One Picture to explain "What's Wrong with the Olympics"

[Bicycle Bill]

You are looking at tattoos on the back of the neck of gymnast Vanessa Ferrari of Italy as she gets ready to compete in the uneven parallel bars competition.  For those who are a little slow on math, this means that this is her FOURTH Olympic Games appearance in what is unquestionably a highly competitive sport (women's gymnastics) where youth and flexibility are the hallmarks, and even an infinitesimal decline of either of these can quickly and permanently relegate one to the "former gymnast" column.

Her first appearance was in Beijing in 2008, at age 17.  She is now 30 years old (will be 31 in November), and while I commend her for maintaining such a high status in such a discipline, remaining competitive into her thirties, a quick check of her Wikipedia biography sums it up.  Putting it bluntly, since the age of 13 (and obviously far earlier; you don't get to that level overnight), her entire life has been nothing but gymnastics.

We have gone from a time where the modern Olympics, as envisioned by the Baron de Coubertin, were a bastion of amateur sports (in theory if not in actual practice), to the present, where the Olympics have become just another sports exhibition/festival inhabited exclusively by unapologetic professionals.  And I say "Fehhhh" on that.

-"BB"-

[Scooter]

Gymnastics has, thankfully, moved on from the phase when barely pubescent girls were the ideal.

The concept of the amateur athlete has evolved over time, given the training regimens that go into creating elite-level athletes. Olympic gymnasts are certainly not getting rich while they still compete. I'd rather see someone like Ferrari continue to compete while she still has the chops, rather than have her "retire" and cash out on endorsement deals for breakfast cereals and tampons.

[MajGenl.Meade]

Oh. I thought Bill was objecting to the stupidity of tattoos

[Big RR]

It's been a long time since we had true amateurs compete in the Olympics, especially in the marquee sports such as gymnastics. Those who strive to be elite athletes spend nearly all their time training, and the training is subsidized by the national governments and sponsors as well as their own funds. There are high tech training centers sponsored by the government and universities who often attract the same "students" to compete for them. I saw some of this when mu daughter competed in gymnastics; after finishing the "junior" levels she was posed to begin entry into elite competition, and her coach informed her this would necessitate more training and practice (she already went to classes/practice 35-40 hours a week, plus additional dance classes, and he proposed to add another 25 hours a week of training). There is a big push to move toward home schooling because of the training and the travel schedule during the competition season; even then (in the early 2000s) , it had been that way for decades. All of this with no real prospect of a job at the end other than coaching (and not many people who are highly skilled in doing something can teach others effectively) or maybe cirque de soleil. She opted not to (to be fair, the few girls on her team who did wound upt with fulls scholarships to universities with superior gymnastic teams including Stanford).

The point is, the Olympics are no more the kid who trained in his backyard with mom cheering him on, these are serious sports requiring singificant training and commitment. You want true amateur sports? Go to your local high school meets and games.

And I agree with Scooter, two positive changes in gymnastics (especially women's gymnastics were raising the minimu age for elite competition (Dominique Moceaneau competed in the 1996 Atlanta Olympics at the age of 14, as I recall) and the the science has progressed to the point where gymnasts in their 20s and 30s can keep the flexibility needed to compete (this was the reason given for having girls compete so young; male gymnasts is more strength based and, thus, they compete at an older age).

[ex-khobar Andy]

And in other good gymnastics news, the German women have decided to forego the skimpy sexualized uniforms women have to wear.

[Sue U]

Oh. I thought Bill was objecting to the stupidity of tattoos

I advise my children: "Never make a fashion statement that's permanent."

[Scooter]

Whenever I had a fleeting thought about getting a tattoo, the question I always asked myself was, what do I imagine this will look like when I am 75 years old.

No design I ever contemplated getting managed to pass that test.

[Sue U]

Whenever I had a fleeting thought about getting a tattoo, the question I always asked myself was, what do I imagine this will look like when I am 75 years old.

I see so many young people these days sporting very extensive tattoos and I think, "I'd like to live another 50 years just to see what the retirement homes are gonna look like." And then I think, "Nah, I really don't wanna know."

[Scooter]

I know that Bill will be happy to know that there are more out LGBTQ athletes at this Olympics than at all previous Summer Olympics combined.

[Joe Guy]

I know that Bill will be happy to know that there are more out LGBTQ athletes at this Olympics than at all previous Summer Olympics combined.

The large number describes those who are "publicly outed". It probably isn't really much of a change from previous Olympics. It's most likely due to the fact that less people feel the need to hide their sexual preference nowadays.

I'm sure everyone here looks forward to hearing something like, "Hey, I can throw a javelin 90 meters and I like men's wieners in my butt!"

[ex-khobar Andy]

I like watching people flinging a javelin 90 meters. I really don't give a shit about their sex lives: and, knowing that, they don't usually bother to give me the details. Why the fuck do you care?

[Joe Guy]

I like watching people flinging a javelin 90 meters. I really don't give a shit about their sex lives: and, knowing that, they don't usually bother to give me the details. Why the fuck do you care?

Good question. Why is it important for the public to know that at least 168 Olympic athletes aren't heterosexuals?

[Gob]

[BoSoxGal]

Remember the very fit footballer who dropped dead of a heart attack on the field mid-game a few weeks ago? His life saved by the quick intervention of field side medics?

Imagine a very fit Olympic swimmer experiences a MCI mid-competition in the pool.

Lifeguards at the Olympics aren’t useless.

[Gob]

It's one of them "joke" things....

[Big RR]

And in other good gymnastics news, the German women have decided to forego the skimpy sexualized uniforms women have to wear.

I guess you hate beach volleyball then. nd some of the track uniforms.

And talking about sexualized, why don't men's gymnastics uniforms have sleeves? As I recall, the women are required to have 3/4 sleeves or longer, the men have none.

FWIW, I really don't care one way or the other of the German long pants uniforms. If they catch on, so be it.

[TPFKA@W]

Whenever I had a fleeting thought about getting a tattoo, the question I always asked myself was, what do I imagine this will look like when I am 75 years old.

I see so many young people these days sporting very extensive tattoos and I think, "I'd likein al to live another 50 years just to see what the retirement homes are gonna look like." And then I think, "Nah, I really don't wanna know."

I can let you know: They get ugly. Tats aren’t as bad as tits, the augmented ones, which look like rocks in a leather bag.

[Econoline]

Whenever I had a fleeting thought about getting a tattoo, the question I always asked myself was, what do I imagine this will look like when I am 75 years old.

I'll be 75 this November. Maybe I should celebrate by getting my first tattoo?
(Hey, at least I wouldn't have to worry about what it'll look like when I'm "old"! )

[Big RR]

Igot my first (and only) tattoo when I was 64; I figured it will last t least 10 years. Go ahead and get one if you want--just remember, it's something you have to live with forever (but as they sang in Gigi, even "forevermore is shorter than before". I was talking to the artist when I was tattooed and asked her the oldest person she tattooed--she said a woman who was 84 and recently widowed--she got a tattoo of a rose with her husband's name under it. Kind of nice IMHO.

[Joe Guy]

I know I'm old so my opinion doesn't really matter but an arm full of tattoos is overkill. Anything more than that is beyond stupid. I don't get it. You used to have to go the the carnival to see a tattooed lady. Now you have to go to a carnival to get away from them.

Back when I was a young 'un, you'd have difficulty getting hired anywhere if you had a visible tattoo. Nowadays, the police even have arms full of them. And neck tattoos are ugly no matter what the picture is. I can't figure out why anyone would think to themselves, "My neck needs a picture of something to be permanently etched on it for everyone to see for the rest of my life".

Weird....