Lolo attacks Sydney

Greg wrote:

I didn't watch that but I have to agree with your statement.

Does anything capture society better today? "I am ignorant of the topic and have not researched it all but I agree!"

I did watch the show and find the characterization of it as being an "attack" a ridiculous exaggeration.

haha YOYO wrote:

Greg wrote:

I didn't watch that but I have to agree with your statement.

Does anything capture society better today? "I am ignorant of the topic and have not researched it all but I agree!"

I did watch the show and find the characterization of it as being an "attack" a ridiculous exaggeration.

Your post definitely captures what you're talking about.

I said I agreed with what the poster said on the basis of how I interpreted what was said.

And I'm a fan of hers generally. I don't really think she's a bad person at all. But no one 'casts someone aside'. You have to make your own way in the world. If you aren't 'relevent' and someone else is, are you going to say you are cast aside? You can hold that belief or you can forget it and not worry about that stuff.

Sit and kick wrote:

I just watched this as well this past weekend and this part stuck out to me, it was a really weird and seemingly way-off-base remark, for the reasons OP mentioned.

The central issue to me seems to be that "Olympic Athlete" isn't a year-round full-time job compensation-wise. That just wouldn't make any sense economically. If I only produced output beneficial to my employer for a week or two once every four years, I don't why it would be reasonable to expect them to pay me a comfortable salary year-round. If that's the longterm goal then I think the sport needs to work on growing things like Diamond League, not on getting NOCs to pay and support people full-time.

This is such an idiotic, moronic, and stupid statement. Do you really not have any idea of how it works?

So maybe we should just randomly pick 600 people each summer to rep the US at the Games regardless of training.

When you go in for a doctor's appointment or dentist appointment, you are essentially paying them for their years of education and practice. Same with athletes. It takes years and years and years to develop that skill level. At least doctors know that when they are done they are likely going to recoup the investment; few Olympians recoup the investment.

Olympic spots are earned in part from results from meets held throughout the year or 4 year cycle. The US qualifies spots because of success in competition during non-Olympic years. Many times athletes are traveling all over the world to get points in world rankings so we maximize spots ; we don't get three spots in track and field because we are a big country. Oh, and in many cases, the people who are earning those points do not even end up being the people who go to the Games.

I watched this somewhat dull doc as well and didn't get that impression at all. So I went back to look at it and here's what she says. There are a bunch of talking clips w/different athletes about how there's always someone younger coming up to replace them and Lolo says, "We got Sydney M., 19, marketable, social media on fire, and Lolo, that's your exit. Please go right. Then she breathes, "Mo-------ker." That's not addressed to Sydney, that's addressed to the powers that be who decide where the attention goes, or maybe just the state of the world.

In no way does she "attack Sydney." OP's a drama queen, although the post without that title seems fine. What has Lolo said about Dawn?

I have been around the Olympics and Olympic athlete since 1995. I have traveled with teams. I have worked for both the USOC (USOPC) and several NGBs.

First, the financial stuff they talk about is the absolute truth. I have been in the room when an athlete has been told "Your training stipend and athlete health insurance will end at the end of the month". It is a tough thing to see especially when I had gotten to know the athlete. The sport I spent the most time with had some money in it for prize money or professional contracts, but no where close to the minimum in the big 4 team sports in the US (football, baseball, basketball, and hockey).

Second, I did not take Lolo's comments as an attack on Sydney. I thought she was using her as an example. She is the not new track athlete; something Lolo was once as well. As noted by someone (Ohno I think) there is someone who will be faster than you one day. I don't think that is much an issue (they pushed someone else off the team), but that your value to sponsors is very short-lived. Sasha Cohen points that out really well.

Third, it is easy to watch the athletes competing all over the world and how glamorous it looks. Yet as noted, there are years where the training stipends is $7000/year--and that is probably really good. Phelps says he got $1700/month. Now he can swing it, but what about the person who is NCAA champ but has not made a Games yet. My guess is he/she is getting less. So they should train, compete and travel on that. Prize money in most Olympic sports is not great.

Fourth, the mental health issues are real. The number of Olympians who have killed themselves recently is staggering. Seeing Holcomb on the video was a shocker. The NGBs/USOPC has taken some early steps to address this issue. The sports psychologists hired now are clinically trained as clinical psychologists along with sports psych. (This was not always the case).

Fifth, some of the crap people give athletes for losing is crazy. I would push back on Lolo about people saying they felt bad for her. That is not the greatest thing to say in the world, but it comes from people wanting to be sympathetic. Having been through a divorce, it can be tiring to tell people about it.

Lastly, I just watched it again here is what Lolo said re:Sydney (she is one of several athletes talking about new athletes coming in and, as Cohen puts it, you are on conveyor belt of athletes). Also, keep in mind this was likely edited so there might have been more she said that did not appear in the final version:

"When you're a younger athlete they love you. You're the new fresh face. They want to promote you. They want to put you out there. They want everybody to fall in love with you. But after you've been to a few Olympics, you know, you'll see, it kind of weans out."

Cuts to Apolo Ohno...

Lolo picks back up:

"It's so funny, because (laughter) the longer you're here, you just---you're like, 'Oh, that's my replacement.' We got Sydney McLaughlin: 19 years old, marketable. Social media's on fire. And Lolo that's your exit. Please go right. Motherfucker." (Laughs).

I did not take it as a shot at Sydney. I think she was just an example.

why not idaho then? wrote:

someoneruns wrote:

Just watched "The Weight of Gold". Mental health and Olympians is misunderstood. However, Lolo saying she is shoved aside to make way for Sydney McLaughlin is a ridiculous statement. First off, you do different events. Second off, you gave up on track before Sydney made it big. Third off, you were not the best at your event. Fourth off, her big time would have been this year, 8 years after you made track team. Completely irresponsible and unwarranted.

Like when 8-tracks were shoved out of the way for MP3 players.

Cassette tapes pushed aside 8 tracks. DVDs pushed aside cassettes. Then came MP3.

I would be interested to see a clip, but she was ridiculous during the indoor season on NBC while Nia Ali (almost certain it was her) was pure class and oh, BTW, the winner of the event.

Lolo will always be a better athlete than me. Nonetheless, she is a severe headcase.

You are a special kind of stupid.

Comprehensive list of people in the track and field world that I don't want to hear about again:

1. Lolo Jones

2. Alberto Salazar

I'm racking my brains for more but those are the main two that come to mind.