were only 6 weeks out, so thought i would start a thread of the big event!
official site>
http://www.athens2004.com/athens2004/

Australia has a few medal chances, jana Pittman should win 400m!
also in the pool we should clean up.
We have female record holder Libby Lenton in 50/100m. surley she will get gold?
Grant Hacket will wipe everyone in 1500m!

Thorpes already proving a champion from a meet in US!!


FRIDAY JUNE 25, 2004

Thorpedo shines at Long Beach
Sportal

http://www.sportal.com.au/photos/news/052200news.jpg

Ian Thorpe has set the best 200m freestyle time in an American pool in taking his second gold at the Janet Evans Invitational meet at Long Beach.

Thorpe clocked one minute 45.63 second to cruise to a four-second success and eclipse Michael Phelps' record for the fastest 200m time ever in the US.

"Considering where we are and how far I am from Athens now, I'm really pleased with it and looking like I'm taking the right steps," Thorpe told AAP. "It was good performance from me, but it wasn't a surprise."

South Africa's Ryk Neethling finished a distant second (1:49.66), while Australians Andrew Mewing and Todd Pearson finished fifth and sixth respectively.



Coach Tracey Menzies was delighted with Thorpe's time in the outdoor pool.

"He actually swam faster than what I expected," Menzies said. "It's always good when things come out as a surprise."

Thorpe had captured the 400m event 24 hours earlier and while now compete in the 400m medley relay where he will swim the backstroke leg.

"Why backstroke? Because we don't have another backstroke swimmer and they wanted me to do another race tomorrow," Thorpe said..

In other results, Australia's Jim Piper won the 200m breaststroke (2:13.43) with Justin Norris fifth (2:16.99), Petria Thomas finished second in the 200m freestyle (1:59.80) while Linda Mackenzie was sixth (2:01.38) and the Australian team, made up of Craig Stevens, Nicholas Sprenger, Antony Matkovich and Andrew Mewing, won the 800m freestyle relay in 7:26.71.

The Olympics are a farce. It's all about who can take drugs and get away with it to win a medal.

The Olympics are a farce. It's all about who can take drugs and get away with it to win a medal.
its getting increasingly harder though. some of the worlds fastest men have recently been caught and banned! look what happened to the Aussie cyclist!

fuck 6 weeks!!! how bloody fast has the last 4 years gone since sydney!!! don't really care to much this year as it was much better being in aus

Good idea to start this thread. This will set some of the Greeks straight after all the #@$% they said about Australia.

fuck 6 weeks!!! how bloody fast has the last 4 years gone since sydney!!! don't really care to much this year as it was much better being in aus

My interest has waned a bit since, but the torch relay which recently came to Sydney rejuvenated it

Did you know were sending the biggest ever team out of Australia to compete with a team of 478 athletes. I'm expecting the medal count to be around 45-50 medals, which should make them one of the most successful teams to compete out of OZ as well.

One Month to go :cool: :cucumber:

There are reports in the British press that a large number of workers have been killed building the stadiums and facilities for the Olympics.

In Sydney there was 1 fatality, Barcelone 2, but in Athens it is meant to be over 50, with "one death every couple of days".

BBC
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/3920919.stm

Right. Seeing how i've been keeping an eye on the BBC Olympic coverage, I found these facts a little hard to believe since all of their other facts have been, well, wrong.

Fabian, step outsie the square man. The Olympics are a great event no matter where they are held.

Was watching this Greek news program on Foxtel last night, and they had this vision of an opening ceremony being held under lights. At first glance I thought they were showing highlights of the Sydney Opening Ceremony. It soon became obvious they were showing glimpses of what the Athens Openeing Ceremony will look like. Suffice to say, from what I saw, its gonna be awesome. They showed this digitally enhanced vision of what appears to be a flying object, almost like a meteorite, flying into the stadium from the sky...I think it might be the method they choose to light the cauldron.

Like I said, it looked very Sydneyish. Hopefully its not another Sydney style ceremony re-visited, coz that will just cause people to say 'copy cats'. But from the little vision I saw, it will be amazing.

Being an Australian Greek, and a fan of the Olympics in general, I'm very excited about Athens, even if some people on this forum aren't. The Greeks in Greece cop alot of shit for being laid back, but this year will prove to be a big year for Greece.

1) Euro2004
2) Summer Olympics.

In fact, a huge year.

@ Christos7, ti egine re megale? Where you at man?

Woop-de-do Basil. At least there's a 17 day Simpsons marathon on foxtel like when the Olympics were on in Sydney.

Oh wow man, like who hasnt seen the simpsons like fucken 2000 times of each episode already.

our oz team jetted out yesterday!
go team! make us proud and bring back heaps of medals!

will all of the venues and infrastructure be finished in time ? I hope not because then I can go back on the international forum and stick it up one or two those dumb greek forumer bastards. ;)

^ poor attitude.

Not just a poor attitude, but a true dickhead.


And yes, all venues are finished. All infrastructure has been delivered. Only thing they are working on is landscaping around the venues.


Get educated smartass.

One disappointing thing is that only the opening and closing ceremony is in widescreen digital HD. The rest is in analogue :(. Bugger me why.

CNN/Sports Illustrated have their traditional "medal picks" for Gold,Silver and Bronze for every single Olympic event.

Even with US bias,they have predicted 19 Gold Medals for Australia.

Its fun reading!

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2004/olympics/medal.picks/

Yeah that would be great but 12 or a bit more is probably more realistic. Who know's :)

why no earth is the opening/closing ceremony in digital HD and the rest not :S surely it would be the same equipment throughout. That's bloody annoying.

mike

from telegraph>

When the Athens Olympics kick off next week, Sydneysiders will once again be able to watch our sporting heroes compete for glory at the City of Sydney’s Martin Place Live site.

Martin Place Live will operate from August 14 - 29, with a screen positioned between Pitt St and Castlereagh St. A Channel 7 feed will screen live events and highlights from 7am - 8pm daily, and later into the evening when key events are scheduled.

CNN/Sports Illustrated have their traditional "medal picks" for Gold,Silver and Bronze for every single Olympic event.

Even with US bias,they have predicted 19 Gold Medals for Australia.

Its fun reading!

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2004/olympics/medal.picks/

Interesting, they've got the Aussie women winning all 3 of the women's relays. Good to see women's swimming earning a bit of respect - it's been in the wilderness of late.

you can take one gold off the list coz Jana Pitman did her knee today. A bit of damage but noone knows how major at this stage, either way its going to majorly stuff up her preparation.

poor jana! talk about bad luck! she still has 2 weeks before her event but she still wont be %100. damn she was sure of a medal!

Janas back! the knee injury was just a slight tear so she will be back onm track in 12 days. who knows if it will slow her down? when something like this happens and being told your dream is over and then a big turnaround and told that your in, this will only spur her on even more! go jana!! :runaway:

What a friggin drama queen she is, she should be on the stage - the next out of town. I mean just get on with it darling if I see another story on Pittman I will vomit.

hey and its still a week away! lol
she should get a job on home & away!

What a friggin drama queen she is, she should be on the stage - the next out of town. I mean just get on with it darling if I see another story on Pittman I will vomit.

I agree.
Just for everyone's information, even if she didn't have the injury, she wasn't a guaranteed gold medalist.

Isnt her best meant to come for Beijing anyway.

I walked past a newpaper stand with the heading in big black letters "JANA IN FOR EMERGENCY SURGERY" (or something very similar) and I, rather distressed, thought to myself "OH, NO! NOT JANA WENDT!!!!"

http://www.museum.tv/archives/etv/W/htmlW/wendtjana/wendtjanaIMAGE/wendtjana.jpg

Jana is among the world top 3 - 400m hurdlers atm! so a medal is what she should come away with. it depends on the day of the final if it will be gold. hopefully this injury wont dampen he chances.
She said last night she stiil has 10 more years or 2 more olympics in her so best is yet to come. she is only 21

aslo in todays paper they mention the RACE OF THE CENTURY! which will be the 200m mens freestyle. the race will have Thorpie, hacket, peter hoogen vand and phelps. cant wait for that one.
I reckon Thorpie will stay with the top 4 for 170m of the race and last 30 m pull away and win! he is that powerful!
also the 400m he should win from hacky.
cant see him winning 100m. maybe a medal

I walked past a newpaper stand with the heading in big black letters "JANA IN FOR EMERGENCY SURGERY" (or something very similar) and I, rather distressed, thought to myself "OH, NO! NOT JANA WENDT!!!!"

http://www.museum.tv/archives/etv/W/htmlW/wendtjana/wendtjanaIMAGE/wendtjana.jpg

hehe id love to see jana wendt in a body suit leaping over the hurdles, now that would be a sight :cheers:

Jana Pitman - I felt like actually giving her something to cry about. Between this, Ian NOTGAYNOTGAY Thorpe and the Australian Cycling team I've never seen such a bunch of petulant whiny losers - these idiots need to get their act together.

I don't think it's actually the athletes that are drama queens, It's the bloody media.

lets reminisce back to 2000 games.
Athens will also have great memories like these>


im pretty sure Sydney's stadium was largest Olympic stadium ever with cap for 110,000?

http://www.sportsci.com/topics2/Olympics-2000/index.1.JPG

http://www.sportsci.com/topics2/Olympics-2000/P9150026.JPG

http://www.sportsci.com/topics2/Olympics-2000/P9150035.JPG

http://www.sportsci.com/topics2/Olympics-2000/P9210014.JPG

http://www.news.com.au/common/imagedata/0,3600,369076,00.jpg

Sails set for flag honour
By Wayne Smith
August 12, 2004

TWENTY-ONE years after being acclaimed for his part in one of the greatest team victories in Australian sport, sailor Colin Beashel was last night awarded one of the greatest individual honours sport has to offer.


All smiles ... Beashel follows in the footsteps of Andrew Gaze, who carried the flag in Sydney.


The 44-year-old, who has represented Australia at the Olympics six times, will carry the flag in the Opening Ceremony of the Athens Olympics.

In 1983, Beashel was a key member of the Australia II crew that broke the longest winning streak in world sporting history when they defeated Dennis Conner's Liberty off Newport, Rhode Island, to win the America's Cup.

Afterwards, Australia II skipper John Bertrand described his then 23-year-old lieutenant as "the greatest natural sailor" he had ever seen.

Until last night, that had been Beashel's greatest claim to fame.

A member of every Australian Olympic team since 1984, Beashel teamed with his current crewmember David Giles to win the bronze in Atlanta.

"Without a doubt, the Olympics is greater than the America's Cup," Beashel said.

"Besides, the America's Cup was a long time ago. But what the America's Cup experience did give me was a level of professionalism to carry on at this level. Remember, there were 11 people on board Australia II. In the Star class, there's only David and me."

Despite the years they have sailed together - or perhaps because of it - the two sometimes forget to communicate on board.

"You think you know what the other person's thinking and 90 per cent of the time you're right, but 10 per cent of the time something is left unsaid. But it's been a good journey for us."

Beashel would describe himself as only "moderately confident" of winning a medal here, estimating that of the 17 rivals in his class, 10 other crews were legitimate medal contenders.

The self-employed boat builder and his yachting teammates have felt a little outside the Athens Olympic loop because they are housed at a sub-centre well away from the main Olympic Village.

Yet with his announcement as flagbearer at the Australian team reception last night - at which Delta Goodrem sang the national anthem -- Beashel has been brought into the loop as never before, and for the last time.

Asked whether he would shoot for a seventh Olympics in Beijing in 2008, Beashel replied: "I don't think so."

well its here guys! whos gonna stay up and watch opening ceromny? lol
since Ahens is 8hrs behind that means most fonas come on at 7-7;30pm athens time which is 3-3;30am oz time so its right in middle of night. too long to wait up for and too early too wake up for. damn. either set alarm for a certain final you want to watch or just wait for reply next day.

It's on at great times for someone living in London.

I'm not really that bothered about the opening ceremonies, I just want to see Aussies doing well in the games.

Being over here, I will have to watch a UK biased TV view of the game, it's only natural for them to focus on Brit athlete's, but if someone could maybe make an Aussie medals thread that would be good.

Cul, do you think that should be in this thread, or should we start a seperate one for just talking about Aussie medals won?

good idea. yeah we should have a sep one for medals ect.

3:30am :(

the next games are going to be a purla timezone-wise for us anyhow ;)

LOL @ Tayser's Location! I'll make the effort - I have a 9 month old boy - so the likelyhood is that I could be up anyhow! :D

not to bad on the westsidebestside @ 1.30am considering its the weekend im sure heaps of people will tune in if they arn't having such a big nite on the town.....

3 and a bit to go!

Im definitely staying up for it and heaps of my friends are...

will be interesting to see the ratings... do they even have ratings at 3am in the morning though? lol

This replay they are playing of Sydney's Opening Ceremony is pretty boring, considering I was there. I remembered it to be more exciting live, than watching it on tv....I should have stayed at the club...could be bouncin' on hunnybar with those hotties from melb....

4 hours sleep before, and now 2 afterwards: I'm rooted. lol.

phenominal ceremony.

Barcelona's still the best cauldron lighting IMO!

http://www.theage.com.au/olympics/articles/2004/08/14/1092340507069.html

No Greek tragedy, just sheer triumph
By John Huxley in Athens
August 14, 2004 - 6:59AM

http://www.theage.com.au/ffximage/2004/08/14/430-flame.jpg

Fireworks light up the Olympic Stadium. Photo: Andrew Gorrie

A boy sailed on a paper boat across a vast, looking-glass lake. A crimson half-man, half-horse centaur launched a pyrotechnic javelin through the balmy night-sky. A woman was visited by blue love god. And a small squadron of torch-bearers orbited the globe.

This was a ceremony made in heaven: a spectacular, all-singing, all-dancing, all-sailing and, most memorably, all-flying celebration - not just of the homecoming of the Olympic Games, but of the human race itself.

Four years after the world was wowed by a Sydney Opening Ceremony that sparkled with special effects, Athens organisers produced a show that combined new technological sophistication with an easy elegance, theatricality and style entirely becoming a Games returning to both its ancient and modern birthplace.

What's more, fears that this curtain-raiser might prove too classical, too austere, too lacking in exuberance for a world looking to the first Games in the Age of Terrorism for amusement, entertainment, distraction, were dispelled even before the show began.

With the 75,000 crowd still filing in, a gang of construction workers wearing blue overalls and hardhats entered the stadium. Oh, not another problem - perhaps a leak in the giant inland lake that had been created in the stadium.

Slowly, one of the workman - later revealed as popular French-Greek television star Nikos Aliagas - took out a hammer and, to an explosion of laughter, hammered in a nail. Finally, the magnificent, much-delayed Olympic stadium was finished.

Athens had defied the critics who said it would not be ready to rumble by Friday, August 13. A construction site had been transformed into a cathedral of sport.

It was just the sort of gag needed to kick-start a crowd still in shock from reports that its hometown hero, Olympic 200m champion Kostas Kenteris, and training partner Katerina Thanou, a 100m silver medallist, would be banned from competing in the Games after dodging drug tests.

There was also speculation that Kenteris - the Greek equivalent of Cathy Freeman - had originally been chosen to light the OIympic cauldron. If that is true one can imagine panicky organisers ringing round former Olympians. "Mate, what, are you doing on Friday night?"

Wherever Kenteris was last night, he missed one hell of a show, one heck of a party.

OK, the parade of the athletes took an age. It always does. Surely, though, no-one present would have denied them their place in such a brilliant spotlight, before such an excited audience. Medals are available to only a few athletes, memories to all.

But from the thumping, heartbeat start through the 400m-long cavalcade of Greek culture, the unravelling of the world map and the spiralling of DNA molecules, the three-and-a-half hour show flew by.

Literally, in many places. Look, up in the sky, the spectators marvelled. It's a bird. It's a plane... no, it's Eros, the winged god of love, who flew hither and thither gathering strands of a nation's story... and the ice-maiden Bjork, and an olive tree, and a giant statue that flew into pieces, as well as a message from outer space.

And, of course, the ubiquitous Big Brother, the all-seeing, high-resolution observation blimp that has been flown in to keep an eye out for troublemakers.)

To rearrange the Olympic motto, this was showtime swifter, stronger - 9000 volunteers and a technical crew of numbering over 500, including more than 30 Australians - and certainly higher.

But as Andrew Walsh, the show's Australian executive producer, explained, "It wasn't gee-whizzery for its own sake. It was gee-whizzery hidden away, being used solely to tell a tale." It showcased more than three millennia of Greek history and mythology.

It was told on the land and in the water. It was painted in the kaleidoscopic colours that raced round the stadium. It was written in the fire, that seemed to rise - really clever stuff, this - from the water in the form of the Olympic rings.

And it was reflected in the beaming faces of the hosts, who enthusiastically flashed their torches, tinkled their bells, cheered their heroes ancient and modern and tried the Mexican Wave (unlike the stadium, not quite all right on the night, I'm afraid).

For those watching in Australia who fondly recall the lone horseman, the Victa mowers, the Big Ned Kellies and little Nikki Webster spiralling high above the Homebush stadium, Mosman-based Mr Walsh offered reassurance. "This is not better or worse than Sydney's opening ceremony. Just different." The difference, for one thing, between a youthful nation and one which goes, oh, way back. Which has a big past.

If the Sydney show four years ago had foreigners turning to their Australian neighbours to explain local pop culture. The Athens opener would have had them desperately recalling their old history classes, as they tried to identify the colourful figures in the living friezes - the lustful satyrs, the ecstatic maenads, the warriors, the athletes of ancient Olympia. Deceptively clothed to look authentically naked.

Still puzzled? Well, possibly some of the characters, some of the scenes, certainly some of the themes - reportedly about the nature of human consciousness - remained obscure. But like the stadium - for many, the star of the show - it looked magical and sounded beautiful.

And, if there were any "Cathy Freeman moments", when the technology did not quite work as planned, they went unnoticed.

Let's hope now that the Games live up to the fanfare.

I was a spectator in the stadium for the opening ceremony in Sydney and it was spectacular, but this one was great. I loved the pool, the fire "in" the pool, the lighting of the cauldren and the parade of figures over the years. Good on ya Greece!

What I especially liked - was the guy running around the stadium breasting the ribbon at each olympics in the past - and there were no ribbons for WWI and WWII, that struck a chord with me somehow.

I walked past a newpaper stand with the heading in big black letters "JANA IN FOR EMERGENCY SURGERY" (or something very similar) and I, rather distressed, thought to myself "OH, NO! NOT JANA WENDT!!!!"

http://www.museum.tv/archives/etv/W/htmlW/wendtjana/wendtjanaIMAGE/wendtjana.jpg

She served me a bigmac on mchappy day about... geez, 10 years ago maybe? Fair while ago - the rundle mall store she was at has been long gone.

got through about 20mins then fell asleep lol, all the openings are pretty similar....

IMO The rings of fire in the giant pool/lake was the highlight! So to have it at the start kind of made everything after not have as much impact.

The costumes were awesome BUT i feel the parade through Greece and civilization's history was directed at the television audidence... so the people at the stadium wouldnt have been able to appreciate the detail of the costume.

No big scale formations like in Sydney and previous Olympics... and u gotta love those!

The flame lighting was disappointing!!! [but at least it didnt get stuck HAHA] "Anyone got a lighter?" HAHAHA The cauldron looks like a Giant Cigarette hehe.

BRING ON THE GAMES!

^^LOL about the cauldron.. i thought the exact same thing.. 'a giant cigi'.. Greeks are notorious heavy smokers so it was fitting that it was shaped like that.ha

I must say i thought it was great...The fireworks were amazing and i almost cryed when they started chanting 'Hellas' 'Hellas' 'Hellas' as the hosts walked in.(me being of Greek descent and all)

Also the 'Super Hottie' awards have to go to the host nation as well... i counted about a dozen honey's in the team as they paraded in the stadium.

Cheers

Dean - Melbourne

a fantastic opening ceremony!
I enjoyed it thoroughly and was very impressed.

The use of water (and the way it drained) was fantastic and that giant statue that dismantled itself was spectacular - even moreso when they brought out the olive tree and made a mountain out of the pieces - wow!

As for the greek history parade thing being made for a TV audience - well, that doesn't really bother me seeing as 3 billion people would have watched on TV compared to 70,000 in the stadium. It was great!

Only annoying thing was Ric Birch's negative commentary and how he kept crapping on about the technical side of things when I just wanted to watch it.

Is it just me or are all the stand empty? Watching the rowing, half the grand stands where COMPLETELY empty. The volleyball was empty, the road cycling had no one around it (compare to Tour Down Under, that thing gets packed).

Where is everybody?

I've noticed the same as well. Even popular sports such as football are struggling to attract crowds (except Greece Vs Korea where most seats were sold). In the swimming heats, the stands were only half full. I hope more turn up for the medal session tonight.

It's being predicted that ticket sales will be the lowest since Barcelona in 1992. Only 3 million tickets have been sold well below the target of 5 million. Sales have picked up in recent days with 50 000 tickets being sold each day.

I thought exactly the same thing. The basketball had about 1,000 people max. The swimming heats is the only respectable crowd I've seen so far.

I personally thought the opening ceremony was a tad dull. The technology was breath taking, the laser lights and Rings of fire in the 'lake', but these things only lasted a few minutes compared to the huge expanses of time where people were slowly moving or wandering around. The fact that sydney had over 13,000 dancers, performers etc made it vibrant and exciting and above all entertaining but perhaps Athens wanted a more sombre reserved tone. The fireworks were brilliant though!

mike

i think these early races or games are "empty" beacuse there only heats or 1st rounds BUT having said that at the Sydney olympics every bloody game or race be it heats ect were always overflowing with spectators!!!
the openeing ceromony was quite unique and exciting BUT not as good as Sydney;s lol
also the fireworks exploding along the tops of the stadium arches looked identical to Sydney harbour Bridges annual fireworks displays! so no real points there. maybe if you didnt live in Sydney and never seen it before you might think it was great, but im over foreworks! im sick to death of em. hehe
anyway the final of 400m on at 3am tommorrow should be good. i reckon thorpe will power on from hacket in last 20m. 1 gold, 1 silver!! yeah
also Micheal Diamond better start shooting better or he wont even make final 6.
todays effort left him in 9th place.

what about the "latest drug scandal" involving Athens own greek god- (400m winner from 2000 games. bloody hell. him and another greek runner are in hospital and cant give drug test and now a whole team want to boycott games.
dear o dear. where wil it end?

Cul, the men's road cycling is a medal event, no heats or anything. It's still going now (on SBS) and still empty.

I'd like to see the cycling track layout. In Sydney, I was standing up the hill from Bronte beach and after watching the cyclists race down the hill, we all bolted to the other side of the Centennial Park (about 800 metres - we we more buggered than the cyclists!) to watch them as they came back up the hill. A few times! Still though, the whole cycling track in Sydney was packed.
The big ticket events in Athens will be packed no doubt, though.

havent slept yet LOL

watched thorpie hold off grant in the 400m free! maaaan he really struggled and was 3 seconds outside his WR... has he peaked???

The 4x100m free by the women was awesome...they broke the world record and won Aus' first Gold in the event since 1956!!!!

And just saw the two aussie synchronised diving teams win bronze medals in the womens 3m springboard.. and mens 10m platform!

GO AUSSIE GO!~

After seeing flyovers of Athens and watching the cycling I've concluded that Australia is shit, after seeing flyovers Athens looks to have a surface area no greater than Launceston (which I have flown over) yet they pack in about 5 million people to our 100K - not good Australia.

Having seen the road race, every building is at least 3 stories - no bungalows or detached housing that I say, it was like the gold coast on steriods, why can't we have cities like this?

On looking at this pic the surface area is probably more equivalent to Canberra, but you still get the idea
http://home.arcor.de/atheneus/grklink/athenview.jpg

Alot of the stands have been empty.... most of the Greeks bought the expensive later round tickets. Fact is not to many care about these early round competition between nations they feel nothing for. And can you really blame them? lol


No way will tickets be what Sydney was. Sydney has double the population and alot more tourists, most people were scared to go this time around.


The stands will fill up as the events go though. Most of the stuff now nobody really cares about. But there are a few which have been full or decent:

http://us.news2.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/ap/20040814/capt.olyswm26808141841.greece_oylmpics_swimming_olyswm268.jpg

Christos7 - what is Athens' population do you know - on TV the other day they said it was 5 mill - which would make it bigger than Sydney I guess.

BTW, good to see that Iraq beat Portugal (of all countries) in soccer! That's a feel good story.

With all the recent immagrants, yes I would say around 5 million..... but officially I think it is 4.5 million.

Early days, but were off to a good start!

1 CHN 4 1 1 6
2 AUS 2 1 2 5
=3 ITA 2 0 0 2
=3 JPN 2 0 0 2
5 USA 1 3 1 5
6 UKR 1 0 1 2

No way will tickets be what Sydney was. Sydney has double the population and alot more tourists, most people were scared to go this time around.


I thinks Australians in general just love sport. And this is the reason for everything being sold out... correct me if im wrong but there even had to be a "ticket lottery" and all the preliminary matches were packed and the atmosphere was electric at all venues.

Anyways ATHENS is going good! Cant wait for Aus to win more medals... sitting behind China at the moment!

Wonder when Greece will win a medal... what are their prospects?

I just think Thorpie is showing some emotional strain. Hopefully this first event will get him to relax a bit. This was the event where he nearly didn't make it and got a 2nd chance thanks to the grace of Stevens (kudos to him). First time I have seen Thorpie so emotional after winning a race.

I don't think he has peaked. Is he like 24yo?

I am not sure australians love sport much more than others, but probably the olympics. I think its an odd thing with far too many sports that shouldnt be there and, well, just very very boring...

I watched a lot of sport today, Tottenham v Liverpool in football and England v West Indies cricket, but nothing from the olympics and I dont think thats unusual.

perhaps it gets interesting when the athletics start

its easy to tell who was born and have a background from greece though how defensive they are over the games

Trust us. We just love sports. Most of our hero's are sportsman. Eg Bradman in cricket, Dawn Fraser in swimming, Jack Bradman in F1. It just goes on and on.

with all the flames and ceremonies and medals etc.. you would harly know they played sports at the olympics:D

Another bronze in the trap shooting.

homer, would you beleive Thorpedo is only 21. he swam ok to win but not wr time. not sure why? anyhow i saw him swim heat of 200m today he looked much better. also qualified fastest. he will go on to win on tues morn 2;35am i think. should be race of century. he takes off with 20m to go motors on to end.
i really hope also we win 100m mens relay. yanks will be pissed.lol

Gee I didn't realize he was only 21. For some reason I thought he was 24. So he was 17 or 18 in Sydney I guess. That's amazing because when you think Ingrid DeBerg is 31 and still doin it at her best, then Thorpie has at least another good Olympics left in him.

Michael Phelps is as big of a freak as Thorpie... he is a yank though!

And he is only 19 or something daaaaaaaaamn

Hopefully Petria wins early tomorrow morning... gonna be tough though. Aaaah lets hope Aus men can repeat what they did in Sydney and smash them like guitars [or something along those lines] hahaha.

PS. They showed GREECE vs Matildas and showed how empty the stadium was.

That makes him freakier because he is a Yank :). Where is BJB when ya want him???

What about the soccer team beating Serbis 5-1. Ouch!

Karrigan just got the gold in Women's Road Cycle for Oz!

Brilliant race it was too! Almost a bronze as well. This one was a surprise for me. I'm lovin' it! Hopefully one or two golds in the pool tonight.

Law & Order Criminal Intent was good last night. (sorry but 7 dropped the ball by putting Tony Squires as the host of their coverage - he is unwatchable :( )

good on ya petria!! finally you deserve it!
http://www.sportal.com.au/photos/news/054983news.jpg

Petria's gold - at last
Sportal



Australia's swimming success has continued on the second night of finals at the Athens Olympics, with a gold medal to Petria Thomas and fast qualifying times ahead of events to be decided on the third night.

America's dry spell continued, as the US swimmers had to settle for minor medals.

Triple-Olympian Thomas backed up 24 hours after claiming her first gold medal, as a member of the 4x100m freestyle relay team, to finally win an individual gold in a thrilling finish to the 100m butterfly.

The three other gold medals on the night went to Japanese breaststroker Kosuke Kitajima, French freestyler Laure Manaudou and the South African men's 4x100m freestyle relay team, who broke the world record set by Australia in Sydney four years ago.



South Africa’s time of 3:13.17 eclipsed Australia’s mark of 3:13.67 and, in the process, put an end to Michael Phelps' quest for eight gold medals, as the US quartet was forced to settle for the bronze medal, behind the Netherlands.

As well as having its world record taken away, Australia finished a distant sixth with Ian Thorpe swimming the anchor leg.

Meanwhile Australian Brooke Hanson qualified fastest for the final of the women's 100m breaststroke in 1:07.17 with Leisel Jones second-fastest just 0.34s behind.

And a battle royal is looming in the final of the men's 200m freestyle with Dutchman Pieter van den Hoogenband qualifying fastest in 1:46.00, ahead of Thorpe (1:46.65), Phelps (1:47.08), American Klete Keller (1:47.28) and Grant Hackett (1:47.61).

In the men's 100m breaststroke, Kitajima overcame a poor start to edge American world record holder Brendan Hansen by 17 hundredths of a second.

Hansen set an Olympic record of 1:00.01 in the semi-finals and, despite leading at the turn, couldn’t hold off the Japanese who finished in 1:00.08. The American clocked 1:00.25 with Frenchman Hugues Duboscq third in 1:00.88.

It was a successful night for France with Laure Manaudou winning gold in the women’s 400m freestyle in a time of 4:05.34, well outside American Janet Evans' world record of 4:06.19. Polish swimmer Otylia Jedrzejcak won silver in 4:05.84, followed by American Kaitlin Sandeno in 4:06.19.

Thomas, who had three silver medals and one bronze from the past two Olympics before the Day One relay win, looked to again be destined for a minor medal as world record holder and Sydney champion Inge de Bruijn, who had set the pace in the semi-finals, led out strongly in the final of the 100 'fly.

But Thomas was not to be denied this time, and overtook de Bruijn in the final few metres, while also holding Jedrzejczak at bay. Thomas touched in 57.72 seconds, only 0.12 ahead of Jedrzejczak and 0.27 better than the Dutchwoman.

Teenager Jessicah Schipper was right on the pace and finished fourth, only 0.23 of a second behind de Bruijn.

Australian Matt Welsh was a disappointing sixth-fastest through to the final of the men's 100m backstroke in a time of 54.69s, with American Aaron Peirsol (54.34s) setting the pace and world record-holder Lenny Krayzelburg (54.63) also through.

Yeah GO Petria !!!!!! Beating the Dutch freak !! Now if Thorpie can beat Van De Hooganschlong it will be oh so sweet revenge for Sydney..

I'm sorry for the relay boys but the main thing is we are still kicking the Yanks Ass !!!

The medal tally doesn't get much sweeter than this after Day 3:

1 CHN 5 1 1 7
2 AUS 4 1 3 8
3 JPN 4 1 0 5
4 ITA 2 1 0 3
5 UKR 2 0 1 3
6 USA 1 4 3 8



Not a bad strike rate for 20 million people vs. 1.1 billion & 260 million respectively !!!!

Greece 76 - 54 Australia.


:D


lol all in good fun....

im very disapointed in the crowds at this Olympics!! nearly every event i watched there are mostly empty seating! wtf?? You can really tell, Greece are sport orientated!
no ones going to the damn games! word out today is the IOC have been ordered to make all ticketst free before everyone starts to notice the tragic attendences!
i remember in sydney games even a badmitton game between ethiopa and kenya got a packed house!!
i mean these are the OLYMPICS!! Sydney treated them as a one off event we should of been proud of hosting!

im very disapointed in the crowds at this Olympics!! nearly every event i watched there are mostly empty seating! wtf?? You can really tell, Greece are sport orientated!
no ones going to the damn games! word out today is the IOC have been ordered to make all ticketst free before everyone starts to notice the tragic attendences!
i remember in sydney games even a badmitton game between ethiopa and kenya got a packed house!!
i mean these are the OLYMPICS!! Sydney treated them as a one off event we should of been proud of hosting!

This is just what I dont get, what does it mean to say that "these are the OLYMPICS"? What so superior about it? Its full of sports where the olympics isnt even a small highlight (tennis,football etc)
I would say: this is EURO 2004, this is the TOUR DE FRANCE this is WIMBLEDON, just to mention 3 summer events that has been far more interesting. Is it really more interesting to watch Ethiopia v Kenya Badminton?

Its ridiculously over hyped and given that Greece has 700 million european neighbours who also cant be bothered, I dont think I am alone with this opinion

This is a good point - but it also highlights the European attitude to life. People generally live for the moment and enjoy each day as it comes and this kinda precludes going to heats and semi's of many of the lesser events.

You notice how the biggest crowds were probably for the bicycle road race as it's not just for the sport but the atmopshere of being outdoors, enjoying a Retsina in the summer heat - compared to sitting for hours watching heats of swimming in a plastic seat.

I am constantly singularly impressed by the devotion of Aussie's to their sport and our ability to pack out stands of whole days of sport when there is no major outcome ..

Yeah, we're idiots when it comes to sport. We'll pack em in no matter what. Look at the Rugby world cup crowd numbers with thegames that the Wallabys wernt playing and remember the cricket world cup final in Melbourne years ago. Pakistan v England - not an empty seat.

Petria Thomas did great winning her first individual Gold Medal in the 100m fly... she was fighting back tears!!!

The Aussie boys were relegated to fourth with the South Africans taking away their World Record in the 4x100m freestyle...

lol its like the men have passed the batten to the women... who were once the strugglers... but now have the 4x100m free WR to their name!


Australia qualified for the Gymnastics Team finals!!!!! JUST!

The Boomers lost to host nation Greece!

TONIGHT is a CRACKER!!!
THE RACE OF THE GAMES IN SWIMMING, the 200m free
THORPE, VAN DEN HOOGENBAN, PHELPS, HACKETT... and more!!!

Liesel Jones and Brooke Hansen go for gold in the 100m butterfly as well!

GO AUSSIE GO!!!!

Guys, it's a holiday in Athens... in a holiday month. This is as low as it can get as far as that is concerned, this WILL get better in the stands trust me.


With that being said, the fact that most of the world was scared out of coming to Athens, has alot to do with it. Greeks have bought alot of tickets themselves, but they can't do it all. Where are the Americans? Where are our European neighbors? I see some Japanese and Chinese, so good on them. Where are the Aussies?? International media did nothing but say Athens was not safe, and then they wonder why there are empty seats.

This is just what I dont get, what does it mean to say that "these are the OLYMPICS"? What so superior about it? Its full of sports where the olympics isnt even a small highlight (tennis,football etc)
I would say: this is EURO 2004, this is the TOUR DE FRANCE this is WIMBLEDON, just to mention 3 summer events that has been far more interesting. Is it really more interesting to watch Ethiopia v Kenya Badminton?

Its ridiculously over hyped and given that Greece has 700 million european neighbours who also cant be bothered, I dont think I am alone with this opinion
The Olympic Games are the pinnacle! All sportsman/women say nothing comes close. An Olympic gold is a piece of heaven!
end of story

Hey Christos. I've seen plenty of Aussie flag waving at the swimming and cycling. We're only 20 million people but then again half of Melbourne has relatives in Athen's. I know with the Greek Aussie's at work are getting into the spirit. Today at work we have a Greek lunch on and the guys have to wear a bushy moustache lol and there will be a fair bit of ouzo. :)

The lack of spectators is also being reported as very dissapointing in the UK. It's not just Australia that notices it. Tim Henman lost his tennis match in front of a crowd of 300.

Even football, which is meant to be very popular in Greece is being played in near empty stadiums. I went to 2 Olympic soccer games at the Gabba in Brisbane and both games had full stadiums.

From the BBC website

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/olympics_2004/3569088.stm

Fifa president Sepp Blatter has expressed his dismay at the small crowds the Athens Games are attracting.

Only 1,119 fans filled the 28,000-capacity Kattantzoglio Stadium for the match between Paraguay and Ghana, while other venues have been equally empty.

"I'm surprised there haven't been more people at the games," Blatter said.

"But it's the same at many other events at the Olympics. I saw a rowing event where you could have had time to shake hands with all the spectators."

Athenians are picking and choosing their events, a process that has left some sports such as tennis, archery and softball playing before near deserted stands.

And the backdrop is a stark contrast to four years ago when sports-mad Australians flocked to various venues in Sydney.

^^^ Cameroon v Chile at the MCG had a crowd of about 60, 000.

The Crowds are a SHOCKER.. hopefully they pick up. This is a disgrace to the Olympics if they dont.

Australia's Alicia Molik [23rd in the world at the moment!!!] won her first round singles match.

Aussies on top.

1 Chn 5 2 1 8
2 Aus 5 1 3 9
3 Jpn 4 1 0 5
4 Ita 2 1 0 3
=5 Tur 2 0 1 3
=5 Ukr 2 0 1 3

all the sports I have seen have been very dead, crowd wise, doesen't really feel like the olympics because of that, its ashame because it looks like they are doing a good job, great to see the american's being beaten in the basketball today.

The Thorpedo has done it, taking out the 200m. He lwill leave Athens as the world best swimmer!!! He also has become the most successful athlete to ever compete for Australia in the olympics. Well done :cheers:

FromThe Sydney Morning Herald (smh.com.au)
Thorpe wins duel in the pool
By Michael Cowley
August 17, 2004

http://www.smh.com.au/ffximage/2004/08/17/200thop_narrowweb__200x261,1.jpg
Thorpe celebrates victory in the 200m freestyle at the Athens Olympic Pool. Photo: Craig Golding

Regardless of how many gold medals American swimmer Michael Phelps leaves Greece with, Ian Thorpe will head home to Australia with the title of the world's best swimmer after winning the men's 200m freestyle in Athens on Monday night.

Thorpe won the event dubbed the 'Race of the Century', in doing so accounting for the sport's biggest names - Phelps, Grant Hackett, and Dutchman Pieter van den Hoogenband - and showing anyone interested in doubting him, that he is far from past his best in a sport he has dominated since bursting onto the international scene in 1998.

The victory also sees the 21-year-old create Australian Olympic history.

Combined with the three gold he won in Sydney four years ago, plus the one from the 400m in Athens, and now one from the 200m, Thorpe has five Olympic gold medals, more than any Australian athlete in history.

Monday night's win saw him ease past the record of four he had held jointly with Betty Cuthbert, Murray Rose and Dawn Fraser.

Thorpe is now within sights of becoming our greatest ever medal winner at the Games.
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He has won seven Olympic medals, just one short of the all-time mark held by Fraser and Susie O'Neill.

The race did not disappoint, living up to months of hype. Van den Hoogenband took it out hard and led through the first 150m, before Thorpe - who had been sitting just off his rival's shoulder - made his move, powering down the final leg of the pool, kicking clear, and then holding off both the Dutchman and Phelps.

He hit the wall in a time of 1min.44.71s (the equal third fastest time ever), took off his cap and googles, and punched the air with the ferocity of Muhammed Ali. This was the one he wanted and he had it.

Van den Hoogenband held on for second in 1min.45.23s, with Phelps setting a new American record of 1min.45.32s.

Klete Keller was fouth in 1min.46.13s, with Hackett fifth in 1min.46.56s.

"It was tough, it felt hard, but it was a pretty good performance and I'm ecstatic about the result," Thorpe said.

"I knew he (van den Hoogenband) was going to go out quick, I was just hoping to stay close enough to him."

Thorpe dedicated his 400m win on Saturday to all who had helped him get there, but the 200m was different, he said.

"I think this one was more for me, than other people. It was a great result for myself."

The Dutchman shook Thorpe's hand after the race and offered some words: "He just said he was very pleased for me. I think he just enjoyed the race."

Phelps, 19, was attempting to equal or better the achievement of his countryman Mark Spitz, who won seven Olympic gold medals in Munich 32 years ago.

But all the focus had been on one specific race he was contesting, the 200m freestyle, because it brought together the two swimmers vying for the title of the sport's best. At least for the time being, Thorpe must own that moniker.

With Phelps unable to win gold in the 200m, it brings to an end his quest to match Spitz. The American has just one gold from three events, and with just five remaining to swim, even with a perfect success rate from here, the sums won't allow him to reach seven gold.

For Thorpe it was a case of revenge being a dish best served cold after a four-year wait.

In what went down as one of the greatest shocks in the pool in Sydney, the then 17-year-old was upstaged by van den Hoogenband in the 200m freestyle.

That was the last time Thorpe lost a 200m race at a major event.

twas a great race! i woke and watched it like a true aussie! lol
poor hacket come in 5th. i predicted the first 3 correct but had hacket at 4th.
anyway cheers to the worlds greatest swimmer!!

Re the empty seats, its quite simple. People in Greece can justify it, defend it, give reasons for it anyway they like. But remember, in the future, in say a 100 years or whatever, when Athens feels its time to bid for the games again, these lack of crowds are gonna count against them.

As for Thorpe, no doubt, he will go down as Australia's best ever swimmer and possibly best ever Olympian.

Found this statement on the official Athens 2004 homepage

"With such a high selling rate, the tickets of the ATHENS 2004 Olympic Games are already hard to find. Purchase yours in time and be part of the greatest celebration of humanity."

Now who are they trying to kid, nice try lads :cheers:

yeah that is a bit of a joke.... lol


but on the other hand, tickets have been continously been selling each day. On the weekends 45,000 a day, and on weekdays 90,000. Problem is most have been for later rounds, always have been... thats why you see so many empty seats in the early stages. ;) (although I think today improved)

Understandable as to why it would be disappointing to have hardly no crowd at the Olympic Stadiums.

But has anyone asked why? The Greek Government payed out $2,000,000 residents of Greece to take annual holidays and leave Athens so there would not be congestion in the City while the Olympics where on. Especially on the Train Metro system (which has qualified as the best system in the world). Also you have to understand that the Greeks are not as Sport crazy as we are in Australia.

Its summer and for those who have been in Greece you must understand that the heat is not for you to remain in Athens. The beaches is the place to be and the Greek Islands. :cucumber:

Also with the introduction of the Euro dollar everyhting is so expensive and the tickets are too expensive to afford for the majority of the Greek population.

It is empty but the spirit is there and the Athletes are doing great! Go THORPE!!!

did anyone see how Greece got there first gold medal?? lol. a diving accident :cucumber: :pepper: :banana2: :carrot: :banana: with a crowd joker in a tu tu ! its a long story!

Is there a website that shows the events in oz time, or more specifically, EST?

did anyone see how Greece got there first gold medal?? lol. a diving accident :cucumber: :pepper: :banana2: :carrot: :banana: with a crowd joker in a tu tu ! its a long story!

That event was friggin hillarious - nobody wanted the gold! the 3 teams ahead of Greece all completely fucked it up, one after the other, so Greece basically ended up "doing a bradbury" ...

Doing a Bradbury - hehe. Our legendary first winter Olympics gold. But he's still a hero to us. What a legend.

Doing a Bradbury - hehe. Our legendary first winter Olympics gold. But he's still a hero to us. What a legend.

I agree. Dead set legend. I was at a computer store picking up some hardware, and on the wall was this big poster with bradbury endorsing some product. I just stood there looking at it thinking "...legend."

Hey hey hey, Greece deserved that gold medal alriiight.

But go you Aussies.

http://www.dangerouslogic.com/images/olympic_blunt.jpg
http://www.athens2004.com/Images/Sport%20Gallery/Ceremonies/14%20August%202004/51086559MS203_OLYopener.jpg
Who else noticed this?

The Olympic Games are the pinnacle! All sportsman/women say nothing comes close. An Olympic gold is a piece of heaven!
end of story

Ok end of story, no doubt you are right, I dont know what I was thinking when I thought for a moment that the players in the football tournament hadnt all their life dreamt specifically of performing at the olympics.. not to mention the american basketball players or the baseball, sure its the pinnacle, and you are right, Federer would give up both his Wimbledon titles on the spot for that olympic title not to mention Lance Armstrong as the Tour de France is surely nothing but a warm-up...

and of course low crowds are just because europeans dont like sport.. obviously.. thats why I am always amazed at the large crowds that follow australian rugby and cricket teams abroad whereas for instance England bring so very few the other way....

Or perhaps not everyone agrees...

Isnt it funny how yanks always get their nuts in a knot when they get beaten.

Australia is second in the *real medal tally list after UAE, the yanks are 14th. HAhahahaha.

*adjusted for per capita.

Ok end of story, no doubt you are right, I dont know what I was thinking when I thought for a moment that the players in the football tournament hadnt all their life dreamt specifically of performing at the olympics.. not to mention the american basketball players or the baseball, sure its the pinnacle, and you are right, Federer would give up both his Wimbledon titles on the spot for that olympic title not to mention Lance Armstrong as the Tour de France is surely nothing but a warm-up...

and of course low crowds are just because europeans dont like sport.. obviously.. thats why I am always amazed at the large crowds that follow australian rugby and cricket teams abroad whereas for instance England bring so very few the other way....

Or perhaps not everyone agrees...

Sure it may not be the pinnicale of some sports but im sure everyone that competes in them finds them special.

Lindsay davenport after winning the title in Atlanta said this was the best thing in my career.

Its the OLYMPICS dude... what rock have you been hiding under?

Its a sporting even that brings together 200 nations of the world and 12 thousand atheletes! Its got a long history.. dating back to the BC's.. please dont deny it.. its disrespectful to the great olympians of the past!

I think with most sports, the Olympics is the pinnacle.

But not with soccer, and not with tennis.

FIFA, the governing body for soccer, has deliberately made the Olympic Football (Soccer) Tournament an under 21s event, with the allowance of 3 seniors per side. So in effect, the Olympic Football tournament is a junior event. They have done this deliberately to protect the standing of the World Cup, which is an open event. They want the World Cup to be the 'be all and end all' event, with other major tournaments such as Euro, Coco and the Olympics to fall in place behind it.

As for tennis, the Grand Slams would be a bigger priority to tennis players. When Lindsay Davenport won gold in Atlanta, and said at the time it was the best thing to happen to her, she had not yet won Wimbledon. I'm sure looking back now, if she had to pick an event which was more important to her to win, she would pick Wimbledon. Look at Pete Sampras, he always maintained that winning the Grand Slam tournaments was the only reason he wanted to continue playing. He didn't give a stuff about the Olympics...in fact, I don't think he ever bothered going to them. Whilst winning a gold medal in tennis would be a huge thing, its not the pinnacle of tennis. And as stated above, neither is the Olympic football tournament in its respective code.

http://www.dangerouslogic.com/images/olympic_blunt.jpg
Who else noticed this?

I'm assuming this Cheech & Chong are connected to drugs somehow?
A couple of nights ago someone emailed Roy & HG to say the cauldron looked like a giant joint.

Yeh true but im sure its still something pretty special..

Jelena Dokic lists reaching the semi finals for Australia at the Sydney 2000 Olympics as her highlight. She lost that match and lost the bronze medal match to Monica Seles.


Speaking of which ALICIA MOLIK [fresh from her second title win a few weeks ago] is into the quarters and will face Ai Suigiami of Japan so hopefully she will get into the semi finals where she will most probably verse Amelie Mueresmo... she beat her a few months ago too!

GO AUSSIE!

I'm assuming this Cheech & Chong are connected to drugs somehow?
A couple of nights ago someone emailed Roy & HG to say the cauldron looked like a giant joint.

They where/are a comedy duo that became famous in the late 70's? with a number of dope smoking based movies. Very funny in their day.
http://members.tripod.com/~PENTAG0N/1.gif
Here they are with an early prototype of the cauldron.

cant believe andrew hoy fell off his horse to come in 6th.
http://www.gifs.net/animate/oxer2.gif

although his german wife has now won 2 gold.lol


http://www.gifs.net/animate/horr.gif

i think we came 16th in ping pong comp which apparently is fantastic! lol

http://www.gifs.net/animate/ttawe.gif

Alica Molik now has the chance of winning a medal in womens tennis after winning her quarter final. She plays Emile Muresaumo of France in the semi's. Even if she loses, she can can still have the chance of grabbing a bronze which would be her best achievement in her tennis career

Nathan Deeks won our first medal in Athletics with a bronze in the 20km walk. He led for much of the race. An Italian won it. He has another chance of winning gold in the 50km walk which will be done next week.

Congrulations to these two on their results

Softball team are assured of a medal now. Need to beat the USA to get a gold however.

I'm assuming this Cheech & Chong are connected to drugs somehow?
A couple of nights ago someone emailed Roy & HG to say the cauldron looked like a giant joint.

The producers of any future opening ceremony out of Amsterdam are kicking themselves right now!

Is it just me, or have the Aussie guys, (other than Thorpe and hopefully Hackett tomorrow) in the pool not really produced.

If it wasn't for Thorpe this would be a pretty lean games for Australian men's swimming.

I was a little surprised at being so far back in the 4 * 100 freestyle as well. And we are not even in the medley relay final.

and of course low crowds are just because europeans dont like sport.. obviously.. thats why I am always amazed at the large crowds that follow australian rugby and cricket teams abroad whereas for instance England bring so very few the other way....
Or perhaps not everyone agrees...
I think you've got it back to front, Aussie contingents abroad pale in comparison to what the poms bring down here.
A couple years back Brisbane was overrun by 15,000 English fans following the British and Irish Lions Rugby team. Several thousand "Balmy Army" regulars accompany the English Cricket Team down here. It's no wonder sell-out 40,000+ crowds at Ashes tests are par for the course in Sydney when you guys bring 5000 fans with you.

looks like Maurice green isnt GOAT!-Greatest of all time! the arogant yank was placed 3rd in todays 100m final which was fastest in history. fellow american Justin Gatlin won in time of 9.85sec.>>>http://www.gifs.net/animate/johnson.gif>>>

I think you've got it back to front, Aussie contingents abroad pale in comparison to what the poms bring down here.
A couple years back Brisbane was overrun by 15,000 English fans following the British and Irish Lions Rugby team. Several thousand "Balmy Army" regulars accompany the English Cricket Team down here. It's no wonder sell-out 40,000+ crowds at Ashes tests are par for the course in Sydney when you guys bring 5000 fans with you.

I obviously agree, I was being ironic

Did England really "only" bring 5,000 for the ashes. I thought it was more and I am pretty sure that number will grow considerably if the ashes actually became a contest again.

Its an interesting difference. England can bring massive support around the world, much more than Australia, but if England had staged the rugby world cup some of the many low-key games, say a game like Georgia v Japan would be watched by two men and a dog instead of the amazing crowds that attended such games in Australia.

A lot of those supporters are also poms now living in Australia.

aussie on the rings.
http://www.gifs.net/animate/cathanging.gif

Yana Pitman finished fifth in the 400m hurdles, after struggling in the last 50 metres of the race. Greek Fani Halkia took out the race. Yana said she was happy to just take part in it.

We've equalled our Gold Medal haul from 2000 after winning another 2 gold medals in cycling, and equalled our haul of 41 medals from Atlanta from 1996.

Loretta Harrop won silver in the trialthon and thought she had won unaware that the winner Kate Allen of Austria had overtaken her with 150 metres to go. She even rung her father to say that she won.

fab, all that stuff you posted is already in Aussie medal thread.
anyway, great news USA dream team were beaten today so there out of gold medal contention. firsttime in man years.

yeah mens hocky just won gold against the dutch, got a gole from a penalty, and it was a golden goal, so it won the match, silver in both K2 roawing, and singles.

so its now 1440 days to go for 8th August, 2008 Beijing Opening Ceremony!
cant wait.lol

http://www.sportal.com.au/photos/news/055743news.jpg

Games over for another four years
Sportal -

The Games of the XXVIII Olympiad have officially come to an end with IOC President Jacques Rogge declaring Athens as having hosted the 'dream Games'.

The athletes were the centrepiece of the spectacular closing ceremony, but unlike the opening ceremony, they filled the arena absent of any national colours and in no set order - symbolising the unified end to the competition.

Rogge thanked the head of the Athens Organising Committee (ATHOC) Gianna Angelopolous-Daskalaki before the Olympic flag was passed on to the mayor of Beijing.

In the much-anticipated finish to the ceremony, a little girl blew out the Olympic flame before the IOC President called for the youth of the world to assemble in Beijing in four years time for the 2008 Games.