"How shitty is it to be an Olympic athlete who peaks in the wrong years?"
So, everything I hear about this Simone Biles chick says she might the the greatest American gymnast of all time. She's already won more world championship golds than any other American woman, including back-to-back all-around titles. Right today, she's far and away better than everyone else in the world.
She didn't compete on the 2012 team because she wasn't old enough. There's a very good chance that she'll fall off a bit before the Rio games, either because of injury or because of body changes. If that happens, no big endorsements, no Wheaties box, no Lifetime movie.
5. "lmao that looks shopped like crazy" In response to Reply # 1
-The Knicks’ coaching search still includes a lone frontrunner, Kurt Rambis, whose qualifications for the position include a strong relationship with Jackson and a willingness to take the job.
11. "I'm not a huge fan of young kids competing, but 16 is too old" In response to Reply # 10
Too many girls will peak in off years, and it virtually guarantees that if you're injured or just miss the team, you have no chance at the next olympics.
13. "they did it because of anorexia/bulimia" In response to Reply # 11
smaller girls were able to do moves that the bigger girls couldn't. so they were taking 12-14 year olds who would already naturally be smaller than 16-18 year olds, and basically starving them so that they were these little pixies who could do crazy flips and shit but couldn't get their period.
there was an expose book called Little Girls in Pretty Boxes or something like that.
They made the age limit 16 to try and minimize the damage.
*Jews you*
"this is okp tho, reading is completely optional" (c) desus
18. "nah, 14 is too young" In response to Reply # 14
if you were 12-13 and a potential olympian next year, they'd have you on the anorexia shit to keep you tiny so you can do the extra shit, and it can fuck you up for life.
if you were 12-13 and the age minimum is 16, they work on developing you more, because you still have 3-4 years before you're eligible.
If the minimum was 14, they'd have to kick the training into highest gear when the girls are only 12-13 as opposed to 14-15, which is a big development gap.
*Jews you*
"this is okp tho, reading is completely optional" (c) desus
22. "nah. not so much anymore" In response to Reply # 18
athletically built gymnasts used to be penalized for being less "artistic" than those with the ballerina build. Nowadays, athletic gymnasts have an advantage because of their ability to do high degree of difficulty power moves.
I do think ages should be sport-specific, because maintaining a little girl body is definitely still beneficial in other sports like diving trampolining and maybe synchronized swimming.
17. "RE: this belongs in the Money Fuck Up HoF post" In response to Reply # 16
>If dude can set personal bests at 32, imagine what he could >done at 26 in Beijing if he hadnt been banned during in his >prime
“Those (9.77 and 19.71 on the same day) are incredible performances. Not many people have run that fast separately, ever. To do it on a damp Friday night? I couldn’t believe those times.
“It shows one of two things: either he’s still taking performance-enhancing drugs to get the best out of him at his advanced age, or the ones he did take are still doing a fantastic job.
“Because there is no way he can still be running that well at this late point in his career.”
- British 400-meter hurdler Dai Greene talking about Justin Gatlin to the BBC.
19. "That's kind of a weird hypothetical" In response to Reply # 16
He was banned because he really, really liked taking performance enhancing drugs. The vast majority of track fans (and the not-small amount of meet directors who aren't inviting him) seem to assume that enthusiasm hasn't changed, only his ability to avoid detection.
______________________________
"Walleye, a lot of things are going to go wrong in your life that technically aren't your fault. Always remember that this doesn't make you any less of an idiot"
21. "Good point, that's my policy too" In response to Reply # 20 Fri Oct-17-14 10:18 AM by Walleye
>But I cant bring myself to judge beyond who tests clean and >who tests dirty > >If he's passing tests, then I go by that
Well put. It's not our job do the governing body's dirty work.
Gatlin... makes it tough though. He's even coached by Dennis "boldest excuse for a positive test ever" Mitchell. I didn't really realize how much I also kind of wanted athletes to talk the "I'm clean" talk until I saw how little he gave a shit what we thought.
Still, you have the most sensible viewpoint.
edit: and i *totally* missed your subject line. apologies.
______________________________
"Walleye, a lot of things are going to go wrong in your life that technically aren't your fault. Always remember that this doesn't make you any less of an idiot"
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