Thoughts as the Olympics draw to a close

Off-topic
1

I didn’t expect to be interested in the Olympics, but I have been drawn in and found them fascinating. I have found myself sometimes cheering, sometimes jeering, and sometimes welling up with emotion.

What is it like to train solidly for 4 or 8 years, and for it all to come right on the day, so you get the gold? Amazing! Or does it feel strangely hollow the next day when it’s all over?

But what if you train just as hard for just as long and come fourth? Or don’t even make the final? What about the Chinese guy who finished the 10 km outdoor swim after the medal ceremony had finished, and the Chinese crowd turned their backs on him?

Or the Chinese pistol shooter who was forced to apologise tearfully for letting his entire country down: all 3,000,000,000 of them - including the fat lazy ones who have never done any sport in their lives?

What is the mentality that makes someone focus that long and hard on one pointless activity? Are the athletes heroes, to be admired for their dedication and determination? Or are they idiots?

If only my life were so easy that I could judge my daily and weekly success by reference to a single number on a record sheet. Are these athletes hiding from real life, normal human relationships, and from making mature life decisions by focussing on something that is no more than glorified play?

With so many people in our society poorly educated and underemployed, is sport an excellent diversion for their energies and enthusiasm? Would the world be a better place if our kids all did athletics, gymnastics, or other sports?

What do you learn for coping with vitory and defeat? Shanaze Reade (BMX) at 19 did herself huge credit for coping so courteously and matter of factly with inane questions from a journalist when she thought she had broken her hand, she was bruised all over, and had just seen the gold medal disappear from her grasp. She must have wanted to cry, to lash out, and to ask the journalist how many prizes he had won, but she handled herself like a lady.

But the reaction of the Taekwondo bloke who kicked the referee in the head was rather less admirable. And I thought that martial arts was all about personal discipline, dignity and respect.

The New Zealand rower who had to be helped from his boat and carried to the sick bay on a stretcher. Was it worth it? Hero or fool?

Paul Radcliffe: record holder, heroine, devastated for finishing the marathon on one leg, and still faster than any one of us could have done it on two legs.

Tom Daley, 7th in the high diving at 14 years old. I saw him interviewed today and he spoke like a 25 year old. Is that testament to the power of sport to help people develop, or evidence of a lost childhood? Is he missing out on girls, McDonalds and Nintendo? Or are his “normal” friends missing out on a lifetime of sporting achievement.

2

One of the star Chinese female table tennis players said she wouldn’t be an athlete if she had it to do over again. She said, and I paraphrase, that you give everything and in the end have nothing to show for it. I think she won the gold.

Then there are the athletes who won nothing and say they would do it all over again.

I think it is not trivial to say that the answers to all your questions are yes and no.

I think the Olympics are a monumental waste of time and money and like so many other human endeavors we couldn’t live without them.

3

we’ve got both! there is a fine line between dedication (even stubborness) and masochistic monomania. some athletes are worth our admiration some have lost many measures of humanity.
(for sure we tend thus to judge according to our own personal perceptions: I hate water but will admire a kayakist and snob a swimmer)

4

I hope they come to their senses, the world should tell them how wrong they were to do that, and hold them in the arena until they apologize to the guy on their knees.

If i was him, i would have said i don’t owe anyone an apology, and refused to apologize. i would have flipped the bird with a wild-eyes grin and a maniacal laugh! and i’d remind that i have a pistol, and despite not winning the gold, i’m still pretty good with it! any takers?!

some of us unicyclists get a small taste of that. i’ve gotten it moreso lately, working even an hour a day on the Ultimate Wheel. i will always reserve the freedom to be an idiot, hurting no one, and i will always stand up for anyone’s right to do the same. i try to find and cheer the hero in everyone.

you may be overstating the case here. for many, athletic prep and competition is a full time job from which they come home from and have normal human relationships. they have the opportunity to tally in how they treat their brothers and sisters when they measure their success.

certainly, nations with greater participation in sports and nations with fewer smokers spend less on health care. that leaves more money available for education and enhancement.

Who is more likely to be dating a supermodel? Me? You? or Tom Daley?

by the way, there’s a controversy, and it turns out he may actually BE 25 years old. :smiley:

Good post, Mike.

Billy

PS There is a great song by the Bonzo Doo-Dah Dog Band, called ‘Sport.’ does anyone know it?

5

the olympic commitee still owes an apology to the athletes who gave a fist salute years ago – one was in ROTC at the time.

6

Billy, it appears that you are correct about the apology, but are you confusing the OPHR with ROTC? I don’t think they’re the same.

7

Raphael,

if you can google the OpEd in today’s NYTimes by Allen Barra, Smirh and Carlos were members of the Olympic Project for Human Rights (haven’t heard much about that this year, have you?). The OpEd says “Smith was in ROTC at the time.” 7th paragraph, 2nd last sentence.

I’m hoping they return you and we begin to get coherent responses from you again.

Billy

8

i wish they would show more events of tv. events such as table tennis, judo, badminton, archery, etc. those are the events i wanna see. not freakin water polo.

9

wow! good thought provoking post.

10

i like to keep my readers intrigued.:stuck_out_tongue:

11

I cannot speak for the Olympic athletes…but sport has given me a lot. I was always sick as a kid. I used to stutter and was extremely shy. Then I began to play a lot of sports. It gave me a platform for me to express myself. It taught me a lot of life skills- how to handle failure, success, when to give up, when not to and so on. It made me a lot stronger too and I made tons of friends.

I did my first cycle tour in 2002. I had never really cycled much before and knew nothing about how to train, eat etc. My support was my family, who like me knew nothing. I did 200km of the planned 600km before I quit. But I wasn’t sad or too disappointed. I knew it was the start of something big. Christmas 2007 was exactly 5 years to the day since that trip. Since that day in 2002, I have UNICYCLED in 9 countries. Done 3 three tours. Will be doing a three solo mini tours (including Sth.America in the next few months) and a mammoth one next year (keep this under wraps until I can organise it all). I’ve made tons of friends around the world. I can confidently travel alone to any country in the world- a big deal for a kid that never liked leaving home. Sport has given me so much. And probably these athletes too…

But on the other hand, I probably used sport too as a way to hide or get away from many things in my life. Maybe these athletes have too. When I realised this this year, after a not-so-good moment in my life, I joined a dance class. Dance has always scared the crap out of me. This week I have my first dance comp. with lots of people watching me dance. I am nervous but I’ve been worse :slight_smile: In the end, life is about balance. I still love sport but am learning to balance it out with other stuff too. Some of these athletes may find that balance, some may not. I consider myself lucky. Maybe that non-so-good moment in my life this year was a good thing.

But for me watching the athletes in Barcelona (1992) and Atlanta (1996) gave me hope as a kid as to what is possible. Jesse Owens in Berlin, 1936 with Hitler watching him or even Wilma Rudolph comes to mind. The olympics might be a huge waste of money, especially when so many people die of starvation every year…but it has its pupose.

12

I cannot speak for the Olympic athletes…but sport has given me a lot. I was always sick as a kid. I used to stutter and was extremely shy. Then I began to play a lot of sports. It gave me a platform for me to express myself. It taught me a lot of life skills- how to handle failure, success, when to give up, when not to and so on. It made me a lot stronger too and I made tons of friends.

I did my first cycle tour in 2002. I had never really cycled much before and knew nothing about how to train, eat etc. My support was my family, who like me knew nothing. I did 200km of the planned 600km before I quit. But I wasn’t sad or too disappointed. I knew it was the start of something big. Christmas 2007 was exactly 5 years to the day since that trip. Since that day in 2002, I have UNICYCLED in 9 countries. Done 3 three tours. Will be doing a three solo mini tours (including Sth.America in the next few months) and a mammoth one next year (keep this under wraps until I can organise it all). I’ve made tons of friends around the world. I can confidently travel alone to any country in the world- a big deal for a kid that never liked leaving home. Sport has given me so much. And probably these athletes too…

But on the other hand, I probably used sport too as a way to hide or get away from many things in my life. Maybe these athletes have too. When I realised this this year, after a not-so-good moment in my life, I joined a dance class. Dance has always scared the crap out of me. This week I have my first dance comp. with lots of people watching me dance. I am nervous but I’ve been worse :slight_smile: In the end, life is about balance. I still love sport but am learning to balance it out with other stuff too. Some of these athletes may find that balance, some may not. I consider myself lucky. Maybe that non-so-good moment in my life this year was a good thing.

But for me watching the athletes in Barcelona (1992) and Atlanta (1996) gave me hope as a kid as to what is possible. Jesse Owens in Berlin, 1936 with Hitler watching him or even Wilma Rudolph comes to mind. The olympics might be a huge waste of money, especially when so many people die of starvation every year…but it has its pupose.

13

I need to catch up on sleep. Way to many late nights/early morning watching everything. I love the spirit of competition (Olympics, X games, etc). Watching people strive to be the best at what they love to do to great.

14

Possibly my second favourite Olympic Moment ever.

Watch this.

I defy your tears.

As I do with this…

And before I leave you.

15

OK, you got me. I wept.

16

I’ll try on a few of those…

I was never in the Olympics of course, but I did have a strange feeling of hollowness after Unicon III, when I’d met my long-term goal of being the world champion. This was about five years in the making, during which there was no such thing as a world championships of unicycling. That had to come first. And I had won the Freestyle at the previous Unicon, but with a tiny field and very little competition. At Unicon III (Tokyo) is was real.

I’ll have to agree with Billy on that one. He doesn’t owe the crowd something, does he? A medal, perhaps? No, as a member of his national team he owes them only one thing – to play the game to the best of his abilities (within the rules) be as prepared as he could be and do his very best. I didn’t see this event, but apparently they presumed he did not do those things. Unless he was a slacker, they indeed should apologize to him.

Ironically, shooting is one of the disciplines where you can be fat and still be a top athlete. Again I didn’t see it. Who made him apologize? If he did it on his own, I respect his choice. Maybe he un-loses a little face by doing it.

I don’t know, but it ain’t just the jugglers who have this problem…

No, that would be us. Many of these athletes get to step from the Olympics into sport-related careers. We do not. Michael Phelps may be the first athlete to earn $1 billion just through his sport.

I think it would, if only in encouraging a more healthy lifestyle for their later years.

That though winning is the fullest measure of success, to not win does not mean to lose. If you’ve done your best; if you really believe that was the best you could have done, you’ve also won. You just don’t get the medal. You also learn that not everybody can win (unless you have a 10-way tie). If you’re a good sport, you can appreciate the efforts of your competitors, including the ones that did better than you.

Not only are the martial arts, but the Olympics as well (according to their creedos). That’s why he and his coach have been banned from any Olympic-level competitions (any sport) forever. No chance of parole.

That’s up to him. If he decides at the Olympics that he’s been a fool, what was he thinking all this time? Again I didn’t see it. Was he injured? Here’s a counter-question then: Is it preferrable to get injured (doing your sport) in front of a big crowd or when nobody’s watching? Not mistake-injuries, but stuff like popped hamstrings & such.

I don’t know, but it shows he’s adapted well to all the media attention he was getting. Good for him! For most kids who strive for the Olympics at a young age, there’s a choice between a “typical” life and the one they lead. Who’s to say which is more rewarding?

17

I’ll add one more return question for Mikefule. A bunch of us recently did Ride The Lobster, the world’s biggest-ever unicycle race. Many of us trained for months and devoted not only time and sweat, but bunches of money into the effort. Was I making a business investment in trying to get 1st place (the big money)? Of course not. I just wanted to be a part of it. But I also wanted to do my best, hence all the training. What do I get out of all of that? Well, 20 pounds lighter, and a really nice (but expensive) Coker bag.

Oh and a silver at the Unicon Marathon, in which I never would have been a contender were it not for all that RTL training. :slight_smile:

18

Being an athlete is more than just play. Training for even friendly competition like RTL was hard work. By far, the single largest thing I disliked about RTL was the singlemindedness of pushing myself to get in shape for one specific kind of unicycling, and that was only for a couple months. I can’t imagine doing it for four years.

Is being an athlete pointless? Is being an engineer pointless? I don’t think it’s any more pointless that anything else that we spend our lives being.

19

Athleticism only stands to benefit the athlete.

Engineering stands to benefit mankind.

If stored properly, knowledge lasts forever.

Athletes have their fitness but for a decade or three.

20

It depends on one’s perspective. One could argue that the Olympics are evidence that athleticism inspires humanity, not to mention all the athletes that have used their influence and affluence for humanitarian causes. One could also argue that athleticism is a kind of knowledge.

Will engineering benefit mankind? One could argue that global warming and modern warfare are results of engineering, and most would probably concede that those aren’t beneficial.

Does more knowledge always lead to a good life? Is ignorance bliss?

What’s the point?

I think an individual can answer those questions, but I don’t know that there’s a universal answer. Athleticism is probably somewhat pointless for a complete klutz, but maybe there’s a point for a Michael Phelps. And most of us are somewhere in the middle.