Is anyone else annoyed with the olympic medal count?

[TahoeDirtGirl]

I've been keeping my strong opinions under wraps but I am annoyed at the Michael Phelps thing. I wholeheartedly appreciate his training and determination, but over and over we hear how he basically never needs to work again and will be one of the most endorsed Olympics athlete ever.

All of this going on while Dara is swimming her a$$ off. That is the one I cheered for. That annoyed me even more because I was at a local sports bar and while she was swimming no one was cheering, no one cared. BUT OH when Phelps gets on, the band STOPPED and everyone was cheering. Yeah, he got 8 gold medals, broke the record, but the whole leading up to it wasn't even sportsmanlike anymore, and not really his fault, but the media! I got so annoyed! Dara has been the only Olympic medalist that 'old' and had a child! Just seeing Dara compete makes me think...hmmmmmm...maybe we aren't getting as old as we think


I think my problem is that alot of people are just sheep and just go with what the media is telling them. I didn't even want to watch the Phelps race because he was a sure thing to win. I am glad I got to see Dara win the silver, it was a good race. You could see though how much she *really* wanted the gold. She says she won't be back in 4 years. We shall see!

[arielmoon]

I agree about Dara- she is my hero. In fact I have named my new bike after her!

[Aggie_Ama]

I got tired of the Phelps too. My opinions I will keep to myself because I don't want to offend anyone.

I was much more interested in hearing more about Dara's schedule, how she trains and is a mom. How does she balance the two pulling her time?

[sfa]

I got tired of the Phelps too. My opinions I will keep to myself because I don't want to offend anyone.

I was much more interested in hearing more about Dara's schedule, how she trains and is a mom. How does she balance the two pulling her time?

Apparently a nanny and lots of professionals to help her train, plus a training schedule that focuses less on time spent in the pool (figuring that after so many years, she's got her form down perfectly) and more on strength/muscles working together and good recovery: http://jamieatlas.wordpress.com/2008...n-dara-torres/

I think Dara rocks, and I've been pleased in general to see so many "old" female Olympians--the 38 year old marathon winner, the 33 year old German gymnast, and, of course, Dara Torres. But I don't think she's been slighted in the least in her press coverage OR her likelihood for raking in sponsorships and speaking engagements from her achievement. She hasn't gotten equal time as Phelps, but then, she hasn't achieved what he did. No one has. He did in two Olympics more than she's done in five Olympics. More than any Olympian has ever done in history. Dara's appeal is not her performance so much as her longevity in a sport that favors younger athletes, but I suspect she's the leading edge of something that will become more common--training is getting better, and ever since they started allowing professionals to compete in the Olympics, we've started to see people putting off retirement and continuing to compete where in the past they wouldn't have been able to keep training at that level because they had to go out an earn a living. So I understand the fuss about Phelps (and o.k. I'll admit to some bias since he's the hometown hero), but I don't think it's disproportionate to what he accomplished, and I don't think the fuss about him diminishes the lesser fuss around Torres at all.

Sarah

ETA a link to another, better, article about Dara Torres' training schedule: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/18/sp...ewanted=1&_r=1

[smilingcat]

people take it too seriously. I really don't want to hear about the medal count and the gloating that comes with it.

And the rest is unprintable.

Thank goodness I don't have a TV!!

smilingcat

[ilima]

Don't cry for Dara. She came from major $$$ and has always lived a posh life.

It'd have been nice if she'd swum the 50 just 0.01 second faster and tied for the gold. Two silvers is still a huge accomplishment.

[RoadRaven]

unity - schmunity

Its the Olympics
Its about competition
Of course there will be a medal count and comparisons

The point is that its about healthy competition and building relationships

[Ana]

It seems as though the overemphasis on the medal counts night after night fails to embody the spirit of the Olympics.

As much as I enjoy watching the Olympics as a tribute to exceptional human abilities, it is marred by the focus on scores, medals and superiority complexes. I often scoff at the dismal commentary.

[Irulan]

It seems as though the overemphasis on the medal counts night after night fails to embody the spirit of the Olympics.

As much as I enjoy watching the Olympics as a tribute to exceptional human abilities, it is marred by the focus on scores, medals and superiority complexes. I often scoff at the dismal commentary.

I think the spirit of the games was very well represented with footage of the sidelines. During some of the girls gymnastics, when one gal was done with a routing, the various girls from different countries would all hug or greet their competitors while waiting for scores. I thought that was very cool.

Listening to the basketball dream team guys talk about how they finally learned that being on Team USA was about being part of something much bigger and more important than an individual star..... awesome.

[Ana]

I think the spirit of the games was very well represented with footage of the sidelines. During some of the girls gymnastics, when one gal was done with a routing, the various girls from different countries would all hug or greet their competitors while waiting for scores. I thought that was very cool.

I was mostly referring to the officials and commentator's views they were presenting on the television and overemphasizing to the audience the medal count. I was very impressed by the interactions between athletes

[badgercat]

Don't cry for Dara. She came from major $$$ and has always lived a posh life.

I've kind of wondered about the backgrounds of a lot of athletes, U.S. in particular because that's where I'm from... I was watching a piece on Nastia Liukin, an American gymnast, and there was a clip of her and her dad driving around in a Porsche. Or maybe a Ferrari. I just remember it was something no one in my family could afford.

I'm not trying to knock the talents these people have, and I'm certainly not looking to start a class war or say they're only where they are because of their upbringing... but it's just interesting to think about how much money can affect the level of training an athlete receives. Like... how many people out there might have similar natural gifts, but just haven't had the opportunity to cultivate it because they just didn't have the same resources? It's mind boggling.

Anyway, back to what the OP asked... medal counts are kind of annoying. The media coverage here in general gets on my nerves. Show me less talking and more running/diving/jumping/whatever!

[Aggie_Ama]

Like... how many people out there might have similar natural gifts, but just haven't had the opportunity to cultivate it because they just didn't have the same resources? It's mind boggling.

Anyway, back to what the OP asked... medal counts are kind of annoying. The media coverage here in general gets on my nerves. Show me less talking and more running/diving/jumping/whatever!

Whereas last night they said Shawn Johnson's family took out a second mortgage on their house more than once to keep her training.

Then they switch to diving where the one girl and her dad moved to be near the good diving center while her mother stayed working in California. It takes a bit of money to maintain two households, I would think but who knows we just maintain one.

I read an article on how much it really costs to raise an Olympian, lots of money goes into to seeing your little darling on the podium of a sport.

[sfa]

Whereas last night they said Shawn Johnson's family took out a second mortgage on their house more than once to keep her training.

Then they switch to diving where the one girl and her dad moved to be near the good diving center while her mother stayed working in California. It takes a bit of money to maintain two households, I would think but who knows we just maintain one.

I read an article on how much it really costs to raise an Olympian, lots of money goes into to seeing your little darling on the podium of a sport.

I wonder about all of the others who made similar sacrifices (money and time and effort) whose kids didn't make it onto the team, let alone the podium.

[malkin]

I like that 33 year old gymnast too.
And Michael Phelps' mom.

But I'm pretty tired of the coverage.

[Irulan]

I've kind of wondered about the backgrounds of a lot of athletes, U.S. in particular because that's where I'm from... I was watching a piece on Nastia Liukin, an American gymnast, and there was a clip of her and her dad driving around in a Porsche. Or maybe a Ferrari. I just remember it was something no one in my family could afford.

I'm not trying to knock the talents these people have, and I'm certainly not looking to start a class war or say they're only where they are because of their upbringing... but it's just interesting to think about how much money can affect the level of training an athlete receives. Like... how many people out there might have similar natural gifts, but just haven't had the opportunity to cultivate it because they just didn't have the same resources? It's mind boggling.

Anyway, back to what the OP asked... medal counts are kind of annoying. The media coverage here in general gets on my nerves. Show me less talking and more running/diving/jumping/whatever!

In the US, as I understand it, the athletes don't receive a lot of state/federal funding, it is up to the individual and whatever sponsors they can come up with and still remain non-professional. So ya, no resources = no olympic coaching. Our government would rather spend money on, oh, never mind.

here's an interesting article. The USA is one of three countries that does not support it's olympic atheletes.

The United States is one of only three countries where Olympic athletes receive no government funding. Instead the U.S. Olympic Committee relies exclusively on income from the sale of television broadcast rights and from corporate sponsors.

I'm not saying that warehouseing a kid at a state training facility from the age 3 on is the answer either, but surely there is someplace in the middle? This article was a little to rah-rah private sector for me but it does explain how US funding works.

funding article