The end of Olympics?

[Ddrak]

How much longer before it becomes literally impossible to police the Olympics? What constitutes "natural"? Blood doping and injection of your own HGH are outlawed, but better and more undetectable stuff are coming out. Even more detrimental to the definition of "natural" is the idea of genetic modifications both pre and post birth. Will there be a shift to "anything goes" sports where there are no rules on what's a permitted enhancement, and if these sports do emerge then will there really be anyone left that is interested in the "natural" sports when they'll be far less impressive in comparison?

Thoughts?

Dd

[Ariannda Kusanagi]

the Olympics is supposed to the "The Best of the Best" competing against each other for themselves and their country. Natural anymore is irrelevant. I'm on birth control, that's not natural, have a headache and take a Tylenol ? that's not natural, that's progression. Progression are allowed imo but when you start giving yourself an "unnatural" edge then that's when the line needs to be drawn. the problem is the human drive for success is do deeply ingrained in some people, and further instilled by their public, their peers and their parents that some people simply won't stop until they rise to the top. We currently don't have any "anything goes" sports, even horses are tested for variations in natural levels after they experience several wins, but all in all i think it's disgusting. I have stronger feelings on the horse racing industry then i do on the Olympics but since riding is involved with the summer Olympics then we'll say they go hand in hand.

Lets draw a comparison between a young gymnast and a young horse. People will specifically breed their horses to foal around the end of December, because on the first of January Thoroughbreds all turn 1, regardless of when they were actually born, it's a system wide problem. If you're racing, or training a 1 year old horse then it's body, bones, tendons aren't fully developed, and you're subjecting your horse to physical injury from lack of age and growth. How do we combat it ? Easily with supplements and growth hormones, even the innocent kind that are found in cows to increase milk production ? Now lets go to this Chinese scandal where people suspect the gymnasts aren't of the age to compete. There are reasons there are age requirements and they should be adhered to strictly. I mean you can't run a blood test and find out how old someone is (amazingly enough you can find out how long they've been dead though) but to introduce children under the age of 16 seems like both an advantage and a risk. Yes younger gymnasts are more flexible then their older counterparts, partly because of puberty and naturally occurring hormones and partly because children are simply more flexible then older folks because they don't experience the same stretching and breaking of tendons and muscles the way older people do... While it's not genetic modification it's essentially hormonal manipulation. Using the advantages of the LACK of hormones in this case to your best advantage.

I don't think there will ever be a shift to "anything goes" sports as part of the appeal of the Olympics is the fact you earned a spot getting there, and there's nothing more humiliating for a competitor or a country then having one of their athletes stripped of medals because they cheated. However in all likely hood, since it's essentially impossible to police everyone now although all efforts are being made, the tests won't be able to keep up with the technology so people will certainly get away with it and ill continue to win by unnatural terms.

Personally I have no interest in seeing a bunch of steroid induced thugs beat on each other, we have the same thing now only we call it WWE, and it's existed for quite awhile.

[Alluveal]

The olympics will never be equal. There will always be the have-not countries VS the have-countries. That's a huge inconsistency right there.

I believe that a champion is only part muscle/brawn and brute. The rest absolutely has to come from the inner strength, endurance, and skill. You could dope up an average Joe, but if he can't hit a baseball or catch for shit, he's not going to be in the World Series anytime soon. You can hop up the Koreans with steroids, but their gymnast still couldn't stick a landing. It is an advantage for some, of course. I'm not that naive to think it's 100% heart.

I don't think the olympics have become this great evil. I hear this quite a bit on the news and on talk radio--"why bother anymore. It's just a farce." I am not ready to jump on that bandwagon.

For every substance that slips by drug testing, they'll eventually find a way to detect it. I have a bit more faith in science, I guess. The trick, however, will be substances that are quickly in and quickly out. A street-drug example is Meth. It only stays in your system for a short time. After a few days, you'd pee clean.

[Kulaf]

I say we legalize everything......bionics........drugs.....JATO rocket up your ass......get er done!

[Alluveal]

I say we legalize everything......bionics........drugs.....JATO rocket up your ass......get er done!

I'm so on board with that. Johnny Knoxville will beat 'em all.

[Partha]

All sport is entertainment, and to treat the Olympics as different is folly.

[Kulaf]

From an athletics/records standpoint they can eliminate it right now. Just hold samples forever and continue testing as new procedures are developed. Strip records and medals from anyone testing positive. They are currently retaining samples for 8 years and will continue to test said samples as new tests are developed.

So if you hold them long enough you can eliminate the cheaters from the record books. But when you figure that even prior to the Olympics Phelps was making 4 million a year in endorsements......and after that number will probably increase 10 fold. Why would someone of that rank as an athlete really care if you caught him 8 years later after he has pocketed 300+ million bucks.

[Klast Brell]

Another reason for the disparity is the nations ability to pay for training. Phelps had the luxury of being able to make training for the Olympics his full time job. He had state of the art facilities to train in and a whole ecosystem of staff assisting in his training. Scientists using cutting edge technology to analyze his every movement to refine it and squeeze the maximum efficiency out. Compare that to some dud from whateverstan who trains part time after work in some muddy lake.

[Kulaf]

Hehe. Funny you put it that way when just a few decades ago people were saying the exact opposite. All of the Soviet athletes were basically paid "pros" and the US athletes were doing everything on their own. The field is probably more level now that is ever has been......which would account for three Jamaican women sweeping the 100m finals in track.

[Alluveal]

From an athletics/records standpoint they can eliminate it right now. Just hold samples forever and continue testing as new procedures are developed. Strip records and medals from anyone testing positive. They are currently retaining samples for 8 years and will continue to test said samples as new tests are developed.

So if you hold them long enough you can eliminate the cheaters from the record books. But when you figure that even prior to the Olympics Phelps was making 4 million a year in endorsements......and after that number will probably increase 10 fold. Why would someone of that rank as an athlete really care if you caught him 8 years later after he has pocketed 300+ million bucks.

I wasn't aware they kept samples for eight years. Vewwwy interesting.

[Harlowe]

I say we legalize everything......bionics........drugs.....JATO rocket up your ass......get er done!

Hells yea!