08-23-2004, 10:53 PM
I'm a little embarrassed by how the US is doing at the games. Not, the loses, but all the winning.
I'll take all the medals we can get, as long as our athletes are playing by the rules. After the BALCO thing, it's hard to watch any of the U.S. track team without wondering about drugs. I look at Germany's swimming results: 0 gold, 1 silver, 4 bronze. East Germany used to have the best women's swim team in the world, and everyone knew the reason why. I hope that's not the way we look back on the U.S. track dominance (or swimming, for that matter) a few decades from now.
It seems though that many nations have their niche sports as well.
Absolutely. The only sports the U.S. group is really dominating are swimming, short-distance track, and various women's team sports. U.S. teams have always done well in those areas, so it's really nothing new. China is dominating a bunch of sports most Americans don't really follow, are not all that far behind in the medal count, and are keeping up nicely in terms of gold medals.
I'll take all the medals we can get, as long as our athletes are playing by the rules. After the BALCO thing, it's hard to watch any of the U.S. track team without wondering about drugs. I look at Germany's swimming results: 0 gold, 1 silver, 4 bronze. East Germany used to have the best women's swim team in the world, and everyone knew the reason why. I hope that's not the way we look back on the U.S. track dominance (or swimming, for that matter) a few decades from now.
It seems though that many nations have their niche sports as well.
Absolutely. The only sports the U.S. group is really dominating are swimming, short-distance track, and various women's team sports. U.S. teams have always done well in those areas, so it's really nothing new. China is dominating a bunch of sports most Americans don't really follow, are not all that far behind in the medal count, and are keeping up nicely in terms of gold medals.