Swimming Finals at the World Championships in Barcelona, Spain
Former Member
The finals of the first day, show:
.) in the men 400 meter free final, Thorpe (Aus.) went 3:42.58 for #1, Hackett (Aus.) went 3:45.17 for #2, and Coman (Rom.) went 3:46.8x for #3;
Coman -who is my fellow countryman, and I was telling you about him for years-, defeated Rossolini (Ita.) of the 2000 Olympics fame, Keller (U.S.) and Carvin (U.S.);
.) in the women 400 meter free final, Simona Paduraru (Rom.) finished #7, with a fast time;
.) in the 4x100 men free relay, Russia won;
the fastest split was by Frenchman Frederic Bousquet at 47.03 -which is the second fastest split in history-, and fast splits (in the 47s) were recorded by Alex. Popov (Rus.) and Jason Lezak (U.S.);
.) in the 4x100 women free relay, U.S. won, anchored by an ace 53.xx from Jenny Thompson (U.S.).
He! he! he! :D ho! ho! ho!
I post this, ahead of www.swiminfo.com and www.swimnews.com who are sandbagging...
Parents
Former Member
Jeff's posts deal -for a while now- with what I post.
See Jeff's post as soon as I posted the 'flash-in-the-pan' controversial comment, regarding other non-'flash-in-the-pan' winners, in track, Carl Lewis (U.S.) and Al Oerter (U.S.).
The latest post by Jeff, also deals with what I post.
Originally posted by kaelonj
Ion,
I think your use of the phrase 'Flash in the Pan' is where the problem lies. This term is genrally used for someone that is here one day gone the next (the music industry would call it a one hit wonder). Had Biondi won just one gold medal in one Olympic never to be seen or heard of again, then I would agree about the flash in the pan. Since he swam in 3 Olympics, several medals covering different events, I think he is not a flash in the pan.
...
Biondi is not a 'flash-in-the-pan' compared to say Duncan Armstrong (Aus.), who snatched gold in the 200 free in the 1988 Olympics and run away.
Compared to Popov, Biondi is:
1.a) Biondi didn't defend his 1988 in 1992;
1.b) Popov did defend his 1992 in 1996;
2.a) Biondi quit shortly after 1992;
2.b) Popov didn't quit after being defeated in 2000, but he prepares to win for 2004 by winning in 2003.
Originally posted by kaelonj
...
Also the fact that you are using the criteria of world records set in the Olympics (just as many records are set in meets other than the Olympics).
...
I never used the criteria of world records set in the Olympics, in this thread.
If you think I did, show me the quote.
I mentioned that the criteria of world records set in the Olympics can be considered -among other criteria on a long list- for evaluating who is great, but that a standard list with criteria doesn't exist, and that myself I don't do this list of criteria.
Originally posted by kaelonj
...
Also that Olympic performances can be misleading, most people would agree that Lance Armstrong could be considered one of the best cycliest ever, after winning his fifth consecutive Tour de France (only one other rider, Miguel Indurain has won 5 consecutive titles, and 3 others have won a total of 5 tours), yet he doesn't have a gold medal after going to the Olympics 3 times.
...
In swimming, the Olympics is the number one competition.
In track and field, also.
Because of this, the Olympics are the most significant in swimming and in track.
In tennis, the Olympics is not the number one competition.
Sampras got 13 major tournaments, and no Olympics. He was saying that because he is from Greek ethnicity, he will want to go to Athens next year, but I don't hold him to his word on this.
In cycling, the Tour de France is the number one competition.
Armstrong tried hard twice in the Olympics (1996 and 2000), came short (in 2000 against a faster time-trial teammate, Vyacheslav Ekimov (Ukr.) who won gold, and a faster Jan Ullrich (Ger.) who won silver), but the Tour de France has more prestige in cycling that the Olympics' cycling.
Same thing in ice hockey, with N.H.L. being more important than the Olympics' hockey.
Originally posted by kaelonj
...
I can't do anything about how cheated you feel because you moved to the US to be closer to Biondi, only to have him retire rather than defend his title.
...
Get over it all ready
I got over it already.
I live my life, implementing my values that appear here too.
Jeff's posts deal -for a while now- with what I post.
See Jeff's post as soon as I posted the 'flash-in-the-pan' controversial comment, regarding other non-'flash-in-the-pan' winners, in track, Carl Lewis (U.S.) and Al Oerter (U.S.).
The latest post by Jeff, also deals with what I post.
Originally posted by kaelonj
Ion,
I think your use of the phrase 'Flash in the Pan' is where the problem lies. This term is genrally used for someone that is here one day gone the next (the music industry would call it a one hit wonder). Had Biondi won just one gold medal in one Olympic never to be seen or heard of again, then I would agree about the flash in the pan. Since he swam in 3 Olympics, several medals covering different events, I think he is not a flash in the pan.
...
Biondi is not a 'flash-in-the-pan' compared to say Duncan Armstrong (Aus.), who snatched gold in the 200 free in the 1988 Olympics and run away.
Compared to Popov, Biondi is:
1.a) Biondi didn't defend his 1988 in 1992;
1.b) Popov did defend his 1992 in 1996;
2.a) Biondi quit shortly after 1992;
2.b) Popov didn't quit after being defeated in 2000, but he prepares to win for 2004 by winning in 2003.
Originally posted by kaelonj
...
Also the fact that you are using the criteria of world records set in the Olympics (just as many records are set in meets other than the Olympics).
...
I never used the criteria of world records set in the Olympics, in this thread.
If you think I did, show me the quote.
I mentioned that the criteria of world records set in the Olympics can be considered -among other criteria on a long list- for evaluating who is great, but that a standard list with criteria doesn't exist, and that myself I don't do this list of criteria.
Originally posted by kaelonj
...
Also that Olympic performances can be misleading, most people would agree that Lance Armstrong could be considered one of the best cycliest ever, after winning his fifth consecutive Tour de France (only one other rider, Miguel Indurain has won 5 consecutive titles, and 3 others have won a total of 5 tours), yet he doesn't have a gold medal after going to the Olympics 3 times.
...
In swimming, the Olympics is the number one competition.
In track and field, also.
Because of this, the Olympics are the most significant in swimming and in track.
In tennis, the Olympics is not the number one competition.
Sampras got 13 major tournaments, and no Olympics. He was saying that because he is from Greek ethnicity, he will want to go to Athens next year, but I don't hold him to his word on this.
In cycling, the Tour de France is the number one competition.
Armstrong tried hard twice in the Olympics (1996 and 2000), came short (in 2000 against a faster time-trial teammate, Vyacheslav Ekimov (Ukr.) who won gold, and a faster Jan Ullrich (Ger.) who won silver), but the Tour de France has more prestige in cycling that the Olympics' cycling.
Same thing in ice hockey, with N.H.L. being more important than the Olympics' hockey.
Originally posted by kaelonj
...
I can't do anything about how cheated you feel because you moved to the US to be closer to Biondi, only to have him retire rather than defend his title.
...
Get over it all ready
I got over it already.
I live my life, implementing my values that appear here too.
