Community Chat

[Nataliesgramma]

I just noticed that we aren't even in the top 5 anymore...

[CLHS68]

I think they always do better in the summer games. Not so much the winyer games.

[ValuSkr]

I think the US traditionally does much better in the Summer Olympics.  In the Winter, the Europeans have a strong advantage.

[jeanlake]

I'm missing the podium ceremonies. USA does better in summer games, but agree not so well this winter year. Where's England? They seem to be missing from ice skating, especially pairs. Happy for Norway. I know people who have lived there and they speak well about the country and people.   

[Mz iMac]

My qualm so far w/this Olympic is that ice skaters who fell during the medal competition(s) scored higher points than the ones who did not fall.  And to top it off, the ones who fell won medals!!!!

[loveschocolate]

@Mz iMac, I am no expert, but it depends on the difficulty of their program. For instance, a skater who does quads even though he falls will get more points versus a skater that does a triple cleanly. Also, a skater will get more points when a majority of their jumps are in the latter portion of their performance. 

[Mz iMac]

@loveschocolate

Which is why I believe the scoring is not fair.  If a skater falls, points should be deducted somewhere!  I wouldn't mind if there was a tie after points are deducted.  If a tie, the 2 skaters should get to do a rematch if a medal is involved.  Or maybe, the judges rescore in case of a tie???

It's just my personal opinion... 

A skater who falls does not deserve a medal no mater how many times he or she spins in the air like an airplane propeller.

[Lindsays Grandma]

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@loveschocolatewrote:

@Mz iMac, I am no expert, but it depends on the difficulty of their program. For instance, a skater who does quads even though he falls will get more points versus a skater that does a triple cleanly. Also, a skater will get more points when a majority of their jumps are in the latter portion of their performance. 

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You said exactly what I was thinking when I read the post.  The skater fell but excelled in other parts of the performance which allowed for a good score.

[Moonchilde]

Traditionally, the US has not excelled in most of the winter sports except ice skating and some skiing. Now that the Olympics (and the world) have embraced snowboarding, that has the potential to give us a few more chances.

I think that one issue is all the foreign athletes who live in the US most of the time and train here with US coaches, or the same with Canada (Orser), but in all the sports, summer and winter. 

AFAIC if an athlete lives in the US, trains in the US and is a citizen of another country in name only, basically having become American and using every American training, housing and diet advantage, they should only be able to compete for the US, or get coached by coaches in their own country.  It’s the IOC that allows this to happen. It’s fine with them. And of course it’s big bucks for all the coaches. 

In the summer Olympics, probably more than half the athletes train in the US and/or also go to college here. 

If American coaches trained American athletes who compete for the US, I think we would see at least some more medals overall.

OTOH, there seems to be a weird sort of expectation with some that Americans are or should be the best at everything, and if we don’t get a medal in something it’s un-American.  Um...we aren’t the best, most superior athletes in the world all the time.  But every go-round, the American press builds these athletes up impossibly, making them seem supermen and women. Then they have a bad day, have nerves, bad luck - and they’ve “let the US down.”

That’s not just the press, the man on the street feels the same way, and says so. Compounding this, most of us just aren’t interested in watching a steady diet of US athletes losing out. There’s only just so much of other athletes winning and doing far better than ours that people want to watch, so NBC hypes it all to the max. I feel very sorry for some of our athletes.