All Olympians = American

[CJones]

While watching the Olympic events the past few days (track, diving, etc.) I've come to the conclusion that the US is beating the rest of the world 2-to-1 in medal count if you consider that close to 90% of the athletes have trained or are currently training in the US - either on US collegiate teams or simply paying US coaches to train them on US soil.

Ridiculous.

 

[KennyFlys]

After watching some of the gymnastics and the idiotic judging taking place, I lost confidence in the games. The Chinese have cheated left and right on girl's ages. There's no chance some of these girls are over sixteen. Add to that Chinese competitors are getting higher scores than others yet have more errors. I don't blame the Chinese girls. But, I do blame a corrupt Chinese government.

 

[tonycondon]

its not our fault that we're better

 

[tfmann]

While watching the Olympic events the past few days (track, diving, etc.) I've come to the conclusion that the US is beating the rest of the world 2-to-1 in medal count if you consider that close to 90% of the athletes have trained or are currently training in the US - either on US collegiate teams or simply paying US coaches to train them on US soil.

Ridiculous.

Any objective analysis of a nations sporting superiority would have to consider medals won per head of population.
( says an Aussie ! )
Terry
PPL Downunder

 

[Henning]

Well, how do you work into the equation that most of our top coaches are East Block refugees?

 

[SkyHog]

USA, USA, USA, USA!!

We're number 1! You can borrow Yao Ming!

 

[SCCutler]

Well, how do you work into the equation that most of our top coaches are East Block refugees?

Good question (or really, good point).

Way I figure it, Henning, the overwhelming majority of our populace are, or are derived from, "...huddled masses yearning to be free..." so the defection of the various eastern bloc refugees is a natural evolution.

Of course, one cannot ignore the reality that, absent the state-centered training and recruitment regimes from which these various coaches came, the current powerhouses of gymnastics would not exist.

---edit---

Upon further reflection, one other thought:

It always sort of bothers me that athletes from eastern-bloc nations were historically categorized as being some sort of product of a machine- it was often true that the "amateurs" who wore the colors of the various commie countries were anything but amateurs (in the Army? Spare me!), but at the same time, to perform at the levels they did, they still had to have a burning passion for what they were doing, and all the state-centric brainwashing and heavy-handed promotion in the world cannot create that. At the end, most were still athletically-gifted people, doing something that they loved.

$0.02.