The Olympics Thread, London 2012, Games of the XXX Olympiad, 27th July - 12th August

[neil999]

Fair to say though, mate: the one's who get to the top in those sports are middle class, whereas the sports I identified in the second list will be predominantly working class and/or from dirt poor countries.

There's defo a social class divide in the Olympics.

the other thing is with say the 100 metres, you know that these are the best atheletes in the world

with archery and the like there could be people who are better at it, but not had the oppurtunity or not bothered as its a bit silly!

 

[The Esk]

Fair to say though, mate: the one's who get to the top in those sports are middle class, whereas the sports I identified in the second list will be predominantly working class and/or from dirt poor countries.

There's defo a social class divide in the Olympics.

True enough there is a social class divide in the Olympics, but that's true of everything in life, one of the greatest negatives of relative poverty is the reduced opportunities it brings relative to wealthier individuals or nations.

But that doesn't mean less fortunate, less privileged people should not participate when they get the chance, nor attend as spectators. The greater the involvement of those less fortunate, firstly as spectators, then hopefully as participants the greater the chance of opening up these sports and ultimately other opportunities.

I can understand you not liking these sports personally or indeed not liking individuals in them, I feel the same way irrationally about tennis, but to promote exclusion rather than inclusion seems rather strange.

 

[Pblueman]

the other thing is with say the 100 metres, you know that these are the best atheletes in the worldwith archery and the like there could be people who are better at it, but not had the oppurtunity or not bothered as its a bit silly!

Have to humbly disagree with you there mate. if you're arsed enough to take up a sport you want to be the best you can be, natural. if you are very good at something it naturally follows that you go competition and as far as you can go.

 

[neil999]

Have to humbly disagree with you there mate. if you're arsed enough to take up a sport you want to be the best you can be, natural. if you are very good at something it naturally follows that you go competition and as far as you can go.

fair point, alot of these sports are only taken part by a very small demographic tho

 

[Pblueman]

Starting to sound a bit communist in this thread. lets just appreciate that all participents (aside from the bad badminton melts) have trained their arses off irrespective of social class to get where they are. i know you're going to mention opportunity but take one of the Upper middle sports - equestrian - there is opportunity to excel without money. i promise you there are plenty of stables looking for jockeys with talent. the prestige of winning goes with the horses as well as the riders. the stud fees for an olympic winning horse would be astronomical. the stable owners want the best person on board not the one with the best upper lip.

 

[Cena]

The badminton players have been disqualified, good news serves them right

 

[ijjysmith]

The badminton players have been disqualified, good news serves them right

The acted like total shuttlecocks

 

[Pblueman]

fair point, alot of these sports are only taken part by a very small demographic tho

Thats very true pal. so by inclusion within the olympic scene the profile of the minor sports is raised and people may think "wow that looks ace- i'll have a go at that" in certain of the sports you dont necessarily have to be super fit like the runners or gymnasts, ie archery. shooting etc. so they are more accessible straight away. i'm hoping that there will be a huge uptake of people to these sports because of the olympics. as a pose to the Playstation generation that thinks Call of Duty should be a discipline! lol

 

[neil999]

The acted like total shuttlecocks

i hope they get shuttled out of there quick smart!

 

[Pblueman]

The badminton players have been disqualified, good news serves them right [/quote[Good that left a right sour taste in the mouth there. good decision. side note does anyone know if this affects the GB team? i know we went out? i havent been up to date with the badminton so not sure where it all stands now.

 

[toffeejack]

The badminton players have been disqualified, good news serves them right

ha nice pun. gotta laugh at korea, they simply didnt try harder than china, won the match they were tryna throw, then got disqualified for winning ha. hopefully bets were refunded. is there a case to disqualify the japan women's football team? they drew their match intentionally so they could stay in cardiff and thus play GB and have ended up playing brazil?

 

[davek]

True enough there is a social class divide in the Olympics, but that's true of everything in life, one of the greatest negatives of relative poverty is the reduced opportunities it brings relative to wealthier individuals or nations.

But that doesn't mean less fortunate, less privileged people should not participate when they get the chance, nor attend as spectators. The greater the involvement of those less fortunate, firstly as spectators, then hopefully as participants the greater the chance of opening up these sports and ultimately other opportunities.

I can understand you not liking these sports personally or indeed not liking individuals in them, I feel the same way irrationally about tennis, but to promote exclusion rather than inclusion seems rather strange.

I wouldn't knock anyone having a go at those sports. And anyone who can put up with the people who run the clubs you have to join have my admiration. I think most of us have had a go at some sports we'd all label as predominantly middle class. If you like it, great: do it. But it requires cash and having the right conections to go up the rankings in those sports, so people who have neither tend to gravitate to the sports they know they can excel in without having to put up with those road blocks.

 

[harryjam]

China are top after pushing children to the point of breaking in order to show themselves off as a superpower. Is this the olympic spirit?

 

[Reidy's Bottle Of Grecian]

Fair to say though, mate: the one's who get to the top in those sports are middle class, whereas the sports I identified in the second list will be predominantly working class and/or from dirt poor countries.

There's defo a social class divide in the Olympics.

My kids do badminton at the local sports centre, they have a membership there that only cost £9.99 a month, in that they get swimming lessons and footy coaching for that as well as there being other stuff they can do. Lads mate goes to an Archery Club there as well, 9 and competes with adults and he isn't middle class in fact he's very.... "ey up a getnit int bull"

 

[davek]

My kids do badminton at the local sports centre, they have a membership there that only cost £9.99 a month, in that they get swimming lessons and footy coaching for that as well as there being other stuff they can do. Lads mate goes to an Archery Club there as well, 9 and competes with adults and he isn't middle class in fact he's very.... "ey up a getnit int bull"

What'll be the costs though going forward in these sports? Recreational activity and operating as an elite athlete in them are entirely different. Probably though there is a crossover taking place in certain sports where solidly (what used to be called 'respectable') working class people can compete with the middle classes. But there's stuff like rowing and equestrianism that have their base in another world of blue chip universities and the country set. They are impenetrable to the vast majority.

There's two nations in sport. Always hasbeen and I daresay there always will be. I couldn't even raise a smile watching some pampered belters getting a medal for thiose sports. They are totally alien to me. We have our sports, they have theirs.