www.hkjc.org.cn

www.hkjc.org.cn

Steroid use rumors and steroid bans are nothing new when it comes to the Olympics and it looks like the Beijing 2008 Olympics will be no different than the past Olympic games. Olympic history is peppered with steroid abuse stories including the very famous stories on Ben Johnson in the 1988 Olympics and more recently Marion Jones.

This years Beijing Olympic games has seen dozens of athletes from around the world being banned for steroid use and doping. The U.S. swimming team has had several of it’s members investigated. Greek track and weighlifting athletes have been under the microscope since the spring with several being banned from the 2008 Olympics. Both the Romanian and Russian track teams have seen members banned from this years Olympic games.

Searches in Google for anything related to steroids and the Beijing 2008 Olympics and you’ll get back tens of thousands of results. Steroid issues are alive and well when it comes to Olympic athletes even though the Olympic committee has vowed to eliminate them from the Games. When it comes to steroids the Olympic games are no different than any other sport or league. Athletes will do whatever they feel is necessary to win, it’s simply a condition of the competitive spirit.

It’s obvious in this day and age that when thousands of world class athletes are brought together that steroids will be in the limelight. Everyone loves to point out those athletes they feel are ‘cheating’ by using steroids, but is it really cheating if everyone is doing it. Athletes are competitive by nature and willing to do anything to win so why would you expect them to forego steroid usage if it will improve their performance.

I imagine that steroid controversies will continue for the duration of the Beijing Olympics. It would be no surprise to see athletes have medals revoked after winning at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games. What do you think? Should steroids be allowed at world level competitions? Is it necessary for athletes to use performance enhancing drugs to put in the best possible performance or is it better to have natural athletes showing what the human body can do on its own?

There’s no doubt that unless we come up with some way to discover all performance enhancing substances that steroid abuse will continue. And you can also bet that new ways to increase and enhance performance will be discovered and used by athletes in the future.

Copyright © 2008 Ed Bagley

Despite all of the United States’ great success in the 2008 Beijing Olympics, there was next to nothing to cheer about its middle distance runners in the track and field competition.

America’s hopes rode squarely on the shoulders of Bernard Lagat and Ryan Hall. The Kenyan-born Lagat had become an American citizen and was a proven winner in international competition, and Hall had become our American-born hope to medal and perhaps win in the marathon. Lagat sought gold in the 1500 and 5000-meter runs.

In the end, neither of them was even close enough to think about sniffing a medal. Worse yet, all of America’s men and women competitors in the 800, 1500, 5000, 10,000, 3,000 steeplechase and the marathon could muster only 1 of 36 possible medals.

If it was not for Shalane Flanagan’s third-place finish in the 10,000, the United States would not have won a single medal in the middle distance events. Her 30:22.22 clocking was good enough for the bronze medal and an American record.

The next best American finish was Shannon Rowbury’s 7th place in the 1500 in 4:03.58. Rowbury’s 7th place was the highest finish ever by an American woman in an Olympic 1,500-meter final.

The United States did not even have any qualifiers who made it to the finals in the men’s and women’s 800 and the men’s 1500. Lagat was eliminated in the semifinal heat for the 1500. The medalists in the 1500 clocked 3:32.94, 3:33.11 and 3:34.16.

Lagat was considered among the favorites in the race, having won both the1500 and 5000 titles at the 2007 World Championships in Osaka (Japan) last year. He went 3:34.77 in the 1500 and 13:45.87 in the 5000.

In the Olympic 5000, Lagat was way out of the money, finishing 9th in 13:26.89. Apparently, competition at the World Championships in Osaka was not nearly as difficult as it was in the Olympics since Lagat won the 1500 title in 13:45.87. The medalists in the 5000 at the Olympics clocked 12:57.82, 13:02.80 and 13:06.22.

Legate is known for his finishing speed. In both the 1500 and 5000 at the U. S. Olympic trials (which he won), he was content to go with a slow pace and simply out sprint his competition in the last lap. Having seen his Olympic 5000 effort, I would put Lagat’s last 400 at 52 and change. The problem was, unlike the U. S. trials, all of his competition in the Olympics ran as fast or faster.

For all the hoopla and bragging rights at the World Championships, the World Championships are simply not as big, not as important, not as competitive and not as fast as the Olympic Games. There is a reason why the Summer Olympics are held only once every 4 years. Once it was clear that Lagat would not perform at his best, we then learned of an injured left Achilles tendon. Whatever.

Hopes were high for Ryan Hall because in April of this year he placed 5th at the Flora London Marathon in 2:06.17, breaking his own record for the fastest ever marathon run by an American-born citizen. The marathon winner at the Beijing Olympics ran 2:06.32 to set an Olympic record.

America’s best finisher in the marathon was Dathan Ritzenhein in 2:11.59. Hall was 10th in 2:12.33 and Brian Sell was 22nd in 2:16.07. Both Ritzenhein and Hall got some valuable experience in Olympic competition, but no medals.

America could not buy a medal in any of the other eventsthe men’s 10,000 and 3000 steeplechase, and the women’s 5000, 3000 steeplechase and marathon. Such is the state of middle distance running in the United States in 2007.

Our American record-holder in the mile, Alan Webb, did not even qualify for the U. S. Olympic Team in the 1500. Seems some grand training plan of Webb’s went awry. Whatever.

When the day of the Olympic Trials or Olympic finals comes, you have to compete despite your physical, mental or emotional condition. You either qualify or you do not. You either medal in the competition or you do not. The Olympic Games are not a dress rehearsal.

Is there hope for improvement in America’s middle distance runners? I’m glad you finally asked. There are currently two answers to that question. First, well, certainly, there is always hope. Second, it reminds one of a cowboy movie with a two-member posse, there is Slim and none.

Unless our middle distance runners develop some genuine desire and belief that they can actually beat foreign runners, we are always going to be over-hyped and under-performed. We will never be the lead dog in the pack, we will always be looking at someone else’s backside, and Iditarod is a long race.

Since the inception of the Olympic mascot over 36 years ago with Waldi at the Munich Olympics, the mascot has been given the honorable role of representing the culture and history of the host city. This summer the mascots, also known as the five “Fuwa”, have been designed to express the playful, child-like qualities of five little friends, each with their own names and representation of China’s most popular animals, Beibei is the Fish; Jingjing, the Panda; Huanhuan, the Olympic flame; Yingying, the Tibetan Antelope and Nini, the Swallow. Then when you see the names together: Bei Jing Huan Ying Ni, you read: “Welcome to Beijing.”

As with most recent Olympic Games, our furry little friends are being included in the marketing and communication materials for this summer’s event. The five Fuwa or “good luck dolls” were presented as the mascots of the 2008 Olympic Games by the National Society of Chinese Literature Studies over two years ago, at an event marking the 1000 day countdown to the games.

The Olympic mascots are historically very popular with children, offering a friendly recognizable face for the games. This year, each Fuwa represents a primary color from the Olympic rings, and carries a message of friendship and peace to children all over the world through the Olympic spirit.

With the mascots being licensed to a variety of Olympic merchandise from keychains to plates (300 items in total) there will be something for everyone to buy this summer, and with a captive audience of over a million tourists expected in Beijing for the event, sales are expected to be good! In fact you can even get ahead of the pack and buy merchandise for the 2010 Vancouver Games!

When it comes to China, however, some might argue that although the Fuwa are cute and friendly, having five icons as one mascot might confuse other cultures. The message, “Welcome to Bejing,” does not apply to those who don’t read Chinese, nor does the history behind the animals.

Others might also dispute that the greater the number of icons per mascot, the more they take away from the Games itself. Every nation likes to exert its national pride, but since the 1990’s the number of icons per mascot per Olympic Games has been growing steadily almost every year. In 1996, there was Izzy from the Atlanta Olympic Summer Games, but in 1998 the number jumped to the four Snowlets of Nagano, followed by the Olly, Syd and Millie of Sydney in 2002. Now in 2008, we have the five Fuwa and by 2020 there could be eight to ten different icons—which is almost an Olympic team by itself!

In effect, countries today are not only competing for gold medals, but also for bigger and better merchandising and licensing options. The Fuwa will surely help generate revenue for China, as host cities get to keep between 10 – 15% of the royalties, helping to offset the cost of hosting the games, which is thought to have cost China an estimated $38 billion.

All revenue and royalties aside, China has opened its gates to the future through the 2008 Beijing Olympics. By launching the new Olympic logo and their friendly mascots, the city is reaching out, inviting people around the world to join in with their dance, experience their culture, and share in their joy at hosting the games, which will commence in August.