UKC

Mo Farah, Jess, Greg and no discussion threads?

Or has athletics discussion been closed down on UKC the same way it was for Paula Radcliffe on the BBC last night?

In reply to Yanis Nayu:

'cos I've been watching the Judo, Boxing, Cycling and Trampoline instead.

In reply to Yanis Nayu:

Mo ran the quickest = Gold
Jess didn't throw far enough = Silver
Greg didn't jump long enough = Bronze

In reply to Yanis Nayu:

In London is it?

10,000 die in earth quake.... page 23 column 6

1 Englishman hurt in attempted robbery in johnny foreigner land..... front page!

Need I say anymore?

In reply to Yanis Nayu:



I feel really proud of our athletes, the time and effort they put into training must really take it's toll. If the overpaid, overrated footballers put as much into their sport, maybe we'd win something for a change.

In reply to Wsdconst:
I've just been in the pub. When I went in, there was a big crowd round the tv watching the golf. We waited and watched the pommel horse, which was exciting and, surprisingly, heartbreaking. We were the only people still watching by the time of the Whitlock / smith double whammy. Even compared to skeet shooting, golf isn't a proper sport, and the best players weren't there in any event, but golf is the activity that fires the public interest.

In reply to toad:

I think it maybe the fact that people identify more with the sports they can do,even if they're not very good at them ie golf and football. You don't get many 50 years old getting up early on a Sunday to go for a session with the lads on the pummel horse.

In reply to Yanis Nayu:

Drugs.

In reply to Indy:





Borders on parody.

In reply to Yanis Nayu:

Another late night coming up, Men's 100m final at 2:25

In reply to Lusk:

I know, I'm knackered from staying up until half three this morning and I haven't even thrown a tactical kip in to keep me going. I'll try and sneak a snooze in at work tomorrow...

In reply to Yanis Nayu:

400m WR just gone! That was incredible.

In reply to Wsdconst:

What an idiotic post!

By the way have you sent Mo some money to help him get by on his multi million dollar salary?

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/othersports/article-2786106/Mo-Farah-sees-...

You don't see him stop trying?

Or does that only happen at 5 million a year?

British footballers have won plenty, collectively they don't. To somehow think they can only perform in the champions league due to money and not for their country is idiotic.

You saw that with Ronaldo this year. It meant everything to him, probably ego? But wages?

If it is purely money Rooney et al know there is no greater long term security than a major international title. He would be forever a national hero, constant earner.

Next time have a think...

In reply to Big Ger:


Shock horror relevant news makes front page... If papers just showed people killed in rio slums, the latest ISIS kills, deaths in natural disasters it wouldn't be read or be a 600 page weekly thesis.

It's been that way for decades but it's understandable you show what is relevant as people get killed world wide. Why do we show the murder of one woman in Oxford ahead of 100 killed in Baghdad? Relevancy..

In reply to toad:

Also, people understand golf. Keeping hitting the little ball until it ends up in the hole, fewest shots wins. Having watched the pommel, as impressive as it is, I couldn't tell who'd won until the judges told me which removes the tension/fun/drama so people lose interest.

In reply to Wsdconst:


Sounds painful...

In reply to Roadrunner5:

He does have a point, though. Maybe not about the money, but about the lack of professionalism that you do still find in football compared to other sports. How many elite track and field athletes do you know (or know of) who regularly smoke a cigarette or two? Also, in how many of your training camps did you experience discipline problems related to alcohol?
Of course football is more in the eye of the press, so there is some reporting bias, but there appears to be some difference to other sports. Anyway, not all footballers are the same, just compare Portuguese Ronaldo and Rooney.

CB

In reply to toad:


I think its the activity that fires men's interest.

I've only got 1 female friend who is remotely interested in watching golf. Athletics, swimming, gymnastics, cycling etc is far more interesting to us ladeez. Oh, and diving. How could I forget that......

In reply to Babika:


Easily remedied by taking a page from vollyball's book.

In reply to toad:


More accurately, the interest of those who spend their time watching TV in a pub.

In reply to Yanis Nayu:
I used to watch Athletics Yanis , I was a keen (but useless) Athlete for many years , but all the money (and the drugs cheating) , has taken much of the enjoyment out of watching now. Taking that with all the people running for different countries on a whim, and them all training abroad often with foreign coaches, for me there is there little to be proud of it being a 'British achievement in a lot of cases)
( I did not even watch the 100 Final, and back in the day, I would never have missed it )

In reply to Jim C:
Stayed up to watch on Sat night - mainly for Jess, but the Long Jump was a thriller as well. Pleased to see Mo win, but still have doubts re Salazar. But the have plenty of doubts re the Kenyans, and wonder whether these countries have the means and the desire to self-police to the required level.

Also think that things are going to get a bit nasty with the women's events - not so much "what's she on" but "what's he doing in this race". The recent CAS judgement threatens the very existence of women's athletics, but because we (quite rightly) don't know who has benefited, it means there are even more doubts about any exceptional performance.

In reply to Chris the Tall:

Why specifically womens´athletics?

CB

In reply to toad:

Really? golf puts my fires out, to be honest.

In reply to Babika:


REALLY, you should know better!!

In reply to krikoman:

golf and cricket both. The people that watch seem to be the antithesis of athletic

In reply to cb294:



Caster Semenya.

In reply to Yanis Nayu:

OK, I see,

CB

In reply to cb294:


I thought this explained the issue quite well: http://sportsscientists.com/2016/07/caster-semenya-debate/

In reply to Lemony:

Thanks,
I just did not think of CS when I read CAS, but of the Russia issue.

CB

In reply to Yanis Nayu:
Only because Shi Tingmao won and I like her name when you say it quickly

Sound like someone cursing the Great Leader.

In reply to aln:


Couple of performances have set my bullshit detector ringing. It's hard to believe and trust, and therefore hard to really engage with it.

In reply to cb294:



They lifted the testosterone limit on women participants.....

In reply to Yanis Nayu:


But she's not the only one, in fact she didn't bring the case to CAS. But after she was put through the mill the authorities are keeping quiet on the other women who had to have treatment to keep their testosterone below an arbitrary limit. Now that limit has been lifted and apparently it's likely that half the 800m final could have the same condition.

The irony is that a massive improvement has come because they have stopped taking drugs!

In reply to cb294:
I think that's education though.

TBH when you see where Rooney started from he's done pretty well, plenty go totally off the rails (Morrison), others do ok but don't reach potential (Gazza).

Guys like Januzaj annoy me far far more, all the talent yet not the same ethic.

Re runners, especially distance runners are generally pretty introverted, quiet. You get a few but not many. When I take my XC team away to meets (10 18-24 year olds), I never check on them. With a soccer team I'd be on their case.

I find sprinters much louder, macho, harder to coach and you need more discipline around them. Even fights weren't that unusual on our school track team as testosterone is through the roof in these guys at 16-18 years old, the 120 lb runners just want to run 10 miles a day..

But I don't think money is a factor really, plenty of top pros have far more in fact, I imagine Bolt isn't going to need to work much more.. Ennis will retire now, Athletes generally have much shorter careers so can focus for that period and then back off..

I actually know a number of runners who do smoke, even drugs rather than alcohol as it's less calories..

But you don't get track and field athletes followed by paparazzi on holiday and when they have (phelps) it's not always good.. We've had British sprinters test positive for pot.

I don't think English players have underachieved unless with the national team, so I don't think we can blame their attitude.. Rather somehow the set up with England is wrong, the press and the pressure they wilt under. It's been 30-40 years, 5-6 generations of teams who have all failed, so I think to say 'well you don't want it enough' is ridiculous.

In reply to Chris the Tall:
Right now we have to seriously doubt Ethiopia and Kenya. Their doping policy is totally absent, coaches taking tests for runners, testing not happening, athletes warned when tests are..

For me a huge question mark hangs over the 10k time sadly.

Re the 400m from lane 8. I'm hoping just a huge talent. Bolt has mentioned him, he's a very quick guy across the sprints so I'm more open minded.

Time will tell but the IOC should be banning countries like Kenya and Ethiopia who's testing regime is woeful.

In reply to Roadrunner5:
Thanks for the interesting insights. Surprised to hear about smoking runners!

I agree that it is not necessarily about money at the elite level (and playing in the premiership or Bundesliga must count as elite, as you have to put this in context to the absolute number of players). However, a little lower, or when breaking into these ranks, money does come into play. One classmate from primary school made it to Bundesliga first as a player and later as a coach. Another classmate was definitely even more talented, but started earning a reasonable amount in fourth or fifth league at age 16 or 17 (enough to build a rather fancy house over a couple of seasons!) and just stalled. He also kept drinking and smoking, and never achieved his potential. Thinking about it, maybe he actually did, because talent is not all about balls skills and speed, but also about self discipline and the ability to force yourself to train through the bad times!

I admire guys like Ronaldo, who clearly has less football talent than Messi and arguably Rooney, but more than makes up for this by willpower and training discipline. If you achieve the same level as a footballer or athlete, you may in the end be more successful if you had to get there the hard way! After all, he is the only one of these three to actually win something with their national team.

CB

edit: If a player regularly comes back from holidays several kg overweight I would definitely argue that he "does not want it enough". Whether this is because of money I have no idea.

In reply to Chris the Tall:

Lemony´s link makes a good point. Women and men must compete separately, else there would be few sports where women would be even remotely competitive.

The question is whether this protection should be for being socially and externally female. IMO, just looking at secondary sexual characteristics or Barr bodies is essentially pointless. It fails to protect women athletes from competitors who - regardless of their perceived, externally visible, or even genetic sex - enjoy the same advantage as male athletes in those aspects of their physiology that are more important for their athletic performance.

This is where any cutoff should be placed. Instead, CAS draws the line at the wrong point, and proves itself clueless once again.

CB

In reply to cb294:

Yep, I think read Ross Tucker's opinion somewhere else (possibly in less rambing, less defensive form) and I think he is spot on when he says a very unpleasant shitstorm will occur, not least in South Africa.

Yes we have to respect privacy, yes there is an issue with insisting that some takes drugs to affect their hormones and most importantly we have to accept that nature is not as binary as we are used to believing.

But having a protected category means you have to draw a line somewhere, otherwise in 20 years time we could see a situation where woman without this condition are effectively excluded from elite sport. In fact some have suggested that the IAAF are hoping for a massive shitstorm so they can go back to CAS and and say is this what you really want ?

In reply to Chris the Tall:

A binary response is fine even for a non-binary issue as long as you put the line in the right place. In this case, we should distinguish between female competitors with typical female testosterone levels (plus some kind of safety margin) vs. everyone else. Maybe the solution would be to rename the male category "everyone else"!

Less facetiously, competitors that fall between the traditional categories for whatever reasons should be given the option to choose between adjusting their hormone levels to the female limits if they want to compete as females, or to join the men´s events, as they resemble men in those physiological traits that affect their athletic abilities most directly.

IAAF should just make that argument, but I don´t know whether they dare.

CB

In reply to cb294:

Ronaldo's attitude is incredible.

But the two players I admired most were Gary Neville and Carragher. Decent players who achieved almost everything in the game with mainly a fully committed professional attitude, they had talent but nothing special really. There's players much lower down with more pace and natural ability than those two who will never achieve what they did.

Strangely both under-appreciated players in a country who thinks so badly of footballers commitment.

In reply to Chris the Tall:



I know it's a bigger issue than CS, but she's the most high profile. The women's 800m is going to be a farce, as was the CAS judgement. Surely it's better for intersex people to compete as men, and for any unfairness to be limited to a tiny percentage of the human race, rather than half of it. The CAS ruling, and some of the "you can compete as a woman if you identify as a woman" rules in the States are threatening to ruin women's sports.

In reply to Roadrunner5:

I don't understand the "from lane 8" comments. The wider turn makes it faster, and the absence of a sight of your competitors makes you more likely to run to your potential. If he'd been in lane 1 I could understand it.

In reply to Roadrunner5:

Firstly, I would say with the amount of dislikes on your post you're certainly in the minority with your opinion. What's mo farrahs wages got to do with anything ? His wages would be classed as chump change to the top footballers, and say what you like about him, he comes out and does the job. Rooney just comes out and passes the ball to anyone but his own team, and Ronaldo,well he's a fantastic player but last time I checked he wasn't from Britain so can't really be included,if you read my post properly you'd realise I was referring to our national squad.

In reply to Roadrunner5:

You are right about Neville and Carragher, good players who made the most of their talents. Surprised about your last sentence though: From the outside it looks almost the opposite, as if English football fans appreciated "heart", commitment and headless chicken running (Gerrard) more than skills and especially football brains (LeTissier). Maybe commitment on the field is easier to spot than commitment off the field.

CB

In reply to Wsdconst:

Or it's the level of ignorance in the world today...

So Rooney passes to anyone? So how has he won so much? Record goal scorer for England and nearly United?

The national squad is now full of great young talent that ignoramouses like you should get off the back of.

If you want athletes to get paid more support them?

Go on put your hand in your pocket?

That is what football fans do. You may not like Rooney but millions pay millions to watch them and buy their merchandise so yes, they should get a share of that money! Or should the directors just take all the profits?

In athletics at meets most stadiums are empty. Go and pay! Join UKA, watch it on TV?

When did you last pay to watch a meet?

I go to track meets, I even pay to watch high school meets. That's how you support athletics. Go and do it instead of being negative and turning on other athletes.

Very few do so there is no money in the sport apart from at the very top.

I'm Facebook friends with a few of the GB athletes having met a few at GB events so see how much they struggle, an injury and UKA cut them off.. They get by crashing on people's floors.

Try supporting them financially...

In reply to Yanis Nayu:


Lane 8 tends not to medal, you don't see your opposition. Some may prefer that others like to run their race seeing others.

Personally, as a distance runner, I love racing not running blind. It's different as it's much longer I know.

In reply to Wsdconst:
Please save this thread for 2020 so you can edit it and moan about athletes wages and overpaid soccer players whilst doing nothing to support them for the next 4 years..

I guarantee if you increase the wages of athletes you'd see better performances as they'd spend more time training and less time worrying and trying to get funding.

In reply to Roadrunner5:

Haha you're really quite funny, you know nothing about me and what I pay for.when did I mention anything about athletes wages ? Again if you actually read original my post you'd see that I never mentioned anything about athletes and money,I did mention footballers being over paid which they are. You mention athletes sleeping on mates floors for events, seen many footballers do that have you ?

In reply to Roadrunner5:



You've just made this into your own thing about athletes wages, which again I've never mentioned. Are you ok ?

In reply to cb294:

Forgot to add.. I think money at an early age is detrimental.

But United lost Pogba after refusing to pay an 18 year old with 2 senior appearances 40k a week. He left on a free to where he could get that, won 4 titles and we've just spent 100 million getting him back..

Young players see that and want that money ASAP. Just one contract and that's their financial security.

But also many footballers come from pretty poor backgrounds and it is understandable to see them go astray and chase money. We see it a lot in Brazilian players who often get a few big pay days, pile on the pounds partying and then head out east for more money.

We are now seeing it with Asian and Chinese teams paying huge salaries. Whilst it's easy to say they are walking away from the games top leagues they are securing their own and their families future. Gyah went out east on a massive salary a few years back after being a top player at the 2010? World Cup. Went to Sunderland and jumped to UAE or somewhere for a massive deal.

In reply to Wsdconst:
You said footballers are overpaid, and I pointed out many others get similar amounts.

In fact footballers are quite often down in sporting pay.

Yes athletes toll through injury.

But go and support them.

You won't

We see it every few years with women's football.. 'Why aren't they professional,.' 'They deserve more than men' yet won't go and buy their shirts, pay to watch or watch on TV so they game is staggeringly poorly paid.

So put it right. Allow these athletes to get a fair wage and some security by supporting them over the next 4 years. Go to high school meets, pay the few quid, go to indoor track meets, go to the senior League meets, watch athletics on TV. Bigger viewing figures means more money into the sport and runners like McColgan can get a fair wage.

Soccer players get big Money because millions pay to watch them play. You've decided they shouldn't get the money their talents generate.

That's like saying Brad Pitt or Clooney are overpaid. They get money because people pay to watch them.

Sadly people don't pay to watch athletes, well not enough anyway.

I've had 2 GB vests, one world champs gold, one bronze and never received a penny. If there was money I'd have been pushed out anyway as the proper talent would have come in but for the few years I was working full time and running 90-100 miles a week I never once thought about overpaid players. My sport doesnt generate money. I'd have liked more support and we did target races to win money so we could travel and race more.

So I was left begging for sponsorship for physiotherapy, sports massages, gym membership, trainers, free race fees etc that made it much easier to train hard. So rather than vent your anger at sports you don't like support constructively those you do.

Don't just moan do something to help athletes succeed.

And you say overpaid? Underperforming?

How? Who pays them? Clubs... Which English players underperform for their club?

Record goal scoring Rooney? Multiple titles, cups, CL finals?

Ignorance..

In reply to Roadrunner5:

Ignorance hmm maybe. I genuinely do think all footballers are overpaid, who deserves that kind of money ? I don't really want to argue with you as I think it's pointless. what I will say is my daughter is a budding young athlete, funded by me,I spend a hell of a lot of time/money doing exactly what you've told me to do. My sister played womens football so I've also done a fair bit for that cause too. Maybe I'm biased because I do see what goes into athletics and don't care much for football. Maybe the constant negative press footballers get has made me feel like this, I don't know. I don't really think insulting people while hiding behind a screen helps your argument though, but I'm putting it down to you being passionate about the subject which is a good thing. I wish you well and watch out for those coyotes.

In reply to Yanis Nayu:

>for any unfairness to be limited to a tiny percentage of the human race, rather than half of it.

That's very well put.

In reply to Yanis Nayu:
I think I've walked into an episode of "Modern parents" from Viz


http://news.bbc.co.uk/nol/shared/spl/hi/quiz/09/10/28/091544/media/modernpa...

In reply to Roadrunner5:

Supply and demand are only one side of footballers´ pay. Wages and transfer fees have grown to obscene levels (dictated by the market) through a deliberate lack of regulation. Why run professional football clubs as companies, divorced from their grass roots? Why let foreign investors buy clubs and use them as money laundering vehicles for the billions they have stolen at home? Why let Murdoch use a de facto monopoly on football coverage (for the first few years at least, until noone else could catch up) to achieve dominance in the PPV market?

Just attributing the money floating around football relative to other sports to spectator interest falls way short.

CB

In reply to Big Ger:

No need to look a satire, real life is even worse. My neighbour is an ex top 30 tennis player (women´s tennis in the 1990s only set very few players up for life!) who now makes a living by running tennis camps and regular training sessions for children and teenagers, charging way more money than a regular club membership would cost. The overwhelming majority of the kids will never play club matches, and parents even ask to excuse their children from training matches, so they do not have to experience losing.

CB

In reply to Wsdconst:

How much do you think lower league footballers get paid ?

In reply to cb294:

I actually think they should be run as businesses. They can be modeled on Barca or pure business like United but independent profitable companies provide stability.

When hearts come into it we get the Leeds and the Bradfords.

Despite the huge salaries and transfer fees United run a profit. Many many people have secure jobs. In a poor area of Manchester that's a big thing.

I have issues with clubs who are bank roled and not sustainable.

But United are one of the better models, they bring in huge revenue and were one of the first clubs to go global and that's why they can pay people 200k a week, because they are one of the most well supported, well watched team who sells lots of merchandise. Because of these they can get huge deals with Adidas and Chevy.

If athletics want this money they need to take that approach. They are trying but failing badly. The whole rule 40 bullshit in the US Olympic Team shows how badly this is failing.

In reply to Roadrunner5:

Sure, run them as businesses, just do not let them uncouple completely from the amateur game. The German 50+1 rule which requires a majority of voting rights to be held by the parent club (regardless of the organization form of the professional section) as a precondition for league participation may be a good template, but other solutions also work. Probably this better integration may explains the respective success of the national teams to a large extent (something the establishment of the PL was actually supposed to improve for you guys!). As it stands, the majority of PL clubs are just shells, doing noone any good but the owners, who get a fig leaf of tradition for their dodgy money.

CB

In reply to Yanis Nayu:

How has football taken over this thread ?

In reply to Chris the Tall:
Something needs to be done.

It'll be interesting to look how many British Athletes came through the US Education system..

But if you look at some of the rants Eilish McColgans had with the lack of funding due to an injury, athletes are real struggling.

I think we really need to take a US style approach to education and sport (with limits). That way we develop educated athletes.

In reply to Roadrunner5:


You mean scholarships for promising sportsfolk? No doubt that helps, but presumably it varies sport to sport - I gather in keen football towns, for example, scholarships can get awarded but the academic side of things is in practice rather glossed over.

In reply to Yanis Nayu:


Are you poo-pooing the BBC's coverage?

In reply to Removed UserBwox:

For sure, there needs to be limits. In the US they say football (American) graduate with a degree in eligibility.

We also really suffer with burn out with promising runners emotionally finished by 21. However I think it's better than the UK in that there are jobs for coaches, so lots of well qualified educated coaches. In the UK many 'coaches' do one weekend course and are coaches.

It's no wonder we struggle in a lot of specialized events like throwing as we have very little support. In the US I have a network of coaches locally I can send kids too as a track coach. I'd even video my kids then send to specialized coaches who will then provide feedback. There's lots of clinics and schools share experience. In my region we even train with other schools so x does distance, y takes throwers, z takes sprinters. That way we can share expertise and have top athletes coming through. At my high school I just taught at our varsity team had a sub 15 5 k guy and all the team ran sub 16 comfortably.

In reply to Yanis Nayu:

back to olympics, shame the medals don't really count because russia is not represented..

In reply to malk:
A few other countries should be out. Ethiopia and Kenya for me.

In reply to lummox:

When my mate played for rotherham ute he got £15,000 a week.

In reply to malk:


Actually showing up to compete is fairly key to the sport. You could say the same about any number of Olympics where X hasn't shown up because X wasn't fit, etc.

In reply to Roadrunner5:
Adding money just changes a sport to entertainment above a certain level. Not necessarily a bad thing but equally not necessarily desirable. Tennis, football and motor racing have gone this way. Archery, badminton and rowing haven't. Personally I think athletics is on the cusp but better off as a sport.

In reply to MG:

I think in athletics we need better coaching, recruitment and support. Supposedly London Olympics largely failed.

The infrastructure is terrible. In the US most high schools have a good track, very good by UK standards. We had a school in 2000 students and a track team of 70-80 students. The chance of picking up talent is far higher when you can get those sorts of numbers.

That's why athletics needs more support, more qualified coaches and better facilities. Back in Sheffield I struggle to find a track to train on. In rural NH I have 4 or 5 good tracks within 20 minutes.

In reply to Roadrunner5:

The Kenyans do alright using a mud track.

In reply to Yanis Nayu:

Slightly different, they almost all come from one high altitude area, it's dry so those tracks are quick. In theUK most schools have grass tracks, at most.

They only run. Actual track and field is more diverse and they don't excel apart from at distance.

Their sprint coach just tried to take a drugs test for an athlete

Their drug testing regime is diabolical. Ethiopias is even worse.

17 year old high school US student currently in the 400m hurdles.. Impressive!

In reply to Wsdconst:
The average last year in League One was £69k and in League Two £40k. Unless you specifically meant Prem League, then the comment about all footballers being overpaid is simply rubbish.

In reply to Yanis Nayu:

its the illuminati. Theyre closing down all discussion of the olympics because theyre in league with the Lizard People. the lizard people dont want it discussed because it would give clues to the faking of the moon landings. And then we would realise the truth about the assassination of JFK.
The mods are in league with all of them.

In reply to lummox:


If you read my comment I was referring to our national squad. I still 40k a week is ridiculous money for kicking a football when compared to soldiers or nurses who don't make that in a year.

In reply to Wsdconst:


Who get paid by the clubs for the success they bring to them and the shirts they sell...

In reply to lummox:


Yeah, that seems a decent wage but most are poorly educated with little career prospects to make a living for the next 30 years of their working career.

In reply to Roadrunner5:


Yeah and the ridiculous prices they charge to go and see them play.

In reply to Wsdconst:
That people willingly pay.

Same with musicians, same with film stars.

Each week 80,000 people pay to watch United when at home.

I don't think its worth it so only go when my parents season tickets are available.

I think it should be cheaper, especially
Ly the lower leagues where it's still 20-30 quid a ticket but that's economics of the UK.

You charge what you can.

In reply to Wsdconst:


He is talking about annual salary, not weekly.

In reply to The New NickB:


Fair enough, I must have misread it, £40,000 a year is still a decent wage. I personally think the top players are vastly overpaid. I know it's down to the amount of money in football. But ticket prices, shirts etc would be a lot more affordable if players didn't demand as much money.

In reply to Wsdconst:

Those salaries are per annum. Your comment didn't mention the national squad.

In reply to Wsdconst:


It is. But at 35 they are qualified for very little. Our sporting system in many sports forces the best kids away, especially soccer, from education. They take a huge risk at 14-16 years old if they leave education and try to make it.

In reply to Wsdconst:


You could say that for any profession.. Should doctors like plastic surgeons be paid millions. Should CEOs? Should anyone really? Lewis Hamilton?

Why doesn't Brad pit work for less. Then films would be cheaper..

In reply to lummox:


My first comment made comparison to the performance of our athletes compared to footballers on a world stage ie Olympics vs World Cup. I wouldn't be comparing them to the Sunday football league would I ?

In reply to Yanis Nayu:

Interesting article http://www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/life/can-we-trust-olympic-athletes-rio-20...

In reply to Wsdconst:

I feel really proud of our athletes, the time and effort they put into training must really take it's toll. If the overpaid, overrated footballers put as much into their sport, maybe we'd win something for a change.

Apologies. I should've realised you were talking about World Cup footballers from the above.

And obviously, professional footballers and Sunday league players are on a par.

In reply to lummox:




I can't tell if you're being sarcastic, if you are you should really stop it or maybe try a little harder. This thread is talking about the Olympics, I say I'm proud of OUR athletes(you with me so far). I then comment on the footballers and use the word WE(still with me),which I would imagine anyone reading would take to mean our national squad. If you missed that then I'm sorry and I'll try to make it clearer next time. Maybe a list of the players and the match fixtures for the next twenty years will suffice ?.

In reply to Wsdconst:


They don't get paid a salary to play for england per se, they get a fee 1500 for a win, 1000 for a draw, 500 for a defeat.

This is then donated to a charity.

In reply to Wsdconst:

Maybe a list of the players and the match fixtures for the next twenty years will suffice ?

Given that you think lower league footballers make 70k a week, you should probably stick to rants about something you are more knowledgable about.

In reply to Roadrunner5:



Didn't realise it was generally donated to charity, but I suppose it is loose change to these well paid sportsmen.

Is it one charity or do they all donate to different charities?

In reply to Roadrunner5:


There's a reason for that.
For races after the initial heats IAAF rules rank the athletes in the order of;
heat winners, 2nd placers, 3rd placers etc., fastest losers - all in time order.
Then the fastest 4 are drawn into lanes 3 to 6,
next fastest goes into 7, then 8, then 2, then 1.

So lane 8 is occupied by the 6th fastest qualifier.

In reply to Roadrunner5:



Not sure what ages that would be, but how do they get that level of participation - is running compulsory?

In reply to Jim Hamilton:

Most high schools are grades 9-12, so 14-18 year olds. Sports are totally optionable.

Most students do a sport. We gave 3 seasons. XC, soccer, football are Fall sports, then there's two track seasons.

Getting a scholarship for college is a huge incentive. Most students are involved in some extra-curricular activity.

The track of s jumping, throwing, sprints and distance. That was also just the boys team, the girls team would be 40-50.

In reply to Yanis Nayu:
.....And Mo gets his 4th. The double double. Another convincing performance (and no fall this time)

In reply to balmybaldwin:

Yo Mo!

and no more staying up till 3:30am...sleep!

In reply to balmybaldwin:

Amazing. He is the complete package. Endurance, speed, race craft and the heart of a lion. Just brilliant.

In reply to Lusk:



Indeed. The Olympics has killed me!

In reply to lummox:


Maybe you should stop making things up,when did I say 70k ?? When have I had a rant ? Maybe you should join a fictional story forum instead.

In reply to Roadrunner5:



To be honest I've moved on now, cheers for sharing the knowledge though.