1 United States
USA 35 23 25 83
2 China
CHN 36 23 19 78
We got a gold medal coming in mens basketball for sure, and I would bet in womens basketball as well. Then we got a gold and silver more than likely in the decathalon. And then I would also bet on the women volleyball team winning gold Sat. And we got at least a silver in womens soccer and I’m hoping it’s a gold instead.
And then there is the gold in womens water polo. And we got gold in womens soccer. We are going to town now. Just got another gold and silver in the decathalon.
1 United States
USA 39 25 26 90
2 China
CHN 37 24 19 80
Swimming? They have plenty of good swimmers and they’ve been good in this sport for a while now. Don’t forget about the Amazing Ye!
This has actually been a pretty good all around performance by the USA these games, considering they’ve either won or are contending for gold medal’s in women’s team gymnastics, soccer, basketball, indoor and beach volleyball and men’s basketball (all won so far except basketball). Those are all some of the most significant events on a team level.
Well actually when you have a country with more than 1.3 billion people (1,336,718,015) as of mid-2011 which mean 1 out of every 5 people in the world is from China, your going to have a lot of athletes to choose from especially in a lot of the sports like badmiton for an example that we don’t specialize in, your going to win a lot of medals.
And Asians always dominate in lifting for a reason too. They are smaller, so they don’t have to lift the weight as far as us taller people. Just look at powerlifters benching, they purposely are fat. Then they only have to move the bar like a foot practically! And the chinese look for athletes, because they want to win so bad.
So India is dead last? India has nearly as many people as China but almost no medals.
The women have helped the US more than anything. I actually enjoy watching most women sports more than men. Sports like Volleyball and tennis are easier to watch because there are more volleys and less aces.
Perhaps in another generation (of better nutrition), but asian peeps in general simply don’t have the build for peak performance. There’s literally no one who looks like Usain Bolt in all of China. A large chunk of china’s metals come in skill-based sports where strenuous training makes a significant difference (technically difficult events like badminton). The US also tends to have a cultural advantage whereby wide participation in sport is encouraged by the public school system as a peer to academics.
Regardless, Aus is widely acknowledged to have the most successful olympic training program, and there’s intl demand for their expertise.
China is dominant in lifting because it was identified by their training program as a metal-rich area (much like swimming/track-field) were lack of physical size isn’t an onerous disadvantage (due to weight classes). So in essence it’s basically professional chinese lifters vs. amateurs. Even then the dominance only goes up to a certain weight/size.
If swimming had height classes, china would probably have its own Micheal Phelps.
Congrats Kiwi - but Oz did lead your way with the *America*s Cup. when in the shaky isles I stopped work to watch the finish of the last race - a lucky [for some, unlucky for others] wind change?
It also brings a smile when I think of all those Olympic speed ice-skaters colliding and falling down with our stone-motherless last Ozzie, who had just scraped into the final, going by to get Gold. (Now I might wonder who got up first for the other medals).
Seems to be how to get the most medals for the bucks one spends, and only time might tell how much these super athletes are doped to the eyeballs - I was amazed by the performance of the US female sprinter FloJo? together with the male Canadian Bob Johnson? And with the latest fuss involving Carl Lewis I was interested that the US had apparently pegged him for doping on several occasions, but were more than happy that he collect gold for them. Nor to forget the continuing saga with Lance Armstrong.
An cynic might compare the chance of a medal winning olympian not having previously used performance enhancing drugs; with the likelihood of getting an honest, ethical politician. :bigsmile:
That would probably be true but since there is no such event, we will have to settle for a real event that defines the best athlete in the world. Its called the ‘decathlon’ & the yanks won gold & silver
Some good comments here guys. I sure did enjoy watching the Olympics. And congrats to all the countries that participated. One thing is for certain there is some good athletes in the world.