Tokyo Olympics - It's On

[jazzcyclist]

It's just that we get inured to how stupendously talented and fit these athletes are. In the m100 final, someone will come in last and **GASP** not even break 10.00, so we think, 'What a loser!'
But if Joe Sixpack were out there, running his 14.27, we could see just how amazing all these athletes are.

Okay. WHat did the picture have to do with this? Is that supposed to be COVID-19 viruses?

By the way, what would be more mind-boggling to Joe Sixpack - demonstrating to him how fast 100m in 10.00 is or demonstrating to him how fast 10K in 27:00 is by asking him to try running that pace for 100m?

[scottmitchell74]

Sort of like the subtle joy I get out of the sound of a crinkling brown paper bag, I like the sound of the uneven bars creaking.

[NotDutra5]

Do they normally having swimming finals during the morning session at the Olympics and World Championships?

Normally no but Beijing was to accommodate the American TV audience and, in particular, Michael Phelps.

[18.99s]

So true. The best at any sport are so far above average as to seem almost superhuman.

And they're mighty far above the athletes who are excellent but not world class.

Take a guy who wins local 5K road races in 16:30, beating over 1000 people each race, and put him in the women's 5000m final and watch him get double-lapped.

Or take a college woman who runs 56.0 in the flat 400m, a time good enough to land a full scholarship at many D1 schools (not the caliber of USC/Oregon/LSU/NCA&T etc.), put her in the women's 400mh final in a lane without hurdles, give her a 3-second headstart, and some of the hurdlers will still walk her down and beat her with room to spare.

[runningforpi]

Do they normally having swimming finals during the morning session at the Olympics and World Championships?

The finals were scheduled to the morning to accommodate the US live TV coverage, I believe.

[Weights&Shoes]

Do they normally having swimming finals during the morning session at the Olympics and World Championships?

[TN1965]

It's just that we get inured to how stupendously talented and fit these athletes are. In the m100 final, someone will come in last and **GASP** not even break 10.00, so we think, 'What a loser!'
But if Joe Sixpack were out there, running his 14.27, we could see just how amazing all these athletes are.

We once had a guy running a 15 sec 100m at a World Championships. His federation thought they could enter one athlete in any event, so they chose a thrower. He was then told all the field events were off limit. So he decided to run 100m. I don't remember which year it was, or which country he was from.

But in 100m, an average Joe could run half as fast as Bolt. (19.16) I don't think most average Joes could run a 4:03 marathon. And being half as good as WR would be hard in most field events.

Or think about this. How many people could finish 400m IM or 200m fly?

[scottmitchell74]

I went to SEAL Beach for summer training, having just finished my soph season in college track. We ran their Obstacle Course and I killed the other 90 middies. Then a SEAL Team showed up to train. Night and Day.

The Gunny Sergeant later asked if I wanted to go SEAL, and I was so flattered I asked what it entailed. He said, "Ya get to kill people for free." I passed (and it wasn't just my pacifist views; these guys were beasts!!!).

Seals are the Decathletes of the military. Total studs. Thankful for them. Awed by them. Amazing folk. Not that I ever remotely had what it takes, but the water stuff would be the end for me. I was a decent recreational swimmer in my youth, but what they do I think would tap into my minor-moderate claustrophobia.

[Atticus]

Then a few years ago we hired a world ranked Crossfitter. Oh, my. Very humbling. Seeing a world class athlete in person, in action, let's you know some things.

I went to SEAL Beach for summer training, having just finished my soph season in college track. We ran their Obstacle Course and I killed the other 90 middies. Then a SEAL Team showed up to train. Night and Day.

The Gunny Sergeant later asked if I wanted to go SEAL, and I was so flattered I asked what it entailed. He said, "Ya get to kill people for free." I passed (and it wasn't just my pacifist views; these guys were beasts!!!).

[gm]

I went to high school with a guy who was eventually a Canadian Olympian in badminton. He refused to play with us because it hampered his game, he said. I think he just didn't want to humiliate us. We also had a squash camp where the British #1 was the instructor. He offered to play me, but said he would not move his feet. I did not score a point.

[scottmitchell74]

So true. The best at any sport are so far above average as to seem almost superhuman.

In my profession I max out our fitness test every year. It's difficult enough that only 8 guys and one gal have done it in 10 years.

Then a few years ago we hired a world ranked Crossfitter. Oh, my. Very humbling. Seeing a world class athlete in person, in action, let's you know some things.

[Trickstat]

On a similar tack, I remember a few Olympics back (it might have been Sydney in 2000), reading a newspaper article by the British-based American writer Bill Bryson. He had spent a day moving around venues watching a number of sports but it wasn't until about the fifth one that he saw a sport he had ever tried himself. It was table tennis and he watched the number 1 ranked woman. He soon realised that he would probably only manage to return about 1 in 10 of her serves. It then dawned on him that the exponents of the other sports he had previously seen must have been of a similarly outstanding level but his unfamiliarity with their sports meant that he was unable to appreciate it.

[NotDutra5]

It's just that we get inured to how stupendously talented and fit these athletes are. In the m100 final, someone will come in last and **GASP** not even break 10.00, so we think, 'What a loser!'
But if Joe Sixpack were out there, running his 14.27, we could see just how amazing all these athletes are.

You may actually be giving Joe too much credit.

[Atticus]

And me.

It's just that we get inured to how stupendously talented and fit these athletes are. In the m100 final, someone will come in last and **GASP** not even break 10.00, so we think, 'What a loser!'
But if Joe Sixpack were out there, running his 14.27, we could see just how amazing all these athletes are.

[lonewolf]

I don't get this one DrJay. Please explain for humor-challenged folks like myself.

And me.