Behind the scenes of modern sports
The 2014 Winter Olympics passed through its equator. The Olympics, which makes us think about the development of sports, about the impact on the results of not only the direct talent of athletes, but also numerous technologies. Little things, nuances, tricks - today they also make their own quite significant contribution to the victory of one or another team, this or that athlete. As it is hardly possible in our time, the Olympics without politics and outside politics, so it is hardly possible to Olympics without technological struggle, which directly fits with the development of science. Both 30 and 40 years ago, sports records were forged not without the use of the achievements of national and world scientific work, and today this “forging” has become a truly crucial link in the world of high-performance sports.
In this regard, the Olympic motto "Faster! Above! Stronger! ”It is fair to refer not only to athletes and coaches, but also to those people who rarely appear on the screens - to people who forge victories on the scientific and near-scientific front.
It is a pity that the sport of high achievements today has finally turned into a segment of a profitable business, in which the same athletes often look hostage to the situation. The owners of such a business, in fact, are not interested in the athlete as such, in the sphere of their interests - the body of an athlete who can afford to make a profit. If the “body” cannot produce the result itself, then it is those who can “blind” the appropriate option that enter into the process: chemists, microbiologists, pharmacists, practicing researchers in materials science, optics, psychologists, and even programmers. "You will give us the result! .."
It looks, of course, unsportsmanlike, but we seem to be accustomed to this, and the process can hardly be called reversible. So accustomed that the injury of an athlete, his illness or acclimatization of many simply ceased to worry. And here it is not only about you and me - about the Russian fans. This is a global trend. The world needs sport beyond human capabilities. As they say, “take out and put” a medal, a record, a defeat of the enemy ... This cannot be done - let them look for others, stuff them with something, nano-engines cling to skis, rifles with a laser sight are given out, slippery snow is printed on at least 3D printer "Made" all ...
If it is speed skating or tobogganing, then you are an athlete, if you beat your closest competitors for a second, at least by 2-3, although between the other participants - the difference in tenths and hundredths ... If it is hockey, then you are an athlete, if you score goals in each change, bringing the score to double-digit, and do not care that the opposing team is also not a bunch, excuse me, flawed ... Otherwise, you are a rag, a scarecrow, a corrupt NHL player, or so depending on the citizenship of the fan), “and how they took him only for the national team” ...
In general, the business of sports has made us so, and it is already somewhat late in this regard to engage in self-flagellation. If we are accustomed to this, then we demand a corresponding approach - the maximum on each track, on each rink, on every springboard. - We want to see not even athletes, but sort of gladiators, and even a version of “avatars” - people in the bodies of athletes. Some are ready to idolize, others are morally aware for fourth place. Thumb up, thumb down ...
Often, the idea of superiority so dominates the people responsible for sporting events, for the achievements of the athletes of their teams, that they are ready to turn any competitions into a “triumphal march” of their national sport. If we talk about the recent Olympics, then a strange stereotype has arisen in society: if a country accepts the Olympics, then it should collect almost all the medals that are played on it. There is another stereotype: the country must have a “profile” sport where it is necessary to cut medals ... From exactly the moment such an idea began to cultivate and spread - it is difficult to say, but the fact that many organizers put such a thesis in the first place of their work (medals and records at any cost) - a fact. To understand this, you can look at the Olympic results of some teams. For a start about the organizing countries.
Winter Olympics in Vancouver. The hosts really do shave gold — as many as 14 gold awards (a record of all the latest Winter Olympics). Before that, Canadians had 2006 gold awards in Turin 7, 2002 7 gold medals in Salt Lake City, 1998 gold 6 in Nagano, and 1994 4 gold in Nagano. And at home - well, such a jerk! .. In Sochi, by the way, Canada currently has 4 "gold". As they say, feel the difference ...
The same with the Winter Olympics in Beijing. Same with the Universiade series.
Of course, there is no moral right to suspect the same Canadians that they decided at home to “give a little help” to their athletes, no, but “digital” indicators are a stubborn thing ...
Now, not about the organizers. Year 1998. The Netherlands national team celebrates the golden extravaganza in Nagano. Medals on the Dutch skaters are strewed like a cornucopia. And despite the fact that even the 4 a year ago, the Dutch did not have a single "gold". Was the Norwegian ice not as hospitable as Japanese? But it turned out that ice is like ice ... Only now the thirst for victory was essentially quenched not so much by the Dutch athletes themselves, as by the inventors of the skates-claps - the skates with the heel open, which all Dutch rivals simply left out of work. The Dutch had valves, while others did not ...
When the secret was revealed, other athletes also put on their valves (already in other tournaments) - the Dutch went down the test table of the following Olympics: 3 Salt Lake City gold, 3 Turin gold Medal ... In Sochi, the Netherlands team has 5 gold (and only 17 medals) with 8 medals (of various denominations) in Vancouver ... And again we will feel the difference ...
It is interesting, and if we still equip our athletes' skis with engines, and program the puck to fly past the goalkeeper after the strikes of our hockey players, this will also be counted as the mentioned Dutch skates conceived in 1998 ... Will it be counted as a high achievement sport, if, for example, to take, and to put the Russian athlete on the highest step of the pedestal, even if he did not occupy the first place - well, how then - they put a Canadian pair in Salt Lake City on 2002 ...
In general, all this means that modern sports are ready to be served under such a sauce that sometimes the taste of sports itself cannot be disassembled ... And you want it so much!
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