Aussie commentator on Fox Sports just said "it is good the Aussies are up first in the synchronised swimming as they get a fresh pool"

WTF are you smoking Tracey Holmes????????????????

Watching field hockey i kinda feel like there's one too many players on either side its far too congested and lacks the pass and move type build up play you get in football, still a decent game though

John Steffensen sucks, and then in the interview he goes on to imply that the others failed and he had too much work to make up for.

What a tosser.

What is happening to Australia and Russia?
Japan has only 4 gold medals and it is not surprise, but as for Australia and Russia.....

as i've heard from someone else - being an australia supporter for this olympics makes me realise how it feels to be a central coast mariners fan every year. all the buildup, the expectations, the fans guarenteeing victory and the athletes saying "this is our year" - only for us to choke, horribly, and spend the next few weeks spitting out excuses that everyone just shakes their head at.

If we're calling 6 gold medals a choke we really are completely fucked as a nation.

in fairness, he said it before the last three days (when we've gone from 1 gold to 6). the athletes who bigged themselves up, who talked up the best lead-up to an event they've ever had, who eventually lost and used the excuse of "with a leadup as bad as i've had, it's really hard to compete any better than i did. if only i didn't sprain my ankle when i was 14 years old, i would have beaten them" - they're the chokers imo.

Runner breaks leg - but still finishes lap

MONTEO Mitchell didn't quite feel right. He was 100 metres into his 400m run and his leg felt weird. Another 100 metres further on and he felt his leg crack, he even heard the snap and screamed out in pain. Incredibly he did not stop. He wanted to lie down but didn't, he just kept going through the pain and ran the last 200 metres with a broken leg.
More amazing still was that his effort meant his American team not only finished the relay semi-final, but won it in 2:58.87, the fastest time ever run in the first round of the 4x400m at the Olympics.
Manteo has become an inspiration and a hero for his teammates. Without his courage and determination to finish, Team USA would not be at the starting line in the final. The team has rallied around him and we are all looking forward to the final days of competition

Mitchell finished his 400m leg with a broken leg in a respectable time, running 46.1 seconds as America won through to the final of the event they have owned at the Olympics - winning the last eight times they have contested it.
It was only a few hours later that doctors confirmed he had a broken left fibula.
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"I figured it's what almost any person would've done in that situation," Mitchell modestly said of his effort to keep running.
He said that he had fallen awkwardly after tripping while walking up stairs at the Athletes' village several days ago, but that after treatment he felt no discomfort and believed he was fit and ready to run.
"I did workouts and when I warmed up today I felt really well. I felt I could go 44 [seconds]-low. I got out pretty slow, but I picked it up and when I got to the 100m mark it felt weird. I was thinking I just didn't feel right," he said.
"As soon as I took the first step past the 200m mark I felt it break - I heard it - I even put out a little war cry, but the crowd was so loud you couldn't hear it. I wanted to just lie down. It felt like somebody literally just snapped my leg in half.
"I knew if I finished strong we could still get it [the baton] around. I saw Josh Mance motioning me in for me to hand it off to him, which lifted me.
"I didn't want to let those three guys down, or the team down, so I just ran on it. It hurt so bad. I'm pretty amazed that I still split 45 seconds on a broken leg."
USA Track and Field chief executive officer Max Siegel said: "Manteo has become an inspiration and a hero for his teammates. Without his courage and determination to finish, Team USA would not be at the starting line in the final. The team has rallied around him and we are all looking forward to the final days of competition."


Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/olympics/athletics-london-2012/runner-breaks-leg--but-still-finishes-lap-20120810-23xxq.html#ixzz235hsQqZR

x2

If we're calling 6 gold medals a choke we really are completely fucked as a nation.

Well for a nation that takes sport as seriously as this one, 6 gold medals is a pretty shit return.

How much does it cost a country to win an Olympic Gold Medal?

It cost Australia about $37 million per gold medal. Also interesting was the significant linear relationship found between money spent and medals won:

In 1981 the Commonwealth Government established the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS). The Australian Sports Commission (ASC) which administers the AIS has 2 objectives: (1) excellence in sports performances; and (2) increased participation in sports and sports activities. State-based institutes of sport have also been established with the same or very similar objectives. Federal policy directs the bulk of the ASC budget to elite athlete programs. A smaller proportion goes towards community participation. The official reason is based on the notion of the 'trickle-down' or 'demonstration' effect. That is, a flow-on of benefits to the broader community in the form of increased participation as a direct result of elite sports success. The aims of this study were to determine the (1) spending pattern to elite sports programs for the 5 Olympics 1976/77 to 1995/96, (2) evidence for the two ASC objectives having been met, and (3) expected medal tally at the 2000 Olympic Games. Results show funding (in 1998 dollars), has accelerated from about $1.2 million (1976/77) to $106 million in (1997/98), particularly since the Games were awarded to Sydney. The total amount spent on elite athletes was $0.918 billion. In the period 1980-96 Australia won 25 gold and 115 total Olympic medals. This equates to approximately $37 million per gold and $8 million per medal in general. There was a significant linear relationship between money spent and total medals won. This was also found when all medal types were analysed independently. The predicted medal tally in 2000 (based on the cost per medal and the expenditure towards Sydney) indicates the medal count will be about 14+/-1 gold, 15+/-2 silver and 33+/-4 bronze. Based on our nation's record of international sporting achievement, there is little doubt we have fulfilled the ASC's first objective. Current data on physical activity patterns of Australians suggest the second objective has not been met. Focusing attention on and achieving the first objective does not appear to have any bearing on the second objective. It is time to revisit the notion that elite sporting success leads to greater mass participation as a result of the so-called 'trickle-down' effect.

Source: "The 'price' of Olympic Gold." from J Sci Med Sport. 2000 Jun;3(2):203-18.

http://www.bakadesuyo.com/how-much-does-it-cost-a-country-to-win-an-oly

does anyone know who is showing the closing ceremony. i cant see anything on the tv guide for fox and channel 9. I assume 9 have the rights for it, but all i can see if that they showing it delayed by about 4 hours or so.

Ad on for it tonight on Ch.9. Pretty sure it starts 9.30pm.

Big Brother is @ 7.30pm
Underbelly is @ 8.30pm

Ad on for it tonight on Ch.9. Pretty sure it starts 9.30pm.

Big Brother is @ 7.30pm
Underbelly is @ 8.30pm

cant start at 9:30 our time if its 9:30 british time??

9:30 monday night is the replay, the live coverage starts 6am Monday morning.

Olympics continues to rate for Nine

by: Amanda Meade From: The Australian August 10, 2012 11:13AM

OLYMPICS viewing averaged 2.2 million last night across Nine and Foxtel in the five capital cities.

The evening broadcast of day 13 in London on Nine, featuring the women’s 10km swimming marathon, averaged 1.78 million in the five capital cities - and 2.65 million when combined with regionals.

Nine’s broadcast partner Foxtel, which broadcasts eight Olympic channels, attracted 507,096 viewers in prime time to reach an aggregate prime viewing average of 2.19 million across the two platforms.

The London 2012 Olympic Games 2012 dominated Thursday night viewing, taking out the number one and two programs across the five city metro and giving Nine a massive 43.5 per cent share.

But the non-Olympics networks were way down on their usual performacne: Ten was on a tiny 14.5 per cent, beaten by the ABC on 14.6. Seven was on 23.3 per cent and SBS 4.2.

...Nine News was third across the five city metro, along the east coast, in Sydney and in Melbourne with total people, averaging 1.30 million.

But Today Tonight on Seven beat Nine’s A Current Affair on a five city basis despite the big news on the program that English police had arrested and charged Hey Dad! star Robert Hughes in London.

A Current Affair triggered a major police investigation when it aired allegations of child abuse against the Australian actor in 2010.

Home and Away on Seven was the best performing general show last night with 887,000 viewers followed by MasterChef All Stars on Ten with 741,000.


OZTAM OVERNIGHT RANKINGS AUGUST 9
1 LONDON LIVE EVENING Nine 1,789,000
2 LONDON LIVE EVENING Nine 1,633,000
3 NINE NEWS Nine 1,303,000
4 SEVEN NEWS Seven 1,226,000
5 TODAY TONIGHT Seven 1,034,000
6 A CURRENT AFFAIR Nine 921,000
7 HOME AND AWAY Seven 887,000
8 LONDON LIVE: D13 LATE Nine 866,000
9 ABC NEWS ABC 797,000
10 MASTERCHEF Ten 741,000
11 TEN NEWS AT FIVE Ten 708,000
12 MRS. BROWN'S BOYS (R) Seven 689,000
13 DEAL OR NO DEAL Seven 599,000
14 BORDER SECURITY Seven 577,000
15 THE PROJECT Ten 536,000

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/media/olympics-continues-to-rate-for-nine/story-e6frg996-1226447441596