Olympic underacheiving

[nomolos]

The resurgence of the British team is pissing me off.
1 Gold medal in Atlanta, 30+ total over the last 3 Olympics, funnily enough it took them establishment of an Institute of sport.

There is no way on the planet we can allow the Brits to get ahead of us in any sporting competition.

It emphasizes that we need some real hard re-evaluation of our sporting programs as well as a much needed funding boost.

I mean what the f*** is going on with the cycling, I feel the swimmers didn't live to the standards.
Athletics Australia needs a big f****** overhaul. Gymnastics, diving and Weightlifting needs help. Not too mention some big disappointments in Rowing.


Does anyone feel the same? Am i being unreasonable?

1996 - 9 gold
2000 - 16 gold
2004 - 17 gold
2008 - 11 (so far)

Sadly i think we are seeing the beginning of the end of the 2000 Olympic wave.

[Western Red]

I work overseas and am most proud of our athletes regardless of where we finish!

I think you are being very harsh. Yes we expected more medals in the pool and we have not done so well in cycling but we had the "home ground advantage" in Sydney. All the people I talk to here are amazed at the performance of the Australians seeing as we are a nation of approx 25mil people (there are more people in Mexico City than the whole of Australia and Mexico have 1 bronze medal).

Whats that saying about some tall flowers or something????

[billyduckworth]

I agree with you, western. Considering our population, we MASSIVELY OVERPERFORM in the Olympics.
Britain's population is approximately triple ours. No shame in being beaten by them.
Just so long as the Kiwis don't beat us. If that happens, then we really need to press the panic button.

[The Man from Bomberland]

yawn

It's sad the team is judged by the number of golds they bring home. Australia has punched above its weight at the Olympics since Barcelona and it's an indictment on the British that it's taken them this long to get their shit together. Some athletes have definitely underachieved (Liesel Jones, Eamon Sullivan, Libby Trickett) but overall the performance of the team has been great. There have been some great results (110m hurdle, cycling last night, rowing etc) We're doing really well.

I think if you look at the overall number of medals won we're right up there with previous campaigns.

[pevfan]

Look out if the Poms ever get their act together on (and off) the cricket field. Their Olympic campaign has shown just what they are capable of on the sporting arena if they REALLY put their mind to it.

We still exceed them in overall medal tally though which for a nation of our population is an amazing effort. Also don't forget we potentially lost another 4 or 5 Golds when the Thorpedo retired (prematurely IMO) Take Phelps out of the US team and they wouldn't look so good either.

[Sismis]

in terms of medals/population we do well. In terms of medals/$ we are pretty ordinary.

The poms have basically spent up big to prepare for 2012 and and have scooped the pool in the cycling.

We have been unlucky not win few more gold but we're still chugging along pretty well. Apparantly we're not bad at BMX (As Nicole Kidman can verify from when she had freckles)

Aussie Men should win the hockey, Women should win the basketball so we're definatly going to be on par with previous performances.

[bomberdonnie]

The resurgence of the British team is pissing me off.
1 Gold medal in Atlanta, 30+ total over the last 3 Olympics, funnily enough it took them establishment of an Institute of sport.

There is no way on the planet we can allow the Brits to get ahead of us in any sporting competition.

It emphasizes that we need some real hard re-evaluation of our sporting programs as well as a much needed funding boost.

I mean what the f*** is going on with the cycling, I feel the swimmers didn't live to the standards.
Athletics Australia needs a big f****** overhaul. Gymnastics, diving and Weightlifting needs help. Not too mention some big disappointments in Rowing.


Does anyone feel the same? Am i being unreasonable?

1996 - 9 gold
2000 - 16 gold
2004 - 17 gold
2008 - 11 (so far)

Sadly i think we are seeing the beginning of the end of the 2000 Olympic wave.

I am with you nomolos... Losers

i remember when we were good at riding bikes!!

Can not fckin believe the poms are going to smash us!!

[swoodley]

The resurgence of the British team is pissing me off.
1 Gold medal in Atlanta, 30+ total over the last 3 Olympics, funnily enough it took them establishment of an Institute of sport.

There is no way on the planet we can allow the Brits to get ahead of us in any sporting competition.

It emphasizes that we need some real hard re-evaluation of our sporting programs as well as a much needed funding boost.

I mean what the f*** is going on with the cycling, I feel the swimmers didn't live to the standards.
Athletics Australia needs a big f****** overhaul. Gymnastics, diving and Weightlifting needs help. Not too mention some big disappointments in Rowing.


Does anyone feel the same? Am i being unreasonable?

1996 - 9 gold
2000 - 16 gold
2004 - 17 gold
2008 - 11 (so far)

Sadly i think we are seeing the beginning of the end of the 2000 Olympic wave.

Yes nomolos...you're being unreasonable.

As other posters have indicated, we regularly overachieve at the olympics given our population.

Also, once we knew we had won the right to host the olympics in Sydney, the government poured money into the AIS and various sporting bodies to ensure success at home. The early results of this increased expenditure came in Atlanta and the results of both Sydney and Athens can be directly attributed to that increase.

In recent years, the government hasn't been as concerned and so funding in many sports has dropped off (in some cases considerably) and therefore the best coaches get picked up by other countries such as China and Great Britain who also want the success to occur at home.

The other thing to consider is that as the funding dries up, potential Olympians move away from their sports and into other more mainstream sports where there is better coaching, funding and the chance to earn more money.

So maybe in years to come, Australia will fall from the heights of 2000 and 2004 but as I see it, we are currently 5th or 6th on the olympic table which puts us ahead of 180-190 other countries and to me that's a pretty good effort.

So don't be disappointed, be proud of what our athletes have achieved and are still achieving.

[BenDoolan]

The resurgence of the British team is pissing me off.
1 Gold medal in Atlanta, 30+ total over the last 3 Olympics, funnily enough it took them establishment of an Institute of sport.

There is no way on the planet we can allow the Brits to get ahead of us in any sporting competition.

It emphasizes that we need some real hard re-evaluation of our sporting programs as well as a much needed funding boost.

I mean what the f*** is going on with the cycling, I feel the swimmers didn't live to the standards.
Athletics Australia needs a big f****** overhaul. Gymnastics, diving and Weightlifting needs help. Not too mention some big disappointments in Rowing.


Does anyone feel the same? Am i being unreasonable?

1996 - 9 gold
2000 - 16 gold
2004 - 17 gold
2008 - 11 (so far)

Sadly i think we are seeing the beginning of the end of the 2000 Olympic wave.

Yes nomolos...you're being unreasonable.

As other posters have indicated, we regularly overachieve at the olympics given our population.

Also, once we knew we had won the right to host the olympics in Sydney, the government poured money into the AIS and various sporting bodies to ensure success at home. The early results of this increased expenditure came in Atlanta and the results of both Sydney and Athens can be directly attributed to that increase.

In recent years, the government hasn't been as concerned and so funding in many sports has dropped off (in some cases considerably) and therefore the best coaches get picked up by other countries such as China and Great Britain who also want the success to occur at home.

The other thing to consider is that as the funding dries up, potential Olympians move away from their sports and into other more mainstream sports where there is better coaching, funding and the chance to earn more money.

So maybe in years to come, Australia will fall from the heights of 2000 and 2004 but as I see it, we are currently 5th or 6th on the olympic table which puts us ahead of 180-190 other countries and to me that's a pretty good effort.

So don't be disappointed, be proud of what our athletes have achieved and are still achieving.

Excellent post, swoods.

[jimmyc1985]

Speaking of underachieving, how about Channel 7 deciding to show a fking softball match instead of cutting to the US v Aus basketball quarter final? Fair dinkum, their entire coverage has been absolute cuck. The next time i have to put up with 2.5 hours of softball during prime time television, may some ethereal being strike down humanity and piss on the ashes.

Message to Channel 7:

[jimmyc1985]

Oh, just noticed the title of this thread:

Olympic underacheiving

[bomberdonnie]

We are all allowed one mistake when it comes to the Olympics aren't we Jimmy? Where were the '72 games again?

I can not express my current hatred for Channel 7... They are fcktards of the highest order. I am just waiting for them to cut across to some skinny underaged Chinese girl catching a ball or twirling a ribbon... I almost slit my wrists last night!!

[Lenni]

Well I was EXTREMELY angry about the softball going overtime anyway and then it became outrage when I found out that the softball was actually being shown on a fifteen minute delay!!!!!!! And to answer the original topic, no, I don't believe our athletes have underachieved, I believe that our expectations were just overly exagerrated.

[Sismis]

Speaking of underachieving, how about Channel 7 deciding to show a fking softball match instead of cutting to the US v Aus basketball quarter final? Fair dinkum, their entire coverage has been absolute cuck. The next time i have to put up with 2.5 hours of softball during prime time television, may some ethereal being strike down humanity and piss on the ashes.

Message to Channel 7:

Damn f****** straight!2.5 hours of watching a mindnumbing sport where 7 runs are scored! I am being generous when i call it a sport though, it is actually a practice drill for another tedious sport.

I'm not ussualy one to bag people but is there a bigger choker than Motram getting around?

[swoodley]

Speaking of underachieving, how about Channel 7 deciding to show a fking softball match instead of cutting to the US v Aus basketball quarter final? Fair dinkum, their entire coverage has been absolute cuck. The next time i have to put up with 2.5 hours of softball during prime time television, may some ethereal being strike down humanity and piss on the ashes.

Message to Channel 7:

Damn f****** straight!2.5 hours of watching a mindnumbing sport where 7 runs are scored! I am being generous when i call it a sport though, it is actually a practice drill for another tedious sport.

I'm not ussualy one to bag people but is there a bigger choker than Motram getting around?

I don't think Mottram choked at all.

He went out with a plan and stuck to it. The problem was that he obviously wasn't keeping an eye on the lap times and thus seemingly wasn't aware of how slow his race was going. After the race when he was talking to Paddy Welsh, he said he could have done a 13:38 (which would have qualified him) but he thought that by sticking with Lagat, he would get home in a good enough time.

And just out of interest, when has he choked before?

[jimmyc1985]

I don't think Mottram choked at all.

He went out with a plan and stuck to it. The problem was that he obviously wasn't keeping an eye on the lap times and thus seemingly wasn't aware of how slow his race was going. After the race when he was talking to Paddy Welsh, he said he could have done a 13:38 (which would have qualified him) but he thought that by sticking with Lagat, he would get home in a good enough time.

And just out of interest, when has he choked before?

Yeah, i think Mottram just stuffed up his pacing. Though i'm always a bit surprised to hear how a distance runner stuffs up their times so badly - there's two massive scoreboards in the stadium which will have the timeclock running for their race, as well as at least one trackside clock. Why not just look at the clock!?

[Sismis]

And just out of interest, when has he choked before?

http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/s ... 86,00.html

He is a very consistant runner in grand prix events but never seems to crack the big ones.

[swoodley]

And just out of interest, when has he choked before?

http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/s ... 86,00.html

He is a very consistant runner in grand prix events but never seems to crack the big ones.

That article talks about oppressive conditions and how his coach buggered up his preparation....I don't see how that translates to him being a choker.

[boncer34]

Personally I enjoyed the softball. I couldn't give 2 f**** watching us get raped by the Americans in a sport that this country has forgotten about.

BTW Jim, you've been on bigfooty haven't you?

[j-mac31]

Actually Boncer the bit we missed while the delayed boring softball was on was the Boomers' most competitive period of the game.

Channel 7 just plain suck.