Worlds/Olympics before 1992 and after

quick_single · 06-10-2008, 12:10 PM

Originally Posted by ODH

Same thing also hapens in the US.
Reigning World Champ Stephen Neal could not beat McCoy and did not make the 2000 Olympic Team. Backup Brandon Eggum went to the worlds as a sub for Cael and won a silver.
Obviously not as much as Russia, but the US has multiple guys that could medal on a good day at most weights.

I don't thinks so ODH. Since 2004 we've won 2 Golds, 3 Silvers and 5 Bronzes. Most of the time we get smashed in tourneys overseas and we didn't even qualify the weight where we have a World Silver medalist. Which "good day" are you waiting for?

ODH · 06-10-2008, 03:58 PM

Examples of a Good day:
Eggum winning Silver in 2002 (?)
Zadicks winning Gold & Silver at Worlds in 2007.
These guys showed no indicatons that they could win world medals but did when they had a great tournament.

I guess it is a little silly to compare the depth of the US wrestling to Russia, but I still think that there are multiple guys at most weights that have a shot at bringing home a medal.

Big · 06-10-2008, 04:01 PM

Zadicks won in 06.

Tofurky · 06-13-2008, 08:26 AM

Originally Posted by ODH

Track & Field can send up to three qualifiers per event based on qualifying times, which is why the US often sweeps many of the sprinting events.

That and steroid use among the American sprinters.

Tofurky · 06-13-2008, 08:31 AM

Originally Posted by spartansd

I have often wondered about the open Olympics idea. I guess I do not see the drawback.

I am sure there are some but I can not think of one right now.

You could do qualifying like the World Cup. Not every country gets to have a wrestler at 74Kg if they do not finish a certain place in a string of tournaments.

One of the issues I can see is that there is an attempt to grow the sport right now, even if it is minimal. If you're a Central or South American or African country whose wrestling isn't well funded to begin with, consistently placing in the bottom-half of brackets dominated by multiple Russians, Bulgarians and Belarusians isn't going to convince those nations to keep that funding around for very long.

quick_single · 06-13-2008, 09:06 AM

That is why they changed the Greco rules so dramatically -- it evens the playing field.

ODH · 06-13-2008, 11:25 AM

Originally Posted by Tofurky

That and steroid use among the American sprinters.

US is not alone in sprinters that dope. Ben Johnson is the most famous case.
US dominance in the sprints goes back to before steroids were even invented.

dangun · 06-13-2008, 12:48 PM

Originally Posted by quick_single

That is why they changed the Greco rules so dramatically -- it evens the playing field.

pretty stupid if you ask me. It's like affirmative action. You get free seats for being a minority. What a joke

They can't climb up the ladder without daddy FILA watching their back.

Big · 06-13-2008, 01:19 PM

Originally Posted by dangun

pretty stupid if you ask me. It's like affirmative action. You get free seats for being a minority. What a joke They can't climb up the ladder without daddy FILA watching their back.

Nobody can climb the ladder without housewives watching. Housewives want to see poor Africans succeeding at Olympics.

quick_single · 06-13-2008, 02:31 PM

Originally Posted by dangun

pretty stupid if you ask me. It's like affirmative action. You get free seats for being a minority. What a joke They can't climb up the ladder without daddy FILA watching their back.

It actually it makes sense. The sport is dying. They need to save it. How do they do that? By promoting the sport in countries not traditionally strong in wrestling. So they change the rules so that the playing field is leveled out and hopefully those countries not traditionally strong in wrestling can begin to win medals, which will create more awareness, more programs in those countries, more participants, and ultimately more revenue.

Worlds/Olympics before 1992 and after

Freestyle & Greco-Roman Wrestling