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Post by Howie on Aug 13, 2008 13:12:59 GMT -5
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Post by Howie on Aug 13, 2008 13:13:28 GMT -5
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Post by nakomis on Aug 13, 2008 13:17:19 GMT -5
thanks for the food howie
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Post by Will Kirby on Aug 13, 2008 13:50:50 GMT -5
11 gold medals yay Dwayne Wade ---- ya ok  |
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Post by I R DRUNK!! on Aug 13, 2008 14:08:33 GMT -5
lmfao. when is canada going to win a medal:(
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Post by Richard on Aug 13, 2008 14:27:12 GMT -5
never  |
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Post by I R DRUNK!! on Aug 13, 2008 14:53:21 GMT -5
haha thats not nice richard!
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Post by Richard on Aug 13, 2008 14:56:31 GMT -5
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Post by I R DRUNK!! on Aug 13, 2008 15:49:28 GMT -5
what a beautiful flag:-D
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Post by Howie on Aug 14, 2008 11:13:29 GMT -5
good morning
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Post by Howie on Aug 14, 2008 11:13:37 GMT -5
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Post by Howie on Aug 14, 2008 11:14:02 GMT -5
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Post by Howie on Aug 14, 2008 11:16:30 GMT -5
Over the last three nights, NBC has led its primetime Olympic coverage with synchronized diving. According to the stacks of letters that have poured into the Fourth-Place Medal Investigative Unit Headquarters, you've all been watching but are baffled by one facet of the competition. In that case, you're in the right place. After successful forays into the cases of Cullen Jones' disappearance and the identity of the hot Paraguayan, Fourth-Place Medal will today tackle the mystery of the showering divers.
After completing a dive, competitors swim to a ladder, climb out of the pool and head immediately to a bank of showers that sit adjacent to the diving boards. Then, in full view of the crowd and NBC cameras, they shower off. Divers keep their suits on, of course, usually appearing only to rinse off their hair and arms. Oftentimes, the divers will receive their scores while still showering off. What's the purpose of this?
Theories have ranged from 'to get the chlorine off' to 'they want to have fun' -- seriously, that last one is a direct quote from NBC's diving analyst, Cynthia Potter. Neither are the reason.
Divers shower in between each dive to keep their muscles warm after getting out of the pool. The temperature of the pool water and the air are usually different (the pool is usually around 80 degrees, with the air temperature between 68 and 72 degrees). This difference can cause muscle tightness. To combat this, divers warm up in either the showers or a hot tub.
Mystery: solved. (Although we're still a bit unclear as to why the showers are out in the open.The water cube cost over $200 million to build. They couldn't have put a privacy wall in?!)
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Post by Will Kirby on Aug 14, 2008 11:39:51 GMT -5
wtf
those showers cost $200 million - ya ok, who's gona believe that
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Post by nakomis on Aug 14, 2008 13:37:31 GMT -5
omg thats alot for a shower thats crazy i dont see why
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Post by Howie on Aug 15, 2008 14:23:44 GMT -5
good morning
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Post by Howie on Aug 15, 2008 14:24:19 GMT -5
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Post by Howie on Aug 15, 2008 14:24:38 GMT -5
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Post by Howie on Aug 15, 2008 14:27:16 GMT -5
Nastia Liukin danced as if she was in the ballet, lightly and elegantly across the floor mat, using her classical music as inspiration to float through her floor exercise.
When she was done, Liukin slapped hands with Shawn Johnson, her American teammate and watched.
Johnson needed a 16.125 to win the Olympic all-around gold medal over Liukin. Johnson didn't get it. As they waited for Johnson's score, Liukin whispered "Good job," and Johnson sought out her parents to give them a wave.
Liukin won the women's gymnastics all-around gold medal with a score of 63.325 with Johnson taking silver 62.725 and China's Yang Yilin the bronze 62.650. It is the second straight all-around gold medal for an American. Carly Patterson won in Athens.
Yang has been part of the continuing controversy over age eligibility along with teammates Jiang Yuyuan and He Kexin. All have had published birth dates that conflicted with the ages that were on their passports used as validation for the Olympics. According to federation rules a gymnast must turn 16 during the year of the Olympics.
This competition was going to be a kaleidoscope of changing leaders and large momentum swings because each girl has different strengths and weaknesses. The top six qualifiers, including Johnson and Liukin as well as Yang and Jiang of China and two Russians, Anna Pavlova and Ksenia Semenova, all moved around the floor together.
And going into their fourth and final rotation all the medals were up for grabs.
Vault was the first apparatus for the lead group, a particular strength of Johnson and Jiang and more a weakness for Liukin and Yang.
Johnson and Jiang did the hardest vaults, each with a start value of 6.50 (the start value rates the difficulty, the higher the start value, harder the vault). Johnson took a step out of her landing and had a 15.875 but Jiang landed on her bottom and every part of her 4-foot-7, 71-pound body quivered as she tried not to cry. Jiang got a 14.825
So after the first rotation, Johnson was tops among the vaulters, the group with all the favorites.
But in individual qualifying, Johnson had scored 16.000 on her vault while Liukin had a 15.100. Friday Liukin, who does a vault with a start value of 5.50, didn't miss a thing, landing without even a wobble to score 15.025. In the qualifying round Liukin had a 15.100.
Liukin was up first on uneven bars in the second rotation for the top qualifiers. It is the apparatus where Liukin is capable of picking up a point or more on Johnson.
Nearly all the top contenders picked up points on Johnson in the second rotation. China's Yang Yilin, who has been prominent in the age controversy, had a fiercely steady uneven bars set and scored the highest of the six top qualifiers with a 16.725 to move into the lead halfway through the meet.
Liukin had a step on her landing to get a 16.650 and her father and coach Valeri patted the arm of his stone-faced daughter.
She was second to Yang and Romania's Stiliana Nistor was third with Johnson fifth. But Johnson was going to finish on her best two events.
The third rotation for the leading group was balance beam and Johnson was up first. She had a bobble on a turn and a step on her landing on where she has been routinely scoring over 16.000 and she did, earning a 16.050.
Jiang also had a tremor on a turn and a step on the landing and received a 15.425. On another apparatus, floor exercise, Nistor had a major mistake, scored 14.500 and fell behind Johnson.
Yang had two big wobbles during balance moves and took a step on her landing, mistakes the sold-out crowd didn't mind. She got a large "Oooh," on her landing and Yang waved merrily to the cheering fans. Her score of 15.750 pushed her ahead of Johnson.
Liukin was up last on the beam and she worked it with soft grace and dainty leaps that were developed for her by her mother, Anna, a former Russian rhythmic gymnast. When Liukin did a perfect landing, she smiled for the first time of the night and dove into the arms of her father. Her score of 16.125 moved her into the lead with one rotation left
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Post by Will Kirby on Aug 15, 2008 15:38:30 GMT -5
yay
we went gold and silver woot wooooot
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