The Olympic track racing fires off tomorrow and it’s time to remember an event discarded to the bin of noble sports.
The Olympic roster of events is constantly evolving and devolving which is why we are now watching synchronized diving as an Olympic sport. What a world, what a world. Maybe it’s a sign of me getting too old but it makes me sick. Who does this sport? Who says let’s go down to the public pool and work on our synchronized diving? No one, that’s who. Did the IOC get bribed by Big Diving? Diving is barely watchable, adding another diver who does the exact same thing adds little. Yes, I’m biased, yes, I don’t understand it. Send your hate mail to Condoleezza Rice, c/o Stanford University, I don’t want it.
Years ago Olympic road cycling cancelled the 100km four-man team time trial and I’m still bitter about that! The four-man TT was a killer event. The time was on the third rider to cross the finish line. A four person team could barely afford to lose one rider. One flat, a bonk, do we wait, do we go? This had to be decided on the road by the team while riding on the razor’s edge of anaerobic doom.
Olympic track lost the tandem match sprint. Track is also losing the individual pursuit events this year for reasons I can’t imagine. Thank you, UCI. The tandem sprint was no flash in the pan event, introduced into the Olympics in 1908. It was finally terminated after the 1972 games. God damn it, what’s not to love? We keep thinking Cav is the fastest cyclist but track sprinters are faster. Imagine two super fast riders on one bike racing another matched pair. One pair of legs does the driving, one pair just to stoke. The stoker could also be the second pair of eyes for the driver but really his mission was to plant his face against the small of the driver’s back and spin that bike up to over 85 kph! The tactics were the same as the regular match sprint. There were track stands, jumps and bumps: it was just faster and more awesome.
I don’t know the reasoning behind the decision in 1972 but I’m here to say things were a little weird back then, many bad decisions went down in the early ’70s. The Bee Gees made it to number sixteen in the American music charts and they were not terminated with extreme prejudice right then, before it was too late.
Here is some footage of a past World Championship just to demonstrate the awesome.
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Venezuela totally has the best track kit.
@Mikael Liddy
You're in Australia ? Surely they are showing the cycling - more hope of a medal there than trampolining.
Although I see we are now behind New Zealand in the medal table so perhaps they're just pretending the whole thing isn't happening.
Deputy heads will roll...
Yeah, give that some thought. How many people have been on a pommel horse, or jumped on a trampoline? Or swung a (fucking) golf club, or tried to jump off a ledge into pool in the exact same time as someone else? But I'd be willing to bet that a large proportion of the 6 billion people on earth know a bike when they see it. And sure, run, jump swim or even soccer too. Archery, javelin, hammer throw, swords, guns - you bet: all good for war, all stuff we *really* compete at. And after the closing ceremonies, the North Koreans will be invited to the palace by Kim Jong Un to meet his new bride and be executed.
@frank
@Harminator
Great photos. I used to paddle C1 a lot, that is until I moved to Alaska and started paddling big, pushy rivers and my ass was handed to me on a regular basis. Watching my mates make it down shit with relative ease in kayaks as I was executing roll after roll and trying to breathe was exhausting. That's when my ex-wife's kayak started to look more appealing so I made the leap to the dark side. C1 is so cool because you can't fake or muscle your way through shit. You absolutely have to know how to read water, work with the current and moreover be really consistent and dedicated or your skills fade quickly. It's such a beautiful sport. I still paddle K1 and OC1/OC2 but haven't been in a C1 in years. It is also my firm belief that the coolest, most elegant way of travel ever devised is the open canoe.
@Mikael Liddy
NBC Sports, for as much as I hate them for pushing out Universal Sports, are doing a great job with their online/iPad offerings - which are FREE, no less. High def footage of any event, including cycling. On demand or live. The only catch is it is either the shit global universal know-nothing commentators, or its just the feed with no commentary at all.
And, with Mountain Lion, you can mirror your computer's screen on your TV wirelessly, so you can just pipe it over to the TV and still watch it on the big screen. Wicked cool.
@frank
You sure about that free part? You don't have to have a cable subscription that supports a login/ID? IOW, if you don't have a cable TV package, or one with the right level of service (read: they make enough money off you) I don;t think you get their online access or iPad/online offerings.
@eightzero
I don't work for NBC or Comcast, but I don't have to sign in or anything like that. A box comes up asking who has my service, but I don't log in. Could be come wizardry going on with matching IP addresses to Comcast, I suppose, but its free as far as I'm concerned.
@frank
It is indeed confirming you are on a provider that also carries NBC in some form or another. Its pretty good about hiding that from you. Its pretty much everyone who has the internets as Comcast, ATT, and Verizon all offer NBC via traditional broadcast of some sort. It almost makes up for the Universal Sports disaster at Comcast. Just watched Pendelton, well I'll stop there for anyone hoping to catch it on broadcast.
I must say though that "free" on demand coverage of everything is a welcome preview of the future that should have been here 10 years ago, but I'm sure NBC will find a way to ruin it.
Neat little feature I spotted on the NYT today, giving an overview of a match sprint, including some POV video. Nice to see it get front-page coverage.
@frank
Yep, when you confirm the provider, it looks to see what "package" you are on. If you don't buy enough cable channels from them, you don't get the streaming. At all.