Athletes and Professionalism

[999roses]

So we've probably all heard of the athlete who kicked the referee in the face, getting banned. Obviously bad sportsmanship. What about other things?

Here's an interesting article:

Everything you need to know about the Beijing Olympics

Published Date: 25 August 2008
By MARTYN McLAUGHLIN
IT WAS an event which set new standards in the capabilities of human athleticism and the clockwork efficiency of the Chinese state.
Promised as among the two most memorable weeks in sporting history, the Games of the XXIX Olympiad did not disappoint.

Described as "truly exceptional" yesterday by Jacques Rogge, president of the International Olympic Committee, Beijing 2008 saw
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new watersheds established across a host of disciplines. No fewer than 46 world records were broken across eight different sports, and the names of Usain Bolt, the Jamaican sprinter, and Michael Phelps, the US swimmer, are now part of the international lexicon.

It is, though, Britain's unexpected success that will ensure the Beijing Olympics will live long in our memories.

The bullion haul by Team GB's young, dedicated athletes has inspired a nation, and will ensure that by the time the Games begin in London in four years' time, the Olympics can boast an unprecedented profile.

Here, we look back at the highs and lows, the successes and controversies of Beijing 2008.

British heroes

1 Chris Hoy The 32-year-old Edinburgh cyclist was the outstanding British performer, taking home three golds in the individual sprint, the team sprint and the keirin. He became only the second Briton to win three golds at a single Games, matching the feat achieved by swimmer Henry Taylor in 1908.

2 Rebecca Adlington With two golds from the 400m and 800m freestyle events, the 19-year-old has become the figurehead for British swimming. Adlington is the first woman to win swimming gold for Britain since Anita Lonsbrough in 1960.

3 Nicole Cooke The 25-year-old from Swansea won Team GB's first medal of the Olympics, with gold in the cycling road race. With four riders ahead of her in the final straight of the 78.5 mile race, she overtook them to come home first.

4 Zac Purchase and Mark Hunter The duo became the first British lightweight rowers to win an Olympic gold medal. Purchase, 22, and Hunter, 30, had to stick to a brutal diet to weigh in under 11st 6lb.

5 Christine Ohuruogu Although Britain's athletics competitors in general disappointed, Ohuruogu was the exception, securing the 400m gold in 49.62 seconds after a late burst of pace.

Off the track

1 Protests Chinese police have sentenced at least ten foreigners to ten days of detention for protesting during the Games. The protesters included a British citizen who was seized while unfurling a Tibetan flag near the National Stadium. Before the start of the games Ian Thom, 24, from Edinburgh, was deported for unfurling a Tibetan flag and banner.

2 Terror AttackSixteen Chinese policemen were killed and another 16 injured in the province of Xinjiang in what the government suspected was a terror attack four days before the opening of the Games.

3 Smog The much-feared pollution which hangs over Beijing was not quite so overbearing, thanks to two separate days of thunderstorms. Chinese authorities still tried to pretend the problem did not exist, blaming poor visibility on "mist".

4 Streetscapes The Chinese authorities were criticised for flattening traditional neighbourhoods to make way for the vast infrastructure of the Games.

5 Government The government vowed to allow demonstrations in three designated areas. The scheme required protesters to apply for protest permits. However, no applications were approved.

Records

1 Usain Bolt, 100m In an extraordinary feat of athleticism still being talked about around the world, the Jamaican shaved three-hundreds of a second off his own record despite slowing down and looking to the crowd before reaching the line. The 22-year-old ran 9.69 seconds, but pundits expect him to go even faster.

2 Usain Bolt, 200m Three days after his 100m success, Bolt, fortified by a breakfast of chicken nuggets, went one better to beat a record many thought would never be surpassed. The 6ft 5in sprinter ran 19.30 seconds, two-hundredths of a second faster than Michael Johnston at Atlanta 1996.

3 Rebecca Adlington, 800m freestyle swimming Adlington won gold with a world record time of 8:14.10. She finished six seconds ahead of the silver medallist, and a remarkable two seconds clear of the former world record, swimming's longest-standing world record.

4 Yelena Isinbayeva, pole vault The Russian retained her Olympic title – and broke the world record, with a vault of 5.05m – it was the 24th world record of her career.

5 Michael Phelps, various Not only did Phelps win gold in eight events in the Water Cube, he set world records in seven of them, and an Olympic record in the other.

Superstars

1 Usain Bolt The 22-year-old arrived in Beijing as a rising star. His giant strides, nonchalant air, colourful celebrations, and three gold medals – in the 100m, 200m, and 4x100m relay – have now propelled the Jamaican to international fame.

2 Michael Phelps Defiant not only of history, but science, the 23-year-old American won eight gold medals and is the most dominant force the sport of swimming has ever seen.

3 Chris Hoy Not only has the Scot brought cheer to his homeland, his success in Beijing has made him arguably the greatest competitor in Team GB, and his prowess in the velodrome has made him a household name.

4 Maarten van der Weijden The Dutch swimmer, who took gold in the men's 10k Open Water event, has inspired the world after overcoming leukaemia. The 27-year-old was diagnosed in 2001. He confounded the medics, came back even stronger and is a multi-world champion for all events up to 25km.

5 Rafael Nadal Already a hero to millions after winning the French Open and Wimbledon final, the Spanish tennis player took an Olympic Gold by beating Chile's Fernando Gonzalez in the final.

Disappointments

1 Taekwondo confusion The prospect of Britain's Sarah Stevenson winning gold were mangled after an unprecedented and chaotic end to her quarter-final match. Despite clearly kicking her opponent, China's Chen Zhong, she went out.

2 Frankie Gavin It was announced on the eve of the opening ceremony that Gavin had failed to make his weight limit.

3 Liu Xiang The golden boy of Chinese athletics was forced to abandon his hopes of gold in the 110m hurdles. Already suffering from injury, Xiang attempted to participate, but after a false start in his preliminary heat, he broke down.

4 4x100m Relay The British team looked certain to qualify in the 4x100m relay before Craig Pickering set off too early for the final change with Marlon Devonish and the baton was exchanged inches outside the designated box. The reigning Olympic champions were disqualified.

5 Horse Doping Four horses and their riders were suspended from the show-jumping event after preliminary tests suggested that the skin of the horses might have been treated with a banned derivative of chilli peppers. Combinations of horses and riders from Brazil, Germany, Ireland and Norway were suspended.

Rows

1 Ara Abrahamian The 28-year-old Swedish wrestler dropped his bronze medal on the floor in disgust after a row over a penalty in his semi-final against Italian Andrea Minguzzi. He had to be restrained from going after officials after his defeat.

2 Tom Daley The 14-year-old became embroiled in an unseemly row after reprimanding his synchronised diving partner, Blake Aldridge, 26, for using a mobile phone during the final. The fallout continued after they finished eighth, with Aldridge saying Daley was too nervous to perform.

3 Angel Matos The Cuban tae kwon do fighter, angry at being disqualified for taking too long on an injury break in his bronze medal match, pushed a judge, before pushing a referee and kicking him in the face.

4 David Davies The British swimmer took the shine off his appearance on the podium to collect a silver medal, pouring a bottle of water over a Chinese official who the Welshman alleged was trying to hurry him up during the ceremony.

5 Brazilian or Georgian? As blood was being shed in South Ossetia, the Russian women's beach volleyball duo claimed their Georgian rivals were Brazilians – they actually gained dual citizenship three years ago.

London hopefuls

1 Rebecca Adlington Already a double gold winner, she is still only 19. Despite her achievements to date – she says she went to China simply to gain experience – Adlington insists she has always been working towards the London Games as her main goal.

2 Phillips Idowu The triple jumper is the current Commonwealth Games champion. Despite arriving in Beijing as the favourite, he was pipped for the gold. He will be 33 by 2012, and will hope to finally realise his potential.

3 Ben Ainslie The sailor has set his sights on five gold medals at consecutive Olympic Games, which would equal the feat of Sir Steven Redgrave. Ainslie won his third straight gold in the Finn class in Qingdao and, at 31, believes he can compete at the top level for two more Olympics

4 Shanaze Reade The 19-year-old BMX marvel could be one of Britain's brightest stars at London 2012. She will be looking to make up for the disappointment of missing out in Beijing: she crashed in the final while in silver-medal position.

5 Louis Smith The 19-year-old won bronze in the pommel horse and is setting his sights on London. He took up gymnastics at four, and won bronze on the pommel horse at the 2007 world championships.
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The David Davies incident is "interesting". There's 2 sides to it depending on if you're the British or Chinese media. One is that the Chinese official deserved to be yelled at and have water thrown over her for being "aggressive". The other is that the athlete was basically not going to the awards ceremony, ignored reminders many times, and then basically insulted an official. Meh, either way, I don't think he should've thrown the water bottle or told her to shut up.

[Candide]

That TKD dude kicks like a girl. Didn't even knock down the unprepared ref.

Olympics TKD is a joke (no wonder their organisation is called WTF). The competitors all look like they have firecrackers up their arses.

[remember_Cedric]

That TKD dude kicks like a girl. Didn't even knock down the unprepared ref.

Olympics TKD is a joke (no wonder their organisation is called WTF). The competitors all look like they have firecrackers up their arses.

That's a good one!

[PJ]

That TKD dude kicks like a girl. Didn't even knock down the unprepared ref.

Olympics TKD is a joke (no wonder their organisation is called WTF). The competitors all look like they have firecrackers up their arses.

Funny stuff