Summer Olympics thread

[nicname]

The decathlon brings into question the validity of it's claim to "the world's greatest athlete."  Is it?  I think it may be the best test, though I'm not at all convinced that the greatest athletes participate in the event.

[michigancat]

After watching beach volleyball, I don't think Lebron or any other player could be best in the world with a year of practice. Much like baseball, there is a lot of repetition and instantaneous reactions required that I think it would take years of practice to do well. they aren't just jumping to block and spike.

[puniraptor]

The decathlon brings into question the validity of it's claim to "the world's greatest athlete."  Is it?  I think it may be the best test, though I'm not at all convinced that the greatest athletes participate in the event.

I would bet everything that Usain Bolt would be better at the decathlon than any decathlete sprinting the 100

[chum1]

For biggest badass of the olympics, I'm going with Abby Wambach.

[ednksu]

For biggest badass of the olympics, I'm going with Abby Wambach.

I think she would do most anything of what it would take to win. 

[michigancat]

The decathlon brings into question the validity of it's claim to "the world's greatest athlete."  Is it?  I think it may be the best test, though I'm not at all convinced that the greatest athletes participate in the event.

I would bet everything that Usain Bolt would be better at the decathlon than any decathlete sprinting the 100

I think both would get last in the olympics and it wouldn't be close.

[Rage Against the McKee]

i don't know about gymnastics or diving.  But, with basketball and volleyball, I think a lot of fringe basketball players would make the transition if there was money to be made.  I wikid Matt Anderson, one of our stars, and he left college early to play pro ball in Korea and Russia.  Just not a very big sport in the US.  No money in it for most guys.

Agreed.  The talent pool is larger in basketball in the USA because the $$$ pool is larger.  I would guess that some players from basketball could make the transition to volleyball if they wanted to, but then again, look at how changing sports worked for MJ, one of the greatest athletes ever.  Granted baseball has a huge talent pool also, but I don't think it would be simple for anyone to transition between sports, especially at an olympic level.

But then I think of people like Destinee Hooker. Who could compete in either the high jump or volleyball at the olympics.

So basically we should just get Lebron to retire from the NBA and start playing volleyball so we can settle this argument. 

Skill and repetition is a lot more requisite in baseball than other sports. Being athletic is a great advantage, but pure athletic prowess isn't as much of a golden ticket in baseball as it is in, say, football.

  Another good point.

Not really. Deion Sanders and Bo Jackson both excelled at both sports. Michael Jordan just wasn't a world class athlete, I guess.

[mancattanite]

The decathlon brings into question the validity of it's claim to "the world's greatest athlete."  Is it?  I think it may be the best test, though I'm not at all convinced that the greatest athletes participate in the event.

I would definitely agree that it is the best test of athleticism.

Is that person the best athlete in the world? Well, I don't think you could subjectively say that anybody else is any better.  Is Ashton Eaton the best athlete of all time?  Who knows. Not everybody has done a decathlon.  I would love to see Lebron James do a decathlon.  I would love to see Usain Bolt do a decathlon.  I'm not going to speculate if they could beat Eaton.  They would have to put in a ton of work to be at an elite level in the decathlon.

I like what the Germans call the decathlon: zehnkampf. 10 struggles.

[Belvis Noland]

I never thought Belvis was more Fake Sugar Dick (WARNING, NOT THE REAL SUGAR DICK!) than when I read this thread.

 

[mancattanite]

The decathlon brings into question the validity of it's claim to "the world's greatest athlete."  Is it?  I think it may be the best test, though I'm not at all convinced that the greatest athletes participate in the event.

I would bet everything that Usain Bolt would be better at the decathlon than any decathlete sprinting the 100

I think both would get last in the olympics and it wouldn't be close.

Ashton Eaton can run a 10.21. That would have been good enough to qualify for the semifinals in London.

Usain Bolt would have to put a lot of work into the decathlon to be at an elite level.  Somebody like Eaton could make a transition to the 100m faster than a 100m sprinter could transition to the decathlon.

[nicname]

The decathlon brings into question the validity of it's claim to "the world's greatest athlete."  Is it?  I think it may be the best test, though I'm not at all convinced that the greatest athletes participate in the event.

I would bet everything that Usain Bolt would be better at the decathlon than any decathlete sprinting the 100

Probably not.  Bolt is faster but the top guys can all run around 10.5.  Bolt would probably be laughable at many of the decathlon events.

[michigancat]

The decathlon brings into question the validity of it's claim to "the world's greatest athlete."  Is it?  I think it may be the best test, though I'm not at all convinced that the greatest athletes participate in the event.

I would bet everything that Usain Bolt would be better at the decathlon than any decathlete sprinting the 100

I think both would get last in the olympics and it wouldn't be close.

Ashton Eaton can run a 10.21. That would have been good enough to qualify for the semifinals in London.

Usain Bolt would have to put a lot of work into the decathlon to be at an elite level.  Somebody like Eaton could make a transition to the 100m faster than a 100m sprinter could transition to the decathlon.

hmm, I just assumed all olympians were running sub-10's by now. my bad.

[nicname]

I did a little figuring and took the top 8 scores from each event in the decathlon, averaged them, and then put them up against either top 8 finishers each of the individual events' Olympic final.  Some events have yet to take place so I used the finishes from the 2011 World Championships for those instead. 

The Individual event scores will be posted first followed by the decathlon scores. 

100m - 9.83 to 10.57

Long Jump - 26.57 to 25

Shot Put - 69.46 to 50.62

High Jump - 7.57 to 6.76

400m - 44.68 to 48.12

110m hurdles - 13.26 to 13.71

Discus - 219.52 to 166.34

Pole Vault - 19.06 to 17.29

Javelin - 269.91 to 221.16

1500m - 3:35.4 to 4.22.96

While not "world class" for their individual events these are still pretty tremendous scores in each event.  Keep in mind the decathletes also complete 5 events, each day, over the course of two days while most individual performers compete in only one event per day and often only one event per meet.

It is to be considered also that an individual decathlete will vary in strengths from man to man, but I figured a top 8 average (the number of runners in a sprint final) would be the best option. 

It would be interesting to see how the greatest sprinters would stack up in a decathlon.  I doubt that the other specialists would far well at all, but a certain number of sprinters I think would do well with training (I don't think Bolt would be one of them as he just doesn't seem built for many of the events.

[mancattanite]

I did a little figuring and took the top 8 scores from each event in the decathlon, averaged them, and then put them up against either top 8 finishers each of the individual events' Olympic final.  Some events have yet to take place so I used the finishes from the 2011 World Championships for those instead. 

The Individual event scores will be posted first followed by the decathlon scores. 

100m - 9.83 to 10.57

Long Jump - 26.57 to 25

Shot Put - 69.46 to 50.62

High Jump - 7.57 to 6.76

400m - 44.68 to 48.12

110m hurdles - 13.26 to 13.71

Discus - 219.52 to 166.34

Pole Vault - 19.06 to 17.29

Javelin - 269.91 to 221.16

1500m - 3:35.4 to 4.22.96

While not "world class" for their individual events these are still pretty tremendous scores in each event.  Keep in mind the decathletes also complete 5 events over the course of two days while most individual performers compete in only one event per day and often only one event per meet.

It is to be considered also that an individual decathlete will vary in strengths from man to man, but I figured a top 8 average (the number of runners in a sprint final) would be the best option. 

It would be interesting to see how the greatest sprinters would stack up in a decathlon.  I doubt that the other specialists would far well at all, but a certain number of sprinters I think would do well with training (I don't think Bolt would be one of them as he just doesn't seem built for many of the events.

 :thumbs:Good work.

Here's to hoping that USA gets gold and silver tomorrow in the dec 

[420seriouscat69]

T's & P's too future oscar Jenners, dealing with that mess of the khardasians can't be worth it. Learn from it young jedi olympians. 

[nicname]

Interesting article about the scoring of the decathlon.

http://www.wired.com/playbook/2012/08/scoring-the-decathlon/

It seems that not all events are weighted completely equally, but they get as close as they possibly can.

[chum1]

Open water swimming?  eff yes.

[Emo EMAW]

This is really cool.

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2012/08/05/sports/olympics/the-100-meter-dash-one-race-every-medalist-ever.html/

[chum1]

"I guess it was taken," McKayla Maroney explained of the women's gymanstics old nickname, "by some basketball team or something."

http://www.sbnation.com/hamsandwich/2012/8/9/3230199/mckayla-maroney-is-not-impressed-fab-five-nickname

Women's gymnastics would be my favorite sport if it was like this all the time.

[Cartierfor3]

This is really cool.

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2012/08/05/sports/olympics/the-100-meter-dash-one-race-every-medalist-ever.html/

That's amazing.

[Fedor]

Geno currently getting worked.

[Belvis Noland]

Some American just destroyed a Russian for a gold i women's boxing.   

[ednksu]

Geno currently getting worked.

refs just made an awful call on Taurasi for her 4th foul.  You know you're a shitty ref when you can't even keep up with the speed of estrobasketball.

[Fedor]

Geno currently getting worked.

refs just made an awful call on Taurasi for her 4th foul.  You know you're a shitty ref when you can't even keep up with the speed of estrobasketball.

Schemed them in the second half.  Geno went back to his roots and rolled the ball out while having way more talent than the aussies.

[Brock Landers]

So, are May-Treanor and Walsh Jennings going to get it over with and just totally lez out on each other?  I was watching their interview with Costas last night and expecting something physical to happen at any second.  NTTAWTT