D'oh, yeah, that'd be it. Beyond the Phelps/USA hype, I was super-excited for Japan being able to hang on to third place--I completely overlooked Australia.

I'm kind of impressed that North Korea managed to raise and train a gold-medal-winning gymnast. My mom thinks she should try to defect to Japan, but then Kim Jong-Il might revoke the bonus year's supply of cabbage for her family.

Woo, Alexandre Despatie and his area are through to the semifinals.

That's the way that I feel. I'm not a fan of Bela's treatment of gymnasts in the past by any means, but at least he isn't bashful about bringing up an important issue in gymnastics that doesn't seem to be going away.

I just watched Kexin He and Nastia Liukin in the uneven bars final and I cannot comprehend why one was rated above the other when their scores were the same. The commentators mentioned that there can be multiple gold medals in the world championships, but not in the Olympics, since it's an IOC rule, and that there is some sort of computer program that ranks the gymnasts if their scores are tied. WTF? Does that sound like a load of crap to anyone else? These rules are so shady. So stupid. Nastia wuz robbed. I'm sure that Bela will have a coronary after this event coverage is over.

I don't understand why under IOC rules there can't be a tie. What happens if you tie in something like track? What's the tie breaker there? The color and cut of your jersey?

I love that he referred to the post race victory lap as "the lap of honour"

My Olympic genetic pairing? Thorpe and Phelps!

Had to break in and edit a new favorite Olympic moment: Olympic Gold Medalist in Women's Discus Stephanie Brown Trafton wanted to grow up to be Mary Lou Retton. Except she grew up to be 6ft4. Awh, she still wants to meet Mary Lou. I hope she gets to.

There was a tie in one of the men's swimming events, with two swimmers coming in third place. Two bronze medals were given out. Is it because it's swimming, and it's not subjective? I don't understand, either.

They just broke down the tiebreaking rules and... I don't think I can ever enjoy watching gymnastics again. The judging is too jacked up.

It's even MORE messed up when you consider there have been ties in gymnastics in the past. An example of that: Nastia Liukin's dad. He shared a gold medal in 1988 on the horizontal bar when he and another gymnast on the United Team tied.

This tie break thing is new. Sports Illustrated has a good article about the uneven bars competition.

I really do give it to Nastia though. She's been gracious through this whole thing, and I wouldn't blame her if she had broken down in tears, and cursed out that 12 year old.

Well it is the Uneven Bars....

I don't even care about any of the gymnastics results at this point, I just want Tim, Elfie, Al, Costas, and Bela to quit whining. It's just tiresome. If they found anyone to comment who wasn't hugely emotionally involved maybe I'd take it more seriously.

Personally, I wasn't that impressed with Nastia's routine anyway, so I'm fine with her being in second. I thought Yang Ylin was better than both of them.

Regarding perfect pairing... I am still waiting for the Agassi/Graff kids to grow up.

Usain Bolt is hilarious. nuggets hee! with all those athletes eating perfect diets.

The gymnastics thing is outrageous because hasn't it happened in like every single event? It feels like it has, but I haven't seen them all. Some bizarre judging twist.

I know subjective sports like ice skating/dancing have always had judging problems. But it's so sad to see those women struggling not to cry when their dreams are ripped away by an glaring irregularity or bias. It does take the fun out of it. Turns it into "Who's turn is it to get screwed over?"

I does remind me of some of my feelings watching the Olympics during the Cold War about having the system stacked against us because of political judging (and having real amateurs), which made any win in a judged event special.

AAAGH! MPREG! ;)

The American 400-meter hurdles medalists could go on a triple date with the Jamaican 100 meter medalists.

ETA: Phorpe. Thorlps. Pherpe. Thelps. Worst candidates for namesmoosh ever.

Yay! Bevan Docherty won the triathlon bronze for NZ. Amazing sprint finish from the German to win gold!

Is anyone watching the synchronized swimming? I always forget that it's an olympic sport

Amen. Trautwig's introduction of the eventual winner was so assy, I don't know why I should trust any criticism the NBC team throws her way. If the tie-breaker had a different result (Nastia winning), I doubt they'd be all that outraged.