2026 Olympics Thread

[ELA]

https://twitter.com/Pickswise/status/2023081325000044973?s=20

[Wildcat4E]

Both USA Curling teams had fantastic victories yesterday, and USA Women's Hockey looks like they are playing against the JV.

[utee94]

[ELA]

Both USA Curling teams had fantastic victories yesterday, and USA Women's Hockey looks like they are playing against the JV.

And then the women turned around and had perhaps a loss that will keep them out of the medal round.  Losing 7-2 to an 0-5 Italy squad is brutal

[Wildcat4E]

And then the women turned around and had perhaps a loss that will keep them out of the medal round.  Losing 7-2 to an 0-5 Italy squad is brutal

Hadn't seen that.  Couldn't steal one without the hammer in both the 9th and 10th to save that one, apparently.

[ELA]

Hadn't seen that.  Couldn't steal one without the hammer in both the 9th and 10th to save that one, apparently.

They play well with the lead, but they get too cute trying to come from behind.  Granted they HAD to get 2+ in those final ends

[betarhoalphadelta]

I don't understand "style points" in ski jumping. 

Give the medal to whoever goes the furthest. 

I can understand gate and wind adjustments. You can at least model that based on physics. But do we really need to add style?

[utee94]

I don't understand "style points" in ski jumping.

Give the medal to whoever goes the furthest.

I can understand gate and wind adjustments. You can at least model that based on physics. But do we really need to add style?

Agree, why add silly unnecessary subjectivity when there's already an objective metric to use, and that objective metric is the entire point of the sport in the first place?

[betarhoalphadelta]

Agree, why add silly unnecessary subjectivity when there's already an objective metric to use, and that objective metric is the entire point of the sport in the first place?

Yep. I could see assigning a penalty if someone falls on the landing. I assume we don't want to incentivize someone just selling out and not landing at all in the aim to get another meter. But beyond that, "style" isn't something I think we need in ski jumping. 

[MarqHusker]

When I was much younger nobody jumped with the V formation on skis, that was verboten.  You had to keep them parallel.  Why did it take so long for somebody to convince others how much further you could jump w better technique. 

[FearlessF]

it sure as hell wasn't Eddie the Eagle at @Calgary in 1988

[utee94]

When I was much younger nobody jumped with the V formation on skis, that was verboten.  You had to keep them parallel.  Why did it take so long for somebody to convince others how much further you could jump w better technique.

As I recall, the ski jumpers realized that the penalty for "bad form" was more than offset by the distance they were gaining, so they all adopted the V formation.  Eventually, since everyone was doing it anyway, they stopped penalizing for it.

[FearlessF]

The V-style in ski jumping is an aerodynamic flight technique where the jumper spreads the tips of their skis apart, forming a "V" shape with the tails close together, maximizing surface area to increase lift and flight distance by roughly 10%. Pioneered by Jan Boklöv in 1985, this technique, also known as the Graf–Boklöv style, replaced the traditional parallel, or Däscher technique, becoming the standard by the 1990s.

History & Adoption: Though Polish jumper Mirosław Graf used a similar style as early as 1969, it was not accepted until Jan Boklöv of Sweden proved its efficiency in the mid-1980s, despite initially being penalized by judges.

[MarqHusker]

Rare victory scene with medalists w their kids in their arms or at their feet.  Pretty cool scene for the Moms at the Monobob Bobsleigh race.