 Poster: A snowHead
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So this stuff the Russian has been using to enhance his performance curling. Do you think it would help my wife with the housework.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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| jbob wrote: |
| So this stuff the Russian has been using to enhance his performance curling. Do you think it would help my wife with the housework. |
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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@Izzop, that is fantastic! What an absolute gutter! Feel for him!
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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So... Elisabeth Swaney, the US via Hungary half-pipe skier who pulled and 'Eddie'.
Olympics, celebration of international participation, or cream of elite sportsmen and women?
Do the rule changes which often follow increase the barriers of qualification for genuine candidates?
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3rd gold for Martin Forcade in this Olympics. This time in the mixed biathlon.
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Oh dear - another disaster for Elise Christie. Must be absolutely gutting for the poor woman, but it does seem as though the Gods are trying to tell her something.
Sochi 2014, 500m: Christie is disqualified after tangling with Italy's Arianna Fontana midway through the final.
Sochi 2014, 1,500m: The Briton suffers her second disqualification because of a controversial infringement at the finish line as she appeared to win her 1500m heat.
Sochi 2014, 1,000m: Christie is disqualified again after tangling with China's Jianrou Li on the final bend of their 1,000m semi-final.
Pyeongchang 2018, 500m: The Scot tries to force her way through to third place on the last lap of the final, but falls after coming into contact with Yara van Kerkhof.
Pyeongchang 2018, 1500m: She crashes on the final bend of her 1500m semi-final and careers into the barriers. She is attended by medics before leaving the venue on a stretcher.
Pyeongchang 2018, 1,000m: Christie overcomes her ankle injury to make the start line, but crashes early. She recovers to make the restarted race and finishes in second place. It is good enough for qualification, but she is subsequently disqualified by the race judges.
To paraphrase Napoleon Bonaparte ... "I know she's a good skater, but is she lucky?'
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@Richard_Sideways, interesting question! Obviously one of the attractions of the Olympics is seeing the cream of elite sportsmen/women, however some countries (Swiss, France, Austria, US, Norway) will have world class competitors who don't make the selection for the Olympics as they have an embarrassment of riches. Whereas other countries will have lesser competitors will compete. So it's won't be a true & pure competition of the elite (there must be cross country competitors from Norway that have a better chance of a top 10 finish than competing atheletes from GB?!), so there is already a international participation element in play.
So bearing that in mind, I think we should be embracing the Eddie's of the world, it gives us all hope and inspiration!
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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@foxtrotzulu, Beijing 2022: 500m, 1000m and 1500m: to save everyone the time, effort and cost of travelling halfway around the world for a farcical lottery, the results are all decided in advance by rolling some dice. 
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| foxtrotzulu wrote: |
Oh dear - another disaster for Elise Christie. Must be absolutely gutting for the poor woman, but it does seem as though the Gods are trying to tell her something.
Sochi 2014, 500m: Christie is disqualified after tangling with Italy's Arianna Fontana midway through the final.
Sochi 2014, 1,500m: The Briton suffers her second disqualification because of a controversial infringement at the finish line as she appeared to win her 1500m heat.
Sochi 2014, 1,000m: Christie is disqualified again after tangling with China's Jianrou Li on the final bend of their 1,000m semi-final.
Pyeongchang 2018, 500m: The Scot tries to force her way through to third place on the last lap of the final, but falls after coming into contact with Yara van Kerkhof.
Pyeongchang 2018, 1500m: She crashes on the final bend of her 1500m semi-final and careers into the barriers. She is attended by medics before leaving the venue on a stretcher.
Pyeongchang 2018, 1,000m: Christie overcomes her ankle injury to make the start line, but crashes early. She recovers to make the restarted race and finishes in second place. It is good enough for qualification, but she is subsequently disqualified by the race judges.
To paraphrase Napoleon Bonaparte ... "I know she's a good skater, but is she lucky?' |
@foxtrotzulu, we had a similar conversation in the office - where one person made the point that there's only some many times you can be unlucky before you may need to analyse if it's something you're doing wrong (however tiny).
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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So she is an unlucky world champion?
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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I watched it on Saturday morning and saw her fall. I thought at the time, this is a crazy sport, there'd just been a heat where a Canadian person fell and almost wiped out half the field and then Christie fell in her heat. I can't help but think she's a split second off the pace and trying too hard, those South Koreans and Dutch look like they're on some super-juice, all that bashing and barging to get onto the same level and coming from behind all the time looks to me a tad risky strategy, think I'd be having a re-think rather than spending another 4 years waiting for Beijing.....she's a lovely person but is she ever going to win against her opposition? I sincerely hope so for her sake.....
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@Markymark29, To be fair, she beat the same opposition in the World Championships.
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You know it makes sense.
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@Frosty the Snowman, world champs has a different results/quali system from the 'lympics. She's very quick but has made some bad judgement calls racecraft wise which haven't helped her.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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Poster: A snowHead
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I just don't get the judging in short track, even with their supposed extra TV views that we don't get. Not just Elise Christie, but quite a few other cases it seems like the person who is taken out or skated into has been penalised. For instance in today's race, Elise was in front on the racing line and the Hungarian girl skates into her, and yet Elise is penalised? I don't disagree that Elise Christie probably made some bad calls in her race tactics - if it seems the judges are going to penalise any overtaking on the inside, why keep doing it? - but it almost seems like she has a big target on her so that the other skaters can hit her with impunity because it's always going to be her that's penalised. And it's not just her - another example: in the 500m, the Canadian girl pushed the Korean girl out of the way yet the Korean was penalised and the Canadian got a medal as a result? What's that all about then? And what's with zero right of appeal? Judges/referees are only human after all...
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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@Handy Turnip,
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So bearing that in mind, I think we should be embracing the Eddie's of the world, it gives us all hope and inspiration!
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I fully agree. To me, the Olympics are about nations coming together and competing against each other. It's not 'meant' to be about individuals. If it was, then only a couple of countries might get to compete in some sports and then it all becomes a bit meaningless.
Also, I confess to being a little uneasy about the UK's ruthless approach of reinforcing/funding success and almost abandoning sports where we don't think we are likely to win. It may bring in the medals but it just doesn't quite seem to be in the spirit of the games. In the same vein, I am still unhappy with the way Paula Radcliffe pulled up in the 10,000m event in Athens 2004. At the moment she stopped she didn't look as though she was on her last legs, she just stood about looking hacked off, and it gave the impression she pulled up because she realised she wasn't likely to win a medal.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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@eng_ch, I don't get it either but I think overtaking on the inside is allowed but the judges seem to frown on the outside skier blocking the inside skier as they are coming through.
The Hungarian girl barged in to Christie form the outside and Christie did well to keep her balance but a few laps later The Polish (I think) skater tried to pass Christie on the inside who then blocked her off illegally in the opinion of the judges.
What I don't understand is that the Hungarian skater was not disqualified but marked with a Green flag and "A" but I don't know what that means.
Crazy competition and even crazier judging from a non-expert view. Anyone care to explain further?
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@halfhand, green flag and A is, I believe, advanced to the next round although not qualified by right of finishing in the top X number in that round - usually as a result of being the victim of an infringement. Christie was penalised for the Hungarian girl barging into her. Christie was clearly ahead and on the racing line, so I just don't get why she was penalised. Same has happened in other races with other skaters
@foxtrotzulu, +1. The studio commentary team were fearing for the impact of what's happened to Elise Christie on short-track's funding, even though GB clearly has world-class and world-beating people in that sport. It's hardly surprising that the luge lads aren't top 10 when they get barely 2% of the funding other nations in the competition get. It would be worrying if skeleton didn't get medals with their funding. It's no secret that funding tends to equal improved medal success and frankly there aren't a lot of sports that fail to perform with funding. The bobsleigh girls having to crowd-fund their season (and currently lying 6th) because their federation mis-spent their funding is an absolute shocker. And don't get me started on snowsports funding...
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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| foxtrotzulu wrote: |
Oh dear - another disaster for Elise Christie. Must be absolutely gutting for the poor woman, but it does seem as though the Gods are trying to tell her something.
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TBH I'm fed up of her crying. I get it - it must be hugely disppointing given her overall world ranking but she did choose a contact sport where results in any one race if you can't get clear of the pack from the start seem to be somewhat of a lottery.
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@eng_ch,
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@foxtrotzulu, +1. The studio commentary team were fearing for the impact of what's happened to Elise Christie on short-track's funding, even though GB clearly has world-class and world-beating people in that sport. It's hardly surprising that the luge lads aren't top 10 when they get barely 2% of the funding other nations in the competition get. It would be worrying if skeleton didn't get medals with their funding. It's no secret that funding tends to equal improved medal success and frankly there aren't a lot of sports that fail to perform with funding. The bobsleigh girls having to crowd-fund their season (and currently lying 6th) because their federation mis-spent their funding is an absolute shocker. And don't get me started on snowsports funding...
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I agree with most of what you say above, although .... the amount of funding some sports seem to get seems absurd. £4.8m for short track speed skating! That equates to nearly £1m for each member of the squad over the four-year Olympic period.
Crowdfunding - I agree that the BBSA made a massive Horlicks of the funding but in some ways, I can't help feeling that crowdfunding is a more 'Olympic' way of doing it. There are huge practical issues but the idea of greater public involvement/funding (public in the sense of members of the public, not in the sense of public spending) seems better than UK Sport doling out the millions purely on the basis of who has the best medal hopes. The current model seems like the sort of attitude that would have Baron de Coubertin turning in his 'tombe'.
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£30m & only 4 medals.
Maybe we should stop funding the sports.
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| foxtrotzulu wrote: |
Oh dear - another disaster for Elise Christie. Must be absolutely gutting for the poor woman, but it does seem as though the Gods are trying to tell her something.
Sochi 2014, 500m: Christie is disqualified after tangling with Italy's Arianna Fontana midway through the final.
Sochi 2014, 1,500m: The Briton suffers her second disqualification because of a controversial infringement at the finish line as she appeared to win her 1500m heat.
Sochi 2014, 1,000m: Christie is disqualified again after tangling with China's Jianrou Li on the final bend of their 1,000m semi-final.
Pyeongchang 2018, 500m: The Scot tries to force her way through to third place on the last lap of the final, but falls after coming into contact with Yara van Kerkhof.
Pyeongchang 2018, 1500m: She crashes on the final bend of her 1500m semi-final and careers into the barriers. She is attended by medics before leaving the venue on a stretcher.
Pyeongchang 2018, 1,000m: Christie overcomes her ankle injury to make the start line, but crashes early. She recovers to make the restarted race and finishes in second place. It is good enough for qualification, but she is subsequently disqualified by the race judges.
To paraphrase Napoleon Bonaparte ... "I know she's a good skater, but is she lucky?' |
shes had her chances & blown it.
Withdraw her funding & give someone else a go.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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The funding does seem a bit askew 
We have 5 athletes in short track speed skating and they get £4.8m
We have 26 ski and snowboard athletes and they get £5.0m
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And the Women's 2 man bob have had to rely on crowdfunding for their season and the Games.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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| Hells Bells wrote: |
| And the Women's 2 man bob have had to rely on crowdfunding for their season and the Games. |
And embarrassingly look as though they'll finish higher than the men's 2 man bob.
Funding does appear rather skewed across the disciplines.
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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Not good news for Katie Ormerod either. Shes back in the UK but needs another op on her foot as the blood supply to the skin on her heel has been damaged by the accident 
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| foxtrotzulu wrote: |
| Crowdfunding - I agree that the BBSA made a massive Horlicks of the funding but in some ways, I can't help feeling that crowdfunding is a more 'Olympic' way of doing it. There are huge practical issues but the idea of greater public involvement/funding (public in the sense of members of the public, not in the sense of public spending) seems better than UK Sport doling out the millions purely on the basis of who has the best medal hopes. The current model seems like the sort of attitude that would have Baron de Coubertin turning in his 'tombe'. |
And then there was the Emily Sarsfield fiasco four years ago; top 16 in the world, had raised private funding to go and the BOC refused to select her because her medal chances "weren't good enough"
Isn't the UK still one of the only countries that doesn't give athletes a cash reward for medals?
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You know it makes sense.
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@eng_ch, Thats right, the GB Olympic Ass. believes that "athletes are motivated by their desire to represent their country and their love of sport"
At the other end of the scale, you have Singapore who gave Joseph Schooling $746k for winning a bronze in Rio (although they did take 20% back in tax in true Singapore style). Keshorn Walcott took gold in Javelin for Trinidad and Tobago and got $150k, a luxury flat, 20,000sq.ft of land, a national holiday, and a lighthouse and airplane named after him. And every Belarussian athlete who medaled got unlimited sausage for life...
France, South Korea, Japan, China and the United States also reward medalists with money, normally in the region of $25k to $35k each, but IIRC the US medalists have to declare that money and the value of their medals as income on their tax return.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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At least the Vonnbot malfunctioned to go home with a measly Bronze unless she has an exceptional SL in the tank for combined.
Mowinckel has to be a solid bet for combined after silvers in speed and tech.
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Poster: A snowHead
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@Dave of the Marmottes, industry rumors have it she's been 7-11% slower since Intel released the early Meltdown and Spectre patches...
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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@eng_ch, I think it’s absolutely right we don’t offer cash rewards to athletes for a couple of reasons:
1. I struggle to believe that they need additional motivation. They shouldn’t.
2. It seems contrary to the whole ethos of the games.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Has anyone watched the Skicross? Now that is not an event for the faint hearted!
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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@The Flying Snowplough, like the short track speed skating, I find it a terrific watch. Not in a month of Sundays as they say.
I too was a bit bored of Elise and her crying, but her performance in that last race was one of the gutsiest things I have seen in sport. She was obviously in a lot of pain, especially after the crash at the start, but to get back on that line, knowing she couldn't push off and then to work her way back into the race and finish well, and then compose herself and act with dignity after she had been disqualified, well I thought that was all a bit special.
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| Frosty the Snowman wrote: |
| I too was a bit bored of Elise and her crying... |
I'm more critical of the interviewers here, tbh. Humans can be emotional creatures and it's not really fair to stick a microphone and a camera in someone's face immediately after a bad result. I'm a very mild mannered person generally but in the immediate aftermath of bike races, the "red mists" are often still down and I'm not particularly good company. Luckily no-one ever wants to interview me! My kids both swim at a decent level and in attending galas you see both aspects of Kipling's "Twin Imposters" all too frequently with some kids down for a long time after a poor performance, but equally, a child who was in floods of tears in the immediate aftermath of a race can be laughing and joking with their mates 15 minutes later as though nothing has happened.
Re Elise, she certainly has some guts. She's not chosen a sport with many "controllables" though, has she?
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| foxtrotzulu wrote: |
@eng_ch, I think it’s absolutely right we don’t offer cash rewards to athletes for a couple of reasons:
1. I struggle to believe that they need additional motivation. They shouldn’t.
2. It seems contrary to the whole ethos of the games. |
Oh I don't disagree. And I agree that the Olympics aren't, and shouldn't be, the same as a world championship. But nevertheless, there's something that doesn't sit right about the British funding model. And is it really fair to add the extra pressure onto our athletes that if they have bad luck, their failure will impact on all the athletes coming after them?
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Has anyone watched the Skicross? Now that is not an event for the faint hearted!
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The list of injuries was pretty bad - snapped femurs, concussions and a broken pelvis. And the course wasn't as "extreme" as the Sochi / world cup ones!
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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Chancer. Neither "a legend" nor "aspirational" in my eyes.
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