No doubt Bush has done more damage to America and her image than any enemy foreign or domestic.

China won, USA came second, end of discussion.

Yeah, but it's the summer olympics. Who gives a rat's ass. Many of the medals we win are junk medals in junk sports anyway. BMX, sand volleyball, softball and the like are only in there so we can win 'em. I did, however, enjoy the gymnastics, swimming and pole vaulting. So there.

yeah here's one American who can see it the correct way: China - 51 golds, U.S.- 36 golds. the golds are what the athletes want to win, strive to win, and that's the measure of their success and all their hard work and training. but all the athletes from every country that participated were a 'success' for just getting to the Olympics for one and showing the world what an athlete is capable of. winning is so overdone. the Republicans can't even define it properly, when it comes to Iraq, because they never planned the whole endeavor right the first time. so they continue to make it up as they go along. and blame any problems that they created on Dems or others. GOP: they don't even deserve a bronze medal the way they've tarnished this country.

The protest by the US team that cost Churandy Martina of the Netherlands Antilles his silver medal in the 200 metres was seen by some, perhaps unfairly, as bullying of a small nation.

That is a silly statement and, yes, unfair. Martina clearly did the exact same thing as the American runner who was also disqualified, that is step on the line of the inside lane of the runner next to you.

The American silver medalist was immediately disqualified a minute after the race ended. Tape clearly showed Martina did the same thing, and yet it took a protest to apply this rule fairly?

Correction to comment #9. The second sentence should read "... using maps, riding bicycles or taking photos?"

Give me a break. The guy clearly stepped on the line and broke the rules, therefore being DQ'ed just like Spearman. Anyone would file a protest like that on behalf of their athlete. The size of your country doesn't determine if the rules can be bent for you. I despise Bush and think the Olympics are a pig's trough of corporate overindulgence, but to single out Americans as the only ones trying to make hay out of medal counts is absurd. China and their cheating female gymnasts with their concentration are medal-heavy sports to jack up the total is just as or more guilty. Read the book "Welcome to the Terror Dome" for a better perspective on the politics of the Olympics.

i think both "systems" are goofy. one fails to weight gold, and the other treats silver and bronze like chicken feed (they aren't). why not do this?

Gold = 3 points
Silver = 2 points
Bronze = 1 point

the US is currently at 36/38/36, so my system would put them at 220 points. China is currently at 51/21/28, so they'd be winning at 223 points.

it seems perfectly sensible to me. under this system, Country Y would have to win 3 bronzes for every single gold that Country X wins, in order to keep pace.

or a more logarithmic scale would keep the same points for Bronze and Silver, but make Gold 4 points rather than 3. it'd yield USA = 256, and China = 274.

my system rocks. the U.S. method is clearly moronic. and the furreigner method ain't much better -- in their eyes, 21 Gold + 0 Silver + 0 Bronze somehow beats 20 Gold + 20 Silver + 20 Bronze, right? that's batshit crazy. i don't care if it's some consensus; all that proves is that there are a lot of morons out there.

as touted and heralded as the Olympics are, you'd think at least ONE country would be able to enlist someone who's completed 3rd grade math, and is capable of *gasp* multiplication, rather than just counting on their fingers and toes like some peon. eh, add this to the list of reasons why i don't bother to watch any of this. i'll stick with baseball.

@ Mike

Plenty of China's Gold medals are in junk sports as well, like team diving, trampoline, air rifle and ping pong. Never mind the cheating in women's gynmastics which should (but wont) cost them 2 more golds. Trying to compare medal hauls in the olympics is ludicrious.

I found the medal counts that listed the US on top -- in American newspapers -- pretty ludicrous. The only thing more ludicrous is regarding results at the Olympic as some kind of allegory for national greatness, something that has been going on a long time, and not just here. Let me add that there were plenty of examples of things done at the games, which if they had been done by American athletes, would have been on every front page in the world (like the photo of the Spanish men's basketball team that mocked the Chinese).

George W. Bush is a greater embarrassment than any gold medal our country fails to win, and this will always be true. Imagine a conversation 50 years from now.

American: Our country won the most Golds at the Rejkyavik Olympics in 2056.

Person from any other country: Yeah, but we never had George W. Bush as president.

American: Touche.

clearly I dont pay enough attention because I thought they did as poster 16 said. Well I do anyways.

Excuse that extra question mark in my last post -- although, in a funny way, it's almost appropriate. Incredulity at competing for a country that has an imbecile for its leader.

Assassin @ 16:

i think both "systems" are goofy. one fails to weight gold, and the other treats silver and bronze like chicken feed (they aren't). why not do this?

Gold = 3 points
Silver = 2 points
Bronze = 1 point

the US is currently at 36/38/36, so my system would put them at 220 points. China is currently at 51/21/28, so they'd be winning at 223 points.

it seems perfectly sensible to me. under this system, Country Y would have to win 3 bronzes for every single gold that Country X wins, in order to keep pace.

or a more logarithmic scale would keep the same points for Bronze and Silver, but make Gold 4 points rather than 3. it'd yield USA = 256, and China = 274.

my system rocks. the U.S. method is clearly moronic. and the furreigner method ain't much better -- in their eyes, 21 Gold + 0 Silver + 0 Bronze somehow beats 20 Gold + 20 Silver + 20 Bronze, right? that's batshit crazy. i don't care if it's some consensus; all that proves is that there are a lot of morons out there.

as touted and heralded as the Olympics are, you'd think at least ONE country would be able to enlist someone who's completed 3rd grade math, and is capable of *gasp* multiplication, rather than just counting on their fingers and toes like some peon. eh, add this to the list of reasons why i don't bother to watch any of this. i'll stick with baseball.

Lol. Agreed. (And by the way, if we strip the underage Chinese gymnastics medalists of their golds, we win under your system.)

BigIslandDave @ 23:

Watching that moronic frat boy who calls himself "preznit" clowning around at the Games was a major embarrassment for the chastened U.S.A. I still love the topography and geography of this nation, the ideals of its founders and much of the population (those who aren't brain-dead and brainwashed), but I despise the government as currently constituted. At this very moment, I am NOT proud to be an American, no matter how many medals we amass.

Did anybody else catch one of our athletes say "We won this for you, Mr. President?" after his or her triumph? Could have sworn it was one of our volleyball players. I was secretly hoping that somebody would get in a well-placed dig at Commander Bunnypants, but ...

Yeah I ain't happy with the state of this country either. And I'm not proud to be an American either right now. Hopefully I can be again in Nov.
And I have not watched one minute of the olympics...it's like watching paint dry.

The rest of the world has always counted Golds. We always count whatever the hell makes us look like we "won" Just like we have a freakin' "World" Series that only us and Canada play in. Or a Superbowl that only we participate in. Get a real competition going like the soccer world cup and we ignore it if we can't win it. Hell, just watching the Olympic coverage, it was hard to figure out if any other country was even competing. Our country suffers from debilitating narcissism. We spend so much time looking in the mirror and telling ourselves how wonderful we are, we're always shocked when someone else pops up and tells us a little truth.

A little humility, instead of being sore losers, would go a long way. This is why Obama will be a great leader as he has shown in his many appearances on television.

The real championship is today at 3:30 eastern. Hawaii vs. Mexico, in Champ-Port, USA.

HI/LA was sick yesterday. Mexico/Japan was great, too.

They call it along nation/state designations, but the kids are the real deal, son. Teams about team play, all the way.

8 (international) against 8 (USA teams) is def lame, though. Hope that changes soon -- at least to a full 16-team bracket, so that the US isn't guaranteed a spot in the final.

The question that is first in my mind after the Olympics are over would be:
does Ussain Bolt have good lateral speed and can he catch a football?

I've seen a couple office pools that kept track of scoring by awarding 3 points for a gold, 2 points for a silver, and 1 point for a bronze. Going by that scoring system China comes out on top 223 to 220. Actually seems pretty reasonable to me, China wins because of the large advantage in golds, US comes in close second due to overall count.

Honestly though if you think about it China ought to win the gold medal count. Even discounting the "home field advantage" aspect for a moment, they have roughly 4 times the population of the US.

liberalNmoderation @ 27:

Erroll @ 9:

Reporter Sally Jenkins of the Washington Post justifiably takes IOC president Jacques Rogge to task for cracking down on political protest at Beijing. But will Jenkins also write a story on how protesters at the Democratic convention this week in Denver will be herded into barbed wire topped "protest zones" and will be subjected to surveillance cameras and will be scrutinized by authorities because they dare to take notes while walking around the convention, will use maps, ride bicycles or take photos? Will Jenkins ask the logical question as to whether there is "free speech" in Denver or is there a police state while the Democrats hold their festivities? Will the corporate television stations cover this story or will they pretend that it does not exist? Five will get you ten the latter will dominate over the former.

Erroll...maybe the Dems are concerned that one or more of these protesters might bring something more to the convention than a picket sign.
And Bush is the one that started this entire "free speech zone" bullshit.
Anytime people try to protest Bush, they too are herded into protest zones.
I ain't saying it's right. But the GOP is responsible for this shit.
Trying to call out the dems for this is incredibly lame.

Spot on. The RNCon FSZs will be in Fargo, too. Isn't there a bridge one might be under-looking?

Radically Moderate @ 29:

Who can forget the sportsmanship of Dara Torrez. Torrez held up a race so another swimmer could fix a ripped swimsuit. That was a stand up act by a true world class athlete.

That woman shined. A true beacon of all thats right with the Olympics

rekroc @ 43:

liberalNmoderation @ 27:

Erroll @ 9:

Reporter Sally Jenkins of the Washington Post justifiably takes IOC president Jacques Rogge to task for cracking down on political protest at Beijing. But will Jenkins also write a story on how protesters at the Democratic convention this week in Denver will be herded into barbed wire topped "protest zones" and will be subjected to surveillance cameras and will be scrutinized by authorities because they dare to take notes while walking around the convention, will use maps, ride bicycles or take photos? Will Jenkins ask the logical question as to whether there is "free speech" in Denver or is there a police state while the Democrats hold their festivities? Will the corporate television stations cover this story or will they pretend that it does not exist? Five will get you ten the latter will dominate over the former.

Erroll...maybe the Dems are concerned that one or more of these protesters might bring something more to the convention than a picket sign.
And Bush is the one that started this entire "free speech zone" bullshit.
Anytime people try to protest Bush, they too are herded into protest zones.
I ain't saying it's right. But the GOP is responsible for this shit.
Trying to call out the dems for this is incredibly lame.

But Democrats and Republicans are BOTH the spawn of Satan, dontcha know? And Obama and McBush are BOTH evil. We're doomed no matter what, I tell ya! DOOOOOMED!! Oh, yeah... And all of us are selling our souls by participating in the election of an evil president who's going to doom us all to hell... Instead of doing what the pure of heart would do by, you know, burning our ballots in protest and voting for our lord and savior, Ralph Nader.

LOL!

The IOC banned Iraq's olympic team this year because the new Iraqi government placed members on Iraq's olympic committee. Yet, they didn't ban their team when they knew that Saddam Hussein's son was torturing olympic athletes.

Lame.

Well when you see the dingleberry bush watching the games while Russia is invading Georgia there is something wrong with this picture. America needs to get the heads out of their asses and wake up. We are part of the world and we need to co-operate with each other. How can we get information on terrorist without co-operating with other countries. This go it alone thing to down right dumb. Only people who haven't ever had an opportunity to travel and see the world would not understand what is going on. Back when I was a teenager and watch the olympics it really was something to be proud of. Now its all how many medals we won or did they win. It just isn't the same anymore. I only watched the swimming. China won the most gold medals but they lost their honor to win it by lying about the girls ages. Shaun and Lyida(can't remember her name) were the only brite stars for me. They were happy to win wether it was a gold, silver or bronze medal. They showed class all the way through. They where like the kids I remembered in the past. The Olympics should never been about country to country. Next week we won't even remember who won how many medals.

As usual, the US doesn't want to play by everybody's rules, but that's the same with everything isn't it?

The ludicrous medal table where bronze = gold, unlike every single other country in the world, the cooked-up economic 'statistics', and so on. Beg, borrow and steal to stay on top, and when those 3 fail, there is always lying and denial.

The longer the denial, the harder the eventual reckoning with reality, which is, we are being passed left and right on evey measure, except bombs dropped--for now.

liberalNmoderation @ 27:

Erroll @ 9:

Reporter Sally Jenkins of the Washington Post justifiably takes IOC president Jacques Rogge to task for cracking down on political protest at Beijing. But will Jenkins also write a story on how protesters at the Democratic convention this week in Denver will be herded into barbed wire topped "protest zones" and will be subjected to surveillance cameras and will be scrutinized by authorities because they dare to take notes while walking around the convention, will use maps, ride bicycles or take photos? Will Jenkins ask the logical question as to whether there is "free speech" in Denver or is there a police state while the Democrats hold their festivities? Will the corporate television stations cover this story or will they pretend that it does not exist? Five will get you ten the latter will dominate over the former.

Erroll...maybe the Dems are concerned that one or more of these protesters might bring something more to the convention than a picket sign.
And Bush is the one that started this entire "free speech zone" bullshit.
Anytime people try to protest Bush, they too are herded into protest zones.
I ain't saying it's right. But the GOP is responsible for this shit.
Trying to call out the dems for this is incredibly lame.

So if I understand you correctly, you would be quite indignant, justifiably so, if this "free speech zone" happened at the RNC but you prefer to look the other way when it happens at the DNC. It does not seem to have occurred to you or the other loyal Democrats that the harassment of protesters at either convention, in what is supposed to be a democracy, is both immoral and reprehensible. A shining example, it would seem, of a double standard as well as hypocrisy raising its ugly heads.

Back when I was a teenager and watch the olympics it really was something to be proud of. Now its all how many medals we won or did they win. It just isn’t the same anymore. I only watched the swimming.

Don't kid yourself, the Olympics have always been about medal counts and comparing one country to another. You don't think the United States and Soviet Union, or East and West Germany didn't pay attention to medal counts in the 80's and 90's? You don't think that people paid attention to Jesse Owens winning 4 golds in the 1936 games in Berlin?

Seriously, if you have a problem with medal trackers then that's an arguable point, but don't act like this is some sort of a new phenomenon.

The US really did win the medal count, if you figure it on an equal basis. The country winning the most golds in no more valid a criteria than using who won the most medals overall. Rather, the most equitable formula has 3 pts. for every gold, 2 pts. for every silver, and 1 pt. for every bronze. By that measure, the US comes out on top, 230 to 223.

Charles @ 46:

The IOC banned Iraq's olympic team this year because the new Iraqi government placed members on Iraq's olympic committee. Yet, they didn't ban their team when they knew that Saddam Hussein's son was torturing olympic athletes.

Lame.

Charles, you're wrong. Here's a link:
Only four Iraqi athletes of the original seven are representing the country in Beijing.
http://sports.yahoo.com/olympics/news?slug=ap-iraq-ioc&prov=ap&type=lgns
Iraqi did compete, but with only four athletes.

Among other things,one should also take into account the population of each country and the size of the talent pool they can exploit.China wins THAT competition hands down.

The USA swim team used the Nike "special" suits that cut water friction.
Sure sounds like the technological equivalent of steroids, doesn't it?

All the US medals in swimming must be taken away, and the USA banned for life from all swimming events for cheating.

It's the only fair and just thing to do.

Spin, lies and blame deflecting worthy of a Republican http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/08/24/china-acknowledges-gymnas_n_120...

I think it is absurd to cry foul about Churandy Martina being disqualified. It was a tremendously unfortunate thing to happen to Martina, and Wallace Spearmon (of the US) also made this error. Both were disqualified after careful review.

Walter Dix (also US), became the bronze medalist in the 200 by default. He was not overjoyed to win the medal this way. Although he was very respectful, Dix acknowledged that he felt like he did not truly earn the medal. I'm sure he would have preferred to win because of superior skills and not because of a technicality. No one felt good for Martina or Spearmon.

There have been some folks commenting here about the Olympics and politics, who have indicated that they don't care for the Olympic games and all that flag waving. I don't know why you would bother commenting if you don't care - but whatever, that's your bag. What folks should be made to understand is that the US is still living down our blatant jingoism during the 1984 Olympics in LA. We in the US are the ones who made it about country more and athletes less. It is no wonder some folks stopped caring. For all the US won that year, we lost some integrity, and it was a good lesson to learn.

Out of resentment and because they could, other countries began behaving the same way as the US. Every four years another country makes a jerk of themselves, to promote "national pride". Thank God most athletes the world over are like Water Dix, who are striving to be the best - who are not obnoxious, arrogant medal counters. I watch the Olympics because of dignified sportsmen like Dix as much as I watch to cheer for people like Usain Bolt. My heart breaks just the same for people who, like Spearmon and Martina, lost their way.

As much fun as it is to cheer for our home countries (and it is fun), real fans of the Olympics are tuning in because of the competitors, who rise to the top in spite of all that noise and politicking. if you missed that part, I'm sorry for you. It's a wonderful thing to behold.

guys, i have my problems with our country as it stands today, but please, when it comes to the olympics, can we stop the america hate?

i saw no sign of the ugly american in these games

to the contrary

i saw dara torres hold up a heat so that a fellow swimmer from another country could put on a new suit to replace her torn one

i saw the girls from the gymnastics team accept that the girls from china were better than they, and refuse to comment on the age question

i saw lulu jones run around congratulating the other girls in her race, even though her dreams had been dashed on the 9th hurdle

i saw our taekwondo team keep quiet about some very weird scoring that kept our best female flyweight out of the medals and kept steven lopez from winning a gold (then i saw the cuban kick the ref)

how are we giving a pass to the chinese, who in order to put on these games, thrust many into even more abject poverty? are you guys aware that the vast majority of people who built the venues were not even allowed to attend any of the events?

someone mentioned that many medals won by the americans were in junk sports....please

rhythmic gymnastics, synch swimming, synch diving are all hard to accomplish, and beautiful to watch...but they aint sport...they are circus acts

in order to increase viewership, the olympics have included sports like beach volleyball and bmx racing....the americans didnt force this issue...and they took out baseball and softball....trust me, while killing softball killed the dreams of many an american girl, killing baseball does nothing to americans, but it killed the dreams of many a cuban boy

and while for many of the bigger sports, our athletes have corporate sponsorship and government backing....most of the smaller sports do not....unlike china, which has all its athletes on the payroll, as did the old soviet union

my god, we sent an air gun shooter who is at least 50 lbs overweight, and our medal hopeful in badminton has to work at home depot to pay the bills (home depot was running ads that they are the biggest employer of olympic athletes...and that is just sad)

i saw very little evidence of the ugly american at these games...and i am very proud as to how our athletes and coaches carried themselves

Does Canada have an Olympic team?

Chuckling Canuck @ 62:

The USA swim team used the Nike "special" suits that cut water friction.
Sure sounds like the technological equivalent of steroids, doesn't it?

All the US medals in swimming must be taken away, and the USA banned for life from all swimming events for cheating.

It's the only fair and just thing to do.

In Jeff's world apparently: " Ok Jim the heavily favored United States Relay team dropped the baton and for the first time in decades won't compete for Gold. It a huge stunning story for the United States track team played out on the biggest golbal athletic stage and no doubt of huge interest for our United States audience, oh and we have the four relay guys standing by to answer questions about what happened for the anxious audience of millions in the United States who want to know how this happened, but hold on, lets go talk to the jamaicans first."

idealistic in NM @ 61:

Jeff @ 30:

The rest of the world has always counted Golds. We always count whatever the hell makes us look like we "won" Just like we have a freakin' "World" Series that only us and Canada play in. Or a Superbowl that only we participate in. Get a real competition going like the soccer world cup and we ignore it if we can't win it. Hell, just watching the Olympic coverage, it was hard to figure out if any other country was even competing. Our country suffers from debilitating narcissism. We spend so much time looking in the mirror and telling ourselves how wonderful we are, we're always shocked when someone else pops up and tells us a little truth.

no kidding; well-said. Man, watching the "coverage" meant watching US athletes, pretty much. If it was another country that won, their victory was almost glossed-over. The cameras would break away to go interview our athletes ("how did you feel when you dropped the baton?") Give me break ! The spirit of the Olympics is all about the world community, but apparently NBC thinks otherwise. Argh !

With the exception of the obvious--that W's presidency has been awful for our global standing and carries over into international athletics--the FT article is pretty much BS.

The comment about the 200 m reeks of paternalism. The coaches for US Track and Field would not have been doing their jobs if they didn't launch a protest of the Dutch Antilles runner. The American was DQ'd for stepping into the other lane, so why shouldn't the Dutch Antilles runner lose his medal for doing the same thing? Oh, but he's from a little country with a tiny Olympic budget so we should just look the other way because we feel sorry for him! Stripping him of his medal is not bullying, it's called applying the rules fairly to all athletes, regardless of GDP.

As for the United States being obsessed with winning and not playing for the "love of the game," give it a rest. We're not soccer hooligans and we don't assassinate players for making mistakes. Moreover, our athletes conducted themselves with the utmost dignity and respect for the games they play and their competitors.

A lot is wrong with the U.S. in 2008, but focusing on the Olympics, our coaches, and our athletes takes the eye off of the real culprits--Bush's nightmare regime.

Just a question to throw out there--Do you think an Obama presidency will be able to bring the 2016 games to Chicago? There are plenty of other factors involved (facilities, transportation, readiness, the competition from Tokyo, Madrid, and Rio, etc.), but I think an improvement in US-World relations, which should surely come from an Obama presidency, and his ties to Chicago will give the Windy City a major boost by the time the IOC decides in the fall of 2009.

Mojopopo@67

Chuckling_Canuck @ 62:

The USA swim team used the Nike “special” suits that cut water friction.
Sure sounds like the technological equivalent of steroids, doesn’t it?

All the US medals in swimming must be taken away, and the USA banned for life from all swimming events for cheating.

It’s the only fair and just thing to do.

Chucking Canuck, since you hate the Speedo suit so much, I guess you’re also opposed to technologically advanced running shoes, too, huh? That swim suit is the latest technical advance in the sport of swimming, and using it is no different that having the right pair of shoes. If you’ve got a problem with very super awesome sportswear, be fair. Gripe and bitch about sweat absorbing fabrics and eyeglasses with head bands, while you’re at it.

D’oh!

But, but....The Kenyan who won the Marathon wore combat boots and three pairs of socks! *snark off*
---------------------

What is all this crap about the US/China/whoemever Olympic team medal counts? There are basketball, soccer, rowing, etc. TEAMS, as well as relay teams in swimming, track, et., but there are mainly individuals competing in most sports who simply wear the uniforms of their countries.

biff @ 72:

In Jeff's world apparently: " Ok Jim the heavily favored United States Relay team dropped the baton and for the first time in decades won't compete for Gold. It a huge stunning story for the United States track team played out on the biggest golbal athletic stage and no doubt of huge interest for our United States audience, oh and we have the four relay guys standing by to answer questions about what happened for the anxious audience of millions in the United States who want to know how this happened, but hold on, lets go talk to the jamaicans first."

idealistic in NM @ 61:

Jeff @ 30:

The rest of the world has always counted Golds. We always count whatever the hell makes us look like we "won" Just like we have a freakin' "World" Series that only us and Canada play in. Or a Superbowl that only we participate in. Get a real competition going like the soccer world cup and we ignore it if we can't win it. Hell, just watching the Olympic coverage, it was hard to figure out if any other country was even competing. Our country suffers from debilitating narcissism. We spend so much time looking in the mirror and telling ourselves how wonderful we are, we're always shocked when someone else pops up and tells us a little truth.

no kidding; well-said. Man, watching the "coverage" meant watching US athletes, pretty much. If it was another country that won, their victory was almost glossed-over. The cameras would break away to go interview our athletes ("how did you feel when you dropped the baton?") Give me break ! The spirit of the Olympics is all about the world community, but apparently NBC thinks otherwise. Argh !

ya....so you watched nbc....you live in the early 20th century

i, like many others, now live in the 21st century, and watched most of the competition online....most of it done sans the idiot commentators

in 2012, the majority of viewing will be done online

the old media is dead

Back when I was a teenager and watch the olympics it really was something to be proud of. Now its all how many medals we won or did they win. It just isn’t the same anymore. I only watched the swimming.
.
.
Don’t kid yourself, the Olympics have always been about medal counts and comparing one country to another. You don’t think the United States and Soviet Union, or East and West Germany didn’t pay attention to medal counts in the 80’s and 90’s? You don’t think that people paid attention to Jesse Owens winning 4 golds in the 1936 games in Berlin?

Seriously, if you have a problem with medal trackers then that’s an arguable point, but don’t act like this is some sort of a new phenomenon.

The Chinese themselves have taken this view. There are plenty of stories that can be found about their "Project 119." That is the number of golds in track and field, swimming, and outdoor water sports that were available when China was awarded the Olympics in 2001. China didn't do very well in those sports and they poured resources into the development of athletes in those areas, thinking it would help them overtake the U.S. in gold medals.

It turns out that Project 119 didn't work, as the Chinese didn't earn many medals in those areas, but the Chinese overtook the U.S. in golds anyway. They took the old East German and Soviet Union approach of concentrating on sports where there were a lot of medals awarded per athlete involved to build up the medal count. For example, 10 Chinese divers contributed 11 medals, seven of them gold, to the Chinese total while 12 U.S. women's basketball players contributed one gold medal to the U.S. total. The Chinese also focused on areas where there was less emphasis in the rest of the world, such as weightlifting, shooting, etc.

Given the different approaches taken, it's likely the China will remain the leader in golds and will eventually overtake the U.S. in total medals, and that's okay with me. The Chinese have taken the old East bloc "sports machine" approach, identifying children at young ages, channeling them into certain sports track, and pouring resources into their development. In the U.S., children have choices, can change their minds as they grow up, maybe even give athletics altogether. There are just more opportunities for people in the U.S. than in China at this point.

It's simple economics:
1. China spent USD 1.0 bio compared to US spend of USD 125 mio in athlete development: better training, professional athletes that are called amateurs, better coaching and facilities.
2. Broadcasters supplicate to China (see arrest and re-education of 70 year old women)

etc., etc.

Mojopopo@81

I can’t wait until the IOC allows athletes to wear jet-packs for curling matches. That’s one sport that could use some freakin’ help. I’d even sign up for that one, for whichever country would have me.

ROFLMFAO!!1!!1!1!1!

Curling is a "sport"? Jesus, we really need to push for duckpin bowling and whiffleball(three man teams, with "ghost runner" rules in effct") to be recognized as Olympic sports. Can you imagine the bump in ratings NBC would realize in New England?

-------------

J_Mosley@82

...professional athletes that are called amateurs...

Where have you been? The "amateur athlete" pretense was dropped from the Olympics at least before Barcelona.

A good thing, too, imo. That whole "amateur" bullshit was a creation to benefit the upper classes when the modern Olympics were introduced 112 years ago. The ancient Olympians were all professionals.

Jeff Says:

The rest of the world has always counted Golds. We always count whatever the hell makes us look like we “won” Just like we have a freakin’ “World” Series that only us and Canada play in. Or a Superbowl that only we participate in. Get a real competition going like the soccer world cup and we ignore it if we can’t win it. Hell, just watching the Olympic coverage, it was hard to figure out if any other country was even competing. Our country suffers from debilitating narcissism. We spend so much time looking in the mirror and telling ourselves how wonderful we are, we’re always shocked when someone else pops up and tells us a little truth.

On the Soccer issue, it could be the fact that most American's find soccer as currently played somewhat boring. If baseball consisted of nothing but nearly perfect games where only a single run was scored, it would be about the same; or basketball where every one used a four-corners offense. Soccer needs something like basketballs shot-clock and maybe someway to increase the number of goals and shots-on-goal.

Having watched a lot of the various events these past couple of weeks I saw nothing of ugly Americanism displayed by an athlete. Even the usually selfish multimillionaire men's basketball team put aside their egos and off season golf games to play and they played with class. Even when up in double digits on an opposing team they didn't strut around or rub their noses in it. Most of the athletes I watched were very respectful of the Olympics - shaking hands with the judges and volunteers when a match was completed....etc....

NBC did a decent job of covering other countries as well. There was a nice piece by Chris Collinsworth about the South African open water swimmer who lost a leg in a car accident and still swam. The other commentators spent time introducing us to the other athletes that faced US players in the different team sports and they even covered events that didn't included any US finalists.

Another thing too is that the IOC controlled the cameras at the games so the pictures focused on the events and all the participants.

The FT article didn't seem to mention the smaller countries that pay money to their athletes based on the results.

let me tell you guys the moments i will remember from these games

the female thai taekwondo athlete who fought in the quarters with only one leg, as the other had been injured duing her opening bout

the south african swimmer who was the first disabled athlete ever to qualify for the regular olympics

the usa mens volleyball team that won gold, despite what happened to their coach's father in law

the usa baseball team teaching the chinese a thing about sportsmanship by not retaliating after 5 of their players were hit by pitches (instead, they played hard ball and took it out on hard hits at homeplate....way to go laporta and schierholtz)

nastia and shawn being the first american women to win the gold and silver at the individual all arounds

bolt becoming superhuman on the track

the only american to win gold in wrestling being an anchor baby and expressing more love for the united states than any of the other athletes....i cried when he ran around the ring with the american flag draped over his shoulders

lulu jones showing heart and poise when she lost the gold as a result of her being just too fast for the course...and the ahole nbc camera dude who had to follow her under the stands to watch her cry

the fact that the decathlon is no longer a marquis sport....even though an american blew away the competition....everybody knows who bruce jenner is...will anyone remember clay?

japan beating the usa in softball...in its final olympic appearance, most likely due to america's dominance in the sport

usa barely beating spain in basketball....it was really close until the final minutes...and the usa was filled with motivated and superstar players

nbc thinking that everyone on the west coast is a rube, who doesnt own a computer and deciding to tape delay every event....they may have killed in the ratings this time...if they pull the same thing in 2012, they are gonna find millions of sets being turned off as people use their handhelds to watch the events

nbc and microsoft forcing everyone to download an awful microsoft ap to watch the games online....it is bulky, eats memory, and really only works well on the vista system and if you use ie....apparently, it was only designed becaused it was easier to embed commericials within the digital playback

Maybe the UK is a little bitter because they had 1/2 the golds, 1/3rd the silvers, and 1/2 the bronze!!!!

Baal Says:

...

American: Our country won the most Golds at the Rejkyavik Olympics in 2056.

Person from any other country: Yeah, but we never had George W. Bush as president.

American: Touche.

It would depend on which other country was saying that. Bush is bad but he's no Stalin, Mussolini, Hitler, Mao, Pol Pot, etc.

Churandy Martina definitely deserved disqualification for violating the rules and stepping on the line (repeatedly) during his race. So did Wallace Spearman of the U.S.

One point that has not been make in the incessant blathering about the medal count is how many athletes competing for non-American countries did at least part of their training in the U.S. and/or earn a living playing in American professional leagues. Even though he competed for Netherlands Antilles, Churandy Martina attended the University of Texas at El Paso and was on their track team. Other examples include many of the track athletes from the Caribbean who ran for U.S. college track teams, a swimmer from Zimbabwe who swam for Auburn University, and numerous Olympic basketball players (men and women) from around the world who attended US universities and/or play in the NBA. We should be proud of all of them and their hard work and accomplishments.

Radically Moderate @ 29:

Who can forget the sportsmanship of Dara Torrez. Torrez held up a race so another swimmer could fix a ripped swimsuit. That was a stand up act by a true world class athlete.

-----------------------

dara torres is one of my favorite stories. you can see that though she is competitive, her humanity is not overshadowed by it; that age is not a barrier and in fact helps put competitions like the olympics in perspective. unlike phelps, who was all about him and his 8 golds.

i agree with jacques rogge that one of the best stories of this olympics is that of roger federer who has won all the major tournaments in tennis and who is a millionaire, but who nevertheless got emotional for winning a gold in the doubles.

masha @ 98:

Radically Moderate @ 29:

Who can forget the sportsmanship of Dara Torrez. Torrez held up a race so another swimmer could fix a ripped swimsuit. That was a stand up act by a true world class athlete.

-----------------------

dara torres is one of my favorite stories. you can see that though she is competitive, her humanity is not overshadowed by it; that age is not a barrier and in fact helps put competitions like the olympics in perspective. unlike phelps, who was all about him and his 8 golds.

i agree with jacques rogge that one of the best stories of this olympics is that of roger federer who has won all the major tournaments in tennis and who is a millionaire, but who nevertheless got emotional for winning a gold in the doubles.

rogge is a corrupt pimp

watching him viewing the bronze medal baseball game between the us and japan made me ill

Ben @ 38:

Honestly though if you think about it China ought to win the gold medal count. Even discounting the "home field advantage" aspect for a moment, they have roughly 4 times the population of the US.

If you really want to play fair, you could adjust totals to take the population of all countries into account. http://www.symworld.com/medals/index.php?sort=total

I think this means The Bahamas won...

99 Uncle Joe Mccarthy Says:

how wrong you are

britain is ecstatic at the number of medals it won this olympics

many nations count the silvers and bronzes that they won…and also get excited if they place within the top tem

i dont know if you are an american, but there is no shame in being number 2 or 3 in the world…in fact, its a great accomplishment

for example…in the women’s gymnastic uneven parallel, nastia only won silver due to a highly complex equation….but she in fact tied for gold

I AM NOT SAYING THAT YOU SHOULDNT BE HAPPY WITH RUNNER UP FINISHES. THE POINT IS THE MEDAL TALLY THAT NBC/THE U.S. PUTS UP IS UNIQUE FROM THAT OF THE REST OF THE WORLD. THE LOGIC BEING THAT THE ORDER IS BASED ON HOW MANY CHAMPIONS A COUNTRY HAS FOR EVERY SPORT EXCLUSIVE OF RUNNER UP MEDALS.

it is not arrogant to point out that the us team surpassed its previous medal totals

THIS IS NOT THE BASIS OF THE ARROGANCE I WROTE ABOUT. IT IS MAKING ITS OWN WAY OF WHO IS AT THE TOP BECAUSE USING ITS WAY WILL GIVE ITSELF A FAVORABLE RESULT.

it is not arrogant to point out that many of the worlds top athletes benefit from the american system by training here and attending our university system

AGAIN THIS IS NOT THE BASIS OF THE ARROGANCE I WROTE ABOUT.

Im sorry but this is ridiculous. You dont think China plays to win? Russia? We are not the ONLY group of humans on this planet who play to win, play for national pride, want our national team to win as many medals as possible...

At the Olympic level, the best athletes are not out there "for the fun of it." When I play pickup basketball on Friday's, Im mostly out there for the fun of it. Although I still prefer to win. But you don't train for years to go on a world stage just for kicks. You go to do your best, beat your competitors and win. And you ask most of the Olympic competitors and they would agree.

Sure, some know they have no shot at a medal and so go for personal best, or personal pride, or heck just for the experience. But those with a realistic chance of a medal? You dont think those Kenyan runners dont have national pride and want to win? Or the Jamaicans? Or the Chinese who probably lied about the ages of some of their gymnasts just to grab a few more golds?

I agree, we often need to be taken down a peg or two, but really, we are neither the source for all evil in the world, nor is the rest of the world absent of it. Same goes for nationalism, pride, and playing to win.

China #1! Chai-NA, Chai-NA, Chai-NA!

masha @ 104:

99 Uncle Joe Mccarthy Says:

how wrong you are

britain is ecstatic at the number of medals it won this olympics

many nations count the silvers and bronzes that they won…and also get excited if they place within the top tem

i dont know if you are an american, but there is no shame in being number 2 or 3 in the world…in fact, its a great accomplishment

for example…in the women’s gymnastic uneven parallel, nastia only won silver due to a highly complex equation….but she in fact tied for gold

I AM NOT SAYING THAT YOU SHOULDNT BE HAPPY WITH RUNNER UP FINISHES. THE POINT IS THE MEDAL TALLY THAT NBC/THE U.S. PUTS UP IS UNIQUE FROM THAT OF THE REST OF THE WORLD. THE LOGIC BEING THAT THE ORDER IS BASED ON HOW MANY CHAMPIONS A COUNTRY HAS FOR EVERY SPORT EXCLUSIVE OF RUNNER UP MEDALS.

it is not arrogant to point out that the us team surpassed its previous medal totals

THIS IS NOT THE BASIS OF THE ARROGANCE I WROTE ABOUT. IT IS MAKING ITS OWN WAY OF WHO IS AT THE TOP BECAUSE USING ITS WAY WILL GIVE ITSELF A FAVORABLE RESULT.

it is not arrogant to point out that many of the worlds top athletes benefit from the american system by training here and attending our university system

AGAIN THIS IS NOT THE BASIS OF THE ARROGANCE I WROTE ABOUT.

did we win the overall medal count? yes we did

did we win it without having state sponsored schools that remove children from their homes as young as 3? yes we did

did we run our olympics in both los angeles and atlanta without causing economic and food shortages to the surrounding areas...unlike china?? yes we did

do we have the right to be arrogant over the fact that we have choice, while the chinese still live in a society where choice is not an option....yes we can

did the chinese win in the gold medal count....sure as shit

and trust me...those that won silver and bronze will sure as shit feel the wrath of their government when their subsidies are cut

christ, sometimes the self hatred on this site is appaling

rejoice in what our men and women did....by choice

and fuck the chinese....thats right....fuck em

fuck them and wallmart

aussie aussie aussie..

oi oi oi!

The GOP is making you hate everyone. All Arabs/Middle Easterners, the Chinese, the Russians, the French (until recently), you've always said Canada is fucked and a poor excuse for a country (**a larghe number of Americans, not all), the Mexicans, Iran, N. Korea, Venezeulans, Cubans, and the rest I've left out, but you get the drift.

(How do you think the people in the rest of the world feel about it?)

Chuckling Canuck @ 62:

The USA swim team used the Nike "special" suits that cut water friction.
Sure sounds like the technological equivalent of steroids, doesn't it?

All the US medals in swimming must be taken away, and the USA banned for life from all swimming events for cheating.

It's the only fair and just thing to do.

The US wasn't the only team using the Nike suits. The suits are so effective that other sponsors waived the obligation to wear their gear to the olympics.

Jeff @ 30:

The rest of the world has always counted Golds. We always count whatever the hell makes us look like we "won" Just like we have a freakin' "World" Series that only us and Canada play in. Or a Superbowl that only we participate in. Get a real competition going like the soccer world cup and we ignore it if we can't win it. Hell, just watching the Olympic coverage, it was hard to figure out if any other country was even competing. Our country suffers from debilitating narcissism. We spend so much time looking in the mirror and telling ourselves how wonderful we are, we're always shocked when someone else pops up and tells us a little truth.

I agree whole-heartedly with this sentiment. What most Americans fail to realize is that their feed is watched by many developing nations. Growing up in the Caribbean the game became to route against the Americans because the coverage was so patently biased. It has yet to be proven that the Chinese were underage. I (believe) this charge was first leveled by the discredited Bela Karoly who isn't allowed to coach the women's team under allegations of cruelty to the athletes i.e. 900 calorie diet restrictions and forcing them to compete with broken bones.
After all these years of Jamaican expatriates leaving and running for developed nations _ Donovan Bailey, Sanya Richards (Jamaican descendant) to name a few, Jamaica got its due and they were slapped in the face with Bob Costa's condescending comments about Bolt being disrespectful. "Is anyone going to get the message to him?" he asked. The whole country was watching you on tv asshole. To add insult to injury,when he finally did take the race 'seriously' allegations of doping were leveled at him.

Ugly Americanism was a live and well at the games but the Churandy wasn't an example of it.

Sports can really bring out the ugly side of people, huh? And mostly it is not even the athletes.

It is like the people think their manly thing (you know what I mean) is somehow connected to how athlete/team/nation/sportscar does.

I remember when the WorldCup and Euro were on here in Germany and the people just went crazy. Not so much about soccer (most did not care) but only cared about being 'apart of the crowd'.
Is that what we have reduced ourselves to?

When the soccer games where happening, people packed the streets where I live.
An Anti-Nazi demonstration? 90 people. Wow :-\

Besides the fact that I think this whole thing is just dumb and especially the idea that nations somehow can measure up to each other by the way a few athletes fare in some games is just ridiculous.

Seriously, how can you honestly add a medal in skeet shooting (how the hell did that become Olympic) or sailing to something like the *athalons? Just to name a few.

And no, the US is not any better then any other country. As a Euro, just trust me.
It is the same stupid stuff everywhere.

The games are only about making money and the IOC is corrupt.

The US just acts like the stereotypical high-school jock, that is all.
Funny though, maybe because of the issues with 'Intelligent design' the people never evolve past being the jock.

In Germany they act like everyone else got lucky when they beat a German.

Get past nationalism and become humans.

Oh, and let's not forget a more telling measure of a country's success: medals per million of population. That a sparsely populated country like Australia can pull in 4/10ths as many medals as the US or China with a 1/14th and 1/250th, of the respective populations, is hilarious.

And as for scoring, 3/2/1 has never been commonly used. It's 5 for gold, 3 for silver and 1 for bronze. The US got its collective ass kicked.