The Olympics : Echoing the Ideals or Drug fest?

Thought we needed some thought provoking discussion here... since it seems to have been a bit absent latley what with all these picture threads... but anyway

Do you think that this years Olympics was truley harking back to the original olympic ideals of equal oppertunity for every contestant? Or do you think that drugs have taken over sport so much that even the ideals of the olympics pale in comparison? Do you think the fact hardly any drugs users were found in the games this year was a sign of more honesty in the Olympic village, or simply because a new drug has been discovered they can't detect?

Discuss!

Extra reference :
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/3594012.stm

 

Ahh yes, the Grand Prix Priest

I think that there were no threats against the atheletes because the Olympics is too global, although perhaps western in its roots, political statements would have been moot due to the diversity of the competitors. Would have been hard to single out specific individuals in the village.

What I'm slightly confused about is how come Tim Henman was in it? He's a professional tennis player... isn't he?? I thought the whole point is the Olympics was about amateur atheletes not professionals.

And I have to admit I didn't watch much of the coverage (even though it was on TV near enough 24/7! ) appart from our excelent flea-weight (or whatever it is ) boxer doing good and whooping some a$$

 

They Olympics have become a business instead of a center of sportsmanship. Too much emphasis on the need to win from a political stand point that puts too much pressure on the athletes.

 

The problem is that the old adage "It's not whether you win or lose, it's how you play the game" has fallen into disrepute. (I truly believe in it)

Winning means enough to athletes now that they are willing to cheat.

It's very difficult to stop a determined cheat. The only way for the Olympics to regain its integrity is to go to a strict amateur only format. No sponsors, no salaried athletes.

And as there's about as much chance of that happening as Ralphie being first past the post in November, the Olympics will remain a domain of the wiliest, not the fastest or strongest.

Shame really.

 

I am not much for athletics or the olympics
but I was at the Alanta games( not by choice )
I didn't watch them, but I did have fun
its not so much the drugs as it is the times
media, peoples expectations, kinda like hollywood and all the eating disorders and vanity

 

Well, since the original olympic ideals were a male-only offering to the gods, and contestants performed naked, I don't think we'll ever return to the original ideal.

We'll not return to the current century's original ideals either, at least not anytime soon. At least not universally. Some people/countries still embrace the ideal, which is simply to be a part of the world's athletic celebration and present their best. Countries that send representatives to the Games knowing in advance that they have no chance of winning anything... just to participate... are still upholding the original ideals. But the commercial world's emphasis on marketing, money, and the western world's obsession with winning above all else has contaminated the Olympics as it has everything else in our world. The concept of "amateur" has been totally lost. Someone that spends YEARS, at either government or private industry expense, doing NOTHING but training for the Olympics, is not an amateur. Their JOB is to train and compete, just as much as someone that works for the NBA or NFL. And allowing blatant professional athletes to compete, in basketball, hockey, and other "sports" totally destroys the concept of amateur competition.

Besides which, encorporating commercial team sports like basketball, hockey, God help us BEACH VOLLYBALL?!?! into the Olympics is/was a blatant commercial attempt to prop up interest and revenue at any cost.

The original "ideal" of the Olympics was personal best. The games focused on individual achievement. Speed, strength, stamina, control. Those are still there, but not in any of the team sports. And very few of the true "amateurs" have any hope of winning, even aside from the illegal drug use.

But today, sadly, winning is all. Money and endorsements are a close second, for the U.S. and much of the world. When the general populace has no moral compass that condemns cheating and cheaters, as long as they win, and value NOTHING except winning, it's not likely that the rot will stay out of the Games.

The Olympic ideal is mostly dead. But the Olympic marketing machine is alive and well. Bigger, better, flashier, more expensive have far overshadowed personal best in amateur athletics.

 

What exactly did I mean by that???



Oh for an edit button

 

It was understandable MrPewty. Averice outweighs conscience.


But I miss the edit button myself sometimes.

 

It's funny how that happens. I look at it now and it makes perfect sense. Ten minutes ago it was gibberish, and I couldn't figure out why I wrote it.

Oh boy, it won't be long now...

 

And the question is.... What would you have changed it TO 10 minutes ago? Now there's a scary thought.

 

Disagree strongly. Want the real Olympic spirit? Go to the other two Olympics: The Para-Olympics and The Special Olympics. True sport in it's finest form.
Also, sometimes in the Olympics true spirit manifests -- Eddie The Eagle the skijumping Brit on no budget (and paying his own way to the games) at the winter Olympics and, at the Summer Olympics a few years back, a British runner, exhausted and staggering; falling rather than running toward the finish line, waving off attempt after attempt by spectators and officials at assistance and, in the end, only accepting the support of his father's arms to lead him to the finish -- exemplify the spirit that should prevail at all of the games. Sometimes, if you watch closely enough, you see what the games are really all about. Too bad you have to watch so closely for those moments.

 

Agree with billH. Check out the minor nations usually coming in last in their events but competing nethertheless. You probably missed Grant Hackett (OZ 1500 metre winner). Sick as a dog after the semis ( Imagine semi's, in a 1500m swim). Still won the event in an Olympic record time and could hardly summon enough energy to get up on the blocks to celebrate after the event. True grit. Bazza

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