Olympic Games.. What a shame

[Colin_Fraser]

What has happened to the Olympic spirit?
There was a time when win or lose we were very proud of the effort they put in and the spirit in which they competed. Not any more I'm afraid.

Whats wrong with being humble in defeat. Why are they made to feel they have to apologise to anyone for not winning. Sure, they did not win, but hold your head up, stand up proud and say you gave it your best shot.

Why is an Olympic dream shattered because you only win a silver medal? So what if you are the second best in the world. What is so devastating about that?

A lot of athletes could learn a lot from Leisel Jones on the way she reacted to coming 5th. That is the sign of a real champion.

[gecko]

Yeah there's been a few disappointing shows of unsportsman-like behaviour.

That British rider blaming the Australians on his team coming 5th. You don't blame anyone in the Olympics - its about competing to your very best to represent your country.

The swimmers all complaining and whinging when they didn't do as well as they could have, I think it's all part of the increasing pressure social media has been having over the athletes. The hype leading into this Olympics was crazy for some of our swimmers, it was just silliness - they had such high expectations that they were never going to reach.

[leon]

Absolutely agree, it seems if one comes second, or third for that matter, they are classed as losers.

Just being there must show they are capable athletes.

leon

[Bassnut]

BS, atheletes are trained and cranked up to come 1st, nothing else matters. Winning is everything, the "olympic spirit" is a myth. 2nd is a devistating loss.

[bojan]

That is why I am not competing.. :P

[Astro_Bot]

... and that's why I'm not watching. ;)

[stephenb]

100% agree. Very humbling to hear her today.

[blink138]

silver really is considered "the first loser"
i am one of those people that dont really think the bigger team sports should be an olympic sport..... but where do you draw the line?
sure the relay swimming and 4 by 100 may be considered "team" sports but they are still an individual battle and they are fantastic
i will get up at 2:30 in the morning to watch my football team or an important european or international match but........ olympic football? well it leaves me cold!
i was watching one of those "olympic moments" on an amazing ozzie female cyclist in the 500m individual pursuit who won gold at a recent previous games and at the end the commentator remarked that she will be the last medalist because her discipline was being replace by...... wait for it.......BMX!!!!!
WTF?
we may as well all roll over and admit defeat if crap like this is considered an olympic disciline(?)
viva americolympics! (not)
(annoyed) pat

[blink138]

ha ha on a side note.... just turned on to the beach volleyball (female) and besides the fetish value.... what a load of crap!
turned over to the table tennis and what a game and a contrast.... is anybody watching the female ping pong? speed, agility hand eye coordination, absolutely amazing!
pat

[GrahamL]

I feel complete now I know what that big red thing is I don't need to watch any more. :)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cQUxYoB3ysU&feature=related

I did here a young lady yesterday blame losing her focus by posting on twitter to her fans was the reason she didn't get to end of the pool quicker than her rival ?, most of these athletes are just kids the realities of life will grow with them in time , as for now if theres a problem with how they are reacting I think we should have a look at the coaches these people have a huge influence on how these young people see the world and a few that pop up in the media are plain nuts.

[BPO]

ZZzzz...mmm...ummm, what? Olympics? Are those things on again? Mmmmm.....zzzzzzzzzzz...

[iceman]

The channel 9 coverage is woeful. Makes me wish I had foxtel just for the olympics.

Unless you want to watch swimming, rowing or equestrian. Apparently no other sport exists for channel 9.

[strongmanmike]

Having competed at international level agaisnt the Worlds best in a very hard demanding sport that required heavy, hard and brutal training, I completely understand some of the reactions from our Olympic competitors, particularly when interviewed straight after the event :rolleyes:. The massive comitment that goes into getting to that level can't just be shrugged off as oh well it was a fair fight and I'm happy not winning. Unless you have experienced the total dedication both mentally and physically some of these athelets put themselves through it would be hard to relate to some of the reactions..most don't go to the Olympics to come second, simple.

Having said that, when the dust settles and composure returns, accepting a silver or broze medal becomes a little easier :)

Mike

[AndrewJ]

Gday Mike



Whilst i agree fully with the sentiment,
the fact many of these people are at the biggest event in their careers, and several have now admitted to spending "lots of time" on social media devices "before the events", makes me wonder about their ability to handle the mental side of things.:shrug:


Andrew

[Analog6]

Yes, their attitude is very very disappointing. Matches the coverage. Equestrian is one of my interests - hard to see ont he goggle box and the reporter covering it for Fairfax is the FOOTBALL reporter from The Age. The articles are of commensurate quality.
Remember when our ice skater won the gold medal (Winter Olympics, of course) and everyone said he only won it because everyone else fell over. Umm, what about the 10 years+ dedicated training he put in to QUALIFY so he could BE in the right place at the right time?
I think this Nigerian rower (http://www.smh.com.au/olympics/news-london-2012/after-eric-the-eel--meet-hamadou-the-hippo-i-have-no-technique--only-strength-20120730-238vo.html) best epitomises the Olympic spirit.

[taminga16]

Hi all,
My son has represented Australia on several occassions, thankfully in a sport that doesn't really rate here (sailing) and therefore draws little interest from our media and the terrible manner in which they "report" such events, some of the ABC radio commentry at the swimming has been nothing short of discraceful and some of these "experts" would do well to listen to their own observations and perhaps then realise how moronic and ungracious they appear.
Best.
Greg.

[strongmanmike]

The mental side of things is crucial, I struggled in that department actually, I tended to space out immedeately before an event feeling like I wan't there :shrug:...and felt I wasn't really hammering when I needed to..? Other times I was like a raging bull, it varied but was deffinitely an issue for me at times...no social media though :lol:

Mike

[traveller]

I am appalled by the biased reporting so far.
Case 1: On Monday night, I tuned into men's hockey between Aust and South Africa. Within 10 seconds, I heard the following comments "and he scrambled away like a cockroach from Mortein"
I was absolutely speechless and tuned to another channel (Aliens !!!! yeah!). Any athlete, no matter which country he/she represent, does NOT deserved to be labelled like that. I tried to lodge a complaint with ACAM (Aust Comm and Media Authority), but their code of practice is geared towards news and current affairs and does not cover sports coverage. So I fired off an email to Media Watch, hopefully, they will name and shame the commentator and the channel.
Case 2: the controversy surround the 16 yo girl Ye from China. The US coach all but called her a drug cheat. Yes China got caught out big time in the 80s and 90s, but Ye has already been tested for this games and the IOC has already said so, but how many reports covered that? Almost all reports focused on her final 50m faster than a US male swimmer, but did anyone look at the final time, the US swimmer was 23 sec faster than the Chinese girl, and how many reports covered that fact?
At least the Aussie swimmer Alicia Coutts done us proud by saying Ye is innocent until proven guilty.
So I am tuning out of the Olympics as much as I can. At least I have been enjoying back to back Alien series of movies so far, Alien Resurrection tonight.
Bo

[Miaplacidus]

All this social media only confirms what we already should have known, namely, sporting heroes have feet of clay. "Doing Aussie proud". Oh come on. Do we still have to endure this jingoistic BS? Training that hard, for so long, so obsessively (so self-obsessively). It's a sickness, pure and simple. Don't try and kid me that they're doing it for my sake.

People tell me that this obsession with sport is innate, or a way of "controlling our natural aggression" or whatever. (Maybe Mike will have an opinion on that, and I'd be interested to hear from our resident superhero on that subject.) But I wonder if it isn't something instilled into us by society (who am I kidding, I mean by the People With The Big Money), and that a bit of social engineering / manipulation couldn't make us cheer our scientific heroes with just the same level of enthusiasm.

Look what Masterchef has done for cookery. Who would have credited celebrating kitchen wizardry even a few years ago?? I won't give up on the hope that we yet might one day watch MasterBoffin.

[strongmanmike]

Hmmm?..resident Super hero huh?:question: ta da!! "Capt Sedentary" :D

I'm never one to compare degrees of effort (much less worth) across differing disciplines or activities, to me if I see someone put forth great effort or show great skill whether it be academic or physical, I think both achievements require varying degrees of gift and usually a lot of hard work, whether mental or physical... so I applaude them all.

I can happily make allowances for those who show dissapointment at not winning.... and I don't laugh at those who grunt (or even scream) either :lol:

Mike

[cybereye]

Nicely put Mike. :thumbsup:

Mario

[Poita]

Here is the other side of the coin :)

http://www.smh.com.au/olympics/news-london-2012/the-aussie-battler-who-broke-british-hearts-20120801-23di1.html

Like everything it kinda boils down to individuals.

[strongmanmike]

Yes, a great outlook, sometimes when you aren't expecting to be up there but are happy to just be competing, great performances happen, not putting the pressure on one self can have welcomed side effects for sure :thumbsup:.

Mike

[Varangian]

Who gives a second thought (not me) about whether someone can swim faster than someone else, there are so many other people doing much more important work in the world than an athlete.

Athlete's are under so much pressure because of media beat up, not to mention the the fact that people need to belong to a group to establish a safe sense of place, us against them, partriotism. It's all crap when you realise just how small we all really are in the multiverse.:)

[Colin_Fraser]

It's all came down to this... Money

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-08-01/how-to-cover-the-olympics-when-you-dont-have-1bn/4168564?WT.svl=news4

[Steffen]

I prefer disciplines that have no losers, like the Messier Marathon :P

Cheers
Steffen.

[kustard]

I remember as a kid that the Olympic games were all about bringing the world together and competing in a friendly manner. It always seemed a remote thing for me.

I was thinking about this not long ago and realised that it has been forums like IIS (and the internet in general) that has garnered me more friends than any other activity and not just ones in my local area but people from all over the world :)

[Gem]

Well, I personally enjoy the Olympics and believe it does bring people together - whether tourists or competitors. I enjoy seeing sports that you don't hear about until next Olympics. I can appreciate that it ain't for everyone, but I love my four-yearly fix of international sport. :)

[Gem]

Really? How many Olympic athletes do you actually know personally? I personally know a couple of gold medalists (previous games). One was absolutely stoked to get a 5th place at World Champs. Just making a top 8 put a massive smile on her face... Don't judge all Olympians off a couple of interviews on TV... the majority of Olympians don't even get interviewed!

[MrB]

What is considered an Olympic discipline? getting naked, greasing up and wrestling?
Events come and go with the generations.
BMX requires skill, far more than basically riding a bike in a straight line or a circle.
Kinda like comparing Drag Racing or Speedway with Rallying.

Yes it is sad an event is getting dropped, but for the better in my opinion.

[AndrewJ]

Sadly, these days, i think its any sport that can bring in "compliant" sponsors, who are happy to wine and dine the IOC and pump in enough cash to make the dog and pony show roll on.
I think we need to accept the Olympics is now a business machine
that uses athletes as the "entertainment" to help flog advertising.

Ie i find it strange that an athlete can be trained and supported by their own coaches and sponsors, but when they get good enough, if they want to be an Olympian, they have to accept the sponsors and coaches "specified" by the relevant organisations.

I say go "Eric the eel", "Eddie the eagle" and all like them, who are in it just for the honour of representing their "country" not some multinational.

Andrew

[Octane]

Read this:

http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/2012/06/international-olympic-committee-london-summer-olympics#?currentPage=all

If that doesn't make you mad, nothing will. The IOC is up there in the corruption stakes with FIFA.

I haven't, and, won't be watching a single event.

H

[Miaplacidus]

Unfortunately the IOC has succeeded only in devaluing the Olympic brand. Endemic corruption, rank commercialization, brand police stalking ordinary citizens... These things degrade the sporting events even more than drug cheats and bad sportsmanship.

But anyway, getting back on topic, delight in a new PB - good; dummy spit for coming second - bad. (Do we really put these incredible expectations and pressures on these young people? Appalling.) Surely sportsmanship can't be that hard a concept for these elite athletes to comprehend.

I won't take any credit when a sports person wins (even if it was my taxes or hi-tech swimsuits that assisted them), just as I won't be ashamed if they bring up the rear. But some over-entitled teenager whinging in the name of my nationality? Thanks, but no thanks. Even the six year olds I've dealt with have been taught to behave better than that, especially in the immediate aftermath of an event.

[RB]

We haven't watched TV for almost 20 years ..... disconnected the darn thing back then and we've never looked back.

;)

[Kevnool]

C.mon fellas cheer up a bit.
Its not the end of the world.

[Octane]

RB, 11 years for me coming up next month. :D

Way to go. :)

H

[RB]

We should have a secret handshake so we can tell.

:lol: :thumbsup:

[AdrianF]

As far as I am concerned they are all winners by just being selected for the Olympics win or not win

Adrian

[Gem]

And yet fencing is one of the few sports to be in every Olympics since 1896. There is still some tradition!

Judging by most of the comments on this thread - people are looking at a few top athletes in a couple of sports and judging all other athletes and sports by them. Most athletes are happy to just make it and are competing in sports that get little sponsorship or fame. Olympics is their pinnacle before they retire proud and happy that they made it...

[taminga16]

Fred,
Your avatar says it all.
Greg.

[strongmanmike]

I agree :thumbsup: To just make the Aussie Olympic team is incredible and something to be proud of.

Mike

[marc4darkskies]

Yeah, I think the half witted media commentators & reporters have a lot to answer for! "Oh what a shame we only got silver/bronze ..." ..."want went wrong" ... sheeze!!!!! And just look at the "medal tally" too ... only gold seems to count!!!? What??! :mad2:

I've been watching the Foxtel coverage. It's quite good actually - you get to choose what event to watch from 8 channels and you're not restricted to watching only Australians competing. Been watching a lot of weight lifting because I like the fact that it's more a personal battle with the weights and the great thing is the spectators & commentators get behind everybody - even / especially when they try hard and fail.

Cheers, Marcus

PS: Hey RB and H - you're missing a lot of good science documentaries :lol:

[strongmanmike]

I like the individual events most too, especially the weightlifting and field athletics...and I'm jealous, I have no Fox :sadeyes:

Mike

[AndrewJ]

Gday Grant



My comments arent meant to judge the athletes or their achievements, its about the way big business and money now appears to be "actively" running it all.



I agree, many "old" sports are still there, but ask yourself this.
If fencing wasnt in the olympics now, do you think it would get admitted as a new sport???

Andrew

And i hear on the radio this morning that even badminton isnt safe from "tanking". What next :sadeyes:

[Baddad]

I'm not entering into the Olympic Spirit issue. I have Foxtel and am enjoying it for what is presented.

Marcus, you are right.:) There are several science programs that appear on Foxtel. Very interesting presentations.

Cheers:)

[mental4astro]

Bring back the tug-of-war (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tug_of_war_at_the_1912_Summer_Olymp ics) I say. Strongmanmike, an event you'd be perfect for as the anchor for Australia, :thumbsup: .

Other past events included Power Boating, Rugby, Cricket, and Golf. Just for interests sake, past Olympic sports (http://www.olympic.org/content/the-ioc/commissions/olympic-programme/past-olympic-sports/). Some have even made a comeback, softball and baseball!

[strongmanmike]

Yeh as long as it was held at night and I could still sit at my control desk (http://www.pbase.com/strongmanmike2002/image/141334067/original) and drink beer while I image at the same time :D

[traveller]

They also used live pigeons for the shooting in 1900, before someone realised clay targets are more predictable...
http://www.topendsports.com/events/discontinued/pigeonshooting.htm
And, Australia won a Bronze in that event! :eyepop:

[Matt Wastell]

The winning at all cost mentality (media and public) has put me off the Olympics.
I heard a sports presenter on Ch 9 refer to Cadel Evens' Tour de France as Tour de Failure.
What hope do we have when such dribble is fed to the public (who seem to believe everything they hear!).

[RB]

Nah Marcus.... I know all there is to know.

:lol: ;)

[ausastronomer]

.

Thats being very generous to channel 9. They have missed telescasting several major events where Australia was represented, including swimming races. Where it got hilarious is when we then spend 15 minutes watching a beach volleyball game on Australian Television between Germany and Mauritius. Now one of the German Girls was absolutely stunning, but that isn't what the Olympics is about for me. I want to watch Australians competing at the highest level and hopefully winning Gold Medals, not Silver or Bronze.



I have to agree with Mike and Fred on this. When you put in the time and effort these athletes do and make the sacrifices they and their families have made to compete at this level and get to an Olympic Games and hopefully win GOLD for themselves and their Country, WINNING isn't everything, it's the ONLY THING

Cheers,
John B

[Bassnut]

Touché :lol: :thumbsup:

[mental4astro]

Yeah, couldn't agree more. Should make the qualification rules much tighter, no wildcard entries or sympathy entries so that all IOC member countries can send an athlete. That'll make a big difference to the appeal of the competition. No hope in hell, no ticket to compete.

Why does Australia have a volleyball team in? No hope in hell of gold, and stuff silver or bronze.

Judo, gymnastics, archery, badminton, any sport. If our teams are not ranked in the top 5 of the world we shouldn't send them.

Only exception if they are worthy eye candy and nymphomaniacs, then who cares about their ability.

Hands up if you agree! <written with his hands in his pockets>

Getting silly this thread.

[Miaplacidus]

It's not that I can't understand how a sportsperson can be so severely cheesed at not coming first. It's just that I don't see why I'm supposed to care. (Except, of course, for that fact that if I don't care, then I'm not going to buy all the goodies taking up screenspace.)

Humans are so easily manipulated it's embarrassing.

Where's the cake? Someone said there'd be cake.

[iceman]

Check out this olympic spirit.

http://www.businessinsider.com/eight-badminton-players-disqualified-from-olympics-2012-8#ooid=JuM2FqNTo1PfVQghwvoaMPwA0eH6 IcBv

Watch the video, hilarious.

[troypiggo]

That's downright disgusting, Mike. Glad they were disqualified.

[Waxing_Gibbous]

Actual, real beach volleyball is fun and splendid exercise.
Any pretense of this being a sport is completeley banished by the ridiculous outfits and leering camera angles.
At best its soft-core porn. Which is like light beer.
Totally agree about the Ping-Pong (an English invention according to Boris Johnson :question: ).
Personally, I would love to see some Fencing or Archery or Weight Lifting instead of endless swimming heats.
Like that's gonna happen.

[Deeno]

On a much lighter note, here is a hilarious account of Australia's first ever Olympian, Gold medal winner and sole Australian representative of the 1896 Olympic Games!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edwin_Flack

Now that would have been worth watching...

[strongmanmike]

In regards to the reactions we have seen from a few Olympians on tellie lattely when they didn't win, I want to share my story (briefly)

I was not an Olympian and wouldn't put myself in that league but I think my experiences give me an insight into what is going on here...:question:

In 1999-2000 I trained methodically, brutally and with the utmost determination to try and qualify for the Worlds Strongest Man contest. I sacrificed family time and holidays and had a steely one eye view of achieving my goal - it took every fiber of my being to cope both mentally and physically with the demanding build up.

The qualifying competition the Trans Tasman Strongman Challenge was held over 3 days at The Royal Easter Show in Sydney and included athletes from both Australia and New Zealand. With 4 brutally challenging events each day it was a tough contest to say the least. In the end the points table saw a single point separating 1st, 2nd and 3rd place, it was that close. I can tell you that I was VERY dissapointed to finish in 3rd place, as only the top two were invited to compete at the Worlds Strongest Man contest for that year.

At the time I was very dejected and disappointed and I probably showed this....so to rub salt in the wound, you can imagine when about 8 weeks later I was informed by the organisers of the contest that the winner (from New Zealand) had subsequently tested positive for anabolic steroids :sadeyes: fuuuu...I didn't even get the opportunity to stand on the silver medal spot on the podium, not to mention missing the holy grail of WSM, sooo once again I was pretty pissed :mad2: :lol:

More than a decade later, I now smile at this story :)... all water under the bridge... but at the time I was very disappointed and became rather depressed for a few days, not clinically and many wouldn't have noticed, but I was down :screwy:.

The point here is that I have personally experienced really trying to win something through incredibly hard and even crazy physical and mental effort..and then not winning and yes, it was hard to take.

So perhaps unless you have experienced a similar sort of position maybe you can not really understand the feelings and emotions invloved when your hard work (and I mean really hard work) doesn't quite get you over the mark :)

Now, like most on here, I enjoy sitting outside in the cold (or heat) looking up at the universe and I can tell you it is much less strenuous, very relaxing....and probably even more rewarding :thumbsup:...although it can make you a bit fat :whistle: :lol:

...thanks for listening :P

Mike

[MrB]

Mike, thanks for sharing that. I have felt similar but definitely not to the same extent that you would have after so much time and effort.


I'm willing to bet Foxhell had something to do with that ;) :thumbsup:

[Miaplacidus]

Please bear in mind that you're reading the words of a World Championship Sloth winner here, but I am genuinely interested to know how, or perhaps when, you were filled with what clearly must have been a very strong impulse to dedicate yourself and sacrifice so much for this goal.

Is it a fair question to ask also, how much of your motivation was doing this for your country? (And should I just divide that figure by the population to obtain my own claim to your fame?:))

I really appreciate the insights. All the best.
Brian.

[strongmanmike]

Ever since I saw Bill Bixbi change into Lou Ferrigno in the Incredible Hulk :scared2: I saw him lift and tip his car down the slope when he got mad.. and I thought "I wanna be able to do that"....and eventually, I was :D Becoming big and strong just became a goal, like wanting to climb a mountain, run fast, swim fast, cross the English Chanell etc etc...humans have a habbit of dreaming and many of us have a real shot at those dreams and a few reslise them, it's that simple to me :) doesn't make anyone better or have more worth or relevance than anyone else, it's really just a demonstration of humans doing all the strange and amazing things we do :thumbsup:



No this had nothing to do with my initial motivation or influenced my direction, however, once I was wearing the green and gold and even became captain of the Aussie strongman team on three occassions, I was very proud and it was an extra motivator :)



Oh I dunno, no, just take it for what it is, perhaps a little different and interesting :shrug::)



I'm glad, only meant to be something a little unusual and as I say hopefully interesting and relevant to some of the discussion in this thread pertaining to the reasons behind some reactions of highly motivated athletes when they don't win :thumbsup:

Mike

[RB]

It's a wonder you didn't become a magician instead.
Or maybe you did?
You pull off such magic with your scope.

:lol:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xytZ9tlNPUg

[gregbradley]

What about the DSLR event where its a race between Nikon and Canon and Nikon is the red hot favourite?????:rofl:

Greg.

[strongmanmike]

He he..

Actually, it was this very first Hulk Out (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DIqG3Mq-E3A) that changed my life.....and I did eventually emulate the car roll

[multiweb]

Did you want to become a panel beater? :lol: :P

[Colin_Fraser]

Well that's just impossible because you are not a teenager.

[RB]

:lol:

Yeah, but my wife says I'm still 17 at heart.

;)

[Colin_Fraser]

After the badminton debacle, seems the Poms have topped it.
English cyclist deliberately crashed his bike because he had a bad start.
Seems that under the rules, a crash forces a restart.
So even though he was within the rules he playing outside the spirit of the games.
Oh yeah, he won after they restarted.

[Miaplacidus]

I suppose, although in other endeavours this might just get labelled as clever strategy. If we don't like the rules, or how they're being applied, we should change them.

Now let's go and smash some windows... Ooo, I'm feeling a bit whoozy...

[Steffen]

Oh, I don't know. Canon brought a big team…

http://www.petapixel.com/2012/07/31/canons-drool-worthy-gear-room-at-the-london-olympics/

Cheers
Steffen.

[yusufcam]

i suppose its ironic, or i missed something, but in fairness i am a bit puzzled why the question about "if dishonest people was the cause of the worlds current financial woes" previously posted was deemed pretty much instantaneously unsuitable for the iceinspace general chat forum by the moderators.

its alright you don't have to answer, i'm not worried, its meant to be a joke reponse to the question above.

regards
colin

[stephenb]

I like how his team mates commented to the media with statments like "we'll rally around him" and "he has our support" following his drunken antics. If I was his team mate I would distance myself from him and shame him - he is no team mate of mine. kind of like when AFL footballers are accused of rape/drunkenness/bad public behaviour etc, and their teammates, coaches and clubs jump to their defense with similar comments. In fact his whole team should be sent home - they are a "team" aren't they? make them all pay for his behaviour.

Oh, but then I hear the other comments made today on talkback radio: "they're under a lot of pressure" and "cut them some slack". Well a lot of us are under just as much pressure with our jobs, incomes, financial pressures, shiftwork, raising families, etc etc, without the financial backing of an elite Melbourne rowing club and it is no excuse to get drunk and damage property.

I'm over these trumped-up sports people who think they are God's gift to the country.

Time to wind down the Olympics or make them hold it in one permanent location - say Greece for example.

[Miaplacidus]

Don't you think the poor Greeks have got enough problems at the moment.
They certainly don't need to be hosting drunken yobs from the antipodes every 4 years...

A large part of the problems I think stems from the extremity of effort required to be competitive. Harking back to the original Olympics (circa 776 BC), a lot of what was being celebrated then was the balance of disciplines required to live a rich and fulfilling life (which admittedly back then did demand quite a few martial skills). Virtually everyone was a farmer soldier engineer actor singer carpenter. Specialization has its advantages, of course (cue Adam Smith in the pin factory), but the dedication required to be the absolute best in the world at any one thing now demands a deranging focus on a minuscule aspect of life, to the detriment of the civilizing whole. This "It's first or it's fked" mentality is just unhealthy, and of course it is largely the corrupting influence of money that pushes it to the extreme. All these elite athletes can see that it's the gold that sets in motion the gravy train of sponsorship deals.

[gregbradley]

OMG - But I think they'll fail the doping tests!

Greg.

[Ric]

Firstly I must say that I am and alway do watching the olympics. It's great to see events that vitually get no coverage at any other time.

What does annoy me is also the bad attitude and bickery that has gone on, thankfully it is only a very very small part of the olympics and hasn't detracted from the sporting spectacle that it is.

The other annoying part will come after the games are finished when the usual 20 million dollar enquiry will be announced to find out why we didn't win more gold medals.

That's easy, we were beaten on the day by teams and competitor's that were better, more focussed and more determined than us, nothing more, nothing less. It happens all over the world everyday.

Cheers

PS. now with the money that has been saved by not having an enquiry, give a few million to Rob McNaught to fund his NEO program. :thumbsup:

[Colin_Fraser]

No no! $20,000,000 shared by IIS members is roughly $2000 each

[stephenb]

I bet the Greeks would be happy to host thousands of drunken yobs every four years if the IOC threw their billions at them. Let's face it, who needs the Olympics anyway. It wouldn't be any lose if they wound up now. Might save some money going into that black hole that is the AIS. I say if you want to compete in sports - fund yourself or get a real job - don't ask the taxpayer to support you. I didn't ask you to follow your "dream".

[Steffen]

Hehe, to be fair, I heard Nikon brought a spare D4 as well, on the off-chance that one of the accredited photographers breaks theirs… :P

Cheers
Steffen.

[hotspur]

The coverage has been pathetic,no shooting and hardly any archery on Australian news etc.

Sick of the swimming coverage and the 'sad sack' whinging by Australian commentators.

Congrats to all the sportsmen and women who have made the olympics,be a hard job just to get there.

[Matt Wastell]

I did enjoy the ping pong last night - 15 point rallies standing three meters from the table - sweet!

[bartman]

Holy friggin moley!!!!!:eyepop:
THAT IS IMPRESSIVE!

[Gem]

I represented Australia in an Olympic sport. I received zero taxpayer funding despite representing my country at four World Championships, and narrowly missing Olympic selection for the 1992 games.
Most Olympians get very little I can assure you.
I don't like most funding for the arts, but hey - I can live with it.

[blink138]

heh grant what was your discipline?
pat

[Gem]

Fencing - Sabre :)

Represented Australia at 1991 World U/17, 1992 World U/20, 1993 World U/20 and 1994 World Championships.
Represented NSW also in foil and epee.
Also qualified for 1993 Wold Championships and 1994 World U/20 Championships and couldn't make it due to finances... :(