Games of the XXX Olympiad - London 2012

[DannyInvincible]

Great stuff from Nevin, although I thought it was closer than the judges called it. That punch to the body really took the stuffing out of him in the final round and I was a bit worried as he hung on, but he'd done enough.

[paudie]

Happy days. Medal number 24! chalk it down.

Fighting the world number 1 cuban in the semi but nothing to lose now.

[Stuttgart88]

I'm struggling with the scroll bar within the quote function on my iPad, so jumping on a bit: facilities are sh1t in Ireland notwithstanding the DCU and Iniscarra comments above.

Did anyone here go to the lake in Poznan? We went out there the morning of the Croatia game and witnessed a state of the art municipal rowing facility every bit as good as Eton Dorney (I know, I've raced there) with a whole host of family things to do at the weekend and ways of making the facility pay for itself. I mean all it is is a big hole in the ground, filled with water and a pavilion with pretty rudimentary spectator facilities but does anyone in government circles have the vision to create anything like that? Eton Dorney makes more money from hosting regular triathlon events than rowing so it's commercially viable - and triathlon is a rapidly growing sport in Ireland. I guess my point is that alternative uses make these projects worthwhile. I wasn't aware of the national rowing centre in Cork until Peadar posted about it above, but did the planners factor in alternative uses? The Poznan place was full of recreational joggers (OK, they don't pay) and families looking for a fun and affordable destination. I'd take my kids there every weekend for the play facilities which included a cheap bobsleigh run type thing and a dry ski slope. Does the Cork facility have an adjacent series of paths and tracks like those that make Eton Dorney such a popular triathlon venue (every fortnight during the summer season I reckon)?

Even if the rowing centre isn't a good example I think we're an ideologically fcuked up country. We let some parts of the private sector run wild, let the government run parts of the country unchallenged, spend the public purse woefully yet deny economically valuable funding to projects that improve the health and happiness of the nation. I visited Reykjavik in 2008 and thought they had better municipal facilities than Dublin. My local running track in Willesden (that's all it is - a local facility) would be our national athletics stadium. But as long as the GAA lads and the greyhounds are OK sure we're grand. I'm a huge believer in the power of the public purse and the role of the state as long as it's not looking after vested interests and cronies. The daft thing is, good facilities are good vote winners but somehow and somewhere we missed a huge opportunity during the boom years. I'm a dyed in the wool Keynesian: public works yield economic dividends. They get people off the dole reducing welfare liabilities, they give people incomes which are taxed and which they spend, creating jobs and incomes for other people. Sure, some public expenditure is misguided and probably wasted but that's a question of accountability and there's a moral case for the state stepping in where private interests won't anyway.

[peadar1987]

Had read that alright; she's better in windier conditions due to her weight and strength. Unlikely she'll take the gold then if the forecast is calm.

I've raced against her, it's scary when the breeze gets up and she disappears! She's no slouch in the lighter airs, but I don't think she's gold medal standard in anything less than about 15 or 20 knots.

[backstothewall]

I'm not sure actually. While the rowers and cyclists clearly benefit from moving for tougher competition and better/ the only appropriate facilities, is that true of all sports? I mean, the Irish boxing team don't spend all their time training in Las Vegas, Ukraine, or Philipines, or wherever that sport's current stronghold is?

As for spend on Olympic standard facilities, Ireland already has three (Abbotstown, Belfield and Limerick) with a fourth about to complete in Bangor. There seem to be only eight in England according to Wiki, so that's hardly ungenerous. The priority in spending should be more modest but still high quality facilities eg 25m indoor pools in all large towns, astroturf pitches for every school etc.

I honestly didn't realise there were 50m pools in UCD or UL, but a bit of research advises only the Limerick one was built more than 5 years ago. The real test will be in 10-15 years time to see what the payback of the investment has been.

But I think the boxers are the real example here. The point is that they do have world class facilities here on their doorstep. Everything I've heard from people who know what they are talking about would suggest the Irish set-up is amongst the best in the world and that other countries are coming here to see what we are doing. Sending people abroad for better competition is all well and good, but bringing them here for better competition should be the real goal.

In sport these days it is important to be developing people from early on. It's no good realising at 17 that a kid has something, and sending him to England to see what he can do. You need to be picking up on that at 12/13, and kids that age simply can't leave their parents so sport has to come to them. That is what other countries are doing (well some effectively kidnap talented kids but that's not a great idea) so if we want success for those kids we have to provide the facilities within not much more than 2hrs round trip.

And for these purposes the border should be next to invisible. I've said this before but with the roads we have built / will build if we put these things somewhere around Portlaoise and Ballygawley they will be within a reasonable drive of almost everyone.

Totally agree on the basic facilities though. No point in having world class facilities for world class athletes if you don't have the basic facilities to identify them. From what I have seen the north seems to be ahead of the south on that one. More or less every market town in NI has a Leisure Centre with a 25m pool, badminton/squash/tennis courts etc. I don't see those sort of things down below (apologies if I'm wrong about that). But a lot of the pools seem to be private, attached to a hotel or gym or whatever.

Again, I didn't realise we had a rowing facility in Cork, but its no use to you if your from Ballymoney. If your any good you may as well take the scolaership to OxBridge, have a go at the boat race and get the really impressive arts degree. If we had a rowing lake in Dublin and a culture of competition between Trinity, UCD, QUB, UU, UCC, UL & NUI Galway, we would be bound to find a few great athletes

[Stuttgart88]

Annalise just caught by Belgium at the end. Poor girl, great effort.

Peadar - how come down wind is a struggle?

[peadar1987]

Annalise just caught by Belgium at the end. Poor girl, great effort.

Peadar - how come down wind is a struggle?

I think it could be because she's heavier than the other girls. In marginal planing conditions like today a couple of extra kg can be the difference between getting a good surf on and just sitting in the water. In the windier stuff, everyone is able to surf, the difference is a little less pronounced, and Annalise's height and fitness start to count for more.

She did seem to pick the left hand side every downwind leg as well, whereas van Acker and Bouwmeester were able to sail to her right with speed, she might lack a bit of the experience needed to defend clear air downwind. She still sailed an incredible race, just not quite incredible enough. Beaten by three very talented girls. I'm proud of her, and hoping for a windy Rio in 2016!

[Stuttgart88]

Yep, Belgian girl saying now that switching to the RHS on the last downwind was what made it for her. She went left the first two times.

[Spudulika]

Just in to watch Katie Taylor. Feeling a little bit proud. 1st ever official women's amateur fight in Ireland was in October 1998 between a girl from Galway and one from Tipp (Helen Fitzgerald). Took place out in NUI Maynooth and was shown on TV3. The then Kildare County Board Chairman who attended and oversaw it was....Dom O'Rourke! He pushed women's boxing and, well, hopefully we get medal number 2 today!

[osarusan]

Just in to watch Katie Taylor. Feeling a little bit proud. 1st ever official women's amateur fight in Ireland was in October 1998 between a girl from Galway and one from Tipp (Helen Fitzgerald). Took place out in NUI Maynooth and was shown on TV3. The then Kildare County Board Chairman who attended and oversaw it was....Dom O'Rourke! He pushed women's boxing and, well, hopefully we get medal number 2 today!

What was the Galway girl's name? Was she a Maynooth student too?

I was at this fight - I was actually on the bill that night, but can't remember if this was one of the (unfortunately common) occasions my fight was cancelled.

I trained a Maynooth girl to win...something....against a girl from UCD...but I can't remember her name now.

[peadar1987]

Yep, Belgian girl saying now that switching to the RHS on the last downwind was what made it for her. She went left the first two times.

There could have been a bit more breeze on the right, or a more favourable wind angle, or it could just have been that Annalise was in other peoples' wind shadow by going left, as everybody going right would have sailed between her and the wind. If there was an advantage to going right, he mum will kill her when she gets back on shore for not noticing it three times in succession!

[BonnieShels]

That was a great fight. Pure class from Katie. It felt like Dublin came to a standstill outside the Old Stand with everyone peaking in the window.

[Real ale Madrid]

The Olympics is a nutshell there over the past few hours - from despair to ecstasy.

Fair play to them both - Katie will get all the coverage and deservedly so - but what an effort from Murphy over the past week.

I'm wrecked!

[shakermaker1982]

Thank **** for Irish boxing.

Great performances by Nevin and Taylor. The atmosphere sounded unreal this afternoon.

[Spudulika]

What was the Galway girl's name? Was she a Maynooth student too?

I was at this fight - I was actually on the bill that night, but can't remember if this was one of the (unfortunately common) occasions my fight was cancelled.

I trained a Maynooth girl to win...something....against a girl from UCD...but I can't remember her name now.

Osarusan, both were NUI Maynooth girls, they fought on a pretty major bill and you probably remember the crowd that night, absolutely packed. The boxing club were the biggest draw for the Pull-Pit and Olivia (her family name escapes me) also known as Giggles (gigs) put on a great show. The UCD girl was London-Irish, and I just cannot remember her name, Italian last name, who was battered by one of ours. The Maynooth women were phenoms, Helen was a far better mover than Katie Taylor, and a massive hitter. You'll remember her sparring with a guy from Mayo (Gerry) in the gym and catching him over and over.

Sad thing was, the IABA tried their best to bury it, and only when the Universities forced their hand (through hammering Jim McDaid - who may well have been hammered), was it put in place to allow women to box. Of course Katie Taylor was chosen as the poster girl, but this was face saving from the old guard of the IABA.

Today has been great for Irish sport, and I'm looking forward to the Tajiki fight, half of the menial workers in Moscow will be out for my blood if she loses!

[DannyInvincible]

Just got a chance to watch Taylor's bout. What a fighter! Great power, speed and agility. Fantastic to watch. Atmosphere was terrific inside the arena. Might as well have been in Dublin.

[Spudulika]

Just got a chance to watch Taylor's bout. What a fighter! Great power, speed and agility. Fantastic to watch. Atmosphere was terrific inside the arena. Might as well have been in Dublin.

Loudest recorded noise at the Olympics so far 113.7 decibels. Maybe I got this wrong, but a jet engine is 140 decibels.

[Charlie Darwin]

Loudest recorded noise at the Olympics so far 113.7 decibels. Maybe I got this wrong, but a jet engine is 140 decibels.
Disappointing showing from the Irish fans there.

[paudie]

Yep, Belgian girl saying now that switching to the RHS on the last downwind was what made it for her. She went left the first two times.

I know nothing about sailing but i thought Annalise just should have gone the same way as the chinese girl, who looked the class of the field.

Very simplistic I know!

[Stuttgart88]

That's what I thought too!

[Stuttgart88]

Disappointing showing from the Irish fans there.
And yet the national stadium on the SCR was only a quarter full 3 weeks ago. The apathy and hypocricy of these fans...:)

[peadar1987]

I know nothing about sailing but i thought Annalise just should have gone the same way as the chinese girl, who looked the class of the field.

Very simplistic I know!

Going downwind, that's actually not too bad of an idea. You sit between the people ahead of you and the wind, and that slows them down. However, if you go the same way as someone else, it's very hard to overtake them, you'll always be in the same sort of wind. Perhaps Annalise wasn't happy to settle for silver, took the risk to try and get past Xu, and was punished for it.

[Stuttgart88]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-19144983

I thought the above article was interesting - how lottery funding transformed GB sport and how they identified that sports such as cycling and swimming are never won by poorer countries. Nothing surprising on the surface but it shows how money well targeted and well spent can reap rewards.


Of course during the early part of this new lottery-funded period UK sport was governed on a very shambolic basis. There was one famous example in Sport England(?) when an auditor found £20mm in a bank account that they had forgotten they had! This prompted a review into lottery funding and governance by a QC called Dutton I think, and state / lottery funding would only be dished out to anyone whose organisation was fit for purpose.

As governance standards improved, strategic decisions improved and GB is now enjoying the benefits.

[Spudulika]

Stuttgart88, thanks for posting that. London still lumps money into certain sports, tennis in particular, for minimal returns overall. Sure players do okay at the lower ranks, but they haven't the ability to move up. Instead the LTA tries to poach young talent from abroad (Donna Vekic a case in point) and turn them British. Meanwhile players get salaries, access to coaching and facilities and trips paid for, with really poor results. I've always been of the opinion that if Tennis Ireland had a fraction of the budget of them across the water we'd have at least 2-3 players in the top 200 (male and female).

[Stuttgart88]

Of course, while money helps, vision, strategy and execution are all critical too. I know I posted on the FAI thread that governance is a bit of a dull topic but actually it's really important. In some respects (but there are critical differences) sports NGBs are like corporations. They compete with each other for resources and customers and they are judged on the quality of their output. Well managed companies tend to do better than poorly managed companies, and this is what governance is all about.

It's important not to get all hung up about extreme elite performance but talented athletes should have a pathway to fulfilling their talent should that be their choice and elite performance can inspire others to become active. I'm considered left wing by my peers - which I refute, I consider myself "enlightened"! - but GDP is a wholly flawed measure of economic well-being and the pressures placed on ordinary working people due to globalisation and the economic inequality that unfettered free markets induce makes life quite tough for many people. Sport (and other recreational activities) and the happiness they can bring are an economic asset - even if people living longer is one of the biggest threats to the world economy in the coming generation (the IMF warned about this recently). The feelgood factor at the O2 yesterday can never be captured by a dry economic statistic like GDP / GNP. It's worth investing in. Free markets don't provide an economic incentive for private funding of sport which is why the state has a crucial role to play (Mary Harney's economic ethos was that the state should just eff off out of the way, the same as George Osbourne over here…).

Wrt tennis, I suspect you're right. I think there's probably a bit of Matthew Syed's "10,000 hours" involved. I was a talented enough player as a kid but I also wanted to play badminton, soccer, golf and just hanging about getting up to mischief too. Tennis strikes me as requiring an extreme amount of personal investment, like swimming too, to get to elite level.

I'm not sure why we can produce golfers to a world standard but not tennis - perhaps it's because although hand-eye coordination is a common requirement, technique can be taught and facilities are largely in place in both games, golf doesn't require the extra ingredient of athleticism that tennis requires? Looking at Padraig Harrington's duck footed walking style, I think I'd fancy beating him in a run over any distance.

Bear in mind, as I posted above, we do have an ITF top ten ranked tennis player, born and bred in Dublin. He is in the over-85 age category though!

[Stuttgart88]

Gavin Noble going well so far in triathlon event. He's in the lead bike pack which is crucial and is impressive after what was a very fast swim. He crashed badly on the test event here last year so herte's hoping he can stay up!

[Stuttgart88]

Run pace proving too fast for Noble but he's still heading for his best placing ever among a field of this quality.


Edit: finished 23rd - sounds like not much, but absolutely outstanding effort.

[osarusan]

Great women's volleyball q-final on right now between Japan and China if anybody's interested.

[osarusan]

Ok, I didn't give people much notice. Japan survived two match points in the deciding set to win 19-17. No set was decided by more than the minimum 2-point margin, and 2 went into sudden death, including the last set.

[ltfc_2004]

The Maynooth Boxing match I was there, it would of been Olivia Walsh from Ballinasole. I lived with Helen and Willie Fitz who were involved in the boxing club. Some great nights in the Union bar, wonder are the Meerkats still going ?

[Spudulika]

Oh holy jaysus, there is some amount of history coming out here. Olivia Walshe, played camogie for Maynooth too. ltfc_2004, you would have known both myself and Osarusan, 100% sure of that, especially living with Helen. She was a complete header, very intelligent, great fighter and I remember tv3 trying to get her to do some modelling or something. One of the fighters (a trainee cleric) took over the club in 1999, Willie was captain but stepped down, and they went on for a couple of years. At the time I left, in 1999, we won AIB Club of the Year (Osarusan was there) and were the top University club in Ireland, as well as one of the best in the UK and Ireland. You'll remember the night of the first female fight, it was absolutely jammers and the place rocked. I fought before way more people before and after, but nothing ever matched up to the Union Bar.

Side note - Willie and Osarusan won silver medals in the British and Irish Championships in Portsmouth in 1998 (we took home a gold, 2 silver and a bronze - with just 4 fighters entered). Osarusan was a person you didn't want to get in the ring with ;-)

[Stuttgart88]

I've suddenly changed my mind on Irish fans and the LOI.

[Spudulika]

Hooligans the lot of us :-)

Stuttgart88, you have made a 100% correct point on tennis, though I'm not sure about the 10,000hr part. I believe that good coaching, proper guidance and targets mean alot more. Just a short example from the trenches. A former Russian National Junior team member (won Junior Fed Cup) ranked top 50 in the world under 18, played all the major Junior events, had just slipped outside the top 400 pros. Her pre-training (and match) breakfast consisted of tvorog (also known as quark - or cottage cheese), jam, orange juice, a yoghurt and some nuts. She then trained/played until evening before her next equally crap meal. I only foud this out when she asked me what food would give her more energy - so I asked about her daily diet, presuming that she'd have it in hand.

If you get the simple things like nutrition, education, training, rest, recovery, sleep etc (not to mention psychology) right, then everything on the court is easy.

[Spudulika]

Conlan has to win. Great scrap!

[DannyInvincible]

Great stuff to guarantee our third medal. Really tight encounter but Conlan got some great punches in in the final round to make the difference.

[tricky_colour]

Dam I really wanted to watch that, I thought the BBC would show it but they didn't so by the time I found a
stream I could hear but not see the action because it was all plastered with adverts as that are hard to close!!

Dam!!!!

[DannyInvincible]

If you're in the UK, you'll be able to watch it again by clicking on the fourth segment of this stream: http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/olympics/2012/live-video/p00w38bd

Is that UK-only?

[Spudulika]

www.eurovisionsports.tv You can watch RTE with it.

[Mr A]

Bloody hell, I was in Maynooth in 1999 and don't remember any of that. I did have a rather good time at college though :)

[cavan_fan]

Tricky, assuming youre in the UK, you can see all sports on the BBC website. Alternatively, most are on the red button on digital tv. If you have sky there are 23 channels showing all sports. No excuse to miss anything, thats how ive just been watching South Korea against Italy in the volleyball

[tricky_colour]

Tricky, assuming youre in the UK, you can see all sports on the BBC website. Alternatively, most are on the red button on digital tv. If you have sky there are 23 channels showing all sports. No excuse to miss anything, thats how ive just been watching South Korea against Italy in the volleyball

Yes I just realised, I will give it a spin. I did catch a bit of the replay but I was in a panic because my computer kept crashing for some reason, I
can watch and record on that via a USB dongle, cheaper than a video recorder.
I thought the computer was on it last legs but I gave it a bit of a clean out inside reseated my video card and took some USB devices off it,
might be overloaded, might have ben too hot not sure, but it seems pretty stable now, - famous last words lol.

[geysir]

Great news that Conlon is through to the last 4, I thought he had looked a class act at the World championship last October where he missed out on a medal by a hair's breadth to a Welsh boxer, Selby. Now he goes on to fight the Cuban who beat Selby comprehensively in the 1/4 finals yesterday. That's an indicator of the task ahead for Conlon, regardless he'll give him one hell of a fight.
We're well capable to go on to be the powerhouse in amateur boxing that Cuba held up to these games

[bennocelt]

Bloody hell, I was in Maynooth in 1999 and don't remember any of that. I did have a rather good time at college though :)

Ha, i was also in Maynooth at this time, remember the buzz for the boxing, was half thinking of going for it but chickened out at the time - so it seems there is a lot of foot.iers that were ex maynotthers circa 1996-1999 - wow:D

[ltfc_2004]

I do remember Mr A and you were there from about 1996 as you sat beside me in Physics Labs at one stage !!!! if its Mr Mc N???

You guys probably would remember me so, I lived with Ciaran Cronin as well ....... anyway way off topic I suppose If your looking for Willie, these days its Dr Willie of UCC computer science dept !!!

I was more involved in the football club and are any foot.iers ex internal league team members ?

[Mr A]

Yes. And this is getting very fecking spooky!

[peadar1987]

Sorry for dragging the Maynooth thread off-topic, but it looks like the Brits are claiming our Katie: http://www.broadsheet.ie/2012/08/08/anything-good-in-the-daily-telegraph/

Mind you, I was talking to a girl (who has a university science degree and works for a major company) about the Olympics, and she didn't even realise Ireland was a separate country. It took her a long while to figure out why I wasn't as excited as she was that Team GB, featuring NI and the Crown Dependencies, were up to third in the medal table.

[Spudulika]

ltfc - Ciaran Cronin, now that was a mad lad. He fought Willie one night (I think it was the Christmas show) and Willie completely lost it as Ciaran went in to lose. He was a neat fighter, tall and sharp, but Willie (nickname "The Worm" could be very good).

Bennocelt - you should have tried out, we'd a real mix of people. If anyone remembers Gerry Lydon from Mayo, he was one of our stars. He was a headcase in a nice way and unbeatable because you never knew where punches were coming from. Osarusan will remember him fighting in UCD and how he just bamboozled his opponent with Connacht fury.

Mr. A - you seriously missed out on some insanity, then again, Maynooth from that period was insane enough. I wish I'd spent more time there as I was splitting time between 3 countries. Loved the town, uni and atmosphere.

So, here on foot.ie we can advance the word, the first women's amateur fight in Ireland was in Maynooth (and it was official and legal), between Tipp and Galway, ltfc_2004 lived with one of them, Osarusan sparred with both, I trained both and we all lived happily ever after. In all honesty, it was the official start of women's boxing in Ireland and the man who pushed it for us was Dom O'Rourke...

[Real ale Madrid]

That has been a cool few pages lads - nice story.

Just to inform that Cian O'Connor was first reserve in the individual showjumping final, got in after a swedish competitor withdrew and now Cian leads the competition with a clear round. Could be a surprise medal ?

[Spudulika]

RAM - did he jump a clear? I'm just in the door and can't get the feed working. He was supposed to be first up.

[Real ale Madrid]

Yes a clear and no time pens either.