Olympics

[geForce]

I thought the Chinese swim team had a history of testing positive for drugs one year, that's why suspicious eyes are on the Chinese team again.

[se7entse7en]

Was it the Chinese or was it the East Germans?
Dunno.

[[JT]]

[geForce]

Oh okay, that makes sense then, if it wasn't at an Olympic event.

[Wetundies]

They should just allow everyone to dope up. Then you can't complain that someone is cheating if everyone is all juiced up.

[geForce]

I was reading that blood doping would only be truly helpful for long endurance type sports where the increased red blood cells would help clear up distribute oxygen to the body and clear up the lactate acid build up. In the 400m swimming event where Yi Shiwen won, that was more like a short sprinting type of event where the benefits of doping wouldn't really have come into full effect.

[se7entse7en]

As I understand it, lactic acid builds up in sprints, not in the longer distance events.
It would build up in Usain Bolt in the 100m sprint, but not in Dylan Wykes in the marathon.

Apparently Ye Shiwen's teammate Li Zhesi tested positive for a banned substance in June.

Nonetheless, innocent until proven guilty... just like Lance Armstrong.

*ducks*

[geForce]

Sorry, the lactic acid thing was from something else I read. Here's the article about blood doping:
http://ezinearticles.com/?Blood-Doping- ... &id=160863

[se7entse7en]

Oscar Pistorius - Bladerunner.
Do you agree or disagree with him competing in the olympics?

[geForce]

I disagree. His artificial legs can be either an advantage or disadvantage, but either way, it creates unfair competition.
At the last Olympics, those polyurethane super swim suits created a stir because it gave an unfair advantage, so they were banned. I'm not saying it's the same thing, but if something like a swim suit can create controversy, then springy blade legs might too.

Also, on a related note - some people were saying the blind archer guy's blindness is an unfair advantage. They said the 20% vision that he has left allows him to focus and only see the target (I think they mean tunnel vision). hat's ridiculous though because that's not the type of blindness he has.

[se7entse7en]

Being blind is not an advantage. Just because 'you' have add and can't focus and a blind man can, isn't his fault.

I agree with you on the Oscar thing. I think having Oscar in the Olympics sets a disturbing precedent. What's next? Mechanical arms? Artificiial hearts and lungs? The Six Million Dollar Man? We have the technology to build him!

I'm not saying that in this particular case that Oscar had an unfair advantage... perhaps he even had a disadvantage, but who's to say? And how are we to judge in the future? What if he broke the WR and/or got Gold. How comfortable would the IOC be with their decision? Would there be an asterix beside his name?

Amazing athlete, and feel good story of the Olympics, but... I'd say 'No' as well.

[nature boy]

no, i'm not following the olympics. i just got back from camp and truth be told, i wouldn't have followed anyway. but i did read an article on the fencing lady that was victim of a clock malfunction. although, i was under the impression that it wasn't a malfunction as much as it was the short attention span of a 15-year-old volunteer that wasn't paying attention. last i heard she was awarded the silver metal instead of the participation ribbon she initially got.

[Wetundies]

Don't normally watch women's soccer, but Canada got robbed. Like what someone said, it's really tough to beat a good team, but it's impossible to beat a good team and a ref.

[se7entse7en]

[joel]

by the way the "blind" south korean archer is nowhere near blind. most the articles that have claimed him as legally blind are exaggerations or just misinterpreted.
http://www.suntimes.com/sports/morrisse ... -true.html

... obviously, one makes for a much better headline, and media can sometimes gets carried away.