Posted on 08/21/2008 9:47:40 AM PDT by robertvance
On Thursday, well into the second week of the 2008 Olympic Games, Rogge must have decided that it was time to do some "tough talking." He must have thought that it was about time to show the world that the IOC did have some 'backbone' after all. Unfortunately, by the time he was finished with the interview, he had proven to the world once again that the IOC is as weak and tactless as ever. Instead of addressing issues such as the China gymnastics age scandal or the fact that Beijing has not even approved one protest request, he inexplicably chose to target criticism at Jamaican track star Usain Bolt who has electrified the world by winning both the 100 metre and 200 metre sprints while at the same time setting world records in both events.
(Excerpt) Read more at teachabroadchina.com ...
???
Ahem, Michael Phelps?
But yes - banging on Usain Bolt is just ridiculous given the systematic cheating by China.
Sorry. That should have been clarified of course. Bolt is the next best thing for the Olympics AFTER Michael Phelps but certainly the best thing for the games since Sunday morning Beijing time. :) Thanks for pointing that out!
Rogge thinks it’s more important to criticize a Jamaican runner for celebrating before crossing the finish line than to investigate the ages of obviously-underage Chinese gymnasts and have their medals revoked?? What a crock!
Bob Costas interviewed him tonight (note, this did not happen in Athens, the fact that he has to talk with this guy in China hints at more controversy surrounding the Beijing games than anywhere else so far), and Rogge dodged the gymnast issue by basically saying it was a job for the Chinese authorities. Oh, like China is going to get on this; they allowed the gymnasts to compete, they sure as heck aren’t gonna take their medals away! Besides, the IOC jumps in to crack down on steroids instead of leaving it to the govt athlete in question, so why not crack down here, huh?!
A side note...I saw the US relay teams were wearing red tops tonight instead of blue apparently to honor the host nation? WTF? Y’know, with the Soviet Union people had their heads on straight and realized the USSR was a dangerous communist nation, but with China everyone seems to be going out of their way to suck up to them and talk about how great they are (as evidenced by some of the Olympic commentators). What’s up with that??
But, on a good note, the outcome of the men’s platform diving was awesome...China was on pace to win 8 gold medals in all 8 events, and the Chinese diver was in the lead....and screwed up his last dive. The Aussie needed 10s and 9.5s to win, and he got them! The Water Cube was dead silent! I was hoping China’s streak would end...8’s not so lucky NOW, is it?? Ha HA!
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