Every 4 years I've followed the Olympics quite closely, especially the Brits. The first I remember was Melbourne 1956 but the first proper TV one for me was Rome 1960 complete with Cassius Clay. Over the years there has been some cracking performances from Ovett, Coe, Cram, Mary Rand, back to Dorothy Hyman, Robbie Brightwell, Ann Packer, David Hermery ...

Then in 2012 with all that hype and razzamatazz and stupid talk about legacies and the appalling cost of the thing,  I kind of lost some enthusiasm. OK there was Farrah and her in Santander and the heptathlon and a few cyclists come to mind but the rest of the thing is just, I don't know, not very interesting . It seemed to get lost in a fog of showbiz, Coe, Bolt and self-congratulations.

2016 is even less interesting especially as we don't have a clue who is drug free and who isn't. At least in the good old days everyone knew Tamara Press was a bloke in drag, we had a good laugh and that was it. These days it could be anyone swapping their blood or taking some super training potion and they still look (relatively) normal. The best competition will be to see which competitor is the first to get dysentery from the plumbing in the Village or if the local gangs manage to kidnap someone important.

Maybe it's this "professional athlete" that puts me off. It's now the norm isn't it? The ones I remember all had nice mundane jobs and did their training in the dark before and after work. They were one of us. Competing for the love of it. Do athletes still love the sport? Or do they see it as a job? Or do they see it as a way to fame and money? Don't get me wrong. I'm not suggesting it's easy. They train at least as hard as their predecessors but somehow their successes don't excite the same. Probably some of it is being  an ageing miserable sod but the joy just isn't there anymore no matter how much Jessica Rabbit beams at me from the csh machine.

So I will watch. But I think it will just be the odd  highlights programmes this time.

I will only watch a few highlights,

Certainly not half as interested in watching it as much as the last one ;).

Well I'll be watching as much as I can. I love the Olympics and for two weeks become an "expert" in tae kwando beach volleyball bmx canoeing shooting and other sports you only hear of every four years. I dont get put off by the track and field drugs shite because in those other sports the sacrifices made by the athletes to achieve what they achieve are phenomenal and the look on the faces of the medallists says it all. I was proud to be British in 2012 and didnt want it to end. Fantastic spirit of togetherness.

Will be watching the athletics and  boxing closely.

I will be watching the boxing, I always like to watch the top Amateurs, I much prefer it to watching the pro boxing.

Quoted from barralad

Well I'll be watching as much as I can. I love the Olympics and for two weeks become an "expert" in tae kwando beach volleyball bmx canoeing shooting and other sports you only hear of every four years. I dont get put off by the track and field drugs shite because in those other sports the sacrifices made by the athletes to achieve what they achieve are phenomenal and the look on the faces of the medallists says it all. I was proud to be British in 2012 and didnt want it to end. Fantastic spirit of togetherness.

I agree with you there. That is one plus side to the modern coverage of the games Barra. We didn't used to see those minority sports very much in the old days, apart from the show jumping because we were always good at that. It's still focussed far too much on the blue riband events and competitors for my liking these days though. I'm already sick of hearing about that bloody diver and his hang-ups. Personally, I think there should be a lot more beach volleyball. ;D

Personally I love it..can't wait. Particularly interested in the Swimming. Adam Peaty nailed on for gold Sunday in 100m Breastroke, James Guy might surprise in the 400m Free. Also tbe track cycling,road race, boxing, triathlon, athletics, rowing..even archery. I'll watch it all.

If you let the issues put you off then they win. For every cheat there's 200 whos clean and put their life into being good enough to be there.

Love the Olympics, will be watching anything and everything supporting GB. I particularly like watching sports that otherwise don't get much TV coverage. E.G. Hockey, sailing, volleyball, archery canoeing and judo to name just a few. It is the greatest sporting event ever and every 4 years all the athletes reach peak perfection and you can only marvel at the levels and standards they achieve.
Yes I want to see true athletes, it appauls me the amount of doping that goes on in the persuit of a dream gold medal but I still get a buzz when any Brit in any event medals or at least does a personal best.
Cannot wait !!!!!!!

Feeling underwhelmed by it at the moment. Can't even get bothered by the Russian ban/no ban thing.

One thing I hate is all the drooling over Usain Bolt. 100m does not impress me that much. It's all foreplay and premature ejaculation. Even 200m is much better, and 1500 can be enthralling. Heptathlon/Decathlon I do like.

Quoted from Rick12

Will be watching the athletics and  boxing closely.

I'll be watching the Beach Volleyball closely.

I love the Olympics and will watch as much as possible. Who would have thought that weight lifting could be so tension packed?

No time for the stuff involving horses though, especially the one were they prance around to music.

The Olympics bores me to tears, always has done.

Funny, really, as I like most other sports but athletics/swimming/cycling etc just don't hold any interest for me whatsoever. I suppose it is really team sports I like and, by nature, the Olympics is mostly individual events.

Like the cycling and the archery; some of the athletics is ok but other than that, i'm not fussed.

Since first posting this thread I've seen more dead fish being dragged out of the water where the sailing/rowing/openwater swimming is going to be. I've seen the photos of the unfinished stadium and heard the organisers talk about the cutback style of the ceremonies. And I've heard a bit more about the ziko virus. I've seen more about the protests of the poor in Rio over the costs of the games. I've heard how people were evicted to make way for an Olympic village none of them will be able to live in and to "clean up" the areas that will be seen by journalists and TV cameras.  Most of all I've heard about the drugs and the Russians and seen photos of impossibly fit torsos on Chinese swimmers.

More than ever I am convinced that this event is simply a money making parody of what it was meant to be. Nobody can convince me now that Rio 2016 would not have been cancelled were it not for purely commercial interests and the vested reputations of people like Coe.

This isn't the Olympics I signed up for as a kid when I was sitting cheering Anita Lonsborough or Derek Ibbotson. It's a huge con, a self-perpetuating deception that competition is fair and open, just like the Premier League tells us it's all about football.

So I will definitely be very picky about which bits I watch and to be honest I won't be too upset if I forget or miss it to watch some paint dry somewhere.

Well I've just watched fencing. I have no idea what is going on other than the competitors periodically light up like a Christmas tree and punch the air. Apparently though we have someone who is quite good and might win a medal which means I'm in!! 8)

UPDATE:- our sword chap has just beaten a yank and is now one fisticuff away from a medal....powerful stuff!!

Well one of the few sports i like, namely the cycling, is an absolute joke. The course is seriously dangerous and badly prepared, leading to some horrendous crashes in both the mens and womens road race.

I got drunk off with the constant sympathetic comments on the Beeb about that cycling lass who missed those drugs tests. FFS it's double standards after all the stuff about Russia. She missed 3 drugs tests - a member up that even Rio Ferdinand couldn't manage! She should have been banned to remove any suspicion if they're banning whole countries.

Quoted from ginnywings

Well one of the few sports i like, namely the cycling, is an absolute joke. The course is seriously dangerous and badly prepared, leading to some horrendous crashes in both the mens and womens road race.

Oh no let's ban cycling you sound like the BBC.
The danger of cycling like a lot of sports is what makes cycling great.

Will not be watching any tennis or football or golf absolute joke to be classed as an Olympic sport.

Quoted from Grim74

Oh no let's ban cycling you sound like the BBC.
The danger of cycling like a lot of sports is what makes cycling great.

Of course, you are also an authority on cycling as well as politics and finance. You're wasted on here.

Won't watch as bbc is excrement

Quoted from GrimRob

Won't watch as bbc is excrement

BBC is going downhill very fast, they sound more and more like state propaganda, the news has lot its way completely and some of the jingoistic sport coverage is nauseating

Quoted from codcheeky

BBC is going downhill very fast, they sound more and more like state propaganda, the news has lot its way completely and some of the jingoistic sport coverage is nauseating

They make the coverage very difficult to watch, switching between channels frequently to accommodate their existing schedule and having to use the red button to go to a non-HD channel is really annoying. Can't understand why Sky or BT Sport aren't allowed to show the same pictures. I can understand that not everyone can afford subscription TV but forcing everyone else to watch terrestrial channels is stupid. When events such as the FA Cup final or French Open are on terrestrial and subscription channels I'll aways choose the subscription channel because it's so much better.

Some of the presenters/analysts are awful on the Beeb.

Why they take so many I dont know...we have Mark Foster sat with Adlington basically carrying out a love affair for the country to be put through. Only needs 1, Foster is ok but Adlington is annoying. Grrat swimmer but awful on the tv. People like Andy Jameson/Moorehouse as a combo..Moorehouse talks sense but Jameson is a poor mans Ray Wilkins...'goodness me..remarkable..good gracious ' etc etc, tries to crack gags that just arent working.

Judo we have an Australian commentating??? Athletics will have about 10 hangers on...Cram/Foster great commentary and insight, but why we need Jackson/Campbell/Lewis et al on yet another freebie I dont know. And Michael Johnson..great athlete but why are the Beeb giving him work? Like the cycling..not too many and all give a great insight, Boardman/Hoy etc..and Clare Balding is excellent.

Have lost count of how many different sports I have managed to cram in so far, yes there's a lack of public support and half empty stadia but I'm delighted with the efforts and performances that the competitors put in. It means so much to them and I was just as happy seeing the silver in the trampoline and the bronze in judo than I will be if mo or Ennis can medal. Jazz carlin brilliant, this is why the Olympics are special, I fully intend to watch as much as I possibly can. I now understand fencing, cannot understand why you don't get punished for trying to drown someone at water polo, think handball has been great, captivated by a Brit playing out of his skin playing table tennis, didn't realise we had medal prospects at wind surfing and canoeing, I could go on for hours. This sporting spectacle only happen every four years and many taking part are not multi millionaire footballers etc, they are just dedicated sportsmen and women that are the very best in the world at what they do.
Will need to start saving I think as next ones in Tokyo and it would be amazing to witness this first hand.
Oh and watching a badminton match between Indonesia and China as I write this, so it doesn't just have to have gb interest to be great.
Enjoy the rest and embrace it for what it is.
GO TEAM GB !!!!!!

Team GB are the best in the world when it comes to cycling, especially in the velodrome

It's a few weeks of watching very passionate sportsmen and women show off their 4 years hard work and get a million times more emotional than them sharp objects playing against Iceland a month or two earlier!

You don't realise how lucky we are with sports coverage until you watch the same event elsewhere. I've watched the last week on Greek TV. A lot of their coverage was the live international Olympic stream which often was five minute wide shots of the entire gymnastics arena and helicopter views of the marathons with their pundits analysing what had happened without actually showing what had been going on. (I reckon this would be where normal advert breaks would be, BBC use these gaps for updates on other events or analysis).

Our football coverage in this country for example is often overly critical but it does make for better TV.

Just watched GB beat the Dutch in the women's hockey. Great game. Couldn't follow what half the 'free kicks' were for but it moves on at a fast pace. Dutch unlucky given their domination but that Maddie Hinch played a blinder in goal.

Unlike women's football, the women's game in hockey doesn't feel like it's second best.

Great scenes at the Maracana as Neymar scores the winning penalty to beat the Germans in a shoot out 5-4.

Well, it's more or less over bar the shouting. There were so good bits, some brilliant performances and great to see "amateurs" showing the useless footballers what guts and determination really means. The only thing I saw and enjoyed live and that was accidental was the last part of the women's hockey and that was really good. Most of what I watched was on catch up with a lot of fast-forwarding.

A lot of the stuff takes some swallowing. I watched one bit with some swimming and there's nothing more boring than watching races where you have no interest and you are just waiting for the one you want to see. I used to have to do that at Scartho. No I tell a lie, it's not true. At Scartho there wasn't a set of "experts" and Blue Peter presenters to bore you even further between races.

There were one or two prima donnas, notably Tom Daley who seems to believe he is a legend before his time. He could do with spending less time worrying about his public image and more time on his mental readiness as a competitor.

Judging is a pain as well. I'm sure the bloke on the pommel horse deserved his medal but for the life of me I could see very nothing between gold and silver performances. No wonder the runner up wasn't happy. These events where there is the subjective judgement on style are always dodgy to me. Many moons ago I used to be an occasional judge of junior gymnastics but only floor exercises thank goodness. It was incredibly difficult even for that age sometimes to decide on a 4.7 or a 4.8 so God knows how they did it for adults in Rio with any accuracy. The same applied to some of the boxing too didn't it? Then there was the disqualification of the 400m relay squad for some quite unfathomable reason.

Once the euphoria of the 350 or whatever Team GB medals has died down someone will perhaps look at these games, the costs, the drugs issues, the empty seats, the touting of tickets, the lottery funding allocations, the quality of the officiating ..... which have all been overshadowed by the Team GB performance and rightly so. I wouldn't denigrate any of the GB competitors who have given us such entertainment. The looks on their faces when they achieve their podium place is priceless. I doubt many at home will rush out to take up gymnastics or kayaking or 10k running even, there will be no legacy like that. But they have lifted our spirits and that's all we can ask of them.

Finished 2nd overall with more medals than we got at our home games,

Well done to all and lottery money well spent imo

Quoted from grimsby pete

Finished 2nd overall with more medals than we got at our home games,

Well done to all and lottery money well spent imo

I can see that Pete and it is well done.

But there's just this little nagging inside me that says £4m for a rowing medal could have been better spent in a hospice or somewhere.

Quoted from TheRonRaffertyFanClub

I can see that Pete and it is well done.

But there's just this little nagging inside me that says £4m for a rowing medal could have been better spent in a hospice or somewhere.

There's lots of four million pounds being spent on frivolous things in this country. Subsidising minority sports is probably one of the least of them.

Quoted from KingstonMariner

There's lots of four million pounds being spent on frivolous things in this country. Subsidising minority sports is probably one of the least of them.

For the cost of one medal the national lottery good causes fund could have paid for the new Hospice at Peaks Lane with a bit left over.

I know what you mean but it depends how you look at it. The national lottery was set up to fund good causes, but what is good, better, best?

The other thing to consider is a lot of the lottery money was given to the elite athletes and posh boy sports, nothing has come down to grass roots just look at the swimming pools that are being knocked down an often not replaced, decaying athletic stadiums,( notice we didn't do to well on the track) then there's the school fields that are being sold off and Teresa May has the cheek to call us great again.

[quote=120855]The other thing to consider is a lot of the lottery money was given to the elite athletes and posh boy sports, nothing has come down to grass roots just look at the swimming pools that are being knocked down an often not replaced, decaying athletic stadiums,( notice we didn't do to well on the track) then there's the school fields that are being sold off and Teresa May has the cheek to call us great
again.

Quick, mayday mayday. Grim has been taken over by left wing spirits...call the exorcist!!

Quoted from barralad

[quote=120855]The other thing to consider is a lot of the lottery money was given to the elite athletes and posh boy sports, nothing has come down to grass roots just look at the swimming pools that are being knocked down an often not replaced, decaying athletic stadiums,( notice we didn't do to well on the track) then there's the school fields that are being sold off and Teresa May has the cheek to call us great
again.

Quick, mayday mayday. Grim has been taken over by left wing spirits...call the exorcist!!

Yeah, made me do a double take too.