Five-ring circus: The Thread of the XXXIII Olympiad

The best known American team is men’s basketball. And while the Olympics is the second most important tournament for women’s soccer, it generally attracts minimal attention probably because the games are long compared to other events and there are no commercial breaks.

I can’t make heads or tails about the Trump voter strawman but that’s par for the course.

 

Macron considers moving idiotic floating opening ceremonies away from Seine.

Pity, I was looking forward to the Algerian team reenacting the Paris massacre of 1961, when French police killed hundreds of Algerian protestors, many drowning when they were thrown in the Seine. C'est manifique!

https://www.politico.eu/article/emm...ony-seine-could-move-stadium-security-threat/

 

I'm fearing that for one of the top U.S. middle distance runners, Nikki Hiltz, who has come out as gay, transgender and nonbinary. Also has a great chance of medaling in the 1,500.
On the other hand, maybe I should look forward to the meltdown if Hiltz does medal.

 

There's that pre-Olympic panicking we've come to know and love. The ceremony on the Seine is very ambitious, and yeah, there are security issues there, but I'm mostly curious as to how they're going to shoot it for TV and keep exuberant/possibly drunk people from falling overboard.

I suspect that Hiltz being a trans man is a little less of an issue unless she's taking testosterone (which seems unlikely since it would probably fail a drug test).

On the track thing, part of Team USA's decline from the spotlight has a lot to do with the fact that the greatest men's sprinter and two of the greatest women's sprinters of all time have dominated, and none of them were Americans. The funny thing is that there are some areas where the US has been as competitive or more competitive than they were in the 80s and 90s. Matt Centrowitz was the first US gold medalist in the 1,500 in 100 years when he won in Rio and Galen Rupp (insert comments on the Oregon Project here) is probably the most accomplished American distance runner since Frank Shorter. And Ryan Crouser is probably the best American thrower since Al Oerter or Perry O'Brien. On the women's side, Sydney McLaughlin and Dalilah Mohammed basically had a match race in the 400 hurdles last time. But there hasn't been a Carl or a FloJo, no.

In other news, the Olympic flame was officially lit in Greece this morning. I haven't watched the ceremony back yet to see if they actually used the rays of the sun or if they had to fake it like a Greek Punxsutawney Phil not seeing his shadow.

 

My understanding is Hilz is non-binary, not a trans man. None of the non-binary folks I know are on hormone treatments, and I assume if Hilz was doing that then they would fall into the various protocols for athletes in that situation. A non-binary person competing with the gender they were assigned at birth should be a non-issue as there is no competitive advantage (perceived or real).

I'm sure the screech machine will still find a way to get worked up, though.

 

I, for one, am looking forward to the breakdancing.

 

It was cloudy. They faked it.

Also the Paris torch looks like it burns clear for the first minute or two, which is probably going to confuse a lot of people.

 

Breakin’ Deux

 

Boogaloo Electrique

 

If yesterday's broadcast of the wrestling Olympic Trials on Peacock was any indicator of the level of production NBC is going to put into the Olympics, ain't nobody gonna watch.

It was so bad, I found myself actually wishing that Flo was handling it at several points.

 

I'm shocked.

23 Chinese swimmers tested positive pre-Tokyo