IMO the Olympics are unique in that it's the only occasion where every country has a chance to represent itself in one place and at one time, and better still in these modern times, with all of the world watching and taking part at a distance. It will never be without controversy, especially as over time, personal bests, national, international and world records continue to be broken and atheletes are getting closer and closer to the absolute limit of performance.
The doping issues, racial intolerances, national pride, politics, irrational biases and all the rest of the crap that gets drawn into the Olympics have not stopped it from functioning, but I'm afraid that some day it will. And once gone it will never come back.
It would be a change to see it getting more positive support rather than all the criticism that it gets.
Yes Gra, the Brit cycling fiasco was alarming and brought home to many some of the failures of the rules, but the Committee should strive to fix these loop-hole rules for the benefit and protection of the Olympics itself.
I followed some blogs on the matter after the event and the level of behaviour of some individuals was appalling. Open debate degraded into personal, sexual and racial insults that nobody could be proud of. If that's an indicator of the level that the human race has reduced itself to, then we're finished before we can fix it.
On a lighter note, as intended by this thread, it's fine to joke about who's the 'winner' but IMO the spirit of the Olympics should be more about personal achievement against the rest of the world's personal bests and not how many gold's or medals a country can amass at any cost, human or otherwise.
When you consider the devotion of individual atheletes to the sport and the pride they deserve when they get the chance to represent their country at the Olympics, for all this energy and emotion to be twisted into political and national propoganda by people that have no real interest in sport at all, is a disgrace. The old Eastern Bloc approach to state sponsored atheletics was very damaging and has all but passed since it's demise. Let's sieze this opportunity to get the Olympics back on track and back to its origins.
I've just re-read this post and it's way to long and serious
, but I think it's a shame that the Olympics doesn't get more support for what it's supposed to be.
On the same lighter note, I'm as nationalistic as the next and and I don't care who beats the Americans, as long as they get beaten!
Thanks for the thread Graham
