WITHOUT A DOUBT: McEwyn (USA) high jump deciding not to share Olympic 🪙 GOLD and has a jumpoff and lost.
EVERY Olympian goal is Olympic GOLD, who cares if you share the title, you still are an Olympic CHAMPION...but now he is just 2nd best(silver 🥈 medalist). No logical reasoning for his decision 🤔. Big financial setback endorsements and appearances, and appearance fees.
Tom Osborne would disagree with you (see 1983 NCAA Football Championship Game). You go for the title, period.
WITHOUT A DOUBT: McEwyn (USA) high jump deciding not to share Olympic 🪙 GOLD and has a jumpoff and lost.
EVERY Olympian goal is Olympic GOLD, who cares if you share the title, you still are an Olympic CHAMPION...but now he is just 2nd best(silver 🥈 medalist). No logical reasoning for his decision 🤔. Big financial setback endorsements and appearances, and appearance fees.
Recency bias but OKeeffe starting the marathon knowing she was going to immediately drop out.
Imagine if Nuguse would've immediately stepped off the track in heat 1 of the 1500 after everyone heard stories of him being injured for the last 3 months.
Really disliked seeing this after the miracle we saw in tokyo marathon.
What has been the biggest disappointment for you in the 2024 olympics? I don't mean the biggest upset, but rather, what result are you personally most disappointed by. For me I think it's that Girma DNF'ed in the steeple and that El Bakkali once again took it. Can't stand his face for some reason and Girma really did look fitter on the day,
Bol's performance in the 400h. I didn't expect her to win, but I expected classic Bol. I actually thought the men's 400h was a bit of a snooze as well. It's exactly what I've been seeing all year.
Tsegay's weird performances throughout.
Nickisha Pryce missing the 400 finals and Naser beating out Kaczmarek and Adeleke for silver.
I haven't been able to bring myself to watch the steeple because of Girma's fall. Not that he didn't make it, just that he was completely unconscious and people were jumping over him.
This post was edited 3 minutes after it was posted.
*the absence of some big names ( Jamaican sprinters/ Gidey/ Fiona and actually Ciara Mageean in the 1500)
*the performances that seem just “too good to be true”. Although there were many, I must say the Hull/Bell show last night left a sour taste.
*Bol being below par in the 400H. On form, SML probably would have been pushed to WR.
*the persistent hate of Jakob. What more do you want from a 23yo who is under constant scrutiny yet comes out time and time again and performs for us?!
Grijalva not reaching the 5000 final, and maybe an honorable mention for Ahmed though he did place high in his other race. I would have liked to see Guatemala in an Olympic track final. I guess Lobalu of the Refugees took up the recent trend of a dark horse getting fourth in a global 5000.
Abdi Nur - after going toe to toe with Grant Fisher at US Trials I thought he was a legit medal contender but watching him fall with less than 100 meters to go in the prelim was crushing.
SML only going for two golds when she had 4 in the bag.
US men’s 800m woes. Only one through to the final and Hoppel pooping the bed there.
Hoppel 'pooping the bed'?!?! What is the matter with you? He set a new PB and American record. Good lord some people on this board are idiots.
You don’t get an Olympic medal for a PB or AR. He was fit enough to make the podium, he just caved when the pressure got too high. It was disappointing, especially when we saw so many other Americans step up when the races got tough.
Personally? I called a historic romp for USA wrestling and everyone got upset or crapped out on men's side. Historic fail. I did not think there was a human alive who could challenge Spencer Lee and Aaron Brooks.
In terms of event performances, US Men's 4x100 has to be at the top of the list of disappointments. Not that surprising, though.
Biggest disappointment for me was the fawning coverage over the US Men's basketball team. This is basically an all-star team of guys making tens of millions of dollars a year to play. They are on ESPN for 9-10 months of the year. Yawn. They should have beaten every team by double-digits.
The Canadian men's basketball team. They were expected to challenge for the gold but didn't even get a chance for bronze.
Jakob not winning the 1500. That was the huge downer during track and field. The sport is much better off with him on top, saying whatever he thinks with no reservation toward quest as best of all time. Now he'll carry on but the opposition owns too much ammo and satisfaction. They would have been squashed.
I had three top priorities in track and field. Number one by light years was the mixed relay. That was the only uncontrolled physical reaction I had during these Games, once it became clear it would happen. That race was Femke Bol's only chance at Olympic gold. I knew that pre dating Tokyo. I've followed her career since she was a junior. She's a clumsy self made athlete who has made remarkable advances for someone with limited athletic ability. I knew she would get squashed by Sydney. Who cares? That Olympic golf deflects all criticism and provides inner calm, especially the way it happened.
Number two priority was Jakob in the 1500. Already covered. Number three was Kipyegon at 1500. For a full year I worried that with the 5000 in her legs she might lose the 1500 final to Welteji and partially spoil her legacy. It wasn't that far away from happening. Welteji ran 3:52 despite needlessly sprinting to a 3:55 semifinal win. Fortunately Kipyegon was just too good.
Away from the track my disappointment was Summer McIntosh not defeating Ariarne Titmus at 400 freestyle. McIntosh won 3 other golds and was more than capable of defeating Titmus on opening night, but for some reason she always swims subpar against Titmus. It's some type of weird big Commonwealth sister complex. McIntosh defeats Ledecky frequently at various distances but hasn't figured it out yet against Titmus.