Skip to content

Upsets are the order of the day for the US Olympic team

Published on 65 Comments on Upsets are the order of the day for the US Olympic team

I see that the implosion of the American Olympic team continues. Donovan Brazier. Katie Ledecky. The men's basketball team. Nyjah Huston. Simone Biles. The women's soccer team. Naomi Osaka.¹ Alexis Sablone. Who's next?

On the other hand, at least we didn't lose track of the competition completely, as the Dutch women's road racing team did. Being upset is one thing. It happens. But crossing the finishing line and throwing up your hands because you didn't know the actual winner had finished more than a minute earlier? That's an embarrassment that will live forever.

¹Yes, yes, I know that she's "Japanese."

65 thoughts on “Upsets are the order of the day for the US Olympic team”

    2. Atticus

      That is crazy. I haven't heard all the details. They said she had some kind of injury. Then I got an alert saying Biles said she "wasn't in the right headspace to compete". I want to know more about that. If she truly has an injury it makes sense to withdraw. But I hope this wasn't just some psychological thing. This was the team even so all her teammates were depending on her. If it was an individual event, fine, withdraw. But for the team event, she needs to suck it up and compete and not let her team down. (Unless doing so could risk long term physical injury.)

      1. Ken Rhodes

        Needs to suck it up? That's the attitude of a typical macho-man spectator. Unfortunately, it's also the attitude of a lot of athletes who don't realize the damage they might do to their own team when they insist "Come on Coach, I'll be fine, gimme the ball."

        1. Atticus

          She's the best gymnast in the world. The US team is much better with her even if she doesn't have her A game then they are without her.

          1. Atticus

            And, like I said, I don't have all the details. If she's really hurt and unable to compete, of course I wouldn't hold anything against her. My comments were in regards to he statement that she "wasn't in the right headspace to compete". That implies it's more of a mental issue.

          2. Ken Rhodes

            Apparently you assume that a great athlete, when they don't have their A game, will bring their B+ game.

            It seems uou failed to notice that some of the greatest athletes, when they are distracted by personal problems, show up with their D- game.

          3. kahner

            she's the best gymnast in the world. so maybe she knows what the fuck she's doing and you have no idea what the hell you're talking about.

        2. rick_jones

          Does someone get to come take her place at this point? Or is the team now down one for the rest of the games?

        3. rick_jones

          Who then didn’t make the cut and had to stay home? That is to say who would have had the opportunity to compete in the games had Biles not gone and withdrawn?

      3. iamr4man

        >> (Unless doing so could risk long term physical injury.)<<
        The stuff she does is risking long term injury if she is not completely focused. Only she can judge that.

    3. Yikes

      With respect to Biles and Osaka its hard to say.

      I am not sure about gymnastics, but in tennis, for sure, I spent much of my national junior career, alot of my Division 1 college career, and some of my minor league pro career in the wrong headspace to play.

      The main difference between me and Biles and Osaka was that not playing was not an option, mostly for non-braggable reasons such as not being able to afford travel costs to get all the way to a tournament only to not play, or because it would be embarrasing to my doubles partner or college teammates to do not play.

      Obviously, no one wants anyone to be burnt out or have anxiety problems. The difference is that Biles and Osaka have the financial ability to pull out of events that other athletes down the food chain simply do not have.

      In Osaka's case, for example, she played some matches after the French Open. I can say with some authority that the stress of actually playing a match is a hundred times more stessfull than the anxiety of a press conference. So in her case I don't really think its a form of generalized anxiety, I would speculate that its doing what all players do -- maximize their ability to take care of themselves, in this case, by skipping, or planning to skip, press conferences.

      Biles, who knows? She might be carrying a slight injury and doesn't want to let opponents know. But lack of headspace for someone with her ability to concentrate seems, well, odd.

  3. rick_jones

    ¹Yes, yes, I know that she's "Japanese."

    Indeed, and given she has chosen to identify as Japanese:

    Osaka elected for Japanese citizenship over American in 2019, with an eye on the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.

    We must accept that, and, presumably she whatever the additional implications might be. Though with the money she likely makes at present she can probably afford enough professionals to find ways to avoid the least pleasant bits.

    1. Ken Rhodes

      She was born in Japan to a Japanese mother. And BTW, her father wasn't an American either.

      If she weren't famous, nobody would think anything untoward about that. Do Americans think we are somehow "entitled" to claim her?

      1. Special Newb

        No. Only Drum is being stupid here. It's like how Hikaru Utada was born in New York to Japanese parents and grew up there but is of Japanese nationality and a successful pop star.

      3. limitholdemblog

        +1

        She's not only Japanese, she's OBVIOUSLY Japanese. She was born a Japanese citizen, to a Japanese parent, elected to keep her Japanese citizenship and compete for the Japanese Olympic team, has ALWAYS ID'd as Japanese in both professional tennis and the Olympics, lit the torch in Tokyo, etc.

        She happens to be an American media celebrity because she plays in a sport that is more popular here than in Japan. And she takes advantage of that media celebrity to play a role in American culture. But saying that she's American and not Japanese is like saying Giannis Antetokounmpo is American and not Greek.

      4. rick_jones

        Further searching suggests she held dual citizenship until 2019 when Japanese laws about picking one by a certain age kicked-in and she chose to relinquish her US citizenship.

  4. haddockbranzini

    I suspect because The Real President is still suffering in exile. Once He is restored the our Very Best Athalets will win the gold medals. Gold is he best medal, a lot of people don't know that.

  5. realrobmac

    For some reason Facebook has started pushing right-wing memes at me. Yesterday there were several that were gloating about the US teams losing because they are too worried about BLM and protesting the flag and don't really love America, so that's why they lost.

      1. MontyTheClipArtMongoose

        Not Zionism -- men's rights activism.

        Zuck & Snowden are a bigger blight on Willenial Virginia than Seung-Hui Cho.

        1. HokieAnnie

          Ouch!!!!! That name strikes sadness in the hearts of Hokie Nation everywhere.

          But yeah there's more than a whiff of men's rights activism in Facebook.

          1. MontyTheClipArtMongoose

            Cho only killed 28.

            Zucker's facebook propagandizing for El Jefe & Snowden's strategic leaks of intelligence that would play comparable to "her emails" led to the 2016 result & untold death from COVID.

    2. Atticus

      That's not why they lost. (Obviously.) But I'm not saddened by the fact that the women's soccer team lost. I think it's a disgrace that they are there to represent their country and then (at least some players) bad mouth and and the team shows disrespect by kneeling for the national anthem. They're there representing the United States.

  7. golack

    Just post the video of the watch party from Alaska.
    Yeah, the kids know they were being watched, but still...

    as for the hype....you can only be disappointed.

          2. Joel

            @Atticus,

            Please post a link to the members of the women's soccer team saying they are ashamed of representing the US. Take all the time you need.

        3. Jasper_in_Boston

          True Americans support the right of their compatriots to protest, and to dissent. Why are you such a shitty American?

          1. Atticus

            Why don't you take a poll and see how many people think Olympic athletes should protest or speak poorly of the USA while representing the USA at the Olympics.

  9. Chris Fabri

    Kevin you have this wrong on the cyclists. This was the organizers' fault.

    Unlike any other top level cycling competition, the riders were not allowed to use radios, which at every other event they can communicate with their team. The Olympics say this makes it more exciting, but it's the exception, as well as having much smaller teams compared to what these cyclists normally experience.

    Also, there are officals' motorbikes and cars on the course, and at every other race at this level, those officials provide details on the breaks, how far ahead the riders are. This was not done here. It wasn't just the Dutch team that didn't know. Competitors were congratulating Van Vleuten on the gold.

    This was a failure of organization, or at least a failure of communication to tell the competitors what level of in race information would be provided, compared to what these riders are given at any other race at this level.

    And considering the general organization of these games so far, none of this is a surprise.

    1. OBA70

      The US women’s soccer team (USWNT) actually moved on to the olympic quarter finals today after a 0-0 draw with Australia.

      (With that draw and their 6-1 win over NZ three days ago they had enough points to advance despite losing the first game to Sweden).

      Also, If one actually listens to USWNT’s members talk about what it means to them to play in the olympics it is clear that they are all proud to represent their country.

      Kneeling during the national anthem doesn’t change or negate that- it indicates (for the players who choose to kneel) an acknowledgement of BLM and a desire to change the status quo of unacceptably high cases (historically and currently) of police brutality disproportionately against people of color across the country.

      Expressing a desire for your county to do and be better is one of the highest forms of patriotism.

      1. Ken Rhodes

        You betcha!

        Tommie Smith and John Carlos were urged by Harry Edwards to boycott the 1968 Olympics. They did the opposite--they went, they represented the U.S. with great success, and they made their point that they felt the U.S. needed to be better.

        At the time, they were pilloried by many in sports and in the media. Years later, they were honored for their principled stance.

          1. Ken Rhodes

            Atticus, you are certainly entitled to march to the beat of your own drummer.

            Nevertheless, the rest of us know that the times have changed, and so have our ideals. For a few of the many examples:

            In 1995, Tommie Smith helped coach the US team at the World Indoor Championships at Barcelona. In 1999 he was awarded the California Black Sportsman of the Millennium Award.

            Smith and Carlos received an Arthur Ashe Courage Award at the 2008 ESPY Awards honoring their action.

            In a 2011 speech to the University of Guelph, Akaash Maharaj, a member of the Canadian Olympic Committee and head of Canada's Olympic equestrian team, said, "In that moment, Tommie Smith, Peter Norman, and John Carlos became the living embodiments of Olympic idealism. Ever since, they have been inspirations to generations of athletes like myself, who can only aspire to their example of putting principle before personal interest. It was their misfortune to be far greater human beings than the leaders of the IOC of the day."

            In 2005, San Jose State University honored former students Smith and Carlos with a 22-foot high statue of their protest titled Victory Salute, created by artist Rigo 23. A student, Erik Grotz, initiated the project; "One of my professors was talking about unsung heroes and he mentioned Tommie Smith and John Carlos. He said these men had done a courageous thing to advance civil rights, and, yet, they had never been honored by their own school."

      2. KawSunflower

        As one of my flawed heroes* said:

        "My country, right or wrong; if right, to be kept right; and if wrong, to be set right."

        We need more citizens who acknowledge this now; the "love it or leave it" jingoism isn't patriotism.

        *Carl Schurz, a refugee from the failed revolution of 1848 in Europe.

  11. D_Ohrk_E1

    The Olympics are a platform for corporations and autocratic regimes to fool people into accepting false narratives, even as they work to destroy the world (even if unintended) while fueling nationalism at the expense of others around the world.

    The unseemly nature of securing a bid comes down to how much a city/state/country is willing to pay for new facilities and infrastructure and inducements made directly to the IOC's voting members. Lots of people and communities recognize this shakedown, blocking their regional authorities from participating. This has all but ensured that the most corrupt countries are always the top bidders.

    So, with great emphasis, I say, FTO.

    1. KawSunflower

      Protests by athletes have never been an issue for me.

      But the brazen corruption of those in charge of the IOC stunned me when I bought this book years ago; while I realize that much more has been written about the fascist leanings, racism, & corruption of those controlling & profiting from the games, that was enough to disillusion me & wish for an event worthy of the aspirations & training of the athletes who participate.

      It's a shame that the expenditures of cities competing for the games is a financial burden with little payoff.

      Dishonored Games: Corruption, Money, and Greed at the Olympics, by Vyv Simson

      1. D_Ohrk_E1

        There is also this briefer summary from NYT: https://bityl.co/83kJ

        In short, the Olympics are built on excess, tangled in geopolitics, rife with corruption and cheating. Each Olympic cycle raises uncomfortable questions about sustainability, environmental damage and human rights.

        The Games are presented as apolitical, but that is both impossible and untrue. The honor of holding them has faded; the Olympics strain to attract host cities, which are often left staggering in the aftermath. Climate change is shrinking the map for viable locations, especially for the Winter Games.

  12. gdanning

    Re Biles, an NYT article published on Saturday said: "In a telephone interview about a week before leaving for the Tokyo Games, she was asked to name the happiest moment of her career. 'Honestly, probably my time off,' she said."

    Obviously, she was burnt out even before the games started.

        1. iamr4man

          >>A long and miserable winter just got longer and colder for those of us in softball hoping to see the sport thrive in the Olympic Games as the organizing committee of the 2024 Paris Olympics announced they would not recommend baseball/softball (looked upon as one sport by the International Olympic Committee) and karate be added.

          Instead, the sports the committee voted to support includes sport climbing, skateboarding and surfing—which like baseball and softball will be in the 2020 Tokyo Games—and… wait for it… breakdancing.<<
          https://extrainningsoftball.com/stunning-news-olympics-says-no-to-softball-in-2024-paris-games/

        2. Brett

          Baseball and Softball were dropped years ago because few countries play them. In fact they only appeared in 4 olympics. They were added to this olympics at the request of Japan along with Karate. The host country often gets to influence addition of a few sports they excel in.

Comments are closed.