OT: Olympics chatter

[Alistair]

Originally Posted by Fat Cat

That's really funny !

That's my fear, but do you have any insight into what Paris did (or didn't do) to clean the river? The size of the investment hopefully indicates systemic changes to drainage and treatment facilities, not just one-time clean-up.

[BRad704]

Originally Posted by Alistair

The replays are there now (on the website, at least). I didn't try to view live - I was in bed. There does seem to be a gap of an hour or two between the end of live coverage and the availability of the replay.

Cool cool thank you. I was looking in the Live section

[rwsaunders]

As France was conducting nuclear tests in Polynesia in 1974, a radioactive cloud drifted over the area where the surfing events are taking place. The impact of the event is described in the NYT link.

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/07/30/w...smid=url-share

The French researchers had calculated carefully, predicting the interplay of wind, weather and radiation. But on July 17, 1974, the mushroom cloud from France’s final atmospheric nuclear test — before the switch to underground detonations — did not rise as high as scientists had anticipated. Without the winds of a higher altitude, the cloud of radiation barreled directly toward Tahiti, some 740 miles away from Mururoa.

What happened next was laid bare in the declassified French military documents. Scientists soon realized where the prevailing winds were forcing the radioactive cloud. It would take nearly two days for the fallout to reach Tahiti, yet residents were not made fully aware of the risks.

[Alistair]

Originally Posted by BRad704

Cool cool thank you. I was looking in the Live section

I've found it easier to search by sport first, then it shows live and replay side-by-side. Of course, that assumes you have a sport in mind, and aren't just randomly looking for something new/interesting.

[bigbill]

Originally Posted by rwsaunders

As France was conducting nuclear tests in Polynesia in 1974, a radioactive cloud drifted over the area where the surfing events are taking place. The impact of the event is described in the NYT link.

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/07/30/w...smid=url-share

The French researchers had calculated carefully, predicting the interplay of wind, weather and radiation. But on July 17, 1974, the mushroom cloud from France’s final atmospheric nuclear test — before the switch to underground detonations — did not rise as high as scientists had anticipated. Without the winds of a higher altitude, the cloud of radiation barreled directly toward Tahiti, some 740 miles away from Mururoa.

What happened next was laid bare in the declassified French military documents. Scientists soon realized where the prevailing winds were forcing the radioactive cloud. It would take nearly two days for the fallout to reach Tahiti, yet residents were not made fully aware of the risks.

Reading the article makes me wonder what the French did to confirm safety on the islands. In 2007, I was the project manager for radiological confirmation surveys at a NATO base that was being closed. The base had a history of servicing nuclear submarines and storing ICBMs that might have had nuclear warheads (wink, wink). We had a survey history going back over 30 years including general radiation surveys using posted dosimeters around the periphery, mud samples from the bay, samples of marine life concentraters such as filter feeding mussels and aquatic plants, and dirt samples from the base. The U.S. had done most of the samples quarterly and some semi-annually. We found nothing but naturally occurring isotopes as low levels. All our samples were packed up and shipped to the U.S. for measurement in a multi-channel analyzer. In the last months of the surveys and cleanup of debris (scrap metal, wire, empty drums, a coke machine, forklift, etc) off the ocean floor, I received a multi-channel analyzer and a physicist to oversea it. I worked in partnership with the host country and shared all the analyses and had their physicists present when we were operating the MCA.

From the article, it seems like the French have some explaining to do and wonder if they have the same documented history of surveys. The NATO base I helped close has since become part of a national park with sport diving. I say with absolute certainty that we did our due diligence.

[72gmc]

Snort.

https://www.cbc.ca/sports/olympics/s...ails-1.7280924

Hey HR, this employee doesn't want to cheat. Please advise on retaliation.

[cgolvin]

Originally Posted by jamesdak

Have to wonder how many other places get the Olympics and don't see it as a blessing?

I seem to recall that Montreal was still repaying the 1976 games more than two decades later, give or take.

[Bruce K]

At least they didn’t let the air out of the balls.

If they had, this thread would go on until the next Olympics and cover untold numbers of pages…

BK

[ti_or_die]

Originally Posted by Alistair

That's my fear, but do you have any insight into what Paris did (or didn't do) to clean the river? The size of the investment hopefully indicates systemic changes to drainage and treatment facilities, not just one-time clean-up.

Flushing the Seine of fecal bacteria before Olympic athletes dive in:
https://www.cbc.ca/player/play/video/9.6457736

[reuben]

Originally Posted by Bruce K

At least they didn’t let the air out of the balls.

If they had, this thread would go on until the next Olympics and cover untold numbers of pages…

BK

But there was spying...

[jamesdak]

Originally Posted by bigbill

Reading the article makes me wonder what the French did to confirm safety on the islands. In 2007, I was the project manager for radiological confirmation surveys at a NATO base that was being closed. The base had a history of servicing nuclear submarines and storing ICBMs that might have had nuclear warheads (wink, wink). We had a survey history going back over 30 years including general radiation surveys using posted dosimeters around the periphery, mud samples from the bay, samples of marine life concentraters such as filter feeding mussels and aquatic plants, and dirt samples from the base. The U.S. had done most of the samples quarterly and some semi-annually. We found nothing but naturally occurring isotopes as low levels. All our samples were packed up and shipped to the U.S. for measurement in a multi-channel analyzer. In the last months of the surveys and cleanup of debris (scrap metal, wire, empty drums, a coke machine, forklift, etc) off the ocean floor, I received a multi-channel analyzer and a physicist to oversea it. I worked in partnership with the host country and shared all the analyses and had their physicists present when we were operating the MCA.

From the article, it seems like the French have some explaining to do and wonder if they have the same documented history of surveys. The NATO base I helped close has since become part of a national park with sport diving. I say with absolute certainty that we did our due diligence.

To be honest the same can't be said about a certain site north of Vegas....

[72gmc]

Originally Posted by jamesdak

To be honest the same can't be said about a certain site north of Vegas....

I didn’t realize they tested so many bombs there (enjoy the pic of the dancer posing with the distant mushroom cloud).

What a time to be a nuclear bomb scientist, I guess. Lots of shots.

[reuben]

Badminton, mixed doubles semifinal.

Tied at 1-1 in a 2 out of 3 match, a Korean player asked for timeout and a trainer. The trainer came out, the player apparently puked into a bag, and play resumed.

They went on to win, 23-21 in the third. On to the final.

[Bob Ross]

I hate to be That Guy, but given a couple other recent threads in The Paceline, the question is fresh in my mind.

Last night I'm watching Katie Ledecky destroy her competition in the 1500m freestyle swim yet again -- and by orders of magnitude, yet again -- and I find myself thinking "This is like watching Tadej Pogacar attacking in the Alps with >5k to go, and not just dropping his rivals but gaining several minutes on them."

But I have never heard anyone even insinuate that Katie Ledecky is doping.

Why the disparity?

[benb]

1) Katie Ledecky hasn't won every race she entered, but she is far and away the best at 1500m.

2) No one is paying any attention to much else in swimming after the Chinese dopers all got a pass from WADA?

3) Hate to say this as a cyclist but form/technique is way more important in swimming since it's so incredibly inefficient compared to cycling. Her form is better for the 1500 than the 400 apparently.

Also 10 seconds is not "destroyed" in a 15 minute event. Tadej crushed people by minutes on climbs not much longer than that. The distance seems magnified by the fact they're doing tons of laps in a pool which is a very small fraction of the distance of the race.