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olympicdreamin

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Posts posted by olympicdreamin

  1. What a farce these games were. When will the IOC learn its lesson and stop awarding to countries like China and Brazil without the legacy infrastructure. Just because they can overspend to build the games doesn't mean the owners of the facilities after the games can afford to keep them. Worst Summer Olympics in memory.

    http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/01/12/509465686/maracan-jewel-of-rios-olympics-now-languishes-in-disrepair

  2. On August 7, 2016 at 11:47 PM, mr.bernham said:

    As an American...I approve. I'll take boos for my country as long as they dole them out to the Russians too.

    It's the only thing that makes me feel better about booing the American athletes. At least the cheaters are getting boo'd louder. I expect it to be consistent and want to see the same boos for Gatlin next week.

  3. I really hope Pyeongchang can present a WOG that gets more nations interested in bidding after the damage that Sochi has done. There are already murmurs of 2026 bids from Europe but let's not forget Europe didn't not bid for 2022, they didn't have the public support. Let's hope Pyeongchang restores some public faith so that democracies will want to host these games again.

  4. 10 hours ago, TorchbearerSydney said:

    Its funny, people will remember Giselle and The Girl from Ipanema segment long after they have forgotten Pandemonium, or Chinese Typeface, or the Athens Lake...

     

    Cost-- a dress and some high heels!

     

     

    Most people will but I certainly won't all of those segments were absolutely beautiful and unique to their games.

  5. 1 hour ago, gamesnz said:

    Beautiful!! This ceremony was so colourful! I enjoyed the artistic concepts and the vibrancy and participation of the Brazilian crowd. I don't remember any other ceremony where the public interacted in such a way. I also enjoyed the music, though I hope to see a lot more rhythm in the closing ceremony and Paralympic ceremonies.

     

    Spot on. The opening ceremony was colorful, vibrant, and fun and presented a great summary of Brazilian culture for both foreigners and Brazilians. I thought the use of performers and music like Gizelle walking into the Girl from Impanema were both entertaining and cheaper I'm sure than building big props.

  6. 1 hour ago, Ikarus360 said:

    ^^ Implying China's not going to waste tons of money to deliver us a 2008 opening ceremony 2.0. And you know they will :P 

    But yeah, I know your feel. Nagano ceremony was one of the most boring ever (even though I liked the solemn tone which you rarely find anymore in today ceremonies, plus the synchronized Ode to Joy through the world, which was an impressive technological feat at the time).

    And tbh I don't have huge expectations for the handover either. But lets hope they give us good surprises, after all they're known for their technological feats. I'm actually more scared for Pyeongchang, specially after the abomination the 2014 Asiad ceremonies were.

     

    I completely agree with you about Beijing 2.0 but I wouldn't be so fast to write off 2018 or 2020. I suspect one of their ceremonies will show off some truly innovative technology that their countries have become known for. Plus the KPop segment in 2018 will surely be a sight.

  7. 21 minutes ago, Sir Rols said:

    "Bubble" was the trending word during Sochi - for all its positive (and negative) aspects. It became the cliche. As I said, the price tag and the corruption were the broader issues that tainted Sochi so badly, not the day-to-day running and presentation.

     

     

    Rols, out of curiosity from you or any other members, I was young when the games were in Athens and I have vague memories of news reports about unfinished stadiums but really remember some great athletes and an overall great games. Of course we know the legacy problems Athens is having but how was the organization of the games as a whole and how does it compare to Rio. I'm taking away similar impressions of Rio and Athens: great, soulful games in a unique city that were a joy to attend but marred by poor organization and legacy that ultimately caused more problems than it was worth.

  8. 20 minutes ago, Sir Rols said:

    Did you read or listen to any of the commentary during the games about how within the Olympic "bubble" organisation and operation was totally flawless? That they ran as smoothly as a games could run? That the ceremonies and look were the best and most beautiful that (tainted) money could buy? There were certainly no banners askew that are supposedly making Rio an unfit host.

    The anti-gay and corruption issues are totally different issues outside the day-to-day running and broadcast presentation of those games. Yes, they are at the top of the list of what put Sochi in the negative bracket.

     

    I don't recall nearly such praise from NBC and in the American press, every journalist was covering their broken hotel bathrooms and being locked in when their keys wouldn't work. Not to mention the whole games were painted with a broad brush of corruption- the $51 billion price tag was a focal point with individual seats costing thousands and thousands of dollars.

  9. 31 minutes ago, Sir Rols said:

     

    By far the best organised, most smoothly running and (arguably) most beautifully painted and presented games of the 21st century so far have been in Sochi. No worriesome human problems or aesthetic shortfalls there. Yet I'd rate them as the most negative and damaging games to the Olympic brand of this century. Go figure.

    1

    Are you serious? Sochi was a muddy mess leading up to the games. They were woefully unprepared in terms of accommodations, hotel rooms were falling apart or simply not ready when visitors arrived. Corruption and kickbacks to Mr. Putin's friends sent costs skyrocketing in addition to anti gay laws passed in Russia and all the criticism they faced from that are hardly signs of the best-organized games of the 21st Century. I'd strongly recommend Sydney or London for that title.

  10. The calamities associated with Athens and now Rio have shown me the IOC is completely right to be adopting this position now. Frankly put these cities and governments weren't ready. Watching Rio has made me completely rethink my support for Istanbul a few years back. Thank goodness the IOC isn't rolling on from Rio to Istanbul and dealing with Erdogan.

  11. 16 hours ago, stryker said:

    The test for Rio is going to be after the Olympics are over. I touched on this in another thread. If they have a ton of white elephants (Future Arena, Friends Arena, Cariocas Arenas, Olympic Aquatics Stadium, Olympic Village), then I think on the heels of Sochi and the likelihood of a ton of white elephant venues in Pyeongchang, then I think the IOC is going to face even bigger challenges then what they faced when they were left with Beijing and Almaty for 2022. Even more countries will think twice about bidding. You will always have the dictatorships that can promise the world to the IOC regardless of public opinion. But in democratic countries where taxpayers hold sway the IOC is going to have to make concessions with regards to compactness and venue capacity.

     

    I agree with you that the test for Rio is going to be their legacy. London has developed a very sound legacy for their games and I think the success of London is what brought some European bidders back to the table in 2024. Even Hamburg was an initial bid for 2024. However, I disagree that Pyeongchang will have tons of white elephants. Their bid had lots of plans for the stadiums in Ganguang and around Korea. I do think the use of temporary stadiums and stadiums that can be relatively easily deconstructed and rebuilt in other cities has been a positive development in Olympic legacies due in large part, I feel, to Athens and Beijing's white elephants. The Olympics clearly have a problem with the scale of the games that most countries are unable to put forward a bid for political, economic, and public opinion reasons and the only nations bidding are the likes of Putin, Erdogan, and China. Rio has been really disappointing and I'm looking forward to finally moving past them and really focusing on Korea and Japan over the next 4 years. I expect Tokyo to show everyone that they should've hosted in 2016.

  12. 1 hour ago, LatinXTC said:

    Anybody watching the NBC Olympics website coverage of gymnastics? The other guy commentator, not Jonathan Horton, is making some pretty obvious mistakes. During the FX he mistakenly identified the other Japanese gymnast as Kohei. Luckily Horton quickly corrected him. And just not too long ago he identified Manrique Larduet as a Canadian gymnast, but the guy is Cuban lol. This time Horton did not correct him.

     

    Yes, he's a little bit of a mess lol

  13. London perhaps spoiled us with such a complete and composed look but surely Rio could've at least executed the look they had. Not to detract from Brazil and Rio, but the execution and delivery of these games is just an absolute complete mess. It really is a shame that silly mistakes like these detract from Rio's ultimate moment in the sun. Rio is hands down the most beautiful location for a games but the subpar execution throughout large parts of the Games continuously dampens the mood and feel for what could've and still will be in some parts, a fantastic olympic games.

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