Yeah, we have great sports programs and dreams and all that here in the US, and it got me to where I am today, but can you imagine the incentive to get out and train that the racewalker at the end of the article has? Scroll down and check it out. They don't need drugs to succeed, they just crave a chance of being able to succeed to pull themselves out of the gutter.
CanWeWinThere? wrote:
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/eticket/story?page=china/part2Yeah, we have great sports programs and dreams and all that here in the US, and it got me to where I am today, but can you imagine the incentive to get out and train that the racewalker at the end of the article has? Scroll down and check it out. They don't need drugs to succeed, they just crave a chance of being able to succeed to pull themselves out of the gutter.
Sounds a lot like Africa. Running is seen as a way out of poverty in Kenya and other countries, so lots of young kids try it, and that increases the chances of their best athletes training very hard. In the U.S., there are a lot of other avenues to take so some kids who could be great athletes might never even take up a sport. Not that that is a bad thing, since that means our country is much better off.
Aren't race-walkers supposed to have at least one foot on the ground at all times? I see at least three race-walkers that are breaking that rule if so. What a "sport" that is.
Its like the domino effect all over again.
Sounds a lot like Africa. Running is seen as a way out of poverty in Kenya and other countries, so lots of young kids try it, and that increases the chances of their best athletes training very hard. In the U.S., there are a lot of other avenues to take so some kids who could be great athletes might never even take up a sport. Not that that is a bad thing, since that means our country is much better off.[/quote]
Its one of the biggest arguments against the "they're inherently better in Africa" school. All the best runners in the West don't run - they have other things to do. Witness the number of successful runners that spent their early teens minutes behind the winners - until those winners discovered football/smoking/sex/whatever.
The real question is, would you prostitute yourself (become a racewalker) to get out of poverty?
Don't knock it (either one) until you try it.
I have read in a few different places that the current Chinese athletic machine is going to make the old Soviet and East German systems look like a joke. They have been weeding out prospective athletes from the age of 5, and then training them to the point of no return with one goal. To beat the USA.
i predict they will do very well at the 2008 olympics and then disappear as they did in 1993 and 1997.
Aren't NBA players supposed to be dribbling the ball at alll times while moving? What a sport that is.
You are ignoring the main reason why China will destroy us soon: they have a lot more people.
We have won a lot of medals in the past for the very same reasons. We are an industrialized nation with a lot of people. This means that there are a lot of people who have the financial means to pursue sport. Once India and China fully modernize, we'll be looking at a paltry medal share.
China does not have the genetics to dominate international sport. And of course those at the top depend on drugs to win or medal. You use or lose.
Who the hell are you to say that china doesn't have the gentics to do well?
Keli wrote:
Who the hell are you to say that china doesn't have the gentics to do well?
You see, most of the Chinese are Chinese. Let's play a game. Pick a sport, or a particular event, and ask yourself what physiological gifts that sport or event demands. Then ask yourself which populations tend to be gifted in those areas.
For example, why is it far more likely that we'd see a Chinese WR holder in the 110 meter hurdles than in the 100 meter sprint? Or in the high jump, rather than long jump?
China doesn't have the genetics. The best they can produce is a hurlder who can rely on superior techniqe to make up for his lack of raw athleticism. China is NOT a threat to the U.S. in most sports. Perhaps watch out for them in weightlifting.
Duro wrote:
Aren't race-walkers supposed to have at least one foot on the ground at all times? I see at least three race-walkers that are breaking that rule if so. What a "sport" that is.
beat me to it, was just going to point that out
marijuologist wrote:
China doesn't have the genetics. The best they can produce is a hurlder who can rely on superior techniqe to make up for his lack of raw athleticism. China is NOT a threat to the U.S. in most sports. Perhaps watch out for them in weightlifting.
excellent prediction especially since the chinese have dominated weightlifting on the womens side for decades.
doug burke wrote:
marijuologist wrote:China doesn't have the genetics. The best they can produce is a hurlder who can rely on superior techniqe to make up for his lack of raw athleticism. China is NOT a threat to the U.S. in most sports. Perhaps watch out for them in weightlifting.
excellent prediction especially since the chinese have dominated weightlifting on the womens side for decades.
Now let's try thinking, shall we? Why would a country dominate womens weightlifting but not mens weightlifting, which is far more competitive? Why could Ashkenazi Jews dominate basketball in the 1930s, but not in the 1990s?
just of interest since japanese and chinese are both oriental and i would guess have a lot of similarities, consider this japan has 11 men under 208 for the marathon, based on population china could have about 50 under 208, and for the women japan has 3 women under 220 for the marathon, based on population china could have about 35.
of note china has hired a japanese coach who has coached 5 japanese girls to run under 225, supposedly a 76 year old cardiologist/coaching legend in japan, just what i heard, maybe nobby or zatopek or brett gotcher of japanese running news can confirm or deny this.
CanWeWinThere? wrote: Scroll down and check it out.
Rather than just scrolling down, I suggest you guys actually read the article -- it's a great piece of journalism. And the basic point of the article isn't that the Chinese sports system is going to allow them to destroy us in the future (though as someone pointed out, their huge population may well achieve that result) -- it's that this state-run sports system will almost certainly cease to exist in its current form immediately after 2008.
"She understands what that clock really means. It's not just counting down the days until the beginning of the Olympics, it's also counting down the days until the end of the Soviet-style Chinese sports system that has been her life. For more than a decade, the Sports Bureau has been fighting extinction, losing a thousand tiny battles but not yet losing the war."