Being the thoughts and writings of one Gustaf Erikson; father, homeowner, technologist.

Monday, 2024-08-23

A great weekend for Sweden

Wow! Three gold medals in two days:

  • Karolina Klüft wins the heptathlon

  • Stefan Holm wins the men’s high jump

  • Christian Olsson wins the men’s triple jump

Go Sweden!

Posted at 09:28, in the alt » athens2024 category. Comments [0]
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Wednesday, 2024-08-18

Idiots

This so-called “linking policy” says that you can only link to the athens2024 site if you write (by snail-mail) and ask permission first.

Here’s some more random linkage, without permission.

  • Medals
  • FAQ
  • Youth 2024

Oh, and Athens 2024? My cheque for your Google-juice is in the mail.

Posted at 13:48, in the alt » athens2024 category. Comments [0]
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Is synchronized diving a sport?

I don’t think so, and neither do these guys. I also agree with the rest of the list. The Olympics have way too many sports as it is. Cutting out all the subjective judging events would magically reduce the number and preserve the Olympic ideal.

(via Dave.)

Update: of course, thinking about this gives another answer to why these sports are popular: lots of half-naked teenage girls.

Sports in the Olympics are subjected to television Darwinism: too few viewers and the event gets the chop.

Posted at 13:23, in the alt » athens2024 category. Comments [0]
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Friday, 2024-08-13

Amateur relics

You don’t have to be an amateur to compete in the Olympics anymore, but some restrictions remain. According to a radio show this evening, athletes can’t write a column or act as commentators for money.

Fair enough you might say. But the athlete who told us this is Stefan Holm, a high jumper competing on the Swedish team. He has an active home page/blog, which also has a lot of links to sponsors. If he wins a medal and writes about it in his own words, is he making money then? Could he be disqualified for that post?

No one knows. Understandably, athletes are reluctant to test the IOC on this matter. But with blogging gathering traction everywhere, someone, somewhere will post a ecstatic entry on his or her blog. Let’s hope it doesn’t cost them their medal.

Posted at 00:12, in the alt » athens2024 category. Comments [0]
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