Olympics 2018 Thread

[angeldelayette]

I know that this board is filled with people from many different countries. That is one thing that makes me proud when it comes to my GDS family.

 

I was wondering who else has been watching the Olympic games so far. The only one that I have been paying attention is figure skating. I am left wondering why the Olympic Athletes from Russia(so-named because Russia was banned from competing this year due to doping) are able to compete in team competitions. The team competitions are representing your country and that is something they said the athletes from Russia could not do. It doesn't make any sense to me. Maybe someone else can explain it where I might understand?

[Synticha]

<blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="angeldelayette" data-cite="angeldelayette" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="44914" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>The team competitions are representing your country and that is something they said the athletes from Russia could not do. It doesn't make any sense to me. Maybe someone else can explain it where I might understand?</div></blockquote><p> </p><p> How I see it is that the competitors aren't representing Russia itself. De jure they are independent Olympians, but due to their large number they've been given a bit special naming as Olympic Athletes from Russia. To my knowledge their equipment doesn't have any symbols representing Russia and if they win gold the Olympic anthem is played instead of the Russian national anthem. There have been Independent Olympic Athletes at least since 1992 when the former Yugoslavs were given the IOA status. If I remember correctly the former Soviet countries also participated in the 1992 Olympics as the Unified Team under the Olympic flag. And if we allow South Korea and North Korea to have an unified hockey team, then the IOA athletes should be given a change to participate in team competitions too.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> As a Finn the Olympics are getting less and less exciting as new and bigger countries have started to fund their sports more. We simply can't keep up in the long run and to my knowledge the popularity of winter sports in Finland as a hobby has significantly deteriorated so we will have even less athletes to choose from.</p>

[angeldelayette]

<blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="Synticha" data-cite="Synticha" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="44914" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>How I see it is that the competitors aren't representing Russia itself. De jure they are independent Olympians, but due to their large number they've been given a bit special naming as Olympic Athletes from Russia. To my knowledge their equipment doesn't have any symbols representing Russia and if they win gold the Olympic anthem is played instead of the Russian national anthem. There have been Independent Olympic Athletes at least since 1992 when the former Yugoslavs were given the IOA status. If I remember correctly the former Soviet countries also participated in the 1992 Olympics as the Unified Team under the Olympic flag. And if we allow South Korea and North Korea to have an unified hockey team, then the IOA athletes should be given a change to participate in team competitions too.<p> </p><p> </p><p> As a Finn the Olympics are getting less and less exciting as new and bigger countries have started to fund their sports more. We simply can't keep up in the long run and to my knowledge the popularity of winter sports in Finland as a hobby has significantly deteriorated so we will have even less athletes to choose from.</p></div></blockquote><p> </p><p> <span style="font-family:TAHOMA;">I have no problem with them being independent Olympians. They were not the ones that violated the rules. However, they should simply be named Independent Olympians. Using the Russia name in the title means they are representing Russia. That is exactly what the Olympic committee is saying they did not want, right? I disagree with the IOA athletes being given a chance to participate in the team competitions. The teams should be representing their country. Or make a separate independent team with all of the independents regardless of country, thus not having any country name within the name.</span></p><p><span style="font-family:TAHOMA;"> </span></p><p><span style="font-family:TAHOMA;"> Sorry that the winter Olympics are losing their luster in your country. I think a lot of this will go in cycles. Hopefully, the popularity as a hobby will grow in your country because I always want my country to face the best, no matter what.</span></p>