• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

Michael Phelps Becomes Most Decorated Olympian of All Time

Status
Not open for further replies.
K

Korey

Member
US just won the women's 4x200 freestyle relay on the west coast.

My favorite part is how 3/4 of our ladies in that race have as many gold medals as England. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
 
P

Plasmid

Member
Maxim726X said:
There she is.
Click to expand...

Seen this yet :lol?

M5Iz7.jpg
 
SiteSeer

SiteSeer

Member
Valnen said:
You're saying there's nothing wrong with taking someone against their will and telling them they HAVE to do this with their life?

WOW.

That is straight up morally wrong, period.
Click to expand...
You're making baseless accusations against a whole country and its peoples precipitated by blatant prejudice?

WOW.

That is straight up morally wrong, period.
 
N

numble

Member
OpinionatedCyborg said:
Bizarre. Her official London profile says she was born in Almaty: http://www.london2012.com/athlete/chinshanlo-zulfiya-1136190/. But nearly all sources say she was born in China (ex: http://news.xinhuanet.com/sports/2012-07/30/c_123490125.htm). And she wasn't even born in a far flung western province of China like I would've guessed. China should've kept her and the other Kazakh gold winner (who also emigrated to Kazakhstan around the same time).

Apparently, she is a Dungan: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dungan_people. There are 110k total Dungans... the other kazakh weightlifter is also a Dungan... a population of 110k producing weightlifters who are absurdly dominating and who don't look roided as fuck. interesting
Click to expand...

Here is China Daily's story on her, apparently there's a program to send athletes to other countries and she agreed to do it:
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/sports/ChinaSportsWeekly/2012-07/30/content_15632914.htm

Zhao was born in the remote, mountainous Daoxian county within Yongzhou city in Central China's Hunan province in 1993, rather than in Almaty, Kazakhstani as her accreditation information shows. She didn't start pro weightlifting training until her parents sent her to a special school in Yongzhou when she was 11.

Zhao's talent in the sport was soon cultivated, and she managed to make the provincial-level team.

Then one day in 2007, Liang Xiaodong, then the Hunan Provincial Bureau director summoned Zhao to ask if she was interested in competing in the Olympics – if that meant she would have to change her nationality and play for another country under the so-called "Wolf-rearing Plan" launched by China in a bid to dispatch its athletes overseas to help with the development of its dominant sports there.

After preliminary hesitations, Zhao accepted the offer and was "leased" to Kazakhstan with another teammate in early 2008. The Hunan Sports Bureau had a relative file records.

"If I chose to stay in China, I probably wouldn't have had the opportunity (to compete in the Olympics)," said Zhao.
Click to expand...

Valnen said:
You're saying there's nothing wrong with taking someone against their will and telling them they HAVE to do this with their life?

WOW.

That is straight up morally wrong, period.
Click to expand...
They don't force anyone to do it.
http://lifthard.com/how-athletes-are-selected-in-china/
Athletes will be scouted in their schools or from families. Gymnasts may be scouted as young as 4 years old, weightlifters, from 7. They go to schools, or villages to ask families if they’ve a kid that they would like to put through sports school. There is NO coercion! Do NOT keep joking about how Chinese will point a gun to the parents and demand their kid just because he or she shows talent. Parents and children, are free to decide if they want to train and many who are picked tend to be from the farming background. Training as an athlete ensures their education, food, housing and future is secure. There are career paths that wait for them even if they don’t end up as top athletes. Also, they’re paid a monthly stipend, and yes their parents are allowed to visit them.
Click to expand...
 
N

Napoleonthechimp

Member
LosDaddie said:
It's like the rest of the world, besides China, isn't even trying to be competitive. I thought the Olympic's host country is supposed to get a nice bump in medals. What happened?
Click to expand...
The events we usually excel at have only just started. Also: We'll get less medals in cycling because they changed the rules after GB stomped the rest of the world into the ground in 2008.
 
K

Korey

Member
LosDaddie said:
It's like the rest of the world, besides China, isn't even trying to be competitive. I thought the Olympic's host country is supposed to get a nice bump in medals. What happened?
Click to expand...

They've been losing since 1776. Their continuous decline is actually pretty sad :\
 
Q

Queen of Hunting

Unconfirmed Member
needs more of the super sayian phelps in here lol
 
P

Preachsuh

Banned
EatChildren said:
Oh I haven't really given the Chinese thing much thought. I just wanted to take a dig at yanks. Because the only thing more satisfying than an international sporting win is the sour American loss.

Plus Australia has a looong sports rivalry with the states :p.
Click to expand...

How do you compete? The basement isn't that large, ya kno?
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

Shark Week: Michael Phelps to race against a Great White Shark
2
71
9K
Slayven replied
Michael Phelps challenges Conor McGregor to swimming race
2
69
7K
Dr.Acula replied
  • Locked
Michael Phelps breaks 2168-year-old Olympic record with 13th individual gold medal
2 3 4 5
247
31K
mckmas8808 replied
[Atlantic] America Has a Drinking Problem
2 3
149
18K
Hawking Radiation replied
Usain Bolt, Lance Armstrong and the Duck Test: (Sprinters and drugs)
29
2K
womfalcs3 replied
Top Bottom