I know this is a wee bit early to open an Olympic thread, but I thought with the outbreak of the Zika virus, it might be worth an early kick off. As it stands at the moment, somewhere around 1,500,000 have been infected with the virus. The Brazilian government has said that it's lost control of the disease and is about to deploy 200,000 troops to try to fight the problem. Although there is no proof at the moment, it's believed that Zika can lead to birth defects. Voices are now being raised about whether the games should be postponed. I suppose there is too much money involved to place the possible health issues that may arise for those visitors who'll flock there in huge numbers, above the games.
Not sure how 200,000 Brazilian troops are going to put a stop to an insect-borne virus. If you are a pregnant women or are planning on having sex, avoid the region altogether. Usain Bolt will be okay as none of the insects can catch him. If I were visiting the Olympics, I would be more bothered about the dodgy infrastructure and social conditions in a country that clearly cannot afford the event; and should be concentrating its resources on alleviating poverty. How many corporate tickets have Coca-Cola and McDonald's cornered? Would a postponement make any difference? The virus is not going to go away.
Rumour has it that Seb Coe is coming out of retirement to take part in the field events- either 'Catching the javelin' or 'Heading the shot.' I'd prefer to take some barbed wire and go as a fencer.
On the back of the World Health Organization's declaration that the Zika virus is a global emergency, Kenya has hinted that if the virus can't be controlled, it might not participate in the games.
Love the middle distance track races. The 2012 1500 was amazing. Taoufik Makhloufi made mince meat of them. When it looked as though they might box him in, he man handled his way out of trouble. He had the race won a long way out. He's in the green shorts.
I'm with you on this one Cyc but I thought Rusihsa in the 800 took the best race for me at London... Some effort to keep that pace up.. Incredible... To front run the 800 at pace takes some doin...!!
This is one of my all time favourite milers. He ran ever quicker sectionals for the last two laps. Amazing.
Great, eh, just before the start? http://www.dw.com/en/rio-declares-financial-emergency-ahead-of-olympics/a-19339491
The games will be on us in a flash. I suppose one of the major stories will be the re-emergence of Usain Bolt. The great sprinter who will turn 30 on the last day of the games, is looking to do the almost impossible, win the 100, 200 and 4 x 100 for the third time. Bolt has been making noises about running through into the 2017 season, then calling it quits. The wear and tear on his body is beginning to catch up with him. He's said it's becoming just too hard to get the job done, but his coach Glenn Mills wants him to not think too much about the future, and to not make a final decision until after the Worlds in London next year. There's no doubt, Usain Bolt will be one of the star attractions of the Rio Games. Here's hoping he can get it all together.
Love this stuff, and can't wait for these two to lock horns again. Glaetzer in rated 2 in the world, while Kenny is 3. Rated 1 is the old timer Damian Zielinski, who at 35, is racing in rare form.
With the games just weeks away, the Court of Arbitration for Sport has today rejected Russia's appeal against the exclusion of it's 68 track and field athletes. The finding by CAS, sports highest court arbitration, now firmly wedges the International Olympic Committee between a rock and a hard place. The IOC said they'll take the ruling into account when they make their final decision on Friday. Surely, the IOC can't turn their back on the latest outcome.
Just going through some of the betting. 8-1 looks pretty nice about Taoufik Makloufi in the 1500, he's running into some decent form. Genzebe Dibaba in the women's 1500 looks a banker at 11-10 after smashing the indoor record. It'll be a punt whether they run Almaz Ayana in both the women's 5000 -10000, but she's a much better price at 4-6 against Tirunesh Dibaba in the 10000. In the 5000 she's a 1-10 shot. Ayana and Genzebe Dibaba will be stars in Rio.
Would it be fair for the IOC to toss the entire Russian team out of the games? We probably won't know for a couple of days, but would this be a step too far? The Russian Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko, a man who's name has been linked to the scandal, has stated that the decision of the tribunal absolutely violates the rights of clean athletes, creating a precedent of collective responsibility. He has a point. Should athletes who have not been linked to the issue and who have not tested positive, be rubbed out? Is that justice? The IOC have been placed in a horrible position here. All this stuff surfaced a few years ago, and it's taken until a couple of seconds before midnight to sort out the mess. The IOC has had to sit back and watch everyone else toss the grenade around, before having it dropped in their lap at the last second. Thomas Bach, IOC President, must be livid.
Good points, Cyc, but the IOC reminds me of FIFA and its smacks of political influence and intrigue. In essence, the Olympic Games has become a bastardisation of what its founder, Baron De Coubertin, envisaged and promoted- and that categorically excluded professionalism. The West has always been 'up in arms' about Russia, just as it was about the former Soviet Union. If we go back to the sixties, we kept screaming about the Communist's so called 'professionalism in athletics,' even though it was a moot point, given the communists' claimed non-acceptance of the terms "amateur" and "professional." We were very quick to highlight how "steroidal" those East German athletes appeared, so much so that it was hard to tell their sex! Perhaps the Communists' massive medal tallies instigated our response. Yet here comes the great hypocrisy. It was the an IOC controlled by the West which sanctioned professional athletes being eligible to compete. After all, look at all the money which would be available through sponsorship, etc! So now we want Russia thrown out of the Games. "We cannot allow drug cheats to compete." I agree wholeheartedly with the sentiment, but you cannot sit on the fence with drugs. Yet we do sit on the fence when it suits us. Take the case of Olympic gold medallist, Christine Ohuruogu. She didn't turn up for five drug tests... and nobody screamed about that. We gave her an Olympic ban but rescinded it when she threatened to run for another country. I wonder how we would have reacted, if she'd been Russian? It should be simple, really...anyone taking banned substances or refusing drugs tests should be banned for life. End of story. Somehow I think this story will run and run and run!
Bolt says he'll win the 100 - 200 again and run a world record in the latter. He sees Gatlin as his only danger in the 100, but thinks he's got it all over the American when it comes to the mind games. Gatlin on the other hand says he got caught up in the crowd's excitement in the 2015 Worlds in Beijing when he went down by 0.01 to Bolt, but vows to not make the same mistake again. Bolt's team mate Yohan Blake could spring a surprise in the 100m. 100m. Bolt. 8-13. Gatlin. 6-4. Blake. 23-2. 200m. Bolt. 1-2. Gatlin. 7-2. Blake. 12-1.
Can't believe it is 4 years since I was a London 2012 Gamesmaker. One of my fellow volunteers in London (also works at the same place as me) is flying out to Rio a week on Monday to be a volunteer there. He got golf scorer this time (was a driver in London) and being a keen golfer he's delighted.
You deserve to go yourself, Janabelle13, in fact all the London volunteers should be given a free return ticket to Rio if they wanted one. You guys did a fantastic job in 2012, really did. I do agree with Tamerlo's comments above. To think that it is just the Russians who are up to this doping lark is like living in cloud cuckoo land. The Germans had it covered at state level; it's no use saying the old DDR (or GDR) were not really Germans, they were, 100%, the Yanks had Balco Labs and a ready list of well-known customers, the Tour de France is often known in Germany as the Tour d' Apotheke, etc., etc. The whole doping business in sport is totally depressing. So, am finding it difficult to get interested in Rio atm, but guess I will when it all starts. Samba, Samba, cool Brazilian jazz and all that, irresistible really?
