All About London Olympics and Paralympics 2012

[Way2GO]

usa-sing-1:

Daddy

Well... Last checked Robin van Persie is still a Dutch... Ryan Giggs is still a Wales... The list goes on... Maybe that's why England will never win the World Cup?


And they didn't have the decency to give Feng TW's mum SG citizenship?
And expects Feng TW to be a proud SGrean?
And expects SGreans to cheer on this false sense of success?

I do see your point about a seemingly \"false sense of success\" ... if Feng Tianwei did not train here or reside here until recently (I don't know her history that well). I do also think that if the government here is serious about promoting a culture of home-grown world-class athleticism (and arts for that matter), then some serious attention needs to be paid to training programs, subsidies for athletes, or whatever gets the intended results. Realistically speaking, I think it will take a decade or two before regional Asian/SEA success is translated into world venues such as the Olympic games. But it can be done. Look at countries like Norway, Denmark and New Zealand, which are close to Singapore's population =/- 500,000 or so, or Croatia and Slovenia (much smaller) -- all of which consistently produce multiple medals at the Olympics.

d missing ingredient here is one can't make a decent living out of being a professional athlete.
One can in d US n d other countries u mentioned.
How many parents in their right mind wld ask their kids to devote whole-heartedly to their chosen sport, knowing full well d kids will hv to sacrifice some of their time in educational pursuit in their formative years in a society driven by meritocracy in paper qualifications when there is no guarantee of making a decent living out of it?

[Way2GO]

usa-sing-1:

As for diving, actually yes...here is the US record in diving medals over the years...

47 gold
40 silver
41 bronze

Dat's an impressive record.
Must be a long time ago,
before d Chinese onslaught! :razz:

[Daddy D]

ksi:

Daddy D, can you point me to where I can read that FTW's mum not given citizenship? Thanks!

[quote]Of the 12 months in a year, 10 were spent outside of Singapore competing. There was even less time to visit her mother in Harbin, or to indulge herself.[/quote]From the same article... Or I could be wrong?
Or her mum prefers to stay in Harbin?

[usa-sing-1]

Way2GO:

usa-sing-1:

As for diving, actually yes...here is the US record in diving medals over the years...

47 gold
40 silver
41 bronze

Dat's an impressive record.
Must be a long time ago,
before d Chinese onslaught! :razz:

1 silver and 2 bronzes in London but the golds were generally from the late Soviet era ... before Fu Mingxia.

[Daddy D]

Way2GO:

d missing ingredient here is one can't make a decent living out of being a professional athlete.
One can in d US n d other countries u mentioned.
How many parents in their right mind wld ask their kids to devote whole-heartedly to their chosen sport, knowing full well d kids will hv to sacrifice some of their time in educational pursuit in their formative years in a society driven by meritocracy in paper qualifications when there is no guarantee of making a decent living out of it?

I agree... Which SG parent would put their kids through the training regime that Feng TW is going through?
And they conveniently says SG kids can't make it in international sports competitions thus the foreign imports...

[usa-sing-1]

Daddy

Way2GO:

d missing ingredient here is one can't make a decent living out of being a professional athlete.
One can in d US n d other countries u mentioned.
How many parents in their right mind wld ask their kids to devote whole-heartedly to their chosen sport, knowing full well d kids will hv to sacrifice some of their time in educational pursuit in their formative years in a society driven by meritocracy in paper qualifications when there is no guarantee of making a decent living out of it?

I agree... Which SG parent would put their kids through the training regime that Feng TW is going through?
And they conveniently says SG kids can't make it in international sports competitions thus the foreign imports...

Hence the reason why a suggested a decade or more...it will be a major cultural change and will take considerable political will to have professional athleticism developed and respected here as a viable career option. It will have to occur in baby steps. But in the early years of some sports in other countries...such as golf in the US...there was very little prestige, status, or monetary reward in being a professional...but people still did it and enough became famous that it inspired others to follow their path. It took quite some time but it did happen. The sports scene here (and the arts scene) is still in its infancy, is quite underdeveloped, and has great potential over the long term.

[Way2GO]

Doubt it will take only a decade or two for SG even when there is political will with infrastructure n systems in place.

We lack three other ingredients - tradition, overcoming inertia n a substantial domestic market.

US n d West has a long tradition in sports excellence as part of a holistic development of d individual. Not in d East for a long time.
Besides lack of tradition, overcoming centuries-old inertia of Chinese, Indian to make sports a viable career.
Look at India, d second most populated country in d world, but one which also has d worst Olympic medals to population ratio to date.
At least d Chinese r doing much better in dat respect – though I suspect its more for national pride rather than pure luv of sports for its own sake.
Just like many African-Americans in American football, basketball, boxing etc who ride on sports to get out of poverty, many of d Chinese world class athletes r plucked fr relatively abject backgrounds n groomed fr young. Its their ticket to success.
d other obstacle is SG does not hv a big enuf domestic market to encourage strong corporate involvement.

[fightingmom]

Japan beat Singapore in women's table tennis team. :sad:


Hope we can secure the bronze medal ! :please:

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/afp_sports/view/1218215/1/.html

[fightingmom]

Usain Bolt breaks Olympic record in Men's 100m :salute:


He ran 9.63seconds ! :udaman:

http://www.inquisitr.com/293443/usain-bolt-breaks-olympi-record-in-mens-100/

[corneyAmber]

fightingmom:

Japan beat Singapore in women's table tennis team. :sad:


Hope we can secure the bronze medal ! :please:

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/afp_sports/view/1218215/1/.html

So they are likely to meet South Korea to compete for the bronze...