Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
The structure of sports in a country makes a huge difference too. For example, the college system in the US essentially means that many US athletes are full time. It is a huge advantage in some sports but also a disadvantage in others such as football.
Of course, there are all manner of things concerning how sports are organised domestically that affect international/Olympic performance - but those are things that each nation is at liberty to change. OTOH the limitation to team size is not something nations can do anything about.
(so, for example, the US can be expected to get more medals than Britain due to its ~5 times larger population, but could only be expected to get 5 times the medals if it could also enter five times the number of athletes)
This is not really the case.
Countries are obviously entering the best of the best they have at their disposal.
If you have a population which is 5 times larger, you have a much larger group of people from which to select the best athletes. It is not about getting five times the number of athletes it is about being able to select and narrow down the better quality athletes.
This is not really the case.
Countries are obviously entering the best of the best they have at their disposal.
If you have a population which is 5 times larger, you have a much larger group of people from which to select the best athletes. It is not about getting five times the number of athletes it is about being able to select and narrow down the better quality athletes.
Team size almost certainly also has an effect, because no matter the size of the talent pool, you still have ultimately to pin your hopes on a small number of athletes, any of whom could under-perform on the day for a variety of reasons.
Peace in Northern Ireland (even though Irish nationalists described him as a PM not even at the races sensible negotiations wise), economic prudence (if you believe that old chestnut you'll believe anything) and now the record Olympic haul of 2012.
There's no end to the revisionism surrounding this pallid Thatchet clone who had all the charisma of a stale weetabix whilst presiding over a Government that allowed schools and hospitals to rust away and unemployment to skyrocket in a recession that was agonisingly prolonged by the boorish slash n' burn mentality that has seen this Government repeat the same mistakes again in today's double-dip recession.
Give me a break, by the end of 2016 John Major will have been hailed as the man who also invented the internet through some tenuous snippet of a comment once overheard by a bystander hearing him talk to Tim Berners Lee at a school sportsday inquiring about fibre optics along with a thinly veiled reference to long pieces of string tied to plastic cups in primary school science experiments.
Was there no end to this man's visionary prowess?
You seem to be suffering from that well know affliction of Socialist amnesia, conveniently forgetting the economic mess that Labour left the current coalition.
I see you edited your stream of bile ten minutes after posting it.
Might I suggest that the delete option would have been more preferable.
You seem to be suffering from that well know affliction of Socialist amnesia, conveniently forgetting the economic mess that Labour left the current coalition.
I see you edited your stream of bile ten minutes after posting it.
Might I suggest that the delete option would have been more preferable.
'More preferable'? You obviously received your education in grammar under a Tory government
You seem to be suffering from that well know affliction of Socialist amnesia, conveniently forgetting the economic mess that Labour left the current coalition.
I see you edited your stream of bile ten minutes after posting it.
Might I suggest that the delete option would have been more preferable.
And maybe you've bought a more fabricated explanation for the "mess" being that of budgetary problems? Lets try not to forget that this global mess wasn't brought about by spending in the public sector - can we at least try to do that?
The structure of sports in a country makes a huge difference too. For example, the college system in the US essentially means that many US athletes are full time. It is a huge advantage in some sports but also a disadvantage in others such as football.
Its a great system no doubt. I think that many professional sportsman in the UK and elsewhere would struggle in the US college system, let alone in professional leagues (in terms of athletic ability). There are actually so many great athletes that might make the olympics but tend to end up in professional leagues like the NFL. In fact, many of America's fastest sprinters end up playing football on Sundays than in events such as the olympics.
Oh damn it, all that talent we missed...we would have loved a good struggle
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
, by the end of 2016 John Major will have been hailed as the man who also invented the internet through some tenuous snippet of a comment once overheard by a bystander hearing him talk to Tim Berners Lee at a school sportsday inquiring about fibre optics along with a thinly veiled reference to long pieces of string tied to plastic cups in primary school science experiments. 
?
