Events and Athletes Discussion

[JessRulz]

As they should be. You've come to the Olympic Games, and you purposely throw matches so you can win more medals for your country (which was the Chinese aim - instead of the two Chinese teams meeting in the semi-final, they would have met in the final)? Talk about disgusting sportsmanship. Had I been in the crowd there last night, I most likely would have booed them as well.

I hope the IOC stands firm and dismisses the South Korean and Indonesian appeals - whether or not they were "in it" from the beginning is not the point, once they realised what was going on, they then joined in.

Badminton: Eight players disqualified from London 2012 following match-throwing investigation - Other events - Olympics - The Independent

[NGalitzine]

^^^^^
As I understand the situation it is actually the Badminton Federation that did the disqualifications not the IOC. This only disqualifies them from womens doubles. As things stand now they could still compete in singles and mixed doubles events. We will know the result of the appeal in about 1 hour.

[JessRulz]

Thanks for the correction NGalitzine. Good on the Badminton Federation then. Our commentators here said that it was IOC who disqualified them, but it honestly doesn't surprise me if they got that wrong.

Personally, I would ban them outright from the Games - who is to say this isn't their game plan for the singles and mixed doubles?

[Artemisia]

Agree completely with the disqualification; their actions were against the very code of conduct for sportsmen.
Quite "interesting" matches to watch though, with all participants trying to lose. The spectators probably wondered whether the rules have changed.

Congratulations to Bradley Wiggins from Team GB!

He is the first man to win both Tour de France and Olympic cycling gold in same year.

[NGalitzine]

Bradley Wiggins took gold in Mens Cycling Time Trials. Bradley had won the Tour de France a couple of weeks ago. Team GB Chris Froome took bronze in the same event.

[LadyFinn]

It was hard to watch in how much pain Fabian Cancellara was. He is such a great person and a great cyclist.

[Al_bina]

Genetically modified athletes: Forget drugs. There are even suggestions some Chinese athletes' genes are altered to make them stronger | Mail Online

I am perplexed about this controversy. Ms Ye Shiwen is said to pass drug tests.

[NGalitzine]

The Badminton appeals have been rejected. Don't know yet if they will be allowed to continue in singles and mixed doubles events, or if the IOC will now step in and just remove them entirely from the Olympics.

[Mrs. Hamzah]

bradley has made us all so proud what a wonderful man he is well done

[An Ard Ri]

Bradley Wiggins is amazing!

[Burzg]

The most beautiful work I seen by Bradley.

[Mrs. Hamzah]

he has work so hard and its payed off aaaarrrrggghh he got gold

[Artemisia]

Michael Jamieson completes a highly successful day for Team GB, winning a silver in 200m breaststroke.
In absence of medals from Armenia (so far) and a somewhat disappointing performance from Russians (again, so far), I've decided to cheer Team GB.

[Erin9]

Originally Posted by NGalitzine

The Badminton appeals have been rejected. Don't know yet if they will be allowed to continue in singles and mixed doubles events, or if the IOC will now step in and just remove them entirely from the Olympics.

It seems to me that they should be removed entirely.

Originally Posted by Al_bina

Genetically modified athletes: Forget drugs. There are even suggestions some Chinese athletes' genes are altered to make them stronger | Mail Online

I am perplexed about this controversy. Ms Ye Shiwen is said to pass drug tests.

I think there are a lot of people who just don't trust the Chinese government and their desire to win.

I read today that the Chinese government is ONLY congratulating its gold medal winners--and no one else. It says a lot about them. Actually, the rest of the article is quite interesting, too.

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/olympic...old-medal.html

[Daria_S]

Congratulations to Team GB on such fabulous performance in the Games, especially the first gold in rowing. Well done.

[Empress Merel]

Originally Posted by Erin9

I think there are a lot of people who just don't trust the Chinese government and their desire to win.

I read today that the Chinese government is ONLY congratulating its gold medal winners--and no one else. It says a lot about them. Actually, the rest of the article is quite interesting, too.

Family kept grandparents' deaths secret from Chinese diver until she won gold medal - Yahoo! Sports

I'm going to put it a different way; if Ye had been American, no one would utter a word. And besides, she's 16. Teenage bodies are capable of great changes and improvement. She's been tested for doping, there wasn't found anything, so case closed. That girl is a great swimmer who swam faster than all those other world class swimmers. I feel for her in this.

Let me quote Ian Thorpe.

"You know, when I was 15-year-old I swam 3:46 to win the World Championships. The following year as a 16-year-old, I broke the world record in 3:41. That's a five-second drop off."

[NGalitzine]

Originally Posted by Empress Merel

I'm going to put it a different way; if Ye had been American, no one would utter a word. And besides, she's 16. Teenage bodies are capable of great changes and improvement. She's been tested for doping, there wasn't found anything, so case closed. That girl is a great swimmer who swam faster than all those other world class swimmers. I feel for her in this.

Let me quote Ian Thorpe.

I am not sure I agree with your comment about an American would not be questioned. In this day and age we are not so willing to accept such a performance in sport from anyone without questioning it. I seem to remember an Irish swimmer who posted amazing results at a previous Olympics, people questioned those results but she said she was clean and was later found to have been doping. The Chinese swim team has a history of "performance enhancing" so questions were bound to arise. Since test samples are retained for a number of years we will no doubt find out if something is amiss. Until then she remains an Olympic champion and her records will stand.

Originally Posted by Erin9

It seems to me that they should be removed entirely.

I agree with you. Still haven't found a report that clearly explains if they have been booted from the Olympics or just disqualified from the womens doubles event.

[Empress Merel]

Originally Posted by NGalitzine

I am not sure I agree with your comment about an American would not be questioned. In this day and age we are not so willing to accept such a performance in sport from anyone without questioning it. I seem to remember an Irish swimmer who posted amazing results at a previous Olympics, people questioned those results but she said she was clean and was later found to have been doping. The Chinese swim team has a history of "performance enhancing" so questions were bound to arise. Since test samples are retained for a number of years we will no doubt find out if something is amiss. Until then she remains an Olympic champion and her records will stand.

For leverance, Missy Franklin is 17 and Ruta Meilutyte is 15. Ruta won gold, broke a record. Missy won gold and broke her own national record.
And like Ian Thorpe said; teenage bodies are capable of great changes and achievements.

[Pranter]

There's been more than one American athlete that has been accused outright of doping or hints have been made suggesting it's a possibility.


LaRae

[Erin9]

Originally Posted by Empress Merel

I'm going to put it a different way; if Ye had been American, no one would utter a word. And besides, she's 16. Teenage bodies are capable of great changes and improvement. She's been tested for doping, there wasn't found anything, so case closed. That girl is a great swimmer who swam faster than all those other world class swimmers. I feel for her in this.

Let me quote Ian Thorpe.

I have to disagree. The U.S. has had people suggesting the possibility of doping.

IA with Ian Thorpe. It's possible she did this on her own. But, I'm not surprised people are questioning it. In this day and age, I'd be surprised if they didn't.

My main point, though, is that I think China brings on some of this scrutinty themselves.