Poor sportsmanship at Olympics

[kimblebee]

No, I don't hate Phelps, I just know the bare minimum about him, really. I agree with everyone who says he's an amazing athlete..there's no denying that. It's my opinion though, that he's grandstanding a bit too much.

 

[Heidict]

One of the worst ones was when Gabriela Mantellato of Brazil's water polo team punched her Italian competitor a couple times a couple of days ago.

 

[JaneBanks]

She sees herself being replaced by Simone Bilas as the media darling, and all her $$$ leaving...that's why she's being so sour. She is not going down gracefully, is she?

lol That's ridiculous. They are good friends! Gabby still has her endorsements.

Sorry, I've refrained from saying it but I have to now. 4 year fans...

 

[ashley0139]

One of the worst ones was when Gabriela Mantellato of Brazil's water polo team punched her Italian competitor a couple times a couple of days ago.

I'm no water polo expert, but isn't it pretty violent? Or was this outside of a game?

 

[soccerdad72]

In all seriousness, is it fair to judge athletes' sportsmanship from a facial expression shown on TV? That's a really subjective thing.

 

[ashley0139]

lol That's ridiculous. They are good friends! Gabby still has her endorsements.

Sorry, I've refrained from saying it but I have to now. 4 year fans...

Exactly what I was thinking.

In all seriousness, is it fair to judge athletes' sportsmanship from a facial expression shown on TV? That's a really subjective thing.

Exactly.

 

[mnrose]

No, I don't hate Phelps, I just know the bare minimum about him, really. I agree with everyone who says he's an amazing athlete..there's no denying that. It's my opinion though, that he's grandstanding a bit too much.

Ya know, if I were 31 years old, competing in my 4th Olympics, and winning the same event for the 4th time, I'd be grandstanding too. LOL. In the 200 M IM, he not only won (for the 4th time), he blew the field away. I don't care who you are, that was impressive. He's entitled to grandstand, honestly. It's only obnoxious grandstanding when you shouldn't really be celebrating because you aren't "all that." He's "all that" plus a bag of chips, as the saying goes. I didm't expect to be impressed by him this time around, but I am.

 

[cabanafrau]

My favorite athlete so far in the games did not win a medal, didn't even finish her event. She's the Dutch cyclist who crashed so violently in the women's road race or whatever the official name of the event is. I absolutely am beyond grateful she did not die or suffer catastrophic injuries and she is without a doubt my top athlete of these games. Last I heard she was scheduled to be cleared to fly home today and I literally have tears in my eyes typing about the fact that she will get to go home and hug her mom, who was watching just like we were, and thought her daughter had died on the side of the road just like we did.

 

[ashley0139]

My favorite athlete so far in the games did not win a medal, didn't even finish her event. She's the Dutch cyclist who crashed so violently in the women's road race or whatever the official name of the event is. I absolutely am beyond grateful she did not die or suffer catastrophic injuries and she is without a doubt my top athlete of these games. Last I heard she was scheduled to be cleared to fly home today and I literally have tears in my eyes typing about the fact that she will get to go home and hug her mom, who was watching just like we were, and thought her daughter had died on the side of the road just like we did.

That was a horrific crash. I'm so glad she's getting to go home.

 

[mnrose]

lol That's ridiculous. They are good friends! Gabby still has her endorsements.

Sorry, I've refrained from saying it but I have to now. 4 year fans...

Eh. Maybe, but I was decidedly unimpressed when the other two team mates were giving Simone and Aly a well deserved (enthusiastic) standing ovation, and Gabby was sitting on her hands looking bored. Whatever. How much trouble could it be for her to stand and clap? Really? To me, that shows your heart. Not the words you carefully craft for public consumption after wards.

 

[Sanchez]

lol That's ridiculous. They are good friends! Gabby still has her endorsements.

Sorry, I've refrained from saying it but I have to now. 4 year fans...

You seem to know these young women on a first name basis and know intimate details about their friendship. Do you have some specific knowledge or are you relying on your regular attention to gymnastics?

 

[cabanafrau]

Ya know, if I were 31 years old, competing in my 4th Olympics, and winning the same event for the 4th time, I'd be grandstanding too. LOL. In the 200 M IM, he not only won (for the 4th time), he blew the field away. I don't care who you are, that was impressive. He's entitled to grandstand, honestly. It's only obnoxious grandstanding when you shouldn't really be celebrating because you aren't "all that." He's "all that" plus a bag of chips, as the saying goes. I didm't expect to be impressed by him this time around, but I am.

I didn't expect to be impressed either. I am very incredibly impressed about his accomplishments. For my taste it would be even more of a mic drop if he simply crushed it in the pool, smiled, waved and left it at that. Of course, a lot of the overhype has to do with the way NBC is covering it and making me feel stabby about a couple of our athletes who are tremendously impressive but overhyped to the nth degree by NBC.

What killed me was last night they showed his medal ceremony -- without ever for a second panning up to show the Stars and Stripes hoisted tall and proud! I could have lived without being able to do a detailed assessment of his pores to get a peek at the flag waving proud up there.

 

[JaneBanks]

You seem to know these young women on a first name basis and know intimate details about their friendship. Do you have some specific knowledge or are you relying on your regular attention to gymnastics?

If someone follows a sport all year long, for years, they tend to know where to read for inside info, follow the social media of the actual athletes, watch interviews, watch the actual meets, watch documentaries that are made, etc. I follow a gymnastics blogger who has connections with the girls, their parents and USAG itself.

It's really not so secret. This sport doesn't only happen every 4 years.

 

[pryncess527]

I'm amazed at how much information people can gather, with such high level of certainty, from a 5 second camera span.

 

[soccerdad72]

Of course, a lot of the overhype has to do with the way NBC is covering it and making me feel stabby about a couple of our athletes who are tremendously impressive but overhyped to the nth degree by NBC.

Very true - and it's not the athlete's fault if they're focused on so much by NBC. The same goes for their family as well.

 

[OhMari]

I get that Aly made the big come back and took 2nd. But Aly really made it all about her-while celebrating with Simone. She kept hugging Simone and had her under her arms, like she was pushing her down. I felt like poor Simone was trying to get out from under her. Aly crying with emotion after her floor routine and then she found out that she was momentarily in 1st place after her floor routine-and to her-that was all that mattered. Poor Simone went to the mat and did the hardest routine a person could do, yet she was over shawdowed by Aly. Aly wanted to celebrate that the U.S. took 1st and 2nd place with Simone, it is just my opinion, that she really took the celebration away from Simone winning the Gold for the All Around. I read on another post, that Aly knew the ropes and showed Simone what to do, like getting up on the mat and taking a few bows, and someone then called, it B.S. since Simone has been winning the All Round in the World Finals the last 3 years. Don't get me wrong, both girls did phenominal, but Aly really made it all about her.

 

[wilkeliza]

Very true - and it's not the athlete's fault if they're focused on so much by NBC. The same goes for their family as well.

Yeah I can't imagine Mama Phelps ever wanted the attention she has gotten or the buzzfeed article that felt like a backhanded complement (look at mama Phelps and her doesn't care about rules fashion) or Aly's parents want to be made into meme's because they have full body support of their daughter.

 

[Heidict]

I'm no water polo expert, but isn't it pretty violent? Or was this outside of a game?

I don't know much about the sport or it's normal to get this violent, but she got a red card for it. Not sure what that means either, but I think it's bad.
Here is the Italian water polo player, after she got punched a couple of times. I don't know how to post video.

 

[wilkeliza]

I get that Aly made the big come back and took 2nd. But Aly really made it all about her-while celebrating with Simone. She kept hugging Simone and had her under her arms, like she was pushing her down. I felt like poor Simone was trying to get out from under her. Aly crying with emotion after her floor routine and then she found out that she was momentarily in 1st place after her floor routine-and to her-that was all that mattered. Poor Simone went to the mat and did the hardest routine a person could do, yet she was over shawdowed by Aly. Aly wanted to celebrate that the U.S. took 1st and 2nd place with Simone, it is just my opinion, that she really took the celebration away from Simone winning the Gold for the All Around. I read on another post, that Aly knew the ropes and showed Simone what to do, like getting up on the mat and taking a few bows, and someone then called, it B.S. since Simone has been winning the All Round in the World Finals the last 3 years. Don't get me wrong, both girls did phenominal, but Aly really made it all about her.

Simone invited Aly onto the mat!!!!! Aly is known as Grandma to those girls and they walked to their last rotation hand in hand. It is amazing how much people want to tear these girls down. If Simone wanted to go hug anyone else she would have. Aly wasn't holding her captive or trying to push her down.

 

[ashley0139]

I get that Aly made the big come back and took 2nd. But Aly really made it all about her-while celebrating with Simone. She kept hugging Simone and had her under her arms, like she was pushing her down. I felt like poor Simone was trying to get out from under her. Aly crying with emotion after her floor routine and then she found out that she was momentarily in 1st place after her floor routine-and to her-that was all that mattered. Poor Simone went to the mat and did the hardest routine a person could do, yet she was over shawdowed by Aly. Aly wanted to celebrate that the U.S. took 1st and 2nd place with Simone, it is just my opinion, that she really took the celebration away from Simone winning the Gold for the All Around. I read on another post, that Aly knew the ropes and showed Simone what to do, like getting up on the mat and taking a few bows, and someone then called, it B.S. since Simone has been winning the All Round in the World Finals the last 3 years. Don't get me wrong, both girls did phenominal, but Aly really made it all about her.

I can't tell if this is serious or sarcasm. I'm hoping the latter.