[CompactDestruction]

Not a sniff of success yet, I thought this was supposed to be our home games we'd been preparing especially for?

So far it's just another demonstration of how we punch well below our weight in sport.

[ForensicShoe]

Aside from the Road Race, I don't think any medals were expected from the GB team today.

There were hints of potential successes to come. Decent performance from the men's gymnastic (qualified ahead of the Chinese), rowing and women's football teams.

Just wait till we get to the Track Cycling and the Rowing finals. That **** will be good (hopefully).

[117r]

Will you people seriously shut up. What were you expecting? The cycling team under performed through no major error on their part, and the gymnasts qualified ahead of the Chinese! The women's football is coming along nicely also.

We as a nation punch above our weight in sports in general. Or maybe you think we should be beating the behemoths that are the USA and China in every event? Bangladesh has half the population of the USA, and yet has NEVER scored an Olympic medal...

[GodAtum]

We did Ok in womens handball? Do we still progress?

[TheJ0ker]

Reason we lost the road cycle race was because the other countries didn't want to play ball, wanted us to do all the graft and unfortunately it doesn't work like that meaning they suffered as well as us.

[ForensicShoe]

(Original post by TheJ0ker)
Reason we lost the road cycle race was because the other countries didn't want to play ball, wanted us to do all the work and unfortunately it doesn't work like that meaning they suffered as well as us.

German's were being right lazy bastards.

[TheJ0ker]

(Original post by ForensicShoe)
German's were being right lazy bastards.

Yeah exactly, which meant they didn't have a chance either, bit stupid really.

[ForensicShoe]

(Original post by GodAtum)
We did Ok in womens handball? Do we still progress?

We lost 31-19. Not bad for our first ever team I guess

I think it's a group qualification event so we have a couple more matches to play.

[Drewski]

Oh give it a rest OP... You can't win 400 golds everyday - even moreso on the first day...

[Matthew_Lowson]

(Original post by GodAtum)
We did Ok in womens handball? Do we still progress?

Top four from each group qualify for QF

[CompactDestruction]

I would be very surprised if we medalled in Women's Football. Certainly, beating New Zealand and Cameroon isn't really a good indication of our chances.

The Men's Gymnastics looks like it could be interesting, I'll agree with that one. But a long way to go.

It was just a bit pathetic the way the BBC were hyping up Hannah Miley, for example. I could easily tell she was well off medal pace from the heats.

And the way we've crashed out of a number of events in the first round has been particularly disappointing.

[Drewski]

(Original post by CompactDestruction)
And the way we've crashed out of a number of events in the first round has been particularly disappointing.

Only if you were silly enough to believe that we'd win everything just because it was in our back yard. The medals on offer today, a couple of swimming ones aside, were never likely to be in our favour, and the early events favour the skills we don't dominate in. Got to be realistic about these things.

[The Rusty Spork]

(Original post by TheJ0ker)
Reason we lost the road cycle race was because the other countries didn't want to play ball, wanted us to do all the graft and unfortunately it doesn't work like that meaning they suffered as well as us.

I didn't get hose comments from the commentators 'nobody wants to be near Cavendish at the end so nobody is going in front of team GB.' and so on. All the others had to do was ride away whenever they felt like. And it was poor tactics letting the front group get so far ahead.

[Observatory]

Britain only has like 1% of the world's population, so punching below our weight would be winning <1% of medals. I don't think anyone is expecting that.

In 2008 we came 4th overall winning about 5% of total medals, for instance.

[fordfiesta]

Hmm well although it was a slightly disappointing opening day, it's a little silly to say that we underachieve in sport. To finish 4th in Beijing, despite being 22nd in terms of global population is no underachievement. We have the most teams ranked in the top 10 of their respective sports of any country in the world. Plus a marvellous history of sporting success. It's only dire cynicism that means Amir Khan gets castigated and pushed towards retirement for being in a similar position to Manny Pacqiuou was in 2005. And only here can people claim teams like Arsenal are 'rubbish' or one of the best goal-scoring midfielders of all time in any country (Frank Lampard) is 'mediocre.'

[The Rusty Spork]

(Original post by Observatory)
Britain only has like 1% of the world's population, so punching below our weight would be winning <1% of medals. I don't think anyone is expecting that.

That isn't the full picture though. We may have a small population but we throw in a huge amount of money when it comes to sports and infrastructure.

[Drewski]

(Original post by Mess.)
I didn't get hose comments from the commentators 'nobody wants to be near Cavendish at the end so nobody is going in front of team GB.' and so on. All the others had to do was ride away whenever they felt like. And it was poor tactics letting the front group get so far ahead.

A higher tempo throughout the whole race would have meant no energy left for a sprint - and that a sprint would have been less effective.
All the other teams knew that if it did come down to a sprint there'd be, at best, 4 guys with a chance. So they didn't want that to happen. Had Team GB gone off at the pace to match those breakaway groups, Cav wouldn't have had enough left to sprint away from the other sprinters who would have tagged along.

[Simran Mars Foster]

Didn't we do really well in the rowing!?

[CompactDestruction]

'Punching at our weight' is not really to do with population. I'm thinking more about the amount of money going through the top levels of sport in this country. I think it's a national disgrace how rich some people make themselves through sport while the grassroots often struggle for adequate facilities.

[Olie]

(Original post by CompactDestruction)
Not a sniff of success yet, I thought this was supposed to be our home games we'd been preparing especially for?

So far it's just another demonstration of how we punch well below our weight in sport.

Well yes I agree its been a disappointing day for team gb so far, watched quite a few sports today like archery, badminton, handball etc and we lost in all of them! But to say we punch below our weight is rubbish, considering our relatively small population of 60 million or so, to finish 4th in the medal standing in Beijing above some much bigger countries than ourselves, shows it probably should be argued that we punch above our weight. Though obviously I realise that's dependant on a number of factors like how much money we can put into our sport here.