Olympics.... Australia KO1 England

Bennett would be an excellent choice :good

 

I think its worth resurrecting this as Britain are currently way ahead of Australia in the medal table and the events where Australia dominate Britain the most (swimming) is nearly over.

Could this be another of those great threads where as Aussie comes in and gloats before the event is over and gets truly pwned.

 

I have been surprised at how few medals the Aussies have won, especially in the pool - but when one guy is monopolising everything I suppose you are screwed

 

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China 35 13 13 61
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United States 19 21 25 65
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Great Britain 11 6 8 25 :deal

 

If it wasn't for Phelps wed be equal with the yanks!:yikes

 

They are comedy gold arent they.

Im so gutted that the Ashes 2003 thread was lost. After the first day of the first test an Aussie poster made a thread called 'The Poms have soiled their undergarments' England had the last laugh when we won the series. Some top quality banter in that old thread.

Speaking seriously tho is there another event where Australia will pick up huge numbers of medals? I know they usually won a lot in Swimming, and I think cycling, but outside of that I dont know. We always used to pick medals up in the rowing (even in Atlanta we managed some Gold there) and now we dominate the cycling.

Where else do the Aussies usually pick their medals up?

 

I think we have been steadily improving since the dark days of Atlanta - its good to see people like Adlington win things and remain themselves.

Your reference to the England cricket team is interesting - they all cashed in for all it was worth, releasing books and a cover of Jerusalem, yet started whinging when people got on their backs after the inevitable dip in form and subsequent debacle in Oz.

 

I think the Aussies will still overhaul us in the table. They've got two sailing golds guaranteed for tomorrow (and a good chance in another sailing event), and usually do well in sports like hockey, the triathlon and I reckon Anna Meares will beat Pendleton in the cycling. They also have a very good chance of winning the women's points race.

To beat them we need our cyclists to shut them out of the golds (point race apart), we need the athletics to go well too, Idowu especially.

 

I think our weakness is the track and field.

Serious medal contenders are pretty much.....

Phillips Idowu
Kelly Sotherton (already lost)
Jessica Ennis (out injured)
Nicola Sanders (KO'd in semis)
Christine Ohurugu (dodgy spelling atsch)
Paula Radcliffe (blown it again)
4x400 womens relay
1 of 3 men high jumpers maybe

I must admit i have been encouraged with the performances of the women athletes, which have been largely pitiful for years (with a few obvious exceptions, Holmes, Gunnell etc) but the males are miles off the pace at the moment. There are fewer 'superstars' such as Jackson, Christie, Regis et al and more realistic final contenders than previous, such as the 100m female runner so perhaps with increased funding for the pick of those then our results can improve. However, one man who must go is the UK athletics director Dave Collins. What he knows about the game could be written on the back of a *** packet.

 

The men's 400 metre relay squad have a small chance to grab a bronze (Martyn Rooney is decent). Greg Rutherford might sneak a bronze too.


But you're pretty much spot on.

 

I was impressed with Ohurogu, but Sanders was disappointing, looked too light to me compared to last year, when she was in great condition

 

Monty?

Intimidating somebody?

He's incapable of being intimidating.

 

Well perhaps intimidation is a bit strong, but the over appealing is ridiculous. He makes Shane Warne, Mushtaq Ahmed and Wasim Akram seem like angels.

 

We've made great improvements on past olympics.
The funding helps but not in all areas.
Look at athletics giving money to the likes of Mark Lewis-Francis has made him feel like Usain Bolt before he has done anything

America aren't doing as well on the track now after all the drug busts too

 

Mark Lewis-Francis was a worthwhile investment IMO - he was an excellent junior who simply hasn't done it at the top level. The funding was deserved but should have been cut accordingly. Though potential top class athletes should be given a proportion of the full funding - to make them do something first.

People who actually achieve should be given maximum funding, not simply on potential. From what I understand, Sanders and Ohuruogu were on next to nothing prior to last year, likewise Adlington - and they have delivered. Time to be paid accordingly.