US Track & Field: I'm OK, You're OK - cougarguard.com — unofficial BYU Cougars / LDS sports, football, basketball forum and message board

TripletDaddy · 08-25-2008, 04:07 AM

So after all the doom and gloom about US Track and Field, the final medal counts are in:

USA wins the total Track & Field medal haul with 23 (second place was Russia with 18).

USA also wins total overall gold medal count with 7 (a few other countries received 6).

Jamaica, on the other hand, who was the alleged Exhibit A as to how far we had fallen and how much they had progressed, won 11 overall medals.

So do these numbers really bear out the notion that we have lost a step? Or did we simply lose the most glamorous sprints (100m and 200m), thereby giving the illusion that we have fallen from grace?

Interesting to see our Track and Field performance at prior Olympics. Not sure how the numbers really support the notion that we have fallen very far, if at all:

1972 in Munich....first place overall with 22.

1976 in Montreal, we had 22 overall, second place to East Germany (cheaters!).

1980 was a boycott in Moscow. Zero medals.

1984 was the extreme outlier....we took home 40 overall medals in Los Angeles that year, easily winning the overall competition.

26 in Seoul in 1988 (tied for second with USSR, first place was East Germany)

30 in Barcelona in 1992. First place overall.

23 in Atlanta in 1996. First place overall.

14 in Sydney in 2000 (not counting the Marion Jones medals that were stripped)...first place overall, even after being stripped.

25 in Athens in 2004. First place.

23 in Beijing. First place.

Also note that in several of these Olympics, the US did not medal at all in one of the two glamor sprints...100M or 200M. So this year really isn't all that out of the ordinary.

MikeWaters · 08-25-2008, 04:09 AM

Dwight STone was saying something like only three people made the finals in any field event. Something crazy awful.

il Padrino Ute · 08-25-2008, 04:13 AM

As landpoke pointed out, the US doesn't really try and still competes.

The only events I really watch are the sprints - both men and women. It didn't bother me that the US didn't fare as well as it has in the past, because watching the amazing speed of the Jamaicans was fun.

Archaea · 08-25-2008, 04:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MikeWaters

Dwight STone was saying something like only three people made the finals in any field event. Something crazy awful.

No 100 m participant and no shows for both the sprint relays.

Only 400 medal participants.

TripletDaddy · 08-25-2008, 04:15 AM

I think individually, we did not have any stand-alone performers like in previous games.....but again, this seems to go to the glamor sprints.

Overall, there doesn't seem to be any data that indicates that US track and Field as a whole has fallen at all.

In other words, if we had won either the 100M or 200M this year, nobody would be saying much of anything.

I find the most interesting medal haul to be the one from Sydney. After stripping Marion Jones, we were left with 14 overall medals (and that was still good enough for first place overall). How many other people were cheating off Victor Conte juice during those games?

Archaea · 08-25-2008, 04:19 AM

We totally tanked in Boxing.

SeattleUte · 08-25-2008, 04:29 AM

Jamaica won 11 and we won 23? Do you have figures for our and Jamaica's populations and GNP offhand?

Archaea · 08-25-2008, 04:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SeattleUte

Jamaica won 11 and we won 23? Do you have figures for our and Jamaica's populations and GNP offhand?

I'd like to compare numbers for amounts of money spent by US Track and Jamaica. Of course all the Jamaicans by my count are US trained.

Many of the world's best swimmers also live and train here.

RC Vikings · 08-25-2008, 04:43 AM

Where are the American high and long jumpers? Other then that things looked pretty normal.

Archaea · 08-25-2008, 04:43 AM

Interesting articles.

http://www.voanews.com/english/archi...TOKEN=43351014

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/oth...gold-rush.html

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2...htm?site=local

08-25-2008, 04:07 AM	#1
TripletDaddy Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Orange County, CA Posts: 9,483	US Track & Field: I'm OK, You're OK So after all the doom and gloom about US Track and Field, the final medal counts are in: USA wins the total Track & Field medal haul with 23 (second place was Russia with 18). USA also wins total overall gold medal count with 7 (a few other countries received 6). Jamaica, on the other hand, who was the alleged Exhibit A as to how far we had fallen and how much they had progressed, won 11 overall medals. So do these numbers really bear out the notion that we have lost a step? Or did we simply lose the most glamorous sprints (100m and 200m), thereby giving the illusion that we have fallen from grace? Interesting to see our Track and Field performance at prior Olympics. Not sure how the numbers really support the notion that we have fallen very far, if at all: 1972 in Munich....first place overall with 22. 1976 in Montreal, we had 22 overall, second place to East Germany (cheaters!). 1980 was a boycott in Moscow. Zero medals. 1984 was the extreme outlier....we took home 40 overall medals in Los Angeles that year, easily winning the overall competition. 26 in Seoul in 1988 (tied for second with USSR, first place was East Germany) 30 in Barcelona in 1992. First place overall. 23 in Atlanta in 1996. First place overall. 14 in Sydney in 2000 (not counting the Marion Jones medals that were stripped)...first place overall, even after being stripped. 25 in Athens in 2004. First place. 23 in Beijing. First place. Also note that in several of these Olympics, the US did not medal at all in one of the two glamor sprints...100M or 200M. So this year really isn't all that out of the ordinary. __________________ Fitter. Happier. More Productive. "Everyone is against me. Everyone is fawning for 3D's attention and defending him." -- SeattleUte

08-25-2008, 04:13 AM	#3
il Padrino Ute Board Pinhead Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: In the basement of my house, Murray, Utah. Posts: 15,941	As landpoke pointed out, the US doesn't really try and still competes. The only events I really watch are the sprints - both men and women. It didn't bother me that the US didn't fare as well as it has in the past, because watching the amazing speed of the Jamaicans was fun. __________________ "The beauty of baseball is not having to explain it." - Chuck Shriver "This is now the joke that stupid people laugh at." - Christopher Hitchens on IQ jokes about GWB.

08-25-2008, 04:15 AM	#5
TripletDaddy Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Orange County, CA Posts: 9,483	I think individually, we did not have any stand-alone performers like in previous games.....but again, this seems to go to the glamor sprints. Overall, there doesn't seem to be any data that indicates that US track and Field as a whole has fallen at all. In other words, if we had won either the 100M or 200M this year, nobody would be saying much of anything. I find the most interesting medal haul to be the one from Sydney. After stripping Marion Jones, we were left with 14 overall medals (and that was still good enough for first place overall). How many other people were cheating off Victor Conte juice during those games? __________________ Fitter. Happier. More Productive. "Everyone is against me. Everyone is fawning for 3D's attention and defending him." -- SeattleUte

08-25-2008, 04:19 AM	#6
Archaea Assistant to the Regional Manager Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: The Orgasmatron Posts: 24,338	We totally tanked in Boxing. __________________ Ἓν οἶδα ὅτι οὐδὲν οἶδα

08-25-2008, 04:29 AM	#7
SeattleUte fairlds.org Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Seattle, WA Posts: 10,665	Jamaica won 11 and we won 23? Do you have figures for our and Jamaica's populations and GNP offhand? __________________ Interrupt all you like. We're involved in a complicated story here, and not everything is quite what it seems to be. —Paul Auster

08-25-2008, 04:09 AM	#2
MikeWaters Demiurge Join Date: Aug 2005 Posts: 36,365	Dwight STone was saying something like only three people made the finals in any field event. Something crazy awful.

08-25-2008, 04:43 AM	#9
RC Vikings Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Rexburg, Idaho Posts: 2,236	Where are the American high and long jumpers? Other then that things looked pretty normal. __________________ "I always rode to my limit. If I won by three minutes, that's because I couldn't make four." Eddy Merckx