http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-33747_162-57484107/olympic-fencer-sobs-for-half-hour-after-loss/
Questionable call and then some.
Yeah, the magnificent seven killed it in Atlanta. The fab five got it done last night and the flying squirrel brought home some more gold tonight. The U.S. cleaned up today. Destroyed the competition in semi in vball all over the place as well as the pool, dominated England in water polo, then took gold in multiple swimming events and rowing. Tied with China for gold and winning the overall medal count.
Congrats to Kayla Harrison for winning the U.S.' first gold in Judo yesterday as well.
Well, good.
Where the heck are the Russians? The UK, France and South Korea are battling it out for third place, and that's where the Russians normally sit, but they are snoozing down in tenth! I guess they'll go for more now the Athletics have started, but even so... the top of the table used to be a superpower race between the US and USSR. China's joined that race but Russia's fallen out of it entirely.
As for Australia- they are having their worst performance in a long time. They made a name as a small nation punching way above their weight in the Olympics (4th in 2000 and 2004, which when you compare their population to the three above them is ridiculous) and now they are nowhere in sight.
Well, a medal count needs to be weighted to make such sense (golds and bronzes are not equivalent), and that would put them mid-top ten. Which is still appalling by their standards. Regardless, though, Olympic positioning has always been about winning, and there the Russians have so far failed almost totally.
The top 3 used to be literally unreachable- playing in a class of their own. The Russians are falling out of it.
True, but it doesn't seem like the Russian Federation has the intensity in their programs that they used to as the U.S.S.R. and even as much as they did in the first 15 or so years after that. The U.S. still dominates because the athletes want to be the best; the Chinese dominate because their programs are still as domineering as the old Soviet programs used to be. Women's Gymnastics seems to be the only place where you can tell that anything short of Gold is a failure for the Russian competitors.
Take it as you will but everyone definitely doesn't want to be the best. There was an athlete interviewed about being the best in his country and he said that was a distinction that he didn't want because he didn't think he could handle the pressure. Some people just want to be part of the games and enjoy their sport. There are plenty who simply do not believe they will ever be capable of being the best. There's definitely a reason that the saying, "American's love a winner" hasn't faded from the vernacular since it was first spoken.
It's the same energy that's behind so many Korean women dominating women's golf the way they do: they have a completely different attitude about prep and level of play than the majority of other competitors.
Originally posted by Ascendancy
Take it as you will but everyone definitely doesn't want to be the best. There was an athlete interviewed about being the best in his country and he said that was a distinction that he didn't want because he didn't think he could handle the pressure. Some people just want to be part of the games and enjoy their sport. There are plenty who simply do not believe they will ever be capable of being the best. There's definitely a reason that the saying, "American's love a winner" hasn't faded from the vernacular since it was first spoken.It's the same energy that's behind so many Korean women dominating women's golf the way they do: they have a completely different attitude about prep and level of play than the majority of other competitors.
The overwhelming majority of players are there to win. It's actually a bit weird for you to think that this is some particular quality to the US. There is absolutely no way that their will to win is any more than all of those countries pushing on that medal table.
Originally posted by Ushgarak
The overwhelming majority of players are there to win. It's actually a bit weird for you to think that this is some particular quality to the US. There is absolutely no way that their will to win is any more than all of those countries pushing on that medal table.
I'd say the culture and resources, like you (or was it someone else?) mentioned, has a lot to do with it.
Americans seem to be very competitive. Lots of countries do as well. But it seems to be almost to the point of absurd in the US.