For me, I will be avidly watching
-Athletics
-Swimming
-Cycling (particularly track)
-Tennis
-Triathlon

Also be watching
-Gymnastics
-Badminton
-Volleyball

i'll probably watch whatever is on at the right time :P at the last olympics i ended up watching the synchronised diving and the equestrian......which are not sports that i follow in the least.

i shall be making an effort to watch:

cycling
tennis

swimming
athletics

Oh dear!! But it's funny how you do become enticed by sports you usually aren't interested in, just because it's the Olympics!

well, and i was unemployed so had nothing better to do :blush:

:) I like the the synchro- swimming cause their noses look funny with the plugs ... the swimming should be fun in that water cube shaped building at beijing...

But I watch anything and basically everything, unless it is like the 10,000km where .. I shamefully admit I wait for the last few rounds to see who will burst forward and steal it.

For the Olympics, I think if you can stomach the absence of the live crowd atmosphere it is rather fun to watch on tv, cause you get to see so many simultaneous events...

Definitely the track and field events. :yep:

Yay! :D :D I'm obsessed with athletics :yikes: Although the marathons will make painful viewing. Firstly, because I'll be a nervous wreck hoping Paula Radcliffe wins :pray: (don't think she will though :( ) and secondly, it's gonna be an absolute bloodbath, with v. high temps, high humidity and horrible air conditions.

i do really enjoy watching the swimming, although i dislike Michael Phelps intently..... :angry: always seems like such an arrogant little so-and-so.

i shall of course be watching the track cycling, and possibly some of the road races. they've got BMX in for the first time (much controversy about that too) so that may be interesting..... :unsure:

mmmmhhh?


tennis?

I'll try to watch ..

Diving
Cycling
Pole vault (are you a pole vaulter? No I am German, but how did you know I am called Walter :lol:)
800/1500m
Boxing
Tennis

try being the operative word...

Nowt.

athletics
table tennis
tennis
boxing
football
rowing
swimming
having said that, i don't approve of China hosting the damn thing, i'm in a moral dilemma. :(

I'll be wathcing the demanstrations, riots and poltical protests :D

I love the olympics so much!!! Depends what time everything is on but I like :

Athletics
Tennis
Gymnastics
Swimming
Diving

Can be drawn into most things though to be honest - cycling, hockey, badminton, equestrian.

Really looking forward to it.

100 days to go :yahoo: :yahoo: :yahoo:

I had a dream a few nights ago that the Opening Ceremony was only two days away. I'm going to get so excited in the week leading up to the start, that I'll just be pain to be around!

Isn't there goin to be a problem with pollution for the athletes and public? I read that Haillesellasse was nto running the marathon because of this and that athletes like Radcliffe and Henin who both have astham had expressed concern. I've read a few thinks that indicate that it coudl be potentially dangerous conditions in that heat even for the public. Wouldn't catch me going even if I had a ticket. The smog is horrendous, unless they get a wind that clears it away.

:) me too,
I think I want the protesters to win!
the smog is a big thing too, I think there are plans to deal with it while the games are on but i wouldn't be too sure.

I really like the Olympics so, despite my objections to the games being held in China i'll end up watching I expect.

Yes, that's right. Haile will be running the 10000m instead but Paula is still running the marathon, but she said she isn't particularly concerned. Paula has a good record in hot weather and she will prepare for the conditions with the utmost diligence.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/olympics/a...ics/7335397.stm

There is a picture of the smog here (first picture down).

http://marayamauchi.blogzine.jp/english/3_blog/index.html

But didn't Paula have trouble in I think Athens? She was so overheated that her internal organs were literally starting to cook si what I heard :unsure:

I saw some pictures of the smog,. it was awful.

Paula's demise in Athens was because she had a calf injury (a crepitus) before the race and she was taking anti-inflammatories, which didn't take well to her system and she couldn't really hold any food down, so by the time she got to the start-line, she had very little energy and said she felt shattered after 10km (dropped out at 36km). She said that she would have run crap even if it was 3C.

She has won world half-marathon titles, world cross-country titles in hot weather, won a silver medal at the 1999 World Champs in 35C and ran a world 10km record in Puerto Rico, also in warm weather so I don't think it'll be a problem. The conditions are the same for everyone.

I am sure I've heard that sh estruggles more than some. Anyway I don't agree abotu condtions beign the same fo reveryone - sure they are but if you are used to heat then it is surely easier?

Maybe, but training and racing in the hot weather are a different kettle of fish.

I can think of quite a lot of athletes who have trained in warm weather in preparation for an Olympic marathon but have gone on to underperform, or drop out.

Ironically, the Africans seem to struggle more in hot weather, particularly the Ethiopians.

Really? I'm no expert but I thought they were the ones who pipped Paula in a recent Olympics? Do you think they were jusy better runners? They do seem excellent. :ok:

I heard that they were doing stuff to reduce traffic by restricting the number of days they can drive. But that just removes the tip of the iceberg. I think they are doing much to mask the issue, and pollution experts say that it will still be unsafe regardless. Let's face ti if the locals wear a mask then there is a problem. I will dig them otu later, but I saw some alarming pictures of smog. :yikes: I suffer living near Heathrow but it's nothign compared to that.

If you are interested, Linfen in China is alledgedly the world's most polluted city. I saw a doc on TV, they are surrounded in smoke and never see the sun even at midday. :rolleyes:

The 2000 Olympic Games were held in Sydney, in really cool conditions for the 10000m, as it was their spring, but she was outsprinted by two Ethiopians and a Portuguese (Tulu ran the last 400m in 60sec! :o ).

In Edmonton 2001 for the 10000m (World Champs), Paula was fourth again outsprinted by three Ethiopians but it was cool again.

However, at the Olympics, a Japanese won the marathon (who trained in St. Moritz for the Athens Olympics!) and the Ethiopians were fourth and two didn't finish and at the World Champs last year, the highest placed Ethiopian in the marathon was 17th and the rest were absolutely nowhere.

On the track, the Ethiopians simply outclassed Paula. They have the sprint-finish which Paula could never match but in the marathon, Paula can trounce anyone. She won the 2005 London Marathon by one-mile!

Yes, you're right. They are reducing traffic and shutting down factories for two weeks before the games but it's probably a case of too little, too late.

Wow, interestign facts there! I think Pauls is fantastic, felt so sorry for her when she got slated when she had to pack up. Disgraceful behaviour form the media. :angry: She's doen well to bounce back and keep going. I really pray she can win a medal at the Olympics as she so deserves it :pray:

Yep, and it is also somethign of a 'smokescreen' if you'll excuse the pun. I doubt ti will help much and I reckon there will be a lot fo sick tourists this Olympics. :(

So do I. I love Paula so much and the media were horrible, calling her a quitter, when she is renowned as being one of the toughest distance runners in the world.

I bet the other fifteen women who didn't finish in Athens got the same backlash :rolleyes:

In answer to the opening question, as Borat would say, "Tennis....................... NOT"


Given the time difference it will depend what's on in the evening in the UK. I love the weightlifting, the actual activity is so simple that it's pure competition stripped bare of any aesthetic frills, all drama and tension that just builds and builds.

I find that a really decent long-jump (Powell v. Lewis anyone?), high-jump, or pole vault competition can be similar - although I am not comparing Isinbayeva :wub: with a weightlifter.

That's a good point - I assume the time difference will make th eviewing times quite awkward unless you want to be up all night? That was the problem with Sydney, great Olymics but it wasn't so enjoyable being up at 5 am and then being knackered the next day.

On what to watch, in the past I've found you don't have much choice as they can't cover everything so it's the majority sports that get the coverage. Can't recall them showing tennis. :unsure:

I like:

archery and shooting - but we hardly see any

swimming - plenty of that

track and field of course, but only majorly to follow a Brit's progress like when Kelly Holmes ran. Edwards got the jump etc. But I mix it up. Quite keen on the middle distance running.

sailing - not that easy to watch but my partner is into it so we end up following that. And we are bloody good at it. :ok:

I'm in love with Yelena :wub: I've met her before and got a bit starstruck when I tried to speak to her!

In fact, why is it that nearly all Russian sportsmen and sportswomen are really good looking? You see it in tennis and you see it in athletics (and no doubt other sports). The women are absolute babes!

i'll be watching whatever the bbc is showing. hopefully beth tweddle in gymnastics and kelly sotherton in the Heptathlon

I'll be spending August in Japan sae I would nae hiv tae wak up at ane in the mairning tae watch stuff...But will I actually watch stuff? Ain't naw fan of the pics.

:lmaao: :lmaao:

Sports? Probably most if not all of them :)

Badminton
Tennis
Gymnastics
Track and Field
Swimming
Rowing

Ones that I might be less keen to watch? Shooting, archery.. :blink:

You are so right nevets. :ok: The Canadian men and women are gorgeous too. I'm still going to watch the track and field events (starts to hum the song "Hot Legs") :lmaao: