Over the past few months the British media has failed to report on stories of Olympic sports; instead the stories on the back pages are about Twiddlidee United's overpaid striker not playing for eight weeks because he hurt his thumb.
I will keep this post relatively short so as not to bore you but I feel that this needs to be said.
While I understand that most summer sports are not in season and winter sports haven't yet began, I feel that the British media have completely zoned out of Olympic sports in favour of sports such as football in which no incredible accomplishments can be made.
Over the course of this weekend I have seen tweets all across my twitter feed telling me about the Scottish Track Cycling Championships and yet I was unable to find it anywhere on TV or online; I know it isn't a big world class event but at the minimum I would have hoped for a live stream on the Red Button or the internet.
To give credit where credit is due I would like to point out that the British media has been covering the Lance Armstrong story extensively, however the reporters at big British papers like to report on hero to zero stories in an attempt to make their lives seem more worthy.
It is such a shame that after the golden summer of sport the British media fails to report on the type of stories that changed the nation but instead rambles on about the same dull sports that comprise of simple kicks of a ball that will ultimately result in one of 3 possible outcomes.
If there is not enough Olympic sport on TV, the legacy of London 2012 will be short lived and the games will fail in inspiring a generation.
The views of a young sports fan on the Issues that affect Olympic and Paralympic Sport.
Sunday 28 October 2012
Saturday 27 October 2012
Why the USA shouldn't host the Olympics
The USA: land of the free, home of the brave and host nation of 8 Olympic games. Somehow, this nation believes it deserves to host the Olympic games yet another time, I can name but a few of the reasons why it shouldn't.
The USA has hosted the Summer Olympic games 4 times on top of the 4 winter games the nation has hosted. This figure well surpasses that of any other nation, with only countries such as France and Britain able to come anywhere close. Compare this figure with the number of games hosted on the entire continent of Africa and it seems ridiculous that the USA has hosted the games so much.
Cast your kind back to the last American summer Olympics, the Atlanta games of 1996, the celebration of useless organisation in the USA: the athletes' canteen lacked food native to African and Asian nations, the roads were gridlocked due to the poor transport systems and poor facilities for the global media which led to heavy criticsm of the games all round.
If we go back 12 years prior to the games of Atlanta we find ourselves in Los Angeles at the games of the XXIII Olympiad, these games were boycotted by 16 nations mainly due to the US led boycott of the Moscow games four years before, which ultimately led to the medal table being 'slightly skewed' in favour of the United States.
The third member of the terrible threesome of American Olympics is the St Louis games of 1904 which were held as a sideshow to the World's Fair, a decision that nearly ended the Olympic movement before it had truly started.
The United States hasn't just ruined the Summer games either: In 1972 the city of Denver put the IOC in a difficult position when they decided to pull out of their hosting responsibilities for the '76 winter games due to escalating costs, forcing Innsbruck, Austria to step in as last minute host.
As if the US hadn't undermined the Olympic movement enough, they decided to bribe IOC members to host the winter games of 2002 in Salt Lake City. Doing so shook the Olympic Committee to the core and put corruption in sporting organisations under the media microscope for years to come.
The USA also lacks interest for Olympic sports in the intervals between editions of the games; the largest IAAF certified Athletics stadium in the United States has a whopping capacity of 10500 at Hayward field in Eugene, Oregon, which has the largest capacity of 4 IAAF tracks in the US.
The USA lacks experience in hosting international sporting events; it seems that in recent times the only World Championships they have hosted are those in Equestrian which were held in Lexington in 2010, and just like america does, the USA bided for the 2018 edition of the championships with Wellington, Florida before they pulled out due to lack of political support.
So given this information would you trust the USA with the task of organising the World's biggest sporting event?
Friday 12 October 2012
Why doping rules aren't tough enough
Anyone who knows anything about sport will know about the shocking evidence of Lance Armstrong's doping evidence, and as we come to terms with the fact that one of the world's most loved cyclists ran a doping ring throughout his career, I can only ponder over why the World Anti-Doping Agency is becoming more leniant with cheats.
The most recent example of cuhy punishments are in fact involved with the Armstrong case; 11 cyclists were the key to revealing the sophisticated drug ring run by Armstrong, and despite admitting to using performance enhancing substances, they have only recieved a 6 month ban each. While we should commend these cyclists for bringing the truth to light, 6 months does not serve as a strong deterrent to other potential cheats, considering they can be back competing in the same year they were caught breaking the fundamental rules of sport.
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There are also many ways to avoid serving long sentences; the Belarusian shot putter Nadzeya Ostapchuk, who was stripped of her 2012 Olympic gold after testing positive for the banned substance, metonolone, has only recieved a 1 year suspension thanks to her coach admitting he was guilty. I'm not convinced that he did spike her food, in my opinion it seemed like a plot to halve her potential ban.
In all of this however we should not forget the complications of whether someone knowingly cheated or not, for example in 2002 British Alpine Skiier Alain Baxter was stripped of his Olympic bronze after testing positive for a banned substance. It was later revealed that the substance could be traced to a Vicks inhaler that he bought in the US, not aware of the differences in formula to the British version. I see this as a perfectly valid reason as to why it was in his system, as did the FIS, which accepted his appeal and gave him the minimum ban, 3 months, which seems harsh for a drug that damages the body rather than improves it. He was never reinstated of his medal which does seem fair considering someone in the public eye shouldn't really have Meth in their system.
What disappoints me most about the WADA is that instead of helping to fight the war against drugs in sport, they have taken the side of drugs on many occasions, most notably earlier this year when the organisation fought the British Olympic Association over a rule that prevented any athlete that had been found of using drugs in the past of competing at the Olympics. Sadly the WADA won the case at the Court of Arbitration for Sport with one of the flimsiest cases in the court's history. So the BOA were forced to remove the rule that was older than the organistion that was set up to prevent doping.
And so, we are left with an organisation that takes money from NOCs all around the world, and in return: changes their rules, issues short bans and fights for the people they were set up against. On top of this it is up to National Anti doping agencies, such as the USADA to uncover drugs scandals due to the WADA's reluctance to use DNA fingerprinting until the 2012 Olympics.
The most recent example of cuhy punishments are in fact involved with the Armstrong case; 11 cyclists were the key to revealing the sophisticated drug ring run by Armstrong, and despite admitting to using performance enhancing substances, they have only recieved a 6 month ban each. While we should commend these cyclists for bringing the truth to light, 6 months does not serve as a strong deterrent to other potential cheats, considering they can be back competing in the same year they were caught breaking the fundamental rules of sport.
.
There are also many ways to avoid serving long sentences; the Belarusian shot putter Nadzeya Ostapchuk, who was stripped of her 2012 Olympic gold after testing positive for the banned substance, metonolone, has only recieved a 1 year suspension thanks to her coach admitting he was guilty. I'm not convinced that he did spike her food, in my opinion it seemed like a plot to halve her potential ban.
In all of this however we should not forget the complications of whether someone knowingly cheated or not, for example in 2002 British Alpine Skiier Alain Baxter was stripped of his Olympic bronze after testing positive for a banned substance. It was later revealed that the substance could be traced to a Vicks inhaler that he bought in the US, not aware of the differences in formula to the British version. I see this as a perfectly valid reason as to why it was in his system, as did the FIS, which accepted his appeal and gave him the minimum ban, 3 months, which seems harsh for a drug that damages the body rather than improves it. He was never reinstated of his medal which does seem fair considering someone in the public eye shouldn't really have Meth in their system.
What disappoints me most about the WADA is that instead of helping to fight the war against drugs in sport, they have taken the side of drugs on many occasions, most notably earlier this year when the organisation fought the British Olympic Association over a rule that prevented any athlete that had been found of using drugs in the past of competing at the Olympics. Sadly the WADA won the case at the Court of Arbitration for Sport with one of the flimsiest cases in the court's history. So the BOA were forced to remove the rule that was older than the organistion that was set up to prevent doping.
And so, we are left with an organisation that takes money from NOCs all around the world, and in return: changes their rules, issues short bans and fights for the people they were set up against. On top of this it is up to National Anti doping agencies, such as the USADA to uncover drugs scandals due to the WADA's reluctance to use DNA fingerprinting until the 2012 Olympics.
Wednesday 3 October 2012
What, More Sports?!
In just less than a year's time, the International Olympic Committee will whether they will add any new sports to the 2020 Olympic programme. This made me wander why the IOC want to add any more sports to their already saturated programme.
London 2012 was made up of 26 different sports, the smallest since 1996, when this figure was equalled. Not for one moment during these games did I think that the games were lacking Wushu or roller sports, in fact I think the addition of Golf and Rugby Sevens for 2016 is unnecessary considering both Golf and Rugby already have large international tournaments.
Worse still, if one of Climbing, Wushu, Karate, Squash or Baseball and softball, we will lose one of the current Olympic sports, or they will surpass the 28 sport limit. while we have little reason to fear over Athletics, Swimming, Cycling or Gymnastics, I am dreading the potential removal of sports such as Taekwondo, Fencing, Modern Pentathlon (The sport created for the Olympics) and Equestrian (My personal favourite).
Let's face it, none of the shortlisted sports truly embody the Olympic spirit; Baseball and Softball are the first two sports to be removed from the Olympics since Polo in 1936, while Karate bears too many similaries to Taekwondo. The only country that plays Wushu is China, and they don't really need more medals do they? Climbing would send all spectators to sleep, and Squash lacks international participation as does Roller sports.
These sports also lack the ability to draw in the crowds, I couldn't imagine many people that would spend their hard earned money watching someone climbing a wall or skating around in circles on roller blades.
More sports also make the games difficult to host, an extra burden for debt-ridden hosts to carry. Rugby Sevens for example needs a stadium of around 40,000 seats, and considering Rugby isn't too international, host cities will fork out for a new one, on top of the costs of other venues.
It is also noteworthy that not all Olympic sports are instantly popular; tennis, which was introduced in 1988 only managed to gain popularity as an Olympic sport in 2012, while basketball has remained dull since 1992 when NBA players could compete, unofficially giving the USA the gold for each games in both men's and women's.
I have to say if any of these sports deserves the legendary Olympic status, it would have to be squash, as it is truly individual as as sport, despite being hard to follow, and if any sports are to be removed from the Olympic programme it should be one of Golf or Rugby sevens, that really don't need the Olympic attention.
London 2012 was made up of 26 different sports, the smallest since 1996, when this figure was equalled. Not for one moment during these games did I think that the games were lacking Wushu or roller sports, in fact I think the addition of Golf and Rugby Sevens for 2016 is unnecessary considering both Golf and Rugby already have large international tournaments.
Worse still, if one of Climbing, Wushu, Karate, Squash or Baseball and softball, we will lose one of the current Olympic sports, or they will surpass the 28 sport limit. while we have little reason to fear over Athletics, Swimming, Cycling or Gymnastics, I am dreading the potential removal of sports such as Taekwondo, Fencing, Modern Pentathlon (The sport created for the Olympics) and Equestrian (My personal favourite).
Let's face it, none of the shortlisted sports truly embody the Olympic spirit; Baseball and Softball are the first two sports to be removed from the Olympics since Polo in 1936, while Karate bears too many similaries to Taekwondo. The only country that plays Wushu is China, and they don't really need more medals do they? Climbing would send all spectators to sleep, and Squash lacks international participation as does Roller sports.
These sports also lack the ability to draw in the crowds, I couldn't imagine many people that would spend their hard earned money watching someone climbing a wall or skating around in circles on roller blades.
More sports also make the games difficult to host, an extra burden for debt-ridden hosts to carry. Rugby Sevens for example needs a stadium of around 40,000 seats, and considering Rugby isn't too international, host cities will fork out for a new one, on top of the costs of other venues.
It is also noteworthy that not all Olympic sports are instantly popular; tennis, which was introduced in 1988 only managed to gain popularity as an Olympic sport in 2012, while basketball has remained dull since 1992 when NBA players could compete, unofficially giving the USA the gold for each games in both men's and women's.
I have to say if any of these sports deserves the legendary Olympic status, it would have to be squash, as it is truly individual as as sport, despite being hard to follow, and if any sports are to be removed from the Olympic programme it should be one of Golf or Rugby sevens, that really don't need the Olympic attention.
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