Olympic Outrage - Observations From Beijing
60
Swimming - A New Style Emerges
Michael Phelps won. Again.
Now, let's get on to some real news from the pool. Swimsuits. Commentators, the world over, seem to believe that the recent string of world record performances are due in part to the new Speedo body swimsuits. I'm not sure about that, but I am sure of one thing. Those new suits certainly cover up a whole lot more of the body than what I usually see at the beach. My father, a proponent for modest beach apparel, commented that he liked the suits and hoped that they would take over the world of fashion. Yuck! Think about it. At the beach there is tons of flesh on display, usually not where it is supposed to be, but it is what it is, natural. What if all the flesh was contained in skin tight body suit? The thought of it makes me queasy. All that extra fat accented in nice neat jelly rolls. How nice.
Just remember, Michael Phelps may look great in a full length, skin tight body suit, but most of us never will. So please, save the eyes of the world, forgo the temptation to slap down that Visa card for new full length Speedo. Go with the G-string instead.
Rowing - Why Not Me?
I have a general rule when assessing Olympic sports. If I can do what I am watching and not look like a fool, then that sport doesn't belong in the Olympics. Enter rowing. I certainly can't row like an Olympian. Those boys on the eight man team, and girls for that matter, have arms the size of tree trunks and lungs made out of iron. Hold it, there is an exception. On every team there is a ninth person in the crew, a little guy, who sits at the back of the boat and yells and screams at the eight suckers who are rowing. He never lets up for a second and more importantly never picks up an oar. Heavens to Betsy, I scream all the time. Maybe I could be in the Olympics? Granted, I would have to lose forty pounds, but, that aside, I think I could manage the job. Look out London 2012, here I come.
"Women's" Gymnastics
The American women messed up last night. The gold was in their grasp, but they fell on the beam and stumbled on their floor routine. Things like that happen, especially when the pressure is intense and there is no room for error. Losing a gymnastics competition isn't such a bad thing, unless, of course, you lose to a bunch of incredibly talented pre pubescent girls from China. The most outrageous thing I have heard thus far at the Olympics was when the Chinese Gymnastics Team was introduced as the "Chinese Women's Gymnastic Team." Those girls are exactly that, ‘girls'. I don't care what their passports say. If some of those girls are a day over twelve, I will eat my shorts. The American girls, not exactly models of full woman hood themselves, are at least old enough to drive. In a sport where there is distinct advantage to having a girl's body instead of woman's, I think bonus points should be given to competitors whose hips out measure their waist and whose bust requires, at the minimum, a training bra.
Opening Ceremony- The Girl Who Didn't Sing
When I read that the fire works display at the Opening Ceremony had been digitally enhanced, I didn't care. When I heard that the cute little girl who sang at the Opening Ceremony was a fraud, it bothered me. The Chinese government, at the last minute, decided to use a ‘cute' girl to lip synch the song instead of the girl who actually sang the song because they (government) didn't think the original girl's teeth were straight enough. What a crock of Chinese dung. Can you imagine how that little girl felt? Sorry, you have a great voice but you're too ugly to perform in our show. All I can think about is how that little girl's self image was crushed to smithereens, all for the sake of national pride. A national shame, that's what I call it. A true slap in the face to what should have been a celebration of the human spirit. If China really wants to repair its image, it should give that little girl a solo in the closing ceremony.
PrintShare it! — Rate it: up down flag this hub
Comments
For the swimming thing...To see grown men and women parading U.S. beaches in full body Speedo suits makes think about the Michelin Man and I don't want to think about tires on the beach. If you really want to be the ninth guy rowing, just keep practicing yelling "STROKE!" and you should be able to get there in 2012. Maybe the Olympics should have a girls and a womens' gymnastic team unless of course they let 16 year olds compete in every Olympic event which would make wrestling and basketball an entirely different game. I really do feel sorry for the little girl who really sang because she actually might need some therapy because an entire nation didn't think she was cute enough to sing on live t.v. One gripe I have about the Olympics is the fact that you can't post any recorded games from 2008 on sites like Youtube. I think they should because the mens' 400 meter freestyle relay race was spectacular, but if it wasn't for espn or youtube, I would never have known about it because I can't sit in front of my t.v. for 212 hours straight just to watch a potentially exciting Olympic event.
In the Doghouse,
Sadly I think you are correct. They don't give a rip about that little girl's self image.
Talented Ink,
Michelin Man, I like that. I agree about the 400 meter freesytle, it was spectacular. It's a good thing that my father woke me out of my slumber to see it.
Stroke! Stroke! Stroke!...... see you in London.
sschilke
This hub was fun to read. I agree that those Chinese gymnasts are definitely NOT 16. Some of them don't even look 12. Why can't everyone just follow the rules and compete honestly?
shawna.wilson,
I agree, the Chinese are playing fast and loose with the documented age of their athletes.
sschilke
The Chinese girls do seem to be a little young. Is it possible to carbon-date them, I wonder . . .
Chris,
Carbon-date, now that would be interesting. I'm not sure they would even register on the test:)
sschilke
Nice hub! I actually had no idea that the little girl wasn't used because of her teeth not being straight enough. That's pathetic.
The age of the gymnasts is definitely a joke too, the Olympic committee is just taking the word of the Chinese government, which has a huge stake in this.
02SmithA,
Pathetic is a great word to describe it. I also agree with you about the gymnastics, the Olympic committee doesn't want to really take this on.
sschilke
Yes, there's been a challenge to the Chinese about the ages of the women on their Olympic gymnastics team. I am not an expert in pubescent development, but I'd like to throw this out for someone who is...
I understand from the coverage of the games that China scouts out and begins to develop atheletes when children are as young as three years old. If a child is promising, the child is put into a strict program at that age. There is much evidence that stringent physical training at a young age puts girls, particularly, at risk for delayed or compromised hormonal development, in which case they would look like children. Perhaps China's women's gymnastic team is in this bucket? I don't know, I'm asking.
About the Speedos, do they replace the need to shave every part of a body in order to diminish the effect that hair has on the ability to move quickly through water? If so, I think it's a grand invention. But who on the vacation beach needs that advantage?
sschilke, lose all the weight you need to and practice yelling "STROKE" with all your might. I will make it a point to be up at all hours of the night to watch you cox in 2012.
Wonderful Hub!
Your fan, Sally
Great hub. I kinda felt bad for the little girl who didn't get to sing the song in person, BUT, she did get credit for having been the singer now, so, hey, at least she got global recognition of how great her voice is. Don't get me wrong, that's pretty jacked up what they did, but, if there's a silver lining, two little girls from China get to be in the spotlight now instead of just one, a nice thing for them considering how little regard that country is famous for harboring toward its girls.
As for the speedo thing, yeah, that would be bad if that's all that's avialable when I go to get my next swim suit someday. God. I'd look like a garbage bag full of seasick armadillos fighting for a place to puke.
Sally,
I have heard similar things about the effects of training on a child's body. The Chinese are probably waist deep in that bucket.
As for the speedo, I think you nailed it on the head. It is designed to cut down on the friction between the body and the water.
My training for 2012 starts tomorrow... or the day after that..
sschilke
Shadesbreath,
I guess that is a positive way at looking at a miserable action. I am still harboring some hope that the orginal girl gets to sing at the closing ceremony.
That was some description of you in Speedo...I don't want to see you (in a speedo full body suit) any time soon. I'm also sure that I don't want to see you in a thong either:).
sschilke
You are so right about the 'girls' from China. In the floor routine, our team performed the same amount of tumbling across the the floor. But, due to them being the right age and puberty kicking in, they are taller and it took more room for them to tumble. They would then go out of bounds and get deductions. The China team tumbed the same amount of times, yet didn't go out of bounds. They stayed inbounds because they haven't reached puberty and are all 3 and a half feet tall. They also looked almost starved to me even for being so young. I don't feel that is fair. But, I had rather us play by the rules and not win than lower ourselves to China's commie ways. I'm proud of our girls. If you saw the individiual competition, they judged us alot harsher than the other countries. Nastia had a near-perfect balance beam and she got a bad score. It's like they looked for reasons to deduct points from us. I was shocked we ended up with the gold and silver, but I'm very happy about it! Great hub! Keep up the good work!
In the 1980s, it was discovered that the USSR female gymnasts had been treated hormonally/chemically to delay puberty. China too? In addition, one of the Chinese young women looks anorexic, with very little muscle mass and weight for her height - many bones showing.
As for the new Speedo suit - looks good, but remember the trouble women had with girdles - heart attacks...
allshookup,
I don't know very much about scoring and all of the shuttle complexities of the sport, so I don't know to much how fair the actual competition was, but I definitely agree that smaller bodies and less developed bodies have a big advantage in the sport.
Thanks for the comment
Patty Inglish, MS,
It wouldn't surprise one bit to find out that China has a similar program for their gymnasts. As for the Speedos...I had the same thought, a kind of throwback to the girdle. That can't be a comfortable thought.
Thanks for your insights.
sschilke
"The Chinese girls do seem to be a little young. Is it possible to carbon-date them, I wonder . . . "
Unfortunately, no. Carbon dating works only in inanimate objects. When we die, our body starts to decay, and scientists can determine the rate of decay.
Basically, there's a clock that starts ticking the very moment we die.
In The Doghouse says:
16 months ago
I am not really sure they care about one little girls self image do you?