Olympics

[susanwells]

China top of the medals table.. no surprise there then.
But when the track and field events start will they go on winning ? Up against those all-powerful black guys..
And how many more medals will we win before we`re done ? Andy Murray blew it today. (He needs to get control of his attitude.)
What are our chances in track and field ?
I reckon we`l come home with 4 Gold and a couple more bronzes.
Anyone wanna bet ? Or maybe you`re not betting people on here :yikes:
:hearty

[mathare]

But when the track and field events start will they go on winning ? Up against those all-powerful black guys..Is their skin colour important here? I'm sorry Susan but I don't see any need at all to bring that into the discussion. Does it matter whether a sprinter (or any athlete) is black, white or bloody purple??

[susanwells]

Is their skin colour important here? I'm sorry Susan but I don't see any need at all to bring that into the discussion. Does it matter whether a sprinter (or any athlete) is black, white or bloody purple??

Oh God ! I thought we had more common sense on this forum. No need to be touchy. I think in this instance it IS relevant.. because there is no getting away from the fact that in so many track events black guys from the USA in particular, as well as from the African countries, seem to do phenomenally well - maybe to do with their build/physique but you look at so many line-ups in the track races and see how many black runners there are. Especially the men. For goodness sake this is the reverse of a racist comment...they just seem to have an edge. Of course there have been plenty of winning white runners but they always seem puny by comparison ... the African build just seems to lend itself to winning. I`m not going to apologise because I think it was a perfectly fair comment... and my much loved and revered Godfather was (very) black.
The Chinese tend to be smaller and slighter and although brilliant athletes in many of the sports I just wonder if they will come out on top in these events,

[mathare]

So you're saying that small people don't stand a chance against bigger people in events that depend on physical strength and size. Right.

I just managed that without bringing colour into the argument.

[vegyjones]

Try and mention black pudding without bringing colour into the conversation!

[silax]

a bit over the top there matt

[sparkyminer]

Susan's right, The best runners are black, the best swimmers are white. It's not racist, it's fact.
And gold medal winners come from Mansfield.:D

[Win2Win]

The top marathon runner is white :) But for sprints, blacks tend to have a better genetic make-up for muscle building in the legs, that is just part of evolution, the same as they are much more equipped for handling UVA radiation.

[silax]

and better equiped for selling drugs :pk1

[John]

Got to agree with Susan here (for once :D)... you look at the the top athletes in these events particularly in the running events and the large majority of them are black. Even looking at the top British past athletes who are were World Champions, when everything was all about Linford Christie and Colin Jackson (okay there was Sally Gunnell and Jonathan Edwards too... even though he was a long-jumper...) Plus the likes of Michael Johnson (American) in the 400m just after. It's not racist, it's fact... there are many more top athletes (particularly runners) who are black in comparison with those who are white.

[mathare]

It's not racist, it's fact... there are many more top athletes (particularly runners) who are black in comparison with those who are white.I'm not sure I agree with this. Gimme an estimate of the percentage of black medal winners in the whole of the track and field disciplines and another just for the running events and we'll see. I think the balance won't be that far in favour of the blacks.

[mathare]

China top of the medals table.. no surprise there then.
But when the track and field events start will they go on winning ?Anyway, back to this. Everyone knows (from past events, instinct whatever) that China always do well at the start of the games when they have events that suit them, before we get on to the track and field and so on. Why? Maybe it's a physiological thing (size, stature etc) but it sure as hell ain't skin colour - and that was my point. The Chinese genetic makeup probably gives them a smaller pool of talent to compete in the sprint events and so on - the high profile events of athletics. Other countries/regions have a genetic framework that makes them more likely to produce sprinters or whatever. Maybe these genes also produce a dominantly black population but does it matter? Why bring skin colour into it when it's purely about the natural build and stature of a nation/region?

Historically, the Chinese do well at gymnastics, diving, shooting, table tennis, weightlifting and to a lesser extent at swimming and badminton. Track and field isn't really their thing but they have still recorded 13 medals in athletics over the years, including 5 golds. So they do well early on then cede ground to nations like the USA and Russia.

Certain other nations focus more on athletics, Britain in particular as nearly 30% of our olympic medals have come in these events, and not on the early events that they can't compete in. After all the olympics are supposed to be about the best in the world competing against one another. If your nation happens to be crap at a sport you don't get to go to Beijing and face others much better than you - simple as that. And that's where the Chinese are with athletics, generally speaking.

But are blacks, as Susan claims, better on the track? I'd like to see the medal breakdown in the track events in terms of black v other for this games as a guide. Then let's do the same for field events shall we? Susan reckoned the "all-powerful blacks" would dominate both after all...

[Linfield]

Something I've thought about recently...In football, why don't we have any top players that are Indian/Pakistani etc.
We get lots of other nationalities with top players so why non of the above?

Tony

[bigcumba]

That is a good question... given how big the Asian population is in this country you would expect a few more to be involved at a decent level in football... wonder if it's still down to a bit of racism.

[mathare]

Something I've thought about recently...In football, why don't we have any top players that are Indian/Pakistani etc.
We get lots of other nationalities with top players so why non of the above?
Some of that is cultural, I believe. Young Indian/Pakistani kids are not brought up to think that playing football for a top European side is an attainable dream.

[bigcumba]

Some of that is cultural, I believe. Young Indian/Pakistani kids are not brought up to think that playing football for a top European side is an attainable dream.

Good point Mat, I forgot that there is a huge emphasis on family and education within the Asian community... so they're more likely to be encouraged to go into the family business, or become doctors or other professions.

[mathare]

Good point Mat, I forgot that there is a huge emphasis on family and education within the Asian community... so they're more likely to be encouraged to go into the family business, or become doctors or other professions.I think they are big on engineering too now. Plus if the kid is gonna go into sport there are other sports that are viewed as better careers than football.

[silax]

its cricket they play. seroiusly they play cricket any spare oppertunity they get well the working class ones do that may also be the problem the real lower classes in pakistan and india are all cricket daft gove them a bit of space and there is wickets and a bat pop up from nowhere.

[Win2Win]

India/Pakistan is cricket.....and South Asia they are heavily influenced by the USA, so baseball & basketball (bothe otherwise known as poofball in the UK :ooo), are the No.1

Football in the Philippines for instance is probably about the same level as curling is here :yikes:

[sparkyminer]

Maybe it's a physiological thing (size, stature etc) but it sure as hell ain't skin colour ..

I don't think you can separate skin colour from physiology, it's part and parcel of the same thing.

[Win2Win]

Asians make useless basketballers.......while the Dutch are not built for gymnastics.

[bigcumba]

while the Dutch are not built for gymnastics.

yeah that Van Der Valk was crap on the parallel bars :thumbs

[sparkyminer]

yeah that Van Der Valk was crap on the parallel bars :thumbs

They only came up to Eye Level.:rolleyes:


I'll get mi' coat.:splapme

[bigcumba]

:laugh Anyone under the age of 40 is wondering what we're on about.....

[susanwells]

:peeky
:laugh Anyone under the age of 40 is wondering what we're on about.....


I certainly am Big C
:wink

[bigcumba]

:peeky


I certainly am Big C
:wink

:laugh you must have Joan Collins make up artist Susan :wink