Olympics

[xilman]

Originally Posted by Batalov

Brian May is in fact an astrophysicist, ...in case you didn't read about it in the very first line in Wiki.

Amongst all the other world record holders present last night, Dr May has one of his own. AFAIK, he has the record for the longest time between starting his doctorate and collecting the degree.

[Dubslow]

Originally Posted by xilman

Amongst all the other world record holders present last night, Dr May has one of his own. AFAIK, he has the record for the longest time between starting his doctorate and collecting the degree.

Screw Erdős number, how about May number? And apparently the Newton thing isn't new:

May appeared on the 700th episode of The Sky at Night hosted by Sir Patrick Moore, along with Dr. Chris Lintott, Jon Culshaw, Prof. Brian Cox, and the Astronomer Royal Martin Rees who on leaving the panel told Brian May, who was joining it, "I don't know any scientist who looks as much like Isaac Newton as you do". May replied that "that could be my after dinner comment, thank you very much".

[xilman]

Originally Posted by xilman

Catching the javelin? Shot-put volleyball? Water dressage?

Inspired by Eric Idle's demonstration last night, I would put forward "Human Cannonball" as a sport. There would be at least two categories, including greatest distance travelled and most skilful in-flight gymnastics.

Some facilities are greatly under used at present, an example being the white-water canoeing course. Accordingly, I propose uphill swimming races.

[ewmayer]

Originally Posted by Dubslow

I'm more-than-well-aware of that, but was pointing out how much he looks like it now. My mom thinks he grew his hair like that to look like Newton. (The white hair shocked me a little, but it is gloriously awesome white hair, for the reasons above.)

Not to cast dispersions on Dr. May's colorful career, but to paraphrase the old Memorex ads, "is it live, or is it a Newtonian-era peruke?"

May is rather taller than the late Sir Isaac, but I can see how that might help when it comes to "having a feel" for gravitation, making Newton's achievements all that more remarkable.

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Forgot to mention yesterday - the men's volleyball final (Brazil v Russia) was wildly entertaining, Russia comes back from 2 match balls down in the 3rd set, completely ditches its normal on-floor player staffing and shocks the favored Brazis.

[xilman]

Another possible Olympic sport, though I can't take credit for it. SWMBO is an afficionado of a soap opera called The Archers and told me of the invention. Incidentally, a snatch of the signature tune was included in the opening ceremony.

The event is caterpillar racing. The athletes are almost completely enclosed in a fairly tightly fitting padded garment akin to a sleeping bag. The only part of their anatomy exposed is their head. The event is to race 100m in the shortest time.


Paul

[ewmayer]

With the 2012 Olympics in the rear-view mirror, time to switch things into "where are they now?" mode, by which we keep the thread alive by reporting on the doings - especially those of the humorous variety - of the Olympians.

Combining the "where are they now?" theme and the "events which should be in the Olympics", U.S. middle distance runner Nick Symmonds just attempted to better the world record in a running event which definitely should be in the Olympics:

Olympic runner Nick Symmonds attempts record in beer mile

Unlike Roger Bannister's record-breaking sub-four-minute mile, this feat won't be written about in history books or mythologized in film. But someday soon, someone somewhere will break a barrier nearly as difficult: the five-minute beer mile.

I take issue with both of those theses: If the Beer Mile became an Olympic event it would very much be written about in history books. And the five-minute beer mile is certainly more difficult than the four-minute non-beer mile, since top middle distance runners all easily break the latter mark these days, whereas none has yet come closer than 9 seconds to running a five-minute beer mile. But, back to the article:

It just wasn't Tuesday, and it wasn't Oregon resident and Olympic runner Nick Symmonds.

Symmonds, who came in fifth in the 800 meters at the London 2012 Olympics, logged a 5:19 time in his first beer mile, which tasks runners with chugging a full beer (in this case, Coors) every quarter mile throughout the run.

The time was good enough for an American record, but not enough to beat Canadian marathoner Jim Finlayson's 5:09 mark from 2007.

TMZ was on hand to film the 28-year-old runner (which seems strange, until you remember Symmonds once went on a date with Paris Hilton).

As Symmonds tweeted after:

Learned a lot in tonight's #NSBeerMile. Definitely know where time needs to be shaved off. I'll post the video to YouTube tomorrow!
— NickSymmonds (@NickSymmonds) August 22, 2012

He fell 10 seconds short of the record - but keep trying, Nick, as you know, endless practice is what it takes to accomplish such a notable feat.

On a technical note, in order to make TBM an Olympic event there would need to be standardization w.r.to the beer's minimum (and perhaps maximum) alcohol content). I'm also curious as to what fraction of the extra minute-and-half required for the Beer Mile is due to having to stop and chug every lap, and which to the resulting state of inebriation.

[Xyzzy]

In five minutes there isn't enough time to have the alcohol affect the runner.

Now a (Blue, of course!) Slurpee® every quarter mile? That would be impressive!

[ewmayer]

Originally Posted by Xyzzy

In five minutes there isn't enough time to have the alcohol affect the runner.

Au contraire -- On an empty stomach, the blood alcohol level will rise appreciably within minutes. Strenuous activity like running will speed this process further, by causing accelerated liquid absorption from the stomach. If you don't believe me, try it sometime. :)

If any of our readers has a home breathalyzer (or access to one n a lab equppied with an exercise treadmill) and wishes to make a contribution to science, it would be a simple experiment to run.

[xilman]

Originally Posted by ewmayer

With the 2012 Olympics in the rear-view mirror, time to switch things into "where are they now?" mode, by which we keep the thread alive by reporting on the doings - especially those of the humorous variety - of the Olympians.

I have very rarely seen the words "Coors" and "beer" in the same sentence other than when used ironically or within advertising literature. Coors, IMAO, is very much in the making love in a punt category.

[Xyzzy]

Au contraire -- On an empty stomach, the blood alcohol level will rise appreciably within minutes. Strenuous activity like running will speed this process further, by causing accelerated liquid absorption from the stomach. If you don't believe me, try it sometime.

The speed at which we would run a mile (8 minutes?) coupled with the fact that we do not drink would probably result in confusion, dyspnea, mydriasis, muscle fasciculations and projectile vomiting. Well, maybe in the people watching us.



We will take your word that a young male with (more likely than not) an extensive drinking history and related alcohol tolerance level will be challenged by this task.



We still think a blue Slurpee® every quarter mile would be a more entertaining event. Or maybe have the runner drink the beer, spin in circles 17 times and then run.

[Dubslow]

Originally Posted by Xyzzy

We still think a blue Slurpee® every quarter mile would be a more entertaining event. Or maybe have the runner drink the beer, spin in circles 17 times and then run.

Rofl. In high school we played "the pen game": hold a pen (or pencil) at arm's length in front of your face, focus really hard on it, and then spin around as fast as possible for 60 seconds. Then you drop the pen: whoever manages to jump over the dropped pen without falling wins.