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Post by CentreHice on Aug 6, 2008 18:52:38 GMT -5
I'm wondering how many will be disqualified for steroid use. I know the article suggests Chinese athletes being trained like army recruits, but I'm kind of wondering how extensive performance enhancing drugs will be this time around. Cheers. The most important agent for an athlete isn't the one who represents him/her for contracts and endorsements. The most important agent for an athlete is a "masking agent". One step ahead.... |
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Post by Disgruntled70sHab on Aug 6, 2008 19:28:25 GMT -5
I'm wondering how many will be disqualified for steroid use. I know the article suggests Chinese athletes being trained like army recruits, but I'm kind of wondering how extensive performance enhancing drugs will be this time around. Cheers. The most important agent for an athlete isn't the one who represents him/her for contracts and endorsements. The most important agent for an athlete is a "masking agent". One step ahead.... True enough, CH. I heard that Ben Johnson's main flaw was not having a good enough physician or at least not having as good a physician as his competitors. Wonder if some countries have come up with better masking agents. Cheers. |
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Post by Habs_fan_in_LA on Aug 9, 2008 0:30:44 GMT -5
Wanted to write something bad about the Bejing Olympics, but I just watched the opening ceremonies and i was very impressed.
Big, high quality, creativity.
Have to be objective and fair.
"Conglatuations, you did a velly velly good job."
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Post by Cranky on Aug 9, 2008 8:48:06 GMT -5
As much as I wanted to watch the opening ceremonies, I need to stand by my principles. China is an oppressive communist regime and there is no glossing over it with fancy ceremonies.
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Post by CentreHice on Aug 10, 2008 8:26:06 GMT -5
As much as I wanted to watch the opening ceremonies, I need to stand by my principles. China is an oppressive communist regime and there is no glossing over it with fancy ceremonies. I didn't watch it either...although I certainly heard about it from those who did...and I couldn't help but see some highlights as I flipped through the channels. ---------------------------------------------------- While I certainly don't agree with their regime....(and not that this would excuse their human rights violations)....but I wonder to what degree their view of the West has shaped their policies, especially in light of the U.S. and U.K. opium trade of the 19th century. The West absolutely forced the sale of the drug to the Chinese people, against Imperial Law. They even went to war over it (1839-42). Apparently, the U.S. sat on the sidelines and let the British do the fighting. The U.K. was granted Hong Kong in perpetuity following the War....but it was renegotiated in 1898, giving Britain control for 99 more years. So, in actuality, they had control of it for over 150 years. I wonder how many people know that's how Hong Kong became U.K. property....as the spoils in a drug war, in which the British (and Americans) were the "pushers". I've read in other sources that the British government was in full agreement with the "trade"...otherwise there would have been no troops sent to fight for it. The U.S. government wasn't officially in favour of it....but turned a blind eye to the "businessmen" who were building their fortunes upon it. Having a drug foisted upon your nation so the Western bluebloods could build their fortunes (John Jacob Astor among them), and losing control of the "crown jewel" (Hong Kong) would no doubt create disdain and distrust to last for centuries. U.S. and U.K. Opium TradeI love how they called it "trade". Drug dealers, plain and simple. As Mr. Burns says in The Simpsons Movie.... "Well, for once, the rich white man is in control." |
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Post by Habs_fan_in_LA on Aug 11, 2008 11:03:08 GMT -5
France surrenders again!
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Post by Doc Holliday on Aug 11, 2008 11:40:43 GMT -5
While I sure don't endorse some of the things happening there, China is a very proud, cultural, history rich, nation. There is a lot going on there, it's a nation opening up to the world (and that does not happen without bumps) and Anti-Communism propanga has had, luckily, very little impact on those games, which are always supposed to be above politics.
I agree it was an amazing opening ceremony.
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Post by Habs_fan_in_LA on Aug 11, 2008 12:10:54 GMT -5
While I sure don't endorse some of the things happening there, China is a very proud, cultural, history rich, nation. There is a lot going on there, it's a nation opening up to the world (and that does not happen without bumps) and Anti-Communism propanga has had, luckily, very little impact on those games, which are always supposed to be above politics. I agree it was an amazing opening ceremony. We abhor Russias invasion of Georgia. We detest China's invasion of Tibet. We decry Iran's nuclear development and holicast comments. They all probably complain about some of the things we do. There are places (UN, the Hague, diplomatic channels) where these issues are addressed. The Olympic Games is not the place for politics. When George Bush's daughter was married, the wedding was not the forum to discuss offshore drilling. It was their celebration. It's highly unlikely that president Bush would suddenly declare, "OMG, I may be wrong?" The olympics is a worldwide sporting event and a Chinese celebration. Athletes compete in speed, strength and skill. They don't interrupt a soccer game to debate treaties. There is a proper time and place for the appropriate parties to address differences. It's unlikely that Mr. Putin will say, "I'm sorry, I'll withdraw all my troops." Watching Chinese gymnasts, American swimmers, opening ceremonies are a joyful diversion from the worlds problems that will still be there when the games are over. Sit back and enjoy the telecast on your big screen, hi-def made in China TV. |
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Post by Cranky on Aug 12, 2008 9:55:08 GMT -5
The Olympic games IS about politics for some countries. China, Russia and Nazi Germany are in the same catagory...and the corrupt IOC has played along.   |
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Post by Disgruntled70sHab on Aug 12, 2008 10:21:29 GMT -5
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Post by Disgruntled70sHab on Aug 12, 2008 10:54:26 GMT -5
Think they're trying to establish a new standard? Hopefully this is an across-the-board standard for all athletes ... including the host county's athletes as well. Too many bloody tests for Powell's liking
By Steve Simmons
BEIJING - The second-fastest 100-metre runner in history has accused Olympic organizers of targeting him in their quest to run a drug-free Summer Games.
Asafa Powell, one of three favourites in a decorated 100-metre event, complained Tuesday he has been drug tested four times since arriving in Beijing – he expects to be tested a fifth time on Wednesday - and thinks he and his teammates have been being unfairly singled out among athletes here.
What particularly annoys Powell is not that they are asking for urine samples - that he could live with it - but that each test includes him having to give blood.
“They took blood, a lot of blood,” the Jamaican star told to a small group of reporters. “So I’m very upset and I’m saying they’re taking so much blood that I’m worried it’s going to make me weak for the finals of the 100 metres.
“And I think they’re going to test me, I’m almost sure, tomorrow. I was tested the other day. I’ve been tested a lot. I don’t know about anybody else but they’re really down on my case.
“I don’t know why they (are after me). I guess, they have to catch a lot of athletes. Hopefully they can catch a lot. This will make this Olympic Games very clean.”
When asked about his own situation prior to arriving in Beijing, Powell said: “I’m clean, I’ve always been clean. I wouldn’t even know where to get that stuff.”
Powell held the world record in the 100 from June of 2005 to May of 2008 until his mark was beaten by teammate Usain Bolt, who ran a 9.74. Powell has run 39 times under 10-seconds over 100 metres, the most sub-10 sprints in track historyslam.canoe.ca/Slam/Olympics/2008Beijing/Columnists/Simmons_Steve/2008/08/12/6424486.html |
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Post by Disgruntled70sHab on Aug 13, 2008 10:52:11 GMT -5
Is he sincere or is he distancing himself? Eight years later, Michael Johnson is giving back a gold medal. Michael Johnson to return Olympic relay medal
Last Updated: Tuesday, June 3, 2008 | 5:26 PM ET CBC Sports
U.S. athlete Michael Johnson says he will return the men's 4x400-metre relay gold medal he won at the 2000 Sydney Olympics.
He said he is "shocked" by former teammate Antonio Pettigrew's doping admission, made in testimony at the trial of disgraced U.S. track coach Trevor Graham on May 22. Pettigrew admitted to using banned substances throughout his career.
Pettigrew also agreed Tuesday to return his gold medal, a decision that was largely expected after his testimony. Pettigrew gave back the medal and all the other prizes he'd earned since 1997, including world championships in the 4x400 relays in 1997 and 1999.
Johnson wrote in a column on Tuesday in London's Daily Telegraph newspaper that he no longer wants his medal and feels "cheated, betrayed and let down."
"The news that Antonio was scheduled to testify to having taken performance-enhancing drugs shocked me like no other drug-related story," Johnson wrote. "He was someone I considered a friend."
Pettigrew's admission makes him the latest member of the 2000 relay team to be tainted by drugs. Two other members of the team, twin brothers Alvin and Calvin Harrison, both served suspensions for doping.
Alvin Harrison admitted to doping in 2004 and was given a four-year ban, while Calvin tested positive in 2003 and was given a two-year ban.
Michael Johnson holds the world record in the 200 and 400 metre races and won five Olympic gold medals.
Another of Johnson's relay teammates, Jerome Young, tested positive for steroids in 1999. He nevertheless ran in the preliminary 4x400 heats at the Sydney Olympics and, as a result, the team was stripped of its gold medal in 2004. At the time, Johnson and Pettigrew fought to keep the medal, which was reinstated the following year in an appeal.
Johnson said he is "amazed that [Pettigrew] could talk to me about this knowing all along that he was guilty and that the medal was tainted anyway."
Johnson wrote that he is disappointed in the sport of athletics, and that he was naive to defend it to a media that focused on doping and not the accomplishments of the athletes.
He said, however, that he will "not give up on this sport" and will continue to support young athletes.www.cbc.ca/olympics/athletics/story/2008/06/03/athletics-michaeljohnson.html |
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Post by Doc Holliday on Aug 13, 2008 11:31:19 GMT -5
Still waiting for that first medal...  Highlight of the day for us: Sherraine Schalm (fencing), showed her great sportsmanship by saying "f*ck you all" to the Hungarian team after losing in the early rounds. We can't compete but we sure can tell 'hem hey... |
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Post by HABsurd on Aug 13, 2008 16:46:17 GMT -5
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Post by franko on Aug 13, 2008 19:51:10 GMT -5
Highlight of the day for us: Sherraine Schalm (fencing), showed her great sportsmanship by saying "f*ck you all" to the Hungarian team after losing in the early rounds A Canadian Olympian showing some emotion? What's up with that!!! Aren't they all just supposed to be happy being there? I think if she'd been Greek and expected to win a medal (I hate that they've made "medal" into a verb) she'da been doubly po'd! |
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Post by Disgruntled70sHab on Aug 13, 2008 20:33:21 GMT -5
It's actually on YouTube. When on the site type in "Weightlifting Accidents." I remember a European weightlifter doing the same thing in Montreal I think it was. CBC caught it all then too. Cheers. |
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Post by The New Guy on Aug 14, 2008 7:54:00 GMT -5
Still waiting for that first medal... Highlight of the day for us: Sherraine Schalm (fencing), showed her great sportsmanship by saying "f*ck you all" to the Hungarian team after losing in the early rounds. We can't compete but we sure can tell 'hem hey... There's more to that story than just Schalm losing. She was training with the Hungarian team for most of the lead up to the Olympics (why? No clue - maybe a lack of skilled fencers in Canada) until about three months ago they rather unceremoniously kicked her out (without a reason - not that I'd imagine they'd need to give her a reason to tell her to train in her own country). So she was more than a little upset at the Hungarian team, and then to lose to one of their fencers (a supposedly inferior fencer - I believe there was a large difference in where she and the Hungarian were seeded by whatever group regulates fencing) - well, there's no excuse for her actions, but it's not simply Schalm being a sore loser. There's a history there. I read an article during the Aussie Olympics a while back on the state of international fencing. Essentially, it's apparently as corrupt as figure skating. Fencers sometimes rig their gear so that it shows a touch when there is no touch (how this flies I have no idea - does no one think to check these things), there is an attitude where, if you are the host nation of a fencing competition, your fencers are expected to do well in the tournament (and by expected I mean other teams will throw their matches so that you win) and (often to make people comply to the 'host nation does good' principle) fencers are even drugged by their coaches (or team representatives or something like that) to alter the outcome of tournaments. |
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Post by Tattac on Aug 14, 2008 8:24:18 GMT -5
I don't think the thread about the Olympics should be the place to discuss politics but I didn't start it. We abhor Russias invasion of Georgia. No wonder. The Olympic games IS about politics for some countries. China, Russia and Nazi Germany are in the same catagory...and the corrupt IOC has played along. I am not even going there. But for those of you who want to know more but don't trust everything your media says, here is the link www.antiwar.com/justin/?articleid=13285. As for Olympics, I don't care for them this year too. |
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Post by Disgruntled70sHab on Aug 14, 2008 11:26:32 GMT -5
If anyone cares, Canada is still medal-less. This is begining to shape up like Montreal.
Cheers.
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Post by Doc Holliday on Aug 14, 2008 11:29:58 GMT -5
There's more to that story than just Schalm losing. She was training with the Hungarian team for most of the lead up to the Olympics (why? No clue - maybe a lack of skilled fencers in Canada) until about three months ago they rather unceremoniously kicked her out (without a reason - not that I'd imagine they'd need to give her a reason to tell her to train in her own country). So she was more than a little upset at the Hungarian team, and then to lose to one of their fencers (a supposedly inferior fencer - I believe there was a large difference in where she and the Hungarian were seeded by whatever group regulates fencing) - well, there's no excuse for her actions, but it's not simply Schalm being a sore loser. There's a history there.. ...I knew the story (though I read she was cut 3 weeks before the Olympics, not 3 months). I'll even add that the lady she actually lost to was her regular training partner. Wrong reaction to have at the Olympics anyway. Why does a possible medialist have to train herself with the Hongarian team by the way? That is a much better question under the light of our recent Olympics results. Schalm should have looked at her own commitee to say "F*ck you all"...  |
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Post by jkr on Aug 14, 2008 11:36:54 GMT -5
If anyone cares, Canada is still medal-less. This is begining to shape up like Montreal. Cheers. Heard Chris Rudge of the COC. He said Canada is a "2nd half team". He also said that at this point in the 2004 Olympics Canada had 2 medals so there is still hope I guess. |
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Post by The New Guy on Aug 14, 2008 12:11:14 GMT -5
If anyone cares, Canada is still medal-less. This is begining to shape up like Montreal. Cheers. It's not terribly surprising. We've got a weak team this year (hampered by injuries to some - Shewfelt and Perdita, for example) and none of our 'strong' events have come up for medals just yet. So far we've had finals in: Men's Archery (Individual and Team, with the Women's Individual set to go today) Men's Slalom Canoeing Men & Women's Cycling (Road Racing) Men's & Women's Synchronized Diving Equestrian Fencing Gymnastics Judo Shooting Swimming Weightlifting Wrestling If this were the last Olympiad we would have one gold (Shewfelt, who is obviously head and shoulders and most of the torso above every other Canadian gymnast and who had won Canada's first ever medal in gymnastics) and a bronze (Heymans and Hartly in women's synchronized diving). In other words, we're down a surprise medal and a bronze. Before we start throwing ourselves off the Olympic bridges, lets wait until after Saturday, when the finals of our strongest sport goes off (rowing). I don't expect to see us in the top five teams, but I think we'll have a respectable showing and finish somewhere close (maybe one or two above or below) our 2004 totals. Considering the injuries that our teams have faced, not a bad deal. |
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Post by franko on Aug 14, 2008 13:02:42 GMT -5
Considering the injuries that our teams have faced, not a bad deal. and considering how much we "invest" in our Olympic athletes. I know, I know . . . waste of taxpayers money, which is obviously used for more important matters [like HRCs] [insert heavy heavy sarcastic smilie]
Schalm should have looked at her own commitee to say "F*ck you all"...
indeed |
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Post by Disgruntled70sHab on Aug 14, 2008 17:32:30 GMT -5
If anyone cares, Canada is still medal-less. This is begining to shape up like Montreal. Cheers. It's not terribly surprising. We've got a weak team this year (hampered by injuries to some - Shewfelt and Perdita, for example) and none of our 'strong' events have come up for medals just yet. So far we've had finals in: Men's Archery (Individual and Team, with the Women's Individual set to go today) Men's Slalom Canoeing Men & Women's Cycling (Road Racing) Men's & Women's Synchronized Diving Equestrian Fencing Gymnastics Judo Shooting Swimming Weightlifting Wrestling If this were the last Olympiad we would have one gold (Shewfelt, who is obviously head and shoulders and most of the torso above every other Canadian gymnast and who had won Canada's first ever medal in gymnastics) and a bronze (Heymans and Hartly in women's synchronized diving). In other words, we're down a surprise medal and a bronze. Before we start throwing ourselves off the Olympic bridges, lets wait until after Saturday, when the finals of our strongest sport goes off (rowing). I don't expect to see us in the top five teams, but I think we'll have a respectable showing and finish somewhere close (maybe one or two above or below) our 2004 totals. Considering the injuries that our teams have faced, not a bad deal. Thanks TNG. I think my frustration comes from our athletes 'just missing out' most of the time. This goes back to as far as I can remember about our Olympic athletes. Yet, it's different in the World Championships for some reason. We have an exceptional end result in those competitions but it seems we 'just miss out' when the Olympics come around. Can't explain it, man. Cheers. |
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Post by Deleted on Aug 14, 2008 21:54:46 GMT -5
It is kind of frustrating. We're seeing incredible athletes from all of these other countries, countries with smaller populations, and yet we can't seem to send out a core group of athletes who always seem to "fall short."
Makes me wonder if the government will start going nuts on funding if the slide continues.
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Post by MC Habber on Aug 14, 2008 22:12:01 GMT -5
Very informative article. Thanks Tattac. |
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Post by Disgruntled70sHab on Aug 15, 2008 5:22:24 GMT -5
Very informative article. Thanks Tattac. Actually I passed this article to some of the guys at work. I know it's an Olympic thread but try this one when you have time. ... the Balance of Power ...It's written by George Friedman, an extremely well-informed writer. Cheers. |
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Post by CentreHice on Aug 15, 2008 7:17:00 GMT -5
People may complain about no medals....but how many Canada car flags do you see in your area?
I travel to and from Toronto on an almost daily basis...and I'd be hard-pressed to say I've seen 5 in total...and that's along a 100-km stretch of the 401 and throughout the city. I don't have one.
In terms of athletic patriotism, we are apathetic....the exception being our national hockey teams.
Is it a result of our "results".....i.e. would we be more excited if we had much success?
Chicken or egg?
Would we support more government $$ for development....or do we really not care?
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Post by Doc Holliday on Aug 15, 2008 7:47:59 GMT -5
...I really question this underfunding thingy... From Olympics to Olympics we are strong in different areas (sometimes we're good in the pool, sometimes we suck, sometimes we're dominant in diving, sometimes we're invisible, sometimes we're good at track and field, sometimes we suck, etc...)... If we can succeed in some events depending on which Olympics (and we're much better at winter Olympics too) than obviously the underfunding is the scarecrow continually raised by the COC to deflect the attention from their own incompetence. The COC is a wasp's nest of petty politics games that's all about on who and where the important budget of that committee will be spent. Like for all of our political institutions, the real competency (coaches and athletes) is separated from the decision process by a heavy layer of red tape. Here we go... Politics again...
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Post by Cranky on Aug 15, 2008 9:08:49 GMT -5
Very informative article. Thanks Tattac. Actually I passed this article to some of the guys at work. I know it's an Olympic thread but try this one when you have time. ... the Balance of Power ...It's written by George Friedman, an extremely well-informed writer. Cheers. I posted that in another forum a couple of days ago and the first response that I got was the Friedman was an old school Hungarian that had a hate-on for Russia. Whatever... There is a bigger picture being played.... |
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