Can you name a single event in the modern pentathlon? It is a bizarre collection of skills that are bundled into one largely ignored event. I’ll provide the answer below after you wrack your gray cells for a bit.
All of the media I have read suggest that Bahamian Shaunae Miller dove over the line to edge American Allyson Felix for the gold medal in the 400 meters. Based on the video I have seen, I am convinced that she stumbled. Either way, it makes me question my long-held belief that runners should sprint through first base rather than dive into it.
Why do female beach volleyball players wear the approximate equivalent of bikinis? The male players don’t wear speedos – nor should they.
Does it make me a bad American that I sort of wanted the Serbians to hit that three-pointer that would have tied their basketball game against the USA? And would I have felt the same way if it had been a medal-round game?
Are you aware that American athletes get paid for winning medals? Gold medalists receive $25,000, silver medalists receive $15,000, and bronze medalists receive $10,000. All of it is taxable, including the value of the medal itself.
Does the medal count matter? Does it make us a better country or more patriotic because we are winning more medals than any other country? And have you noticed that eight of the top ten medal winning countries are western democracies? https://www.google.com/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=summer%20olympics%20medal%20count
Does this mean anything other than that these countries have the resources to enable their athletes to train often enough and effectively enough to win their various events? I don’t think so. The current top ten in order: USA, Great Britain, China, Russia, Germany, Japan, France, Italy, Netherlands, and Australia. The two outliers are (obviously) China and Russia. India and its billion or so citizens have won a total of one bronze medal.
The five events in the modern pentathlon are: pistol shooting, épée fencing, 200 meter freestyle swimming, show jumping, and 3.2 kilometer cross-country run. The event seems tailor-made for D’Artagnan. I believe that he, Athos, Porthos, and Aramis would handily defeat the four most athletic members of Cardinal Richelieu’s Guard.
Science seems to say that you decelerate more if you dive than if you take another step and run through the finish line. I think she stumbled and didn’t dive intentionally.
On matters like these, I defer to the engineer.
It may or may not surprise you, although it did me, but I nailed them all. I knew x-country, horse jumping, epee, and shooting cold, then thought that they should make them swim, too. As to diving across the finish line, my understanding is that it is the torso, not a random arm or leg that determines the winner. Can’t say I sa the race, as coverage in Paris is spotty at best, and I have a different agenda. Why don’t more people run through home if running is faster?
Great job on events.
The catcher is often in the way — though less so after the rule change last year.
I did know most of this, but it’s very affirming to know that I’m not the only one that knows or thinks about these things.
I also have similar thinking related to Shaunae Miller’s dive at the end. I’m a little upset, because it appears that Felix would have won, however what Miller did was not against the rules – she simply used the rules to the fullest extent to ensure victory (if you buy into the theory that she dove, which I don’t. I agree, I think she was falling). Interestingly enough though, ESPN did one of their “analysis” segments on this, specifically as it relates to running to 1st base. As it turned out, it was faster to run through the base than to dive into the base (albeit only by a tenth of a second).
I’ve always believe running through was faster and better — and still do. But this incident make we wonder more than usual. Avoiding a tag is the best reason to dive into first.
I didn’t know a single event in the pentathlon.
I also think she stumbled just before the line. Everyone else in my family thinks she dived for the medal. Justin said diving for first base is different than diving for the finish line, because your hands have to go all the way to the ground to tag the base; so it takes longer than diving for the finish line, where your chest has to break the plane.
Most of the female track athletes also wear bikinis. I don’t object.
Why do you think western democracies dominate the medal count?
Such a strange combination of talents needed to win that event.