yeah, i've been watching both online and on the various NBC networks. online has been a pleasant surprise -- pretty good video quality all around, and i like how it's mostly commercial free.

Hi Shani, the other sites broadcasting (BBC, CBC etc) have black outs/lockouts for IPs not originating in their territories. However, I have heard there are sites or ways to reroute your own IP address to get access to these broadcasts. Also, there are programs you can download that broadcast various channels. One program is called Sopcast.

Perhaps one of the more computer savvy tfpers can help us out? Cynth? Anyone? Beuller?

Enjoy the Games everyone!

I tried the things listed here (How to Watch the Olympics Online) the other night when I was trying to watch the 4x100 freestyle relay, and didn't get much success. Granted, I was a bit rushed, but it wasn't exactly the most trivial thing to set up.

I honestly dont know about this, I know when I set it up it asked for my tv provider (which is Dish network) and it set me up a grid of all the channels dish is broadcasting the games on and what time etc if I want to watch them on tv. As far as the online? I just go to the online grid and pick what I want to see, go to that page and click the rewind link so I can watch all of that particular competition, I havent had one yet that didnt let me watch it and I've tried them all

I share your frustrations folks, a lot of the vid links don't work, hopefully the powers that be will hear our complaints and make adjustments. Hang in there.

I dunno. I feel that the vast majority of people in America are just fine with whatever NBC force feeds them. It's really the enlightened folk like us who are demanding change, and we're mere peons in the billion dollar complex that is NBC and the Olympics.

one of my friends watches the coverage on a program called TVU. its a program that he downloaded from download.com im sure.

gives feeds from channels from all over the world, including the olympics, except hes yet to find english coverage of the olympics

How are you watching it? Are you able to get coverage out there in the UAE?
-----Added 13/8/2008 at 01 : 59 : 14-----
Ok folks, Day 5:

1. Michael Phelps and the "Quest for 8" is more than halfway complete winning golds 4 and 5 to creep ever closer to history. Unbelievable watching this young man swim.

2. Well, sadly Team USA Ladies' Gymnastics lost to the Chinese in the team event. The Americans just made too many mistakes and the Chinese capitalized on their home turf. But with still the Individual competitions left, don't count our the American girls just yet.

3. Our friends from Oz have shown up and are screaming up the medal charts neck in neck with the South Koreans. Now this is more in line with my expectations for Australia. Always a contender and successful, the Aussies do not fail to disappoint. They racked up a bunch of medals in swimming today.

Also, keep an eye out on their softball team who will sure to challenge and give the Americans a run for their money. But my money is still on USA ;).

4. Tied for third in the medal count with Australia are the South Koreans. They are just superb and unbeatable in archery. They suprisingly found some success in swimming too.

5. Little Taiwan beats the Netherlands in baseball

6. Georgia beat Russia in girls' Beach Volleyball - makes for some interesting intrigue there.

7. Zimbabwe has collected its 3rd silver medal - all from the same person, Kirsty Coventry.

No, Croatia are not the champs. However Denmark are the European champs. Hopefully we will beat our former occupiers too!
I don't know what else Iceland is participating in, but I doubt much will come out of it. They have a total of one silver and two bronze medals from all the previous olympics. And they've never won any medal at the winter olympics, heh.

But yeah, maybe they could do well in the Spa Championships :lol:

Áfram Ísland! :)

ktsp - im just wondering who you are going for?? you could easily be barracking for 3 countries - lebanon, usa and iceland.

jorge- im watching what i can online of highlights, some on tvs wherever they are around. although i do have a TV at home, i dont have a subscription cos im never home to watch tv, and when i am im usually online. im going to figure out what im goingto do when the athletics start cos i plan to watch most of it. i may download TVU or something else if i find something with english commentary.

Just on that pool one.... I really shouldn't mention it, but I'm going to anyway.

I fail to see how deeper water makes for stronger gravity. If this was the case - the gravitational field under your typical boat would be huge.

We watched NBC for a long time last night.
It's just kind of frustrating to have the commentators, the cameramen and the commercials all fapping to Phelps, or the US team and not covering the rest of the Olympics. I mean, it's nice to see how the US gymnasts stretch and talk and smile and stuff, but don't you think you could use that time to show another team?
Also, I completely disagree with this new thing they've been saying which is that Phelps is the greatest athlete ever. No way. He's an amazing swimmer, has tremendous motivation, strength, character, and all of that, but I don't think he's the greatest athlete ever.

I don't have tv at the moment so I am stuck with the online coverage which is actually pretty good. Watch the live feeds and video. You may find it better.

The NBC coverage drives me crazy. So much fluff and so many commercials. They spent 10 minutes on pandas during the coverage last night. Aaargh!

I did watch a bit of Brazil versus Nigeria (Women's soccer) on Telemundo yesterday. Cristiane's bicycle kick was impressive! The coverage on Telelemundo was much better - fewer commerical and less fluff.

Well, I guess I tend to like underdogs, and countries that I feel attached to. It would be great if Lebanon got a medal, but that's quite unlikely. And it would be very nice if Iceland got something too, since I will be in the middle of the celebrations :).

The US, though I plan to move there, I'm not as excited about, sportswise, because they're such a giant. But I'm not against them, for sure :).

The Icelandic handball team happens to be kicking ass and takin' names right now! But ktsp already mentioned that... :)

I'm a fan of any of my 3 nationalities (+ Lebanon, my adopted one) winning any medals.

That said, in Iceland they aren't showing much of anything on the one channel that we have... mostly because they only show it live (we're 8 hours behind Beijing), which is in the middle of the night for a lot of things. So I might have settled for at least NBC so I could see SOME events... alas, I can't even watch on NBC's stupid website because my computer is not in America. :p

Mostly, though, I would love to watch the rowing events... there's no sport more beautiful than that, in my biased opinion. But they very rarely show it.

Ooh, this is always a fun part for me. One of the reasons I like the Olympics is the diversity of nations in attendance. This year there are 205 out of 206 (thank you very much Dlish) countries. It should be obvious that I am deeply entrenched in rooting for USA! USA! USA! BUT, I always enjoy hearing about other nations, especially the "underdog" or smaller, lesser known nations. I always feel it's good exposure for them. I am also touched by so many of their extraordinary stories; what they went through, how they got there.

This year I've adopted Cambodia (their runner couldn't even afford shoes), Afghanistan, Iraq, India, and of course Team USA.

A word on Team USA. One of the reasons why I love Team USA so much is because of its diversity. I will for sure be rooting for that Sudanese refugee Lopez. In addition, we have Russian, Chinese, Indian, etc Americans on this team - all competing their hearts out for the USA. That means alot to me. Keep an eye out for Sadam Ali (gotta love that name), the first Arab-American athlete to compete in the Olympics. I believe he is in boxing. Although a long shot, a medal by Ali would do wonders for raising Arab-Americans' profile in the US.

Enjoy the games everyone!
-----Added 13/8/2008 at 03 : 59 : 52-----
There's gotta be a way you can watch the events (routing your ISP etc). Look at some of the previous posts for helpful hints and maybe someone else can show you a way too. Haven't seen any rowing yet but looking forward to it. Heard there was supposed to be dragonboating as well but haven't heard anything about it yet.

USA baseball lost their opening game to S. Korea 8-7. I noticed some sports blogs going crazy over this, saying stuff about how Korea was totally lucky, etc. etc. I found this amusing because Korea definitely beat the US in the prelim game they played in the World Baseball Classic two years ago...

Day 6:

1. Yang Wei wins the long awaited gold medal for Mens All Around Gymnastics. The Chinese have performed poorly in Olympic competition and excelled at the Worlds for awhile now. This Olympic win is definitely an achievement for them.

2. France vindicated - smack talkin' Alain Bernard of France wins gold in the Mens 100 meter freestyle. Poor guy was pretty downtrodden after the spectacular relay finish, good to see him win the gold.

3. Zimbabwe sweeps - Kirsty Coventry has won 3 silvers in swimming. Way to go!

4. Japan sweeps - Kitajima takes the gold in both breast stroke events.

5. The Aussies have pulled away from the South Koreans in the medal count thanks to their swimming

6. USA beach volley ball are on a roll going into the medal rounds

That's it for this update. I have been browsing other events too these past couple of days such as softball, baseball, archery, hockey, and fencing. It's fun to watch other countries compete in not-as-mainstream events. Haven't seen much badminton yet but I hear it's absolutely thrilling. Anyone else watch some interesting events or other countries (non-home country events)?

Fun-fact: Michael Phelps consumes 14,000 calories a day to sustain his training regimen. It's not all health food either. The list of what he eats is staggering and frighteningly unhealthy. I gained a few pounds just looking at the menu of what he eats.

Enjoy the games!

good call.
thanks for pointing that out nimetic. now that you mention it, maybe you're right. but there is definately a huge difference between swimming in shallow and swimming in deep water. maybe someones got some answer here? i tried googling it but havent come up with anything yet. what your take on it nimetic?


whats everyone think of the fake fireworks as well as the myming little chinese girl from the opening ceremony who did a myming act for the real singer who wasnt allowed to sing because she has crooked teeth? anyone heard anything on this yet?

Just a little update on the Icelandic broadcasting thing: today I've been able to catch some more of the "early morning" events (which showed before noon today, while I was working on stuff at home), including the mens's 100m butterfly heats, and the Greece-USA men's basketball game. I would have loved to see the gymnastics, but oh well. Isn't there any way of catching this stuff after the fact, in this digital, internet age? I am missing all the rowing... :(

Ktspktsp is more annoyed because they are showing everything while he is at work (since it's live--and there are absolutely no commercials, which is a plus)... there's no TV there, so he hasn't had a chance to see anything. :(

From your post earlier (Post 26): Makes sense to me.

no thats turbulence inside the water. like underwater waves i guess.

in shallow water you get the turbulence bouncing back at you and slowing you down.

Right, which explains why deeper pools are faster. Wasn't that what you asked in your last post?

Back to the OP: When i first saw that green line across the pool that indicates the world record pace (on NBC) I was excited by it. Now with all the records being broken, I'm not as excited as I once was.

I watched a bit of men's synchronized diving with my daughter last night. I don't understand the appeal of that sport.

Last night, the commentators on NBC viewed the results of the gymnastics before the broadcast. Somehow that makes their commentary even more annoying (if that's possible).

That was such an amazing race.
(former swimmer)
I'm so glad I got a chance to train with one of the athletes there...Dana Vollmer. She also introduced my entire team to Michael Phelps when I was in high school. Talk about a wow experience!

PLEASE tell me you people just watched the men's 100 fly. I have NEVER seen anything that looked that close in actuality, and I've seen drag races come down to thousandths of a second. Even after watching the replay, I still can't see it. I'm in total awe right now.

Bear Cub, I am raising my arm here. That was absolutely awesome.

That said, I've seen closer races, but those are restricted solely to track sprints that are decided by photos.

Highly enjoyable, even if it was for wanna-be runners ( :) )

And to make it sweeter, the Frenchies just had it stuck to them again!

I have three dishes on my roof, each pointed at a different Sat. I get something like 850 channels (without cloud cover, with rain it can be zero) A few minutes ago someone posted what a great finish there had been in the 100-meter butterfly. I clicked around for a while until I found a channel showing it, Korean I think? Just like they said photo finish. Of course I have no idea what the guys on the TV were saying, but I assume it was Korean for "photo finish, photo finish!"

It's weird right now with all the stations covering the games I can almost always find some coverage 24 hrs day. Half the time it's like "Oh, wait I saw that this morning" click, click.

Oh yes. It was aaaaaaamazing.


And way to go, Dara Torres! Can't wait to see the finals tomorrow for the women's 50m freestyle...

Phelps wins by 0.01 sec. Unbelievable -- just unbelievable. This man is a freak of nature. Bring him all the finest meats and cheeses in the land!!

And to think, he wants to swim in London for 2012. Maybe he'll have 20 gold medals by the time he retires...

who is to deny Usain Bolt?!?!

New Olympic 100m Track and Field Champion - The fastest man in the world!- World Record

Lightning Bolt wins 100m gold | FoxSports - Fox Sports


Lightning Bolt wins 100m gold

USAIN Bolt last night made himself the biggest star athletics has seen since Carl Lewis, annihilating the field in the men's 100m final, running 9.69sec to break his own world record.
In one of the most extraordinary one-off performances ever seen at an Olympic Games, the rangy 196cm tall 21-year-old Jamaican sheared .03sec off his own record to win his country its first 100m men's gold medal.

Bolt was laughing as he crossed the line as he was that far ahead of the chasing pack with Trinidad's Richard Thompson grabbing the silver medal in 9.89sec and American Walter Dix the bronze in 9.91sec.

"I've been training all year for this,'' he said. "I could maybe go 9.60 the way I looked."

The major disappointment of the final was former world record holder Asafa Powell who finished fifth in 9.95sec.

With one run, Bolt turned the Olympic Games on its head. Over the last 20 metres he ran with his arms outstretched to celebrate his victory and he ran with one shoelace undone and the laces flapping. He is so young he could go on and be anything.

On Wednesday night Bolt will attempt to become the first man since Lewis in 1984 to win the 100m-200m sprint double at an Olympic Games and on last night's evidence there is no-one in the world who can stop him.

He will also threaten Michael Johnson's thought-to-be untouchable world record of 19.32sec set on a searing track in Atlanta in 1996.

Being a Jamaican, Bolt loves cricket and in Beijing last week he said his cricketing idols were Australians Adam Gilchrist and Matt Hayden.

"They bat aggressive and I really like it, that is who I am really,'' Bolt said.

While shattered with his own performance Powell, who still hasn't won a gold medal at a major championship, lauded his good friend's performance.

"I am very disappointed for myself but I am delighted for Usain," he said. "He could have gone even faster if he'd gone in a straight line.

"He is definitely the greatest sprinter of all time and we just have to look out for what he does next."
Bolt's arrival as a legitimate megastar comes at a crucial time for the sport which has taken a battering in recent years following a string of drug controversies.

The writing was on the wall after the semi-finals when Bolt cruised down in 9.85sec, just .01sec off the Olympic record which Donovan Bailey had held since 1996.

As he'd done in the second round heat the previous evening, the giant Jamaican spent the second half of the race looking at the big television screen and then at his rivals such was the ease of his work.

It was in the second semi-final, which Powell won in 9.91sec, that the event lost its much-hyped third key player with reigning world champion Tyson Gay failing to qualify.

The American strained his hamstring during the 200m at the US Olympic trials in June and hadn't been able to compete in the lead-up to the Games.

Despite bravely trying to talking up his chances during the week, Gay looked rusty in the opening two heats and from lane nine last night he finished fifth in 10.05sec.

"I don't know (what happened)," he said. "I just didn't have nothin' in me today. I ran as fast as I could. I focussed on the Olympics so I'm disappointed. I thought I would get into the finals."

Gay, who clocked a wind-assisted time of 9.68sec at the US trials, refused to blame his hamstring on the below-par performance.

"The injury was a setback to my training, but that's no excuse because my hamstring feels fine," he said. "I feel great, I feel strong, I feel relaxed, it just wasn't there."

This had clearly been the most anticipated Olympic men's 100m final since Seoul in 1988 when the infamous Ben Johnson went head-to-head with the Lewis.

It had all the elements in the lead-up. The new world record holder taking on the former world record holder, who just happened to be a fellow countryman and close friend, and the reigning world champion.

The Powell-Gay rivalry had been established at last year's world championships where the Jamaican finished third after choking in the final behind the American while Bolt has come into the picture this year.

He was only doing the 100m this season to improve his speed for his preferred event the 200m and was as surprised as everyone when he took .02sec off Powell's world record, running 9.72sec in New York on June 1.

There has always been a buzz about Bolt since as a 15-year-old he won the world junior 200m title but his laid-back care-free attitude and love of a good time had been seen by some as a possible problem.

Bolt and Powell, who hang out together when at home in Kingston, have raced several times and while Bolt won the Jamaican Olympic trial in June, Powell got revenge in Stockholm in late July, signalling he was back to his best after being plagued by minor injury problems throughout the year.

Remarkably given last night's events, Bolt hadn't made up his mind to run the 100m until he arrived in Beijing two weeks. His main focus has always been the 200m, in which he won the silver medal at last year's world championships, and he has the fastest time this year of 19.67sec.
BARRACK LIVE: Re-live the excitement of the greatest (and shortest) sporting event on earth.

It was obvious by watching the semis he was going to win. He was practically jogging and had 3-4 lengths on everyone, where as Gay was going nearly all out by the look on his face, and its debatable whether or not he even COULD HAVE won his heat.

Team Redeem (USA Men's Basketball beats champions Spain!

Team Redeem is on a roll. They massacred the reigning champs and finally found their 3-pointers. The rest should be a breeze now. Good job team!

I'm amazed that Bolt ran that world record time, and he could have run even faster at the end. Simply phenomenal.

Week 1 complete.

Whew!! The Olympic games have been very exciting thus far. Filled with drama and good competition.

1. Michael Phelps has done it. Quest for 8 is officially completed. 8 gold medals into the annals of history. Unbelievable achievement. Congratulation for this extraordinary accomplishment.

2. 41 year old Dora Torres missed her gold by .01 seconds. Guess she now has something in common with that Serbia swimmer who lost to Phelps. I swear I never knew swimming could be this exciting.

3. Little Tunisia wins its first gold medal! Oussama Mellouli beat two tough Aussies for gold in the Mens 1500m Freestyle Swim (that's 30 laps!). He has an interesting story: Tunisia's Mellouli breaks Hackett's reign - Olympics - Yahoo! Sports

4. Canada wins their first gold - Carol Hyunh upsets her Japanese opponent in the 48kg Womens Wrestling (no, not GLOW) to bring some cheer for our grumbling Canuck friends. There is a bit of controversy over her win however as many Canadians do not consider her to be a real Canadian as Carol is of Chinese heritage with some even going as far as claiming she only won because the Games are held in China. Anyways, Carol's gold brings the medal count for Canada to 5, 16th overall so TFP Canadians, rejoice and celebrate. Besides, you guys have a bunch of events with medal contenders left.

5. American Gay out of the race and Usain "Lightning" Bolt of Jamaica wins the 100 m easily, even "jogging" the last 10 meters or so. He is only 21 and is a person to keep an eye on. Plus his clowny behavior on the field is fun to watch.

6. The British are screaming up the medal table with rowing, sailing and cycling events in full swing.

Interesting note: The countries of the G8 are all in the Top 10 medal count with the exception of Canada.

Canada just won rowing 8s... nice! I think we now have 7 medals. Thankfully the drought is over.

It's cool to hear the Canadian national anthem after all this time abroad. Also good to see the team singing it.

Watching Bela Karolyi on NBC is just about the best unintentional comedy I've ever seen.

... that's really all that needs to be said. :)

Here we go!

1. USA Girls Gymnastics grabs silver and bronze as Romanian takes the gold in floor routine. The Chinese continue the meltdown and are surely headed for some work camp for their humiliating performance.

2. The Jamaican ladies sweep the 100m Sprint! Woo hoo what a race! Good job Jamaica.

3. Tragedy: Chinese track star Liu Xiang withdraws from the 110m hurdles due to his persisting achilles injury. What a terrible exit on the most important stage for the Chinese in what must be a devastating moment for Liu. That clears the way for Cuba in an almost certain gold medal victory.

More later...

Canada just won silver in the equestrian team show jumping.

...oh and US won gold.