If I am reading this right, Swiminfo.com is reporting that Craig Stevens is indeed going to back out of the 400 and leave it up to Australia Swimming to "pick another member of the Olympic Team" to swim that race in Athens. If I am ANY other country, swimmer, the 3rd place finisher at the Trials or an organization interested in ethics, then I am raising a stink on this one!!!! Thorpe DQ'd and the Aussies are going to skirt the rule and get him in anyway. They would be relegated to the status of Ben Johnson, Rosie Ruiz, and the 60+% of MLB who are on steriods! This is FREAKIN' UNBELIEVABLE. I have no respect for any of the aforementioned and if this happens, none for Ian Thorpe and the Australian swim federation (or whatever official name they hide behind) are in that seeming, stinking pile.
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Count me along with Shaky and Geek. Y'all have great arguments in support of the best competing against the best and have changed my feelings regarding this. If the Aussies think it's ok for him to compete then so be it. If Thorpe accepts the spot, he should not be disparaged for it. If he doesn't, then whoever wins the gold should not feel they did not have the opportunity to compete against the best. The Olympics are a pro event regardless what we all wish they would be. We just finally got wise and started using our paid atheletes when we could as well as trying to keep our non professional sports competitors in their respective sports when we have the ability to do so. If we go by some of the arguments here, we would have basically high school basketball players up against 30 plus year olds throughout the world and more than half of our Olympic swim team would not even be able to compete today.
Count me along with Shaky and Geek. Y'all have great arguments in support of the best competing against the best and have changed my feelings regarding this. If the Aussies think it's ok for him to compete then so be it. If Thorpe accepts the spot, he should not be disparaged for it. If he doesn't, then whoever wins the gold should not feel they did not have the opportunity to compete against the best. The Olympics are a pro event regardless what we all wish they would be. We just finally got wise and started using our paid atheletes when we could as well as trying to keep our non professional sports competitors in their respective sports when we have the ability to do so. If we go by some of the arguments here, we would have basically high school basketball players up against 30 plus year olds throughout the world and more than half of our Olympic swim team would not even be able to compete today.
