Olympic Soap Box

[Windy City Walleye Hunter]

Well put fluid, I will take everything you said into consideration. I just got going after hearing Bela Karoli who railed openly on the air about the cheating and how the govt doctores their passports. I thought your post was very well written but those girls do look awful young, it is very hard to believe that they are all 16 and I think Bela Karoli has a very good reputation in the gymnastic world, enough to believe what he is saying. I can't believe that more of this is not making the newspapers. Very good alternate perspective!

Windy

[papabear]

Bella Karoli and wife run a training center in TX that is very similar to the Chinese. Young kids sent there to become olympians and there whole life centers around training and then are wash ups at age 20. And do not forget our lost medals in track and field thanks to Jones and all.

[SomethingFishy*]

This thread is a bit odd, it just seems like your just trying to show the worst parts of China without trying to understand the culture and the people.

I have been to China several times and am going again at the end of the week. I am actually an American born Chinese. I was born and raised right here in MN, although lived in CA for a few years as well.

I can't respond to the under-age comments, because it is very hard to know for sure whether or not their documents were doctored. It is also hard to tell whether they are or are not under age. In MN, there is not much of an asian population so you may not know, but when I was living in CA, it is very hard to tell whether some of the Asian girls are under-age.

As for the training. I believe many of the star athletes in the USA train since they are extremely young as well. In China, the children that are taken to do these types of athletic training are usually from the countryside. The country side is actually very poor as China is still considered a 3rd world country. So, if your child was chosen to become one of the star athletes and to represent your country when you are a poor farmer from the country-side, wouldn't you want your child to have that opportunity? Those parents know that they won't see their child much afterwards, but they want their children to have a good life, rather than live in poverty....

As for the girl that was too "ugly" to sing. This again is very much a cultural difference. Appearance in Asia seems to be very important. Korea and Japan (I don't have statistics, but I'm guessing) probably have some of the highest numbers of cosmetic surgeries of any country. That is the only explanation I have to offer. I don't agree with their actions, but I won't judge them for choosing to do that. Even in the interviews with the children, they just were happy to be part of the opening ceremony.

The smog actually isn't anything worse than LA or NYC. I was in Beijing one year ago and I didn't see anything extremely out of the ordinary for smog. Of course, there is smog still, but some of our larger cities have equivalent quantities of smog.

Finally, the stabbing of Bachman is tragic, but I don't think you can blame China much for that. Again, I don't have statistics but I can imagine that their murder rate is significantly lower than the USA. They will institute capital punishment for murders, drugs, etc. This seems to be a major deterrent as they aren't very forgiving for these major crimes.

I will touch base on the 1 child rule as well. Everyone is allowed one child, but if you are to have more, you have to pay for schooling and have an extra amount in taxes that you have to pay. For a country that is overpopulated, this really is ideal. If you look at India, their overpopulation is a very big problem and they have no real way to control it. Their population continually grows, while in China, their population has stopped growing (if they didn't, they would have many more problems, food shortages, etc). The people there seem to be more than happy to abide by just having one child.

Very well written post. Thanks for the perspective. With the over popultaion in the US I sometimes wish we had laws like only one child per family, as the people looking for a handout because they choose to have children are a constant burden on this country and it's tax-payers.

[Windy City Walleye Hunter]

Nice to see a little redeption for the good ole US of A! Way to go for the GOLD...and the SILVER in Womens all around. I still think those Chinese girls are way under 16 but we will never know so I guess we can just cheer our victories and move on!

Windy

[Farmboy1]

When can I stop hearing about the greatness of Michael Phelps. I was watching it last night, well the wife was watching it, and they were breaking down his body, putting him on a pedestal to describe how great his body is for swimming.

Now he is good, and he has won a lot of medals, but come on. My cartoon bubble had Jon Maddeen sucking on Favres big toe listening to this carp. Over and Over and Over.

It will be refreshing to see the news reports in 5 years of Michael Phelps being convicted to drugs or something like that when he gets done with the Olympics and figures out it was not very lucrative, and he has to find something to do for the rest of his life that will give him a new rush.

OK sorry. Down from soapbox now.

[BobT]

I have found it interesting how so many world records are falling. They are falling like hotcakes. What gives? In some swimming events the top four finishers all broke the current standing record. Mr Phelps has broken his own world record on many occasions. When you consider how many years these records have been kepts it has me wondering how so many of these can fall so rapidly at the same time.

Bob

[Windy City Walleye Hunter]

Farmboy,

Plenty of room on the soap box but I think Phelps will be OK. I heard some reports that he is already a multi millionaire and has a very lucrative sponsorship deal with VISA. Notice the commercial right after he takes another gold? Somebody said that he could be a billionaire by the end of the Olympics. Could not happen to a nicer guy, I would much rather see the money go to him rather than some of the pampered gang banger wannabes that are in the NBA or MLB!

I guess I better get off the soapbox now! Sorry! LOL

Windy

[Farmboy1]

WCSH,

I hear what you are saying. It is more the announcers then it is Phelps. I just can't take anymore of their groveling at his feet. Yes he is a good swimmer, but who cares. After the O's, it will be right back to not caring about swimming for another 4 years.

[PierBridge]

That's a little Harsh Farmboy actually that was mean...lol.

A couple different reasons or theory's on the World Records.

Personally I agree with the last paragraph of the article.

Here are a couple of the theory's

Cut and paste article:

FAST POOL

"The pool is great. It's very bright here. The water temperature is awesome. It feels fast," Greek swimmer Apostolos Tagkarakis said after his first training at the Water Cube.

Tagkarakis's feeling is not unique. Almost all swimmers said they felt comfortable and excited in the pool and some directly called it a "fast pool".

What makes the swimmers feel fast in the pool? Among all the speculations, one assertion, which claims that the pool is deeper than normal, seemed to have convinced many.

"We had 2.5 (meters) in Omaha. FINA has now gone to 3 (meters). Swimming in a deeper pool allows you to go out faster. It doesn't beat you up like shallow water does," U.S. coach Eddie Reese said.

According to FINA regulation, the depth of a standard swimming pool ranges between two to three meters. The pool in the Water Cube is three-meter in depth.

However, the pool in the Water Cube is not the only one that reaches three meter. The pools used at the 2003 Barcelona world championships, at the Athens Olympics and at the 2007 Melbourne championships were all three meters deep.

Is it because of the water? Bulgarian Mihail Alexandrov said the water is "as smooth as honey".

The outside skin of the Water Cube is made of Teflon-like material. Composed of two layers, it's separated by an interior passage that allows the building, which seats 17,000, to breathe like a greenhouse. Designers said the venue absorbs solar radiation and reduces thermal loss, guarantees the incoming of most of the sunlight which serves as the thermal source of swimming pool water. The temperature of the swimming pool is projected to be kept at 28 degrees Celsius, the best suitable for swimmers.

And the Speedo theory:

SPEEDO LZR RACER

Then it comes to the revolutionary bodysuit of Speedo, which has stirred enough hubbub ever since it was introduced to swimmers.

Since February this year, almost all the record-breaking feats were connected with the Speedo LZR Racer. The LZR suit, designed with help from U.S. space agency NASA, keeps swimmers in a corset-like grip which is said to allow the swimmer to maintain the best body position in the water for longer and reduce drag.

Some reports have credited it with reducing swimming times by up to 2 percent, although Speedo officials said that is impossible to verify. But many believe the advantages are as much psychological as physical.

"I think it might help. But all in all it is I that swam the race. If one doesn't have the capability, he will not swim fast no matter what he wears," said China's Pang, who wore a Speedo in the race.

Pang's view was shared by many athletes, including the brand's most phenomenal "spokesperson". "It helps me go faster. But of course, I also broke world record before I began to wear it," said Phelps.

Alan Thompson, Australia's head coach, indicated that Speedo's success largely relied on its outstanding marketing efforts. "The fact that Speedo has done such a good job that ensures they've signed up some of the world's greatest athletes to their brand probably ensures that they get the greatest exposure with the swimsuit," he said.

The coach said that the amount of focus that has been placed on the swimsuit has shifted public attentions on performances of the athletes. "Swimsuit technology advancement is something we've been doing since we wore full-length woolen suits in 1908. So...it's nothing new."

TRAINING & HARD WORK

The "dancing" of world records at the Water Cube has shocked spectators, but not so much to the professionals.

"This is the Olympics. There was so much hard work, so much preparation and so much history behind each person, each gold, silver and bronze. Everyone is giving the best," said Australia's Libby Trickett, gold medalist in the women's 100-meter butterfly.

Before the Olympics, Australian head coach Thompson had predicted the Olympic swimming competition will be the fastest and toughest ever witnessed. "I said that about the world championships in Melbourne last year and I don't think it is going to be any different in Beijing," said Thompason.

Traditionally the major swimming superpowers at Olympic Games have been Australia and the United States, but Thompson cautioned that other nations are rapidly closing the gap. "The depth in world swimming these days is huge," said the coach in Kuala Lumpur before leading his team to Beijing.

"It won't be a two-horse race between Australia and the US. I mean you look at countries like Great Britain, Japan, the French, the South Africans, they perform very solidly. They've made changes from going to the semis to the finals to lower medals to gold medals. There's a major shift in world swimming," he said.

Chen Yunpeng, former head coach of the Chinese swimming team, agreed. Chen said the dazzling change in the swimming pool in recent year was a result of training innovation and the hard efforts of the athletes.

"Training regimes are upgrading so fast and people are focusing on details, like the dolphin kick. It's the training revolution and the hard work of athletes rather than Water Cube or swimsuit that produce so many world records," he said

[croixflats]

Verry intersting PierBridge I was gonna say it was in the food but your explanation is much better and more complete.

[BobT]

I have wondered too if it could be that the competition is driving the competitiors to step up to the plate a little closer. In other words, when you have stiff competition it forces you to go that extra mile. Obviously there is some extremely stiff competition if four finishers in a single race can exceed the latest world record.

Bob