Olympic Games.. What a shame

Colin_Fraser · #1 31-07-2012, 07:57 PM

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 (Australia) · #2 31-07-2012, 08:02 PM

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 · #3 31-07-2012, 09:08 PM

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 (Fred) · #4 31-07-2012, 09:14 PM

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 · #5 31-07-2012, 09:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 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.

That is why I am not competing..

Astro_Bot · #6 31-07-2012, 09:48 PM

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

stephenb (Stephen) · #7 31-07-2012, 09:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Colin_Fraser

....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.

100% agree. Very humbling to hear her today.

blink138 (Pat) · #8 01-08-2012, 01:12 AM

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 (Pat) · #9 01-08-2012, 01:48 AM

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 · #10 01-08-2012, 07:15 AM

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=cQUxY...eature=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 · #11 01-08-2012, 07:27 AM

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

iceman (Mike) · #12 01-08-2012, 07:30 AM

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 (Michael) · #13 01-08-2012, 09:12 AM

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

. 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 · #14 01-08-2012, 09:24 AM

Gday Mike

Quote:

Unless you have experienced the total dedication both mentally and physically

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.

Andrew

Analog6 (Odille) · #15 01-08-2012, 10:22 AM

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 best epitomises the Olympic spirit.

taminga16 (Greg) · #16 01-08-2012, 10:29 AM

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 (Michael) · #17 01-08-2012, 10:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AndrewJ

makes me wonder about their ability to handle the mental side of things.

Andrew

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

...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

Mike

traveller (Bo) · #18 01-08-2012, 10:58 AM

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 (Brian) · #19 01-08-2012, 11:51 AM

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 (Michael) · #20 01-08-2012, 12:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 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.

Hmmm?..resident Super hero huh?

ta da!! "Capt Sedentary"

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

Mike