The Olympics, our global celebration of sport and friendly rivalry between the best athletes in the world-- well it turns out that the last part may not be true... It seems there are people who make a hobby of participating in The Olympic Games, despite not being particularly talented. The most recent example of this is 33 year old Liz Swaney from California who competed two weeks ago in the women's skiing half pipe event and did not attempt any real tricks.
She managed to qualify for the event due to the fact there are very few athletes who compete in this field. The requirement for Olympic participation in this event was based on a minimum number of top 30 finishes, so she began flying out to qualifiers last year, most most of which has less than 30 total competitors. She also has Hungarian grandparents, which allowed her to compete under the Hungarian flag.
Swaney was not alone this year however, being joined by German Madrazo from Mexico and Pita Taufatofua from Tonga who both competed in cross country skiing. Taufatofua finished 110th out of 115 despite the fact he has only been training on snow for 3 months. Madrazo finished 113th, ahead of two who did not finish, but was massively celebrated. A whole crowd of participants, including the first place finisher waited for him to come in and lifted him on their shoulders, parading the Mexican flag.
What separates these two men from Swaney is that they really put in an effort, participated and gave it their all. Taufatofua trained on roller skates for 8 months before ever trying snow. Madrazo is a former iron man runner and triathlete, and the two paired up to train, qualify, and fully embrace their chosen sport. All Swaney did was use her wealth to fly out to events just for fun, not even putting in a real effort to do tricks that the sport is based on. In my opinion Liz Swaney's actions are a disgrace to the athletes of The Olympic Games, and I am glad to hear there are measures being undertaken to prevent people from abusing similar loopholes.
She managed to qualify for the event due to the fact there are very few athletes who compete in this field. The requirement for Olympic participation in this event was based on a minimum number of top 30 finishes, so she began flying out to qualifiers last year, most most of which has less than 30 total competitors. She also has Hungarian grandparents, which allowed her to compete under the Hungarian flag.
Swaney was not alone this year however, being joined by German Madrazo from Mexico and Pita Taufatofua from Tonga who both competed in cross country skiing. Taufatofua finished 110th out of 115 despite the fact he has only been training on snow for 3 months. Madrazo finished 113th, ahead of two who did not finish, but was massively celebrated. A whole crowd of participants, including the first place finisher waited for him to come in and lifted him on their shoulders, parading the Mexican flag.
What separates these two men from Swaney is that they really put in an effort, participated and gave it their all. Taufatofua trained on roller skates for 8 months before ever trying snow. Madrazo is a former iron man runner and triathlete, and the two paired up to train, qualify, and fully embrace their chosen sport. All Swaney did was use her wealth to fly out to events just for fun, not even putting in a real effort to do tricks that the sport is based on. In my opinion Liz Swaney's actions are a disgrace to the athletes of The Olympic Games, and I am glad to hear there are measures being undertaken to prevent people from abusing similar loopholes.
Sam,
ReplyDeleteFor a heavily regulated competition that brings the greatest athletes in the world together, it is quite baffling that such a mediocre skier could sneak her way in... among athletes who train for years on end.