So excited about the Olympics

[Des]

What im saying is his wife died over a year ago... that is a long time.

[bennymacca]

they train for years in the leadup for the olympics, not just in the 6 months or whatever beforehand.

anyway, on to more inspirational stories. what about anna meares? after a race fall a year or so ago, she suffered a severed spinal cord, and the docs thought she was sure to be a quadriplegic. but she did walk again, which is amazing in itself. but not only that, she has come back to win a silver medal.

to me thats what sport is all about

[krunchie]

sorry ben, if we take des's line of thinking
breaking her neck 9 months ago doesnt count

because it was a long time ago it makes no difference to her preperation/ confidence etc so shouldnt be taken ino account to her performance so realy she should be pretty upset she got so heavily canned by that brit.


Do you see how ludicrous that sounds !!!!!

[rcon]

Maybe he trained harder because his wife died? Some people do like to bury themselves in something when they suffer loss.

Fantastic effort anyway, and yes, I do feel the background story adds to it. Somewhat.

[Des]

LOL u fools

Wife dying is a mental thing you have to get over.

Breaking your neck is physical thing, its a lot harder to do.

2 complete different situations.

Honestly, the guy had probably sniffed that much smelling salts he wasnt even thinking about her till afterwards.

[Scotty]

Sorry his wife died, but it doesnt affect his ability to lift a weight.

No-one was actually saying,"Because his wife passed away, he was able to lift the weight and win gold".

[bennymacca]

LOL u fools

Wife dying is a mental thing you have to get over.

Breaking your neck is physical thing, its a lot harder to do.

2 complete different situations.

Honestly, the guy had probably sniffed that much smelling salts he wasnt even thinking about her till afterwards.

you don't reckon breaking your neck in a cycling race fall affects your mental ability to be able to go and race again?

you are dreaming!

[Des]

LOL you lot are so damn uptight today

Guy can lift weights... his wife died (which im sorry, it sucks)... but physically he can still lift weights... he just mentally has to get over the death of his beloved. He has had over a year to do this. He could have been lifting weights every day since her death

Meares.. can ride fast.. broke her freaking neck.. has to rehab in 9 month and get mentally over her crash. She couldnt ride a bike the next day after her crash, she has to physically get ready, and then mentally get ready.

I put a lot more value on Meares, than the weightlifter.

Geebus some people need a hug or something... maybe that 94 call has affected benny the cunt for life! It's OK bro... im going to beat you with 72 in state finals

[bennymacca]

i am probably coming across a bit more grumpy than i actually am about this. but yes, i have 94 nightmares

i agree with what you are saying, with respect to anna meares' ride being a better comeback than the weightlifter. but how many times do you see players perform on the big stage using something like a recent death as motivation?

sport at that level is 99% mental, the physical attributes are so similar in most cases that you couldn't split them. in some cases, mental ability is much more important in a lot of cases.

a good example that is sure to bait a few people is that of lleyton hewitt. he was number 1 in the world for a whole year - not too many people have done that.

but if you look at his pure physical tennis ability, you would NEVER rate him as a number 1 tennis player. it is his mental ability, the ability to perform when it really matters most, that set him aside from the rest, and allowed him to become number 1 in the world.

compare him to Mark Philippoussis. most people that follow tennis would agree that these players had a LOT more natural ability than lleyton hewitt ever had - but he couldn't get his head screwed on right, and so was never as successful as lleyton.

the same can be said for anna meares and the wieghlifter. it would have been all too easy for them both to give up, or at least think that making it to the olympics at all was the achievement, but they had the mental strength to perform when it really mattered most.

[krunchie]

well said benny the cunt

couldnt agree more

I cant say there is much difference between the 2 performances and i dont rank 1 as greater than the other

both atheletes had life changing accidents devestate their lives in the lead up to the most important sporting event of their carrers

to be able to get up and perform above what is expected of them
( the weight lifter broke his personal best by 10 kg to win the gold)
is extrodinary.