Russia banned from Olympics

Vitaly Mutko, Russia's Deputy Prime Minister for Sport, has been barred from the Olympics for life.

However, he will still be in charge of the upcoming Word Cup to be held in Russia.

So FIFA now takes the lead over the IOC for the title of most corrupt agency in the world, certainly in sport if not of all time.

Icarus, a documentary on how the Russian doping was exposed, notes the primary whistleblower, Dr. Grigory Rodchenkov, was also the head of the "anti-doping labs" that actually were the state-run program that doped the athletes and fiddled with urine samples.

I was pleased, too. Because I love me some Olympics. Especially the Winter Games. But the debacle that was Socchi really put me off. Let's hope this is a turning point.

I shall admit I'm a sucker for figure skating.



But speed skating most of all.

Jan74 said:

Yep! I too love the winter games, I rarely watch the summer games, unless its equestrian or swimming. The events where it's subjective are a turn off, like figure skating, too many variables with the judging, these sports should be exhibition only. If their isn't a point system, like hockey, curling or times like speed skating, skiing, bob sled, then they shouldn't be part of the trials. But that's jmho and an unpopular one I'm sure.

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You are not alone! I also prefer the objective sports: time or points, everything else: exhibition.

I see there's a move to get 'sport dance' into the Summer Games. Why not ballet? Most countries have a national ballet. How do you judge something like that without having national preferences come in? It's a judging scandal waiting to happen.
If there's a need for a new, subjective winter sport - why not drinking glogg? Last athlete able to pass an impairment test wins!

And, not to derail: It's nice, not to say amazing, that they've taken a stand against Russia, who have been accused of this kind of thing for years.

Teinz said:

I shall admit I'm a sucker for figure skating.

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Yeah, every 4 years I remember how much I enjoy it. The costumes! The pageantry! But the points system is garbage, and I agree with Jan74 that there seems to be no way to amend this.

Jan74 said:

Yes I love watching the skating, they are amazing!!!! But the judging is to subjective. I love gymnastics too...heck it's another huge draw for me in the summer olympics, but I think it's time to make them exhibition. Too many variables in the judging.

Another sore spot, shootouts in hockey...No. No. No. You play play play till somebody scores, I despise the shootout.

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Supposedly the shootout was brought in to eliminate tie-games, but I suspect that the real reason was to fit the game to the television schedule - the PTB don't want 'play play play', they want games to end on time. Or, close to it.

russia is really becoming the unliked family member of Earth, huh? sheesh!

The Olympics should be banned from the Olympics. They have become a major financial disaster for many hosting cities and countries (see Rio), the judged events are a laughable travesty of athletic sport, and the amount of doping is rife and extends far beyond the borders of Russia.

caw

Lol! As if things like basketball aren't "subjective" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1972_Olympic_Men's_Basketball_Final. Actually, figure skating now has a pretty standard scoring system, and the days of wild swings due to bloc voting are fortunately far behind us. The last big judging scandal (2002 Pairs) was apparently because of an actual fix, rather than a disagreement about performance. Black Sox, anyone?

It would be a very boring Olympics if to replace figure skating and gymnastics (plus other sports involving judging such as fencing or, heck, baseball), they brought back real "objective" sports like diving for depth, tug of war, live pigeon shooting and that crowd-pleaser, the dueling pistol shot (which fortunately used mannequins rather than live targets).

Why don't they bring in some variation of the 'American Ninja Warrior' course? Or that Spartan team obstacle course? Bicycle racing? Trail bike racing! Lacrosse?

Jan74 said:

I agree the olympics is a financial strain on any hosting country. I was happy when Toronto pulled its bid for the summer olympics, I mean come on, Ontario is poor, we are a bankrupt have not province and have no business hosting anything.

But...I would be sad to see the end of the olympics, but they need to figure out a way to lower the cost.

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Well, one way would be to have a fixed site. All of the Olympic countries kick in money, based on how many athletes/events they take part in, with an exemption for the very poorest. Build state-of-the-art facilities, with a fund set aside for maintenance and repairs. In between Olympics it could be a training facility for those nations who have none of their own (remember the swimmer who had to practice in hotel swimming pools) so that it doesn't become a ghost city. Either make Olympia the permanent site, or chose based on availability of amenities - water for sailing, and kayaking, space for the equestrian cross-country, etc.
And, choose a nation that needs it, the jobs, the facilities, outside investment. A poorer country, that would never have something like that on it's own.
If nothing else, there's a fortune saved on the 'bid' process, and the bribes, and showing the committee a good time. Also, no massive construction strain on any one country/city. And, coaches and officials would know what they're getting into: they can tour the place ahead of time, they're looking at a done deal, not an architect's design. And, the choice should be someplace without absurd heat or oxygen-deprivation problems. Or gators in the rowing course.
Presto - no more abandoned Olympic sites rotting around the world.

edited to add: if the US, Russia and China want to show how much money they have, and compete to see who can donate the most money to the project, why bless their competitive little hearts, and let'em go at it. Give'em the thanks of the sporting world, and a round of applause.