The same happened when Jefferson Perez won the first Olympic medal (and gold!) for Ecuador in 1996. The President gave him a house, and everybody loved him (everybody still does). The truly inspirational thing about it is that this fellow, as well as the Afghan athlete, don't get national or private funding, and if they do, it's nothing compared to the millions that American, Chinese and European athletes receive; this people train by themselves moved only by a dream, and when they achieve it... well, it's awesome. :')
I think those guys are the best. When you have large entities completely funding your training to the point where money is never a concern, it takes away some of the spirit.
I mean don't get me wrong, if the government approached me and told me they wanted to hardcore train me in judo, taekwondo, or something like that for Olympic tournaments, and offer to pay for everything and then some, I'll sure as hell do it.
But the guys that do it despite the financial barriers, like Nikpai and Perez, are the ones that make the Olympics really awesome.
Indeed. The Olympics really aren't a fair situation in that sense. So many countries simply don't have the money (or maybe even the population) to produce many if any really good athletes.
Nikpai may have only gotten a bronze, but under the circumstances, that bronze is practially platinum.
Population ratios are tough at times. If a country like Jamaica wins one medal, a country like China or India could win every single other medal in every other event, and they still would have a lower medal/population ratio than Jamaica.
Now, amount of financing dumped on each person... that would be interesting to gauge.
I always hate it when people look disappointed to win silver or bronze medals. I understand that they can be favored to win gold, but when I look at all the Olympians, all the people that have worked for years and won't even make it past the prelims or even get mentioned on tv, it seems pretty selfish to be sad that you're only the second best in the world.
It depends on how close you were, I guess. If gold was in your reach, but then lost, you might think that you missed your only chance at absolute perfection.
If gold is way out of reach, then people seem to be more satisfied with silver or bronze.
But I don't know. I've never been exceptionally good at anything, so it's hard to say.
I always hate it when people look disappointed to win silver or bronze medals.
Ditto. A medal's a medal. And on a different day, the standings would've been different. Except with Michael Phelps involved - in a rematch, he'd break his own world record just because he can.
I dunno. If I had trained almost my entire life to get the gold, and then got the silver, I'd be pretty disappointed too. I'd still be ecstatic about getting a medal, but... it wouldn't keep me from still wanting to get the gold.
I saw an interesting news story yesterday about a study that was done involving hundreds of olympic medalists, that found bronze medalists to be happier than silver medalists. It makes sense...the point they were making is that silver winners tend to dwell on what they should have done and why they didn't get the gold, while bronze medalists are happy to have won medals at all...
I read an article today saying they were gonna remove baseball and softball from the Olympics in 2012. It said they were like the first sports to be removed since polo in 1936. And they're not even replacing them with anything! The article said London would be fielding "26 out of the 28 events allowed".
Makes it even weirder that walking is an Olympic sport.
I don't think it has been officially decided yet, as far as I know the matter has to to be voted on by a committee...and I don't think those are the only sports that are up on the chopping block for 2012 either...
I don't think it has been officially decided yet, as far as I know the matter has to to be voted on by a committee...and I don't think those are the only sports that are up on the chopping block for 2012 either...
The article I read said that the vote had already been carried out, but the Olympics peoples aren't gonna reveal the totals for fear of "embarrassing" the other sports that almost didn't make it.
Also, a bunch of editorials I read said that one of the reasons they were thinking about dropping baseball was because the US won't send over any major leaguers, while most other countries send their stars. But c'mon, we're in the middle of a baseball season over here!
The only baseball I've ever known is the Texas Rangers; I don't think I even know all of the rules to baseball, from lack of watching any baseball games.
ZOMG Tug of War would be great! I would love to see that.
It would be pretty cool for awhile, but then countries would end up entering teams full of obese men in their 40's to sit there with a rope in there hands, even though they hadn't worked hard for anything, and Isn't that the idea of the olympics?
Also, a bunch of editorials I read said that one of the reasons they were thinking about dropping baseball was because the US won't send over any major leaguers, while most other countries send their stars. But c'mon, we're in the middle of a baseball season over here!
Well, that and the rampant steroid use. And that not many countries play it anymore. I say this as a baseball fan.
Except for Japan, which on several occasions has proven themselves better than America. Their players are overall better people than American players from what I've seen. They aren't paid exhorbitant amounts of money, and outside a couple rare exceptions they play for their hometown team their entire careers.
So, there's a few medals Japan will be sorry to miss next Olympics.
outside a couple rare exceptions they play for their hometown team their entire careers.
Sure, a lot of MLB players go where the money is, but there are some that would like to stick around. They can't help it if they're traded. Except Al Lieter, who had a clause in his contract saying he would never play for the Cleveland Indians.
It's weird, baseball's getting the boot because all the American players are all minor league nobodies that no one wants to watch. Softball's getting the boot because America is so ridiculously dominant it's downright unfair to everyone else. I don't really care though, I don't watch either one.
I read an article today saying they were gonna remove baseball and softball from the Olympics in 2012. It said they were like the first sports to be removed since polo in 1936. And they're not even replacing them with anything! The article said London would be fielding "26 out of the 28 events allowed".
Makes it even weirder that walking is an Olympic sport.
GOOD! Cuz i don't even consider baseball a real sport anyway. It's a hobby god dammit!!!
I don't see how baseball could be considered not-a-sport. It's not like it's NOT physically challenging, and it's not silly or stupid, it's a well thought-out game!
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I mean don't get me wrong, if the government approached me and told me they wanted to hardcore train me in judo, taekwondo, or something like that for Olympic tournaments, and offer to pay for everything and then some, I'll sure as hell do it.
But the guys that do it despite the financial barriers, like Nikpai and Perez, are the ones that make the Olympics really awesome.
Nikpai may have only gotten a bronze, but under the circumstances, that bronze is practially platinum.
Now, amount of financing dumped on each person... that would be interesting to gauge.
If gold is way out of reach, then people seem to be more satisfied with silver or bronze.
But I don't know. I've never been exceptionally good at anything, so it's hard to say.
Ditto. A medal's a medal. And on a different day, the standings would've been different. Except with Michael Phelps involved - in a rematch, he'd break his own world record just because he can.
Makes it even weirder that walking is an Olympic sport.
And I like the point on bronze being happier, BevinDeezl. Thanks.
The article I read said that the vote had already been carried out, but the Olympics peoples aren't gonna reveal the totals for fear of "embarrassing" the other sports that almost didn't make it.
Also, a bunch of editorials I read said that one of the reasons they were thinking about dropping baseball was because the US won't send over any major leaguers, while most other countries send their stars. But c'mon, we're in the middle of a baseball season over here!
It would be pretty cool for awhile, but then countries would end up entering teams full of obese men in their 40's to sit there with a rope in there hands, even though they hadn't worked hard for anything, and Isn't that the idea of the olympics?
Well, that and the rampant steroid use. And that not many countries play it anymore. I say this as a baseball fan.
So, there's a few medals Japan will be sorry to miss next Olympics.
GOOD! Cuz i don't even consider baseball a real sport anyway. It's a hobby god dammit!!!