Analysis of the weightlifting at the Olympics
This is a good Sunday read. Indeed.
They voted to fine them $400,000. It balanced their budget, and they didn’t go back on that way of thinking later on.
That shows that money is above all. In my opinion i think the "lifting world" is coming to a crucial point, specifically in competition terms. It's a dilemma in some ways:
From one side you have the athletes and the organizations behind them that need to make money. That implies big audiences, people on the stadiums, Olympic games with records being beaten every 4 years.
From the other side you have the limitations. Humans eventually reach a point, a limit which they can't pass. Records have been beat over and over again with the use of drugs already in the past. The genetics aren't getting better, the work isn't getting more intense, the human mechanics are the same, the nutrition isn't getting better ("super foods" are not gonna make a difference). So they're relying on newer, better drugs to give that little extra to establish a new record. That is a big problem because, anti doping must take action. They have the obligation to take down and use better methods to find out who is using PED's. In the 2008 and 2012 games a lot of athletes were caught. That is the dilemma.
It's gonna be interesting to see how is this gonna unfold in the future.
Posted Oct 8, 2017, 7:21 PM UTC
Problem: Olympics can be boring for spectators when no one gets close to the record, and athletes, especially weightlifters always seem to be getting popped for juicing.
Solution: No more testing for male weightlifters. I for one want to see records fall, and see who really is the strongest of all. And while they're at it, since it has always irked me since I watched Ben Johnson be scapegoated in 1988, no more testing for the male Olympic sprints. I want to see the fastest time possible, not the fastest time possible by people scared of getting busted.
Unfortunately my solution has little chance of coming to fruition until ticket sales to the Olympics start dropping which I believe will eventually happen in 2024 as the powers that be overreach in their aim to reach an equilibrium allowing a certain amount of records per Olympics.
As you can see from the following stats, the world record per athlete % is lessening each Olympics as, despite improved training protocols, genetic limits are reached and doping tests improve.
World records broken per athlete at:
2016 Olympics 27/10500 = 0.257%
2012 Olympics 32/10768 = 0.297%
2008 Olympics 43/10942 = 0.393%
2004 Olympics 49/10625 = 0.461%
I believe the IOC economists are still arguing about the exact % sweet spot they need that will keep everyone happy. I believe they will end up going too low (too many doping tests, hardly any records), realise their error and relax the doping tests slightly allowing the sweet spot to form. Anything under 0.2% will be bad for business in my opinion. My prediction is that in the 2020 Olympics the % will go under 0.2%, and in 2024, the Olympics will suffer low ticket sales, forcing a relaxation of testing to the rejoice of juicy athletes everywhere.