by Oploskoffie The new Olympic motto: Citius, Altius, Fortius – Communiter. Faster, Higher, Stronger – Together. As OIC President Bach explained: “Solidarity fuels our mission to make the world a better place through sport. We can only go faster, we can only aim higher, we can only become stronger by standing together — in solidarity.”

Here at TAT, we also believe in adding a little competition, especially if there is tennis involved So, just a few weeks after Wimbledon has finished, we return to the courts of Roland Garros! However, as this is the Olympics and there is more on offer than just tennis, we've come up with a new competition that includes several other sports and a different approach to both the predictions we're looking for as well as the scoring!

How it works
The competition consists of a total of 12 events; a varied mix of men’s and women’s events including a team competition, which cover 9 of the 19 days of competition with the tennis tournament at the center of everything.

What we are asking you to do, should you choose to accept the challenge, is pick one country per event, per medal position. So that's one country for the gold, one for the silver and one for the bronze. Also, and this is a hard rule: all three must be different countries.

A possible set of gold/silver/bronze picks for an event could be, for example: USA, Croatia, South Africa.

While the three-countries-must applies to each separate event, you can use any country again for another event. So, if you think Kiribati is going to dominate these Olympics, then feel free to submit 12 Kiribati gold medal picks

What's on offer?
With the Olympics being held once every four years, this is your chance to win some rather rare "TAT bling" in the shape of a digital, specially made gold, silver or bronze medal!

The scoring
Tennis is our main focus and as such, has the most points on offer. For exact guesses, the points on offer are as follows:

Tennis (per category): gold 24, silver 16, bronze 8.

All other events: gold 12, silver 8, bronze 4.

However... Because this is the Olympics and each medal counts, there is possible value in each pick you make! If one of your three picks has medalled for an event but not in the position you had hoped for, partial points are awarded as follows:

Silver if gold and v.v.: *0,5
Silver if bronze and v.v.: *0,25
Bronze if gold and v.v.: *0,125

If you predicted Uruguay to win gold in the mixes doubles but they end up with a bronze (or vice versa), that is still worth one point. In any of the other events, that would drop to half a point.

In the case of it being a silver instead of a gold (or vice versa), that would be worth 8 points for the tennis and 4 points for any of the other events.

A silver instead of a bronze (or vice versa)? For the tennis that would still earn you 2 points and a single point for any of the other events.

In each case, the value of the lesser medal determines the value of the partial points.

The events
Men’s C1 Canoe slalom: July 29 (men’s C1)
Fencing: women’s épée team: July 30
Women’s 100 metres Backstroke: July 30
Tennis: August 2, 3, 4 (covers: men’s and women’s singles, men's and women's doubles, mixed)
Women's Gymanstics: Vault: August 3
Men’s 100 metres track final: August 3
Women’s 200 metres track final: August 6
Women’s marathon: August 11

How do I enter?
You can post your picks in the Paris 2024: Playing for Gold Picks thread. The deadline is July 28, 12:00 PM CET.

And after that?
You'll soon be welcome in the Gare d'Or Café to hang out, discuss the events, the competition and possibly/probably have a drink (or two)

by Oploskoffie With most traditional TAT competitions, the focus has been on just the one sport: tennis. This year's Paris Olympic Games presented us with a chance to do something different, experimental even. Playing for Gold includes tennis, of course, but intentionally also includes several sports that will take most of us at least a bit out of our comfort zone while at the same time perhaps giving us more athletes to root for. Even if the latter would only be for scoring more points in this competition

Because we don't want to send you downstream without a paddle of sorts, we'll be posting short spotlights on the seven other sports included, starting with...

Event spotlight #1: Men’s C1 Canoe slalom

Canoe Slalom is contested by an athlete using a single-blade paddle while strapped into the boat with their legs bent at the knees and tucked under their body. The canoe event is a timed event where competitors navigate a whitewater course by passing through a combination of upstream and downstream gates. Each course is different but can be a maximum of 300 metres in length and contain a maximum of 25 gates, with a minimum of six upstream gates. The type of gate is designated by colour - red for upstream and green for downstream.

Courses are designed so the athletes can complete them in a time of between 90 and 110 seconds, though time penalties can be incurred for touching a gate (two seconds) and missing a gate (50 seconds).

Canoe Slalom originated in Switzerland in 1933 as a summer alternative to slalom skiing, and was initially competed on a flatwater course. The appearance of the event at the 2020 Olympics (well, 2021...) was the 9th time, having previously appeared in every Summer Olympics with slalom canoeing: 1972 and 1992–2016. For the 2020 Olympics, both the reigning Olympic champion (Denis Gargaud Chanut) and the reigning World Champion (Cédric Joly) were passed over in selection for the French team in favor of Martin Thomas who finished 5th.

During these Olympics, all rowing and canoe-kayak events will be held at the Vaires-sur-Marne Nautical Stadium.

To find out more about this event, be sure to check out the website of the International Canoe Federation (ICF).

by Fastbackss There are some CHOICES here with regards to the sports. Oh boy - time for some research.

Speaking of fencing - crazy podcast here about the corruption in sabre fencing

by ashkor87 too much for me.. I know nothing about all these random Olympic sports, and cant be bothered to find out.

by New England Nitemare No swimming or gymnastics events? I know you can't include everything.....but I still will give it a go!!

by Oploskoffie

New England Nitemare wrote: ↑Sat Jul 20, 2024 1:50 pm No swimming or gymnastics events? I know you can't include everything.....but I still will give it a go!!

No swimming or gymnastics events Well, not this time around anyway. If too many people are of the same mind as ashkor87 then in four years time, should a second edition take place, more "regular" events will be included.

- edit -

After some discussion, I've changed three of the sports in the list. BMX, sailing and golf are out, some swimming, gymnastics and the men's 100 metres (track) are in :

by Oploskoffie

ashkor87 wrote: ↑Sat Jul 20, 2024 12:18 pm too much for me.. I know nothing about all these random Olympic sports, and cant be bothered to find out.

Fair enough - it is a "wild" bunch of options outside of tennis Still, you could make educated guesses for the tennis and go nuts with your picks for the other sports Also, I will be posting more spotlights which will include some "handy" links

- edit -

After some discussion, I've changed three of the sports in the list. BMX, sailing and golf are out, some swimming, gymnastics and the men's 100 metres (track) are in

by Oploskoffie Event spotlight #2: women’s épée team

The word épée refers to the largest and heaviest of the three weapons used in the sport of fencing. The modern épée derives from the 19th-century épée de combat, a weapon which itself derives from the French small sword. While the modern sport of fencing has three weapons — foil, épée, and sabre, each a separate event — the épée is the only one in which the entire body is the valid target area (the others are restricted to varying areas above the waist).

In épée fencing, unlike in the other two disciplines, there are no right-of-way rules regarding attacks, other than the rule regarding touches with only the point of the weapon. Touches are awarded solely on the basis of which fencer makes a touch first, according to the electronic scoring machines. Also, double-touches are allowed in épée, although the touches must occur within 40 milliseconds (1/25 of a second) of each other.

Fencing has been contested at every Summer Olympic Games since the birth of the modern Olympic movement at the 1896 Summer Olympics in Athens.Fencing started in 1896 with men’s foil and men’s sabre events, with men’s epee joining the programme in 1900. Women’s foil made its Olympic debut in Paris, during the 1924 Olympic Games, followed by Women’s epee in 1996 and Women’s sabre in 2004. Tokyo 2020 was the first Games to feature events in all weapons across both genders in individual and team events.

The team events are straight knock-out events. A team match is a 3 a-side relay event up to 45 hits, with each fencer taking it in turns to fence each member of the opposing team for a maximum of 3 minutes up to a maximum number of hits depending on the leg. The first leg stops when one team reaches 5 (or time runs out). The next leg stops when one team reaches 10 (or time runs out). And so on until 45, or time runs out at which point the team with the most points/hits wins.

Use this link to see the qualification standings for this event.

by Oploskoffie A quicks heads-up: three of the sports in the list, BMX, sailing and golf are out, some swimming, gymnastics and the men's 100 metres (track) are IN!

by patrick On our picks, can we do USA/USA/USA on our picks for example or do we have to pick three different countries?

by Oploskoffie

patrick wrote: ↑Sat Jul 20, 2024 10:01 pm On our picks, can we do USA/USA/USA on our picks for example or do we have to pick three different countries?

The rule is three different countries

by tenedab Do we use "Russia" for Russian athletes?

by Oploskoffie

tenedab wrote: ↑Tue Jul 23, 2024 1:57 am Do we use "Russia" for Russian athletes?

Good question! And yes, please. In the case of Russia or Belarus, use the actual country name. I'll add that to the picks thread as well, just to be safe!

by flowerchild39 What is the timing for each entry? For example, is the deadline before the semis of each event?

by Oploskoffie

flowerchild39 wrote: ↑Wed Jul 24, 2024 5:53 pm What is the timing for each entry? For example, is the deadline before the semis of each event?

The deadline for ALL predictions is July 28, 12PM CET, the start of play of the second day of the tennis competition (I made a planning mistake thinking the tennis would start on Monday)

by Oploskoffie Event spotlight #3: women's marathon

The marathon is the only road running event held at the Olympics, with the men's version having been a part of the programme since the first modern Games in 1896. It took ninety years (!) for the women's event to be added.

Marathon running, as we know it today, was created and later refined through the Olympic competition. Based on the story/myth stemming from the battle of Marathon, in which Pheidippides supposedly ran from the town of Marathon to Athens to carry the message of Greek victory. In 1896 a distance of "around 40 kilometres" (25 miles) was ran with the gold medal going to a Greek water-carrier named Spyridon Louis. The winning time was 2 hours, 58 minutes and 50 seconds. How far and fast be have (be)come.

Early on, the distance varied per Olympic Games, with the distance between two points being key and as such going up or down a kilometre-and-a-bit from one Games to the next, though never below the 40 km mark. Since the 1924 Paris Olympics, the current distance has become the worldwide norm.

When looking at predictions for this event, most people will say they it is between Kenya and Ethiopia, as has been the case for probably the past decade. However, this is the Olympics and upsets are what sometimes great stories are made of. In Rio de Janeiro in 2016, the podium was Kenya, Bahrain and Ehtiopia while in Tokyo in 2021 Molly Seidel of the USA won the bronze. Go back a little further in time and you see Japan, Romania, China and Russia.

This year, the dark horse could very well come from the Netherlands. An absolute beast on the track, running at 1.500 metres, 5.000 and 10.000 and becoming European, World and/or Olympic champion at ALL of them, she made her marathon debut in London 2023, effectively coming out of nowhere to win that race. Later that year she also won the Chicago marathon in a European record time and the second fastest time ever ran by a woman.

The fun thing is that for these Olympics, she hasn't yet disclosed which distances she will be running. It is very unlikely she'll stick to just one event, having run three in Tokio. Her most recent forray into road running saw her finishing a "disappointing" fourth in the Tokyo marathon and people quickly saying she should focus all her attention on track events. However... Nobody tells Sifan Hassan what to do so we could be in for a surprise - either way!

by Oploskoffie A quick update: the deadline for your picks is this Sunday, July 28 at 12PM CET!

by Fastbackss How does the scoring work if the same country gets multiple medals?

Example - men's doubles - USA has chance for 2 medals.

The notes say the lesser medal - but I am not sure I understand

by Oploskoffie

Fastbackss wrote: ↑Fri Aug 02, 2024 6:08 pm How does the scoring work if the same country gets multiple medals?

Example - men's doubles - USA has chance for 2 medals.

The notes say the lesser medal - but I am not sure I understand

It all depends on the medal position you chose for a country. Say you predicted the USA to win the bronze but they win both the silver and the bronze. The scoring system is set up to check results in a certain order, which in this case means that as your bronze pick was correct, the silver and gold positions are no longer checked for a result other than bronze.

If a country wins all three medals in an event, the reference point is still the medal position you picked. The scoring system will always check in order of 100% correct pick, one medal position up or down, two medal positions up or down. In the case of an incorrect pick but the possibilty of partial poins, the awarded score is always based on the lowest valued medal of the two. So, if you picked gold, but the result is bronze, you get 1/8 of the value of a bronze medal, being 0,5 point for the other events and 1 point for the tennis. The same applies to scoring gold instead of bronze. Yes, the athlete or team are ecstatic but you were two positions of the mark with your pick, so...

The above is also part of the reason why the three-different-country-must rule was introduced: there is a major premium on exact predictions, but at the end of the competition, perhaps the difference between places 1 and 2 will be a point. Or a half.

by Fastbackss Very well, thank you.

It "came true" for men's doubles for me. I picked bronze, and they won silver and bronze.