Favourite Olympic Moment

[The_Ghan]

Someone asked me today what my favourite Olympic moment is .... I think this one is not only funny and lucky, but also captures the laid back attitude that Australians have to life ...

 

 

... anyone else have a favourite Olympic moment to share?

 

Cheers

 

The_Ghan

[john_ibw]

Like someone said, he deserves it cause he stayed on his skates and did not join the pile who were in a rush!

[Bernard]

Wow I don't think we have enough room on the forum for me to list my favorite moments at the Olympics....the best part of my job filming the games is that I get to spend time with the athletes....most of them are the nicest people you could ever meet and are very appreciative that you are interested in doing a story about them.....but I have to go back to work right now and continue covering the Games....but I can't wait to read other members favorite moments!

[bill937ca]

14 Olympic Golds Vancouver 2010

 

[The_Ghan]

What? A whole country? ... and Canada at that?

 

You're a brave man, Bill.

[cteno4]

Been thinking about this and really can't come up with a moment with the Olympics that means a lot to me compared to just taking the whole thing in. I really don't follow professional sports at all anymore, lost interest in all of them, but still really enjoy watching the Olympics every time and just taking in as much as possible. Even though the amateur aspect is gone, it has it's own life and feeling.

 

Bad as you can now stream all sorts of stuff you never got to see on tv on the iPad in your lap while watching the main stuff on the big screen. The NBC live extra app works pretty well. Just a pitty the app does not have much at all for information on trees and results or ant background on the athletes and the sport/rules, that content has to be there, just needs organization and presentation. Probably by next olympics!

 

So much fun to watch, but time to go to bed, too late!

 

Keep up the great work Bernard!

 

Jeff

[Tecchan]

I don't have a favorite Olympic moment as I don't really care nor have interest for sports on TV.

 

But when I saw the ice skating video it reminded me of this:

 

 

This Guinean swimmer ran agains two better swimmers but they were both disqualified. It was probably the first time this guy saw an olympic pool and he's really not good in water but it's a magical moment. The french commentaries are priceless if you understand them.

 

PS: yes they make fun of it but in the end, one of them says "Let's be honest, we laugh but it's great because THIS is the real olympic spirit from the beginning of the century!"

[The_Ghan]

Hey Kumo,

 

Yeah ... that was in Sydney 2000 ... my local Olympics ... it was Eric Moussambani.  But he didn't win Gold, that was only a heat.  Yes, I remember that day now.  Hey, here's a video in English:

 

 

Nice find Kumo.

 

I've been waiting for one of the English members to bring up Eddie Eagle ... remember him?

 

Cheers

 

The_Ghan

[cteno4]

good chuckle today with the usa vs china womens vb match. there was a guy in an overstuffed captain america costume in the stands. quite fun and silly gave me a good chuckle. wouldnt think they would let in costumes like that. maybe snuck it in in pieces.

 

jeff

[dpkworldwide]

To be honest, my interest in the Olympic Games seems to come and go over the years--probably based on how "political" things get. That and I've never been much for spectator sports in general or the appallingly moronic coverage by the US networks in particular.

 

However, there is one moment I'll never forget in this life or the next: the opening ceremonies at the 1992 Barcelona games. That archer firing the flame across the stadium, lighting the cauldron was absolutely spectacular and still gives me goosebumps to this day. I don't know if any games will ever be able to top that...

 

[cteno4]

I had forgotten that one, very clean and straight forward compared to this year with such a complex hand off and ceremony. something symbolic with the arrow shot there!

 

jeff

 

[The_Ghan]

Yup dpk,

 

That was one awesome moment.  Thanks for reminding us.  Jaw-dropping stuff.

 

Being a bit of a skeptic I've often wondered if the arrow REALLY did the trick.  Looking carefully you DO see something continue past the cauldron.  Is it an arrow or a splash of oil?

 

I was in final year at Uni at the time and we did a few experiments to try to replicate the event.  We bought a carton of beer and rigged up a BBQ.  We turned on the gas and tossed in a flaming tennis ball.  The gas ignited well before the ball reached the BBQ.  We swapped the gas for petrol.  It too ignited as the vapours it gave off were quite volitile.  We noticed than neither of these fuels created a flame like the Olympic cauldron.

 

One smartie reminded us that the cauldron, apparently, burns oil.  Tossing a flaming tennis ball into a tray of the same oil was futile.  The oil simply extinguished the ball as substantial heat is required to ignite the oil.  So, how did they do it?

 

At the time, we agreed to give the archer the benefit of the doubt and assume the arrow landed in the cauldron.  But we are convinced that something else went on up there to prevent the fuel from extinguishing the the flame.  If gas or petroleum had been used it should have ignited before the arrow disappeared.  Oil alone would have drowned the flame.

 

Science can spoil all the fun though, can't it?  Barcelona will remain as the most amazing lighting of an Olympic cauldron and every country who has hosted Olympics before then has wished it had been there idea.

 

Great find.

 

Cheers

 

The_Ghan

[cteno4]

LOL Ghan, science can be a bummer like that! Wondering if they used something on top of the oil that would ignite but not show much of a flame until the oil was ignited. Scale and viewing angle may also are variables here.

 

You're flaming tennis balls reminded me of one of our grad school Olympic sports at Berkeley -- flaming tennis ball soccer! We would soak a tennis ball in 95% ethanol and then turn off the lights, ignite it, and play soccer with the ball in the hallway. Quite spectacular with flaming trails on the floor and then on your foot and leg when you connect with the ball. Many hours of great fun late at night. Needless to say team BPV always took home the gold!

 

Jeff

[Davo Dentetsu]

Yup dpk,

 

That was one awesome moment.  Thanks for reminding us.  Jaw-dropping stuff.

 

Being a bit of a skeptic I've often wondered if the arrow REALLY did the trick.  Looking carefully you DO see something continue past the cauldron.  Is it an arrow or a splash of oil?

 

I was in final year at Uni at the time and we did a few experiments to try to replicate the event.  We bought a carton of beer and rigged up a BBQ.  We turned on the gas and tossed in a flaming tennis ball.  The gas ignited well before the ball reached the BBQ.  We swapped the gas for petrol.  It too ignited as the vapours it gave off were quite volitile.  We noticed than neither of these fuels created a flame like the Olympic cauldron.

 

One smartie reminded us that the cauldron, apparently, burns oil.  Tossing a flaming tennis ball into a tray of the same oil was futile.  The oil simply extinguished the ball as substantial heat is required to ignite the oil.  So, how did they do it?

 

At the time, we agreed to give the archer the benefit of the doubt and assume the arrow landed in the cauldron.  But we are convinced that something else went on up there to prevent the fuel from extinguishing the the flame.  If gas or petroleum had been used it should have ignited before the arrow disappeared.  Oil alone would have drowned the flame.

 

Science can spoil all the fun though, can't it?  Barcelona will remain as the most amazing lighting of an Olympic cauldron and every country who has hosted Olympics before then has wished it had been there idea.

 

Great find.

 

Cheers

 

The_Ghan

 

Mythbusting sure does ruin fun science.  :D  Might have had some gas to get it going first.  But anyway, awesome shot, that will be tough to beat.

 

I really feel sorry for Eric The Eel.  He simply put his hand up and represented his country in the best way he could.  It's too easy to put scorn on someone who's level isn't up to medal standard.  But that's what made the Olympics special.  Same with Eddie the Eagle.  But the Olympics are now so jammed up themselves (that's as nice as I can put it) that the little battlers can no longer get in and represent.  That for me made it interesting.

 

Saying that, I do watch the cycling, but mostly to have a look at the unique scenery that the course takes them through.  Beijing looked particularly good as a course.

[The_Ghan]

I think the Olympic buildings in Beijing were superior ... but we are digressing ... this thread is about favourite Olympic moments and we're getting a nice little list of memories  together here!

 

Cheers

 

The_Ghan

[Martijn Meerts]

I don't usually follow the olympics all that much, but I came to the conclusion yesterday that every single sport at the olympics is actually more fun to watch than the football matches .. Especially the men's football so far has been painful ..

[The_Ghan]

I don't usually follow the olympics all that much, but I came to the conclusion yesterday that every single sport at the olympics is actually more fun to watch than the football matches .. Especially the men's football so far has been painful ..

 

... except for the horse riding, Martijn ... I don't know how they call that a sport.  If the riders were carrying the horses around the course then I might have second thoughts.

 

Cheers

 

The_Ghan

[Martijn Meerts]

Well, I'm sure the horses consider it a sport :)

[dpkworldwide]

 

I was in final year at Uni at the time and we did a few experiments to try to replicate the event.  We bought a carton of beer and rigged up a BBQ. 

 

At first I was a bit worried about what was coming next after I read "carton of Beer" and "BBQ"!  

 

If I remember correctly, there was some sort of after-interview/special report about the torch lighting at the time. It seems that just before the archer fired, they flooded the cauldron with natural gas--essentially a twenty-foot wide column of gas above it (or some such wide distance). All the archer had to do was come NEAR it and it would ignite. Behind the stadium was a purposely cleared parking lot that "caught" the arrow after the lighting--the arrow went THROUGH the gas column, landing outside the stadium. After the lighting I suppose they turned on the regular oil fuel to keep it burning. They likely had a back-up plan too, just in case...

 

My memory gets foggy, but I believe that's the gist of the story. You can probably find footage online somewhere of the interview--I may have a look after I get home this evening.

 

Regardless of how they pulled it off, it was a once-in-a-lifetime moment of pure awesomeness!  

[The_Ghan]

dpk,

 

If I remember rightly, the more beer we drank the more admiration we had for the event, and the  less concern we had for how it occurred.

 

Cheers

 

The_Ghan

[linkey]

To burst everyone's bubble in regards to the Barcelona 1992 Olympics:

 

Yes the arrow did fly over the cauldron and the flame lit up a few milliseconds before the arrow flew over it. There was rumours going on that the arrow (what was left of it) had actually hit a person who was in the wrong area at the wrong time!

 

My Favorite moment was in the 1984 Olympic Games (LA, USA) John Williams was the Musical Director of the games and you have the rocket man I was only very young when I saw it. A little child amazed by the music and cheering for the Aussies.

 

The Second Favorite would be the 2000 Sydney Olympics Games where Cathy Freeman lit the Cauldron, after she was taken away to dry off cause of the heavy amount of water that was to cool the edges of the cauldron the special suit she was wearing got stolen and has never been found since! XP

[cteno4]

Linkey,

 

where did you get that from? the olympic report says the flame was lit by the arrow as it passed over the cauldron and hit the column of gas coming up from the cauldron. it never went into it, there is a nice long exposure picture of the arrow path over the top of the cauldron. the angle that the youtube video does not show the big tower of flame that went up when the column of gas was hit with the arrow. unless someone had a really high speed camera on the lighting they could not time it to milliseconds (video fields are 16.6 milliseconds apart and frames 33.3). i could see it appearing as though it lit before the arrow got there as i bet you would not see the ignition point for a short while under those conditions, probably not till a significant amount of flame in the more dense gas area was going..

 

bummer the suit was stolen, rat... i had forgotten about that lighting as well!

 

jeff

 

from the olympic report:

For the first time at the Games, an archer would ignite the fire which would preside day and night from the cauldron over the competitions with a flaming arrow. The torch carried by the last bearer touched the arrow and the archer, Antonio Rebollo, a Paralympic athlete, prepared to shoot with the precision which characterises one of the most ancient Olympic sports.

 

The arrow described an arc and lit the gas issuing from the cauldron; the flame soared up to a height of three metres. The most eagerly awaited moment of the ceremony had come and gone to general acclamation.

[Darklighter]

the laid back attitude that Australians have to life ...

http://tvnz.co.nz/olympics-2012/aussies-still-smarting-over-medal-count-5009029 

[Bernard]

I have many but one I'll never forget was on my 1st day at the Sydney Olympics, the Men's 4x100relay.....one of the most exciting races I ever got to witness. I was directing 4 cameraman and we went over a "pre-game" plan on how I wanted to film the event. I'm glad I did because when the race start the crowd just got LOUDER AND LOUDER!! I thought the ceiling of the arena was going to blow it's top off.....the cameraman couldn't hear me at all and I couldn't hear myself talk. I've never experienced a crowd like that before......and when the Aussies won I think you could hear the cheering all the way to the coasts of California!

[cteno4]

very funny last night when in the redgrave interview when he was asked about all the uk metals he said well you see us brits do well at all the sports you get to sit down at, rowing, cycling, equestrian, kayaking! pretty funny.

 

jeff