Wondering how the UK might up its medal gold count I had a quick peak at Wiki to see how many medals there are for each sport. There are some very medal-rich sports where we are nowhere to be seen: Weightlifting 15 Wrestling 18 Shooting 15 Judo 14 Rhythmic Gym 18 (phwoar!) Fencing 10
The IOC was right to dump wrestling (only for idiot protesters to bring it back). Hopefully they will think about it again after Tokyo, or at least reduce the number of weight classes, same goes for weightlifting, Judo and Taekwondo.
I was growing up in Manchester when we bid for the Olympics. The bid did everything right, but Manchester can't compete on critical infrastructure with the global giants. The real killer was hotel rooms. We'd have had to use every student room in Manchester - wrecking the conference businesses and not the 5* experience athletes have had elsewhere. And filing Liverpool as well, with all the transport issues that would cause.
The Commonwealths showed this well - a great event on a more manageable scale. But easy to forget that events such as the shooting took place in Surrey, even then. London is really the only credible UK Olympics host.
If I was voting between those 4, I'd probably go for Rome, Italian passion, less security concern, good track record, a long time since they have hosted anything (France have just had Euroes and WC in 98) but Paris if not.
Wondering how the UK might up its medal gold count I had a quick peak at Wiki to see how many medals there are for each sport. There are some very medal-rich sports where we are nowhere to be seen: Weightlifting 15 Wrestling 18 Shooting 15 Judo 14 Rhythmic Gym 18 (phwoar!) Fencing 10
Simon Timson - an UK sport admin bigwig said Shooting was a target sport for Tokyo - and looking at other high medal number events to exploit. Very sensible stuff.
EDIT I wish there was a Strong Man event in the Olympics - a version of MPent for epic feats of strength. It'd make brilliant TV for those who don't watch the World's Strongest Man competition.
Wondering how the UK might up its medal gold count I had a quick peak at Wiki to see how many medals there are for each sport. There are some very medal-rich sports where we are nowhere to be seen: Weightlifting 15 Wrestling 18 Shooting 15 Judo 14 Rhythmic Gym 18 (phwoar!) Fencing 10
Simon Timson - an UK sport admin bigwig said Shooting was a target sport for Tokyo - and looking at other high medal number events to exploit. Very sensible stuff.
EDIT I wish there was a Strong Man event in the Olympics - a version of MPent for epic feats of strength. It'd make brilliant TV for those who don't watch the World's Strongest Man competition.
The problem with strongman is the massive mount of steroids that the competitors are all on, now obviously it can be an issue with the olympic weightlifting - but it's one of those unspoken things in WSM (Like pro wrestling being fake) that everyone knows about but noone talks about.
Wondering how the UK might up its medal gold count I had a quick peak at Wiki to see how many medals there are for each sport. There are some very medal-rich sports where we are nowhere to be seen: Weightlifting 15 Wrestling 18 Shooting 15 Judo 14 Rhythmic Gym 18 (phwoar!) Fencing 10
Simon Timson - an UK sport admin bigwig said Shooting was a target sport for Tokyo - and looking at other high medal number events to exploit. Very sensible stuff.
EDIT I wish there was a Strong Man event in the Olympics - a version of MPent for epic feats of strength. It'd make brilliant TV for those who don't watch the World's Strongest Man competition.
1) AFAIR GB used to do pretty well at shooting before the Dunblane massacre. Then owning a gun became more difficult and we produced far fewer shooters. Though in those days competitors emerged organically rather than were produced in quite the way they are now.
2) Does World's Strongest Man employ the same standards for drug misuse as the Olympics?
That's nothing new, as Chris Mullin had made his preferences clear a while ago. Nonetheless it is a salutary reminder that even Benn's former right hand man from the 1980s recognises that Corbyn is an electoral liability to Labour. The author of "A Very British Coup" supporting the "coup". The catch all term "Blairite" will now have to be applied to the Bennite who the Sun once called "the most hated man in Britain".
Wondering how the UK might up its medal gold count I had a quick peak at Wiki to see how many medals there are for each sport. There are some very medal-rich sports where we are nowhere to be seen: Weightlifting 15 Wrestling 18 Shooting 15 Judo 14 Rhythmic Gym 18 (phwoar!) Fencing 10
Simon Timson - an UK sport admin bigwig said Shooting was a target sport for Tokyo - and looking at other high medal number events to exploit. Very sensible stuff.
EDIT I wish there was a Strong Man event in the Olympics - a version of MPent for epic feats of strength. It'd make brilliant TV for those who don't watch the World's Strongest Man competition.
Nice as it is to have Murray getting gold, I think having tennis at the Olympics seems wrong. And football too. Jousting, a pursuit event in athletics, a strong man event and a three-legged race would be much more entertaining. (Who would you shackle Bolt to?). I'd also like another genuinely dangerous event (although the cycling road race this year seems to have come close!).
Wondering how the UK might up its medal gold count I had a quick peak at Wiki to see how many medals there are for each sport. There are some very medal-rich sports where we are nowhere to be seen: Weightlifting 15 Wrestling 18 Shooting 15 Judo 14 Rhythmic Gym 18 (phwoar!) Fencing 10
Simon Timson - an UK sport admin bigwig said Shooting was a target sport for Tokyo - and looking at other high medal number events to exploit. Very sensible stuff.
EDIT I wish there was a Strong Man event in the Olympics - a version of MPent for epic feats of strength. It'd make brilliant TV for those who don't watch the World's Strongest Man competition.
1) AFAIR GB used to do pretty well at shooting before the Dunblane massacre. Then owning a gun became more difficult and we produced far fewer shooters. Though in those days competitors emerged organically rather than were produced in quite the way they are now.
2) Does World's Strongest Man employ the same standards for drug misuse as the Olympics?
I doubt they do any testing. What is interesting about WSM is that those with physical advantages re long arms, lower centres of gravity et al still win the events they're genetically suited to.
Nice as it is to have Murray getting gold, I think having tennis at the Olympics seems wrong. And football too. Jousting, a pursuit event in athletics, a strong man event and a three-legged race would be much more entertaining. (Who would you shackle Bolt to?). I'd also like another genuinely dangerous event (although the cycling road race this year seems to have come close!).
The scheduling also favours some sports - Modern Pent has loads of great angles for disaster, quick run-offs, running on grass rather than track etc. That it's lost in the final day or so means it gets almost zero attention.
The geographic make-up of the IOC is also worth thinking about. By my reckoning, the composition by continent is:
Europe 43 Asia 20 Africa 14 N America 11 Australia+Pacific 6 S America 4
Clearly, having only four didn't prevent Rio from winning but there was a sense that after 120 years, S America was overdue a Games. But in a contest between timezones, you're looking at well over half the delegates coming from countries in the GMT+0 to GMT+3 range.
Oh yes. Those 'awesome' videos on Youtube are insane.
I love how the wingsuit proximity fliers feel that throwing themselves off half mile tall cliffs in a wingsuit was a bit boring, so to make more exciting they decide that after hurling themselves off the cliff, flying fingertip close to uneven rocks at 80mph in a wingsuit is the way to go to make life more interesting.
If I was voting between those 4, I'd probably go for Rome, Italian passion, less security concern, good track record, a long time since they have hosted anything (France have just had Euroes and WC in 98) but Paris if not.
There might be a few reasons why no-one will touch Rome with a barge pole and why a popular new mayor was elected on a platform of opposition. The prospect of Juicy non-construction contracts for the Mafia with stadiums that fail to materialise? The need to instead address a crumbling public infrastructure, which stands as evidence of that City's inability to deliver even the basics?
Interesting nugget on China - 26 golds, marked the lowest number since Atlanta in 1996.
They sent 416 athletes.
Quite an interesting chart amongst the BBC gloating showing the trends in the medals table: http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/olympics/37132833 China put in a huge effort for Beijing but not so much this time or the last. I suspect that they will want to do much better in Tokyo given local rivalries. For the UK the number of fourths is encouraging but further progress is going to require a generation of Adam Peaty's because we are pretty close to topped out in our strengths. Oh and a replacement for Mo.
With Mo gone our Athletics chances look very poor. The pipeline is hardly full. In the "next on the podium" we are supporting just 46 athletes for 138+ medals. By contrast Cycling has 61 "next on the podium" for 54 medals.
Nice as it is to have Murray getting gold, I think having tennis at the Olympics seems wrong. And football too. Jousting, a pursuit event in athletics, a strong man event and a three-legged race would be much more entertaining. (Who would you shackle Bolt to?). I'd also like another genuinely dangerous event (although the cycling road race this year seems to have come close!).
As a festival of sport, I quite like having the major sports present. Football should take a leaf out of rugby's book though and play six-a-side so that it can fit in a proper tournament over two weeks. Now that cricket has T20, why not chuck that in too? Sure, GB ought to be in with a shout but it's a much more popular and widely-played sport than many that are included. India or Pakistan might finally win a medal though the WIndies would have to enter about eight teams.
Wondering how the UK might up its medal gold count I had a quick peak at Wiki to see how many medals there are for each sport. There are some very medal-rich sports where we are nowhere to be seen: Weightlifting 15 Wrestling 18 Shooting 15 Judo 14 Rhythmic Gym 18 (phwoar!) Fencing 10
Simon Timson - an UK sport admin bigwig said Shooting was a target sport for Tokyo - and looking at other high medal number events to exploit. Very sensible stuff.
EDIT I wish there was a Strong Man event in the Olympics - a version of MPent for epic feats of strength. It'd make brilliant TV for those who don't watch the World's Strongest Man competition.
Shooting might be a good target sport (ha!) for Tokyo if the UK govt can get themselves together and allow them to train in the UK.
The GB shooting team have been training in Belgium I believe, a few of them trained here in the sandpit alongside the UAE team.
If I was voting between those 4, I'd probably go for Rome, Italian passion, less security concern, good track record, a long time since they have hosted anything (France have just had Euroes and WC in 98) but Paris if not.
There might be a few reasons why no-one will touch Rome with a barge pole and why a popular new mayor was elected on a platform of opposition. The prospect of Juicy non-construction contracts for the Mafia with stadiums that fail to materialise? The need to instead address a crumbling public infrastructure, which stands as evidence of that City's inability to deliver even the basics?
And one very serious problem the IOC would have with Rome's infrastructure is that archeologists have reason to complain virtually every time a street cover is lifted. New finds could easily delay the best plans for years, even before administrative incompetence and organised crime get involved.
Wondering how the UK might up its medal gold count I had a quick peak at Wiki to see how many medals there are for each sport. There are some very medal-rich sports where we are nowhere to be seen: Weightlifting 15 Wrestling 18 Shooting 15 Judo 14 Rhythmic Gym 18 (phwoar!) Fencing 10
Simon Timson - an UK sport admin bigwig said Shooting was a target sport for Tokyo - and looking at other high medal number events to exploit. Very sensible stuff.
EDIT I wish there was a Strong Man event in the Olympics - a version of MPent for epic feats of strength. It'd make brilliant TV for those who don't watch the World's Strongest Man competition.
Shooting might be a good target sport (ha!) for Tokyo if the UK govt can get themselves together and allow them to train in the UK.
The GB shooting team have been training in Belgium I believe, a few of them trained here in the sandpit alongside the UAE team.
Shooting has 45 Medals. We have just 3 people "podium ready" and 8 others for" next on podium". With 45 Medals available it really needs its own UK shooting centre,
Nice as it is to have Murray getting gold, I think having tennis at the Olympics seems wrong. And football too. Jousting, a pursuit event in athletics, a strong man event and a three-legged race would be much more entertaining. (Who would you shackle Bolt to?). I'd also like another genuinely dangerous event (although the cycling road race this year seems to have come close!).
My criteria for inclusion is that the Olympics should be the pinnacle of the sport, it should be what every athlete wants to win more than anything else.
If they're going to include Golf, Tennis, Basketball etc, then make it for amateurs like they do in Boxing, rather than just another stop on an international tour.
Football and Rugby also manage a good compromise solution, with the U23 teams and the Sevens respectively.
Interesting nugget on China - 26 golds, marked the lowest number since Atlanta in 1996.
They sent 416 athletes.
Quite an interesting chart amongst the BBC gloating showing the trends in the medals table: http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/olympics/37132833 China put in a huge effort for Beijing but not so much this time or the last. I suspect that they will want to do much better in Tokyo given local rivalries. For the UK the number of fourths is encouraging but further progress is going to require a generation of Adam Peaty's because we are pretty close to topped out in our strengths. Oh and a replacement for Mo.
With Mo gone our Athletics chances look very poor. The pipeline is hardly full. In the "next on the podium" we are supporting just 46 athletes for 138+ medals. By contrast Cycling has 61 "next on the podium" for 54 medals.
We should be able to get competitive in the athletics post Mo, our sprint team being dodgily disqualified to allow the Brazilians to get a finals berth stunk though.
Adam Gemili a bit unlucky in the 200 not to get a medal too. Bolt retiring, and the druggy duo of Gatlin/Gay heading up near 40 will help matters... Andre De Grasse looks like he might be able to do a double in Tokyo, but he is far more human than Bolt was.
Wondering how the UK might up its medal gold count I had a quick peak at Wiki to see how many medals there are for each sport. There are some very medal-rich sports where we are nowhere to be seen: Weightlifting 15 Wrestling 18 Shooting 15 Judo 14 Rhythmic Gym 18 (phwoar!) Fencing 10
Simon Timson - an UK sport admin bigwig said Shooting was a target sport for Tokyo - and looking at other high medal number events to exploit. Very sensible stuff.
EDIT I wish there was a Strong Man event in the Olympics - a version of MPent for epic feats of strength. It'd make brilliant TV for those who don't watch the World's Strongest Man competition.
Shooting might be a good target sport (ha!) for Tokyo if the UK govt can get themselves together and allow them to train in the UK.
The GB shooting team have been training in Belgium I believe, a few of them trained here in the sandpit alongside the UAE team.
Shooting has 45 Medals. We have just 3 people "podium ready" and 8 others for" next on podium". With 45 Medals available it really needs its own UK shooting centre,
We need to talk to the military and find who's being demobbed and might be interested.
Wondering how the UK might up its medal gold count I had a quick peak at Wiki to see how many medals there are for each sport. There are some very medal-rich sports where we are nowhere to be seen: Weightlifting 15 Wrestling 18 Shooting 15 Judo 14 Rhythmic Gym 18 (phwoar!) Fencing 10
Simon Timson - an UK sport admin bigwig said Shooting was a target sport for Tokyo - and looking at other high medal number events to exploit. Very sensible stuff.
EDIT I wish there was a Strong Man event in the Olympics - a version of MPent for epic feats of strength. It'd make brilliant TV for those who don't watch the World's Strongest Man competition.
Shooting might be a good target sport (ha!) for Tokyo if the UK govt can get themselves together and allow them to train in the UK.
The GB shooting team have been training in Belgium I believe, a few of them trained here in the sandpit alongside the UAE team.
Shooting has 45 Medals. We have just 3 people "podium ready" and 8 others for" next on podium". With 45 Medals available it really needs its own UK shooting centre,
The annoying thing is it wouldn't be difficult if the will was there. We could set up on military land, encourage army and police teams to get involved, encourage general participation in air gun sports to find potential winners etc etc.
It just seems that the politicians are shit scared of opening Pandora's box, as they see it.
Nice as it is to have Murray getting gold, I think having tennis at the Olympics seems wrong. And football too. Jousting, a pursuit event in athletics, a strong man event and a three-legged race would be much more entertaining. (Who would you shackle Bolt to?). I'd also like another genuinely dangerous event (although the cycling road race this year seems to have come close!).
My criteria for inclusion is that the Olympics should be the pinnacle of the sport, it should be what every athlete wants to win more than anything else.
If they're going to include Golf, Tennis, Basketball etc, then make it for amateurs like they do in Boxing, rather than just another stop on an international tour.
Football and Rugby also manage a good compromise solution, with the U23 teams and the Sevens respectively.
Pros can now enter the boxing ring, not too many will though as it can lead to sanctions. Also the 3 rounds of amateur boxing leads to a pace off the opening bell alot of pros are not used to (Most pro bouts start at a snail's pace, unlike Haggler - Hearns !)
Wondering how the UK might up its medal gold count I had a quick peak at Wiki to see how many medals there are for each sport. There are some very medal-rich sports where we are nowhere to be seen: Weightlifting 15 Wrestling 18 Shooting 15 Judo 14 Rhythmic Gym 18 (phwoar!) Fencing 10
Simon Timson - an UK sport admin bigwig said Shooting was a target sport for Tokyo - and looking at other high medal number events to exploit. Very sensible stuff.
EDIT I wish there was a Strong Man event in the Olympics - a version of MPent for epic feats of strength. It'd make brilliant TV for those who don't watch the World's Strongest Man competition.
Shooting might be a good target sport (ha!) for Tokyo if the UK govt can get themselves together and allow them to train in the UK.
The GB shooting team have been training in Belgium I believe, a few of them trained here in the sandpit alongside the UAE team.
Shooting has 45 Medals. We have just 3 people "podium ready" and 8 others for" next on podium". With 45 Medals available it really needs its own UK shooting centre,
We need to talk to the military and find who's being demobbed and might be interested.
Don’t AFAIK, need to be demobbed. Mind, being posted to Syria or wherever on competition days would be a bit of a whatsit.
Wondering how the UK might up its medal gold count I had a quick peak at Wiki to see how many medals there are for each sport. There are some very medal-rich sports where we are nowhere to be seen: Weightlifting 15 Wrestling 18 Shooting 15 Judo 14 Rhythmic Gym 18 (phwoar!) Fencing 10
Simon Timson - an UK sport admin bigwig said Shooting was a target sport for Tokyo - and looking at other high medal number events to exploit. Very sensible stuff.
EDIT I wish there was a Strong Man event in the Olympics - a version of MPent for epic feats of strength. It'd make brilliant TV for those who don't watch the World's Strongest Man competition.
Shooting might be a good target sport (ha!) for Tokyo if the UK govt can get themselves together and allow them to train in the UK.
The GB shooting team have been training in Belgium I believe, a few of them trained here in the sandpit alongside the UAE team.
Shooting has 45 Medals. We have just 3 people "podium ready" and 8 others for" next on podium". With 45 Medals available it really needs its own UK shooting centre,
We've Bisley. It's our daft laws that hampers sport shooting.
Wondering how the UK might up its medal gold count I had a quick peak at Wiki to see how many medals there are for each sport. There are some very medal-rich sports where we are nowhere to be seen: Weightlifting 15 Wrestling 18 Shooting 15 Judo 14 Rhythmic Gym 18 (phwoar!) Fencing 10
Simon Timson - an UK sport admin bigwig said Shooting was a target sport for Tokyo - and looking at other high medal number events to exploit. Very sensible stuff.
EDIT I wish there was a Strong Man event in the Olympics - a version of MPent for epic feats of strength. It'd make brilliant TV for those who don't watch the World's Strongest Man competition.
Shooting might be a good target sport (ha!) for Tokyo if the UK govt can get themselves together and allow them to train in the UK.
The GB shooting team have been training in Belgium I believe, a few of them trained here in the sandpit alongside the UAE team.
Shooting has 45 Medals. We have just 3 people "podium ready" and 8 others for" next on podium". With 45 Medals available it really needs its own UK shooting centre,
We need to talk to the military and find who's being demobbed and might be interested.
Don’t AFAIK, need to be demobbed. Mind, being posted to Syria or wherever on competition days would be a bit of a whatsit.
Demobbed as I'd rather not shoulder them with any additional optional burden at the time. Although I believe we do compete in various inter-force shooting competitions already so it might not actually be that much of one in real terms.
Nice as it is to have Murray getting gold, I think having tennis at the Olympics seems wrong. And football too. Jousting, a pursuit event in athletics, a strong man event and a three-legged race would be much more entertaining. (Who would you shackle Bolt to?). I'd also like another genuinely dangerous event (although the cycling road race this year seems to have come close!).
As a festival of sport, I quite like having the major sports present. Football should take a leaf out of rugby's book though and play six-a-side so that it can fit in a proper tournament over two weeks. Now that cricket has T20, why not chuck that in too? Sure, GB ought to be in with a shout but it's a much more popular and widely-played sport than many that are included. India or Pakistan might finally win a medal though the WIndies would have to enter about eight teams.
Nice as it is to have Murray getting gold, I think having tennis at the Olympics seems wrong. And football too. Jousting, a pursuit event in athletics, a strong man event and a three-legged race would be much more entertaining. (Who would you shackle Bolt to?). I'd also like another genuinely dangerous event (although the cycling road race this year seems to have come close!).
My criteria for inclusion is that the Olympics should be the pinnacle of the sport, it should be what every athlete wants to win more than anything else.
If they're going to include Golf, Tennis, Basketball etc, then make it for amateurs like they do in Boxing, rather than just another stop on an international tour.
Football and Rugby also manage a good compromise solution, with the U23 teams and the Sevens respectively.
Interesting nugget on China - 26 golds, marked the lowest number since Atlanta in 1996.
They sent 416 athletes.
Quite an interesting chart amongst the BBC gloating showing the trends in the medals table: http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/olympics/37132833 China put in a huge effort for Beijing but not so much this time or the last. I suspect that they will want to do much better in Tokyo given local rivalries. For the UK the number of fourths is encouraging but further progress is going to require a generation of Adam Peaty's because we are pretty close to topped out in our strengths. Oh and a replacement for Mo.
With Mo gone our Athletics chances look very poor. The pipeline is hardly full. In the "next on the podium" we are supporting just 46 athletes for 138+ medals. By contrast Cycling has 61 "next on the podium" for 54 medals.
We should be able to get competitive in the athletics post Mo, our sprint team being dodgily disqualified to allow the Brazilians to get a finals berth stunk though.
Adam Gemili a bit unlucky in the 200 not to get a medal too. Bolt retiring, and the druggy duo of Gatlin/Gay heading up near 40 will help matters... Andre De Grasse looks like he might be able to do a double in Tokyo, but he is far more human than Bolt was.
The athletics programme is years behind cycling or gymnastics and the difference is mindset. That a heptathlete could turn up having the right technical skills in only five of the seven events beggars belief. No decent coaching or selection system should allow it. The amateur culture of 'do your best on the day' still seems to prevail too often.
Nice as it is to have Murray getting gold, I think having tennis at the Olympics seems wrong. And football too. Jousting, a pursuit event in athletics, a strong man event and a three-legged race would be much more entertaining. (Who would you shackle Bolt to?). I'd also like another genuinely dangerous event (although the cycling road race this year seems to have come close!).
As a festival of sport, I quite like having the major sports present. Football should take a leaf out of rugby's book though and play six-a-side so that it can fit in a proper tournament over two weeks. Now that cricket has T20, why not chuck that in too? Sure, GB ought to be in with a shout but it's a much more popular and widely-played sport than many that are included. India or Pakistan might finally win a medal though the WIndies would have to enter about eight teams.
football could easily be represented with futsal
Since Ping Pong is at the Olympics, how about foosball? We could also get darts, pool and snooker involved too.
BTW - I see Ruth Davidson is channelling what Mike wrote on August 4th
Ruth Davidson, the Scottish Tory leader, has become the most senior party figure to float the idea of an early election as she cited concerns about rebellious backbenchers.
She said the “usual suspects” on the backbenches could “cause problems” for Mrs May and added there was a clear “temptation” to call an election sooner than 2020.
Nonentity regional party teamleader seeks publicity, ran out of creatures to be pictured on so down to bumbling about London elections. I am sure May will listen intently.
Brilliant clip from Dennis Skinner in 1992 - a reminder of when Labour had personalities as well as leaders. Watched it after listening to the robotic and incompetent Kezzia Dugdale on the Scottish radio.
It may be that Scots Labour would be better served by keeping Corbyn and ditching this tragically sub standard politician who has never even won a constituency seat.
It i shard to believe labour coudl have found a worse leader than previous dullards , but they manage it yet again. She is absolutely useless.
Tories have awindbag and assorted donkeys and Labour the same , it is a cakewalk for the SNP. Worse than the London situation.
''With Mo gone our Athletics chances look very poor. The pipeline is hardly full. In the "next on the podium" we are supporting just 46 athletes for 138+ medals. By contrast Cycling has 61 "next on the podium" for 54 medals.''
Athletics is in a giant hole. In time, Semenya's victory in the 800 will be seen as another devastating blow to an already discredited sport. Athletes and spectators want a level playing field.
''With Mo gone our Athletics chances look very poor. The pipeline is hardly full. In the "next on the podium" we are supporting just 46 athletes for 138+ medals. By contrast Cycling has 61 "next on the podium" for 54 medals.''
Athletics is in a giant hole. In time, Semenya's victory in the 800 will be seen as another devastating blow to an already discredited sport. Athletes and spectators want a level playing field.
1-2-3 in the 800m apparently have similar condition and now all the social justice warriors are going their nut at our British lass for stating the truth (something she knows a lot more than the twitter warriors having done her undergraduate degree thesis on).
Wondering how the UK might up its medal gold count I had a quick peak at Wiki to see how many medals there are for each sport. There are some very medal-rich sports where we are nowhere to be seen: Weightlifting 15 Wrestling 18 Shooting 15 Judo 14 Rhythmic Gym 18 (phwoar!) Fencing 10
Simon Timson - an UK sport admin bigwig said Shooting was a target sport for Tokyo - and looking at other high medal number events to exploit. Very sensible stuff.
EDIT I wish there was a Strong Man event in the Olympics - a version of MPent for epic feats of strength. It'd make brilliant TV for those who don't watch the World's Strongest Man competition.
Shooting might be a good target sport (ha!) for Tokyo if the UK govt can get themselves together and allow them to train in the UK.
The GB shooting team have been training in Belgium I believe, a few of them trained here in the sandpit alongside the UAE team.
Shooting has 45 Medals. We have just 3 people "podium ready" and 8 others for" next on podium". With 45 Medals available it really needs its own UK shooting centre,
We need to talk to the military and find who's being demobbed and might be interested.
''No decent coaching or selection system should allow it. The amateur culture of 'do your best on the day' still seems to prevail too often. ''
Given the way cheats are allowed to prosper in athletics, and have been for decades, its only amazing to me that clean British stars even bother.
I think they will less and and less.
I said this yesterday...I think one thing that has kept more of our athletes in check. For years you would then never been selected for GB at an Olympics (overturned by the courts due to the Chambers case), but also you not only lose your lottery funding you have to pay it all back. It bust Chambers.
In comparison, the USA have long been some would say rather too comfortable with allowing drugs cheats to return with their full support once they had served their ban.
Brilliant clip from Dennis Skinner in 1992 - a reminder of when Labour had personalities as well as leaders. Watched it after listening to the robotic and incompetent Kezzia Dugdale on the Scottish radio.
It may be that Scots Labour would be better served by keeping Corbyn and ditching this tragically sub standard politician who has never even won a constituency seat.
It i shard to believe labour coudl have found a worse leader than previous dullards , but they manage it yet again. She is absolutely useless.
Tories have awindbag and assorted donkeys and Labour the same , it is a cakewalk for the SNP. Worse than the London situation.
If you were at all honest you'd acknowledge that the Scottish Tories have more than just a windbag. Considering how FUBAR'd the Tory brand is/was in Scotland for her to have got the Scottish Tories to where they are in Scotland is remarkable. It is the Tories party and legacy, not "awindbag (sic)" that is the issue as to why they're not any further yet.
Wondering how the UK might up its medal gold count I had a quick peak at Wiki to see how many medals there are for each sport. There are some very medal-rich sports where we are nowhere to be seen: Weightlifting 15 Wrestling 18 Shooting 15 Judo 14 Rhythmic Gym 18 (phwoar!) Fencing 10
The IOC was right to dump wrestling (only for idiot protesters to bring it back). Hopefully they will think about it again after Tokyo, or at least reduce the number of weight classes, same goes for weightlifting, Judo and Taekwondo.
It's Swimming that has a ridiculously high number of medals - plenty of fat to trim there. Michael Phelps is the Usain Bolt of the swimming pool but got more than double the number of medals due to there being so many events.
As for security fears for Paris, we're talking 8 years hence. Hard to know where the threats will be by then. Certainly ISIS as a "state" will have long been defeated in Syria but may live on as a terror group.
''With Mo gone our Athletics chances look very poor. The pipeline is hardly full. In the "next on the podium" we are supporting just 46 athletes for 138+ medals. By contrast Cycling has 61 "next on the podium" for 54 medals.''
Athletics is in a giant hole. In time, Semenya's victory in the 800 will be seen as another devastating blow to an already discredited sport. Athletes and spectators want a level playing field.
1-2-3 in the 800m apparently have similar condition and now all the social justice warriors are going their nut at our British lass for stating the truth (something she knows a lot more than the twitter warriors having done her undergraduate degree thesis on).
If the appeal fails, and Semenya et al are permanently exempted from taking anti-androgens, any sensible coaching system will just start screening for intersex conditions and only bring those athletes on. Testosterone is just a huge advantage.
So, all things being equal, roughly how many should Scotland have this year.....?
All things being equal, one.
You've tossed a fair coin in a fair manner twice in a row and it landed heads both times. All things being equal, what is the odds of it being a heads next time?
''With Mo gone our Athletics chances look very poor. The pipeline is hardly full. In the "next on the podium" we are supporting just 46 athletes for 138+ medals. By contrast Cycling has 61 "next on the podium" for 54 medals.''
Athletics is in a giant hole. In time, Semenya's victory in the 800 will be seen as another devastating blow to an already discredited sport. Athletes and spectators want a level playing field.
1-2-3 in the 800m apparently have similar condition and now all the social justice warriors are going their nut at our British lass for stating the truth (something she knows a lot more than the twitter warriors having done her undergraduate degree thesis on).
If the appeal fails, and Semenya et al are permanently exempted from taking anti-androgens, any sensible coaching system will just start screening for intersex conditions and only bring those athletes on. Testosterone is just a huge advantage.
Trying to get to 3x the usual testosterone level you would have to be juiced to the gills. I am sure there are former East German "women" athletes going even we didn't have that high a level of testosterone when we smashing world records that still stand today....
''1-2-3 in the 800m apparently have similar condition and now all the social justice warriors are going their nut at our British lass for stating the truth (something she knows a lot more than the twitter warriors having done her undergraduate degree thesis on). ''
It will soon become clear that you will not only need to have this condition to win, but also to compete. Good women athletes who don;t have it will go elsewhere. Why would you put in the hard yards when it isn;t a level playing field?
Athletics is becoming a third world sport. Sponsors and spectators (as we saw from Rio) will head for the exits.
Interesting nugget on China - 26 golds, marked the lowest number since Atlanta in 1996.
They sent 416 athletes.
Quite an interesting chart amongst the BBC gloating showing the trends in the medals table: http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/olympics/37132833 China put in a huge effort for Beijing but not so much this time or the last. I suspect that they will want to do much better in Tokyo given local rivalries. For the UK the number of fourths is encouraging but further progress is going to require a generation of Adam Peaty's because we are pretty close to topped out in our strengths. Oh and a replacement for Mo.
With Mo gone our Athletics chances look very poor. The pipeline is hardly full. In the "next on the podium" we are supporting just 46 athletes for 138+ medals. By contrast Cycling has 61 "next on the podium" for 54 medals.
We should be able to get competitive in the athletics post Mo, our sprint team being dodgily disqualified to allow the Brazilians to get a finals berth stunk though.
Adam Gemili a bit unlucky in the 200 not to get a medal too. Bolt retiring, and the druggy duo of Gatlin/Gay heading up near 40 will help matters... Andre De Grasse looks like he might be able to do a double in Tokyo, but he is far more human than Bolt was.
The athletics programme is years behind cycling or gymnastics and the difference is mindset. That a heptathlete could turn up having the right technical skills in only five of the seven events beggars belief. No decent coaching or selection system should allow it. The amateur culture of 'do your best on the day' still seems to prevail too often.
Maybe KJT should focus on the high jump ?
She seems simply unsuited to the throwing events, whereas she'd have won the high jump !
Wondering how the UK might up its medal gold count I had a quick peak at Wiki to see how many medals there are for each sport. There are some very medal-rich sports where we are nowhere to be seen: Weightlifting 15 Wrestling 18 Shooting 15 Judo 14 Rhythmic Gym 18 (phwoar!) Fencing 10
The IOC was right to dump wrestling (only for idiot protesters to bring it back). Hopefully they will think about it again after Tokyo, or at least reduce the number of weight classes, same goes for weightlifting, Judo and Taekwondo.
It's Swimming that has a ridiculously high number of medals - plenty of fat to trim there. Michael Phelps is the Usain Bolt of the swimming pool but got more than double the number of medals due to there being so many events.
As for security fears for Paris, we're talking 8 years hence. Hard to know where the threats will be by then. Certainly ISIS as a "state" will have long been defeated in Syria but may live on as a terror group.
It'd be interesting to know how many swimming events Mark Spitz had a chance in compared to Phelps.
''No decent coaching or selection system should allow it. The amateur culture of 'do your best on the day' still seems to prevail too often. ''
Given the way cheats are allowed to prosper in athletics, and have been for decades, its only amazing to me that clean British stars even bother.
I think they will less and and less.
I said this yesterday...I think one thing that has kept more of our athletes in check. For years you would then never been selected for GB at an Olympics (overturned by the courts due to the Chambers case), but also you not only lose your lottery funding you have to pay it all back. It bust Chambers.
In comparison, the USA have long been some would say rather too comfortable with allowing drugs cheats to return with their full support once they had served their ban.
TBH I could never understand why Chambers won his case. The rules were, surely, clear. Get caught with banned substances in you; three year ban, plus lifetime Olympic ban. Don’t, if you are an athlete use any medication unless checked. Not checking was what caught that Scottish skier.
''With Mo gone our Athletics chances look very poor. The pipeline is hardly full. In the "next on the podium" we are supporting just 46 athletes for 138+ medals. By contrast Cycling has 61 "next on the podium" for 54 medals.''
Athletics is in a giant hole. In time, Semenya's victory in the 800 will be seen as another devastating blow to an already discredited sport. Athletes and spectators want a level playing field.
1-2-3 in the 800m apparently have similar condition and now all the social justice warriors are going their nut at our British lass for stating the truth (something she knows a lot more than the twitter warriors having done her undergraduate degree thesis on).
If the appeal fails, and Semenya et al are permanently exempted from taking anti-androgens, any sensible coaching system will just start screening for intersex conditions and only bring those athletes on. Testosterone is just a huge advantage.
Trying to get to 3x the usual testosterone level you would have to be juiced to the gills. I am sure there are former East German "women" athletes going even we didn't have that high a level of testosterone when we smashing world records that still stand today....
This is my specialist subject. It's not hard to elevate testosterone levels. Slightly harder to suppress them, but it's down to a fine art these days - nothing to do with transexuality, more a response to treating testosterone-sensitive prostate cancers.
I have a 10.8mg Zoladex stomach implant once every three months (depending on the nurse's skill, it can be painful, the pellet is about the size of a tic-tac). It wouldn't inconvenience the athletes at all.
''With Mo gone our Athletics chances look very poor. The pipeline is hardly full. In the "next on the podium" we are supporting just 46 athletes for 138+ medals. By contrast Cycling has 61 "next on the podium" for 54 medals.''
Athletics is in a giant hole. In time, Semenya's victory in the 800 will be seen as another devastating blow to an already discredited sport. Athletes and spectators want a level playing field.
1-2-3 in the 800m apparently have similar condition and now all the social justice warriors are going their nut at our British lass for stating the truth (something she knows a lot more than the twitter warriors having done her undergraduate degree thesis on).
If the appeal fails, and Semenya et al are permanently exempted from taking anti-androgens, any sensible coaching system will just start screening for intersex conditions and only bring those athletes on. Testosterone is just a huge advantage.
Trying to get to 3x the usual testosterone level you would have to be juiced to the gills. I am sure there are former East German "women" athletes going even we didn't have that high a level of testosterone when we smashing world records that still stand today....
This is my specialist subject. It's not hard to elevate testosterone levels. Slightly harder to suppress them, but it's down to a fine art these days - nothing to do with transexuality, more a response to treating testosterone-sensitive prostate cancers.
I have a 10.8mg Zoladex stomach implant once every three months (depending on the nurse's skill, it can be painful, the pellet is about the size of a tic-tac). It wouldn't inconvenience the athletes at all.
That's one of the reasons I enjoy coming here - there seems to be more genuine experts than at Unseen University.
Wondering how the UK might up its medal gold count I had a quick peak at Wiki to see how many medals there are for each sport. There are some very medal-rich sports where we are nowhere to be seen: Weightlifting 15 Wrestling 18 Shooting 15 Judo 14 Rhythmic Gym 18 (phwoar!) Fencing 10
The IOC was right to dump wrestling (only for idiot protesters to bring it back). Hopefully they will think about it again after Tokyo, or at least reduce the number of weight classes, same goes for weightlifting, Judo and Taekwondo.
It's Swimming that has a ridiculously high number of medals - plenty of fat to trim there. Michael Phelps is the Usain Bolt of the swimming pool but got more than double the number of medals due to there being so many events.
As for security fears for Paris, we're talking 8 years hence. Hard to know where the threats will be by then. Certainly ISIS as a "state" will have long been defeated in Syria but may live on as a terror group.
It'd be interesting to know how many swimming events Mark Spitz had a chance in compared to Phelps.
Wondering how the UK might up its medal gold count I had a quick peak at Wiki to see how many medals there are for each sport. There are some very medal-rich sports where we are nowhere to be seen: Weightlifting 15 Wrestling 18 Shooting 15 Judo 14 Rhythmic Gym 18 (phwoar!) Fencing 10
The IOC was right to dump wrestling (only for idiot protesters to bring it back). Hopefully they will think about it again after Tokyo, or at least reduce the number of weight classes, same goes for weightlifting, Judo and Taekwondo.
It's Swimming that has a ridiculously high number of medals - plenty of fat to trim there. Michael Phelps is the Usain Bolt of the swimming pool but got more than double the number of medals due to there being so many events.
As for security fears for Paris, we're talking 8 years hence. Hard to know where the threats will be by then. Certainly ISIS as a "state" will have long been defeated in Syria but may live on as a terror group.
It'd be interesting to know how many swimming events Mark Spitz had a chance in compared to Phelps.
So, all things being equal, roughly how many should Scotland have this year.....?
All things being equal, one.
You've tossed a fair coin in a fair manner twice in a row and it landed heads both times. All things being equal, what is the odds of it being a heads next time?
Slightly less than 50%. However given population is 1/12 then you can't really say anything about 2/12 or 0/12 as being statistically significant - no doubt an expert on the binomial distribution could verify this. (mean would be 1 and a standard deviation of nearly one means both results come well within a 95% confidence that the null hypothesis (no bias) is correct)
Wondering how the UK might up its medal gold count I had a quick peak at Wiki to see how many medals there are for each sport. There are some very medal-rich sports where we are nowhere to be seen: Weightlifting 15 Wrestling 18 Shooting 15 Judo 14 Rhythmic Gym 18 (phwoar!) Fencing 10
The IOC was right to dump wrestling (only for idiot protesters to bring it back). Hopefully they will think about it again after Tokyo, or at least reduce the number of weight classes, same goes for weightlifting, Judo and Taekwondo.
It's Swimming that has a ridiculously high number of medals - plenty of fat to trim there. Michael Phelps is the Usain Bolt of the swimming pool but got more than double the number of medals due to there being so many events.
As for security fears for Paris, we're talking 8 years hence. Hard to know where the threats will be by then. Certainly ISIS as a "state" will have long been defeated in Syria but may live on as a terror group.
It'd be interesting to know how many swimming events Mark Spitz had a chance in compared to Phelps.
Identical.
Yowzer
Events added between 68 and 16 to the pool:
50m Freestyle (Men and women) - Phelps has no medals at 50m 4 x 200m freestyle (Women) 10k open water (Men and women)
On the Caster issue, Paula (of ‘I’ll have a quick pee behind the nearest tree, nobody will notice’ fame) Radcliffe is forthright …
"That is why Lynsey Sharp is getting so upset. However hard she goes away and trains, however hard Jenny Meadows goes and trains, they are never going to be able to compete with that level of strength and recovery that those levels of elevated testosterone bring.
"The big issue is, it is not cheating. Caster has done nothing to be in that situation and have those high levels.
"Either they take the medication to suppress the levels, which may affect how they are able to react and perform within races and training, or they choose to have an operation or they choose not to compete.
"It is not a situation they can come out of winning."
Interesting nugget on China - 26 golds, marked the lowest number since Atlanta in 1996.
They sent 416 athletes.
Quite an interesting chart amongst the BBC gloating showing the trends in the medals table: http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/olympics/37132833 China put in a huge effort for Beijing but not so much this time or the last. I suspect that they will want to do much better in Tokyo given local rivalries. For the UK the number of fourths is encouraging but further progress is going to require a generation of Adam Peaty's because we are pretty close to topped out in our strengths. Oh and a replacement for Mo.
With Mo gone our Athletics chances look very poor. The pipeline is hardly full. In the "next on the podium" we are supporting just 46 athletes for 138+ medals. By contrast Cycling has 61 "next on the podium" for 54 medals.
We should be able to get competitive in the athletics post Mo, our sprint team being dodgily disqualified to allow the Brazilians to get a finals berth stunk though.
Adam Gemili a bit unlucky in the 200 not to get a medal too. Bolt retiring, and the druggy duo of Gatlin/Gay heading up near 40 will help matters... Andre De Grasse looks like he might be able to do a double in Tokyo, but he is far more human than Bolt was.
The athletics programme is years behind cycling or gymnastics and the difference is mindset. That a heptathlete could turn up having the right technical skills in only five of the seven events beggars belief. No decent coaching or selection system should allow it. The amateur culture of 'do your best on the day' still seems to prevail too often.
Maybe KJT should focus on the high jump ?
She seems simply unsuited to the throwing events, whereas she'd have won the high jump !
It's amazing that the high jumpers didnt come close to decent jumps on the day, in the individual competition. Blanka Vlasic might have gone over 2m but she turned up clearly injured and will probably retire.
The Heptathlon is always a difficult event, precisely because a single person is going to struggle to be good in all the events. For example you can tell that Ennis is a sprinter/thrower whereas KJT is a jumper/runner, just by looking at them. The youngster needs to decide whether to go for the high jump properly (although her helpathlon effort was a British record in the individual event) or to bulk up a little and learn how to throw stuff. She's still young though, should have a good shout of a medal in Tokyo either way.
Listening to Owen Smith on BBC he comes over as a dinosaur living in the past days of the miner's strike and offering to borrow 200 billion, 4% more on NHS funded by a wealth tax, abolish public sector pay freeze and introduce a proper living wage, build 300,000 homes per year and of course strengthen trade union rights. Labour may as well vote for Corbyn as Owen is just a poor imitation of the real thing
So, all things being equal, roughly how many should Scotland have this year.....?
All things being equal, one.
You've tossed a fair coin in a fair manner twice in a row and it landed heads both times. All things being equal, what is the odds of it being a heads next time?
Slightly less than 50%. However given population is 1/12 then you can't really say anything about 2/12 or 0/12 as being statistically significant - no doubt an expert on the binomial distribution could verify this. (mean would be 1 and a standard deviation of nearly one means both results come well within a 95% confidence that the null hypothesis (no bias) is correct)
Silly question. How many Scots actually applied? Does anyone know. I mean if no-one from North Britain applied, the BBC couldn’t very well go down the Royal Mile asking people, could they?
''With Mo gone our Athletics chances look very poor. The pipeline is hardly full. In the "next on the podium" we are supporting just 46 athletes for 138+ medals. By contrast Cycling has 61 "next on the podium" for 54 medals.''
Athletics is in a giant hole. In time, Semenya's victory in the 800 will be seen as another devastating blow to an already discredited sport. Athletes and spectators want a level playing field.
1-2-3 in the 800m apparently have similar condition and now all the social justice warriors are going their nut at our British lass for stating the truth (something she knows a lot more than the twitter warriors having done her undergraduate degree thesis on).
If the appeal fails, and Semenya et al are permanently exempted from taking anti-androgens, any sensible coaching system will just start screening for intersex conditions and only bring those athletes on. Testosterone is just a huge advantage.
This is my specialist subject. It's not hard to elevate testosterone levels. Slightly harder to suppress them, but it's down to a fine art these days - nothing to do with transexuality, more a response to treating testosterone-sensitive prostate cancers.
I have a 10.8mg Zoladex stomach implant once every three months (depending on the nurse's skill, it can be painful, the pellet is about the size of a tic-tac). It wouldn't inconvenience the athletes at all.
That's one of the reasons I enjoy coming here - there seems to be more genuine experts than at Unseen University.
Thank you. Standard UK transwoman HT is Gosrelin implant + daily Estradiol valerate (which is identical to the female contraceptive pill - I take Progynova). Cheap as chips.
The US tend to favour Cyproterone Acetate or Spironolactone. Transmen have a range of options; injections, implants, gels or patches.
One of the reasons transexuality has been re-classified as a medical, rather than mental, condition is the aftermath of the DES issues (this was a thalidomide-era drug used to prevent miscarriages). DES sons have a high rate of intersex issues and gender dysphoria. There's some evidence that gender identity depends on correct sequencing of hormones in utero. Personally, I don't care whether its nature or a variation of delusion (perhaps I could equally believe I'm Napoleon). In my case, outcomes are more important than causes.
So, all things being equal, roughly how many should Scotland have this year.....?
All things being equal, one.
You've tossed a fair coin in a fair manner twice in a row and it landed heads both times. All things being equal, what is the odds of it being a heads next time?
Slightly less than 50%. However given population is 1/12 then you can't really say anything about 2/12 or 0/12 as being statistically significant - no doubt an expert on the binomial distribution could verify this. (mean would be 1 and a standard deviation of nearly one means both results come well within a 95% confidence that the null hypothesis (no bias) is correct)
Aren't the odds of heads or tails exactly 50%? The point is there is no "memory" of what happened last time so the previous heads are moot.
EDIT: Or are you counting something else like landing on its side so neither heads nor tails as a possible outcome?
On the Caster issue, Paula (of ‘I’ll have a quick pee behind the nearest tree, nobody will notice’ fame) Radcliffe is forthright …
"That is why Lynsey Sharp is getting so upset. However hard she goes away and trains, however hard Jenny Meadows goes and trains, they are never going to be able to compete with that level of strength and recovery that those levels of elevated testosterone bring.
"The big issue is, it is not cheating. Caster has done nothing to be in that situation and have those high levels.
"Either they take the medication to suppress the levels, which may affect how they are able to react and perform within races and training, or they choose to have an operation or they choose not to compete.
"It is not a situation they can come out of winning."
What puts this close to lunatic country, is that if they are told to take medication they then face dq for *not* taking performance-altering drugs.
If there's enough interest in a sport that they take 1, 2 and 3 in the 800 metres why not have a separate competition for them?
Interesting nugget on China - 26 golds, marked the lowest number since Atlanta in 1996.
They sent 416 athletes.
Quite an interesting chart amongst the BBC gloating showing the trends in the medals table: http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/olympics/37132833 China put in a huge effort for Beijing but not so much this time or the last. I suspect that they will want to do much better in Tokyo given local rivalries. For the UK the number of fourths is encouraging but further progress is going to require a generation of Adam Peaty's because we are pretty close to topped out in our strengths. Oh and a replacement for Mo.
With Mo gone our Athletics chances look very poor. The pipeline is hardly full. In the "next on the podium" we are supporting just 46 athletes for 138+ medals. By contrast Cycling has 61 "next on the podium" for 54 medals.
We should be able to get competitive in the athletics post Mo, our sprint team being dodgily disqualified to allow the Brazilians to get a finals berth stunk though.
Adam Gemili a bit unlucky in the 200 not to get a medal too. Bolt retiring, and the druggy duo of Gatlin/Gay heading up near 40 will help matters... Andre De Grasse looks like he might be able to do a double in Tokyo, but he is far more human than Bolt was.
The athletics programme is years behind cycling or gymnastics and the difference is mindset. That a heptathlete could turn up having the right technical skills in only five of the seven events beggars belief. No decent coaching or selection system should allow it. The amateur culture of 'do your best on the day' still seems to prevail too often.
Maybe KJT should focus on the high jump ?
She seems simply unsuited to the throwing events, whereas she'd have won the high jump !
She is unsuited to them but the whole point of the multi-event sports are that the swings of one discipline have to be offset against the roundabouts of another. She'll never send a javelin 55m but she could top 45m with the right technique. But for that, she needs to have the right coach and the right willingness to get to grips with her weaker events. If she threw to her potential, she'd have come home with a medal.
There's no reason why she couldn't do both high jump and heptathlon; others have done similar (didn't Daley Thompson used to form part of the 4x100m team?). And the women should do a decathlon anyway.
"That is why Lynsey Sharp is getting so upset. However hard she goes away and trains, however hard Jenny Meadows goes and trains, they are never going to be able to compete with that level of strength and recovery that those levels of elevated testosterone bring.
Could make the same argument about the men competing against Phelps.
I've just been talking to my gf and we're both putting £75/m aside for the next 4 years into a new joint account so we can go to Tokyo in 2020 and get opening ceremony tickets as well as a few days at the pool, and few evenings at the velodrome. Not that bothered about athletics now that Mo, Usain and Jess aren't going to be there.
1-2-3 in the 800m apparently have similar condition and now all the social justice warriors are going their nut at our British lass for stating the truth (something she knows a lot more than the twitter warriors having done her undergraduate degree thesis on).
If the appeal fails, and Semenya et al are permanently exempted from taking anti-androgens, any sensible coaching system will just start screening for intersex conditions and only bring those athletes on. Testosterone is just a huge advantage.
This is my specialist subject. It's not hard to elevate testosterone levels. Slightly harder to suppress them, but it's down to a fine art these days - nothing to do with transexuality, more a response to treating testosterone-sensitive prostate cancers.
I have a 10.8mg Zoladex stomach implant once every three months (depending on the nurse's skill, it can be painful, the pellet is about the size of a tic-tac). It wouldn't inconvenience the athletes at all.
That's one of the reasons I enjoy coming here - there seems to be more genuine experts than at Unseen University.
Thank you. Standard UK transwoman HT is Gosrelin implant + daily Estradiol valerate (which is identical to the female contraceptive pill - I take Progynova). Cheap as chips.
The US tend to favour Cyproterone Acetate or Spironolactone. Transmen have a range of options; injections, implants, gels or patches.
One of the reasons transexuality has been re-classified as a medical, rather than mental, condition is the aftermath of the DES issues (this was a thalidomide-era drug used to prevent miscarriages). DES sons have a high rate of intersex issues and gender dysphoria. There's some evidence that gender identity depends on correct sequencing of hormones in utero. Personally, I don't care whether its nature or a variation of delusion (perhaps I could equally believe I'm Napoleon). In my case, outcomes are more important than causes.
What would be your view on Semenya and others with her condition competing as women at the Olympics? I can see why the Brit girl said what she did, but on the other hand everyone competing there is different to the rest of us. A real moral maze, given that AIUI a genetic abnormality gives a competitive advantage that no amount of training can overcome.
On the Caster issue, Paula (of ‘I’ll have a quick pee behind the nearest tree, nobody will notice’ fame) Radcliffe is forthright …
"That is why Lynsey Sharp is getting so upset. However hard she goes away and trains, however hard Jenny Meadows goes and trains, they are never going to be able to compete with that level of strength and recovery that those levels of elevated testosterone bring.
"The big issue is, it is not cheating. Caster has done nothing to be in that situation and have those high levels.
"Either they take the medication to suppress the levels, which may affect how they are able to react and perform within races and training, or they choose to have an operation or they choose not to compete.
"It is not a situation they can come out of winning."
What puts this close to lunatic country, is that if they are told to take medication they then face dq for *not* taking performance-altering drugs.
If there's enough interest in a sport that they take 1, 2 and 3 in the 800 metres why not have a separate competition for them?
Ultimately though Caster has done nothing unnatural, immoral or wrong herself. So she's born with an anomaly that makes her better? I'm sure there's things in Usain Bolt's genetics that have assisted him too. I'm sure Paula Radcliffe herself has some genes that assisted her.
If you want to rule out every anomaly then where do you draw the line. Caster is not a cheat and the Court of Arbitration for Sport had ruled on this beforehand. It's wrong to tarnish her victory now when she hasn't cheated.
On the Caster issue, Paula (of ‘I’ll have a quick pee behind the nearest tree, nobody will notice’ fame) Radcliffe is forthright …
"That is why Lynsey Sharp is getting so upset. However hard she goes away and trains, however hard Jenny Meadows goes and trains, they are never going to be able to compete with that level of strength and recovery that those levels of elevated testosterone bring.
"The big issue is, it is not cheating. Caster has done nothing to be in that situation and have those high levels.
"Either they take the medication to suppress the levels, which may affect how they are able to react and perform within races and training, or they choose to have an operation or they choose not to compete.
"It is not a situation they can come out of winning."
What puts this close to lunatic country, is that if they are told to take medication they then face dq for *not* taking performance-altering drugs.
If there's enough interest in a sport that they take 1, 2 and 3 in the 800 metres why not have a separate competition for them?
"That is why Lynsey Sharp is getting so upset. However hard she goes away and trains, however hard Jenny Meadows goes and trains, they are never going to be able to compete with that level of strength and recovery that those levels of elevated testosterone bring.
Could make the same argument about the men competing against Phelps.
Well not really, he has been beaten to the gold a few times. Semenya will never be beaten by non-hyperandrogynous woman. It is physically impossible without doping. Phelps has already been beaten fair and square.
On the Caster issue, Paula (of ‘I’ll have a quick pee behind the nearest tree, nobody will notice’ fame) Radcliffe is forthright …
"That is why Lynsey Sharp is getting so upset. However hard she goes away and trains, however hard Jenny Meadows goes and trains, they are never going to be able to compete with that level of strength and recovery that those levels of elevated testosterone bring.
"The big issue is, it is not cheating. Caster has done nothing to be in that situation and have those high levels.
"Either they take the medication to suppress the levels, which may affect how they are able to react and perform within races and training, or they choose to have an operation or they choose not to compete.
"It is not a situation they can come out of winning."
What puts this close to lunatic country, is that if they are told to take medication they then face dq for *not* taking performance-altering drugs.
If there's enough interest in a sport that they take 1, 2 and 3 in the 800 metres why not have a separate competition for them?
Ultimately though Caster has done nothing unnatural, immoral or wrong herself. So she's born with an anomaly that makes her better? I'm sure there's things in Usain Bolt's genetics that have assisted him too. I'm sure Paula Radcliffe herself has some genes that assisted her.
If you want to rule out every anomaly then where do you draw the line. Caster is not a cheat and the Court of Arbitration for Sport had ruled on this beforehand. It's wrong to tarnish her victory now when she hasn't cheated.
She's a guy though. She's got internal testes and no womb or ovaries. Not having a penis seems to be the issue.
Shooting, archery, rhythmic gymnastics and synchronised swimming are all essentially "accuracy/technical" events so could be made gender neutral (Something for Tom Daley to pursue as he seems to fluff high pressure diving maybe ).
Shooting in particular I think there is no real case to seperate men and women.
On the Caster issue, Paula (of ‘I’ll have a quick pee behind the nearest tree, nobody will notice’ fame) Radcliffe is forthright …
"That is why Lynsey Sharp is getting so upset. However hard she goes away and trains, however hard Jenny Meadows goes and trains, they are never going to be able to compete with that level of strength and recovery that those levels of elevated testosterone bring.
"The big issue is, it is not cheating. Caster has done nothing to be in that situation and have those high levels.
"Either they take the medication to suppress the levels, which may affect how they are able to react and perform within races and training, or they choose to have an operation or they choose not to compete.
"It is not a situation they can come out of winning."
What puts this close to lunatic country, is that if they are told to take medication they then face dq for *not* taking performance-altering drugs.
If there's enough interest in a sport that they take 1, 2 and 3 in the 800 metres why not have a separate competition for them?
Ultimately though Caster has done nothing unnatural, immoral or wrong herself. So she's born with an anomaly that makes her better? I'm sure there's things in Usain Bolt's genetics that have assisted him too. I'm sure Paula Radcliffe herself has some genes that assisted her.
If you want to rule out every anomaly then where do you draw the line. Caster is not a cheat and the Court of Arbitration for Sport had ruled on this beforehand. It's wrong to tarnish her victory now when she hasn't cheated.
I can’t wait to the see the pedal car driven by the offspring of Kenny & Trott!
On the Caster issue, Paula (of ‘I’ll have a quick pee behind the nearest tree, nobody will notice’ fame) Radcliffe is forthright …
"That is why Lynsey Sharp is getting so upset. However hard she goes away and trains, however hard Jenny Meadows goes and trains, they are never going to be able to compete with that level of strength and recovery that those levels of elevated testosterone bring.
"The big issue is, it is not cheating. Caster has done nothing to be in that situation and have those high levels.
"Either they take the medication to suppress the levels, which may affect how they are able to react and perform within races and training, or they choose to have an operation or they choose not to compete.
"It is not a situation they can come out of winning."
What puts this close to lunatic country, is that if they are told to take medication they then face dq for *not* taking performance-altering drugs.
If there's enough interest in a sport that they take 1, 2 and 3 in the 800 metres why not have a separate competition for them?
The Paralympics?
A bold, and dangerous, suggestion, but it would be one idea. Seriously though, this is all a big and boring philosophical error arising from an essentialist delusion that everyone is necessarily "really" either M or F; which isn't true, and no reason why it should be.
''Could make the same argument about the men competing against Phelps. ''
Make it if you wish, but sports that do will wither on the vine. Cut it how you like, Athletics has just told most of the female sex to f8ck off and die. Have ovaries and female genitalia? don't bother.
The women's 800 metre is probably the event you can change the most through drugs/hyperandrogeny as it is both aerobic and anaerobic by necessity; also a way more 'pure' race than the oft tactical 1500.
FWIW I really enjoyed Rio2016. It was a joy to tune in to see TeamGB winning every evening and being part of that. The drama in Velodrome was equal to anything Hollywood produce. Hopefully Tokyo will be better still.
1-2-3 in the 800m apparently have similar condition and now all the social justice warriors are going their nut at our British lass for stating the truth (something she knows a lot more than the twitter warriors having done her undergraduate degree thesis on).
If the appeal fails, and Semenya et al are permanently exempted from taking anti-androgens, any sensible coaching system will just start screening for intersex conditions and only bring those athletes on. Testosterone is just a huge advantage.
This is my specialist subject. It's not hard to elevate testosterone levels. Slightly harder to suppress them, but it's down to a fine art these days - nothing to do with transexuality, more a response to treating testosterone-sensitive prostate cancers.
I have a 10.8mg Zoladex stomach implant once every three months (depending on the nurse's skill, it can be painful, the pellet is about the size of a tic-tac). It wouldn't inconvenience the athletes at all.
That's one of the reasons I enjoy coming here - there seems to be more genuine experts than at Unseen University.
Thank you. Standard UK transwoman HT is Gosrelin implant + daily Estradiol valerate (which is identical to the female contraceptive pill - I take Progynova). Cheap as chips.
The US tend to favour Cyproterone Acetate or Spironolactone. Transmen have a range of options; injections, implants, gels or patches.
What would be your view on Semenya and others with her condition competing as women at the Olympics? I can see why the Brit girl said what she did, but on the other hand everyone competing there is different to the rest of us. A real moral maze, given that AIUI a genetic abnormality gives a competitive advantage that no amount of training can overcome.
I'm grateful to @williamglenn for this article, which I'll repost here. It's clear that this is fundamentally different to physiological outliers, e.g. Matthew Pinsent's enormous lung capacity. It's not even the same as a cis-woman taking testosterone.
The advantages gained from a testosterone-mediated puberty are much greater. Therefore, a cis-woman can't even dope her way to competitiveness.
On the Caster issue, Paula (of ‘I’ll have a quick pee behind the nearest tree, nobody will notice’ fame) Radcliffe is forthright …
"That is why Lynsey Sharp is getting so upset. However hard she goes away and trains, however hard Jenny Meadows goes and trains, they are never going to be able to compete with that level of strength and recovery that those levels of elevated testosterone bring.
"The big issue is, it is not cheating. Caster has done nothing to be in that situation and have those high levels.
"Either they take the medication to suppress the levels, which may affect how they are able to react and perform within races and training, or they choose to have an operation or they choose not to compete.
"It is not a situation they can come out of winning."
What puts this close to lunatic country, is that if they are told to take medication they then face dq for *not* taking performance-altering drugs.
If there's enough interest in a sport that they take 1, 2 and 3 in the 800 metres why not have a separate competition for them?
Ultimately though Caster has done nothing unnatural, immoral or wrong herself. So she's born with an anomaly that makes her better? I'm sure there's things in Usain Bolt's genetics that have assisted him too. I'm sure Paula Radcliffe herself has some genes that assisted her.
If you want to rule out every anomaly then where do you draw the line. Caster is not a cheat and the Court of Arbitration for Sport had ruled on this beforehand. It's wrong to tarnish her victory now when she hasn't cheated.
Indeed. The argument is not dissimilar to that put forward quite widely before WWII that certain races should be excluded because of their genetic advantages. That was no doubt a smokescreen for other reasons but that's beside the point; the results suggest that certain races *do* seem to have advantages in certain disciplines / sports. Should they be given weight penalties too? The whole notion enters the realm of absurdity when you start trying to discriminate between 'legitimate' and 'illegitimate' natural advantages.
And this is before genetic engineering better athletes is feasible.
The women's 800 metre is probably the event you can change the most through drugs/hyperandrogeny as it is both aerobic and anaerobic by necessity; also a way more 'pure' race than the oft tactical 1500.
Yes, agree. It's a really horrible race to run, too far for sprinting and too short for distance running techniques.
It's basically who can slow down the least, against everything the body is telling you!
BTW - I see Ruth Davidson is channelling what Mike wrote on August 4th
Ruth Davidson, the Scottish Tory leader, has become the most senior party figure to float the idea of an early election as she cited concerns about rebellious backbenchers.
She said the “usual suspects” on the backbenches could “cause problems” for Mrs May and added there was a clear “temptation” to call an election sooner than 2020.
Mark Wallace Owen's running a campaign based on the premise that he isn't proud of Britain now. Captain Competence strikes again. https://t.co/LR6Ke4kzlj
Owen Smith: A Labour Party that isn't proud of Britain.
Jeremy Corbyn: A Labour Party that isn't proud of the entire Western world.
On the Caster issue, Paula (of ‘I’ll have a quick pee behind the nearest tree, nobody will notice’ fame) Radcliffe is forthright …
"That is why Lynsey Sharp is getting so upset. However hard she goes away and trains, however hard Jenny Meadows goes and trains, they are never going to be able to compete with that level of strength and recovery that those levels of elevated testosterone bring.
"The big issue is, it is not cheating. Caster has done nothing to be in that situation and have those high levels.
"Either they take the medication to suppress the levels, which may affect how they are able to react and perform within races and training, or they choose to have an operation or they choose not to compete.
"It is not a situation they can come out of winning."
What puts this close to lunatic country, is that if they are told to take medication they then face dq for *not* taking performance-altering drugs.
If there's enough interest in a sport that they take 1, 2 and 3 in the 800 metres why not have a separate competition for them?
Ultimately though Caster has done nothing unnatural, immoral or wrong herself. So she's born with an anomaly that makes her better? I'm sure there's things in Usain Bolt's genetics that have assisted him too. I'm sure Paula Radcliffe herself has some genes that assisted her.
If you want to rule out every anomaly then where do you draw the line. Caster is not a cheat and the Court of Arbitration for Sport had ruled on this beforehand. It's wrong to tarnish her victory now when she hasn't cheated.
Indeed. The argument is not dissimilar to that put forward quite widely before WWII that certain races should be excluded because of their genetic advantages. That was no doubt a smokescreen for other reasons but that's beside the point; the results suggest that certain races *do* seem to have advantages in certain disciplines / sports. Should they be given weight penalties too? The whole notion enters the realm of absurdity when you start trying to discriminate between 'legitimate' and 'illegitimate' natural advantages.
And this is before genetic engineering better athletes is feasible.
I think the difference is that Caster Semenya is genetically closer to a man than a woman, she has a working (though not descended) pair of testes, she doesn't have a uterus, all she is missing is a penis and she'd be in the male events. It gives her (and other hyperandrogynous women) a huge advantage over women who are biologically born as 100% female.
I don't think it is unfair to say they either need to create a separate event for this category (maybe at the Paralympics?) or use the medication that the IAAF prescribed before.
Comments
The Commonwealths showed this well - a great event on a more manageable scale. But easy to forget that events such as the shooting took place in Surrey, even then. London is really the only credible UK Olympics host.
If I was voting between those 4, I'd probably go for Rome, Italian passion, less security concern, good track record, a long time since they have hosted anything (France have just had Euroes and WC in 98) but Paris if not.
2) Does World's Strongest Man employ the same standards for drug misuse as the Olympics?
That's nothing new, as Chris Mullin had made his preferences clear a while ago. Nonetheless it is a salutary reminder that even Benn's former right hand man from the 1980s recognises that Corbyn is an electoral liability to Labour. The author of "A Very British Coup" supporting the "coup". The catch all term "Blairite" will now have to be applied to the Bennite who the Sun once called "the most hated man in Britain".
Europe 43
Asia 20
Africa 14
N America 11
Australia+Pacific 6
S America 4
Clearly, having only four didn't prevent Rio from winning but there was a sense that after 120 years, S America was overdue a Games. But in a contest between timezones, you're looking at well over half the delegates coming from countries in the GMT+0 to GMT+3 range.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I4U6T_BB1N8
The GB shooting team have been training in Belgium I believe, a few of them trained here in the sandpit alongside the UAE team.
If they're going to include Golf, Tennis, Basketball etc, then make it for amateurs like they do in Boxing, rather than just another stop on an international tour.
Football and Rugby also manage a good compromise solution, with the U23 teams and the Sevens respectively.
Adam Gemili a bit unlucky in the 200 not to get a medal too. Bolt retiring, and the druggy duo of Gatlin/Gay heading up near 40 will help matters... Andre De Grasse looks like he might be able to do a double in Tokyo, but he is far more human than Bolt was.
It just seems that the politicians are shit scared of opening Pandora's box, as they see it.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-south-yorkshire-37153390
Should be noted that all three MPs deny the allegations and that it's easy to sling mud.
Morning all.
Love to see the games held in Rome, the venues would be superb and easily match 2012.
Tories have awindbag and assorted donkeys and Labour the same , it is a cakewalk for the SNP. Worse than the London situation.
Athletics is in a giant hole. In time, Semenya's victory in the 800 will be seen as another devastating blow to an already discredited sport. Athletes and spectators want a level playing field.
Given the way cheats are allowed to prosper in athletics, and have been for decades, its only amazing to me that clean British stars even bother.
I think they will less and and less.
In comparison, the USA have long been some would say rather too comfortable with allowing drugs cheats to return with their full support once they had served their ban.
As for security fears for Paris, we're talking 8 years hence. Hard to know where the threats will be by then. Certainly ISIS as a "state" will have long been defeated in Syria but may live on as a terror group.
http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/politics/nicola-sturgeons-dad-loses-election-8614584
You've tossed a fair coin in a fair manner twice in a row and it landed heads both times. All things being equal, what is the odds of it being a heads next time?
It will soon become clear that you will not only need to have this condition to win, but also to compete. Good women athletes who don;t have it will go elsewhere. Why would you put in the hard yards when it isn;t a level playing field?
Athletics is becoming a third world sport. Sponsors and spectators (as we saw from Rio) will head for the exits.
Bolt was the only reason to turn up.
I really don;t think the authorities realise what a potentially huge problem they have here.
They soon will.
She seems simply unsuited to the throwing events, whereas she'd have won the high jump !
I have a 10.8mg Zoladex stomach implant once every three months (depending on the nurse's skill, it can be painful, the pellet is about the size of a tic-tac). It wouldn't inconvenience the athletes at all.
Mr. Pulpstar, KJT could get medals in both.
50m Freestyle (Men and women) - Phelps has no medals at 50m
4 x 200m freestyle (Women)
10k open water (Men and women)
"That is why Lynsey Sharp is getting so upset. However hard she goes away and trains, however hard Jenny Meadows goes and trains, they are never going to be able to compete with that level of strength and recovery that those levels of elevated testosterone bring.
"The big issue is, it is not cheating. Caster has done nothing to be in that situation and have those high levels.
"Either they take the medication to suppress the levels, which may affect how they are able to react and perform within races and training, or they choose to have an operation or they choose not to compete.
"It is not a situation they can come out of winning."
The Heptathlon is always a difficult event, precisely because a single person is going to struggle to be good in all the events. For example you can tell that Ennis is a sprinter/thrower whereas KJT is a jumper/runner, just by looking at them. The youngster needs to decide whether to go for the high jump properly (although her helpathlon effort was a British record in the individual event) or to bulk up a little and learn how to throw stuff. She's still young though, should have a good shout of a medal in Tokyo either way.
The US tend to favour Cyproterone Acetate or Spironolactone. Transmen have a range of options; injections, implants, gels or patches.
One of the reasons transexuality has been re-classified as a medical, rather than mental, condition is the aftermath of the DES issues (this was a thalidomide-era drug used to prevent miscarriages). DES sons have a high rate of intersex issues and gender dysphoria. There's some evidence that gender identity depends on correct sequencing of hormones in utero. Personally, I don't care whether its nature or a variation of delusion (perhaps I could equally believe I'm Napoleon). In my case, outcomes are more important than causes.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diethylstilbestrol
if you're interested.
#Breaking Disgraced Radio 1 DJ Chris Denning pleads guilty to 21 historical child sex offences between 1969 and 1986 https://t.co/pqyssDPV5B
I honestly can't recall him at all. Which show did he host?
http://blogs.spectator.co.uk/2016/08/equestrianism-brings-gender-equality-olympics/
EDIT: Or are you counting something else like landing on its side so neither heads nor tails as a possible outcome?
If there's enough interest in a sport that they take 1, 2 and 3 in the 800 metres why not have a separate competition for them?
There's no reason why she couldn't do both high jump and heptathlon; others have done similar (didn't Daley Thompson used to form part of the 4x100m team?). And the women should do a decathlon anyway.
We could be in for a thriller here.
What would be your view on Semenya and others with her condition competing as women at the Olympics? I can see why the Brit girl said what she did, but on the other hand everyone competing there is different to the rest of us. A real moral maze, given that AIUI a genetic abnormality gives a competitive advantage that no amount of training can overcome.
If you want to rule out every anomaly then where do you draw the line. Caster is not a cheat and the Court of Arbitration for Sport had ruled on this beforehand. It's wrong to tarnish her victory now when she hasn't cheated.
Shooting in particular I think there is no real case to seperate men and women.
Indeed Peter Wilson makes this point:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/shooting/2016/04/24/olympics-gold-medallist-shooter-peter-wilson-pleads-for-future-o/
Surely we should be considering GMPC (Gold Medals per capita) in any fair comparison
0.44 ... UK
0.20 ... Germany
0.14 ... USA
0.13 ... Russia
0.01 ... China
The problem with this approach is we come some way down the table from the Bahamas with 2.58 gold medals per capita !
Make it if you wish, but sports that do will wither on the vine. Cut it how you like, Athletics has just told most of the female sex to f8ck off and die. Have ovaries and female genitalia? don't bother.
The advantages gained from a testosterone-mediated puberty are much greater. Therefore, a cis-woman can't even dope her way to competitiveness.
http://sportsscientists.com/2016/05/hyperandrogenism-women-vs-women-vs-men-sport-qa-joanna-harper/
And this is before genetic engineering better athletes is feasible.
It's basically who can slow down the least, against everything the body is telling you!
Owen's running a campaign based on the premise that he isn't proud of Britain now. Captain Competence strikes again. https://t.co/LR6Ke4kzlj
Owen Smith: A Labour Party that isn't proud of Britain.
Jeremy Corbyn: A Labour Party that isn't proud of the entire Western world.
Talking of which....GERS are out this week - the usual suspects rubbishing them already.....where is that Whisky export duty?
http://www.heraldscotland.com/opinion/14696204.David_Torrance__Why_the_SNP_needs_a_mature_response_to_economic_figures/
I don't think it is unfair to say they either need to create a separate event for this category (maybe at the Paralympics?) or use the medication that the IAAF prescribed before.