[Omah]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-18137508

An Olympic torch has gone out for the first time during the London 2012 relay, organisers have confirmed.

The torch was attached to the side of David Follett's wheelchair in Great Torrington, Devon, when it went out.

A replacement was brought out from the convoy of vehicles.

£495 to make, £215 to buy and David gets a dud .....

Latest :

The torch which went out is being examined and one theory about why it failed is that it was lit from a lantern at the start of a new leg of Monday's relay.

The "kiss", which occurs when the flame is passed from one bearer to another, heats the top of the receiving torch.

Mr Follett's was cold, which may have caused it to fail to light.

So, only 'warm' torches can be lit .....

[lostalex]

i love the olympics, and i really don't get all the negativity from some Brits. I certainly don't support anything about the chinese government and the lack of human rights, but they still put on a great games and i thought Beijing 2008 was AMAZING.

I think the London games will be a huge success and i can't wait.

[Livia]

Originally Posted by lostalex

i love the olympics, and i really don't get all the negativity from some Brits. I certainly don't support anything about the chinese government and the lack of human rights, but they still put on a great games and i thought Beijing 2008 was AMAZING.

I think the London games will be a huge success and i can't wait.

I have to agree. I'm so tired of all the negativity. As soon as any little thing happens the negative people jump on it... someone's selling a relay torch!... the flame's gone out!... it's all treated with absolute glee from these people. Stop it! If you don't want to be involved and watch the Olympics with your own country hosting, then please disinvolve yourself.

[Shaun]

Happened with Beijing too: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/08/wo...pagewanted=all

Will still probably get spun as a whole "LONDON IS DOOMED" story though

[Omah]

Well, those of us who don't get caught up in the hype and hysteria of events that are promoted by commercial concerns and vested interests still, AFAIK, have an opportunity to present our, less subjective, viewpoint .....

[lostalex]

Originally Posted by Omah

Well, those of us who don't get caught up in the hype and hysteria of events that are promoted by commercial concerns and vested interests still, AFAIK, have an opportunity to present our, less subjective, viewpoint .....

and what do young people who have been working for many years to perfect an athletic ability have to do with your cynicism or politics? nothing. We celebrate the acheivement of youth and amatuer sport, nothing more. Why should anyone's politics spoil that for these amazing young people who have worked so hard?

[Omah]

Originally Posted by lostalex

and what do young people who have been working for many years to perfect an athletic ability have to do with your cynicism or politics? nothing. We celebrate the acheivement of youth** and amatuer* sport, nothing more. Why should anyone's politics spoil that for these amazing young people who have worked so hard?

The modern OG is ALL about politics and money .....

*AFAIK, The IOC voted to allow professionals to compete in the Olympics in 1986. The 1988 Games were the first to have professionals compete.

** I don't know about this year, but 4 years ago :

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/olymp...athletes_N.htm

Libby Callahan is a retiree and a great-aunt 15 times over, with No. 16 on the way. She spends her time walking her dogs, gardening and baking.

And training for the Olympics.

Callahan will compete in pistol shooting at the Beijing Games, which begin Aug. 8. At 56, she's the oldest female U.S. Olympian ever. "I consider it a non-factor in what I have to do," Callahan, a four-time Olympian, says of her age.

Yet even she was impressed by 41-year-old Dara Torres' wins in the U.S. Olympic swimming trials to earn a spot on the 2008 team. Those efforts, along with Callahan's, helped put age-defying Olympic feats on the national radar.

When Torres squinted to read the scoreboard after her trials races, she heralded a trend that's taken hold on U.S. Olympic teams in the last decade: America's Olympians are significantly older than they were a generation ago, thanks to changes in the Games' rules that allow athletes to be paid for their successes plus advances in training and recovery programs.

The average age of the U.S. Summer Olympic team rose to 27 in 1996 from 24 in 1976 and has remained steady. This year's team has an average age of 26.8.

The roster includes three five-time Olympians (Torres is one) and 12 four-time Olympians. Twenty are mothers. At least one — 58-year-old sailor John Dane III, who after 40 years of trying will be at his first Games as the oldest Team USA member and the oldest U.S. Olympian in more than 50 years — is a grandfather.

Sheila Taormina, 39 will be the first woman to compete at the Olympics in three different sports. Achieving that drove her to stay in Olympic sports after swimming in the 1996 Olympics, where she won a gold medal in the 4x200-meter freestyle relay, and competing in the 2000 and 2004 Games in the triathlon.

"I've always tried to break paradigms out there," Taormina says, "to just get people to think a little differently."

Like Torres, 21 of the U.S. Olympians headed to Beijing are 40 or older. Torres — who will race in the 50 freestyle and possibly one or two relays — and Taormina might stand out for their success in sports that are particularly demanding on the body, but in Olympic sports such as shooting, sailing and others, experienced competitors often are well-suited for the precision and skills necessary for success.

[lostalex]

Originally Posted by Omah

The modern OG is ALL about politics and money .....

*AFAIK, The IOC voted to allow professionals to compete in the Olympics in 1986. The 1988 Games were the first to have professionals compete.

only in soccer(football), tennis, and basketball do you really see REAL professionals though. The vast majority of competitors are young people still in university. and they should not be punished for the sins of the fathers. is the IOC corrupt? of course. Just like FIFA. BUt despite the corrupution at the highest levels, the purity at the lowest levels makes up for it.

So does that mean that the event itself is corrupt? no. because the spirit is still pure.

[Omah]

Originally Posted by lostalex

The vast majority of competitors are young people still in university. and they should not be punished for the sins of the fathers.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv...ts-by-age.html

In the past three Summer Olympics, 64 of the U.S. team’s 1,707 athletes have been age 40 and older — and they won 23 medals.

http://www.dailyiowan.com/2012/04/18/Sports/27989.html

The average age of the U.S. Olympic athletes in the 2008 Beijing Games was 26.8.

[Omah]

Originally Posted by lostalex

is the IOC corrupt? of course. Just like FIFA. BUt despite the corrupution at the highest levels, the purity at the lowest levels makes up for it.

So does that mean that the event itself is corrupt? no. because the spirit is still pure.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...Olympic_medals

Includes :

Marion Lois Jones (born October 12, 1975), also known as Marion Jones-Thompson, is a former world champion track and field athlete, and a former professional basketball player for Tulsa Shock in the WNBA. She won five medals at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia, but forfeited all medals and prizes dating back to September 2000 after her October 2007 admission that she took performance-enhancing drugs as far back as the 2000 Summer Olympics, and that she had lied about it to a grand jury investigating performance-enhancer creations by Victor Conte and the Bay Area Laboratory Co-operative (a.k.a. BALCO).

[Omah]

Originally Posted by lostalex

only in soccer(football), tennis, and basketball do you really see REAL professionals though.

Although the IOC allowed for athlete compensation in 1971, all U.S. athletes still had to be of amateur status to compete on the United States Olympic team until 1978. Athletes from the United States found it difficult to compete at the Olympic Games against athletes from eastern nations who were sponsored by their governments and able to train full-time. In 1978, the United States adopted the Ted Stevens Olympic and Amateur Sports Act, allowing athletes on the U.S. Olympic team to receive financial awards, sponsorship, and payments for the first time. A revision of the Ted Stevens Olympic and Amateur Sports Act in 1998 expanded athletic eligibility and representation further to include the Paralympics Games and increased athlete representation.

Corporate Sponsors

Since the elimination of amateurism in the Olympic Games, athletes are often funded to train through corporate sponsors and endorsement deals.

Read more: Olympic Athletes — Infoplease.com http://www.infoplease.com/spot/olymp...#ixzz1vVDV5qZA

[King Gizzard]

Only sports where the Olympics is the pinnacle of the sport should be allowed in my opinion, which isn't the case in football, basketball, etc

[lostalex]

Parade of nations is always my favourite part. and team USA always get's the biggest cheer.

skip to 4:20 (that's not a marijuanna refernce)

Youtube video

[Omah]

Olympic organisers Locog said the flame went out due to a "malfunctioning burner".

A replacement flame replacing the one that went out was brought from the convoy of vehicles accompanying the torch.

Locog said: "It is not uncommon for a flame to go out and this can happen for a number of reasons, for example, in extreme winds.

We keep the mother flame in specially designed miners lanterns so if the flame does go out for some reason on the relay we relight it from the source of the flame."

Ah, so it's not hot/cold torch syndrome - it's a "malfunctioning burner" and a bit of wind .....

Locog should have got the torches made by Zippo - their lighters don't mind a bit of wind .....

[lostalex]

They still make Zippo's?? i havn't seen one in years.

[Omah]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-18146768

Well, theres no wind to speak of in the video - the flags in the crowd are barely fluttering .....