Paula Radcliffe

ecksor

Thanks Mr. 65. Mike is it? I'll make sure to consult you the next time.

ciaranodc

James K wrote:

Paula is an absoulute DISGRACE!!!

she is a disgrace to me,to you,to herself and most of all to her country.

A Donkey would have run faster.
She is an embaressment to team GB and should never be allowed to run again.
Why couldnt we at least get someone who can at least finish the god damn race?!?!

You're a di*k head!!!

ecksor

Since you're new to boards I should warn you that such name calling is generally frowned upon and will usually get you banned. I'll let you away with that one though since I can't bring myself to stand up for the sort of comment you were responding to.

daveirl

This post has been deleted.

LegacyUser

i think it's pretty crap that like she's built up so much by the british media that they then have to contradict themselves when their athletes don't perform, but what really pisses me off is that the athletes who did finish in 25 and 27 didn't get a mention. the course was the exact same for them , they finished, they are english, And guess what, the english commentators don't mention that 2 good athletes (not outstanding but very talented) at all after their "hero" who was only mediocre up to maybe 3 years ago pisses up the show and drops the damn ball and quits

Amz

You only watch British sports coverage do you Dahellmonster?

Do you believe that this is a uniquely British phenomenon?

Gimme a break! It happens everywhere.

Why you're crticising Paula for how the British media presents her is beyond me.

I'd also like to know how many Olympic or top class international marathons you've run in to be able to comment as harshly as you do, on how Paula dropped "the damn ball" etc..

Care to elaborate on your own athletics career?

Pherekydes

Amz wrote:

I'd also like to know how many Olympic or top class international marathons you've run in to be able to comment as harshly as you do, on how Paula dropped "the damn ball" etc..

Care to elaborate on your own athletics career?

That's right! Only people who are expert in a given field can comment.

If that was the case, internet message boards would cease to exist.

Amz

My point was that unless someone has actually trained for and prepared both mentally and physically for such an event, in the same way Paula Radcliffe and others like her did, they cannot fully comprehend the stresses etc. placed on an athlete in those circumstances.


Internet message boards will always exist because people are all too eager to comment on things regardless of their level of knowledge or understanding of them.

There is a huge difference between an opinion and an informed opinion.

GuanYin

uberwolf wrote:

in terms of the weather I think there is something to be said for the commercial interests being more important than the athletes. I didn't see the marathon but I do know that the cyclists endured temperatures of 38 degrees celsius, and the race lasted 6 hours. I know everyone suffers the same condiions but that does discriminate against athletes from temperate climes. Of course pissing rain works against the african runners. But the point is that any area which has a hich occurence of extreme weather shouldn't be able to host the olympics. Not to say anything of the pollution

There is a very simple reason why Radcliffe failed in Greece and it's a reason documented enough for any decent journalist to report, but strangely none did.

Paula Radcliffe has athsma and would probably use symbicort or a similar steroid when not competing. Greece is probably one of the most air polluted cities in Europe and Athens and particularly the marathon route were subjected to huge pollution reduction programmes and restrictions pre-olympics. Even with these in place, the route would be far more polluted than any other marathon route and add the heat and humidity (which would make any athelete struggle) and you are asking an awful lot of an athsma sufferer off their usual steroid inhaler.

Strangely, I didn't see one newspaper pick up on the fact that Radcliffe was at an extreme disadvantage in those conditions....

Pherekydes

Amz wrote:

My point was that unless someone has actually trained for and prepared both mentally and physically for such an event...they cannot fully comprehend the stresses etc. placed on an athlete in those circumstances.

I disagree. Some people can be sensitive to the stresses other people can be under, without having undergone the same stresses, in my opinion. But I'm not a psychologist, so my opinion of others' stresses are worthless in your opinion, unless you're not a psychologist, in which case your opinions are worthless (in your opinion).

ecksor

What qualifies one person to be sensitive to another person's stresses?

Pherekydes

ecksor wrote:

What qualifies one person to be sensitive to another person's stresses?

Sensitivity.

ecksor

That would appear to be true by definition. I was presuming that the use of the phrase "be sensitive to" was being used as a synonym for "empathise" though (remarkably, m-w.com agrees with me). Were you also presuming this, and if so do you honestly believe that anyone can empathise with an elite runner who is an overwhelming favourite for an event but doesn't achieve his/her objective on the day?

Pherekydes

ecksor wrote:

and if so do you honestly believe that anyone can empathise with an elite runner who is an overwhelming favourite for an event but doesn't achieve his/her objective on the day?

Not just anyone, but those who are empathetic. Some people are more sensitive than others, and I wasn't being facetious when I said sensitivity.

Most people have an idea of what failure feels like, and what it is to prepare for something. One doesn't have to be an expert in a given field to understand those types of stress.

Cheers and goodnight!

ecksor

I guess you weren't being facetious when you said empathetic either, but it amounts to the same comment.

I don't believe that most people have invested the sort of time, effort and committment on something that so many other world class opponents are trying to prevent you from having that would compare to the case we're discussing here. That's without feeling as if you have to live up to the expectations of most of the population of your country. Can you give us examples of the types of failures you mean that most people have experienced that compare to that?