sdandrea1 I thought he was South African.. ????

His wife is from Slovakia.....probably figured he couldn't make SA team.

    On another Olympic note, check out one of the Argentine volleyball players...
    His last name is LOSER! 🤣

    darpar Even my wife stayed up til 3 a.m. to watch. She's never swung a club in her life!!

      darpar WTF
      7 player playoff for the bronze medal......this thing went on all night long! 😴😳😴

      That had to be something to see!!

        darpar 7 player playoff for the bronze medal.....

        This, I do not understand. Why was a playoff called for instead of all ties getting a medal?
        What happens in the decathlon? What happens in the 3000M? etc., etc..

            Par4QC

            How would they even do a Decathlon tiebreaker and keep it fair? Eleventh event? Make tied competitors do all ten events again?

            Plenty of other sports have tie breakers: tennis, volleyball, soccer, basketball, ... they probably try to limit it to sports where there's history provided for it in the sport - or if it just makes sense (and is fair). I wish there were more: boxing is one sport where I would actually like to see an extra round fought if tied on the scorecards.

                Bravopilot

                Why not? Well, probably because there's a history/mechanism for a tie-breaker in golf (like a bunch of other sports) and not in Track and Field events? Do any T&F events provide for a tie-breaker? I'm not aware of one (although, admittedly, I don't follow it either, so ...😕).

                    Stu1961 Some events there are--not running events. The High Jumpers could have competed in a "jump off" but asked if they can share and were told yes, so they did. They actually have been good friends for some time.

                    Doubt the golfers asked, let alone thought about asking if there is an option and doubt the officials offered one. I would have accepted a shared Bronze in a heartbeat.

                        Stu1961 a tie-breaker in golf

                        For 1st place.

                        They were lucky, with 7 players, that it only went 4 holes. Could have gone on for a day or 2.

                            Bravopilot
                            🤣 That doesn't make me think less of golf ... it does, however, make me think a little less of High Jump (not that I really ever think about High Jump). I was semi-aware of finishing-place tie-breakers in place - like 2nd best jump? Maybe they were tied there too? Seems really odd that there are rules which aren't enforceable (kind of what makes them "rules"). Would have been funny, and interesting to see if it changed their minds, if the rules committee said "Yes, you can share ... the Silver medal".😲

                              Par4QC
                              They certainly could do it for other finishing places in golf ... however, since there's only one trophy awarded in regular tour events there's not much point to it. 😕

                                  Stu1961 If you really wanted to argue about it, there is the money factor that is more important than any trophy. A 7 way tie for 3rd on the PGA could have considerable ramifications. A player could lose his tour card, because he tied, and did not finish 3rd alone.

                                  Therefore, a 7 way playoff for any medal seems doofus, imo, as the other 6 still go down in history as "T-3".

                                      Par4QC
                                      Curious, and not for the sake of argument, would you have felt the same way if there was a seven-way tie for first place? All get gold, with no silver or bronze awarded?

                                        The same playoff rules were in force in Rio. Unbelievably, there were no play-offs needed for any medals in either the Mens' or the Womens' competitions.

                                        Playing extra holes sure as hell beats the dreaded "scorecard playoff" used at the local clubs and munis we all play in.

                                        That was the best, most exciting fourth day of play that I think I have ever seen in a golf competition!!! It was riveting. I had a bit of difficulty staying focused when I watched parts of the first three days. But the Olympics may be my favourite golf event now. I can hardly wait to watch the women play starting on Wednesday.

                                        A 7-man playoff is messy, obviously, but probably as fair a way of splitting a tie as there is - going to any form of countback/'scorecard playoff' will be unfair to someone (do you reward a player for being well behind before shooting the lights out in the last round over the guy who's been in or near the lead all the way through before falling just short, or vice versa?)

                                        For what it's worth, the high jump (and pole vault) uses the record at previous heights to differentiate between athletes who clear the same maximum height.

                                          https://www.pgatour.com/winners-bag/2021/08/01/golf-clubs-equipment-callaway-xander-schauffele-gold-medal-olympics-tokyo.html

                                          Winner's Bag: Xander Schauffele, Olympic Games

                                          Driver: Callaway Epic Speed Triple Diamond (9 degrees)
                                          Shaft: Graphite Design Tour AD BB 7 X

                                          3-wood: Callaway Epic Speed Triple Diamond (15 degrees @14)
                                          Shaft: Graphite Design Tour AD DI 7 TX

                                          7-wood: Callaway Mavrik Sub Zero (20 degrees @18.8)
                                          Shaft: Graphite Design Tour AD DI 9 X

                                          Irons: Callaway Apex TCB (4-PW)
                                          Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100

                                          Wedges: Callaway Jaws MD5 (52-10S), Titleist Vokey Design SM6 (56-10 @57), Titleist Vokey Design SM8 WedgeWorks (60-T @61)
                                          Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100

                                          Putter: Odyssey O-Works #7 CH Red
                                          Grip: SuperStroke Traxion 2.0 Tour (10 grams)

                                          Ball: Callaway Chrome Soft X LS Prototype

                                          Grips: Golf Pride MCC (Black/White)

                                          MartinD Yes, in this year's case, they were equal from the beginning. Rare