Rio Olympics

[Culturegeek]

(07-03-2016 11:43 AM)misplaced validity Wrote:  Was doping rampant back then? It looks like the world records right before the current ones weren't all that much slower. Meanwhile the gold medal winning time in the women's 800 for the last Olympics was slower than the world record set in 1976! The same is true for the 400m times. You won't see that in any other sport, where current generations are slower than those 40 years ago. Wow.

If you're referring to an East German record, yeah, doping was rampant.

[Dr.ciski77]

Rampant to put it mildly. There was also no way to detect steroid use back then, and no randomized/expanded testings until the mid-'90s. Stasi records from the '80s recently made public contain letters that Koch sent to state-owned pharmaceutical companies in East Germany in which she literally complained the steroids she had been taking weren't strong enough. Also, only one woman since 1983 has come within a second of that Kratochvilova record. It's a shame, and it means a lot of money and endorsements lost for a lot of clean athletes.

[misplaced validity]

Why weren't more of those types of records set in other sports as I'd assume it wasn't just in track and field? I do remember the East Germans having a similar scandal in swimming, and I also remember the big doping scandal with Chinese swimmers.

[Dr.ciski77]

The vast majority of world records set by Eastern European athletes in the '80s is the product of doping, regardless of the discipline (in all fairness, many of the same accusations also plague Flo's legacy and both her WRs). That said, the main focus of these state-assisted doping programs was track and field, so they were most prominent there. As for swimming, a lot of records were set by athletes wearing those polyurethane body suits that are now illegal, so there's that.

[NUguy514]

(07-03-2016 11:35 AM)Dr.ciski77 Wrote:  For the record, this is what Kratochvilova looked like in 1983:




...yeah.

Holy shit, I'm looking at this on my phone, and I thought this was a man until you referred to her as a woman a few posts later. Jesus.

[misplaced validity]

A new 'super bacteria' has been found in the water in Rio. Are the Olympics really going to happen? More so, should they?

[Above the Title]

They happened in Sochi. They'll happen in Rio.

[NUguy514]

Exactly.

[teppo2]

I'd say the kerfuffle of these last 2 games would bode well for a safe and reliable choice for 2024, but that doesn't narrow it down too much given the 4 options. I'd say it'll be pretty close between LA and Paris, and wouldnt be surprised to see IOC throw a bone to the US and go for LA.

[NUguy514]

Eh, I don't think the IOC is going to give the games to the US for a long time; they're still so pissed about the Salt Lake City bribing scandal. I think they'll give it to Paris, even though LA could basically host the Olympics tomorrow without too much trouble.