Olympics 2016 Thread

Well the Olympics are finally here and I'm super excited to see gymnastics executed at the highest level of competition. If you are in the U.S you can watch all the events on the NBC sports app/ website.

Below is the schedule for the qualifying rounds:

Are there any events in particular you guys and gals are looking forward to watching?

Do you know if the Russian gymnasts have been banned from participating? 

I know they just cleared 271 of their athletes out of 381. No gymnasts were banned at this time. We will know for sure tomorrow though.

I'm no gymnastics expert but man Japan looks so good. Everything they do looks smooth.

Well, they are among the favourites for gold.  I thought Brasil looked better than usual too. Probably benefiting from the hosting effect, like team GB did in 2012.

Can't wait for Monday/Tuesday, watching qualifications is cool but it's a bit of a mess to watch as there's no proper broadcast (at least in France). Just cams on the events, no commentary, nothing. Does build up hype though. 

Ow ow ow ow ow

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/video/news/video-1317300/Moment-French-gymnast-Samir-Ait-Said-breaks-leg-vault.html

Don't watch if you're squeamish.

Oh yea that was crazy. Did he just over rotate? They were saying in the broadcast that a lot of gymnasts were having problems with the vault. They said that the table was set differently than they were used to.

That was super intense. The way he just looks at it, not even yelling or not even seeming to be in pain for the first few seconds, just thinking about it being over. And the audience's and team's reactions. :/ Worse still, he had qualified for the rings finals.

I don't know what happened exactly but I also read a few times about the table being weird for some gymnasts so it definitely could have played at least a part.

Very serious break.

Table is a little off; but not enough to be soley responsible for this injury.  This is just an insanely dangerous vault that often has very comprised landing positions due to the nature of the landing of the double pike flip itself.

Not positive, but I believe that this is the second time he broke his leg on this particular vault for this athlete.  The other time was just prior to the 2012 Olympics.

Yours in Fitness,

Coach Sommer

17 minutes ago, Coach Sommer said:

Very serious break.

Table is a little off; but not enough to be soley responsible for this injury.  This is just an insanely dangerous vault that often has very comprised landing positions due to the nature of the landing of the double pike flip itself.

Not positive, but I believe that this is the second time he broke his leg on this particular vault for this athlete.  The other time was just prior to the 2012 Olympics.

Yours in Fitness,

Coach Sommer

Correct, that's what it said in the paper. Horrendous accident. What would a recovery span look like for something like this, or will he ever compete again? 

He recovered after the 2012 injury; however not sure what his plans are at this point.  He is four years older now and may have been considering the Rio Olympics as the end of his career.

Personally, I would choose another vault.  Obviously this one does not agree with his leg!

Yours in Fitness,

Coach Sommer

Coach now that your not coaching anymore do you have a favorite event to watch? 

Well, he says he's planning on coming back for Tokyo. He's 26 now, so that's entirely possible, especially given how the French gymnastics scene is as not 'crowded' as the USA's, for instance.

The 2012 accident was different, though. It was on his right knee (not sure was damaged exactly, could have been worse though less spectacular) and a different vault. You can see it here:

So two injuries but on different vaults. He might just focus on rings for Tokyo, but we'll see.

Full respect to Andreas Toba.  I can only imagine how devastating it would be to injure yourself at the Olympics, but to then get up and perform your last apparatus despite your injury, despite your own chances being shot, just to ensure that your teammates can make it through to the next round.  That's the true spirit of the Olympics right there.  It's acts like that that make me watch the games more so than just to see the best routines.

Here's hoping and praying that he makes a full a swift recovery both physically and mentally.

Interesting men's finals. Japan looked very solid as expected. Russia was very good too, I'm surprised they took second. U.S men looked like they let the mental side of the competition get to them. Makes me wonder where team U.S.A is going to go from here.

Very good indeed. It was so close after the 5th rotation I just couldn't handle it!  Russia is a good surprise but I'm kinda sad for team USA and team GB, they came so close, both had falls on the 6th rotation. I still don't think Lleyva could have secured 3rd place even if he had nailed his high bar routine (the disappointment on his face though, wow), but if Louis Smith hadn't fallen on pommel, he'd have scored big and it would have been super close with China. 

It's fine though, there will be medals for both teams on apparatus.  Competition will be very fierce in the individual all-around though, can't wait. In the meantime, let's just watch the US women crush everyone. 

Van Gelder....sigh, smh. That guy hasn't learned from his last DQ.

1 hour ago, Daniel Taylor-Shaut said:

Van Gelder....sigh, smh. That guy hasn't learned from his last DQ.

So sad to see this.  The man's clearly got some demons, but a blow like this will make it a lot harder to fight those demons.

Yuri is an idiot.  Has received many 'second' chances to get himself straight because of his talent.  Time for the dutch to move on.

Yours in Fitness,

Coach Sommer

What are the secrets of the Japan's men gymnasts / USA's women gymnasts? They don't just win but dominate!

26 minutes ago, Rahul Kher said:

What are the secrets of the Japan's men gymnasts / USA's women gymnasts? They don't just win but dominate!

Imo: their genetic body structure is very light, losing a bit of strength but gaining alot of precision

Men's all around final was amazing. There were hardly any falls all competition and it was a nail bitter till the very end. Oleg Verniaiev looks to be the next big star in the sport. 

12 hours ago, Rahul Kher said:

What are the secrets of the Japan's men gymnasts / USA's women gymnasts? They don't just win but dominate!

Basics.  Basics.  And more basics.

And then learn to perform under pressure; day in and day out.

Yours in Fitness,

Coach Sommer

I watched men's all-around today because I couldn't yesterday and man was that a close one! Not even a 0.1 difference in the end. Vernaiev came very close, I think a bit more difficulty on high bar and he'd have won. I'm sure he can given his overall talent. Still, very happy for Uchimura, the man has it all now, especially the team medals (Worlds and Olympics now) that he wanted so badly for Japan. Truly the King of gymnastics. 

Happy for Max Whitlock too, and kinda disappointed we didn't see more of the US gymnasts. Most of the top contenders for medals were in the same rotation, so we basically only saw them.

As for tonight, well no surprises, US women dominating. Funny to see Biles worried after the second rotation because she was behind Mustafina. It's like she doesn't even realise how dominant she is, so it's going to continue because she'll keep working hard for fear someone might catch up haha. 

Damn Simon Biles is so dominant. I just saw the woman's final and she blew everyone away. Aly Raisman is also amazing especially on floor. Now it's time to wait for the event finals.