I've been watching all week and this is my favorite reaction. Love it when the unexpected wins. Too bad NBC has such a lockdown on Olympic footage. The live American broadcast had much better footage, she looked like she was going to have a breakdown.
i haven't watched any of this, but read the other day that US athletes receive no govt support and have to pay tax not only on their cash winnings for each medal, but also the value of the medals themselves
seremtan wrote:i haven't watched any of this, but read the other day that US athletes receive no govt support and have to pay tax not only on their cash winnings for each medal, but also the value of the medals themselves
that sucks
Hah yes I remember reading about this. Paying for the privilege to keep those gold medals, although apparently it's only tax on the value of about £500 for a gold. Fair enough being taxed on their cash winnings I guess, as it's the US olympic committee that awards them the cash...
Also http://www.medalspercapita.com/
Stats are a pain. I'd like to find comparative data on sports spending on olympic athletes vs medals won, although sorting by GDP would probably give a decent comparison
The medals per capita seems a good way to even things out, but isn't medals per nation's competing athlete a more honest way (or better yet, potential medals vs actual medal wins. A football team is like 20 athletes but counts as 1 medal)? In other words: is there a limit, either by rule or practical, to how many athletes a country can push into the Olympics?
However, I read somewhere that the US has about 500 athletes while the Netherlands has about 200 (and that includes a fair number of team sports like Hockey, volleyball, handball, and 8-man rowing (both male and female teams) and the Netherlands s 12th on the medal rankings, which despite our rough Olympics this year (especially with Judo and swimming) is pretty good for such a small country.
vesp wrote:..........
Also http://www.medalspercapita.com/
Stats are a pain. I'd like to find comparative data on sports spending on olympic athletes vs medals won, although sorting by GDP would probably give a decent comparison
Memphis wrote:Bah. Watch people you've never heard of win sports you never otherwise watch. Capitalist fagg0try. :humbug:
Or see it as a chance to broaden your sports horizons and get a taste of sports other than football. Your view is a bitter and unnecessary negative one.
During the London Olympics I discovered that bow shooting is pretty cool to watch and this year I've massively enjoyed the 1-on-1 sprint events on the indoor cycling ring.