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Pop Up Olympics

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I think the next Olympics should have “pop up video” style coverage.  You know….the little bubbles with random facts built in?

Some random facts I’d love to know…..

Me: I have anxiety about the goggles.  What if they fall off when they dive in?
Mr. LBB: They don’t.
Me: Are you sure? Whenever I wear goggles and dive in….they fall off.
Me: What are they going to do with that huge pool when the Olympics are over?
Mr. LBB: Seriously? I don’t know the answer to any of these questions.

So I stopped asking questions…..and wrote them down instead:

What do the gymnasts do if they have to go the bathroom?
Do you think they take the tight leotards all the way off?
Do they still call those things leotards?
Do you think the swimmers pee in the pool?
Who gets to be a judge?
Where do the judges get their uniforms? Why are they so dowdy?
I wonder what the concession stand is like.  Do you think they have nachos?
Oh my gosh, how stressful would it be to be in charge of the Omega-timer-machine?!
What if the timer malfunctioned? Could they get the swimmers to stop?
You can tell she’s praying. Don’t you think God gets a ton of “help me win a gold medal” prayers?
Do medals have identifying numbers on the back? If you have 19 medals how do you keep them all straight?
How many laps are in the 800 again?
Has a male diver ever lost his bathing suit?
Is there an easy “I want to look like a volleyball player” workout I can do?
Do you think the swimmer with large earrings would decrease their drag if they didn’t wear them?
Did you know that the pool camera has a twitter account?
How many laps could Michael Phelps swim in the time it would take me to swim just one…..assuming I could finish one?
Maybe they should have just a regular person off the street compete in each event? For comic relief?
How cool would you feel if Will and Kate were watching you swim?
How can anyone tell who got the point in fencing? It always looks like a tie to me.
Whatever happened to those funny full body shark suits?
If Boo wanted to play badminton, who would I even contact?
Did they have table tennis in ancient Greece?
Has a referee ever gotten stabbed by a javelin? That looks like a dangerous job.
Remember when Keri Strug was the only one not wearing pants on the gold medal platform?
Why isn’t crafting or woodworking a sport?
Are those headphones noise canceling?
Don’t you think the “take your mark” voice is kind of scary?
Do you think the athletes put their medals in their carry-on luggage?
Do they run medals through the airport scanner?

Any questions to add to my list?
Anyone have any answers?

About Ashley Hackshaw

Living a simple, creative life in #smalltownusa Bryson City, NC. Renovating a 1960s ranch house and an old train depot. Thank you for reading! Read more in my about section. 

Comments

    • Nikki says

      I wanted to reply to you, but I posted at the bottom by mistake. Anyway…

      My little brother is a swimmer. Swims in college, world meets and Olympic Trials. (would have made the Olympic team if he didn’t live in the US haha). He says all the swimmers he knows that compete at the highest level all pee in the pool during warm ups for good luck. You pee in a pool you’ve never been in before. I thought that was hilarious. He also says you never pee before a race and you try to have a semi full bladder during the race but NEVER pee during a race because it uses energy and you often have to kick slower.

    • Suzanne says

      Gross! And then they scoop up water, put it in their mouth, and spit it out again.
      Disgusting!

  2. Jaime DeVries says

    Yes they pee in the pool. I think Lochte admitted to it.
    And I wonder:
    1. What the swimmers are listening to in their headphones. Is it some Rocky music to pump them up? Some regular pandora music or is it motivational speeches from their coach?
    2. What do the female athletes do if its “that time of the month” I mean, I don’t even want to get off the couch, much less try to win a gold medal.

      • Harmony says

        Oh, and also, many of them go on birth control a few months prior and time it so that they will NOT have their period during the games. ….If they even get one. Many high level athletic women rarely get them because they don’t have enough body fat.

      • Caroline says

        I’m pretty sure female atlhetes use one of those birth control pills that let you skip your period completely or arrange it to come at other time of the month. They worked too hard to let that be ruined by mother nature.

    • maggie says

      Phelps listened to “Til I collapse” -Eminem in Beijing not sure if he switched it up this year…

  3. maggie says

    2 caps help to combat goggles fall off but they still do sometimes. If a swimmer breaks stroke to dix them they get dq’d. They also fill up with water. Happened to Phelps in Bejing and he still won gold. They all pee in.the pool! Sometimes before they get in and they splash water on theirselves.

  4. Barb Woods says

    The medals actually have the events listed on the back side of them. As well as Olympic year and date. Love your questions. You make me laugh out loud every day.
    xx

  5. Shannon says

    I heard that it is “good luck” for swimmers to pee in the pool and that it is so chlorinated that the pee is gone in 6 seconds 🙂 Love this list of questions! Especially the beach volleyball and badmiton ones!

  7. Holly says

    If the swimmers, do in fact, pee in the pool, why do they always let the water go into their mouths after they swim???

    Do they pee while swimming? Before? After? I’m concerned about the fact they admit to it…deny, deny, deny!

  8. Michelle says

    I saw one of the fans drinking a beer, so I’m guessing the concessions are good! I’d love to know the answers to all of these questions too.

  9. Harmony says

    I’m sure the gymnasts go to the bathroom BEFORE taking the floor to warm up for competition. They have been doing competitions for YEARS before getting to the Olympics, so they each have their own pre-competition routine that they do.
    Yes, they take the leotard all the way off to go to the bathroom.
    Yes it’s still called a leotard. But it does have nicknames (mainly: Leo).
    I don’t know how it is in every sport, but to be a judge in figure skating you have to have MUCH knowledge, and be sanctioned by various organizations (taking whatever judging …. classes?…. you have to for each level.) Often, but not always, these judges used to DO the sport and/or coach. Or are also coaches still.
    The swimmer with the big earrings would likely decrease drag if thy were taken off. Not by much…by who knows when hundredths of seconds are counted – it just might be enough to win! Also, that’s why swimmers tend to train and not shave *anywhere*, and some will even wear extra stuff that will increase drag, and then right before competing shave everywhere and they won’t wear anything that will increase drag.
    I believe the cool shark suits were disallowed. I don’t remember why. But when my daughter was competing in local competitions, they weren’t allowed to wear them.
    I think the regular off the street person competing for comic relief sounds like it would be funny to watch!!
    I do remember when Kerri Strug was the only one not wearing pants on the podium!
    The headphones are possibly noise canceling. More likely it’s a mental barrier more than a physical one, though.
    I think that’s all the responses I have! 😀

  10. nancy says

    You crack me up. I had many of those same questions. I have another – how do the leotards & swimsuits stay in place & not crawl.

      • nancy says

        I wish the beach volleyball players would use the “butt glue.” I could stand to see a little less butt.

        • Lisa Weedman Newell says

          I’m with you on that! lol I wonder why they don’t wear more clothing in general… it seems like it would be painful falling on the sand when you are almost naked!

    • Caroline says

      Haha, this is so funny! My take on this one: Beach volleyball is not a real sport, so if the players used more clothes, they wouldn’t have such an audience.

      • Amy says

        Trying playing Beach Volleyball before claiming it’s not a real sport. My daughter plays both hard court and beach, and beach is much more physically draining than hard court. Only 2 players and trying to jump in sand, it’s not easy. Less clothes = less places for sand to get into. Easier to brush off your skin.

  12. cheryl says

    oh my gosh, we could soooo watch tv together and our husbands would sooo kick us out of the room!! I do this too. Question after question! my husband has just learned to say, “google!!”

  13. Kattie says

    I just laughed out loud about 5 times reading this, enough times for my husband to ask what I was laughing at. I think this is the type of list only women would get…never ending inner monologue about everything happening around us.

  14. Melanie G says

    I would totally watch pop-up-Olympics! They should make a ticker at the bottom of the screen to answer questions that people text in.
    I love the idea of a regular person competing in the events, just as long as its not me!

  15. Amanda says

    Oddly enough I can answer the fencing one, we had a demo at the school I work at. The breastplate has a sensor in it, that’s what “counts” the score.
    I have thought of many of these questions too. 🙂

  16. rach says

    Badminton …. My pet peeve is that the US commentators, can’t even say the word. They miss out the ‘d’ and ‘t’. Sorry, guess it’s the British in me. You need to take Boo to England, we used to play it in school.

  17. Megan says

    Here are ones that haven’t been answered yet…

    I think they are keeping the pool there to use for later meets and such, they kept the one in China.

    The cool shark full body suit were banned because they were too bouyant. Now they only are allowed to come to the knee and guys aren’t allowed to have it over their chest.

    THere are 16 laps in the 800 (a 100 is 2 laps)

    And the say take your mark in that sort of voice so all of the starters kind of sound the same so it doesn’t throw you off to have a totally different sounding rhythm or voice.

    Oh and for swimming at least it is a very long and complicated process to be an offical at the olympics…a lot to do with politics in the sport

  18. Lisa Roussel says

    Does anyone remember Eric Moussambani from Equatorial Guinea in the Sydney Olympics who could barely swim? He finished the race finally and everyone cheered like he had won the gold medal! I guess that’s what it is like to have an average joe or jane competing in the Olympics.

  20. Beth says

    When I ask questions like this my husband tells me that he’s glad he’s the only one in the room because it makes me sound much dumber than I am…and before you get mad at him, he also tells me I am the smartest person he know, but I ask dumb questions! I’m glad it’s not just me.

  24. Elizabeth says

    My mom says stuff like this outloud 🙂
    I knew a lot of swimmers in high school who peed in the pool!
    100 = 2 lengths of the pool, 2×8=16 lengths! HOLY MOLY.
    I think the take your mark voice IS scary.
    Crafting SHOULD be an Olympic sport. That is why I am addicted to craft wars.

  26. Elise Lindsey says

    Haha these are hilarious! I have many questions also! Obviously can’t remember them ha! But I did see a thing on phelps and his coach and his coach would periodically do things to throw him off so that he would be ready for anything. Once he stepped on his goggles before a meet so it would intentionally get water in them then I think at the Beijing Olympics his goggles filled up with water in one of the events that he won. He said he practices counting how many stokes it takes him each lap some is ready in an event like that! So crazy!

  27. Emily Hadsell says

    I love your questions! I only have one answer for you since the others have already been answered but anyone can be a gymnastics judge, even you, but there are multiple tests for different levels starting at level 3 and going up to level 10 and then elite and so on. I hope this gives you a better understanding to your question.

  28. Roben-Marie Smith says

    This is so funny! I’m not sure what movie or channel but I have seen movies with the pop up bubbles that gave facts about the movie. I really liked it. I am a statistics freak and think we should have fact bubbles during all sporting events!

  30. Suzy says

    Sometimes nature calls at the cruelest of times, like when you’re already gripped up. So, we got used to the ol’ pull the leo to the side method. And we were good at it. No touching anything. Better than peeing on the equipment!

  32. Perry says

    Ash…EVERYTIME i read your posts, I actually feel like I wrote them! I almost think I thought of every single one of those questions for real when i was watching! I actually googled if “big earrings would effect a swimmers drag” when I saw a girl wearing pretty decent sized pearls! I also notice that both Michael Phelps and Lochte have crooked smiles….. I thought maybe after swimming all these years and breathing to the same side so many times, may have effect their next muscles makes one side stronger, causing the crooked smiles, but I could not find anything to support this hypothesis! haha. I also wondered how the gymnasts keep from getting a wedgie and if they did get one, is it a 1/10th deduction for picking it? I also thought that some of the gymnasts ponytails were pulled SO tightly, i think it was causing some hair loss around the hairline…. and also, how come ALL russian gymnasts seem to always wear blue eye shadow?????? I have MANY more!!! I could go on and on! haha

    • Stephanie T says

      Oh my gosh–you and your sister must’ve kept your parents in stitches growing up. Both Ashley’s and your posts today have totally entertained me . Your comments about the 1/10 deduction for picking reminds me of a Seinfeld episode….”It wasn’t a pick–it was a scratch!!”

  33. Megan Hutchison says

    A- I love pop up videos. Think that’s a great idea. B- I have asked myself at least 75% of those questions before.

  34. Deb says

    Here’s one… how do they get the horses to the competition? Are they in the cargo area of a commercial airplane? Because they sure wouldn’t fit under the seat in front of you!

    • jenny says

      I heard the answer to that this week. Many are sent by FedEx air. They have their own stalls etc and have customs/passport paper work. One Olympic year the equestrian events were held months ahead if everything else and in a neighboring country bc of quaratine regulations

  35. Julie says

    Not sure about the Olympics, but there have been human back up timers at all the swim meets I have attended (my son has made it to the state level). The timers have hand held stop watches. The officials/timers who are leaning over the pool stop them. There is also someone who starts back up timers in case someone forgets to start theirs (yes, that would be me–only once), or the timer malfunctions. Drives me crazy that they pee in the pool and then put that water in their mouths. Of course, that might not be as been as swimming through someone’s vomit (“it wasn’t that much mom”). I doubt they “go” during the actual race, only during warm-up and cool down or trianing sessions.

    • maggie says

      One year our swim team had a trqditional spaghetti dinner.the night before a meet. The trash cans ended uo blowing over into.the pool in the night and the next morning swimmers were scooping noodles off the bottom… :/ so.gross!

  36. Graceybug says

    Here is a few of mine…

    How do the Synchronized swimmer get that much makeup to say on?
    What the heck is in their hair? It so sleek and shiny so it must be really hard to wash out.
    Their swimsuits are so pretty. I think they are prettier than the gymnastic leotards. Okay that wasn’t a question.
    Why are the NBC commentators so awful with no personality?
    How do the judges pay attention for so long? Do they ever zone out?

    I love the underwater camera shots where the swimmers are adjusting their swimsuits. Nice to know they have the same problems that I often have.

    • nancy says

      I want to know that too – about the synchronized swimmers’ hair gel. Looks interesting.

    • Leah says

      My daughters participate in a synchronized swimming club. Slick hair is courtesy of Knox unflavored gelatin!

  37. Nikki says

    My little brother is a swimmer. Swims in college, world meets and Olympic Trials. (would have made the Olympic team if he didn’t live in the US haha). He says all the swimmers he knows that compete at the highest level all pee in the pool during warm ups for good luck. You pee in a pool you’ve never been in before. I thought that was hilarious. He also says you never pee before a race and you try to have a semi full bladder during the race but NEVER pee during a race because it uses energy and you often have to kick slower.

  38. Kestlyn says

    @Ashley – Some sweaty gymnasts actually just pull over the bottom of their leos to “go” like swimmers, but more often they pull them down. Most of your swim questions were answered. I don’t remember any diver losing their trunks, but I do remember a fair number of body suits for both swimming and running splitting open in the rear lol. No, table tennis is not an ancient original Olympic Sport. If you are from a country where they let you keep your medal, then yes they carry on. And yes, if you carry on the medal will go through the metal detector.
    @Graceybug – Makeup stays on pretty well in the pool unless you rub it, but you do layer it on pretty thick. Nose clips get glued on with super glue. In college we used boiling water and plain gelatin mixed together to set our hair. Then you just sit under a dryer until it’s hard. It washes out really easy in a hot shower.

  39. Stephanie T says

    Ashley–Regarding the swimmer’s headphones being noise canceling, I heard Michael Phelps say that it’s pretty cool to walk into the pool area wearing his headphones and hearing all the cheers. So I guess his weren’t noise canceling…but then again, he did get the loudest cheers that may have been nearly impossible to cancel out.

    Thanks for posting all the questions that have been bouncing around in my brain for the past week.

  40. Ceri says

    I actually went to the Olympics on Friday (yes it was awesome) but I can’t answer any of your questions. Not even the nachos one. But they did do fish and chips, even in the main stadium. 🙂

  42. Jo says

    The pool will be converted for public use after the games. The side “wings” will be removed so the capacity will be reduced to 2,500 seats instead of 17,500.
    I don’t think I would mind Will and Kate watching; they went to meet some of the GB team last week, and swimmer, Rebecca Adlington, chatted with Kate about shoes! They just seem so much more, (for want of a better word) “normal”?!
    Food wise, I think it’s pretty good. There is a few news reports about how they were running low on food supplies last week; http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2012/aug/01/london-2012-catering-olympic-park?newsfeed=true and http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-19121989
    Some of the food mentioned seems pretty exotic for a sporting event. Tapas, noodles and curry! And of course, the greatest of British traditions, fish and chips! i.e.chunky potato fries, not what we call “crisps”!
    One of my biggest questions while watching is “Wonder if anyone I know is there?” my FB feed is full of people who have gone to watch in person, especially the football, ’cause the Millenium Stadium in Cardiff is closer to us than the big smoke.
    Funniest thing I have seen was a twitpic of a list of British colloquialisms as collected by an American. Wish I could find it, I reckon you’d enjoy it!

  43. Julie Smith says

    So funny! A few of my questions:

    How many times would Mo Farah (10000 m) lap me as he completed his first 62 second lap?
    Is there a correlation between having a big white smile and Olympic gold medals in swimming?
    How do those beach volleyball gals keep from getting a wedgie? And yes to the easy workout question, too!

  44. Amy says

    They have back up timers (I assume) I was a back up timer for a marathon once. They had the big Omega-like timer, the runner’s chip in their shoe and me and 4 other people with stop watches.

  45. Molly says

    Ew, I am NEVER getting in a pool again. Too much pee talk!

    But yeah, I think about this stuff all the time. After the McDonalds commercial where the random lady tells the boxing chick “you know the Ukrainians are doing this in the snow” I went “No! it’s summer! There’s no snow!” and my dad looked at me and said “I think you’re taking this a little too seriously…”

    The US Volleyball ladies said that if they competed in sweats and not tight fitting clothing, they’d get injured or caught on stuff and that it’s just easier to do it in their outfits. I kind of love them for rocking it. They’re both moms! I love them. They’re my girl crush.

    Why is Ryan Lochte so inarticulate?

    Why do I still find Michael Phelps attractive even though he is tall and kind of doofy?

    Why does Ryan Seacrest keep talking about twitter and how can I make him stop?

    Most importantly, how can I comfort the hot non-winners like Oscar Pistorius with my bosom? Also on the list, the entire US men’s 100-400m runners (Bryshon Nellum, Gatlin, etc) and swimmer Cullen Jones (hello sexy!)

    Can you tell my favorite part of the Olympics is objectifying the sexy men? And convincing myself that I have a chance with them..

    • cbd says

      This is great list! As for Ryan Lochte… I would say, “Shhh, please no talking, let’s not ruin the moment!”

      • Amanda says

        Hahah! Yes. He just needs to stand there and look nice. Sexist statement? Yes, but I’m ok with that.

  46. suzi says

    hI Ashley,

    craft was actually a part of the Olympics from 1912 to 1952 the so called Art Competitions, you could compete in Architecture, Literature, Music, Painting and Sculpture!!

  47. Rose says

    Oh dear, I want to answer all your questions. But you made me laugh so much I think I’ll just leave you to your pondering (is that selfish – its far more fun for us readers though). I have another question:
    How do the Olympians get a good nights sleep not in their own bed and with everyone who has already won a medal partying around them? Seriously… it would totally bug me not being in my own bed before something so important.

    And just because I’m a Scot – woohooo Andy Murray, love you!!!

  48. Rose says

    Ooh just read some of the comments…. as an ex-swimmer (OK totally crap, but I did compete), we DID NOT pee in the pool. Some of the blokes said they did, but having been a lifeguard I know that many of the swimming pools in Europe now have chemicals in that change the colour of the water when you pee so the lifeguard knows and they chuck you out! Its really only a problem during Saturday morning childrens swimming classes. Most of the time no one pees. Eugggghhhhh! I can’t believe how many people are saying that swimmers pee. If its true outside Europe I’m all yukked out! However, from a health point of view i also know that one of the main restrictions on the chemicals in the pool is to make it safe pretty much regardless of what ends up in the water. Its still totally gross though (and I’m so glad I no longer work in a swimming pool!).

  49. Nina says

    Thank you for all these answers, I was able to look very knowledgeable when my husband wondered out loud about the medals and how they knew what they won it for 🙂

  50. Alice H says

    I think I would die if my body looked like the volleyball players. I would probably die if I even tried to do their workout routine.

    Pee’ing in the pool disgusts me. This is one main reason, I hate swimming in pools or lakes. Yuck!

    I think it is great that so many questions run through your head. I have a lot that run thru mine too. I should write them down!!

  51. Jen says

    Love this post, love the questions too. Pretty much the same ones I have had LOL! When Ryan was talking about his swimming medals last Friday morning on the today show my husband said, “wow you seem interested in this interview, I’ve called your name 3 times” all I could say back was ” well he’s cute, let me have my eye candy”

  53. Elizabeth B says

    I have been laughing on the inside the past 3 hours! I read this at work and if I laughed out loud my customers and coworkers would think I was crazy. (I am crazy just the good kind of crazy!)

    Peeing in the pool doesn’t bother me because all the chemicals in it that make it clean again, there are much worse things then pee…like poo or vomit!!

    Thanks for making me laugh today. I got my ab workout in for the day (dont’ judge me ;))

  54. Michaela says

    My husband was telling me about a Ryan Lochte interview where Lochte admitted to peeing in the pool.

    Apparently the last time London held the Olympics they lost power to the lights during the javelin. They used flashlights to light up the foul line and then walked around the field looking for where the javelin hit. Is it just me or does that sound like a terrible plan!

  55. Desiree says

    Haaa! Your questions mirror most of mine. And, after asking my husband about a 100 questions, all with the same reply (a shrug of the shoulder), I stopped pondering out loud.
    A question that has been nagging me… Why are the Australian’s uniform colors yellow and green, when their flag is blue, white, and red?!

    • Kaz from Australia says

      Hi,
      The green and gold is from a native tree called the golden wattle 🙂

  57. Amanda says

    These are hilarious questions and so very similar to mine. That’s why I have my iPad handy when I watch. My biggest question was why do swimmers put water in their mouths before swimming. Google said it was to help with the gag reflex – to help avoid gagging when they dive in. After all the pee talk, that seriously grosses me out.

  58. Anne says

    Re: fencing. Rules differ with each of the three weapons. Guide pamphlets are frequently furnished at tournaments. All participamts and weapons are wired for touches on their opponents, and lights come on the side of the one who scores the touch. Once you know the simple rules, it’s very exciting. Also, fencing is the oldest martial art in the Olympics.
    My husband is always willing to answer my questions – guess it makes him feel really macho!
    Loved your questioms.

  59. Kati says

    Loved all your questions! I ask crazy questions sometimes too and it drives my family crazy! I get the “How would I know” answer a lot!

  60. Taryn says

    Those are EXACTLY the kinds of questions I have, too! But I have them for everyone I see: Does the city bus driver pick up the bus from near her home and the next driver get off near his? Do actuaries enjoy filling out forms? How did this guy decide to become an excavator? Did he love playing with construction toys as a kid?

  61. Ashley Romero says

    Oh my gosh I am literally laughing out loud right! I asked myself every single one of those questions while watching the olympics!!!! One of my big questions.. what do the athletes do when they get home??? Do they have a job? How do they make money? I always ask my husband this and he says, “Endorsements…” What does that even mean? LOL

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