All Entries Tagged With: "Olympics"
Goalie Ryan Miller a Great Ambassador for the US, On and Off the Ice
The name Ryan Miller has been heard a lot through this winter’s Olympic Games. The goalie for the Silver medal winning United
States hockey team, has been a big part of the team’s success. But Ryan Miller isn’t just a good goalie, he’s a genuinely good person too, and his humble attitude and philanthropic work make him an admirable representative of the United States to the rest of the world.
Miller is truly a team player, and is always respectful on and off the ice, crediting his teammates in interviews and never talking trash.
In 2006, Miller founded the Steadfast Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to assisting children affected by cancer and their families. The foundation was created after his cousin, Matt Schoals, was diagnosed with leukemia in 2005 at the age of 16. The Steadfast Foundation’s main goal is to provide patients and their families with support and to raise public awareness of the efforts needed to fight cancer. Their philosophy is that “communities can mobilize to generate those resources.” After Matt passed away in 2007 from complications during a bone marrow transplant, Miller painted “Matt Man” on the back of his helmet in memory of his cousin. With Miller’s success in the Olympics comes attention to his foundation, and more assistance for those with cancer.
Ryan Miller is a worldwide name now, and the U.S. should be proud to have an athlete like him representing them. Especially when hockey players like Russian Alex Ovechkin have been making headlines for shoving and injuring fans, the U.S. is lucky to be able to say that their goalie is Ryan Miller.
Click here for more information and to donate to the Steadfast Foundation.
The Olympic Budget Rises as Does the Homeless Population in Vancouver
It is commonly viewed that the job of hosting the Olympic games is a great package deal which creates new jobs and brings in capital for the city – as the Games inevitably attract private investments and tourists – which are then spent on improving public infrastructure. Yet in past cases and now in Vancouver, the turnover rate never seems to justify the massive spending on the Games. This is especially in a city like Vancouver where there is a increasing rise in homeless people and struggle with po
verty.
As Greg Bishop of the New York Times reported:
“One man lighted a crack pipe, inhaling deeply. Another urinated on a wall. Another burned a book of matches, muttering at the flame. Two men started fighting. One brandished a bicycle seat, the other a salad that spilled onto the sidewalk [...] That scene unfolded five blocks from the site of the opening ceremony for the Winter Olympics.”
From Bishop’s description, deprivation in Vancouver is very much a reality. A reality that Vancouver authorities have spent and will spend less time and money to try to fix due to their attention being on the Olympics.
The University of British Columbia published a report in December that revealed the homeless population has doubled since Vancouver won its bid 2002. More recently, the Vancouver Sun estimated that 8 billion dollars will be spent on the Games.
Furthermore, a report by the Pivot Legal Society, a non-profit organization, revealed that the 2010 Games will actually contribute to the increase of the homeless population. The report found that the Games created housing speculation thus a causing a rise in property value in the downtown eastside of Vancouver, where there’s a large concentration of the poor. Developers purchase these homes then renovate them to increase rent thus displacing a large number of the economically strained citizens.
It is such numbers and reports that got approximately 3,000 protesters, last Friday, marching through the downtown of Vancouver and onto the steps of BC Place, the venue of the opening ceremonies.
A Native spokeswoman from Downtown Eastside said to the crowd of protesters, “send a prayer to people who think it’s all right to spend this kind of money while people are dying and living in poverty.”
As much as the Olympics is a time of excitement, rivalry and celebration of physical human ability, it is also a time for bringing social issues such as poverty and homelessness to the international conscience.
Female Athletes Win Gold but Men Still Rule the Olympics
The world of sports seems to be constantly battling one controversy after another. While most of America is still reeling from the completely thoughtless coverage given to the death of Georgian luger Nodar Kumaritashvil on the track last week, a fair number of bloggers this week are waxing poetic about the homogenizing, nationalistic, pro-colonialism that national competitions of athleticism (such as the Olympics) generally stand for. Certainly valid points to be pondered, but one overwhelming narrative is excluded from the lengthy criticisms lobbed at the wide world of sports: that of Feminism.
Without being too obvious, sexism is still a major, and rampant, problem in the world of professional athletics. Whether it’s Chris Barnes being ridiculed for “losing to a girl” (first, it’s quite a feat to see the late Jerry Falwell writing from beyond the grave; second, always a bonus to see a journalist try to be edgy by using such misogynistic rhetoric to conclude bowling is not a sport) or sportscaster Erin Andrews being dismissed as a “sideline bimbo Barbie,” or the women’s luge track being moved to a level lower than the new men’s luge track, it’s not a particularly woman-friendly industry.
Of course, point this out to a sport’s fan, and they’re likely to fire off the names of well-publicized, beloved female athletes that have occupied a Wheaties box or two. Who didn’t fall in love with the fresh-faced, adorable Shawn Johnson at the 2008 summer Olympics? Former Olympic sweetheart Nancy Kerrigan has been back in headlines recently over the tragic murder of her father, and certainly the world has responded with sympathy. And while Serena Williams certainly acted unladylike by cussing out a line judge at the Open Semi-Final, shouldn’t props be given to the fact that she lost her cool at an event named after former tennis great Billie Jean King?
Yet having the ability to tick off the names of powerful female athletes does little to actually confront the pervasive pattern of sexism, particularly since recognition in sports is a double-edged sword.
Just a few months ago, Sports Illustrated published its annual grouping of the year’s top athletes. Featuring a separate list for men and women, the editors apparently decided it was time to spice up the usual picks. This year’s list for females including Williams, tennis player Kim Cljsters and Zenyatta. Zenyatta, as readers may not be aware, is a horse. And, to add insult to injury, Zenyatta is joined on the list by competitor Rachel Alexandra.
Basically, Sports Illustrated decided that, in order to honor female athletes, they needed to be open to the inclusion of non-humans. Not that it should be surprising. Their annual “Swimsuit Issue” notwithstanding, Sports Illustrated is hardly renowned for progressive, forward thinking. While horses have been honored before (racehorse Secretariat had previously been nominated and won) lumping women athletes in the same category as animals of competition suggests the role of women has yet to progress beyond that of chattel.
It is, of course, a problem not unique to the Western world. Many sports fans spent the better part of September glued to the breaking news reports about Caster Semenya, the 19-year-old runner from Africa who was center to one of the biggest scandals in the history of sports. After breaking numerous records for speed, the International Association of Athletics Federations raised questions about Semenya’s gender. The middle-distance runner, under false pretenses, submitted to the tests, despite having a birth certificate that identified her birth as female. In response to criticism that the investigation was both racist and sexist, the IAAF findings were leaked to reveal that Semenya allegedly had both female and male sex organs. Semenya later withdrew from a competition she had been training for, though she plans to make a return in the summer.
Still, the case of Semenya highlights just how far the inherent misogyny of sports can go. Semenya definitely portrays a more masculine portrait, but the red flag for the IAAF was that Semenya left her peers in her dust, outperforming even the local records held by men. The message to women should be overwhelmingly clear: if you do better than men, it has to be because you’re actually a man yourself.
In her recent series for bitch magazine, writer Anna Clark defends her decision to be both a Feminist and a sports fan, expressing her belief that sports have the ability to directly confront and change the face of oppression. Citing the influence of Jackie Robinson in breaking the color barrier (and having his number, 42, retired from every major league baseball team) Clark contends the dialogues of athletics are essential for making connections. She may have a valid point that, in the battle against racism, athletics provides a clear lens to see that the landscape isn’t merely white.
But the ceiling for women differs greatly from that of men of color. Much like the women in Penny Marshall’s “A League of Their Own,” female athletes need to not only demonstrate an athletic talent, but appear aesthetically pleasing to boot (who can forget the horrid Lindsey Vonn cover on Sports Illustrated?) for the sole purpose of being marketable while somewhat successful. Anna Kournikova, the Russian tennis player who became so famous a computer virus was manufacturer after her, typifies the obsession of having all players also be beauty queens. Kournikova’s mediocre record didn’t keep her from becoming a star. Ultimately, ESPN.com labeled Kournikova as one of sports’ biggest flops in the last 25 years, due to the incongruous height of her popularity with her overall win record as a singles player.
The treatment of Kournikova, including the blatant objectification of her appearance, typifies the love-hate relationship athletics actually have with their female competitors. Female athletes are locked into being the girl-next-door types like aforementioned favorites Johnson and Kerrigan, or smoldering vixens who happen to blow away a bikini like they blow away their competition (think Kournikova, Maria Sharapova and Danica Patrick).
It’s a sticky situation to address, due in no small part to how entrenched sexism has become for society and athletics, but a unique opportunity is available, due to the timing and proximity of the Olympics (it’d be nice if they started by getting ride of those half-uniforms female runners are required to wear, as opposed to their fully-clothed male counterparts, but that’s a grouse for the summer games). Reacting to the death of the Georgian luger, Olympic officials modified the track which caused his death and also modified the track for the women’s competition, relocating the male track to what was originally the start point for the women’s competition. As officials have largely remained mum on the reasoning, many have questioned whether the decision was due to safety concerns, or simply an extension of already-established sexist patterns.
If the track was modified for safety reasons, regardless of how obvious it might be to clarify that for the questioning world, Olympic officials would be wise to clue the rest of the world in. While it may not seem like much in the greater scheme of things, it acknowledges the largely ignored problem and gets a dialogue going. What starts off as an official explanation for what appears to be every bit of a misogynistic policy change may just ultimately give rise to lists of 10 human athletes worth of the Female Athlete of the Year title. Oh, and females receiving more than just five percent of the total Olympic coverage.
Olympic Death Highlights Ethics in Journalism
The Olympics. It brings to mind images of athletes striving to be their very best. Images of victory in the face of adversity and winners proudly flying their home flag. This year, however, the most memorable images of the Winter 2010 Olympics aren’t so uplifting.
On Feb. 12, Nodar Kumaritashvili, a luge competitor from Georgia (the country, not the state), lost control of his sled during a practice run and was propelled into a pillar along the slide. Though the 21-year-old Olympian was rushed to the hospital, his death was confirmed a short time later by Canadian authorities.
While the slide, known as Whistler Sliding Center, has been at the heart of controversy regarding its dangerous design lately (Kumaritashvili himself allegedly telling his father he had concerns about the safety of the track) his death has sparked an even greater debate over how such incidents should be handled.
For those who may not be familiar with the sport, luge requires participants to ride a thin sled while lying flat on their backs. The track is comparable to a water slide, with the curves allowing the athletes to gain speed and distance very quickly. Though lugers wear helmets, they generally lack other protective gear, making them extremely vulnerable to injuries. Ignoring this fact, Sven Romstad, International Luge Federation President, characterized the death of Kumaritashvili as an “avoidable mistake.”
Both the British Columbia Coroner’s Service and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police concurred with the International Luge Federation’s findings and issued a statement that Kumaritashvili failed to properly compensate for the penultimate turn. Despite Kumaritashvili apparently being responsible for his own death, it’s interesting to note that Olympic officials were quick to modify the track anyway.
RELIVING THE MOMENT
But the complete lack of regard for Kumaritashvili didn’t stop with blaming him for his own death. All of the major networks opted to run footage of Kumaritashvili’s demise. NBC in particular has received particularly poor reviews for choosing to air the video the following day, at the actual opening of the Olympics.
To make matters worse, due to the wide release on network TV, bootlegged copies of the original video have been blasted all over YouTube. According to Don Osborne of Geek.com, the footage of Kumaritashvili’s final ride has gone viral as of Feb. 15.
“The search “luge tragedy video” is currently number 3 in Google’s hot trending searches, with a rating of “volcanic” with “luge accident abc” coming in at number 16. On February 13th “video of nodar kumaritashvili’s death” was the 10th hottest search and “nodar kumaritashvili” came in at number 4 on Friday the 12th. As you might have guessed, the trend is reflected on Twitter. Videos of the luger’s death are said to be banned on YouTube but they are still available, one of which appears on the Associated Press’ official channel and has over 200,000 views.”
Not unlike the tapped execution of Nick Berg, the beheading of Daniel Pearl, or even the explosion of the Challenger, America demonstrates a morbid fascination with the macabre caught on video. Essentially, ABC, CBS, FOX and NBC were certainly catering to the whims of viewers (just in times for sweeps, no less) by delivering the grisly propulsion of Kumaritashvili into an unincorporated guard rail along the slide. However, these networks made the decision to play the footage continuously, and while the noise of the accident itself has been edited out, viewers are still able to acutely witness the complete crumpling of a human body against a sturdy structure.
To be fair, not all of the commentary and feedback surrounding the young Georgian’s death has sought to capitalize on his unexpected death. Thousands of sympathetic viewers have posted heartfelt condolences to the Kumaritashvili family and his surviving teammates. There are some that speculate this loss will help jettison Georgia to a stronger overall showing. It’s a grim reminder that, all other fanfare aside, the Olympics are about athletes competing in an international arena, and winning is the ultimate goal.
VIEWER DISCRETION IS ADVISED
Still, the question remains. Is having such unrestricted access to this type of video ultimately a good idea? The short answer is no, and it’s one with an established precedent. While some athletes have died on camera before, the news opted to be more tasteful in broadcasting the coverage, if showing any at all.
In 1999, wrestling hero Owen Hart died while performing a wrestling stunt at the Kemper Arena in Kansas City, Mo. Due to a malfunctioning of his equipment, Hart fell 78 feet before landing on his chest in the middle of the ring. He died from his injuries, though the precise moment of his death is unknown. No footage of Hart’s fall has ever been released. The Pay-Per-View itself panned away as soon as Hart began to fall, and focused on the audience instead. While those viewing the Pay-Per-View at home were informed about the seriousness of Hart’s condition, audience members were not made aware until it was announced that Hart had died at Truman Medical Center from his injuries.
While the World Wrestling Federation received some criticism for their decision to continue the Pay-Per-View event, the way in which Hart’s death is more respectful and appropriate for an athlete killed in the line of the game. Most athletes do understand that there is always a risk of serious injury in undertaking their sport, but few, if any, expect to die in the throes of competition. Especially where the Olympics, believed to be the pinnacle of athletic glory and integrity, are concerned. We’re talking about young athletes defending their own sense of nationalist pride in disciplined sporting events, which makes preventable deaths like Kumaritashvili that much more senseless, and tragic.
As such, they demand an even more rigid execution of sensitivity, not prime time showcasing.
Is Gender Testing Needed at the Olympics?
Gender seems like the simplest form of identity.
Male or female? Check one.
But what about the case of Caster Semenya, the South African track athlete who recently made headlines when she was forced to undergo sex-verification tests after her success in the World Athletics Championships.
After winning the gold in the 800-meter race, questions were raised as to whether her win was truly fair; whether the masculine looking (and running) athlete was really a woman, and tests were issued by the International Association of Athletics Federations to verify her gender.
The tests were never officially released, but a source within the IAAF said the tests found that Semenya was a woman and a man. She reportedly has no womb or ovaries, and has internal testes that made her testosterone levels more than three times higher than an average female. Several months after the controversy, it was announced that Semenya would keep her gold medal, and that the results of the tests would officially remain confidential. Semenya has never confirmed the results.
Amidst all the controversy, South Africa stood behind their girl. Shortly after being forced to undergo testing, Semenya got dolled up and became a cover girl, gracing the cover of You magazine. She told the magazine, “”I see it all as a joke, it doesn’t upset me. God made me the way I am and I accept myself. I am who I am and I’m proud of myself.”
Semenya has no confusion about who she is, but technically, biologically, she is different from the other women she was competing against. And as much as I’m all for gender equality, there is no arguing against the fact that extra testosterone can benefit a female athlete.
The International Olympic Committee is recommending gender test centers be established that would deal with athletes like Semenya with “ambiguous sexual characteristics.” The medical commission chairman of the IOC told the Associated Press that no specific case was discussed when making this recommendation. They advised that once a suspicious case is found, it is best that a diagnosis is made immediately.
“We cannot expect sports in every country around the world to have the necessary expertise,” the chairman said. “That’s not possible, so we recommend strategically located centers where cases could be referred, if necessary. It’s for the experts to decide what to do with each individual case. There is no general treatment. There is no general diagnosis.”
Athlete gender verification was mandatory until 2000, at which point it had never detected a male masquerading as a female. The last test used falsely identified 8 female athletes out of 3,000 as male. Tests are not always entirely accurate, and in some cases, it can be unclear what exactly gives an athlete an advantage or makes them a different gender. What about simple genetic differences? Most Olympic quality athletes do have some kind of genetic advantage, some physical quality that makes them the best of the best. What about women who got a sex change operation? What about women like Semenya? There is no real guideline or definition for what genetic differences are an unfair advantage or not. There is a large variation of hormone levels in females, which makes determining a baseline almost impossible.
“At the elite level, athletes who have unique abilities tend to possess physical characteristics that are advantageous in their particular sport. For example, being tall in basketball and petite-size with delayed sexual development in gymnastics, these athletes tend to be very successful,” Professor Myron Genel, a pediatrician and specialist in Disorders of Sex Development at Yale University, told BBC News “If you start looking for reasons to exclude female athletes from competition you are opening up Pandora’s Box.”
Semenya’s case was poorly handled, and though she recovered from it, some female athletes with similar problems have been stripped of titles and humiliated over a genetic defect. The current system of gender testing works on a case-by-case basis, done only if there is suspicion of a particular individual. The problem is that in some cases, there isn’t a real biological barrier for sex, and it is impossible to conclusively determine some people’s dominant gender. A universally acknowledged gender definition needs to be determined, and a set of standards need to be put in place. Likewise, cases like Semenya’s should not be broadcast publicly unless conclusive evidence is found. Her test results are technically confidential and she kept her medal, but she still had to endure the public scrutiny that came with being accused of being a man.
What do you think? How do we determine gender, and how should this factor into athletic competitions? What should change in gender verification testing?
