London 2012 MegaThread [Part 2]

My name is URL

Ireland's Jason Smyth is running in the 100m T13 at 21.35. He's a real good prospect for a medal... possibly even gold in this event. I hope people tune in to watch it =p

ballsymchugh

My name is URL wrote: »

Ireland's Jason Smyth is running in the 100m T13 at 21.35. He's a real good prospect for a medal... possibly even gold in this event. I hope people tune in to watch it =p

holy fook!!
new wr and he was easing up at the end!! 10.54
awesome!

Colmustard

ballsymchugh wrote: »

holy fook!!
new wr and he was easing up at the end!! 10.54
awesome!

Amazing 10.54 and he slowed down at the end.

My name is URL

It's on channel 4 right NOW!!!

for anyone that hasn't seen it

opinion guy

Colmustard wrote: »

Amazing 10.54 and he slowed down at the end.

Wow!
Why wasn't he running for Ireland in the able bodied olympics ??

Richard Hillman

opinion guy wrote: »

Wow!
Why wasn't he running for Ireland in the able bodied olympics ??

I think he came 2nd to Paul Hession in the trials. He would have made it only he was just outside the qualifying time.

Colmustard

opinion guy wrote: »

Wow!
Why wasn't he running for Ireland in the able bodied olympics ??

I swear to god I said the exact same thing, it is the best performance of any of our track and field apart from heferman.

I think he is capable of getting under 10

opinion guy

Colmustard wrote: »

I swear to god I said the exact same thing, it is the best performance of any of our track and field apart from heferman.

I think he is capable of getting under 10

Agreed!!
Was just reading about him here:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/disability-sport/19446549

Trains with Tyson Gay and credits Gay with giving him alot of guidance

ballsymchugh

he ran faster than dwayne chambers qualifying time for team jeebee earlier in the year too!

opinion guy

Colmustard wrote: »

I swear to god I said the exact same thing, it is the best performance of any of our track and field apart from heferman.

I think he is capable of getting under 10

There is an audio interview on rte website with Smith where he is like.....yeah I can go faster !! Sorry can't link direct to it

Edit: apparently he has a PB of 10.22

My name is URL

The final of the 100m is on at 7:15. Channel 4 are going to be showing it live afaik.

Smyth is a dead cert for gold I'd say. I reckon he'll even beat the World Record he set last night!¬

My name is URL

It'll also be on the RTE site for anyone that can't watch Channel 4

http://www.rte.ie/sport/paralympics/live/#

steve9859

Darragh McDonald just won the 400m freestyle in sub 5 minutes. Which considering both legs are amputated around the knee and 1 arm just below the elbow, that is pretty amazing. 36/37 seconds per length!!

And Ellie Simmons.....what a little pocket size rocket!!!

Grim.

wow he tore them apart

opinion guy

Gold for Smith in the 100m in 10.46 new world record!!!

Legend!!!

Bullseye1

That performance gave me goosebumps. He was so far ahead of the rest. Bravo!

Guy:Incognito

Watching one of the 200m finals earlier. The GB guy, Whitehead , is some flyer once he gets going. Has a really slow start because of the blades he has and came round the bend in 5th or 6th I think then just took off. He's in the 100m too, but I dont thnk he'll have enough time to make up for his start.

If he was able to be up to speed from the start he's be about 5 - 6s quicker than th rest in the 200m

Vizzy

I am sitting here with tears of joy rolling down my face for Smyth and Ellie Symonds.
Genuine inspirational stuff !!
Channel 4 (fair play ) have been extolling the virtues of Smyth and particularly how technically perfect he is.
It is great to see that Irl is able to beat the s**t out of the rest of the world.

The_Kew_Tour

More to come later hopefully.

My name is URL

Has anyone ever beaten the same athletic world record two days in a row before?

Some achievement for Smyth. 'Fastest Paralympian in history'... that's pretty amazing accolade. Arguably Ireland's best athlete too, imo.

Guy:Incognito

Was watching one of the distance races earlier too (only cought the last lap or so) and one of the Kenyans was missing a hand. Had the full arm down to the wirst. I'm guessing he had something else not so obvious wrong with him too? Otherwise surely the hand isnt that much of a dissadvantage that he couldnt run in able bodied events (I'm assumign he''s not fast enough though)

Marlou Van Rjin, I'd hit that.

opinion guy

Guy:Incognito wrote: »

Was watching one of the distance races earlier too (only cought the last lap or so) and one of the Kenyans was missing a hand. Had the full arm down to the wirst. I'm guessing he had something else not so obvious wrong with him too? Otherwise surely the hand isnt that much of a dissadvantage that he couldnt run in able bodied events (I'm assumign he''s not fast enough though)

Yesh I saw that guy - missing the arm is a big disadvantage compared to able bodied - arms are important to running.
That guy looked malnourished however - sooooooo skinny.

Marlou Van Rjin, I'd hit that.

Yeah I was just gonna say - gorgeous

KenSwee

A huge congrats to our brilliant winners today. Yet again, these people excel way beyond any expectations.

Kudus to C4's amazing coverage. Clearly showing RTE how it should have been done. No channel had the gut to show the games in any shape of form. RTE instead deciding that Nicholas Cage and mating leopards are far more important. Where does the rule that sporting events of national coverage gets coverage by our national station?

RTE, TV3 & TG4 should be held accountable for this.

steve9859

KenSwee wrote: »

A huge congrats to our brilliant winners today. Yet again, these people excel way beyond any expectations.

Kudus to C4's amazing coverage. Clearly showing RTE how it should have been done. No channel had the gut to show the games in any shape of form. RTE instead deciding that Nicholas Cage and mating leopards are far more important. Where does the rule that sporting events of national coverage gets coverage by our national station?

RTE, TV3 & TG4 should be held accountable for this.

I have to say that having an Irish athlete standing on top of the podium while Amhrán na bhFiann rings out, but only showing it live on a British channel, and not an Irish one is very poor. It's not like they didn't know it was going to happen!

My name is URL

KenSwee wrote: »

A huge congrats to our brilliant winners today. Yet again, these people excel way beyond any expectations.

Kudus to C4's amazing coverage. Clearly showing RTE how it should have been done. No channel had the gut to show the games in any shape of form. RTE instead deciding that Nicholas Cage and mating leopards are far more important. Where does the rule that sporting events of national coverage gets coverage by our national station?

RTE, TV3 & TG4 should be held accountable for this.

Setanta bought the rights to live coverage and were given first preference in the bidding ahead of RTE since they won the rights to the prior olympics. You can't just decide to show live stuff just because a fellow countryman is competing. It wouldn't have been commercially viable for RTE to outbid Setanta for exclusive rights to live coverage... and if they did you'd have people complaining about them wasting money.

They have at least 4 live streams available on their website (provided by Channel 4) that anyone can watch at any time. It's not the broadcaster's fault if not everyone has access to that or to Setanta Sports.

Guy:Incognito

KenSwee wrote: »

A huge congrats to our brilliant winners today. Yet again, these people excel way beyond any expectations.

Kudus to C4's amazing coverage. Clearly showing RTE how it should have been done. No channel had the gut to show the games in any shape of form. RTE instead deciding that Nicholas Cage and mating leopards are far more important. Where does the rule that sporting events of national coverage gets coverage by our national station?

RTE, TV3 & TG4 should be held accountable for this.

RTE's coverage of the Olympics was awfull. However , they dont have live rights to show the Paralympics, just like TV3 and TG4 dont either. Setanta have the rights.

opinion guy

Anyone know what time Oscar Pistorius is running at ?

Brian017

opinion guy wrote: »

Anyone know what time Oscar Pistorius is running at ?

now

Vizzy

Pistorious will be running in heat 3 of the 200m in about 10 mins

KenSwee

My name is URL wrote: »

They have at least 4 live streams available on their website (provided by Channel 4) that anyone can watch at any time. It's not the broadcaster's fault if not everyone has access to that or to Setanta Sports.

I disagree. The games should have been shown live. We let these people down every time it comes around and put it down to commercial interest. They deserve to have as much coverage as the team we sent to the other games. The problem is that these games are not treated the same in this country. RTE, in particular has a responsibility to show these games, especially if there is any chance of success. Don't tell me that most people would have preferred to watch bloody National treasure or leopards mating!

With regard to the live streams, my mam is 70 and hasn't got the internet, just like a hell of a lot of people. It's no excuse and it should be highlighted. Being outbid is not acceptable.

ballsymchugh

when you take into consideration the hoohaa about when the FAI signed a deal with sky where RTE got the government to add qualifiers to the protected list, they could've tried harder, and let's be fair, setanta aren't great competition.

My name is URL

KenSwee wrote: »

With regard to the live streams, my mam is 70 and hasn't got the internet, just like a hell of a lot of people. It's no excuse and it should be highlighted. Being outbid is not acceptable.

Don't get me wrong, I do think that RTE should have been prepared to match any other bidders. I'd love to see a lot more athletics coverage on RTE in general.

Michael McKillop about to race now. Another great prospect for a medal..

edit:: WOOT! Another gold medal and world record for an Irish competitor!!

efb

Pic of Jason winning gold! my bf was in the stadium- I told him to watch out for Jason

efb

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mehyfy6xr70

KenSwee

My name is URL wrote: »

Don't get me wrong, I do think that RTE should have been prepared to match any other bidders. I'd love to see a lot more athletics coverage on RTE in general.

To be honest, I feel absolutely ashamed that I, along many others didn't bother my arse and do anything about the coverage. So many took for granted that RTE had the rights to show it. I really believe that we let these people down. We don't consider them as important. Will there be such a hullabaloo about the winners tonight? I really doubt it. We battered the world records for god's sake and it's not being shown live! It's quite depressing. We should have done more...all of us and it's got to change.

Richard Hillman

What a fantastic night of sport. We have more gold medals already than we won 4 years ago. Plus there are plenty more gold opportunities

wow sierra

To all of ye bitching about the lack of RTE coverage - why aren't ye watching the excellent coverage on Setanta Ireland TV?

I am not sure what percentage of Irish TV viewers have access to Setanta Ireland but I imagine it is pretty high? Yes its a pity that all the others can't view Setanta but thats the nature of TV rights.

Anyway well done to our fabulous Gold Medal winners - I watched ye live on Setanta Ireland.

Also to people wondering about classifications, as in what level of disability is allowed in each event, it took me one click on good old Google

ArmaniJeanss

KenSwee wrote: »

To be honest, I feel absolutely ashamed that I, along many others didn't bother my arse and do anything about the coverage. So many took for granted that RTE had the rights to show it. I really believe that we let these people down. We don't consider them as important. Will there be such a hullabaloo about the winners tonight? I really doubt it. We battered the world records for god's sake and it's not being shown live! It's quite depressing. We should have done more...all of us and it's got to change.

If RTE won a silly bidding war, and overpaid, then other people would be (correctly) complaining.
Its the nature of sports, and bidding on events, that you can't get to see every event you want on the channel you want. RTE don't/can't bid enough to get the Irish cricket team in the World Cup, or the rugby team in New Zealand this summer, or Harrington winning the USPGA; this is a similar commercial reality.

steve9859

ArmaniJeanss wrote: »

If RTE won a silly bidding war, and overpaid, then other people would be (correctly) complaining.
Its the nature of sports, and bidding on events, that you can't get to see every event you want on the channel you want. RTE don't/can't bid enough to get the Irish cricket team in the World Cup, or the rugby team in New Zealand this summer, or Harrington winning the USPGA; this is a similar commercial reality.

Except that this is a once every four year thing, arguably a once in a lifetime thing with being on Ireland's doorstep and all. Not just some common or garden international rugby, cricket or golf match

RubyRoss

How great was it to see Irish athletes not just winning but breaking world records?They deserve coverage. I've been deeply impressed by all the paralympic athletes - those swimmers were going faster than most good able bodied swimmers.

phasers

Why are there Equestrian events in the Paralympics? The horses are able bodied like

opinion guy

phasers wrote: »

Why are there Equestrian events in the Paralympics? The horses are able bodied like

During the Olympics I was questioning why equestrian events were in the Olympics, but they make sense in the Paralympics. They were explaining on the telly today that for paraplegics horse riding is much harder because you can't use your legs to direct them etc - they have to compensate using hips or even their voice to direct the horse. They also pointed out that horseriding is used as part of rehab for people with spinal injuries etc because it encourages core strength.

So whilst I still have issues with equestrian in the Olympics for mainly elitist reasons, I think they absolutely have a rightful place in the Paralympics, and the Paralympic equestrian riders are, frankly, AMAZING

opinion guy

Ok anyone watching The Last Leg ?

The decided to sex things up:
http://now.msn.com/paralympian-poses-nude-to-fund-trip-to-london-games?_p=df5d849a-d6df-479f-af66-fe8ba7e25516

Pics:
http://www.buzzfeed.com/gavon/japanese-para-athlete-makes-nude-calendar-to-fund


Aside: how the feck do you embed images in a post ?

KenSwee

steve9859 wrote: »

Except that this is a once every four year thing, arguably a once in a lifetime thing with being on Ireland's doorstep and all. Not just some common or garden international rugby, cricket or golf match

Totally agree. There is a much bigger underlying issue here. I still believe we should all shoulder some part of the blame but the majority of it lies with the media in all it's forms. It decided a long time ago to view these athletes as second class and we all allowed it to happen. However in this case, the majority of the blame must go to RTE who, as you say, had four years to present something more constructive than what we have. Putting aside the fact that somebody made a decision not to pay for the coverage, I have no doubt that the general public would have wanted to watch our athletes but most of them are not aware of who is competing and what their chances were. That is mostly down to the media in my opinion. And if some complained that their is too much coverage then that would have been easily sorted through a red button facility.

There is no doubt that Santanta is trying hard to give good coverage and it is true that almost everybody can see the games if they really want to but that is not the main point of my original post.

RTE and the minister of sport should be made to make an apology to the disabled community and make a commitment to ensure that the both games in 2016 will receive equal coverage.

I have no doubt they would do this if the Irish football or rugby international matches in any kind of jeopardy.

My name is URL

Oscar Pistorius beaten by Brazillian Oliveira in the 200m final. Great race, surprising result. Well deserving winner.

Guy:Incognito

opinion guy wrote: »

Ok anyone watching The Last Leg ?

The decided to sex things up:
http://now.msn.com/paralympian-poses-nude-to-fund-trip-to-london-games?_p=df5d849a-d6df-479f-af66-fe8ba7e25516

Tasteful shots? I'm out.:)

Sexy and all as Marilou Rhijn is. How come she was in the T44 race if shes a T43? Is T43 not above (less disabled) T44 or am I getting it wrong? Been busy over the weekend so havnt seen much.

opinion guy

My name is URL wrote: »

Oscar Pistorius beaten by Brazillian Oliveira in the 200m final. Great race, surprising result. Well deserving winner.

Oooo Pistorius is not happy - accusing Oliveira of using too long blades

ednwireland

My name is URL wrote: »

Oscar Pistorius beaten by Brazillian Oliveira in the 200m final. Great race, surprising result. Well deserving winner.

pistorius giving out about the brazilian's blade length :rolleyes:

Guy:Incognito

From watching a few of the races theres seems to be huge variations in different athletes speeds across different parts of the races. 20 metre gaps are being made and lost all over the place in races like the 200m.

IM0

opinion guy wrote: »

Ok anyone watching The Last Leg ?

The decided to sex things up:
http://now.msn.com/paralympian-poses-nude-to-fund-trip-to-london-games?_p=df5d849a-d6df-479f-af66-fe8ba7e25516

Pics:
http://www.buzzfeed.com/gavon/japanese-para-athlete-makes-nude-calendar-to-fund


Aside: how the feck do you embed images in a post ?

I would, and repeadedly too, great ass