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CHINA TIPPED THE TOP BY AUSSIE CHIEF
Saturday, 2 August, 2008More on the Beijing Olympics
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WHAT DO YOU THINK?
How well do you think Australia will do in Olympics? How well do you think Australia will do in Olympics?
COMMENTS
First [1][2] LastTO ROB FROM ACT. - How Well Do You Think Australia Will Do In Olympics? - Your post of 18th August was great work. Here I have recalculated the medal scale for everyone to see just how stupid the reality of the medal count is in relation to per capita value. Consider the current gold medal tally, as of 22nd August: China is ahead with 46 gold medals (although soon may loose 6 medals for age cheating in the gymnastics event), that is one for every 28 million Chinese. The United States has 30 gold medals and that is one for every 10 million Americans. Britain has 18 gold medals, and that is one for every 4 million British. Russia has 16 gold medals, that is one for every 8.8 million Russians. Germany has 13 gold medals and that is one for every 3.8 million Germans. Australia has 11 gold medals and that is one for every 1.9 million Australians. Australia has always been a nation of gifted athletes, from the dykes at softball, to Aussie Rules, Rugby, Cricket, and of course the surfers, due to great weather and a casual lifestyle. Basically, not much really happens in Australia for entertainment other than sport. That is playing sport, and good old Norm, watching sports on TV, or should I say the PLASMA. I am sure it makes everyone happy to see Australia do well at the Olympics, but maybe too much money is spent on professional athletes and not enough on the general public. With the latest figures showing 17% of the adult population obese, and the likelihood that this situation is going to get worse, maybe, as Rob recommended, it is time for the government to shuffle some cash into real preventive medicine programmes, by getting everyone out of their houses and into the local parks for some exercise and community spirit. I do not believe Australia can afford to medicate 10 million diabetics, or pay for all of the care required for a middle-aged population all suffering from cardiovascular disease and cancer. One gold medal for every 1.9 million Australians compared to 10 million Americans or 28 million Chinese, does make me feel proud of Australia, but I do not know if I have any respect for the idea of the Modern Olympic Movement, after the fiasco of the Beijing Games (Sorry I meant Beijoking). Sport has to mean more than money and political arse licking. Look at Mr. DUDD, and his blatant brown nosing of Hu Jian Tao. I agree with ROB. It is time for a rethink. And if cheating is allowed, like the Chinese gymnasts, while other are punished, like North Korea, then you can count me out. Without JUSTICE FOR ALL, the Olympic movement simply means NOTHING.
It's become a total farce and this new location should be called Beijoking. Professionals in an amateur event, drugs, money, sponsorship the list goes on and on. Call me old fashioned, i don't care, give me good sportsmanship and an honest effort any day. The scoring in the boxing is the greatest joke i've ever seen. It means nothing to me any more.Most of the athletes are now nothing more than glorified lab-rats.
We are doing excellently given our population size and available funding. To those who criticise our medal haul...have a bex and cup of tea please... I am a tax payer and there are many priorities that I can think of that 1/3 of my income should go to and subsidised sport for the nationalistic feel good factor is not one of them. How about health, transport, global warming, energy alternatives etc. There are far greater
I am very proud of Aussie olympic heros!!!Gold is not the only way to measure success. Every athelete who attends the Olympic games is a hero
Who would have thought Stephanie Rice would have done so well? Out of the pool and straight into international politics (according to the SBS headline) 'Rice in Warsaw to sign missile deal'
Where is any of the wrestling? Why doesnt anyone cover it. We have 4 athletes representing australia and there hasnt been 1 second of coverage of any of them. Is gold medals all that tv networks care about??? It is such a low rated/funded sport by the AOC... Well how on earth are these poor athletes supposed to be world class if theres no exposure of the sport to the public. Disappointing
Too much of the same sports repeated- beach volleyball, volleyball and basketball! Hardly seen any tennis, wrestling, weightlifting, fencing, shooting etc. Looks like all the funding that Brits have spent on their sport lately (stolen from the Australian model) is paying off for them. Also find it irritating how commentators on 7 and ABC Radio can't get some easy pronunctiation right- for example Ukraine is called Ukraine, not THE Ukraine, which refers to the communist era socialist state which ended in the early 90's. Added to that the bad mispronunctiation of Lithuanian sirnames by Bruce McAvaney (I could forgive him if he hadn't been planning for it for the last four years). And finally my disbelief at the complete glossover of Tianeman Square during the marathon, refering to it as 'the gateway to the heavenly kingdom' or some propagandist nickname straight from a Chinese tourist brochure. No mention at all of the infamous, bloody, Tianeman massacre by Channel 7 (nor did I see any coverage of the recent Tibetan protestors during the games)- a shameless insult to those who were brutually murdered by the Chinese communists in the name of democracy, by a gutless and souless corporation who would proverbally sell it's own child to protect it's own interests.
Australian athletes are doing themselves proud. As for the rest of us, we now have the gold medal in global obesity and the broadcasts from Beijing are brought to us by McDonalds and Red Rooster.
I think Australia have done exceedingly well compared to it's demography and outdoor culture. I've heard some of the Olympic officials talk of doom and gloom, because we won't win as many medals as in the Sydney olympics. If the whole objective is only to win medals, perhaps we should become one of the Chinese provinces. Then we could proudly be the nation with the largest tally of gold medals. The objective of the Olympics is to allow athletes of all nations to interact and compete. Not everyone can be a winner, thus the measure should be in the number of athletes we send to the olympic games, not how many medals they come back with.
I think Australia is doing too well, and it shows what an excessively sports obsessed country this is. Millions of dollars go into training athletes in Australia that could be spent on more important issues, and in the case of the Olympics there is now a very fine line that keeps competitors in the wealthy and developing nations classified as amateurs, not professionals. I also question the use of sport if it is about being excessively competitive and only about winning. Then there is the persistent use of words and terminology that appear to be gleaned from dictionaries of war rather than peace. Consider the current medal tally: China is ahead with 35 gold medals, that is one for every 37 million Chinese. The United States has 19 gold medals and that is one for every 15.8 million Americans. Britain has 11 gold medals, and that is one for every 6.7 million British. Germany has 9 gold medals and that is one for every 5.5 million Germans. Australia has 8 gold medals and that is one for every 2.6 million Australians. Either Australia is a nation of extraordinarily gifted natural athletes, or far too much money is being invested in creating this image. Literally one gold medal is sourced from every 2.6 million Australians compared to 15.8 million Americans or 37 million Chinese. I am not against health and fitness, but I do think that the focus on sport has gone too far in this country to the detriment of other equally important and needy areas of the community.