Since it is the Olympics and due to the number of posts, this might be topical.
Western Sports Model:
Various sports are governed by their respective sports bodies generally made up of ex-sports persons, coaches etc. The State does not get involved. The State offers grants for elite programmes but the bulk of the expenses come from the parents. The individuals pay for accommodation, air travel, uniforms and food, except when it comes to flagship events when the Parent sporting body pays from grants from the state.
Selection:
Each sporting body will compete with one another to pick their crop of budding talent by visiting school and testing kids for physical and mental attributes. Totally voluntary. They obvious cannot cover all schools. Many kids join junior sports clubs. The state again does not get involved. Just because you are MP, you don't get a special pass.
Funding:
Various sports bodies vie with each other to grab a share of the funding pie from sponsors, foundations and the State. Their past performance is the main factor. Nearly all of them including coaches fund themselves and for all their effort onlt get state recognition such as OBE, CBE , knighthood etc at the end of their sporting life.
This does not mean that everything is fair and sweet in the west. Parents are the worst - cheating, sleeping with coaches, bribing coaches, funding the sports bodies with anonymous grants etc. the whole thing is rife with corruption, favouritism etc . So it all depends on the individual and the talent that they posses to rise to the top. Along the way, the streets are strewn with broken bodies, broken egos and broken dreams. So the really good are treated and respected all over the world.
Journalists who have the inner lane write cryptically and that is where you get your answers. Why do they heap praises on some and are very cautious about others. Lance Armstrong is a classic case. Nearly all articles have an interesting slant from the very start of his career. The same with Flo Jo and Marion Jones. Carl Lewis despite his phenomenol accomplishments never had this slant or uncertainty about him. Michael Jackson is revered and respected the world over. Not a hint of suspicion all these decades.
One of the worst offending western nation when it comes to doping are the Australians. Its why the Chinese love to send their charges there for specialised training. Micheal Klim's coach years later had his safe stolen from his house. The Police recoved the safe subsequently and found vials of steroids. He obviously wasn't injecting himself. Their cyclists high performance training location is called a "shooting gallery" as they found numerous discarded syringes and needles but they could not convict anyone as they keep using high powered legal experts to get away.
Their doping came across the from the racing industry which was notorious for designer drugs meant to avoid detection by vets.
The world is such. So when those associated with sports expertise start making certain statements learn to put two and two together. Why did Marion Jones sponsorship start faltering despite her successful Sydney Olympics stint. Why is she a bankrupt now.
Look at Lance Armstrong, when he was charged recently he engaged a Washington lobby group and the ery next day a Senator spoke in support of him and asking that state funds to withdrawn from the testimg body.
Western Sports Model:
Various sports are governed by their respective sports bodies generally made up of ex-sports persons, coaches etc. The State does not get involved. The State offers grants for elite programmes but the bulk of the expenses come from the parents. The individuals pay for accommodation, air travel, uniforms and food, except when it comes to flagship events when the Parent sporting body pays from grants from the state.
Selection:
Each sporting body will compete with one another to pick their crop of budding talent by visiting school and testing kids for physical and mental attributes. Totally voluntary. They obvious cannot cover all schools. Many kids join junior sports clubs. The state again does not get involved. Just because you are MP, you don't get a special pass.
Funding:
Various sports bodies vie with each other to grab a share of the funding pie from sponsors, foundations and the State. Their past performance is the main factor. Nearly all of them including coaches fund themselves and for all their effort onlt get state recognition such as OBE, CBE , knighthood etc at the end of their sporting life.
This does not mean that everything is fair and sweet in the west. Parents are the worst - cheating, sleeping with coaches, bribing coaches, funding the sports bodies with anonymous grants etc. the whole thing is rife with corruption, favouritism etc . So it all depends on the individual and the talent that they posses to rise to the top. Along the way, the streets are strewn with broken bodies, broken egos and broken dreams. So the really good are treated and respected all over the world.
Journalists who have the inner lane write cryptically and that is where you get your answers. Why do they heap praises on some and are very cautious about others. Lance Armstrong is a classic case. Nearly all articles have an interesting slant from the very start of his career. The same with Flo Jo and Marion Jones. Carl Lewis despite his phenomenol accomplishments never had this slant or uncertainty about him. Michael Jackson is revered and respected the world over. Not a hint of suspicion all these decades.
One of the worst offending western nation when it comes to doping are the Australians. Its why the Chinese love to send their charges there for specialised training. Micheal Klim's coach years later had his safe stolen from his house. The Police recoved the safe subsequently and found vials of steroids. He obviously wasn't injecting himself. Their cyclists high performance training location is called a "shooting gallery" as they found numerous discarded syringes and needles but they could not convict anyone as they keep using high powered legal experts to get away.
Their doping came across the from the racing industry which was notorious for designer drugs meant to avoid detection by vets.
The world is such. So when those associated with sports expertise start making certain statements learn to put two and two together. Why did Marion Jones sponsorship start faltering despite her successful Sydney Olympics stint. Why is she a bankrupt now.
Look at Lance Armstrong, when he was charged recently he engaged a Washington lobby group and the ery next day a Senator spoke in support of him and asking that state funds to withdrawn from the testimg body.
