Zika, drugs, and medals: The Rio Olympics thread

[grumbler]

I'll bet that gag actually worked for you in third grade. 

So a perfect fit for the languish audience as well.

A perfect fit for part of it.

[dps]

I do find it hilarious, though, that some commentators are arguing that his lies are "an embarrassment for the US," as though he had been appointed the US Ambassador or something before this happened.  He's embarrassed himself and whoever decided to let him be on the team in Rio, but "the US" shouldn't be embarrassed at all.

Yes, I don't see how this is supposed to be an embarrassment for the US, or for the IOC, or for the sport of swimming.  In any large group of people, you're going to get some jackasses.  Just like if he had actually been robbed, it wouldn't really be an embarrassment for Rio, or Brazil in general, or the Brazilian police.  You can't provide 100% security 24/7, and with that many people in town for the Olympics, there's going to be some crimes taking place.

[The Larch]

I'm quite amused that a 32-year old sports star still has to report to his mom what he spends his money on

It's not unheard of for top sportsmen to be quite immature/childish because of having had an extremely sheltered upbringing, focusing only/mostly in their sport and ending up being man-babies. If you couple that with a controlling family what you describe is not such a far fetched scenario.

[grumbler]

Yes, I don't see how this is supposed to be an embarrassment for the US, or for the IOC, or for the sport of swimming.  In any large group of people, you're going to get some jackasses.  Just like if he had actually been robbed, it wouldn't really be an embarrassment for Rio, or Brazil in general, or the Brazilian police.  You can't provide 100% security 24/7, and with that many people in town for the Olympics, there's going to be some crimes taking place.

Agreed.  The only thing I thought embarrassing for the Brazilians was that, with all the crime they have, they spent so many resources investigating a "crime" that no one even officially reported.

[grumbler]

I'm quite amused that a 32-year old sports star still has to report to his mom what he spends his money on

Where did you read that?  My understanding was that he called her to ask her to cancel his credit cards, because it would cost him a lot to make all those calls from Rio.

[grumbler]

It's not unheard of for top sportsmen to be quite immature/childish because of having had an extremely sheltered upbringing, focusing only/mostly in their sport and ending up being man-babies. If you couple that with a controlling family what you describe is not such a far fetched scenario.

Yep.  The number of professional athletes that make millions and blow them within a few years of leaving sports is surprisingly high.  Man-babies, as you say (I almost never hear about this from female athletes, though the lower numbers of those that make million may be partly responsible for that).

[The Larch]

Yes, I don't see how this is supposed to be an embarrassment for the US, or for the IOC, or for the sport of swimming.  In any large group of people, you're going to get some jackasses.  Just like if he had actually been robbed, it wouldn't really be an embarrassment for Rio, or Brazil in general, or the Brazilian police.  You can't provide 100% security 24/7, and with that many people in town for the Olympics, there's going to be some crimes taking place.

Agreed.  The only thing I thought embarrassing for the Brazilians was that, with all the crime they have, they spent so many resources investigating a "crime" that no one even officially reported.

I guess that it also touched a nerve with the Brazilians, what with all the concerns about security in Rio in the build up for the Olympics. Never a good sign to get a world famous sportsman claiming to having been robbed at gunpoint, so somebody might have gone all "we're going to get to the bottom of this to save face" on this investigation, only to come up with this.

[grumbler]

I guess that it also touched a nerve with the Brazilians, what with all the concerns about security in Rio in the build up for the Olympics. Never a good sign to get a world famous sportsman claiming to having been robbed at gunpoint, so somebody might have gone all "we're going to get to the bottom of this to save face" on this investigation, only to come up with this. 

As I said, the response was embarrassingly over the top.  The Brazilian authorities could just have noted that, if these guys really thought they were robbed at gunpoint, they'd have filed a police report and that, since the supposed victims did not, the police were going to assume that it was just a fabrication on the part of the athletes.  Case closed, in Brazil's favor, unless the athletes come back and try to deny that they failed to file a report - but the Brazilian police knew they'd not do that.  In the end, this videotape would have come forward when it did (the police didn't find it; the gas station owners brought it to them) and the swimmers' case would have collapsed in mockery of them.  Brazil wins a total knockout, without spending a dime on anything but spokespersons.

So, the Brazilian authority (whoever it was, but for sure it was a government official) spent vast resources in a fit of pique  to prove what they could have proved in a statement, but in the meantime got to stormtrooper an airplane and arrest people who, the police themselves admitted, had committed no crime and were suspected of no crime. 

[Jacob]

A perfect fit for part of it.

True enough.

Not everyone has reached the third grade stage yet.

[DGuller]

I'll bet that gag actually worked for you in third grade. 

So a perfect fit for the languish audience as well.

Take that back! 

[Liep]

Sara Slott wins silver in the women's 400m hurdles!!

First medal in athletics in forever, last woman to get a medal in athletic for Denmark was in 1948.

[Ed Anger]

DPRK News Service
2h2 hours ago
DPRK News Service ‏@DPRK_News
Imbecilic US women drop relay race baton, yet somehow are permitted to vote and drive automobiles.

[The Larch]

Attention seeking athletes or German authorities being fun-hating pricks? You decide. :p

Rio 2016: German twins who crossed marathon finish line holding hands spark outrage
Instead of being interpreted as sisterly love, the gesture was seen as a way of gaining 'media attention'


Two German twins, both participating in the women's marathon at the Rio Olympics, have sparked outrage after crossing the finishing line holding hands.

Instead of being interpreted as sisterly love, the gesture was seen as a way of gaining "media attention".

Anna and Lisa Hahner, both 26, finished 15 minutes under their personal best times, coming in 81 and 82 place respectively - giving further fuel to the criticism.

Sports director of the German Athletics Federation, Thomas Kurschilgen, highlighted their slow times and said the hand holding made the race look like a "fun run".

"Victory and medals are not the only goal," Mr Kurschilgen told the New York Times. "Still, every athlete in the Olympic competitions should be motivated to demonstrate his or her best performance and aim for the best possible result."

"Their main aim was to generate media attention. That is what we criticize."

If this was the twins' goal, it apparently succeeded - there was another German runner in the race, Anja Scherl, who came in 44th place but received little attention for her superior performance.

The Hahner sisters also received negative coverage in the German press. Columnist Lars Wallrodt said the act was "ingenious self-marketing".

"The Olympics is the meeting of the best athletes, measuring the peak performance of each country's best," Mr Wallrodt wrote in Die Welt. "If the Hahners jointly want to cross the finish line, beaming and holding hands, then they can - in the countryside home run in St. Pölten or the Miss-Braided run in Solingen."

However, the pair defended their actions. "We trained the last four years to participate in this marathon," Anna Hahner said. "Neither the time nor the position was what made us happy but to know that we did the best that was possible that day."

They insisted the hand holding was not planned but said it was "magical" that they could finish the marathon together.

[Valmy]

Anna and Lisa Hahner, both 26, finished 15 minutes under their personal best times, coming in 81 and 82 place respectively - giving further fuel to the criticism.

Why would running a race 15 minutes faster than your personal best fuel criticism?

[The Larch]

Anna and Lisa Hahner, both 26, finished 15 minutes under their personal best times, coming in 81 and 82 place respectively - giving further fuel to the criticism.

Why would running a race 15 minutes faster than your personal best fuel criticism?

15 minutes worse than their personal best.