alizé Cornet (born 1990), a French tennis player
Alizée Baron (born 1992), French skier
Alizée Brien (born 1993), Canadian racing cyclist
Alizée Costes (born 1994), a French rhythmic gymnast
Alizée Crozet (born 2000), French figure skater
Alizée Dufraisse (born 1987), a French rock climber
Alizée Gaillard (born 1985), a Swiss model
Alizé Jones (born 1997), American football tight end
Alize Lily Mounter (born 1988), Welsh journalist and beauty queen
Alizé Lim (born 1990), a French tennis player
Alizé Mack (born 1997), American football player
Alizée Poulicek (born 1987), a Belgian model

I see none of them were singers so I guess I was right in saying as far as the music industry though I've heard of a Nigerian singer by that name, without the accent mark, who was killed by her husband a few years ago.

[AlizéeSuperFanFIN]

*^I see none of them were singers so I guess I was right in saying as far as the music industry though I've heard of a Nigerian singer by that name, without the accent mark, who was killed by her husband a few years ago.

We have also discussed this topic in this thread ...

http://alizeeamerica.com/forums/showthread.php?t=8736

The sudden popularity of the name [at least in the West] seems to be a mystery.:fear::)

I have also read about that case in Africa.. :13: It was a tragic incident. :confused::( And pretty special that there was also a singer with the same artist name.

______________________

Well for a happier topic! :):dance:

Leijonat advanced to the Ice Hockey Olympic final!:bow::yay: :yahoo::p

The opponent is always tough Russia :fear:[but luckily they beat Sweden!:yay::aha:]!

It annoys me, about two and a half weeks of intensive monitoring and far too many competitions/golds went:facepalm: to countries I didn’t want to... :order: [And more bad things happened!:(]

[AlizéeSuperFanFIN]

Well....:):13: It happened! Ice hockey Olympic gold for Finland, finally!:yay::bye: And it could be called the most important single victory of the Games! :thumb: :yahoo:

Familiar factors decided the victory1! At the same time, one bronze also came on the closing day, "a little surprisingly"!:dance::aha::yahoo: :agree:

I have to see if I could analyze the whole Olympics even more comprehensively later, :cool: now that the closing ceremony is over...:coffee::snack: - let's see!:13::p

The success of little norway is not credible to me, :order: there is something suspicious about it [much], :13: but I will not comment further here :w::phehe: because I will be too angry then!:angry::bash:

[Scruffydog777]

Well....:):13: It happened! Ice hockey Olympic gold for Finland, finally!:yay::bye: And it could be called the most important single victory of the Games! :thumb: :yahoo:

Familiar factors decided the victory1! At the same time, one bronze also came on the closing day, "a little surprisingly"!:dance::aha::yahoo: :agree:

I have to see if I could analyze the whole Olympics even more comprehensively later, :cool: now that the closing ceremony is over...:coffee::snack: - let's see!:13::p

The success of little norway is not credible to me, :order: there is something suspicious about it [much], :13: but I will not comment further here :w::phehe: because I will be too angry then!:angry::bash:

I think most people thought it was between Canada, the USA and ROC (Russia) as far as the gold in hockey. I would have liked to have seen the USA win but I'm glad for Finland. Something like this I'm sure is huge for them.

[CleverCowboy]

Well....:):13: It happened! Ice hockey Olympic gold for Finland, finally!:yay::bye: And it could be called the most important single victory of the Games! :thumb: :yahoo:

Who could have predicted an ice hockey Gold for Finland? Nobody. But congratulations to them and I'm sure from here on out in future Olympics, they will be paid attention to. :)

[AlizéeSuperFanFIN]

Thanks thanks! :yay: :thumb::):p

In fact, Finland has even been the most effective medal winner of the "NHL Olympics" in recent years, :)(: but gold has not come ...

[CAN 3-0-0
FIN 0-1-3]

Turin 2006 was a tragedy,:confused::( it was so close and the golden generation led by Teemu Selänne was in its hardest blow!:bow::dance:

A big deal for Finns, as this is the first "big Olympic gold in team sports". Head coach Jukka Jalonen and Marko "Mörkö" Anttila decided again, as in a few IIHF championships in recent years! :yahoo: :agree: