Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Canucksaram]

I find it uninteresting to watch an athlete at the Olympics perform in just one type of sport or just a single event.

Last night I watched some of the female weight lifters and none of them struck me as being athletic in a meaningful way. So many of them were unhealthily overweight and seemed to rely upon sheer mass rather than honed athletic ability to perform their lifts.

I think an Olympian should have to compete in multiple events--say, a minimum of three events, or maybe five (there are five rings in the Olympic logo, yes?), or perhaps ten or more--in order to showcase true athletic ability. Test your strength, agility, precision, endurance, willpower, self-discipline, team spirit, etc. in real challenges that cannot be met through hyperspecialized training.

Target shooting with pistols made exactly for that purpose? Garbage. A pistol from among those used in the army service of the various nations attending the games should be randomly chosen to be used, mere moments before the event.

How much more meaningful would a gold medal be if you earned one in wrestling, then swimming, and then for a team sport? That man or woman is a truer and better athlete than someone who has focused only on one narrow aspect of athletic ability.

Likewise, I'd like to see an unfettered contest were every form of performance enhancement was allowed. We could then have a baseline Olympics and an enhanced Olympics. That way the doping fiends can ruin their bodies in pursuit of their foolhardy ambitions, and the rest of us can watch real men and women flex the awesome and beautiful power of the human (athletic) spirit.

Pipe-dream, indeed. But if I had a magic wand....