Amazing Olympics

Dressage is a cute trick?

I've never heard it called horse dancing before this Olympics.

Ohorogu did qualify, her event not started yet.
There would seem to be many more deserving and inclusive sports other than dressage. It is only accessible to very rich people due to the cost of the horses etc. And how many countries actually enter any one?
My GD is complaining that netball is not included for example. It is a hugely popular sport in some countries. Many martial arts, such as karate, are also not included.

Thanks jess. Phew. Thought I'd missed Christine.

'Someone once said the phrase to me, you only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough. I could not begin to imagine when I saw this horse at Carls speeding down the long side with his huge powerful canter that not only would I have had the opportunity to train him and have the ride, that our friendship and bond would have grown to what it has and that we would achieve all that we have. He is simply my best friend, a horse that gives me his heart and soul every time and reduces me to tears when he does. He has always seems to known what I'm thinking when I ride and has tried so hard over the years to do his best for me and never more so than today. I'm not sure I'm going to finish this post as the tears are building up again as I type. Carl, I can't put into words how grateful I am for everything you have done, as a trainer and as my friend. You were amazing today and I am proud to have worked with you for all of these years. The Lottery, UK Sport, World Class, Team GB, British Dressage, BEF, and all the governing bodies and schemes that help us riders achieve all this, I am so grateful. It takes a huge team. Thank you to Jon Stroud Media for half of these lovely pictures below - I will treasure them. My family, Alan, Ian, Roly, Anne, Richard Waygood, Tom Hunt, the team on the yard, my management team and every single person who helps make this possible for me, thank you thank you thank you. I know you were all watching at home x

And lastly, thank you to all who follow and support me through this wall, at shows and in person and know that your support, comments and words have always encouraged me every step of the way. To every little girl or boy reading this who dreams of achieving more with their ponies and horses they love; whether that's winning a prelim test, an elementary or those working right the way through; believe you can achieve anything you set your heart on because anything is possible, as this wonder horse with the heart of gold has shown us all. This is a brilliant sport and I'm so proud to be a part of it. Thank you again to everyone. The celebrations will be going on into the night I think xx'
Charlotte talking about Valegro....From what I've heard about her she isn't rich or posh, just a girl with a huge talent who met her equine soulmate and conquered the world #youcouldn'tmakeitup

I used to think the cycling was boring but it is intriguing.

DH just said that he hadn't expected to find the cycling interesting and has been surprised.
I've never found dressage particularly watchable but Valegro was fantastic, absolutely beautiful.

It s the variety of sports that I find so fascinating. Couldn't sit through a football match but.enjoying the Olympics.

Tegan I know you love your horses. But Charlotte did come from a family wealthy enough that the children could do show jumping and she spent an inheritance from her grandmother on the horse - likely to have been £50k plus.
(I know, I'm being argumentative again. )
Medal tally impressive. Track and field less so. Uniforms fantastic. The more I see of them the more I think, all respect to Macartney's team that came up with such brilliant designs along with attention to detail - the shorts, darling! and the leggings!

What a lot of inverted snobbery in some posts.

Presumably equestrian Olympians like Charlotte should hang their heads in shame at having such an advantage over other people.
I read that she was from a fairly ordinary background, that her mother was enterprising enough to fund her riding by dealing in ponies and horses. Lots of devoted mothers work and sacrifice a lot to support their children's hobbies, be it dancing, gymnastics, riding, athletics, tennis etc.
And if Granny owned her own home which she left to her family, then £50,000 is not an outlandish sum to inherit if the house was in the Home Counties, where house prices rose so much over the years.

Why take such a wonderful achievement away from her by being snippy about her probably middleclass but not wealthy background?

I'm not sure Charlotte's inheritance needed to be as high as £50000. She used it to buy her own horse, Fernandez, whose value is a lot less than Valegro, who she does not own.

I can testify that horse ownership has changed a lot since I was a girl. It is no longer just for the wealthy, and lots of people are competing on home produced ponies and horses and riding clubs are encouraging competition at all levels. I think Charlotte proves that with talent, it is possible to go far even if you are from quite a modest background. Of course it helps to have money behind you but sometimes those who have to fight a bit harder go further than those who have had things come easily to them.

Not getting at her personally - but there is no way that dressage, or show jumping, are sports accessible to a wide range of people in a wide range of countries.
The Olympics has grown and grown, with more and more new sports added. This means that it is now hugely expensive to stage. I'd vote for a big review with a more egalitarian vision. Which sports would other GN members get rid of, and why?

Football - get enough all year round.

I think any sport that has a huge profile elsewhere - football, tennis etc.

That would be my rule of thumb too, Jamila.

I sort of agree about the sports that are primarily professional like Football, tennis, golf etc. However there are many countries where those sports are not professional.

On second thoughts, surely someone like Usain Bolt is just as professional as any footballer.

One of the last events to look forward to is the 800m women's final. There is still controversy about Caster Semenya. The S Africans are obviously sorry about the way she has been treated and are now supporting her. But it is controversial area of sports ethics regarding women with naturally high testosterone. But should it be?

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caster_Semenya

Ooh..this is so tricky. I haven't read the whole link, but I remember Semenya from London.

As far as I know, there's no proof that she's at an unfair advantage due to her physical characteristics. I'm not even sure if it's been proved she HAS a condition which gives her increased testosterone.

So she's been passed to run and may well win. As long as she proves to be drugs-free, which she has so far, there's nothing to stop her running.

jess I don't think the South Africans have ever largely been anything other but behind Caster? South Africans love nothing better than a sporting hero.

The current record holder of that race is Jamila Kratochvilova ... (see photo).

granny who can forget Kratochvilova!

I'm not sure if it was the IOC or SA that had it in for Caster. Probably no procedures to deal with her..um...rather masculine appearance. So it was a case of "you look like a bloke, you run like a bloke, ergo you ARE a bloke".

Colin Jackson suggested that she's thrown races in the past because she's embarrassed to win them.

This is not a doping issue. Back in the day the eastern european women were doped up with androgenic steroids etc under orders, for the glorification of the Revolution.
Many think the S Africans should have stuck up for her and not caved in and submitted an 18 year old to a "gender test". There were no rules about gender testing if I understand correctly. She was not well protected by her country at all IMO.

I think I remember reading that Caster has intersex condition ( there are other female athletes also ) that is they have female external sex organs, but often have testes internally, and have XY chromosomes. So they will have been brought up female, but can't get pregnant and have higher testosterone levels than XX females. They used to have gender tests based on chromosomes in the past, but this was deemed unfair as women who had been brought up and thought of themselves as female were being told they were male. It's a bit of a mine field ,should those with intersex condition , who think of themselves as female be denied the sporting opportunities of others? Some say they should only be allowed to compete if they have testosterone suppressing drugs, but that's a whole other debate.

Congratulations to the Brownlee brothers Gold and Silver in the triathlon. Fantastic.

This is interesting:
March 23: The birthday of Olympic champions
Sir Steve Redgrave, Sir Chris Hoy, Jason Kenny and Mo Farah were all born on this day
It is also the birth date of Sir Roger Bannister

sport.bt.com/olympics/march-23-the-birthday-of-olympic-champions-S11364080213268

suzied thanks for that info on Caster. I suppose the issue is whether having a high level of testosterone gives women an unfair advantage over other women in the same race. I've never heard of a sportswoman with this condition before.

If Caster wins the 800m, no doubt there will be those who will claim she win with an unfair advantage.