Did anyone catch that 1st episode of irish olympians programme on rte2?

dav12345

Well what a load of ****e,
I was hoping for something telling ya more about athletes, how got where they are ,training ,etc.
NOT THIS B.S
If ya saw it and listened to what were saying then you know what i mean

Where they brought in aload of so called scientists and there views and i assume the views of the producers of programme also, as to why irish athletes are so crap compared to other countries.

They should be encouraging irish athletes for future and not filling their minds with crap and putting them down with all this genetics mumbo jumbo.
And if I was a young athlete and actually listened to this , I should give up now.


In my opinion environmental factors and how much want it count
for easily well over 80% of thes factors and can make up for
any genetic differences. (within reason, healthy body ,tall enough ,etc
etc)

dav12345

Some of the views in this programme were well crap..

Like one of their scientist lads says he doesnt see many athletes in
ireland compared to other countries.
He obviously looks at ground when walks cause i see them everywhere!!

I know in reality we dont produce many top athletes in lots of sports but this can be explained by many things like ,Facilities , Support, weather, weather, history of it, interest and knowledge of sport, even the irish mentality , many social and environmental ones.

BUT the reasons they give here in this programme for this reality
are not apart of reality, if get me.

Saying genetics is the be-end and end all is such tripe, genetics is only a small part of jig-zaw and can be filled in by other pieces.

as many a wise coach knows only after many good years of training can
you tell if the person will succeed and have a truely great talent in their chosen sport.

ZiggyStardust

How old are you?

Racing Flat

dav12345 wrote: »

In my opinion environmental factors and how much want it count
for easily well over 80% of thes factors and can make up for
any genetic differences. (within reason, healthy body ,tall enough ,etc
etc)

That's why they got experts in.

I thought it was quite good.

TheRoadRunner

Racing Flat wrote: »

That's why they got experts in.

I thought it was quite good.

I thought it was great.

Yeah the experts have carried out physiological and genetic tests for many years and anything they presented in the program wasn't an "opinion" but cold hard facts.

I wonder if the original poster has emigrated from the toxic leevale messageboard ?

thirtyfoot

TheRoadRunner wrote: »

I
I wonder if the original poster has emigrated from the toxic leevale messageboard ?

Very good, probably true. Maybe he has been going for run down in Hawlbowline and soaking up those dodgy chemicals.

cfitz

Are you all not being a little bit harsh on the original poster? Sounds similar to the kind of thing Craig Mottram might say. If he put a message up here, you probably wouldn't rain abuse on him!

(I didn't watch the program so I've no idea whether the scientists were genius or idiotic.)

thirtyfoot

But he came on having a pop at the Hesh in the other thread. You can't slag the Hesh, the Hesh is the man, no slagging of the Hesh. The Pope, JFK and the Hesh:D

I watched it (its on rte.ie and can be watched anytime) and I found it very motivating. It said we are at a disadvantage because of our race (which is true) and yet we have 4 sprinters in the top 16 in the world. That to me is pretty motivating and shows with hardwork on top of the required natural ability you can make it as a pasty, freckled Irish sprinter. Seems all the juniors heading to Poland wouldn't have been too put off by it either.

If the OP would feel like giving up after watching that programme, then he needs to have a long hard look at himself, do a little more training and stop telling Paul Hession he needs to do more speedwork:D

TheRoadRunner

cfitz wrote: »

Sounds similar to the kind of thing Craig Mottram might say. If he put a message up here, you probably wouldn't rain abuse on him!

(I didn't watch the program so I've no idea whether the scientists were genius or idiotic.)

Don't get the point about Mottram. Have a look at the program, should be online at rte.ie

TheRoadRunner

dav12345 wrote: »

They should be encouraging irish athletes for future and not filling their minds with crap and putting them down with all this genetics mumbo jumbo.

Genetics mumbo jumbo ? maybe he is a creationist

cfitz

TheRoadRunner wrote: »

Don't get the point about Mottram.

Below is a quote from Mottram (Athletics Weekly). To me it is quite similar to what the original poster is getting at.

Yet physical work aside, time and again Mottram reinforces the psychological factors behind his success story. “The people behind me are very important – supporting me the whole time. But the big thing is believing you can do it. You have got to believe you can beat the African runners. You live by the sword and die by the sword. You’ve got to go out and try. And if you don’t win then so be it. You know where you stand and can try and improve for next time.”

Then, he adds: “Ninety per cent of it is mental. I mean, I’m no freak. I’ve done sports science tests on the treadmill and all that sort of stuff and I’m no better than anybody else. There are people who are better than me at those tests, but I have a belief that if I do the right things and work hard and if the people behind me believe I can do it and if we’re sensible about it and don’t try to go too hard too soon, then why not?

There’s no scientific proof that shows they’re better than us.” So returning to the question of why so few white distance runners are able to raise their game, I ask him if the general decline in distancerunning standards outside Africa is simply down to lack of mental strength? “Quite possibly, yes,” he agrees. “I think there are more people out there who can do it than can’t. More people think it can’t be done than don’t have the ability to do it – if that makes sense.”

geoff29

I think from the viewpoint of the Irish fan, it's disappointing for them that there isn't someone winning medals week in and week out.

So, I can understand the frustration when you are looking at our top guys, and maybe you are left wondering if they have 'had it' in their head already.

I think mentality in any sport is huge.

TheRoadRunner

cfitz wrote: »

Below is a quote from Mottram (Athletics Weekly). To me it is quite similar to what the original poster is getting at.

ok makes sense now. Cragg made that exact point in the program. He said he wasn't always the most talented growing up in South Africa but he could train harder and race smarter to beat more talented athletes etc. I suppose he thinks the same way today.

You should really watch it if you can. Eileen O'Keeffe will feature on next weeks

Clum

I enjoyed it (have to give RTE their dues when they deserve 'em cos I'm quick to criticise when they deserve that too).

We don't see our track and field athletes being interviewed on tv much. Nor do we get to see much about their background and the type of competition they have (although there wasn't really enough about the athletes themselves).

I enjoyed the youtube posting about Gillick that Tingle put up even more. That kind of background stuff is great. More of that I say.

geoff29

I met Joanne Cuddihy a few months ago. Really, really nice girl. I hope she does well. How many athletes have a medicine degree to fall back on also!?!

TheRoadRunner

geoff29 wrote: »

I met Joanne Cuddihy a few months ago. Really, really nice girl. I hope she does well. How many athletes have a medicine degree to fall back on also!?!

I'm not too sure if she is finished her studies yet. I think she may have deferred. Yeah she is a really nice character.

Hession is also a medical student AFAIK

Racing Flat

cfitz wrote: »

Below is a quote from Mottram (Athletics Weekly). To me it is quite similar to what the original poster is getting at.

Motram is a runner not a expert in genetics. The programme gave runners viewpoints but also some scientist viewpoints. A balanced approach.

cfitz

Racing Flat wrote: »

Motram is a runner not a expert in genetics.

Indeed, I wasn't suggesting that I agreed or disagreed with either Mottram or the original poster, just saying that the point of few isn't as outrageous as some of the responses here suggested.

Again, I didn't see the programme, so I don't know how balanced the approach was.

ZiggyStardust

Irelands Olympians is repeated this morning at 12.50 on RTE2.
Going to check it out.

Dodge

Watched it earlier. Enjoyed it

Definitely didn't get the "we're ****ed because we're white" vibe. Pretty balanced IMO

shels4ever

Just watched it too, came across really well, they part about the kenyans at 18, running 18000 miles more then us was amazing...

Fast_Mover

Watched it last night on the rte website..really enjoyed it! Not everyday we get to hear from our athletes.

The second programme in the series is on tonight. How may programmes are in the series does anyone know?

TheRoadRunner

Five I think. They concentrate on all athletes though not just track and field. Having said that Eileen O'Keefe features tonight

thirtyfoot

Did anyone see it last night. The cheek of Rob Heffernan to say if he is in the hunt and in the leading pack that he would fancy his chances. Gwan out of that you langer, sure your from Cork boy, what chance do you have against the Mexicans and the Russians. I really get annoyed when I see Irish athletes who believe in themselves and have a winners mentality. Sick. And your one from Kilkenny, she should be out with a hurley and sliothar trying to be the next Angela Downey not throwing around a ball of metal in some mickey mouse sport. Waste of time.

Racing Flat

Loved the bit about how most GAA players couldn't run as fast as he walks. How true! I remember doing Ballycotton a few years ago and around half way in I saw Robert about 100m ahead of me using the race as a training walk. I thought to myself, 'he must have started early, I'll pass him in a few seconds'. It took me around another 4miles to catch him and when I got up to him, going at about 6.30min/mile pace, he stayed with me for a while chatting away, all the time walking (very fast) while I felt like I was sprining at that stage of the race! Really has to be seen to be believed, the speed they walk at is incredible.