RIO OLYMPICS 2016 WRAP-UP
The 2016 Summer Olympics are finally over, and, as usual, I’m going through withdrawal. I’m seriously depressed right now—I cried all night, while Mr. X laughed at my pain. Thank goodness for DVRs!
One very important realization came out of these two weeks for me. I finally understand why I need to be on Instagram, rather than just Twitter—it’s hard to say everything I need to in just one hundred forty characters!!! (And while I’m on that topic, thanks to everyone who’s been following my tweets @MajorCelebrity.)
As hard as I tried, I did not get to see every second of every event. (After all, there were three hundred fifty-six hours of coverage…a day!) But I did see most, including all of NBC’s coverage. (The few minutes I missed were on the auxiliary stations.)
So, here are the rest of my thoughts since I last did my Olympic Updates, (which, if you missed them, you can read here, to get the complete picture: itsnotaboutme.tv/news/olympicskarens-rant-olympics-2016-updates.) And, to continue my last thought from those updates, here are some facts that back-up my premise about Michael Phelps’ medals.
I know a lot of my observations are about the athletes’ looks, but someone needs to address these beauty issues, so it may as well be me. Do many of them not know they’ll be on TV??? Yes—of course their athletic performances are what counts, but they do need to step-up their beauty issues. Just saying’. (And saying’ and saying’ again.) [Note: My tweet about the beauty of Kristi Castlin got the most attention of any of them! So, I guess my shallowness is universal.]
I’m not even going to address the “Ryan Lochte and the swimmers” scandal. (Sounds like a bad garage band, doesn’t it?) It’s been discussed to death. They were complete and utter and spectacular idiots. Dot, dash, end of story. (Okay, not really the end, because several pals said things like this to me: “Obviously, you’ve never had a heavy-drinking outing!” Since I’ve never had more than a few sips of alcohol in my whole life, that assessment is correct. And to that, I answer: That rowdiness I can understand. A little. But why lie, and create an international incident? I just hope those guys don’t receive a lifetime ban from the Olympics!) [Last sidebar on the topic: I think we already knew they guy was not the brightest bulb, but here are three awful mis-speaks from Ryan Lochte’s recent interview with Matt Lauer: he called “tactics” “tantics,” he says the dreaded“expecially,” and he kept saying that he “over-exaggerated” history. I have news for him—by definition, “exaggerated” means “over!” Oysh.]
Now back to the rest.
Rio has pulled it off!!! With all the dread and bad talk before them, I was really worried. But they were great. And, the best to me is that everyone was safe. (I love how prescient I was about the choice of this colorful city when I wrote this, way back in 2009!: itsnotaboutme.tv/news/rio-olympics.)
One aspect of the Rio Olympics that made me really sad, though, was all the pretty empty arenas. Even the “free” ones were never “sold out!” Perhaps they should have given tickets away, maybe even in contests, if they felt they needed to save face. (But the the traffic would have been even worse to the venues.)
All the commentators always say “athletes,” even for the horses. They’re obviously instructed to do so by the powers-that-be, either at NBC or the International Olympics Committee.
A broadcaster there finally really got on my nerves. Daytime auxiliary channel host Carolyn Manno’s type of questions to the athletes was to give them the whole scenario that she expects them to answer, and then say, “Is that right?” Awful! (Shades of Jiminy Glick, And Skip E. Lowe, for all my Los Angeles readers.)
At the beginning of this second week of competition, Mr. X said he couldn’t put his finger on it, but he felt this Olympics was off somehow, that it lacked excitement and sparkle. Then, as he joined me to watch a bit of the late night show one night, and saw Ryan Seacrest talking, he exclaimed, “That’s it! Ryan Seacrest is killing the Olympics.” And he did not mean “killing it” as in “doing great”; he meant ruining it. He didn’t know exactly why that was, and then I realized—they needed a sports man hosting the show, like Jim McKay back in the day! (As they went to commercial one night, Ryan actually exclaimed, “I suck!” But he was referring to his Brazilian frescobol skills. Or was he?!)
FRIDAY
[Note: I wrote these comments on-time, as the games went along, so this was before the big scandal.] I’ve always known that Ryan Lochte is cute-looking, and a lot of fun, and a talented athlete, but I never really liked him before. The way he handled his defeat (to Michael Phelps and others) last night has made me a fan. I really do hope we see him back at the Olympics in 2012. [And then he had to and ruin all that good will. What a shame.]
Why are most of the women skeet shooters so heavy? I’m seriously asking.
I can’t believe how riveted I am to archery and shooting!
I hate to go along with the rest of the webiverse, but yes, archer Brady Ellison does look like Leonardo DiCaprio. Not in the body (at all,) but in the face.
Finally, someone there has gorgeous teeth!!! It’s swimmer Pernille Blume of Denmark. (That’s her pic back up there, near the top.)
Shot Put gold medalist, American Michelle Carter seems like the sweetest girl!
The swim team should be ashamed of themselves, especially Katie Ledecky, for not mentioning Amy Van Dyken even once. Katie equaled Amy’s record, but no shout-out to her predecessor, especially after her horrific accident two years ago, that has left her paralyzed form the wast down. I hate them all for that neglect!
Diver Kassidy Cook has excellent teeth, as well.
Swimmer Maia Dorado is probably the smartest, most mentally stable athlete the US has. But why in the world would she wear her “shower hair” to be interviewed by Ryan Seacrest after winning her gold medal?! You can tell it’s good enough hair, and would have been fine down, even still damp. And the make-up people on the set would have helped her with it. I’m just saying’.
SATURDAY
Daytime Track and Field commentator, Tim Hutchings, called the female steeplechaser from India, Lalita Shivaj Babar, “the little Indian.” I know how he meant it, but these days, I’m sure everyone will jump on him.
I have to give many of the female athletes big props again, for all the creative fingernails.
Tom Hammond said, “Here comes Usain Bolt, with an entourage,” as he was walking in a stadium tunnel. It was not an entourage, idiot! They were his competitors for that heat! They all entered together. That was apparent to even the casual observer. Nothing like trying to create drama where there is none.
Steeplechase medalist Emma Coburn is one of the prettiest girls there. (Not that it matters, but… Please refer back to my first sentence.) Along with Beach Volleyball-er Anouk Verge-Depre.
Todd Harris reports on the auxiliary Track and Field events is very strong. He sounds like Dwight Stones, who severed that purpose for many Olympics.
Do you think that the female US Team Pursuit Cycling team lost to Great Britain because they all wore gloves during the gold medal match while the Great Britain girls rocked sparkly nails? Just saying’.
I’m not being mean, but does Uschi Freitag look like a diver to you? I’m amazed.
What a little bi-atch Kassidy Cook is! Right after she knew that she did not make the diving final, her American teammate, who did make it, went over to hug her, to console her, and Kassidy didn’t even look at Abby! She just gave Abby a perfunctory pat during the hug, and sort-of dismissed her. She’s the opposite of sweet swimmer Missy Franklin, I’m afraid.
One of the nicest ends I’ve ever seen in sports was the end of the Heptathlon. Not only were all the competitors hugging each other and genuinely smiling, but then all the ladies got together in one long line and took several bows to the appreciative crowd. Loved it!
Why do they waste our time with all this Leslie Jones nonsense?! I don’t even have enough hours in the day to watch every sport I want to, yet NBC throws this crap on.
Austrian Beach Volleyball player Alexander Huber is not what I call good-looking, but he has the most gorgeous blue eyes I’ve ever seen. And that means a lot coming from this very proud blue-eyed gal!
SUNDAY
I was never a Missy Franklin fan before, but when I saw an interview with her today, that all changed. What an honest and supportive and positive person she is! I wish I had some friends like that! (I do, but the all live elsewhere, so I never get to see them anymore. Shame.) I just wish she wasn’t always goofily laughing over absolutely nothing.
As I just said, I think the world of Missy Franklin, but on a shallow note, how can a twenty-one-year-old have such deep forward wrinkles already??? (I guess it’s from all the water.)
I was very impressed that the US is the only country who had three women in the top ten of the marathon.
Being such a girly-girl, you know I’m a Synchronized Swimming fan. And I always wish that others would realize that these girls are really the best athletes in the world. But, as much as I love the sport, I have to ask—how does one get into it to begin with? What mother says to her daughter, “I have an idea—why don’t you get into this really difficult sport that’s going to take up all your time and make you no money in life, and not even come in handy for anything unless you fall into the water upside down and have to hold your breath that way for a few minutes.” (Mr. X commented that it’s like getting a liberal arts degree. I hear him!) Seriously, besides everything else difficult about the sport, who wants to never be able to have good hair???
I friggin’ love Equestrian! Show Jumping is my fave.
Stanford sure has a lot of Olympians! So that means these athletes are also very smart. You go, boys and girls!
How fun for Kerri Walsh to have members of the US basketball team sing Happy Birthday to her after her quarterfinal win!
What bad sports the US Women’s Soccer Team is. First creepy Hope Solo called Sweden (the team that beat them) “cowards,” (for no reason other than her usual bad sportsmanship,) and then several of here teammates could not have acted more miserable on the late night show, during an interview with Ryan Seacrest. At least they were honest about how crushed they were, (and still are,) to lose in the quarterfinals, so there’s that. But everything they had to say about not advancing in the competition made them look like spoiled brats.
MONDAY
I’m so sad there’s only this one week to go!
Another pretty girl—Deajah Stevens.
I hate the “one false start and you’re out” rule. It should be two. What if an athlete’s muscle just jumps?
I just realized something. With no exaggeration, I would literally die if I tried so many of these Olympics sports. And I don’t mean fencing, because I’d have the protection of the uniform. I mean diving, gymnastics, throwing a hammer, and even running in the heat!
Sara Robles, bronze medalist for Super Weightlifting, speaks so well. I hope she becomes a commentator for the sport down the line. And I love that a big girl in that sport has a French manicure!
I love that Emma Coburn’s hair looked so great on the medal stand, after a grueling Steeplechase run.
Jeff Henderson, gold medalist in Long Jump, seems like such a lovely person. I’d like him as a friend.
One of my favorite races was the men’s 800m, where all three medalists could not stop hugging each other. Young American, Clayton Murphy, who shockingly won the bronze, must have fainted inside that his idol, the great David Rudisha, was hugging him!!!
Finally, a sport where every single competitor knows enough to have gorgeous white teeth! And, of course, it’s Synchronized Swimming! I actually think it may be a requirement, like hair gel and nose plugs.
I could not be happier for the Dutch girl who won the Balance Beam, Sanne Wevers.
And the same for Thiago Braze DaSilva, the Brazilian who won the Pole Vault, and got an Olympic record in his last vault. I always love when the home country’s athletes win, but even more so in this poor-ish area.
You would never have guessed from the embrace that Brazilian gymnast Arthur Zanetti had just lost his defending gold medal to Eleftherios Petrounias of Greece! What great sportsmanship!!!
TUESDAY
I finally saw an adorable kid there! Hurdler Nia Ali’s son, Titus Tinsley. (But doesn’t that name sound like a marionette?)
I love upbeat Cindy Ofili, who’s really an American, but runs for Great Britain.
The story of Field medalist Will Claye proposing to his girlfriend, Queen Harrison, in the stands after his silver medal win, was adorbs.
Matthew Centrowitz, who runs the 1500m for America, [and won up wining it!,] speaks so well. I expect to hear him as a commentator down the line.
How do so many of them run, dive, play volleyball, etc, with those necklaces flying? Even more head-scathing is how Beach Volleyball peeps can play with rings. Kerri Walsh plays with multiple ones! I don’t understand! I can’t even have sex with jewelry on!
Finally, someone ran a heat with long hair (or wig) just down and flowing! It was Hurdler gold medalist, Dalilah Muhammad.
Hurdling gold medalist Kerron Clement was adorable at the end of his post-semi-final interview, when he looked in the camera with that beautiful smile, and winked.
Aly Reisman is so annoying. Everything she says on the floor is for the camera. And she does not stop bossing Simone Biles around. And she ruined the interview with Bob Costas, not only for Simone, but for Bob, (and for the viewers, too,) by trying to take it over, and not let Simone talk about the compettiion she had just won.
Kerri Walsh and April Ross were so cold to the Aussies at the net, after yet another of their wins.
I hate to admit it, but I was semi-happy that Kerri and April lost their semi-final match, which meant they could not vie for the gold. And Kerri is far from as good a loser as she is a winner. She literally turned even whiter than she already is!
I love the story of the Argentinean sailing champ, (and lung cancer survivor,) Santiago Longa and his sons, who also raced in these Olympics.
Triple Jump champion, Christian Taylor, is another guy with great speech and voice. I hope to hear his dulcet tones commentating when he’s done jumping.
WEDNESDAY
Former decathlete silver medalist, Trey Hardee, does a great job of commentating. He’s my new favorite one.
How adorable is American decathlete Jeremy Taiwo, with his little salutes to Harry Potter???
My “Unbelievable Award” goes to Abbey D’Agostina, who finished her 5000m heat, after suffering a torn ACL in a collision during that race!!! So sad that she can’t move on to the final, though. The story of how she and Nikki Hamblin, the Kiwi she collided with, helped each other up and egged each other on to finish the race, is so wonderful. And, obviously not just to me—the duo was awarded the prestigious, and very rare, (it has been awarded only seventeen times in Olympic history!,) Pierre de Coubertin medal for their great sportsmanship.
Justine Fedronic from France is another pretty girl.
I can’t believe they’re still talking about Caster Sememya’s gender all these years later! They should have sorted it all out by now. And I’ve even seen a few other female athletes who look even more like males than she does! So how have they done away with gender testing?! That’s a big mistake, especially these days, when it’s needed perhaps more than ever. (At least she sometimes wears a bit of make-up, although she really needs to do away with her mustache if she wants to be taken seriously as a female.)
American runner Mary Grace just may be the most uncharming person in track and field. What a lummox.
Finally a guy with good teeth! It’s Steeplechase silver medalist, American Evan Jager. (But later, he said winning an Olympic medal was a “lifelong dream” of his, and then he added that he thought about it “every day for the past two years!” Whaaat???)
I did not think I could love Christian Taylor more, but then he expressed his love for his grandma, and for…cleaning! What a man! (It was good that they finally interviewed him alone, rather than with his charming teammate, and silver medalist behind Christian, Will Claye, who just got engaged to a famous girl runner, which took away from Christian.)
How rude of NBC’s Mike Tirico to be snide about Badminton! I have news for him—even though I’m not into it, it’s the second most popular sport in the world!
How do the single canoes not curve paths when the athletes paddle on just one side?
THURSDAY
Megan Rapinoe is cute and well-spoken, and honest.
I believe in God as much as the next guy, but I really don’t like when the winners invoke Jesus. Go ahead and thank God, because he (or she) probably did help. (But, really, haven’t you ever wondered why would he answer your prayers, and not those of the other guys?) But these Jesus and savior statements are just repelling.
I know, I know—the trio of female American hurdler medalists did not put their hands over their hearts. Someone should have told them to.
Love Ashton Eaton! How could anyone not? His repeat as Decathlon Champion, (which makes him the best athlete in the world for at least five years straight!,) is an incredible achievement! (And I’m glad his Canadian wife, Brianne, won the bronze in the Heptathlon, as well. They’re going to have some gnarly-strong kids!!!)
I really was thrilled for the Brazilian Beach Volleyball men to have won the gold, but it’s sort-of shameful that they didn’t even go over to shake hands with their opponents. They didn’t even acknowledge each other!!! Alison ran over to his family and friends. (They did do it all later, but I just wish they had done it first. But the pressure on them to win in front of their home crowd, which the women could not do, was overwhelming, so they get to slide a bit on this one.)
FRIDAY
The most choked-up I’ve been at this Olympics was during the very emotional rousing National Anthem of Brazil during the medal ceremony for Men’s Beach Volleyball. That gold medal for their country appeared to mean so much them than we spoiled Americans can ever imagine.
Wrestler Jordan Burroughs seems so good and stable. And his tiny son is one of the most gorgeous children I’ve ever seen!
I’m sure you guys are marveling at that I watched the race-walking contest, but there’s really so much to discuss about it! Like, that it was totally rude of NBCSN to do a close-up of the leader pooping his pants!!! And, just when I was feeling sorry for the dude, he takes a pooped-on sponge out of his butt, and throws it to the side of the road, right near unsuspecting spectators! Ugh. And lastly, that I was trying to eat breakfast during all of this! At least I didn’t gain any weight that day because I stayed nauseated throughout.
But also, that guy collapsed a couple of times, stopped at least three times, but finished the race in eighth place! What a supreme victory for him! (He had never finished it before!)
I absolutely love hurdler Kristi Castlin’s beauty and style! While the other medalists (who are interviewed later that night or the next day,) always stick with their uniforms, Kristi wore a red USA tee-shirt dress and uber-fashionable white kicks to an interview! You go, girl!
I can’t believe that there was not just one hole-in-one during the reinstated Golf competitions, but four! (Two for men, two for women.)
I hate that two of my favorite Olympic sports, Synchronized Swimming and Rhythmic Gymnastics, are always put near the end of the two weeks, when my interest in the games is, understandably, flagging a bit.
I have so many questions for synchronized swimmers, divers, and swimmers! Like: don’t their fingers get pruney, do they ever get to rock good hair, doesn’t the water adversely affect their skin, and how did they choose something so hard (with very little time to look good) to begin with?
I love that the oldest rider, fifty-four-year-old Nick Skelton, (and his horse Big Star, too, of course,) won the Show Jumping.
SATURDAY
When the Women’s Triathlon winner, America Gwen Jorgensen, said her husband does everything for her, so she can train, and listed “dishes, laundry, shopping,” etc., I realized—that’s what Mr. X does for me for the Olympics, too…so I can watch them!
What a sad (not bad) loser Shakur Stevenson was. He admitted he did not deserve to win, but started crying hysterically and, when asked if he could take any pride in winning the silver medal, he cried, “NO! I don’t like to lose.” It’s so weird to see a boxer, (which means he’s macho, by definition,) turn into a big crybaby like that. (He is just nineteen, though.)
It’s shocking that so many of the athletes, men and woman both, look better on the field than they do in the studio, all cleaned-up! One would think that after they’ve had the chance to shower and cool down and get dressed, and especially after the hair and make-up people get a hold of them, they’d look great, but that has rarely been the case! The only one who has looked great both on and off the field is Kristi Castlin. If that girl is not already a model, she’s going to be one now! (And she’s also the only one who posed well before her race final!)
The most choked-up I’ve been this entire Olympics was over Brazil’s soccer gold medal. Anyone who follows sports even glancingly knows what that meant to that country.
This topic must be addressed by the governing bodies of sports! I alluded to it before, but it’s not just Caster Sememya whose gender is, medically, “intersex,” yet competes as a female. There are several of them now. While I feel awful for them, especially if they could not compete in sports, which is obviously their raison d’etre, it’s really not fair to the other female competitors. In the women’s 800m final, it was glaringly obvious. The three medalists all looked like men, while the other five were skinny little girls! That quintet did not stand a chance. The medalists were black (and African,) while the others were white, so the conversation may look racist, but it’s not at all. Nor is anything about the LBGT community—it’s just about having fair competitions. While it’s not the fault of the poor people who have this sad condition, having more testosterone than your competitors gives one a very unfair advantage. Even I can’t figure out exactly what to about it, but someone needs to, asap. For everyone’s sake. [Note: Both sexes compete against each other in Sailing and Equestrian, but, other than that, they do have to keep the genders separate, for fairness. So, they need to regulate Track and Field, somehow.)
It was beyond cruel of NBC to break the news on-air to American Paul Kipkemoi Chelimo that he had been disqualified in the Men’s 5000m, after he had thought he got the silver. They later awarded that place to him again, but I hope he never forgives NBC for doing that to him.
It was so cute—running icon Mo Farah said he needed to win that fourth gold medal because he wants to give one each to his four kids! No wonder he’s so beloved around the world!
Perhaps the classiest athlete there in defeat was female high jumper Chaunte Lowe.
I am absolutely gutted for always-adorable British diver Tom Daley to have not made the final after he had been the best of the lot in the round before, even pummeling the perennially-winning Chinese guys! Gutted, I tell you.
I also give him tons of credit for being one of the very few “out” Olympians. You can see his happiness with his life now, so why should he have to keep it quiet? (But it’s weird; while many female athletes love shouting to the world that they’re gay, very few male ones want to announce that fact.)
SUNDAY CLOSING CEREMONY
It was colorful and fun. And not overly long, which was great for me, at that point. Viva, Rio! And thanks for the memories.
I have to go take a two-day nap now. And I am not kidding!!!