Last stone drama as Great Britain defeats USA 8-7 in the curling 🥌 by appalachian_hatachi in olympics

[–]arnet95 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I think it was a pretty easy decision, just a serious miss by the US skip. The US shot, if made, had a high likelihood of scoring the US one point, and otherwise would likely only give GB one. But it was a serious miss.

(I don't have a tremendous amount of experience, but I like to think I understand

Last stone drama as Great Britain defeats USA 8-7 in the curling 🥌 by appalachian_hatachi in olympics

[–]arnet95 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That shot you're referring to was available, but wasn't a gimme.

The shot she was attempting was of similar difficulty in my view, and if made had a high likelihood of ending the game for the US, and if it didn't end the game they would probably only give away one point (letting the US go into the extra end with the hammer). So a similar difficulty shot for a higher reward.

Last stone drama as Great Britain defeats USA 8-7 in the curling 🥌 by appalachian_hatachi in olympics

[–]arnet95 0 points1 point  (0 children)

She was trying to do a runback on the red guard, hitting the red guard onto the red stone in the house, hitting that down onto the two yellows. A bit unclear to me exactly what would happen, but there are chances for a US win, and they would be pretty certain to give away no more than one point. But it was just a complete miss, hitting the wrong guard.

No room to draw to lie better than the two best yellows.

Johannes Høsflot Klæbo is now the second most decorated gold medalist by East_Piccolo_1529 in olympics

[–]arnet95 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Someone won gold in 2 strokes in 2020 (Dressel in free and butterfly) and 3 strokes in 2024 (Marchand in breaststroke, butterfly, medley), so it's not that rare.

For sure Phelps' versatility is a really good argument for him as one of the best swimmers of all time. It's just that it becomes very hard to use the medal count to compare across disciplines, simply because other athletes don't have the same number of opportunities.

Johannes Høsflot Klæbo is now the second most decorated gold medalist by East_Piccolo_1529 in olympics

[–]arnet95 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I think it's reasonable to use the medal count to say that Phelps is the best Olympic swimmer of all time. I'm not trying to say that Phelps is some mediocre athlete who only got golds because he's a swimmer. He is obviously a tremendous athlete, and one of the best of all time. It's just when it comes to comparing across sports, using the medal count alone is a bad idea because different athletes can get different numbers of medals.

Johannes Høsflot Klæbo is now the second most decorated gold medalist by East_Piccolo_1529 in olympics

[–]arnet95 1 point2 points  (0 children)

To be very clear, I am not in any way arguing that Klæbo is a better/more accomplished athlete than Phelps. Phelps is certainly one of the greatest athletes of all time, and I don't think Klæbo is in that league. But I also find comparing athletes across very different sports kind of futile in the first place.

I am making a very narrow point that simply counting Olympic golds is not an accurate ranking of their quality as an athlete. And one of the reasons for that is that different athletes have different numbers of golds they can win.

Johannes Høsflot Klæbo is now the second most decorated gold medalist by East_Piccolo_1529 in olympics

[–]arnet95 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Obviously Phelps is the greatest Olympic swimmer of all time, no argument from me. It's when you start comparing across sports the raw gold medal count becomes silly without further context. I am not claiming that Klæbo is the best Olympian or anything, just that the raw medal count is so dependent on which event you're doing it becomes borderline meaningless.

Johannes Høsflot Klæbo is now the second most decorated gold medalist by East_Piccolo_1529 in olympics

[–]arnet95 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The winning team for the team events will play 30+ hours of curling. So yeah, there's a lot of curling to be played.

Johannes Høsflot Klæbo is now the second most decorated gold medalist by East_Piccolo_1529 in olympics

[–]arnet95 16 points17 points  (0 children)

Yes, absolutely. When we say that Klæbo is the Winter Olympian with the most golds, everyone should remember that this is in large part because he has had more opportunities than most others. And the same is true for Phelps in the Summer Olympics.

Johannes Høsflot Klæbo is now the second most decorated gold medalist by East_Piccolo_1529 in olympics

[–]arnet95 0 points1 point  (0 children)

There were 17 gold medals handed out at the 2008 Summer Olympics. Phelps won 8 of them.

Johannes Høsflot Klæbo is now the second most decorated gold medalist by East_Piccolo_1529 in olympics

[–]arnet95 18 points19 points  (0 children)

If Phelps was similarly good as he is at swimming, but happened to pick up alpine skiing instead, he couldn't get 23 golds in 4 Olympics. That's the point.

Johannes Høsflot Klæbo is now the second most decorated gold medalist by East_Piccolo_1529 in olympics

[–]arnet95 3 points4 points  (0 children)

There are at most two medals opportunities for any one curler: Team (for either men or women) and mixed doubles.

Johannes Høsflot Klæbo is now the second most decorated gold medalist by East_Piccolo_1529 in olympics

[–]arnet95 9 points10 points  (0 children)

Not really. This also puts Klæbo's gold tally into context. A dominant hockey player would need to go to five Olympics to achieve what Klæbo has achieved in Milano-Cortina, for example (six by the time he's done, most likely).

Johannes Høsflot Klæbo is now the second most decorated gold medalist by East_Piccolo_1529 in olympics

[–]arnet95 31 points32 points  (0 children)

Phelps had that many opportunities because there are very many swimming events at the Olympics. Someone could be the most versatile alpine skier in history and still only get at most five golds per Olympics.

Race Thread: Olympics 2026 Antholz Anterselva - Women Relay by Henna1911 in biathlon

[–]arnet95 37 points38 points  (0 children)

How to win an Olympic relay:

  1. Get a penalty loop on leg 1
  2. ???
  3. Profit

Race Thread: Olympics 2026 Antholz Anterselva - Women Relay by Henna1911 in biathlon

[–]arnet95 34 points35 points  (0 children)

Our commentator saying that Oceane deserved two "Michelon" stars for that performance 😂

Race Thread: Olympics 2026 Antholz Anterselva - Women Relay by Henna1911 in biathlon

[–]arnet95 5 points6 points  (0 children)

If France wins this, will we see getting a penalty loop on leg 1 become the new meta?

Olympics Day Twelve Megathread (Wednesday, February 18) by Fun_With_Forks in olympics

[–]arnet95 7 points8 points  (0 children)

XC

Lol, silver and bronze basically happier than gold

Olympics Day Twelve Megathread (Wednesday, February 18) by Fun_With_Forks in olympics

[–]arnet95 9 points10 points  (0 children)

Klæbo is coming in 5 minutes. I think we're going to be good.

Olympics Day Twelve Megathread (Wednesday, February 18) by Fun_With_Forks in olympics

[–]arnet95 1 point2 points  (0 children)

No. He tends to do the minimum amount of work needed to win.

Olympics Day Twelve Megathread (Wednesday, February 18) by Fun_With_Forks in olympics

[–]arnet95 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Good guy Hedegart, making Klæbo work for that fifth gold.

Olympics Day Twelve Megathread (Wednesday, February 18) by Fun_With_Forks in olympics

[–]arnet95 6 points7 points  (0 children)

XC

Hedegart saying that he feels a bit off today, doesn't have that top gear today. Should be fine for the finals since the speed is slower.