With every gold comes a silver. We are a nation so obsessed with getting gold that we don't see that silver is better than bronze, or that bronze is better than all the other competitors that didn't even qualify. We teach our kids that as long as you try your best it doesn't matter where you place. The Australian media are turning these olympics into the worst ones i have ever seen (haven't really seen many but thats not my point). All i have been seeing is dummy spits and complaints about where we are sitting on the ladder. And to top it off they decide to try point the finger at china. "China use drugs" "China have all our coaches" I have been working at an outside school hours care, and one of the kids told me china were only good because they were taking drugs. I had to explain to him that it was only a suspicion and that they would have been tested for drugs in their system. Kids are impressionable. Yes we were a dominating team in sports a few years ago, but we can't expect to maintain that level forever. We can't let kids think that we only accept the gold. No one can believe that an olympic team can put in the hard work and come out on top. Hell, I'd go and train Chinese olympians if they paid me the money that they do their coaches. And on the topic of drugs....i learnt about EPO the other day and if you don't want a physiology lesson then skip the next bit.
Basically, your red blood cells (RBC) carry ~98% of the oxygen in your blood. Your kidneys keep tabs on how much oxygen is in your blood. At higher altitudes there is less oxygen in the air, which means less oxygen will be in your blood....but wait! Your kidneys detect the lowered oxygen levels and release the hormone EPO. EPO triggers your bone marrow to produce more RBC so that more oxygen can be carried around your body allowing you to climb mount everest or live on the side of a mountain. But when you you climb down the mountain, or decide to visit your relatives in Melbourne, you are moving into an increased oxygen environment. Eventually your RBC will return to normal, but there is a time when your RBC is elevated and therefor your oxygen carrying capacity is increased. Everyone who does sport knows that correct breathing techniques is essential. The more oxygen available to your body, the longer it takes to fatigue. So many competitors to high altitude training to increase their stamina....so whats the difference in climbing a mountain and injecting yourself with EPO? The later is considered illegal. I'm not saying that we should be injecting our athletes with EPO (elevated RBC levels lead to a higher risk of heart problems) but it is basically the same thing.....
The only way we can support our Aussie athletes is to me there with the green and gold yelling AUSSIE AUSSIE AUSSIE OI OI OI! Not sitting at home on our couches telling them we are disappointed with every second best.
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