2024 Paris Olympics

Road cycling. What I don't understand is how these few riders decided to take off and be in front most of the way, knowing they will burn out before the end and not win.
Getting their 15 minutes of fame?
 
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Road cycling. What I don't understand is how these few riders decided to take off and be in front most of the way, knowing they will burn out before the end and not win.
But sometimes the main group (Peloton ) miscalculates and those who made the break get their moment of glory.
 
Getting their 15 minutes of fame?
I was wondering if it's for them to show the professional teams what they can do. I mean, I never thought Rwanda or Morocco etc was ever going to be able to stay in front, to a win

Watched the entire event, less a couch nap about 1am. The winner having to change his bike 3klms from the end was exciting, considering they talked about his limited edition, custom painted bike the entire race. He definitely practised the finish line pose at home 😂

I wish commentators dumbed it down for the once every 4yr viewers. It would have been interesting to understand more.
 
If you have a smart tv, with the 9 Now app you can switch to livestream of other Oly sports if you don't like what's on 9 or 9 Gem. Free but you have to create an account.
And you will still get some ads. STAN is the only place to get the best quality coverage without ads and not biased to any country. But you also have generic commentary that is sometimes better than NINE and sometimes not.
 
Can I comment on some of the earlier posts regarding the inclusion of the new Olympic Sports. Due to internal and international lobbying, it is extremely difficult for the IOC to drop any sports from the Olympics. Boxing, Modern Pen and a few others probably do not deserve to be there but are. To be considered, a Sport must demonstrate that is has international participation and Cycling has had to drop some Track events to include BMX, with Basketball limiting the number of countries to include the 3x3 events.
I would also make the case that high profile sports like Golf, Tennis, Football and Cycling Road have enough of a profile, are wealthy enough and an international audience not to need Olympic coverage. Baseball and Softball come and go and Breaking is only in for Paris, not LA in 2028. You could also say that sports like Equestrian and Rowing can only be entered by nations with the financial strength to afford the sport. But they are all still there due to politics.
One positive development over several Olympiads is that there is now an equal number of female athletes and the scheduling no longer favours the men.

The newer sports - 3x3 Basketball, Breaking, BMX, Rugby 7s, Skateboarding and Sports Climbing are really not there for a linear audience on traditional TV, they are there for a Tik Tok or Instagram audience. The Host Broadcaster now generates almost as much content for social distribution as it does for the traditional service. From every sport, there is a seperate feed generated that contains only 'Instagrammable' images and athlete interviews. We never see these on linear TV but they get millions of hits on the socials, especially in Asia, Latin America and Africa. You may have noticed in these Games that they hand the athletes a phone on the podium for a 'selfie' and athletes are closer to the crowd (and their families) than ever before. Some of the most memorable images are of athlete/family interaction.

That's why there are so many (new) sports in the Olympics.

And to come back to the AFF theme:

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The F24 tracks for the link aircraft at 25,000 feet and a helicopter at 1600 feet - both collecting signals and providing coverage of the Cycling Road race yesterday.
 
And you will still get some ads. STAN is the only place to get the best quality coverage without ads and not biased to any country. But you also have generic commentary that is sometimes better than NINE and sometimes not.
I'm watching the long jump on the 9 Now app and there's no commentary at all. Just the official 'feed' being streamed ??
 
The athletics are live and interesting to see non replays. Currently on Boxing with two guaranteed medals but back to hurdles now.
 
Agree golf is not a great Olympic inclusion but beautiful looking course
I reckon they've got the format wrong. Not a knockout matchplay though, but a teams format with 2 or 3 players and different scoring each day, eg foursomes one day, best ball one day and two days of stroke play. Scores carry over in total. A bit like the old World Cup.

Personally I'd prefer to see it limited to amateurs. The current format is not interesting enough for general consumption but it's good to see its inclusion getting traction with the pros who, on the whole, were initially not that fussed.
 
Late night viewing here in Rome of

Fencing. Italy defeated Poland in Teams.

Archery. Men’s QF
2 Koreans, 1 German and 1 American through

The young 25 world champion lost as did a 17yo baby-faced French
 
I've been enjoying watching the coverage on the tellie, but this caught my eye
 
The lady commentating the gymnastics. I think she's had this gig since before Sydney 2000? Must me nice to be able to count on a trip to somewhere interesting every 4 years, or 2 if you count the Commonwealth Games.
 

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