BoxRec

It's bad enough trying to hold in a fart at the gym when you've got a half decent woman on the machine next to you.

harley_man wrote:The article's a bit over the top, sure, but so was the outpouring of sympathy for Radcliffe. I can name a hundred athletes who underperformed and just said, damn didn't have it today. Sadly many of them are from Canada. We had a lass - Perdita Felicien - in the hurdles who should have blitzed the field. Instead she ended up in a heap at the first hurdle. Through her tears she said she was sorry she let us all down.

Did she apologize to the athlete next to her who she knocked clean over? Because it didn't look like it.

Ian 'Mr' McNeilly wrote:

harley_man wrote:The article's a bit over the top, sure, but so was the outpouring of sympathy for Radcliffe. I can name a hundred athletes who underperformed and just said, damn didn't have it today. Sadly many of them are from Canada. We had a lass - Perdita Felicien - in the hurdles who should have blitzed the field. Instead she ended up in a heap at the first hurdle. Through her tears she said she was sorry she let us all down.

Did she apologize to the athlete next to her who she knocked clean over? Because it didn't look like it.

I don't believe she did, at least not publicly. She did say something along the lines of it wasn't intentional, these things happen. But Perdita is apparently quite well liked on the circuit so perhaps there's an understanding there or something was said privately. Didn't hear the Russian make it personal, that's for sure, apart from requesting a re-run (sans Perdita), which has been done in the past, so good sportsmanship on her.

I can see how Paula ended up on empty in the marathon though.

I run quite bit (although not too far or fast) and my PB for 5km is about 22mins 30secs. Sometimes I make my mind up that I'm going to try and break it and to do so have to set off at a fast (for me) pace from the outset. For whatever reason, sometimes it just isn't there and I have to stop running (ex-smoker!!) for a while, whereas I can quite easily run 5km at say a 24/25 min pace every time.

Admittedly if I were in an Olympic final or if you offered me 5 grand I'm sure I could push myself that bit further and break it tonight but all the same it can depend on what you to from the start.... I guess Paula could have walked for a minute or two and then jogged the last few miles to finish but then I'm sure I've never been that shattered. She was entitled to go for gold from the start, she's the world record holder, you can't expect her to go out and run at a pace that will bring her in in 30th place.

I'll still be cheering her on when she next runs....

As this was the first time blood tests on runners were conducted in the games the EPO that she was prob using would have been detected ,so she either placed low to avoid the tests or she didnt use EPO therefore her performance was poor,she came from nowhere into the starlight almost overnight and has died on the athletic scene almost over night.
Which happens to most drug assited atheletes look at for example golden girl Marion Jones......I rest my case

knowall wrote:As this was the first time blood tests on runners were conducted in the games the EPO that she was prob using would have been detected ,so she either placed low to avoid the tests or she didnt use EPO therefore her performance was poor,she came from nowhere into the starlight almost overnight and has died on the athletic scene almost over night.
Which happens to most drug assited atheletes look at for example golden girl Marion Jones......I rest my case

Sad but probably true. That's the skinny on Greek runners Kenteris and Thanou too.

If it was EPO related I doubt Radcliffe would have been as upset as she was- she'd have been expecting a crap performance...

The ironic thing is, it is the majority of you people who are showing the attitude of losers here.

Only one place matters in the Olympics, and that is FIRST. As soon as Radcliffe realised she wasn't going to win, she stopped. So what? It's better than walking/running over the line in 2nd, 3rd, 4th......and participating in the "it's the taking part that counts" bullshit.

Yes, in the Athens 2004 Olympics she was a loser, but so was everybody else who finished behind the winner - in whatever event.

She holds the world record for the Marathon. Last year she ran faster over the Marathon distance than any other Brit (MAN OR WOMAN). Yet many are saying she's "rubbish". The masses have always been ignorant, I suppose.

I don't think she deserves any mercy, but she should not be singled out anymore than the 1000's of other competitors who failed to win Gold in Athens.

When you have a "winning is all that matters" mentality, and you realise that, for whatever reason, are not capable of coming in first, why bother carrying on? You will have still failed.

Sammy wrote: Yet many are saying she's "rubbish". The masses have always been ignorant, I suppose.

I don't think she deserves any mercy, but she should not be singled out anymore than the 1000's of other competitors who failed to win Gold in Athens.

Not saying she's rubbish - she isn't.

The reason she's been singled out is because of the press reaction to her failure calling her a hero etc. My problems with her include...

a: The pitiful display complete with whimpering voice and tears at the press conference and interview. She didnt win or medal - she should accept it and move on.

b: BBC reaction (Brendan Foster et al) who thought she had a devine right to the gold and gave little respect to the eventual winner.

Sammy wrote:The ironic thing is, it is the majority of you people who are showing the attitude of losers here.

Only one place matters in the Olympics, and that is FIRST. As soon as Radcliffe realised she wasn't going to win, she stopped. So what? It's better than walking/running over the line in 2nd, 3rd, 4th

When you have a "winning is all that matters" mentality, and you realise that, for whatever reason, are not capable of coming in first, why bother carrying on? You will have still failed.

Are you an Aussie? You have a fearsome 'second is the first loser' mentality.

And although I follow your point, to argue that stopping is 'better' than coming second, third or fourth is patently nonsense.

Sammy wrote:The ironic thing is, it is the majority of you people who are showing the attitude of losers here.

Only one place matters in the Olympics, and that is FIRST. As soon as Radcliffe realised she wasn't going to win, she stopped. So what? It's better than walking/running over the line in 2nd, 3rd, 4th......and participating in the "it's the taking part that counts" bullshit.

but she waited until she was overtaken into 4th place. apparently 2nd or 3rd place was good enough for her until then.

Yes, in the Athens 2004 Olympics she was a loser, but so was everybody else who finished behind the winner - in whatever event.

but did each of those other 'losers' finish behind the leaders because they gave up. Besides just particiapating in the olympics for the overwhelming majority of those who took part, was in their own sense, winning

She holds the world record for the Marathon. Last year she ran faster over the Marathon distance than any other Brit (MAN OR WOMAN). Yet many are saying she's "rubbish". The masses have always been ignorant, I suppose.

there is no world record for the marathon. i think youll find that due to the unique nature of every course, temperature, setting etc. no world records are kept. Not just the masses whoa re ignorant here.

I don't think she deserves any mercy, but she should not be singled out anymore than the 1000's of other competitors who failed to win Gold in Athens.

but then those 1000s of other athletes didnt choose to appear in front of the worlds media claiming to be "devestated", crying and talking in some ridiculously emotional falsetto voice

When you have a "winning is all that matters" mentality, and you realise that, for whatever reason, are not capable of coming in first, why bother carrying on? You will have still failed.

ahhh the good old 'its my ball and if im not the captain, then im not playing' mentality. Or did she only run because she thought she had some kind of divine right to win?

Sammy wrote: I don't think she deserves any mercy, but she should not be singled out anymore than the 1000's of other competitors who failed to win Gold in Athens.

neil r wrote:but then those 1000s of other athletes didnt choose to appear in front of the worlds media claiming to be "devestated", crying and talking in some ridiculously emotional falsetto voice

Sammy wrote:When you have a "winning is all that matters" mentality, and you realise that, for whatever reason, are not capable of coming in first, why bother carrying on? You will have still failed.

neil r wrote: ahhh the good old 'its my ball and if im not the captain, then im not playing' mentality. Or did she only run because she thought she had some kind of divine right to win?

Yes Yes Yes! Spot on! Relief to here somebody else say it! Thank you Neil R.

jamesmcdonnell wrote:

Coconut wrote:WOuld have been less humiliating.

One of my old coaches used to take us hill running and make us run through the shits.

That is fornicating lame! What so you would have to shit in your pants whilst running?

Yep. He was a hard bloke, captained England amateurs in the 50s, some interesting stories about him, but we used to do laps of a hill through some woods. One lad came in two minutes later than the rest and the coach had a go, he said he'd dashed off into the woods to curl one out and we got informed that that was not appropriate behaviour, and we should run through puking and shitting.

Say what you like, but no-one in the team ever boxed anyone fitter than they were. I never shat my pants, by the way. Nearly a few times, and did used to hoy my guts up. Folks just got used to eating early the night before a hill run and making sure there was nothing in their system.