Does a race get any closer than this?
You know who..Here's the finish from the 100m butterfly in Beijing (Michael Phelps vs Milorad Cavic). That's a horrible finish from the Serb. Threw it away.
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Rob Robson
Co-founder, iStadia.com
Michael Phelps: The Debate
Today, the world's media reported Michael Phelps as the "Greatest Ever Olympian'. The debate that exploded on message boards all over the web meant that by the evening the words were toned down somewhat, at least in some courts, so that he was simply "statistically, the most successful Olympian" or "the most medalled Olympian".
It's been really odd guaging people's responses to this great achievement. Part awe, part incredulity. To some, he's the greatest athlete to have lived. To others, simply evidence that there are too many medals to be won in swimming.
Some of the arguments, on both sides, have been ridiculous. I've read that if in athletics, they created more ways of running inefficiently over the same distances (referring to the different strokes) the likes of Carl Lewis (a controversial choice anyway) would have won more medals. I've read that the fact that track athletes specialise in one or two events means that swimming is just swimming - there's no real specialism involved.
I've heard that (and a lot of the debate has focused on swiming versus athletics or rowing) because rowers race over 2000m, that it must be harder (surely that's dependent on the intensity over time, not distance).
On the other hand, I've heard that athletes and rowers are soft for not doing more events. That their specialisation is down to their limitations, or perhaps the belief system within their sport.
What is apparent is that Michael Phelps' achievements seem to have devalued the sport of swimming in some people's eyes. He makes it look too easy, therefore everyone else must be rubbish. Someone can't stand out like that unless there's a weakness in the competition, can they?
That's what gets me. Yes, Phelps has more opportunities to win gold than most other athletes at the games. That's partly down to the structure of the sport, with different strokes and distances. But it is also down to the man. He's been blessed with physical attributes that suggest that he was born to swim, but he's also a 365-day-a-year trainer. He's focused his attention on events where the competition is greatest (choosing the 200m freestyle when Thorpe was stil dominant). He's ironed out the weaknesses in his repertoire - such as his breakstroke.
We've seen some remarkable swimming this week. From Kosuke Katijima in the 100m breastroke, to Stephanie Rice in the 400 IM, there have been a number of barrier-breaking swims. I'm not talking about the suits, either, which haven't helped by taking the focus off the quality of the swimming. I think that in part Phelps has helped to raise the bar, not just in his own events, but for all. I think people's beliefs about what is possible have been shifted, in part because of his performances. The fact is that, new suits or not, just when he looks like he must have reached his peak (or his competitors think they are closing the gap), he keeps pushing on.
It's ironic. Before the games I was talking about how swimming has so much depth. It is a sport that is really competitive on a global level. There are no weak finalists. I'm not going to compare apples with pears, and as tempting as it is to suggest that that the eighth placed performer in many events will be way off the pace, that would be unfair and maybe inaccurate.
However, we are in the ironic position that people are suggesting that it is too easy to win medals in swimming. Try telling that to the many swimmers who have come away with national, even continental and world records (or at least have beaten the old mark) and no medal....
So who is the greatest ever Olympian?
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Rob Robson
Co-founder, iStadia.com
When home advantage goes bad (or "The curse of expectation")
Du Li, the defending champion in the women's 10m air rifle shooting fled the arena in tears, after only manging 5th place (in an event won by Katerina Emmons of the Czech republic.Li blamed the pressure of competing at home for her failure in the competition saying, "she wasn't fully prepared for the pressure of competing at home". Expectations can be very tough to deal with.
I wonder how many Chinese athletes will be affected like this and, importantly, how many non-Chinese athletes will be free by the lack of expectation in many events?
(On a different note, I read the story this week of how Katerina met her husband Matt Emmons of the US, by consoling him after he missed out on his second gold in Athens - by hitting someone else's target when all he needed to do was make any kind of a hit on his own. D'oh!)
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Discuss this in the Olympic forum, or why not start your own blog by signing up?
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Rob Robson
Co-founder, iStadia.com
Should the Olympic Team have medal targets?
The UK's Sports Minister, Gerry Sutcliffe, has helpfully pointed out in the week before the Olympics, that "it is vital" that Team GB hits its target of 41 medals.But wait a minute, who's target is this? Team GB is selected by the British Olympic Association. I don't believe that the government has any mandate to set targets for them. Certainly the BOA's chef de mission, Simon Clegg, wasn't going to put a number on their target for the games.
UK Sport is the government body responsible for creating high performance in British Sport. They are funded almost exactly 50/50 by the exchequer and the lottery. So, fair enough, they should have targets. They've stated a target of 35 medals. Then again UK Sport don't manage the Olympic Team.
But the problem with putting a target on medals is that, ultimately, no-one can be responsible for hitting it. Neither Simon Clegg nor Liz Nicholl (Uk Sport Director of Performance) can get out on the track and win the medals. Neither can their staff. This isn't like a 'normal' organisation, where the organisation's targets can be cascaded and broken down into smart goals for all employees. Nope, no matter what the rest of the organisation does, on the day it is down to who goes fastest, jumps furthest, scores the most points...
None of the athletes will need any additional motivation to succeed. Those that have the slimmest chance of a medal will be absolutely determined to take whatever chance they get. After all, this is what the last four years has been about. And every one of them will want Team GB to do its absolute best too. No doubt about that. But none of them can control the outcome of their event. They can only control the level of their own performance
So really, Sutcliffe's target is utterly irrelevant, except to himself and his fellow ministers. All it really says is "we know nothing about sport" and "we know even less about motivation". Just like they are killing schools, councils and NHS trusts with targets, given the opportunity they would do the same with elite sport. Pump a load of money in and tie everyone up in targets. What a waste.
Luckily most of the athletes and coaches will be strong enough to treat Sutcliffe's comments with the indifference that they deserve, and if they aren't they'll probably be too busy preparing to notice.
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Rob Robson
Co-founder, iStadia.com
Google Knol
I always advocate publishing content (articles, blogs) on multiple web platforms, to really put it work as a marketing tool, so when I heard about Google Knol I was immediately interested.A 'Knol' is, according to Google, a unit of knowledge. Essentially Google Knol is a collection of articles, but the twist is that is that you can allow other users to edit your own 'Knols', either moderated or unmoderated.
One would imagine that Google are unlikely to let their own content-driven product fall down its search rankings, so it is worth having a go, even though there are a few problems to be ironed out (e.g. people not finding their knols). Of course, you can embed links to your own site/blog, which may prove to be the biggest point of value.
I've created a profile and a few knols, using my content from iStadia (listed below). It will be interesting to see how they perform.
Professional Networking and CPD
IReversal Theory
Goal Setting
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Rob Robson
Co-founder, iStadia.com
