France in Focus

I see they've added more sports this year - if they keep adding sports each year it'll end up being a year long event.

I haven’t had much chance since they started,but am catching up a bit now

In a word yes but only intermitantly, good that Tom Daily won the gold with his ? today.
Have never been one to be glued to the tv during it.

The Frenchman that won gold yesterday (eppe) or I think foil in English was good to watch.

mysty wrote: ↑Mon Jul 26, 2021 9:25 pm The Frenchman that won gold yesterday (eppe) or I think foil in English was good to watch.

It's epée in English too - foil is fleuret in French (I used to be a fencer many many years ago .....)
The French fella was an extra in the team in case anyone fell out !

I hate fencing. Getting the poles perfectly aligned is really difficult.

Playground game now as well. Skateboarding. Average age of the three medallists was 14

The thing is a lot of the traditional sports/ games either don’t appeal to younger people and /or are beyond their reach financially at least the new sports are encouraging participation

Char wrote: ↑Mon Jul 26, 2021 8:22 pm I see they've added more sports this year - if they keep adding sports each year it'll end up being a year long event.

Short answer is no. I really gave up when the rich professionals were allowed in and the whole ethos of amateur effort was thrown out of the window. But my breath was taken away at the sight of Tom Daley and his partner in that perfect synchronised dive. They should be footballers.

In the '80s I was so into petanque in Leicestershire (and in France) that at one point I was out of the house most evenings a week, as well as weekends, playing in various competitions and when my son and daughter became interested, we took them too. My son in particular had a really fluid action when 'shooting' and one of the senior players in the community advised him to keep up the practice because the sport was on the verge of being included in the Olympics.

It still hasn't happened, despite being a largely amateur sport played at a high level in around 80 countries across the world. Leaves a bit of a sour taste when I see the millionaire pros showing off, which must make it very difficult to compete for the true amateurs these days.

I was a very good player, an organiser and then captain of Leicestershire for several seasons and a participant in several UK wide regional championships in one of which we, East Midlands, were the victors. But despite, on at least one occasion beating international players, I never came near to the standard required for the annual international championships. The wealth of amateurism was available in that and other sports but has been squeezed out by those who have the money to do so.

A quick aside to welcome Pathca, nice to see you here.

I appreciate that when the Games were revived at the end of the 19th century that the original spirit of the games was going to change. Competitors would no longer be naked !

However, some of the disciplines included seem completely at odds with the spirit of the games - team games like football and playground games like skateboarding.
It seems now that every sport could be considered for the Olympics - pétanque ? It'll be tiddlywinks next - sorry Spardo, no offence intended
I enjoyed the Olympics when the disciplines were for individuals : individual physical prowess and strength, and the competitors were amateurs. Now as with all sports, it has become a question of money, sponsors, advertising and entertainment.
I have little interest in watching them today - I'd rather watch my choice of individual sports at international level.