The National Forum   Donate   Your Account   On Line Opinion   Forum   Blogs   Polling   About   
The Forum - On Line Opinion's article discussion area



Syndicate
RSS/XML


RSS 2.0

Main Articles General

Sign In      Register

The Forum > Article Comments > Are we losing the Olympic spirit? > Comments

Are we losing the Olympic spirit? : Comments

By Mal Fletcher, published 12/7/2012

The Olympic 'machine' devalues sport.

  1. Pages:
  2. Page 1
  3. All
Oh I don't know each member of Australia's Olympic swimming team is set to earn a cool $10,000 - $15,000 for turning up at the Olympics. Gold medallists get an extra $35,000.

Many other Olympians who have to buy expensive equipment, like yatchs, get no pay.

Its only fair that $millions in advertising endorsement generally stays in the US where the most successful and cashed up Australian swimmers live.

In fact the more money Australian swimmers earn the quicker they retire - even at the height of their performance. The highest advertiser paid swimmers are getting more like AFL players each year - with a notable increase in violence and bad behaviour amongst the blokes.

Australia is all the poor due to high advertising pay for swimmers.

Planta
Posted by plantagenet, Thursday, 12 July 2012 5:27:44 PM
Find out more about this user Recommend this comment for deletion Return to top of page Return to Forum Main Page Copy comment URL to clipboard
Hey Mal, of course our Olympic tradition has been trashed by commercial opportunism, money and drugs, so what’s wrong with that?

We have Dancing with the Stars, Biggest Loser, The Voice, Master Chef and dozens of variants. In each case we see the public pay good money to see those who have entered various journeymen trades very late, displace those who have dedicated their trade and professional training to a chosen career and been bypassed by those who are financially sponsored by commercial interests.

We used to call this a “market driven mechanism”. Bo!!0ck$, commercial interests have screwed every sporting and entertainment sector because? That’s what we “like to watch”.

Suck it up Princess.
Posted by spindoc, Thursday, 12 July 2012 5:46:44 PM
Find out more about this user Recommend this comment for deletion Return to top of page Return to Forum Main Page Copy comment URL to clipboard
I fail to see any evidence of sportsmanship here. It's all just win,win,win, nothing else seems to matter. We're supposed to empathise with those so-called athletes when they tell us how hard they have to train & how much the sacrifice. Well, I for one am not asking any of them to do it for me. If they're so ego laden that they go through all the hard yards then that's their problem, not ours. As for olympic spirit ? Don't make me laugh.
Posted by individual, Thursday, 12 July 2012 6:03:53 PM
Find out more about this user Recommend this comment for deletion Return to top of page Return to Forum Main Page Copy comment URL to clipboard
NSW is still paying the price of the 2000 Olympics.I visited the Munich Olympic facilities in 1979 and was told then by Germans not to believe anything they tell you about Olympics not costing the tax payer.

The Olympics is another big scam for Corporate entities to make huge profits at our expense.

Have the Olympics every 4 years in Greece and make the Corporates pay.
Posted by Arjay, Thursday, 12 July 2012 7:44:33 PM
Find out more about this user Visit this user's webpage Recommend this comment for deletion Return to top of page Return to Forum Main Page Copy comment URL to clipboard
I have no understanding for the interest by people in spectating sports where they do not know the participants. Sure if I was mother/father/sister/friend etc I could understand watching and I can understand those who are participating being enthused but these are a bunch of strangers making no contribution to bettering society, so why is anyone else interested ? That there is any adulation attached is verging on repugnant, we would spend public money on this ?

Perhaps Choamsky was right and it's simply used to keep a public occupied and eyes away from serious matters, thus the public funds ?
Posted by Valley Guy, Saturday, 14 July 2012 1:30:35 PM
Find out more about this user Recommend this comment for deletion Return to top of page Return to Forum Main Page Copy comment URL to clipboard
I think the Olympic spirit is also lessened because athletes may represent a country they recently move to as opposed to their birth country. Similarly, some national teams use coaches from other countries. It's almost a sense of globalisation where the markets are all interconnected.
Posted by Liz Henderson, Tuesday, 17 July 2012 9:43:41 PM
Find out more about this user Recommend this comment for deletion Return to top of page Return to Forum Main Page Copy comment URL to clipboard
  1. Pages:
  2. Page 1
  3. All

About Us :: Search :: Discuss :: Feedback :: Legals :: Privacy