Olympic Addiction

Phelps is not human... That man's body build looks smooth as a fish...Its almost scary...

Federer was a disappointment... James Blake? For chrissakes...

Looking forward to the athletics (track and field) finals. Those will be thrilling. I sense more World Records to fall these coming days...

And, of course, what can we expect for the closing ceremony?
 
David Jimerson said:
The US team had too many big mistakes to deserve gold -- but then, cheating isn't an honorable victory.
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I wouldn't call it cheating though. Just because you are to young, you are a cheater? They still achieved this victory. It is just not justifiable to force these young children to do sports all the time and give up their childhood. That's the sad thing.

David Jimerson said:
It would be difficult to dispute it credibly, yes. :)

Though I'm sure someone will accuse him of doping.
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I sure hope he doesn't use doping, but you never know these days. There are possibilities that can't be proven. Especially for fast regeneration.

Let's just hope the best :)
 
It's just the way the world has evolved that we immediately need to think that people are using some sort of performance enhancement in order to achieve these super human results... and the fact is: THERE IS PERFORMANCE ENHANCEMENT

No one is debating that the Speedo suit, which almost everyone is wearing, is a technological advacement that is averaging a .3% enhancement of speed (in a sport of hundreths of a second, this is huge). No one is debating that the Chinese pool, which is deeper than other pools, that has specially designed lane dividers that forces water down instead of over and has the most advanced spillage/drainage system ever created for Olympic swimming doesn't give an advantage... and that is fine.

Athletes today know more about conditioning and sport continues to evolve... that is Phelps' records of today are 10+ seconds faster than Spitz's.

It's weird that we immediately think of doping rather than just progress and performance enhancement, but then again, that is just the world we live in.
 
Jeremy Ordan said:
It's just the way the world has evolved that we immediately need to think that people are using some sort of performance enhancement in order to achieve these super human results... and the fact is: THERE IS PERFORMANCE ENHANCEMENT

No one is debating that the Speedo suit, which almost everyone is wearing, is a technological advacement that is averaging a .3% enhancement of speed (in a sport of hundreths of a second, this is huge). No one is debating that the Chinese pool, which is deeper than other pools, that has specially designed lane dividers that forces water down instead of over and has the most advanced spillage/drainage system ever created for Olympic swimming doesn't give an advantage... and that is fine.

Athletes today know more about conditioning and sport continues to evolve... that is Phelps' records of today are 10+ seconds faster than Spitz's.

It's weird that we immediately think of doping rather than just progress and performance enhancement, but then again, that is just the world we live in.
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I know all of these things but the fact that so many athletes get stripped of their medals (even years after the fact) is why it lingers.

It's sad, but until people stop testing positive every Olympics (or get found out later) I think it will always be in the back of our minds. A few decades without stripped medals would clear that up. Do you think we'll see that? I don't.

As for the Chinese girls, keep in mind that they always look a few years younger for the most part. I compare them to what I think a 13 year old should look like by our standards. Most of them match up. I'm not sure about one or two of them but I won't call them cheaters either.
 
Jeremy Ordan said:
It's weird that we immediately think of doping rather than just progress and performance enhancement, but then again, that is just the world we live in.
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I don't think it's weird at all. Of course we believe in performance enhancement, but history showed us what is possible with doping and when you see someone like Phelps literally destroying the others everybody does the math.

You always hear about top sportsmen who got busted and their medals are invalidated afterwards. I think that builds up a healthy skepticism. You should not believe blindly what you see.

EDIT:

Michael Anthony Horrigan said:
I know all of these things but the fact that so many athletes get stripped of their medals (even years after the fact) is why it lingers.

It's sad, but until people stop testing positive every Olympics (or get found out later) I think it will always be in the back of our minds. A few decades without stripped medals would clear that up. Do you think we'll see that? I don't.

As for the Chinese girls, keep in mind that they always look a few years younger for the most part. I compare them to what I think a 13 year old should look like by our standards. Most of them match up. I'm not sure about one or two of them but I won't call them cheaters either.
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Well said Mike! We wrote at the same time :D
 
BTW, I'm not saying that Phelps is doping. He is obviously naturally gifted.

Would I be shocked if he was later found out to be doping? Not at all. That is the world that we currently live in. Until they stop testing positive every Olympics I'll probably continue to look at things that way. I don't blame myself or society. I blame all the medal winners who continually cheat the system and the coaches who turn a blind eye, or even encourage it.

Mike
 
Michael Anthony Horrigan said:
BTW, I'm not saying that Phelps is doping. He is obviously naturally gifted.
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Me neither! I really hope he is not doping. He definitely is a great sportsman, thats for sure.

Michael Anthony Horrigan said:
Would I be shocked if he was later found out to be doping? Not at all. That is the world that we currently live in. Until they stop testing positive every Olympics I'll probably continue to look at things that way. I don't blame myself or society. I blame all the medal winners who continually cheat the system and the coaches who turn a blind eye, or even encourage it.

Mike
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Exactly!
 
Simon Höfer said:
I wouldn't call it cheating though. Just because you are to young, you are a cheater?
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Sure. There are eligibility requirements. Other countries may well have had phenomenal 13-15 year-olds whom they couldn't bring because they were too young, and they followed the rules.

I'd also say that those rules exist in part to avoid this complaint of yours:

It is just not justifiable to force these young children to do sports all the time and give up their childhood. That's the sad thing.
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David Jimerson said:
Sure. There are eligibility requirements. Other countries may well have had phenomenal 13-15 year-olds whom they couldn't bring because they were too young, and they followed the rules.

I'd also say that those rules exist in part to avoid this complaint of yours:
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I agree partly with you, but I would not call it cheating though. I would just say they are not old enough. That's it. They should be disqualified, not for cheating, but for not fulfilling the requirements. That's something different in my eyes. You know what I mean? Cheating has this really negative tone that they somehow enhanced their performance by an illegal act like doping or whatever and I don't think being young enhances you performance in an illegal way. It's just the rule that you have to be older.
 
I didn't mean that the participants themselves cheated -- in fact, I allowed that they themselves may think they're 16 because they were told that. The "cheating" would be on the part of the Chinese Olympic committee, or whoever falsified their ages.
 
I really couldn't care less about watching the Olympics. I will admit though, as I was passing through the room, my eyes were magnetically attracted to the screen when the women's volleyball and gymnastics were on...
 
Shalane Flanagan wins bronze on the 10km for the USA! great race :)

David Jimerson said:
I didn't mean that the participants themselves cheated -- in fact, I allowed that they themselves may think they're 16 because they were told that. The "cheating" would be on the part of the Chinese Olympic committee, or whoever falsified their ages.
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That sounds good :)
 
Simon Höfer said:
Cheating has this really negative tone that they somehow enhanced their performance by an illegal act like doping or whatever and I don't think being young enhances you performance in an illegal way.
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Younger athletes are more limber, which is a huge advantage in gymnastics.
 
First thing I watched was girls gymnastics last night. I'm not a big fan of the Olympics. It's just too much. I tell you though, those kids are amazing athletes.

Oh... yeah, women's volleyball. That's the sexiest sport ever. Just hot.

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Cheating has this really negative tone that they somehow enhanced their performance by an illegal act like doping or whatever and I don't think being young enhances you performance in an illegal way. It's just the rule that you have to be older.
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The younger athletes in gymnastics is a huge advantage, their quicker, weigh less and are a lot more limber. That's the reason why the 16 age requirement is there, to make it a level playing field.

That being said, gymnastics is nuts, some of the stuff they pull off is incredible.
 
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