Winter Olympics 2018

[semi-pro waster]

Heard conflicting stories about this, he’s said he reckons his drink was spiked by a jealous competitor, but I’ve heard his missus has said he was using it to bulk up for his wedding.

Not sure what the benefits of the drug he had been apparently taking are though. Didn’t seem to be anything to do with muscle building?

Doesn’t seem to be anything to do with getting a competitive edge though.

As I understand it he tested positive for meldonium (same drug as Maria Sharapova) and again based on my limited understanding it's often used for heart conditions as it helps widen arteries and improve blood flow so potentially useful on an extended course for endurance athletes. There appears to be no legitimate need for it as an athlete unless you have a heart condition so any level at all implies taking drugs which are now prohibited. However seemingly his results were consistent with having taken it once but it offers pretty much no possible benefit in a one off dose and the benefits of it for curling even on an extended course as not obvious in the slightest. Maybe he did get his drink spiked although it's an easy (if somewhat implausible) excuse to just claim "a big boy did it and ran away" - it's also perhaps slightly less than coincidental that a number of Russian athletes have taken meldonium and been caught for it. Interestingly Grigory Rodchenkov recently gave an interview where he said he didn't think of this individual as a cheater but merely as unprofessional - I'm not sure whether to take from that he means he'd consider him a cheater if he'd made a more consistent and competent effort to cheat?

A second Russian athlete has also been sanctioned for taking a banned substance, also a heart medication drug as it happens. Again saying they don't know how they made the mistake although they accept the sanction. http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/winter-olympics/43180504

In other news a great result for Billy Morgan in the snowboard big air competition to give Britain a national record of five medals in a single Winter Olympics. Fingers crossed that the women's curling team can add to that in the bronze medal match later.

 

[jpaul]

The damn BBC they couldn't wait roll out (6 news) an interview with Rodchenkov, would they have shown this irrespective of the two Russian winter athletes, political no ? (this was much more important than article on NHS IT system with incorrect prescriptions )
Rodchenkov's reply with respect to cleanliness outside Russia was ambivalent.
We still need to resolve TUE misuse, and I've not seen information on their use by winter olympians

 

[semi-pro waster]

The damn BBC they couldn't wait roll out (6 news) an interview with Rodchenkov, would they have shown this irrespective of the two Russian winter athletes, political no ? (this was much more important than article on NHS IT system with incorrect prescriptions )
Rodchenkov's reply with respect to cleanliness outside Russia was ambivalent.
We still need to resolve TUE misuse, and I've not seen information on their use by winter olympians

I didn't see it on the news, just on the website so have no idea what the BBC did or didn't choose to report in place of. However I can see why it would count as an exclusive for them as he's probably the most famous whistleblower in sport at the moment and despite allowing Russian athletes to compete under a sort of neutral flag there are still cases of doping appearing. As for whether other athletes are doping - it's almost certain that some are although it is hopefully not a state orchestrated campaign and I very much hope they are all caught and punished so that any clean athletes get the recognition they deserve. Sadly however if it's only discovered retrospectively the cheaters take away the immediate victory, it's much less of a big deal if you get your medal X years later in a quiet ceremony somewhere else and the athletes have also lost the chance to capitalise on what should have been their success at the time.

 

[Jokester]

Disappointing result for the British Women in the curling.

 

[this_is_gav]

Disappointing result for the British Women in the curling.

Yeah, gutted. They've not been at their best in the last two matches after some fantastic performances in the preceding ones, after a slow start to the games. Even luck deserted them.

The Swedes suddenly performing the match of all matches must have hurt like heck.

 

[marc2003]

And just like that, no one gives a **** for another 4 years...

 

[Blackjack Davy]

And just like that, no one gives a **** for another 4 years...

I'd quite happily watch more if it was avaiable. One thing I do like about the Olympics is the americans don't dominate everything there are all these people from all these countries and I'm thinking "who the **** are all these people?!" our media is so americocentric that I literally don't have a clue who any of them are.

 

[ubersonic]

Random fact, the Russian Federation have entered six Olympic winter games and never won a gold in ice hockey. The Olympic athletes from Russia have entered one and won one gold, maybe they should just ditch the flag? XD

 

[Merlin5]

Britain a national record of five medals in a single Winter Olympics.

Hmm, one gold and 4 bronze. Pretty crappy really. And tbh, with so many of our star summer athletes now retired, I'm not optimistic we'll be in the top ten let alone top three in Japan 2020.

 

[jpaul]

devils advocate - in a country with negligible skiing/snow opportunity what can we hope for. ?
Wonder how many of UK competitors grew up in more 'accomodating' climates, the biathlon competior did (same true for some summer athletes Farah)
some of the uk competitors who train principally on dry slopes - ok that's commitment, but fairly sole destroying imhop,
sponsoring disproportionately, vs summer athletes, for them to attend winter camps seems OTT.

(as remarked) I think tv coverage was poor by the BBC, difficult to find the content.
I would also like new events - ski mountaineering,(ski de rando) , ice climbing.

 

[Amp34]

There was an article in the news the other day talking about the difference in spending between the UK and Norway for the Winter Olympics. Norway spent about £10m apparently, mostly towards “grass roots” funding. Whereas we spent £50m almost exclusively on elite athletes.

That’s great and all but grass roots funding goes a lot further when you can walk out the door, put on your skis and train for biathlon as opposed to flying internationally before even considering training.

The UK is at a slight disadvantage!

 

[jpaul]

what are the statistics for ski-able piste days in the UK ?
all I could see was complaints by the ski resort of

The line in the report that caused all the trouble stated that Glencoe, CairnGorm and the Lecht were “spending more than half their operating budgets on artificial snow factories [sic] after a particularly bad 2016/17 season.”

Started reading the new government report Wiggins/Coe/Farah 4th Report - Combatting doping in sport
https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201719/cmselect/cmcumeds/366/36602.htm

interesting including

65.The stated purpose of some of the use of corticosteroids used under TUEs was to treat long-term conditions such as asthma. Our predecessors received briefings from several doctors, who wished not to be named, about the validity of this approach. They were told that, on average, 20% of British Olympians have asthma, higher than the UK population average of about 8%. Some sports are ‘respiratory-heavy’, such as: swimming, where 70% suffer from asthma, probably exacerbated by breathing in chemicals used in swimming pools; cycling, where between 30-40% of elite cyclists are affected; and about 25-30% of footballers and rugby players. On the other hand, athletes competing in sports like shooting and archery have rates of asthma at around 5-10%.

66.Some medical experts were of the view that having to resort to the use of drugs such as triamcinolone to treat asthma was a sign that the athletes and their medical advisers were not managing their condition effectively. They were of the view that corticosteroids are such an aggressive form of treatment that they should be reserved for emergencies, and used only for a brief period of time. One noted of the British Olympic swimming team (of whom 70% suffered from asthma and most had lung capacity of only 50%), with the effective management of their asthma, none of them required any banned treatments and therefore none needed a TUE. Professor Brian Lipworth of the Scottish Centre for Respiratory Research said that it would be “utterly bonkers” to prescribe drugs like triamcinolone to treat asthma, adding “there are so many alternatives which are just as effective but with less severe adverse effects.

 

[D.P.]

what are the statistics for ski-able piste days in the UK ?
all I could see was complaints by the ski resort of

The bad years get about 60-70 days skiing (the worst under 45). The better years over 120 (Cairngorm has run over 150 before), and these tends to close before the snow is melted. For reference, most alpine resorts will only be available a max 100-120 days minus weather closures. Scotland has always had bad winters, that is nothing new. The alps also get bad winters with restricted skiing but they get much more assistance form local governments to support infrastructure, lower costs and develop snow making.

The reliability in Scottish skiing isn't really a factor IMO. In the alps there are millions of people who can make day trips skiing, and selecting the bests of the best form that population will lead to better skier than the 100K or so that regularly go skiing in Scotland. Events like ice skating are obviously pretty independent of snow, and in events like biathlon the actual time on snow skiing is not hugely important (it is mostly a fitness test, not technique). For stuff like the luge/bobsleigh it is understandable because we just don't have the facilities or culture.