Rio Olympics 2016

[Pushka]

Not in my experience, I know several ex-Olympian swimmers including medalists. Our club has trained a few.

Ok. Lets agree to disagree then.

 

[medhead]

I know they make their own luck, but why can't our teams get lucky just once?

 

[medhead]

I wouldn't have thought so in Swimming (I've been involved with NSW swimming for years).
All the kids I've ever seen and coaches I know covet Olympic glory.

At the child level yes. That changes as they head into elite levels.

As a young swimming club member commonwealth games and olympics was what it was all about. Swimming World championship - never heard of it, and never a big TV thing. (At one stage my club times were about the fastest in my age in far north queensland. So it's not like I was doing learn to survive swimming. Coach went and died in hang gliding accident - that was it for me).

 

[Austman]

I've been in the US all week and it's like the games aren't even on. If I'm having a beer in the evening they have it on the TV in the sports bar but not many actually watching. And no one here cares if Fiji wins a game of Rugby. (I don't either to be honest)

Matt

Same for me and everyone I know in Australia actually. I can't remember a more irrelevant Olympics!

 

[medhead]

I've been in the US all week and it's like the games aren't even on. If I'm having a beer in the evening they have it on the TV in the sports bar but not many actually watching. And no one here cares if Fiji wins a game of Rugby. (I don't either to be honest)

Matt

That's truly bizarre considering the USA were the reigning olympic champions, until Fiji won.

 

[UP4014]

Swimming - back in the 70's and 80's I got involved in club swimming as a teenager. The attitude of 'you must win' from competitive swimming coaches and management put me off sport for life. When I left they keep telling me I could be a winner, and pressured my parents, I got satisfaction by leaving, well to bad and knowing what I've seen behind the scenes I don't care for the pressure put on 'kids' to be swimmers.

I went on to do a few sports I wanted, fencing, rowing, golf, none of which I took seriously and all of which I enjoyed more than swimming. I would never recommend it to my kids.

OK, my whinge is over.

 

[UP4014]

That's truly bizarre considering the USE were the reigning olympic champions, until Fiji won.

I'm sitting in the LAX lounge now, TVs on the games but only 2 yankees and 2 aussies watching and getting over excited, know because I'm in earshot. 150 others eating and drinking.

But have had a week of Trump. Funny I haven't meet anyone who has said they will vote for him, which the subject comes up they just apologise.

 

[medhead]

Swimming - back in the 70's and 80's I got involved in club swimming as a teenager. The attitude of 'you must win' from competitive swimming coaches and management put me off sport for life. When I left they keep telling me I could be a winner, and pressured my parents, I got satisfaction by leaving, well to bad and knowing what I've seen behind the scenes I don't care for the pressure put on 'kids' to be swimmers.

I went on to do a few sports I wanted, fencing, rowing, golf, none of which I took seriously and all of which I enjoyed more than swimming. I would never recommend it to my kids.

OK, my whinge is over.

I had a good coach, that's why her loss was the end for me. But very true that most of my swimming pool swimming wasn't fun, especially when having to get out every so often for a cold shower. But swimming club let me have heaps of fun in lakes, creeks, beaches, pool parties and on the reef.

 

[Pushka]

The Olympics is the most publicised as it is a gathering of all relevant sports and because all media attention is focussed on it, it becomes the dream of potential performers. Olympics records are mostly under World record times. Performances are tapered for each meet. Olympics remains a holy grail but not the holy grail in every sport. World championships are extremely relevant for elite athletes - it just doesn't get the media attention and therefore public interest. And for that reason the Olympic Gold is held in higher esteem by the public than World Titles.

 

[nlagalle]

In reality, the World Titles are actually more coveted. In swimming and cycling. Watching Phelps. Again? Semi only.

Having worked at most of these events over the last 20 years, this is not the case for swimming, the Olympics rate higher among athletes. Same for track cycling. There are only few events that rate higher to an athlete than the Olympics.

Events like the Soccer and road cycling are different, Tennis is a mixed bag too.

 

[Pushka]

Well, just going on MrP's four times with the Olympic Team and many years at the sports institute there are different perspectives. The Olympics is certainly where the main sponsorship monies come from. And the public appreciation of the Gold medal.

 

[nlagalle]

Well, just going on MrP's four times with the Olympic Team and many years at the sports institute there are different perspectives. The Olympics is certainly where the main sponsorship monies come from. And the public appreciation of the Gold medal.

So which sports are you referring to then? I've pointed out ones I know from first hand experience. I can tell you now swimming isn't about the world championships having worked at both I saw it myself.

 

[Pushka]

At these Olympics? The relevant pinnacle event isn't the Games in the following: Cycling, Tennis, Football, golf, dont know about athletics, basketball, boxing, - dont know about the rest. Swimmers - the Worlds dominate their usual programme of training.

The media dotes (quite reasonably) on the Olympics but that doesn't mean that is necessarily the highlight of every athlete's goals. The media just doesn't bother so much with Worlds. Doesn't make them less important.

 

[Jos888]

Singapore is pretty happy today...first ever gold medal won by a Singaporean...Joseph Schooling won the Men's 100m Butterfly

 

[Pushka]

Saw a great photo of him as a youngster posing next to Phelps. Who'd have thought years later he would beat him.

 

[whatmeworry]

Soccer Olympic Gold medal never was the equivalent of a World Cup medal because of amateur rules till 1984. They opened it up slightly to professional players, but FIFA and the soccer federations devalued it further in 1992 by making it under 23's plus 3 over age players because of the money they make at the World Cup.

However many good teams like the Puskas led Hungary won gold medals. But then many ex communist countries abused amateur rules by putting their stars in the military.

Ferenc Puskas reminds me of the infamous spagetti incident at club Marconi-- he actually ate a large platter of pasta intended for a whole table. He thought it was for himself only.

​

 

[Jos888]

That's right, Pushka. It was a great win for him.

 

[nlagalle]

At these Olympics? The relevant pinnacle event isn't the Games in the following: Cycling, Tennis, Football, golf, dont know about athletics, basketball, boxing, - dont know about the rest. Swimmers - the Worlds dominate their usual programme of training.

The media dotes (quite reasonably) on the Olympics but that doesn't mean that is necessarily the highlight of every athlete's goals. The media just doesn't bother so much with Worlds. Doesn't make them less important.

Cycling has many different disciplines as i mentioned before. Road cycling there are other bigger events like TdF..

Tennis - again doesn't have a singular "big event" it's winning the Grand Slams. Davis Cup and the Fed cup probably have bigger country standings.

Football - has mixed criteria now, but as i mentioned even the world cup isn't the pinnacle for many players anymore.

Swimming - is the Olympics, not the world championships. not sure where you come to that assumption, but having worked at both events the world champs is a poor cousin. Swimmers aim for the olympics first.

Boxing - is amateur only so that why you don't see the Danny greens etc there.

Basketball - is really only huge in the USA. but again no world championships.

Athletics - well you can debate their world champs are bigger for them than the Olympics, but I haven't seen them skip the Olympics (unless injured) but have seen athletes skip world championships.

The media only have minimal coverage of many world championships because they don't have the interest form their audience. but in most cases they rate second to the Olympics for athletes. If the world championships are "bigger" than the Olympics, why don't clubs have honour boards for World Championships but do for Olympics?

 

[whatmeworry]

I would say the handball WC might rival or surpass the Olympics as the handball gets swamped by the so called blue ribbon events at the Olympics.

Ok you have athletes switching countries from time to time but Qatar's sudden rise in Handball is getting to be a joke.

RIO DE JANEIRO – Left hand on their teammates’ left shoulder, right hand on their heart, two Syrians, two Montenegrins, two Bosnians, an Egyptian, a Croat, a Cuban, a Spaniard and a Frenchman stood together Tuesday morning and sang along to their national anthem. It was the same song.
Learning “as-Salam al-Amiri” is expected of the men who join Qatar’s national handball team. Over the last three years, as the Connecticut-sized peninsula nation that shares a border with Saudi Arabia has grown in population by nearly 50 percent, it has prioritized its modernization by stressing nationalism in the most obvious way: sports. And no sport allows foreigners to play for their non-birth country quite like handball.
The International Handball Federation rule is simple: Those who haven’t played on their country’s national team in three years can naturalize to another nation. In order to attract foreigners to Qatar, the government used it greatest resource – oil money – and built a nascent super team in the high-paced sport that combines the speed and physicality of football, the rules of basketball and the throwing of baseball.
Though most of Qatar’s players are past their primes, the nation shells out millions of dollars in salaries for a sport where scratching out a living often can entail a second job. The money has worked: Qatar won the silver medal at the 2015 Men’s Handball World Championships, held in its capital city of Doha, a result that rankled the tight-knit community. Players complained. Officials sneered. No less authority on right and wrong than Sepp Blatter, the former FIFA president who resigned amid oceans of corruption, said Qatar’s recruitment of foreign players reached “the point of absurdity.”

Meet the Olympic handball team made up almost exclusively of well-paid foreigners

Also what is it with the IOC official at the swimming that has some gold medal around his neck?

 

[medhead]

At these Olympics? The relevant pinnacle event isn't the Games in the following: Cycling, Tennis, Football, golf, dont know about athletics, basketball, boxing, - dont know about the rest. Swimmers - the Worlds dominate their usual programme of training.

The media dotes (quite reasonably) on the Olympics but that doesn't mean that is necessarily the highlight of every athlete's goals. The media just doesn't bother so much with Worlds. Doesn't make them less important.

Sounds like you're talking at crossed purposes. Programme of training is not the same as which is held in higher esteem. Of course the world titles dominate the training, being as they happen more frequently. But that doesn't mean the swimmers value an olympic medal less than world championship medals. No need to confuse training program with comparative value or the swimmers' goals.