Olympic 2012: Upset and oddities

 

*South Korean sit-in

A weeping Shin A-lam staged a one-hour protest and had to be physically escorted off the fencing piste after her controversial elimination from the epee semi-final. The sight of the 25-year-old looking dejected as she sat on a spot-lit piste, pristine in her white uniform with a towel draped over her shoulder, was an indelible image. 

Blue tongues

After less than a bottle of Powerade  Some of the athletes have blue tongues before they do their events. I don't know whether this is a kind of drugs test, or whether it is something else.
A number of readers noticed that Team GB football goalkeeper Jack Butland and a number of other athletes appeared to have unusually blue tongues. No definitive answer can be given, but the culprit might appear to be a blue drink provided by sponsor Powerade.  Even Powerade says it isn't certain, but adds: "The berry and tropical flavour does have the potential to temporarily colour tongues in berry-like shades.

Remote control vehicles

What about the introduction of small remote control vehicles to collect field thrown equipment? At London we have seen the little Minis running across the grass with shots, hammer and javelin on top of them.
The mini Minis that have been speeding up and down the athletics field have intrigued many readers. The little cars, powered by a remote control, deliver the javelins, hammers and discuses that athletes have thrown on to the grass back to the event officials. The controls are simple - just forward, back, left and right and its cargo is loaded into the car through the sunroof. The minis take 80 minutes to charge and can run for 35 minutes without running out of power. They have a remote control range of 100m.

Bikes following the rowing

I would like to know if there is any significance to the cyclists who follow all of the rowing events on the far bank. There has been no mention of them in the commentary and we wondered if they were anything to do with the actual rowers, coaches trainers or the like?
The cyclists are the coaches of the crews participating who will be assessing other crews as well as their own.

No medal podium for rowers

Why is there no podium when the rowers get their medals? They all stand on the level ground.
"To reach the victory ceremony is the major goal. It is a longstanding core value in rowing that rowers have tremendous respect for their competitors, says Matt Smith, executive director of the international rowing federation, FISA. This is also played out in victory ceremonies when all medallists are on the same stage, at the same level and only the colour of the medal is the distinction between their relative performances. 

Wondering for Letters

Wondering what the letters are around the dressage arena, and why they're in that order?
According to the International Equestrian Federation (FEI), the letters just "appeared" for the first time in the 1920 Olympics held in Belgium. No-one has been able to find out the origins, although there are various theories. One is that each letter stood for the first letter of the names of cities conquered by the Romans.  A second possibility, according to the FEI, is: "It appears that in the Old Imperial German Court the walls of the Royal Mews/Stable yard were initially marked with letters indicating where each Courtier and/or riders horse was to be stood to await its rider. K = Kaiser/King, F = Furst/Prince P = Pferdknecht/Ostler, V = Vassal, E = Edeling/Ehrengast/Guest of Honour, B = Bannertrager/Standard Bearer, S = Schzkanzler/Chancellor of Exchequer, R = Ritter/Knight, M = Meier/Steward, H = Hofsmarshall/Lord Chancellor". 

What are the little "hats" that the horses are wearing in the showjumping?
These hats are called "fly bonnets", according to the International Equestrian Federation (FEI), and are used mainly for decoration purposes (some of them are very elaborate, even crystal-studded). They also help the horse with the noise in the arena as they entirely cover the ears.

Swimmers in two hats

I noticed that some swimmers have been wearing two swimming hats - as if one wasn't tight enough!

Many swimmers do indeed wear two hats. There are a number of theories about resistance and water drag, but the simple reason is that it keeps the swimmer's goggles in place. But there is usually a considered order to the layering. "There has been some talk that the silicone hats don't fit very well, and goggles don't stick to them that well," .

Safety pins

Given the huge amount of money spent on sports wear and team outfits, why has no one come up with a better solution for attaching the competitor's numbers to their vests other than using safety pins? Can't do much for the fabric and so very low tech. 

"Safety pins still trump self-adhesive labels, as the latter still depend upon how dry the material is when applied, and can sometimes come unstuck during rain or when the athlete gets sweaty," says Dixon.
"For all their low-tech utilitarian nature, safety pins are clearly a successful product design - they have been around since before the first modern Olympics were even a glint in Baron de Coubertin's eye. The Mycenaean Greeks, who were pretty handy metalworkers and toolmakers, are thought to have invented the safety pin, or fibula, in the 14th Century BC as a way of fastening garments together."

Running without a country

I saw one athlete running whose country was code was IOA and his flag was the Olympic rings instead of a recognisable country flag. Apparently this means he's an "Independent Olympic Athlete" - what's all that about? 

Athletes who don't have a National Olympic Committee can take part in the Olympic Games as "Independent Olympic Athletes" (IOA), according to the International Olympic Committee. They compete under the Olympic flag

Equal podiums

Why is the medal podium the same height for the silver and bronze medallists? I'm sure I grew up with the silver podium being higher than bronze?   

The instructions for the use and heights of podiums and platforms were introduced by the IOC. They were first used in the 1932 Olympic Games, where the IOC stipulated that medallists would stand on "pedestals". It said only that the centre would be higher than the other two sides.  No distinction was made regarding the height of the second and the third-place platform. In most of the Games, the second and third-place platform have been the same height. But in the case of certain Games - Moscow 1980, Sarajevo 1984, and Lillehammer 1994 - the three platforms were at different levels. No explanation is provided in the respective official reports as to why this was the case.

 Empty Lanes

Why are we not using the inside (lane 1) for the 200m and 400m races? Seems odd to me when the longer races all use the inside lane.

 
"Depending on the width of the lane, running a complete lap in lane two would add at least five metres to the 400m distance, lane three 10 or more metres, and so on. This is why 5000m or 10,000m athletes would rather fight for position with each other close to the inside kerb rather than run where there is more space in lanes two or three.  "Lane one isn't used in sprint races (up to 400m) because the tightness of the bend is thought to make it more difficult to tackle at higher speeds."

Blue Hockey Pitch:

London 2012 is the first world hockey event to be played on a different coloured synthetic turf to the traditional green. The water-based surface at the Hockey Centre at the Olympic Park in London uses a high-performance polyethylene resin, helping to make it the world's fastest pitch. The run-off areas are shocking pink, and the colour changes are designed to improve viewing for players, officials, spectators and broadcasters.

Dress and sashes

At various events there are hostesses wearing purple dresses with a huge sash, of a different colour, hung from the waist - presumably the sash colour relates to the sport associated with them. However, one lady at an event (sorry, forgotten which one!) wore the purple dress, but no sash at all.

 The set of uniforms were inspired by Greek mythology and British heritage, according to Locog. Costumes for the victory ceremonies, worn by some 100 female volunteer athlete and presenter escorts and 200 male flower and medal bearers, have been designed by the postgraduate students of the Royal College of Art. According to Locog, athletes' escorts wear a sash, but presenter escorts do not. The sashes relate to the look of the venue.

Oldest Competitor

Hiroshi Hoketsu finished 17th out of 24 in the individual dressage at Greenwich on Thursday. At 71, he is the oldest competitor in the Games, having made his first Olympic appearance at the 1964 Tokyo Games as a showjumper.

Youngest gold medal

15-year-old Ruta Meilutyte from Lithuania defeated a vastly more experienced field to win the women's 100m breaststroke title.

On the first day of competition, Nur Suryani Mohammed Taibi proved that being eight months' pregnant is no bar to competing. The 29-year-old 10 metre air rifle shooter from Malaysia finished 34th overall, shooting 392 targets out of 400.

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