Hey guys

Watching the Olympics and us Brits are doing pretty well, medal wise.  The media here is going nuts at how many we're winning but I wondered if the rest of the world is so surprised or even gives a shit?  Being a small(ish) nation they're making a big deal of it all.  As it's the greatest sporting event, their words, not mine, I thought I'd see if anyone else has been watching?

I've been trying to watch some but I'm normally asleep (not due to it being boring or anything) just time difference. :)

It's good to see the Brits doing well after all the money they've ploughed in, but it can't help them win the football and penalties again :o Must be a curse.

It's good to see the Irish win the fighting/boxing... I'm surprised we didn't win the shooting. :)

Mark

Yeah, there's been pretty decent coverage over here regarding the British haul.  Going by population size, they're definitely kicking some ass.  GB is tied with russia right now at 48 medals but 22 of those are gold, compared to 10 for russia.  And to think the French president was ragging on the lack of Brit medals last week, lol.

Yeah, pretty much love wasting my days watching this, even if GB is not involved.

Loved the high jump last night with the mad Russian who actually lost his vest for one jump and had to go in what looked like a jumper. Still won.

The Olympics is just something you can't miss! I've been trying to watch as much of it as possible, including the sports that I didn't even know existed. Had no idea what handball was until I had a look ;D

GB have definitely been standouts for these Olympics.

What shocked me was hearing that the American medal winners are up for around $650 tax for each gold medal they win.

That is ridiculous !!!!!!!

Imagine if you won a heap, you would be up for thousands.

Maybe the US should change their Tax laws to except this.

Alex

Quoted from Reef Dreamer Yeah, pretty much love wasting my days watching this, even if GB is not involved. Loved the high jump last night with the mad Russian who actually lost his vest for one jump and had to go in what looked like a jumper. Still won.

- Yeah, that was funny, he still had plenty of room to spare too even at 2.38 metres.

The women's beach volleyball is the standout event for me though!

Quoted from Alex_212 What shocked me was hearing that the American medal winners are up for around $650 tax for each gold medal they win. That is ridiculous !!!!!!! Imagine if you won a heap, you would be up for thousands. Maybe the US should change their Tax laws to except this. Alex

Actually, American athletes pay a hell of a lot more than that, depending on their tax bracket.  The US Olympic Committee awards a $25,000 cash prize for every gold medal.  That's considered taxable income.  So the richest athletes like Michael Phelps would actually pay about $9000 tax per medal.  Most athletes make a lot less than that and would wind up paying a couple thousand.

But here's what blew my mind:  the prizes some other countries offer for gold medals.
Italy: $182,000
Russia: $150,000
Ukraine: $100,000
England:  zippo

Quoted from Alex_212 What shocked me was hearing that the American medal winners are up for around $650 tax for each gold medal they win. That is ridiculous !!!!!!! Imagine if you won a heap, you would be up for thousands. Maybe the US should change their Tax laws to except this. Alex

And the kicker is they're cheap knock offs compared to old school Olympic medals.
Check this out...

http://english.ruvr.ru/2012_08_06/Glittering-Olympic-medals-are-not-gold/

E.D.

Quoted from alffy Hey guys Watching the Olympics and us Brits are doing pretty well, medal wise.  The media here is going nuts at how many we're winning but I wondered if the rest of the world is so surprised or even gives a shit?  Being a small(ish) nation they're making a big deal of it all.  As it's the greatest sporting event, their words, not mine, I thought I'd see if anyone else has been watching?

And I'd trade it all for one World Cup in my lifetime...

Quoted from Andrew And I'd trade it all for one World Cup in my lifetime...

I concur 100% with this, Andrew.  Unfortunately I just can't see us ever winning it unless we change the way we coach the kids.  Kick and run wins you nothing.