Everyone is out of step 'cept Russia, eh!
This certainly shows one's character supporting such disgraceful cheating behaviour.
Russia 2
Thu, 2016-07-21 18:58
#402
Thu, 2016-07-21 20:10
#403
...State sponsored means that they are the ones who organized it, and have been caught for it.You can call it whatever you want. What is significant is that in this case it involved not just an athlete or coach, but the Russian sport ministry, security services, and drug-testing laboratories covering up positive drug tests by substituting clean samples for tainted ones.
Listen, everybody knows that all sport is permeated with drugs. They could stop it tomorrow if they wished by demanding weekly tests of athlete's in labs independent of the sports organization involved. They don't, though lord knows there's plenty of money to do just that. The question is, why don't they test that way?
Because no one wants to stop drugs in sport. Take a close look at the picture I posted of NBA players back in the '70's. Find some NHL or NFL games from 40 years ago. Nobody in the sports world wants to go back to that. What they do instead is use the doping rules like the cops used to use the vagrancy rules back when. They use the rules when they want to get at somebody, and ignore them at all other times.
Amongst the athletes, there is a bit of a herd mentality. That is, they know they run a risk, just like the antelopes that wander down to the watering hole, but they think someone else will get caught, and they'll escape unharmed. Given that most Olympic qualifying levels were set by athletes who used drugs, one can hardly blame others for using drugs to get them to those levels.
In pro sports the evidence is just as obvious. 'Faster, Higher, Stronger, may be the Olympic motto, but it might as well be the motto of all sports. People like seeing records broken, and as long as they do, drugs will be a part of sports. The real problem is the rank hypocrisy of the sports organzations who, on the one hand decry the use of drugs in sport, and on the other use the results of drug taking athletes to sell their product.
Thu, 2016-07-21 20:25
#404
Everyone is out of step 'cept Russia, eh!
This certainly shows one's character supporting such disgraceful cheating behaviour.
Don't forget the Iraqi weapons of mass destruction. There was so much evidence for them that Colin Powell referred to it as a 'no brainer'. Whatever the reality of the situation, we know the USA uses whatever lies they can think of, whatever phony documents they can forge, to accomplish their objectives.
If I remember correctly, it was a defector from the Iraqi nuclear program who provided most of the evidence for the weapons of mass destruction, and who subsequently got himself a job at a large USA defence contractor. His evidence was backed up by the Niger yellowcake documents. That's not to say this is all bullshit, but given the USA'a track record (pun intended) it's probably wise to wait for further developments.
Thu, 2016-07-21 21:19
#405
The USA lied about WMD
Russia lied about Olympic doping
What Would Happen if the Olympics Banned Russia?
Thu, 2016-07-21 23:17
#406
ikosmos
HOW RUSSIA GOT AWAY WITH DOPING, UNTIL IT DIDN'T
CASTThe Whistleblowers
Yuliya Stepanova: Russian 800-meter runner, wife of Vitaly Stepanov
- disgraced athlete (failed a doping test) receiving political asylum in Canada
Vitaly Stepanov:
Employee at Russian anti-doping agency, Yuliya’s husband
- paid $30,000 by WADA to move here
Grigory Rodchenkov:
Ph.D. in analytical chemistry, director of Russia’s anti-doping lab
- the sole "witness" in the McLaren report, already convicted for trafficking in anabolic steroids,having fled prosecution, provided with a lab at US taxpayer expense, living incognito, out of the reach of prosecution... (eta) and may very well be handsomely renumerated for "services rendered" by (take your pick) the US, Canadian, or US AND Canadian governments ...
What a galaxy of stars. bwa ha ha ha.
C'mon you guys. This is like shooting fish in a barrel. Hurt me bad cos I'm bored already..... you big, strong Russophobes!
Thu, 2016-07-21 23:36
#407
ikosmos
Listen, everybody knows that all sport is permeated with drugs. They could stop it tomorrow if they wished by demanding weekly tests of athlete's in labs independent of the sports organization involved. They don't, though lord knows there's plenty of money to do just that. The question is, why don't they test that way?Because no one wants to stop drugs in sport.
... The real problem is the rank hypocrisy of the sports organzations who, on the one hand decry the use of drugs in sport, and on the other use the results of drug taking athletes to sell their product.
All good points but one more is worth adding. You have addressed this point but it's worth spelling it out more clearly. I got this from reading one of A. Mercouris' articles at The Duran. Even well-intentioned sports adminstrators and officials, say, wanting to act as whistleblowers over drug use, are really up against it. Many of these people are professionals, they are career officials and adminstrators, and, given the professionalization of sport and especially the powerful influence of commercial interests, such whistleblowing would be tantamount to career suicide.
IMHO, therefore we don't get real whistleblowers. We get fake ones instead.
Regardless of the last point, I think it's useful to underline, as you have, the powerful and corrosive influence of commercial interests. The Olympic Movement is now like some great big, greasy McDonalds hamburger. And many of us no longer want to take a bite. Few countries can afford to host it, and when the event arrives it is like some temporary fiefdom, outside domestic law of the host country (as in was in Vancouver in 2010), like a mini-dictatorship for the duration. It may be that one of the unintended consequences of this Russophobic campaign is the blowback that more people no longer even care to watch the spectacle.
And if they were thereby more interested in more pressing social and political issues, that might be a good thing. Capitalism, especially the latest neo-liberal spiritual barbarity, converts all things into a commodity including the most noble human aspirations.
Fri, 2016-07-22 00:09
#408
Give it a break with your outrageous nonsense. These Russians have been caught cheating, are being punished for their deeds, and you should be applauding that. But no you are supporting unethical and perhaps criminal behaviour. Why is that?
Fri, 2016-07-22 01:24
#409
ikosmos
These Russians have been caught cheating, are being punished for their deeds, and you should be applauding that. But no you are supporting unethical and perhaps criminal behaviour. Why is that?
I agree with the Russian sporting authorities in stating that they have serious problems with doping. They're addressing them, AFAIK, as best they can. Since November of last year, for example, they've been doing all the drug testing outside the country (in the UK).
However, the fact that they've acknowledged these serious problems has filled their critics with apoplectic rage... who, apparently, had hoped and prayed for a stereotypical response that they could jeer at.
I don't support: collective punishment; dispensing with the rule of law and, in particular, jettisoning the presumption of innocence for individual athletes; Russophobic geo-political campaigns involving the weaponization of cultural and sporting activities; WMD-style claims (which other babblers have pointed out to you as well) that are based on the testimony of a single, disreputable witness; and so on.
All of these unethical things you seen to support with bubbling, giddy cheerleader-like enthusiasm.
Happy trails.
Fri, 2016-07-22 11:26
#410
The USA lied about WMD
Russia lied about Olympic doping
What Would Happen if the Olympics Banned Russia?
I should have made myself a bit more clear about the lies around Iraqi weapons of mass destruction.
The USA didn't lie. They induced others to lie, and then touted those lies as evidence. That's why this situation with Russian doping is by no means clear cut.
As far as what would happen if Russia is banned outright, not much. They've been banned before and it didn't upset the cosmos, so I doubt it would now.
And as far as the Olympics go, they are the absolute center of corruption in sport. Forget banning Russia. The whole bloody organization should be banned. It is nothing more than a taxpayer funded party for the stinking rich, and the idea that they have some integrity to lose is ridiculous.
Fri, 2016-07-22 11:33
#411
Mutko's mess leaves Russia out to dry
If Russian President Vladimir Putin were really a good friend, he’d find another job for his embattled sports minister, Vitaly Mutko
Earlier this year the entire Russian under-18 ice hockey team had to be replaced with the under-17 team a day before they headed off to world championships in the US because, according to a Russian hockey website, "a large portion" of the team had tested positive for the recently banned substance, meldonium. It was banned in January and by March this year 27 Russian athletes, including tennis player, Maria Sharapova, had tested positive for it.
Gazetta.ru, an online news service, did an investigation into youth ice-hockey and football in regional areas and found the ice-hockey club Kuzbass and the Rostov football club had placed more than 41,600 euros ($46,400) worth of orders between them for medication including meldonium in February and December 2015.
Gazeta.ru's report also claimed that Olympic youth training centers placed hefty orders for the drug along with other performance-enhancing pharmaceuticals. It claims the Moscow region SBD (Center of Olympic sports) purchased 7 million rubles worth (98,000 euros) for the "improvement of performance of athletes," while the Rostov state-sponsored Olympic Training Center №1 made a similar purchase in 2014. It also found that meldonium was bought by a state-sponsored cycling school in the Samara region in August 2015.
It would be very hard for the Kremlin to argue that this is another example of an anti-Russian politically motivated attack on the motherland as it's a home-grown report that shows the grooming of athletes from a young age into a world of doping by official clubs and sporting centers whose budgets were approved by the ministry of sport.
http://www.dw.com/en/mutkos-mess-leaves-russia-out-to-dry/a-19420817
Fri, 2016-07-22 11:41
#412
And as far as the Olympics go, they are the absolute center of corruption in sport. Forget banning Russia. The whole bloody organization should be banned. It is nothing more than a taxpayer funded party for the stinking rich, and the idea that they have some integrity to lose is ridiculous.
I couldn't agree more. But it isn't just a corrupt party for the super rich. It's also the circuses part of "bread and circuses". I've always been amazed that so many otherwise sensible people are sucked in by this bullshit.
Fri, 2016-07-22 12:51
#413
ikosmos
And as far as the Olympics go, they are the absolute center of corruption in sport. Forget banning Russia. The whole bloody organization should be banned. It is nothing more than a taxpayer funded party for the stinking rich, and the idea that they have some integrity to lose is ridiculous.
I couldn't agree more. But it isn't just a corrupt party for the super rich. It's also the circuses part of "bread and circuses". I've always been amazed that so many otherwise sensible people are sucked in by this bullshit.
Given the upcoming Rio Olympics, regardless of the (spurious) banning of the entire Russian team, the corruption of the Olympic movement is a good topic for rabble discussion in any case, e.g., "Explain why you are not watching the Olympic spectacle."
Gosh darn it, that idea is so good that I think I will just do that right now. Yup.
Fri, 2016-07-22 13:04
#414
alan smithee
The 'rebels' the West insists to arm and support,decapitated a small boy. Reason? The hell of it?
Assad is bad,an authoritarian but so was Saddam Hussein and before the criminal war on Iraq,the region was MUCH more stable.
Russia is fighting these 'rebels' who are full out jihadists. The US is inching us into WW3 simply because the Assad regime has Russia and Iran as allies. Your enemy is mine,right?
When it comes to Syria and the whole Middle East mess,Putin is right,the 'coalition' is wrong.
Pull out and let the Russians take care of it for a while. Better yet,everyone get the hell out of there and let all the Muslim sects kill each other.
So to sum up,I'm with Russia on this issue and I'd rather see everyone pull out and let the Middle East implode so we can get on with our lives.
Fri, 2016-07-22 13:32
#415
ikosmos
The 'rebels' the West insists to arm and support,decapitated a small boy. Reason? The hell of it?
They're not as "moderate" as the US-led NATO countries say they are. But since overthrowing Assad trumps all else, they pretty much give these crimes a "Oh, we're REALLY sorry about this, ... but our policy won't change, regardless."
Assad is bad, an authoritarian but so was Saddam Hussein and before the criminal war on Iraq, the region was MUCH more stable.
Syrians should decide the fate of Syria and Iraqis should have decided the fate of Iraq. Start from solid principle.
Russia is fighting these 'rebels' who are full out jihadists. The US is inching us into WW3 simply because the Assad regime has Russia and Iran as allies. Your enemy is mine,right?When it comes to Syria and the whole Middle East mess, Putin is right,the 'coalition' is wrong.
Russia is not that far away and they know that jihadists in power in Syria is also a means or conduit for terrorism in their own country. Russia isn't just "helping" Syria; they're helping themselves.
Pull out and let the Russians take care of it for a while. Better yet,everyone get the hell out of there and let all the Muslim sects kill each other.So to sum up,I'm with Russia on this issue and I'd rather see everyone pull out and let the Middle East implode so we can get on with our lives.
This is wrong-headed; sensible people everywhere don't want violence and war. That includes sensible Muslims. You haven't thought about this enough.
Muslim killing Muslim is actually fine with some regimes, Israel, e.g. The Israelis have been providing medical services for the jihadists fighting in Syria. You know. Patch them up and send them back to kill some more. And the Israelis have a rather long and ugly history of this sort of thing; e.g. the massacre by the Phalangists in the refugee camps of Sabra and Shatila took place with Israeli blessings.
Fri, 2016-07-22 13:55
#416
alan smithee
Where are the 'moderate' Muslims in Syria and that region? All the fighters are jihadists in different strengths.
There is nothing to solve in bombings and all that shit. It's counter-productive. I agree,the people of Syria and Iraq should be able to pick their own leaders. But from what I see,these countries are doomed to become Saudi Arabia or worse.
Fuck it. Israel has a MASSIVE army and arsenal. They can take care of themselves.
Anyway,I think we should pull out immediately,cut off arms and money to so-called 'moderates' who decapitate children for kicks.
Russia is on the right side of this issue. The 'coalition'? Wasn't it Einstein who once said the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over like a fly trying to fly through a closed window. Wait,he didn't say that. But I hope people get the point.
I'd also like to add that in the recent past and in the present,a Muslim uprising is based on VERY conservative views,hence you got ISIS and Al-Nustra (spelling?) and a bunch of other groups.
It's all about being the enemy of Assad because he's friendly to Russia and Iran. And,yes,I think Israel plays a role in this charade.
Fri, 2016-07-22 14:34
#417
Olympic doping: Retests show 45 new failures from London and Beijing
http://www.cnn.com/2016/07/22/sport/olympics-rio-doping-london-beijing/i...
Fri, 2016-07-22 16:25
#418
Nobody cares my career will be ruined, says Russia's Shubenkov
Sat, 2016-07-23 22:53
#419
If you can believe these right-wing freaks
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3705101/ENTIRE-Russian-team-387-...
Sun, 2016-07-24 10:33
#420
If you can believe these right-wing freaks http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3705101/ENTIRE-Russian-team-387-...There's a reason why it's known as the Daily Fail:
Russia allowed to compete at Rio Olympics after IOC's shock decision not to issue blanket ban following doping revelations
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/sportsnews/article-3705676/Russia-allow...
Sun, 2016-07-24 10:54
#421
Sun, 2016-07-24 13:47
#422
It appears that Russia will be stripped of some of its medals Maybe clean legitimate athletes will get them instead
Apparently it was the New York Times that broke this Russian state sponsored doping scandal by interviewing the Russian lab employee
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-07-24/russia-escapes-full-ri...
Sun, 2016-07-24 14:44
#423
...It was banned in January and by March this year 27 Russian athletes, including tennis player, Maria Sharapova, had tested positive for it.
Maria Sharapova may be Russian born, but she's lived in the USA since 1994. To lump her in with 'Russian' athlete's is a bit of a stretch.
Sun, 2016-07-24 15:17
#424
ikosmos
...It was banned in January and by March this year 27 Russian athletes, including tennis player, Maria Sharapova, had tested positive for it.Maria Sharapova may be Russian born, but she's lived in the USA since 1994. To lump her in with 'Russian' athlete's is a bit of a stretch.
I presume this is about meldonium. A little known fact is that trace amounts of this stuff can be found in the blood up to 4 months after someone has stopped using it. So a ban in January, followed by testing a couple of months later, is a great way to trip people up.
This is what happened to Sharapova, I think. She also claimed to have missed/not received the e mail informing her of the policy change in January ... so there may be several factors at work here.
Sun, 2016-07-24 15:22
#425
ikosmos
Apparently it was the New York Times that broke this Russian state sponsored doping scandal by interviewing the Russian lab employee ...
It's already been drawn to your attention that it was precisely the very same NY Times that "broke the story" of Iraqi WMD's, that led to millions of people killed and/or turned into refugees, but that doesn't seem to slow your enthusiasm for that paper of "record".
Sun, 2016-07-24 15:35
#426
Every country has its problems but please stop making excuses for a country run by criminals and thugs who would obviously think nothing about wholesale Olympic cheating on an unprecedented scale. We have never ever seen such widespread cheating at the Olympics, so what else are the Russians lying about! Ukraine perhaps!!!
Sun, 2016-07-24 18:09
#427
Too bad.
Spineless IOC Surrenders Olympic Integrity to Russia Forever
Deplorable Olympic bosses have tainted the legacy of the entire sporting movement by failing to stand up to Russia’s blatant cheating.
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/07/24/spineless-ioc-surrender...
Sun, 2016-07-24 18:35
#428
This is what happened to Sharapova, I think. She also claimed to have missed/not received the e mail informing her of the policy change in January ... so there may be several factors at work here.
Those two are contradictory.
If she "missed" (i.e. didn't read for comprehension) the e-mail then I can't see why she'd have stopped taking it (such that only "trace" amounts remained in her system, and THAT'S why she got caught).
And if the real reason that she was caught was just those trace amounts, why wouldn't she have said "I stopped taking it the day that I read that e-mail"?
I also wonder whether perhaps anyone on her training team might have also received that e-mail, or been expected to keep informed about banned drugs? Was the e-mail only sent to individual athletes, but not their trainers, not their managers, not their sports physicans, etc.?
Sun, 2016-07-24 22:09
#429
Sick.
Russia's New Conservative Allies in the US: The 'Alt-Right' Phenomenon
For those that have been paying attention, the rise of the Alt-Right is as surprising, as it is entirely expected
http://russia-insider.com/en/politics/unexpected-ally-russia-emerges-wes...
Mon, 2016-07-25 11:42
#430
Tue, 2016-07-26 12:16
#431
Revealing Russia's offshore addiction:
Romantic fiction.
Tue, 2016-07-26 13:00
#432
ikosmos
In 1991, Russia set out to build a new market economy that would support entrepreneurship, foster national growth, and improve the well-being of its citizens. It was willing to accept the pitfalls of the market economy that all young capitalist countries face, including insider privatization, the emergence of oligarchs, and the merger of the business elite and the regime.Instead, over the past twenty-five years, a toxic environment has been created in Russia: choked by bureaucracy, fettered by a catastrophically flawed legal system, subject to the whims of the military-security establishment, dominated by monopolies, and besieged by a culture of disregard for the law.
Translation: Following the destruction of their version of socialism in Russia, the country went into free-fall with massive looting of the state treasury, a catastrophic drop in life expectancy and population [equal to the drop after June 1941 if you please!!] , huge neo-liberal cuts to social spending, the establishment of a lawless "wild west" in the country - all under the leadership of a stereotypical, pawing, drunken lout of a President in Boris Yeltsin. The Western elites still long for "the good old days" of the leadership of this blundering clod.
Since that time, especially under the leadership of the current President, most of these trends have been reversed, starting with a kind of modus vivendi established in which the new oligarchs are left alone in return for staying out of politics [those that refused were criminally prosecuted or simply fled the country], etc., etc. and, despite the unrelenting Western Russophobia, the country has a new-found self-respect that was completely absent under Boris the lush: improvement of Eurasian trade and connections, rebuffing Western-sponsored "colour revolutions" and violence on the borders, a somewhat reluctant willingness to establish alternative global institutions outside pathological Western dominance, new media institutions that are extremely popular outside the country, a re-assertion of a basic honouring of Russian civilization, a refusal to live up to ugly stereotypes of the past, and so on.
Now if Russian socialists could just get their act together and move things to the left. That would really evoke outrage in the West.
Wed, 2016-07-27 22:18
#433
Thu, 2016-07-28 15:12
#434
Fri, 2016-07-29 08:38
#435
Fri, 2016-07-29 15:11
#436
Sun, 2016-07-31 09:01
#437
Sun, 2016-07-31 10:46
#438
ikosmos
Revealing Russia's offshore addiction:
and then there's ...
Russians stash loot abroad because it's safer:
http://carnegie.ru/publications/?fa=63281[/quote]
A duplicate post (with little comment) ... because two doses of the same Carnegie romantic fiction is better than one.
Sun, 2016-07-31 14:27
#439
VLADIMIR PUTIN’S RED SCARE? INSIDE RUSSIA’S RESURGENT COMMUNIST PARTY
http://www.newsweek.com/putin-russia-economy-communist-party-485630
Sun, 2016-07-31 14:36
#440
WHY DID PUTIN ORDER A MASS RESHUFFLE OF GOVERNMENT?
http://www.newsweek.com/why-putin-orders-mass-reshuffle-government-rival...
Sun, 2016-07-31 20:25
#441
Sun, 2016-07-31 22:17
#442
ikosmos wrote: Following the destruction of their version of socialism in Russia, the country went into free-fall with massive looting of the state treasury, a catastrophic drop in life expectancy and population [equal to the drop after June 1941 if you please!!]
No, I don't please. You may well want to compare the demographic impact of the collapse of the Soviet Union with the siege of Stalingrad, but lets look at a few facts, "if you please". The most reliable demographic figures indicate that the Russian population decreased by about 12 million over the course of WW2, due to the combination of direct conflict related fatalities (c 9 m), reduced birth rates, and increased (non-conflict) death rates. This represented a real decrease in population of around 11% from 1941 to 1946.
While 'natural growth' of the Russian population shifted in 1992 for the first time from positive to negative, Russia's population has stayed relatively steady ever since (148m in 1990, 146m in 2014). Even if one takes the figure at the lowest point in the cycle (143m in 2010) this represents only a 3% decline from its peak. And numerous studies have shown that the decline in Russia's natural population growth is largely attributable to the magical combination of lower fertility rates of Russian women and higher death rates of Russian men of working age (generally attributed to alcohol and violence related issues).
Using the technical language of contemporary fact-checkers, ikosmos' statement that the demographic impact of the fall of the Soviet Union was equal to that of WW2 is deemed "Liar, liar - pants on fire" false.
Sun, 2016-07-31 23:34
#443
ikosmos
Using the technical language of contemporary fact-checkers, ikosmos' statement that the demographic impact of the fall of the Soviet Union was equal to that of WW2 is deemed "Liar, liar - pants on fire" false.
1. August 1999: Life expectancy of Russian men falls to 58.
“What we are arguing,” said Omar Noman, an economist for the development fund and one of the report’s contributors, “is that the transition to market economies [in the region] is the biggest … killer we have seen in the 20th century, if you take out famines and wars. The sudden shock and what it did to the system … has effectively meant that five million [Russian men’s] lives have been lost in the 1990s.
2. Russian Health Status in the 1990s
Over the last decade, Russia has experienced a demographic shock of unprecedented proportions, which can be seen in figures for overall population, birth-rates and life expectancy.
... in the last sixteen years of the Communist era, births exceeded deaths in Russia by 11.4 million; in the first sixteen years of the post-Soviet era, deaths exceeded births by 12.4 million.
In the seventeen years between 1992 and 2009, the Russian population declined by almost seven million people, or nearly 5 percent—a rate of loss unheard of in Europe since World War II.
Nothing to see here. Move along.
Mon, 2016-08-01 01:19
#444
What's wrong with the Russian economy?
Mon, 2016-08-01 08:33
#445
To recap:
ikosmos: Following the collapse of the Soviet Union, Russia suffered "a catastrophic drop in life expectancy and population [equal to the drop after June 1941 if you please!!]"
sherpa-finn: No, that's not factually correct and here are the statistics.
ikosmos: But here are articles that argue that "the transition to market economies [in the region] is the biggest … killer we have seen in the 20th century, if you take out famines and wars."
sherpa-finn: And that's precisely the point I was making, completely contradicting the point you were making. If you please.
Mon, 2016-08-01 12:22
#446
ikosmos
OK, so basically there wasn't ENOUGH dead Russians for your liking. Too bad.
Mon, 2016-08-01 12:45
#447
Methinks you are now channelling Greta Garbo.
Fri, 2016-08-05 12:33
#448
ikosmos
Patrick Armstrong with his usual, brilliant SITREP for August 5, 2016. Pathological Russophobes should avoid Patrick's reports. Here's a taste ...
PUTIN DERANGEMENT SYNDROME. Clinton “knows” he did it but the DNI doesn’t, confirmation bias says another, not Russia says Debka. But it diverts attention from what the e-mails actually reveal, doesn’t it? I am going to collect PDS examples all month, but I can’t resist this one from July: “Russia’s war on drugs is hurting America“; maybe you can follow the logic, I can’t. In the meantime enjoy Mark Sloboda’s list of individuals and political parties that Putin secretly controls.
Is that the sound of heads exploding?
Sun, 2016-08-07 15:51
#449
Entire Russian team banned from competing in Rio Paralympics
The entire Russia team was banned from competing in the upcoming Paralympic Games on Sunday as punishment for the country running a doping operation that polluted sports by prioritizing "medals over morals."
http://bigstory.ap.org/article/41ce2d35e4d44988a7a54c6f36af4bc4/entire-r...
Mon, 2016-08-08 17:34
#450
Booing the Russians: No love lost at the Olympic pool
Vocal crowd reacts even before athletes dip their toes in the water at Rio
http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/booing-russians-olympic-swimming-1.3711955
Mon, 2016-08-08 17:43
#451
The sniffing at the Russians really kicked off when Mack Horton of Australia called upon his fellow athletes to "name and shame" the drug cheats in their midst.He was referring to a Chinese swimmer in particular. This has outraged China, where Sun Yang — who was suspended for three months in 2014 over banned heart medication — is a megastar.
As someone currently on a "trail mix" of different heart medications, I can't deny I'm totally fascinated by elite athletes who also must take heart medications to survive.
A short few months ago I was advised to not lift anything over seven pounds, and to only climb the stairs in my house twice in a day. So it gives me hope to know that others with debilitating heart conditions can both get the medicines they need, and also exert themselves at a world-class athletic level.