Freeman quits

[tribey]

Originally posted by beckybiglands
i was hell dissappointed when she lit the flame at the 2000 games...

Here's a question.

At the time of the 2000 Olympic Games Opening Ceremony, name the Olympian/s below that did not have an Olympic Games gold medal:

A) Kieran Perkins
B) Dawn Fraser
C) The 'Oarsome Foursome'
D) The Australian Womens Field Hockey Team
E) Shane Gould
F) Duncan Armstrong
G) Michael Diamond
H) Herb Elliott
I) Michael Wenden
J) The 'Mean Machine'
K) Glynis Nunn
L) Dean Lukin
M) Jon Sieben
N) Debbie Flintoff-King
O) Matthew Ryan
P) Cathy Freeman

Now for extra credit... which of the above lit the torch?

And for 10 bonus points... WHY?*

*I think we already know.

 

[Lidge]

Tsk tsk tsk !!

While I am no Freeman fan...you can't begrudge her an Olympic Gold. Something that none of us will remotely get near achieving.

And she won one of the harder events on the track - so no doubting her ability. The 400m is not exactly a 'charity' event like baton twirling (anything under the rhythmic gymnastic banner), archery, equestrian or walking FFS.

What annoys me is the media hype from hack sports journos who obviously know zilch about sports claiming her to be our best ever athlete. Aghh!! What about our female triple Olympic track and field gold medallists like Strickland & Jackson. True legends.

A champion yes - but not in the legend status like Landy, Elliot, Strickland etc etc. Over hyped by the usual suspects.

And Raylene Boyle is the other female athlete who gets under my skin for the over the top plaudits. You'd reckon she would have won something other than some Commonwealth gold (how hard can it be to beat the Kiwis & Poms at something other than rugby?).

My 2 cents worth anyway.

 

[tribey]

Originally posted by Lidge
A champion yes - but not in the legend status like Landy, Elliot, Strickland etc etc. Over hyped by the usual suspects.

That's exactly what I'm saying. She won an Olympic Gold - a soft one considering her PB is 2 seconds off the world record and her competition was even slower - good on her.

But, she does not deserve the demi-god status she has received from the media and much of the public - and she did not deserve to light the torch at Sydney 2000 under any circumstances. Anybody who disagrees is an idiot - at the time she had no World Record and no Olympic Gold.

Originally posted by Lidge The 400m is not exactly a 'charity' event like baton twirling (anything under the rhythmic gymnastic banner), archery, equestrian or walking FFS.

Competitors die and get seriously injured at Equestrian events - some 'charity' event. What about the heroism of Gillian Rolton who rode to Gold at Atlanta with broken ribs and collarbone? I bet she wished she wasn't a tough 400m runner in a catsuit running 3 seconds slower than the world mark to win Gold then.

 

[beckybiglands]

Originally posted by dyertribe
What about the heroism of Gillian Rolton who rode to Gold at Atlanta with broken ribs and collarbone? I bet she wished she wasn't a tough 400m runner in a catsuit running 3 seconds slower than the world mark to win Gold then.

lmao

pure aussie gold dyertribe...


we might as well have had lisa McCune light the torch, at least she had some form of gold...

 

[66MunsterT]

Originally posted by Lidge
Tsk tsk tsk !!

And she won one of the harder events on the track

400 metre runs are for people who are too slow for sprints and have no staying power for long distance runs.
Like ribbon tossing it fills up the program.

 

[Frodo]

Originally posted by 66MunsterT

Originally posted by Lidge
Tsk tsk tsk !!

And she won one of the harder events on the track

400 metre runs are for people who are too slow for sprints and have no staying power for long distance runs.
Like ribbon tossing it fills up the program.

It's a specialised event that has it's own training programme, not any harder than any of the other track events, in fact probably easier because the sprinters need a lot of weight training and the longer distances need more miles of training. Her pb is almost 2 seconds over the world record. That's like a 100m runner winning olympic gold in 10.4...very slow. But if there are no competitors of quality around you can be lucky and win a medal. Yes, luck plays a big part...ask our gold medal winner in the ice speed skating.

 

[Jars458]

Originally posted by dyertribe

Now for extra credit... which of the above lit the torch?

And for 10 bonus points... WHY?*

*I think we already know.

Why not say it then

Cathy lighting the torch was a truly magical moment.

It was a memory that will live with me forever.

A great decision.

 

[TheMase]

I didn't realise that so many people disliked her. I have ALWAYS disliked her, but everytime I have mentioned it, I have been named a racist and whatnot. Not many people have supported me!

Good to hear!

 

[tribey]

Originally posted by Jars458
Why not say it then

Cathy lighting the torch was a truly magical moment.

It was a memory that will live with me forever.

A great decision.

Because she is of Aboriginal descent. Plain and simple.

I don't care what your colour, race or creed is - she had done nothing to deserve lighting the cauldron. Anyone who disagrees is a brainwashed moron who watches too much Channel 7 and reads The Advertiser.

I say again - at the time of lighting the torch she did not have an Olympic Gold Medal, nor did she have a World Record. There were a hundred other athletes more deserving than her to light it. As far as achievement goes we may as well have had Samantha Riley or Daniel Kowalski do the honours.

 

[otaku]

Originally posted by Jars458
Why not say it then

Cathy lighting the torch was a truly magical moment.

It was a memory that will live with me forever.

A great decision.

i fail to see why it was such a magical moment?

the other athelets bringing the torch in was more fitting.

Why do you say it was a great decision?

not being PC at all are you?

 

[myee8]

Originally posted by otaku
i fail to see why it was such a magical moment?

the other athelets bringing the torch in was more fitting.

Why do you say it was a great decision?

not being PC at all are you?

It could have been magincal coz of the whole aboriginal reconciliation thing.

 

[tribey]

Originally posted by myee8
It could have been magincal coz of the whole aboriginal reconciliation thing.

Ah yes... hijacking an event that is supposed to be 100% politics-free so 'we can atone' for events that occurred well before our time and that the majority of Australians had nothing to do with.

Magical indeed.

 

[Catman]

Originally posted by myee8
It could have been magincal coz of the whole aboriginal reconciliation thing.

They were trying to turn one of the most significant moments in the world of sport into a political statement by getting her to do that. It was a ill-judged decision on someone's behalf and got a lot of people offside regarding the whole issue.

Politics and sport should be separate, as we found out recently with the cricketers playing in Zimbabwe during the World Cup.

 

[Catman]

Interesting to see in the Herald Sun today that number of messages to Cathy Freeman pale into insignifcance compared to the letters that are still coming in for Delta Goodrem.

An indication of her popularity, or rather lack of?

 

[Sydneyfan]

An interesting thread.

Sure, her fame and popularity were totally blown out of proportion compared to her achievements, which whilst indeed significant were not worthy of as many plaudits as they received. I think most people agree with that.

What I don't get is all the animosity thrown towards her since she remained relatively humble despite all the hype and sensationalism thrown about her. It's the media who deserve the punishment for that, not her. She went about her business, while letting others around blow her trumpet.

No matter what you think of her, the fame she received, her intellect, or anything else you can think of, at least acknowledge she was a fine runner who remained relatively humble despite her success.

 

[Frodo]

Originally posted by TheMase


I didn't realise that so many people disliked her. I have ALWAYS disliked her, but everytime I have mentioned it, I have been named a racist and whatnot. Not many people have supported me!

Good to hear!

And that is a worrying problem. People are afraid to speak their minds for fear of being called a racist.

 

[M29]

Would Nova Perris Kneebone get the same coverage? I think ****ing not.

The only reason she won the 400m was becuase that frog cow, Perec (or whoever she was) did what the French do best in highly tense situations. She shat herself, ran home, and sat in the corner shaking like a sh*tting dog with her head between her legs.

What shat me during the olympics was during the baton race. Bruce and co all w@nked off over how she ran the race, completely ignoring the other 3 women.

 

[M29]

Originally posted by myee8
It could have been magincal coz of the whole aboriginal reconciliation thing.

I hope you are taking the pi$$.

 

[Magpie Magician]

Originally posted by Frodo
And that is a worrying problem. People are afraid to speak their minds for fear of being called a racist.

*cough*mantis* cough*

 

[TheMase]

Originally posted by M29


What shat me during the olympics was during the baton race. Bruce and co all w@nked off over how she ran the race, completely ignoring the other 3 women.

This really gave me the ****s.

The worst part was that she got all the credit for the run, and she probably ran the worst leg of all of them!

 

[66MunsterT]

Originally posted by TheMase
This really gave me the ****s.

The worst part was that she got all the credit for the run, and she probably ran the worst leg of all of them!

Correct, She ran the slowest leg.
Remember back then it was reported She was Pregnant, that story died a natural death

 

[Wicked Lester]

"A magic moment"

At the time I was watching it with a very PC group of people and even in that company there was a collective groan when it turned out to be our Cathy lighting the flame.

If Cathy's PR machine know what's good for her (and them) they'll have her lying low for a while.

 

[myee8]

Originally posted by M29
I hope you are taking the pi$$.

No i am not.

 

[Jars458]

Originally posted by dyertribe
Because she is of Aboriginal descent. Plain and simple.

I don't care what your colour, race or creed is - she had done nothing to deserve lighting the cauldron. Anyone who disagrees is a brainwashed moron who watches too much Channel 7 and reads The Advertiser.
.

No doubt had a lot to do with it. And why not.

Thank you for calling me a brainwashed moron. I may be many things, but that I am not.

I don't watch Channel 7 and whilst I read the Advertiser sports section I don't read the bits you are refering to.

 

[Jars458]

Originally posted by otaku
i fail to see why it was such a magical moment?

the other athelets bringing the torch in was more fitting.

Why do you say it was a great decision?

not being PC at all are you?

It seems on this board I am in the minority. So how that makes me PC I am not so sure. I think politically correct means to follow the preailing or acepted view.

I thought in that moment in our history it was a good decision to highlight the success of a person of aboriginal desent who had succeeded at the highest level (she was a world cham at the time).

I thought it was great.

That's my personal opinion which I am entitled to.

Others are also entitled to their own view

Its a free country..........................for most.