Gold medals are special, but when they come at 50 year intervals, they're really special! Britain just took the women's double sculls Gold.
Ach brilliant. Absolutely brilliant. I hope it encourages them to enter a larger contingent in future games. Every time I see the tv this morning they're winning something in the rowing (do US have a boat or wit) and the Aberdeen girl waited a long time to get the gold, I think she already had 3 silvers. Jessica Ennis did well in hurdles also but a long way to go with that.
The only embarrassment would be someone who used that kind of logic. Each country is only permitted "X" amount of athletes or teams in any given event. The US could field 3 Olympic basketball teams that could sweep the medals, however we're only permitted 1, hence having 1 medal in the event. The same could be said about dozens of other events. If the Olympics were actually set up in a fashion where they only took the best teams or athletes, reguardless of country, some countries would have no representation in the Olympics at all.
The logic escapes me as well.. China has 1.3 billion people...so by Viv's logic they should lead in the medal count 4 times over the USA with our population of 307 million. How about India? 1.2 billion people in India... How many medals has India won? The real surprise is Kazakhstan with 3 Gold..and congrats to them. It's emerging from it's dreary Soviet past, ...I'm sure they are proud of their athletes.
It's laughable when one uses such logic. A combination of flawed thinking and a dislike for all things American has led her to such embarrassing remarks. Did you happen to see the article about the boxing judge who was expelled from the Olympics? Talk about a crook!!
That's an understatement. He awarded a boxer the round and fight after he was knocked down six times in a round.
The United States just demolished Nigeria in basketball by 83 points, 156-73. It's the most points ever scored by a team in a Olympic basketball game.
More American domination in swimming today. Phelps takes another gold, Missy Franklin gets a world record, and Katie Ledecky takes gold in the 800 freestyle.
Surprise!! (not) China. The team that's winning the games? Yes, they could do better as well. That doesn't change US per capita performance. Don't you worry. When they have too much food like US, they will overtake you. Won't be long...they're an emerging economic power soon to compete with the west. It's ok to like them so long as they become westernised?
That would never happen in US... Do you know you just approved a country's performance on the basis they are no longer red commies?
...but has an enormous pool and diverse ethnicities and much greater funding and facilities and better, more consistent weather allowing more consistent training and.... How strange GB won both gold and silver in the rowing. It could be said. Doesn't mean it's true. This is more evidence that the games are not focused entirely on just winning as some silly peeps have suggested. There is a minimum standard for many sports which determines entry levels. I suppose each country meeting those will be allowed to enter. It's more laughable when one does not read accurately...Raymo uses this logic as I clearly pointed out in a previous post. Don't let facts deter you though, they didn't in the rest of your post. I like US btw, just not keen on bragging. I didn't see that, but if it's as accurate as the rest of your post...
Speaking of substance abuse, Phelps got caught smoking the sticky-icky and he still got the most Olympic medals of any competitor!
Lol... but we've debated a few times whether athletes should be allowed to push the boundaries by experimenting with drugs to improve or enhance performance.
I hadn't kept up with Olympic news and was pretty surprised to see they voted baseball out of the competition this year.
I don't think you're understanding the difference here. East Germany and China both had state sponsored Olympic programs that encouraged doping. They were caught. Lots of Americans cheat in sports...pro baseball, the Olympics, etc. HOWEVER, these are not government sponsored doping programs. The athlete, of his or her own volition, chooses to use steroids or human growth hormones in order to gain a competitive advantage. (former) Soviet style and Chinese style sportsmanship involves a government sanctioned doping program...it's a FACT. If you love the Communist style of living, I suggest moving to Beijing...and discover the State controlled atmosphere over the citizenry..first hand. Athletes were forced to get illegal substances in order to improve their performance. Some folks are just naive I guess.
I personally couldn't care less if athletes bathed themselves in a toxic steroid solution daily, but I suppose it would be a bad example for the kiddies, huh?
and...and....and that's the reason the United States is leading the Olympics as I'm typing this, with 42 medals, 21 of them being gold. Almost as strange as the United States winning both gold and silver in the 200m individual medley. Or half a dozen other events the United States will double medal in. The history of America double medal winning in Olympic events would suggest otherwise. Correct, to an extent. You are permitted to enter only "X" number of teams or athletes in any given event that a country qualifies for, and for some odd reason the host country gets more athletes. As you may have noticed, the UK has more athletes in these Olympic games than the United States. The United States, in many sports, could run the table. gold silver bronze. The same could be said of other countries in certain sports. But the current system doesn't allow for this "per capita" argument, it's absurd. Maybe it's his line of thinking, but you certainly agreed with it when you said . He, like you, would have made a fool of himself for such a ridiculous statement.
