Olympic Swimmers 'Certain' To Pick Up Virus From Three Teaspoons of Rio Water (independent.co.uk) 280
An anonymous reader writes from a report via The Independent: The Associated Press has released a 16-month-long study that shows just days before the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro begin, the waterways in the city are teeming with dangerous viruses and bacteria. The report says both athletes and tourists are at risk of getting ill from the contaminated water. "The first results of the study published over a year ago showed viral levels at up to 1.7 million times what would be considered worrisome in the United States or Europe," reports The Independent. "At those concentrations, swimmers and athletes who ingest just three teaspoons of water are almost certain to be infected with viruses that can cause stomach and respiratory illnesses and, more rarely, heart and brain inflammation -- although whether they actually fall ill depends on a series of factors including the strength of the individual's immune system." Many of the athletes have been taking antibiotics, bleaching oars and donning plastic suits and gloves to prevent illnesses, but antibiotics combat bacterial infections, not viruses. The AP investigation found that infectious adenovirus readings turned up at nearly 90 percent of the test sites over 16 months of testing. What's more is that "the beaches often have levels of bacterial markers for sewage pollution that would be cause for concern abroad -- and sometimes even exceed Rio state's lax water safety standards," reports The Independent.
There is no spoon (Score:5, Funny)
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Many of the athletes have been taking antibiotics,...
So drug taking remains rife within the Olympics.
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and the USSR is big to fully ban.
Re:There is no spoon (Score:5, Insightful)
That should work well against the virus laden water.
Re:There is no spoon (Score:5, Funny)
Hey, it's the Olympics. New event - see who can get the runs the fastest :-)
If it weren't for politics and money, governments would be putting travel bans in place.
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Wouldn't there have been bans prior to the Olympics? How about neighboring countries?
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Wouldn't there have been bans prior to the Olympics? How about neighboring countries?
This is the first olympics in south america.
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It might, antibiotics are frequently prescribed to 'bolster the immune system'. Many of the bodies mechanisms for fighting infections are shared both for fighting bacterial and viral infections. If you make the body less hospitable to bacterial infection with antibiotics you free resources for resting viral pathogens.
Of course this results in all kinds of potential to create new antibiotic resistant super bugs. After all the usual course of action is to continue treating with antibiotics for a while afte
Re:There is no spoon (Score:5, Funny)
I believe the problem has been solved
Check out the new Speedos [wordpress.com]
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You're going to feel pretty silly rocking up to the spoon race without a spoon now aren't you!
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That's not a spoon, that's a knife!
If you ask me (Score:5, Funny)
Re:If you ask me (Score:4, Funny)
They will not really be swimming, just going through the motions*.
*("movements" in US English)
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Re: If you ask me (Score:2, Informative)
Yes, but you don't say bowel motions. He was translating the pun for you guys, but you missed it anyway.
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I get it, it just doesn't work in US English. "Going through the motions" doesn't conjure up any reference to the crap (literal or figurative) in the water. "Going through the movements" is just an unusual thing nobody would say. I doubt GP didn't understand. It's just not funny in US English.
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Some highlights from the marathon https://youtu.be/4YNl3Zhiz90?t=69 [youtu.be] courtesy of Monty Python.
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The water-sports athletes at Rio will be up shit creek.
Aren't they two different fetishes?
It's only different by a few inches. (Sorry, somebody had to go there).
They only went there if their aim was off (by a few inches).
I don't get it. (Score:5, Interesting)
They've known for years and it is not uncommon for the Olympic city to host an event in another city (e.g. London held Sailing etc in Dorset), why did they HAVE to have these events in the dangerous Rio waters? I mean sure, a city that is on the coast, unlike others like the aforementioned London, COULD host water sports IF there are suitable waters. In this case there are no suitable waters, why couldn't they just move the event? It is not like they spent money for infrastructure for Sailing - in fact they didn't spend the promised money for sewage treatment, so they could just move the venue at any time.
Follow the money (Score:5, Insightful)
In this case there are no suitable waters, why couldn't they just move the event?
A great question. I think the answer is that the IOC doesn't actually give a shit (pun intended) about the well being of the athletes as long as they get paid. They let the Russians into the games despite CLEAR evidence [amazonaws.com] of state sponsored doping. The IOC could easily have set benchmarks for water quality and time tables and made arrangements for a backup venue if the cleanup couldn't happen in time. But they couldn't be bothered. Why? I think the answer will be found if you follow the money.
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The IOC could easily have set benchmarks for water quality and time tables and made arrangements for a backup venue if the cleanup couldn't happen in time.
They still can (and should!!) do that right now. It would cost a little bit of money, but they could easily say, "we are moving the rowing and swimming to the Mississippi River outside Council Bluffs." Alternately, they could go to Europe, or Australia. I guarantee there is a venue that would accept them at this late date. Even if they decided to change next week, it would still be ok. Even if they had to delay those portions of the olympics to next month, it would be ok. It might even be better, because it
Sanctioning doping through moral hazard (Score:5, Interesting)
The remaining events they're in aren't as readily impacted by long-term doping, only short-term doping and other exploits (such as hyper-oxygenated blood for cycling) which all of their athletes are being invasively triple-checked for at this point.
Sadly not true at all. Russian wrestling has the largest number of positive doping results for Russian athletes after athletics and weightlifting. I've been in that sport for 35 years and I can assure you that both long and short term doping would help a lot in wrestling. Same with swimming, gymnastics, and a variety of other sports. What people don't realize about doping is that the most useful thing about it is that it reduces recovery time. It allows you to train more and at a higher intensity. This can make a huge difference even in skill based sports like wrestling.
Furthermore you can check all you want but it isn't hard to pass a drug test. Lance Armstrong was tested hundreds of times over years and never tested positive. With the aid of a doctor it's almost trivial to avoid testing positive even if someone is using something that the tests can detect. Which often isn't the case.
So yeah, Russian got a big bucket of banhammer to the noggin' this year, and I expect several more of their athletes to get stuck by the at-games testing and DQ'ed.
Not big enough. The Russians engaged in state sponsored doping. The ONLY response to that that has any meaning is to ban the country that engages in it. All of them. The government of Russia and their sports ministry engaged in systematic corruption of sport. You cannot remedy that by banning individual athletes. By the IOC being unwilling to make the tough decision they have effectively sanctioned state sponsored doping. Every country can look at Russia now and rightly think "there is no punishment for state sponsored doping programs". If an athlete tests positive they just throw that athlete under the bus and send the next one out there. Economists call this moral hazard [wikipedia.org] and that is exactly what is happening here.
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Clear evidence of state sponsored doping that can be resolved by creating extra anti-doping testing measures instead of indirectly banning innocent athletes who have worked harder than your ass ever has for your own job on account of guilty ones.
You cannot fix state sponsored doping by any means other than banning the nation that does it. If you try to solve the problem by catching individual athletes two things will happen. 1) you won't catch very many of them and 2) the nation doing the doping will just send another doper to replace the few you caught. Congratulations you have solved absolutely nothing. Furthermore once the state starts a doping program, NOBODY is innocent. Russia has literally murdered whistleblowers and they have forced ev
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It was some time ago to either move the open water events from the bay, or at least have a backup plan if/when the waters weren't cleaned up. The world sailing body was fired [usnews.com] over pushing to move it.
athletes and tourists are at risk of getting ill (Score:5, Insightful)
And then bring it home to the rest of the world.
An example of the Olympic games forward planning and their high standards.
You call THAT a water safety standard?!? (Score:5, Interesting)
"The first results of the study published over a year ago showed viral levels at up to 1.7 million times what would be considered worrisome in the United States or Europe,...the beaches often have levels of bacterial markers for sewage pollution that would be cause for concern abroad -- and sometimes even exceed Rio state's lax water safety standards..."
When viral levels are that high, why are you trying to convince anyone that Rio even has a documented "water safety standard"? You've got to be fucking kidding me with that shit.
With those kinds of "standards", bleach would considered a safe alternative to drinking water, asbestos is just a "mild irritant" in construction, and DDT is considered a flavor additive in food production.
No wonder no one gives a shit about Zika infections anymore.
Re:You call THAT a water safety standard?!? (Score:4, Funny)
According to this study, they're gonna give a shit pretty soon, it would seem. A lot of very, very unpleasant shits.
The Olympic Dream (Score:5, Insightful)
Given all of Brazil's problems, was hosting the Olympics such a good idea? Never mind that the FIFA World Cup nearly bankrupted the country, they're now putting on a show that they can't afford. They have rampant poverty in Rio, pollution issues, body parts washing up on beaches and even Zika yet here we are about to have another meaningless Olympic games in a country that won't easily recover from it.
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> Given all of Brazil's problems, was hosting the Olympics such a good idea?
Of course not, it wastes a lot of money that they arenever going to get back. In democratic countries in Europe where they asked the population they always said "NO" to politicians trying to get their moment of fame when organizing a big sporting event with someone else's money.
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was hosting the Olympics such a good idea?
It depends on the size of the bribe. If the bribe was large enough, it was a great idea for the bribed ones. Otherwise, they are just imbeciles.
How many cash, Brazilian whores and coke would have been needed to convince you to happily have exactly the same idea? Do you think you're more expensive to corrupt than the actual decision makers? I doubt it.
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And Zika is the really sad thing. Just look at Florida right now. We have essentially one neighborhood with a Zika outbreak. Why is that? Well lets see the mosquito that carries it has a pretty limited range and the path the infection spreads by is really mosquito -> person -> mosquito -> person ... So we can basically assume that since all the rest of Miami isn't a Zika hotzone it did not get there thru natural geographic expansion. Zika is here because someone went somewhere got infected tha
Make the IOC members pre-swim (Score:4, Insightful)
The IOC committee members who selected Rio for the Olympics should be require to pre-swim the open water race courses. Also I expect all IOC committee members to give up their hotel suits to athletes whose residence rooms are not ready. Because the games are about the athletes, right?
"swimmers and athletes" (Score:2)
New Olympic logo (Score:5, Funny)
http://i.imgur.com/FApqk3D.jpg [imgur.com]
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If you're going to steal from reddit, at list link the source [reddit.com].
News Flash (Score:2)
Third world country has third world water quality. Film at 11.
Hell, many first world countries have trouble with water quality, the US included. What would be surprising -- shocking, really -- is if Rio had pristine water with all of the slums and the lack of sanitation.
I'll invite Slashdot to catastRIOphe2016!! (Score:2)
There are approximately 10500 athletes expected to participate in the 2016 Rio games.
What is the number of athletes you expect to be sickened, injured, or killed during the event?
Notes: the "sickness" window extends to sicknesses identified up to 90d after the Olympics.
These must be exceptional injuries: pulling a hamstring running a race would NOT count. Pulling a hamstring fleeing a collapsing stadium WOULD count. Kidnapping, while not necessarily technically an injury, would count. It doesn't have to
Swim for your lives. (Score:2)
It's a shame (Score:3)
I feel bad for the people because most of the developed world is now making fun of their country. They do have plenty of issues and maybe some will improve with the visibility. Politicians made promises they couldn't keep (go figure) and the corrupt IOC took enough bribes to make it worth their while. Now the citizens, athletes, and fans will suffer.
I think Brazil could have done a wonderful job had it not been Rio and if they could utilize many of their existing structures for events. It might be better for everyone if future games are held in a country, not just a key city.
Can't they make their tea (Score:2)
using bottled water
Antibiotics? (Score:2)
Microbiota regulates immune defense against respiratory tract influenza A virus infection
http://www.pnas.org/content/108/13/5354.short
Open water swimming (Score:5, Insightful)
Will they be swimming in the waterways? Don't they have swimming pools with chlorinated water?
Some of the events are events. [wikipedia.org]
If I was in one of those sports I would be thinking pretty hard about skipping the Olympics no matter how big a deal they happen to be. I can't imagine a gold medal being worth the problems that would come from swimming through raw sewage. The fact that the IOC hasn't stepped in to change the venue tells you everything you need to know about how much the IOC cares about the well being of the athletes.
Re:Open water swimming (Score:5, Informative)
Messed up the link. open water swimming events [wikipedia.org].
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The fact that the IOC hasn't stepped in to change the venue tells you everything you need to know about how much the IOC cares about the well being of the athletes.
This has been big news for quite some time, so a little FTFY is in order:
The fact that the athletes are still going there tells you everything you need to know about how much the athletes care about their own well-being.
The stakes are high (Score:5, Insightful)
The fact that the athletes are still going there tells you everything you need to know about how much the athletes care about their own well-being.
A lot of them aren't going because of the sanitation problems. But let me ask you this. If you had worked and trained your whole life for something that you probably only had one shot to accomplish, would you give that up easily? Something that for many of them can literally change their life and that of their family for the better? If you say you would give it up easily then you don't adequately understand the question or the stakes involved. I was once an athlete that competed at a fairly high level and I still coach in my sport. I understand why the athletes are conflicted about giving up their chance at an Olympic medal.
For some of these athletes they are literally competing for their future financial well being. Winning an Olympic medal in some places can be life changing. It can make some of them national hero's and set them and their family up for years to come. Would you swim through a river of shit if it would drag your family out poverty? Because for some, that is the stakes on the table.
Even for those not attempting to drag themselves out of poverty, competing in the Olympics can be life changing. In my sport it's basically a job interview. Competing in the Olympics can result in a modest but solid income and career for those who want to coach in the sport. Win a gold medal and it can result in substantial economic benefit if you play your cards right. It's about a lot more than just a shiny piece of metal.
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The fact that the athletes are still going there tells you everything you need to know about how much the athletes care about their own well-being.
A lot of them aren't going because of the sanitation problems. But let me ask you this. If you had worked and trained your whole life for something that you probably only had one shot to accomplish, would you give that up easily? Something that for many of them can literally change their life and that of their family for the better? If you say you would give it up easily then you don't adequately understand the question or the stakes involved. I was once an athlete that competed at a fairly high level and I still coach in my sport. I understand why the athletes are conflicted about giving up their chance at an Olympic medal.
For some of these athletes they are literally competing for their future financial well being. Winning an Olympic medal in some places can be life changing. It can make some of them national hero's and set them and their family up for years to come. Would you swim through a river of shit if it would drag your family out poverty? Because for some, that is the stakes on the table.
Even for those not attempting to drag themselves out of poverty, competing in the Olympics can be life changing. In my sport it's basically a job interview. Competing in the Olympics can result in a modest but solid income and career for those who want to coach in the sport. Win a gold medal and it can result in substantial economic benefit if you play your cards right. It's about a lot more than just a shiny piece of metal.
Lots of things can result in substantial economic benefit if you play your cards rights, that doesn't mean overlooking the risk of contracting and passing on a particularly nasty disease, especially when the best-case scenario is one where the individual get's all the reward and society gets nothing. This is a particularly selfish course of action.
Sports is a business (Score:2)
Lots of things can result in substantial economic benefit if you play your cards rights, that doesn't mean overlooking the risk of contracting and passing on a particularly nasty disease, especially when the best-case scenario is one where the individual get's all the reward and society gets nothing.
Society gets nothing? You mean except for someone with an income, who can buy things, pay taxes, provide for a family, generate economic value and be a productive member of society, right? You mean except for the fact that sports entertainment is a multi-billion dollar business that provides a substantial living for literally millions of people around the world, right? Get a clue. Just because it isn't your cup of tea doesn't mean it doesn't have value. If an adult wants to take some risks to win an Ol
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If an adult wants to take some risks to win an Olympic gold medal, that's their decision and they get to live with the consequences. It doesn't hurt you in the least so I'm not sure why you are bent out of shape over it.
I don't usually mind that adults go out and play games; this instance is a little different though - they are risking an infectious disease. Their "Me Me Me!" attitude actually carries with it harm that I cannot avoid. I'm all for a mandatory quarantine for everyone going to infectious areas, but that isn't what is being proposed, is it?
And spare me the entertainment argument - sure it's entertainment, but that doesn't mean I have to consider it any more important than other entertainment like keeping up wi
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Society gets nothing? You mean except for someone with an income, who can buy things, pay taxes, provide for a family, generate economic value and be a productive member of society, right?
As if you have a job solely to benefit others. Spare me. Big time sports are a business. People pay to see them play because they get value from doing so. It's part of the entertainment industry and whether you like it or not, it's a real business with real economic benefit to society.
If the swimmer wants to take that gamb
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Don't bother debating with them. They think they're a progressive socialist, but are really just a fucking moron.
As someone who's quite the opposite of a progressive socialist, I'll say you're being a moron if you're not considering the possibility that these people will help spread those diseases.
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WTF???
Are you seriously thinking that all an individuals' actions should be for the betterment of the larger society?!?!
Where did this mindset come along? That's not the type of individualistic thinking that make this country great.
Sure. we work together, and sure we all make society a good thing to live in, but you're making it sound like it is the primary thing all individuals should strive towar
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WTF???
Are you seriously thinking that all an individuals' actions should be for the betterment of the larger society?!?!
Way to go, snipping the context there... did you miss this bit?
the risk of contracting and passing on a particularly nasty disease, especially when the best-case scenario is
I never said that an individuals actions *should* be for the betterment of society, I said that an individuals actions should not harm society! There's a gulf between what I wrote and what you read (and quoted).
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Given the odds and the competition, that's an incredibly short-sighted gamble. To devote years to something that unlikely when ther
Opportunity cost (Score:5, Insightful)
Given the odds and the competition, that's an incredibly short-sighted gamble. To devote years to something that unlikely when there are MANY better ways to provide. It's all about ego. "Look at me".
Just because something is a long shot doesn't make it unworthy of pursuing. Very few Olympic athletes put all their eggs in the pro-athlete basket. Most who pursue Olympic dreams have backup plans independent of sport. In my sport (wrestling) virtually all the athletes who compete in the games are either college graduates or are currently in college. They pursue their Olympic ambition but most have jobs and go on to perfectly normal careers. You only have a few years to be a top level athlete in most cases so the opportunity cost to chasing the Olympics is relatively small in most cases in the long run.
All about ego? No it is not. I won't deny that ego is a part of it but that is far too glib an evaluation of what is really going on. It's about fun. It's about money. It's about opportunity. It's about goal setting and achievement. It's about a lot of things well beyond ego. And frankly there is nothing wrong with trying to prove you are the best in the world at something. If you are good enough to qualify for the Olympic games that proves you are remarkably talented at something. No different than an engineer building something amazing or an artist creating a fantastic work of art.
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wish I had mod points.
Ego (Score:3)
Not really. All those things are driven entirely by ego.
Providing for your family is about ego? Because an Olympic medal can facilitate that. Getting opportunities for your future is about ego? Yeah not so much. You seem to not understand the meaning of the word. In reality the only thing in sports that is about ego is the desire to prove oneself in competition. To step foot on the playing field you have to have a robust ego but that's actually a positive thing in that circumstance.
The only act that isn't completely driven by ego is an act of absolute selflessness.
Confirmed. You don't understand what the word means.
Trust when I say that everyone involved in the olympics from the IOC, the spectators, sponsors, film crews, setup and teardown crews, athletes etc have a personal agenda.
Everything in human ex
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Can you name one open water swimmer who won a medal in any prior Olympics? How about for Crew? I would say your long-term health isn't worth the financial benefits that the Rio open water sports provides you: http://moneyramblings.com/money-olympic-athletes-earn/.
Benefits are personal (Score:2)
Can you name one open water swimmer who won a medal in any prior Olympics?
Since I don't follow that particular sport, no. But aside from Michael Phelps I couldn't tell you the name of any swimmer in the pool either because I don't follow that sport either. However in my favorite sport (freestyle wrestling) I could tell you every member of the last several teams, where they went to college, who they beat to make the team, and a lot more with enough detail to make me sound like a stalker.
I would say your long-term health isn't worth the financial benefits that the Rio open water sports provides you
That's for them to decide for themselves. I don't judge. If I was in those sports I'd have
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... If you had worked and trained your whole life for something that you probably only had one shot to accomplish, would you give that up easily? Something that for many of them can literally change their life and that of their family for the better?
Point taken. But really, in this regard how does competing at the Olympics differ from a stint on any of several reality TV shows? And arguably the TV shows might be safer.
I'm not saying this to be flippant, nor to minimize the dedication and hard work and sacrifices of athletes who compete at the highest levels. But seriously, when do we stop giving in to corporate greed and corruption? The IOC is organized thuggery, and there are uncomfortable parallels between the Olympic Games and the Hunger Games. Yes,
Sports is a business (Score:5, Insightful)
Point taken. But really, in this regard how does competing at the Olympics differ from a stint on any of several reality TV shows? And arguably the TV shows might be safer.
Sports is a business of entertainment. To get money from sports it has to be able to draw a crowd. There are however some pretty substantial differences between sports and reality TV. 1) Reality TV isn't real whereas sports (usually) is. 2) Sports demonstrably has a lot of benefits for those who participate even if you ignore the financial. I defy you to say the same about Reality TV. 3) Sports still exists even if there is no camera recording the event. Most of the competitions were never recorded and certainly never broadcast. Reality TV doesn't exist without a broadcast.
I'm not saying this to be flippant, nor to minimize the dedication and hard work and sacrifices of athletes who compete at the highest levels. But seriously, when do we stop giving in to corporate greed and corruption?
Cut off the money and the greed and corruption will go away. Sports business is no different from any other business, be it technology, manufacturing or retail. If you bring money into the picture, you can be sure greed and corruption will follow. The best you can hope for is to keep it contained.
I don't know about you, but to me that sounds even more like "Hunger Games".
You mean except for the bits about killing people or the fact that it's quite voluntary, right? Spare me the silly comparisons. There are things you can rightfully criticize about high level sports but comparing them to the Hunger Games is just idiotic. If you want to make serious criticisms I'll be happy to provide you a long list of problems to work on. Plenty to choose from I assure you.
If I was any kind of a swimmer, then yes, I probably would. The more important question is, "with all of humanity's productive power and technological advancements, why is it still necessary for anyone to swim through a river of shit in order drag their families out of poverty?" Never mind doing so for a chance at a 'job interview'.
Now you are on to the right question. The fact is that the IOC could EASILY have relocated the venues. The fact that they didn't speaks to the corruption within that organization. The IOC professes to care about the well being of the athletes but their actions often seem to indicate otherwise. What they really care about is the money train for the people within the IOC. This isn't surprising but I'm a little surprised they care so little for their brand that they are willing to endure all this bad press over what really was an avoidable problem.
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Except the only way the IOC will be fixed is if many athletes decline to participate this year and the IOC gets a GIANT black mark because they did not deem it necessary to relocate the games. An even bigger black mark would happen if say a gates, buffet, ellison or some other super rich guy said hey lets do an alternate olympics in greece this year at the old venue and have all the athletes go there instead. I know it is not going to happen because the athletes are bound to go to the olympics in 99% of th
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In the big picture, not much. For 99.99% of the population, the Olympics are little more than an odd blend of entertainment and patriotism.
For an individual with an extreme passion for that specific sport? It may be the only thing that matters.
Personally, I tend to ignore coverage of any sports that I don't personally play which makes Olympic event coverage of little interest, bu
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I have to admit that I don't really understand why any population with a lick of sense would want to play host to such a beast, though.
I read an article about it........it seems in the late 70s or so, the IOC was having some trouble finding venues because of reasons that make sense and you could probably list them. Along the way, cities started realizing that the olympics if done right could be a great source of revenue (from advertising or something, I can't remember what, sorry) and started fighting to host it. Probably cities are even more anxious to host it when they can reduce their expenses by getting 'help' from a national governme
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I'm not saying this to be flippant, nor to minimize the dedication and hard work and sacrifices of athletes who compete at the highest levels. But seriously, when do we stop giving in to corporate greed and corruption? The IOC is organized thuggery, and there are uncomfortable parallels between the Olympic Games and the Hunger Games. Yes, it's an extreme comparison; but a little thought, especially in the context of your argument, makes it seem somewhat less extreme.
Few, if any of the athletes care, or even know. There are exceptions... Look back on the history of the AAU, and Prefonaine. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... [wikipedia.org]. And look at the shit storm that is the NCAA, and lawsuits by football and basketball players. But, in the big scheme of things, most just want to compete. I swam competitively, for hours, six days a week, all year long for several years. Money, or even scholarship, was never the goal, it was just about friendly competition, and our team beatin
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Winning an Olympic medal in some places can be life changing. It can make some of them national hero's and set them and their family up for years to come.
This is a really good point. Winning a single gold medal 40 years ago is the unfortunate thing that gave us Caitlyn (formerly Bruce) Jenner and her awful family. Members of 1984 US women's gymnastic team are still famous here in the US, especially Mary Lou Retton. Nadia Comaneci has been the subject of interviews this year on the 40th anniversary of her excellence in Olympic gymnastics. These are but a few examples.
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Winning an Olympic medal in some places can be life changing
Caitlyn Jenner, is that you?
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Even for those not attempting to drag themselves out of poverty, competing in the Olympics can be life changing. In my sport it's basically a job interview. Competing in the Olympics can result in a modest but solid income and career for those who want to coach in the sport. Win a gold medal and it can result in substantial economic benefit if you play your cards right. It's about a lot more than just a shiny piece of metal.
Ask anyone to name a silver medal winner from years past. Chances are they can't name even one, which goes to show you how much these athletes are respected, even when they beat 99.999% of the world to demonstrate exactly how good they are.
Yes, we've heard of a handful of Olympic competitors opening up gyms, or doing something else to try and extend their 15 minutes of fame. But the sad reality is people really don't care, and I'm willing to bet the overwhelming majority of gold medal winners go on to fin
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Ask anyone to name a silver medal winner from years past
I couldn't name a single gold medal winner...
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Ask anyone to name a silver medal winner from years past
I couldn't name a single gold medal winner...
The only gold medal winner I know the name of is Michael Phelps. I don't even know what event he won in (some swimming event, but there are dozens), what year he won, or anything else. The Olympics fucking suck and need to go away.
Olympics is the pinnacle for many sports (Score:4, Interesting)
The Olympics are kind of a showcase for random sports, as well as an opportunity to represent your country (whatever that means), but I bet it is not considered the end-all event in most sports.
Depends on the sport. In my sport (wrestling) the Olympics is considered the pinnacle of the sport for better or worse. That's true for quite a few other sports. Gymnastics, swimming, track & field, figure skating, etc all have the Olympics as THE premiere event. I'm not entirely convinced this is good for those particular sports but that's the way it is right now. Some sports like road cycling, tennis, and several others the Olympics is a respected event but not the end-all-be-all of the sport. For example in cycling the premiere event is the Tour de France. In tennis it is probably Wimbledon.
Most sports that are in the Olympics have the Olympics as the top event on their calendar. Otherwise there wouldn't be much point to the Olympics really.
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Does the IOC force athletes to sign any kind of waiver? Just curious whether IOC is liable when an athlete gets sick from having to compete in water that a reasonable person would realize is not safe?
Waivers of liability (Score:2)
Does the IOC force athletes to sign any kind of waiver?
I don't know for certain but I would be very surprised if they didn't have some sort of waiver of liability. That sort of thing is pretty standard on every sporting event I've ever entered. I can't imagine the Olympics would be any different. There probably is a similar waiver for the national governing bodies as well. High level athletics involves a shocking number of lawyers believe it or not.
Just curious whether IOC is liable when an athlete gets sick from having to compete in water that a reasonable person would realize is not safe?
Problem is that the athlete always has the option to withdraw. It might be different if the IOC represented t
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That's been pretty clear since the 70s, if not earlier.
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Will they be swimming in the waterways? Don't they have swimming pools with chlorinated water?
While their rooms are in the "olympic villiage" or whatever they're calling it, it's not a prison. Any of them can go hang at the beach in the afternoon once they've competed for the day.
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Re: waterways (Score:4, Interesting)
There is a 10km open water event, so your statement that this is not a factor is incorrect.
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And I'm pretty sure land swimmers won't be affected as much.
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The open water swimmers will be hit the hardest out of anyone, since they will be immersed in raw sewage. Ever try swimming without getting water in your mouth (much less other orifices)? It's impossible.
The boaters are at risk as well, of course, but not to the degree that the swimmers are.
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I completely agree. One third of the human population has parasites inside of them. Ever wonder Brazilian women are so thin?
Take a look at this video [youtube.com]. It looks like pasta. It's so yummy! The US Olympic athletes should be paying for that privilege if you ask me.
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exposure to most new pathogens is likely what keeps our immune systems training
Does you no good if you are exposed to multiple potentially serious pathogens at the same time, and the results can be fatal.
Seriously though, I imagine those going to the Olympics will have received their respective vaccinations well in advance.
This may be shocking for you to learn: But there are life-threatening diseases you can get from contaminated water which there is no vaccine against.
Available vaccines mostly only m
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3 citations, please
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If I were an athelete at risk, I would skip this one. If for no other reason that it will be worse in the future if they tolerate it this time.
Easy to say hard to do. If these athletes are successful at the Olympics they stand to make a lot of money from sponsorships, speaking engagements, and product endorsements of various kinds.
The trouble is just getting to the Olympics is *hard* and they are not guaranteed a spot in the future, especially if they sit this one out. Even their own coaches/trainers etc might decide to throw most of their efforts behind someone younger and more *committed* if they back out.
So the risks are big, but on the othe
What Olympians are actually like (Score:5, Insightful)
The reality is that (a) most of the athletes are borderline sociopathic animals,
Speaking as someone who knows several Olympic athletes personally you are completely full of shit if you actually believe that. I played D1 college sports (wrestling) and one of my coaches was a multi-time Olympic gold medalist. Nicest guy you would ever care to meet. He loved to compete in his chosen sport like some people here love to tinker with nifty technology. But that doesn't make one a "borderline sociopath". Furthermore through sport he managed to get out of some fairly rough circumstances and so have several others I know. I've trained with and interacted with numerous Olympians over the last 35 years competing and coaching my sport. If you actually knew any of these people the word "sociopath" would be the furthest thing from your mind. The fact that you feel the need to tear down someone you never met and know nothing about means that YOU are the sociopath in this conversation.
and these sorts of problems are not going to prevent them from fighting hard for their shiny piece of metal;
If you think an Olympic medal means winning a "shiny piece of metal", you don't have a clue what it represents.
From living through the London Olympics, it was pretty clear that the whole event is just for TV.
Of course it is. That's one of the main sources of revenue for the Olympics and for any major sport. Every major sports league is made for TV because that's how you get the largest audience. The number of people who can actually attend any given event in person is comparatively small. NBC pays the Olympics tens of billions of dollars for broadcasting rights. Of course the games are televised.
get out of your box (Score:4, Interesting)
The word he is looking for is Narcissism: the pursuit of gratification from vanity or egotistic admiration of one's own attributes. Narcissistic personality disorder (NPD) is a long term pattern of abnormal behavior characterized by exaggerated feelings of self-importance, an excessive need for admiration, and a lack of understanding of others' feelings.
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I personally know... (Score:2)
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Very few people do anything that matters to more then a few people around them, Olympic athletes are praised the world over, they are held up as shining examples. You can argue against that all you want, you will still be wrong.
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Still, we need to retire the Olympics for awhile. Th
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I hope not. Keep the IOC far the fuck away from the city I live in.
Hopefully this meaningless tripe will implode due to the IOC's corruption and greed.
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Brazil and Russia are the largest economies on their respective continents
Where do you get your numbers? Russia is the largest by geographical area but their economy is puny compared to China's.
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Not every athlete grew up in a septic tank like the Americans and some Europeans. Some do have a fully trained immune system.
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Let me make a wild guess, English is not your first language.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... [wikipedia.org]
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Re: Strong Government (Score:2, Insightful)
They have a strong government, dipshit. It's just fucking corrupt and incompetent.. You know, like most governments on Earth?
How about you write up a similar assessment of Venezuela? Or.. No.. You're a hypocrite.
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Viruses and bacteria in the water in 3rd world countries is a problem with weak government? There are strong governments all over the world which have nasty air and water. China's government is very powerful, yet their water and air are totally filthy.
People seem to defer to government because using violence and the threat of violence is an expedient "solution" to a problem, but rarely is it a good solution. There's also no guarantee that government power, once granted, won't be used for evil.
If libertar