I completely agree... Los Angeles hosted the Olympics during the Cold War. Nobody made a big fuss about that.Date: 8/9/2008 3:57:29 PM
Author: CrookedRock
I really don''t think any country is free of controversy. Maybe New Zealand...
China has had and still does have problems... But so do we (USA).
Bottom line is... It''s all about the athletes.
Oooh, actually about 13 countires boycotted those olympics... sorry.Date: 8/21/2008 2:36:29 PM
Author: Diamond Confused
I completely agree... Los Angeles hosted the Olympics during the Cold War. Nobody made a big fuss about that.Date: 8/9/2008 3:57:29 PM
Author: CrookedRock
I really don't think any country is free of controversy. Maybe New Zealand...
China has had and still does have problems... But so do we (USA).
Bottom line is... It's all about the athletes.
I wasn''t refering to whether or not other countries boycotted. What I meant is the hypocracy many American''s are displaying. They are quick to judge China for having the audacity to host the Olympics but forget we were in the same position.Date: 8/21/2008 3:08:51 PM
Author: meresal
Oooh, actually about 13 countires boycotted those olympics... sorry.Date: 8/21/2008 2:36:29 PM
Author: Diamond Confused
I completely agree... Los Angeles hosted the Olympics during the Cold War. Nobody made a big fuss about that.Date: 8/9/2008 3:57:29 PM
Author: CrookedRock
I really don''t think any country is free of controversy. Maybe New Zealand...
China has had and still does have problems... But so do we (USA).
Bottom line is... It''s all about the athletes.
ETA: The Soviet Union and most of their allies. Google should turn up many articles.
Date: 8/21/2008 4:28:44 PM
Author: Diamond Confused
I wasn't refering to whether or not other countries boycotted. What I meant is the hypocracy many American's are displaying. They are quick to judge China for having the audacity to host the Olympics but forget we were in the same position.
Wow...I must say I think that is OUTRAGEOUS! Not because it may or may not be true, but because the competition is very much over & NO Romanian or Russian gymnasts have been stripped of their medals after the fact & after admitting they were underage during competition. It would be clearly inconsistent of the IOC/FIG to take action now, days after the competition, when they refused to do anything with the other gymnasts. I would hate to think it has something to do with race, but the IOC is very European-dominated & if the investigation results in the stripping of medals I will definitely think it has to do with the national origin of the gymnasts.Date: 8/21/2008 8:05:51 PM
Author: ucdcows
I thought this article might interest some people...
http://sports.yahoo.com/olympics/beijing/blog/fourth_place_medal/post/IOC-orders-investigation-into-He-Kexin-s-age?urn=oly,102564
Also, this is really nice of him to do...
http://uk.reuters.com/article/reutersComService_2_MOLT/idUKPEK3989220080818
I see your point, but if rules are rules, then why does how far after the competition occurs the violation is found matter?Date: 8/21/2008 10:55:09 PM
Author: FrekeChild
I disagree Indy. I believe the Russian/Romanian Gymnasts being too young was revealed well after the fact of the olympics being held. We're talking years. The Chinese have been revealed to falsify athletes ages for a while, and just now they have *proof* while the olympics is still going on. I would not be surprised if her medals are revoked.
Having said that, I think it sucks. Poor thing-she did her best, she did very well, and she did what they told her to-and now she's getting shamed for it.
I'm glad they are taking this seriously. And I think it has nothing to do with the race/ethnicity of the athlete. They are the sponsor country. Why should the ethnicity matter? They broke the rules. Period. That's what this is all about. If it was an American or a Russian or whatever, I think this would still be an issue.
And it should be. Everyone is aware of the rules beforehand.
Rules are rules. I don't think this particular one should exist, but it's still in existence, so they should be abiding by it.
Date: 8/21/2008 8:05:51 PM
Author: ucdcows
I thought this article might interest some people...
http://sports.yahoo.com/olympics/beijing/blog/fourth_place_medal/post/IOC-orders-investigation-into-He-Kexin-s-age?urn=oly,102564
Also, this is really nice of him to do...
http://uk.reuters.com/article/reutersComService_2_MOLT/idUKPEK3989220080818
I already posted this in the Family & Home thread, but according to this link the IOC has concluded that the documents presented by the girls'' families were satisfactory to prove their age. I kind of knew it would end like this; there is just no way to prove the girls are underage when they have several government documents that prove otherwise. Whether the documents were falsified...I guess we''ll never know for sure. However, without any concrete proof I would certainly hesitate to strip medals from any athlete who has worked hard her whole life to win it. Hopefully the IOC takes all of this drama as an indication that it needs to rethink it''s age requirement for gymnastics.Date: 8/22/2008 12:00:48 AM
Author: FrekeChild
Hahahaha at your ETA. It''s so pathetically true. For all we know, Australia''s team could have been made up of 6 year olds.
I think the main difference with to Romanians/Russians is that we''re just in a different age now. The internet changed things. Apparently some hacker found some stuff that was cached...I don''t know, it''s a whole lot of mess.
Whatever. I just hope they figure it out enough to give reasonable evidence one way or another, so this BS will END already. Because I''m getting sick of it.
So I''m going to watch Dalhausser and Rogers. Where there isn''t any dang controversy. Hopefully.
Oh, one thing that makes me irritated is how many of these athletes live, work and go to school here in the USA, but represent other countries. What is up with that? I know we have great trainers and everything, but I think that''s ridiculous...
Hmmm....maybe because characterizing lead in their toys as an "attempt at poisoning all our children" is rankest hyperbole and unfair even for a slam against China? I'm not defending it, but we did the same thing to our own populace years ago. It was the impetus for what eventually became the function of the FDA. They are where we were during the Industial Revolution. It's almost like a stage they're going through, although unlike us, who were not major exporters in a global economy, they're going to have to change attitudes and practices at a much peppier pace than we did. If it makes you feel any better, it's not like they're saving the un-leaded toys for their own kids. They poison themselves along with everyone else.Date: 8/23/2008 11:43:17 AM
Author: LuckyTexan
I was quite surprised that they still allowed China to host after their attempt at poisioning all of our children this past Christmas with lead paint.
I know, totally different subject, but how do you NOT KNOW that you are putting LEAD on something???
I don't understand why they weren't treated as international terrorists like OTHER countries that attack us!
Date: 8/23/2008 3:26:17 PM
Author: ksinger
Hmmm....maybe because characterizing lead in their toys as an ''attempt at poisoning all our children'' is rankest hyperbole and unfair even for a slam against China? I''m not defending it, but we did the same thing to our own populace years ago. It was the impetus for what eventually became the function of the FDA. They are where we were during the Industial Revolution. It''s almost like a stage they''re going through, although unlike us, who were not major exporters in a global economy, they''re going to have to change attitudes and practices at a much peppier pace than we did. If it makes you feel any better, it''s not like they''re saving the un-leaded toys for their own kids. They poison themselves along with everyone else.Date: 8/23/2008 11:43:17 AM
Author: LuckyTexan
I was quite surprised that they still allowed China to host after their attempt at poisioning all of our children this past Christmas with lead paint.
I know, totally different subject, but how do you NOT KNOW that you are putting LEAD on something???
I don''t understand why they weren''t treated as international terrorists like OTHER countries that attack us!
And rather than ask why they don''t know that they''re putting lead on the toys, why not ask why our regulatory bodies no longer perform their functions - like the one mentioned above - and keep such goods out of our country and our stores. The current administration''s thumbing its nose at regulation and de-funding and severely understaffing regulatory agencies LIKE the FDA and the USDA - all in the interest of getting unreasonable regulation off the back of business mind you, PLUS the natural result of everyone working for companies like Wal-Mart, that effectively suppress wages, is that we need cheaper goods to keep those masses consuming. Can''t afford to pay the wagest to make ''em here: regulation COSTS TOO MUCH, so we use the FREE MARKET that everyone seems to laud so much, and get those cheap goods from China, a country with even less regulation than our own, thus compounding the problem. It''s the free market at work. WE had more than a bit to do with the creation of this situation. We''re living in the unregulated Wal-Mart nation. Deal with it.
It could also be that they aren''t international terrorists, and characterizing them as such is pretty silly and counterproductive. It''s more like they have over 1 billion people, AND have bankrolled our little war now for so long that they pretty effectively own us. THEY are carrying the big and growing stick right now, not us. While we certainly don''t want to roll over and play dead, a little less sabre-rattling and testoserone induced displays MIIIGHT be in order.
Really, I''m sorry, but that post was a bit inane. These things are never so simple, America GOOD GUY!! China EVIL BAD GUY!! Go beat up!!! , desperately though we might wish they were. You need to do some reading...about China, our economy and how it got to where it is now: tanking, and how our war is being funded. And you need to try and understand a few things, sooner rather than later would be well...that we are not what we were in the post-WWII era. We are in the process of being slapped back into being one of the countries of the world, not THE country of the world. The sooner we all understand and come to grips with that the quicker we''re going to pull out of the hole we''re quickly sliding into.
From what I got from some of the stories shown, a lot of them aren''t students. I know the rest of it, my brother is a college basketball coach, so I know ALL about recruiting.Date: 8/23/2008 8:24:24 AM
Author: allycat0303
Freke:
There''s a lot of reasons represent other countries but go to school in the US.
The schools recruit them to represent them at NCAA championships (it''s good publicity for universities to be a powerhouse in sports). However, they were not necessarily born in the US. The universities want the BEST athletes regardless of where they come from.
Also, you have to be a citizen of the country to represent them. Some countries, you are not allowed to have dual citizenship, so the athlete prefers to keep their land of birth, rather then switch over.
In some cases, the althletes benefit from representing their own country (for example in the US, to make the olympic team in track would be harder then another country.). Therefore, lets say they are 20 years old, and not good enough to make the US olympic team, but are good enough to make their home country team.
I just don''t get it is all. Yeah, we have great training resources and coaches, but are they really the best from their country if all of their training is coming from the US? I''ve been watching most of the Olympics, and it seems as though half of the athletes that medal, if they aren''t American, they were trained here. It''s kind of a blurring of the lines in the way I see it. I''m conflicted on it. People are allowed to live where they want to, and I think it''s perfectly reasonable to go where your talent can be honed to make you the best in the world. But then, who do you represent? Where you were born, but don''t live/train, or where you live/train and weren''t born?Date: 8/23/2008 5:08:50 PM
Author: allycat0303
Freke,
Not trying to be offensive, but I''m intrested to know what you find irritating about the athletes from other countries training in the US then? Is it because you don''t feel they should be using US resources? Or that you feel they should be representing the US? I used to train in the US, and didn''t realize that American citizens found that irritating, so it intrests me that it arises negative emotions. I generally thought that the US would be proud to be able to offer their expertise in training athletes. Similarly, I am Canadian, but was considering doing a fellow in the US after residency, even though I don''t plan to practice there. Is this something that is negatively viewed by the US public?
You said it much better than I did!Date: 8/23/2008 6:38:25 PM
Author: allycat0303
Freke,
No it makes a lot of sense to me, I just never thought about it that way actually. In a sense, you''re saying you it''s not really the best of your country because you''re a product of the US, so representing a country becomes artificial.
I feel that all of the countries want to participate in the Olympics because it is a HUGE honor, yet they just don''t have the knowledge/coaches to do so, so by sending them to the US, they learn, come back to their country and hopefully are able to spread some of it in their country (or not, in some cases), so hopefully in the future they can develop their sport in their country. At least that is the hope. There is weightlifter that won a silver medal (the only medal) for Vietnam. He is the second olympic medal in the country''s history. He lives and trains in Vietnam and I was absurdly proud. Probably more so that someone that was born in Vietnam, spent 2 years there, and then moved to the US and has never been back, but just *represents* the country. For me it shows that the country is starting to make some in roads in sports.
Thanks for not taking offense (and answering my question)!
Yeah, apparently IDs, old & new passports, birth certificates, & family residence permits are insufficient...I just don''t see a resolution coming out of this investigation that will please all parties. The media has already condemned these girls & no matter what documents they produce people won''t believe them. Very sad. I guess the IOC has requested school entries & family books & at first glance everything looks alright. I know the government can falsify anything they want, but how would you prove it if someone doesn''t come right out & admit to it? If any governing body was forced to make a determination between an Internet site vs. a pile of documents to see which one is more believable I don''t think you can fault them for not going with the Internet sites without further proof. From the article I read the discrepancies have apparently been found to be in the paperwork when they transferred He Kexin from the local team to the national team. Who knows if this is true...but who knows if it isn''t? That''s the problem in this situation...no one knows.Date: 8/24/2008 12:53:12 AM
Author: FrekeChild
Dude. Watching NBC and they are saying that there is the possibility that 5 of 6 Chinese gymnasts could be under age.
The prez of the IOC just said that if this is proven they will revoke their gold medals. He''s saying that the age limit is for their protection, both physically, mentally and emotionally...They brought up the 14 year old diver from England-which IOC prez didn''t have a problem with.
Now they are talking about doping.
Ok...it''s over now...
Dude.
these people don't care how many babies die as long as they make a buck,human lives means nothing to them. this is not the first time they had problem with baby formula.about 8 yrs ago there were formulas that cause the baby's head to grown to ENORMOUS size. you can get away with any crime if you had the $$$. the country is so CORRUPTED !!Date: 9/25/2008 12:26:21 AM
Author: diamondfan
Now there are issues with baby formula and many kids have been sickened and died. And supposedly the country's food inspectors knew this in DECEMBER but wanted to keep it quiet til the Olympics ended.
Just a digrace.
Yeah, that is completely outrageous.Date: 9/25/2008 12:26:21 AM
Author: diamondfan
Now there are issues with baby formula and many kids have been sickened and died. And supposedly the country''s food inspectors knew this in DECEMBER but wanted to keep it quiet til the Olympics ended.
Just a digrace.