Australia giving up on the sprints?

[gh]

Provocative question explored in article now on front page.

<<..But rather than mounting an all-out effort to boost sprint stocks, Athletics Australia is taking the attitude that the sprints may be simply too hard - especially for a largely white population....>>

[mump boy]

Re: Australia giving up on the sprints?

Provocative question explored in article now on front page.

<<..But rather than mounting an all-out effort to boost sprint stocks, Athletics Australia is taking the attitude that the sprints may be simply too hard - especially for a largely white population....>>

it's only largely white because they killed all the black people !!

if that is seriously their reasoning why not try nurturing some aboriginal talent it' not like they don't have a perfect role model !!!

[EPelle]

I thought 400m was a sprint.

[Smoke]

Now to all the Americans out there, this is a sprint problem! We just have a lack of gold.

[catson52]

Re: Australia giving up on the sprints?

Provocative question explored in article now on front page.

<<..But rather than mounting an all-out effort to boost sprint stocks, Athletics Australia is taking the attitude that the sprints may be simply too hard - especially for a largely white population....>>

it's only largely white because they killed all the black people !!

if that is seriously their reasoning why not try nurturing some aboriginal talent it' not like they don't have a perfect role model !!!

Amongst all the butchery practiced in the name of benign colonialism on many continents, the Aussies present a strong case to be ranked number one.

[Vault-emort]

Re: Australia giving up on the sprints?

Amongst all the butchery practiced in the name of benign colonialism on many continents, the Aussies present a strong case to be ranked number one.

ah yes, those empire-building Aussies who colonised Australia......

and a quote from wikipedia:

From the 1490s when Christopher Columbus set foot on the Americas to the massacre of Sioux at Wounded Knee by the United States militia, the indigenous population of the Western Hemisphere may have declined by as many as 100 million

[catson52]

Re: Australia giving up on the sprints?

Amongst all the butchery practiced in the name of benign colonialism on many continents, the Aussies present a strong case to be ranked number one.

ah yes, those empire-building Aussies who colonised Australia......

and a quote from wikipedia:

From the 1490s when Christopher Columbus set foot on the Americas to the massacre of Sioux at Wounded Knee by the United States militia, the indigenous population of the Western Hemisphere may have declined by as many as 100 million

Glad to be taught a history lesson, having lived in former British Colonies (including the USA) all my 60+ years . That includes countries in five continents. It would be interesting to know what percentage of the original population of Australia remains intact today. Just as one has to guess what fraction of the native Americans were wiped out by the Spaniards, Brits and French (Portugese and others played a lesser role), I am sure no proper stats are available for Australia.

[paulthefan]

Re: Australia giving up on the sprints?

ah yes, those empire-building Aussies who colonised Australia......

and a quote from wikipedia:

From the 1490s when Christopher Columbus set foot on the Americas to the massacre of Sioux at Wounded Knee by the United States militia, the indigenous population of the Western Hemisphere may have declined by as many as 100 million

Wiki can be off sometimes,

1) Calling the Army of the United states a "militia" is peculiar.
2) the bulk of the decline was largely a function of european/old world diseases.

why would the prospect of a 100m olympic gold medal be such a strong factor in AUS investment in the sprints. If any population has shown it can produce great dashers it is AUS. Goodness, Hogan, Norman, Boyle, etc....what ever became of the idea of being the best you can be regardless of the prospect of reward.

[Vault-emort]

Re: Australia giving up on the sprints?

Wiki can be off sometimes,

1) Calling the Army of the United states a "militia" is peculiar.
2) the bulk of the decline was largely a function of european/old world diseases.

why would the prospect of a 100m olympic gold medal be such a strong factor in AUS investment in the sprints. If any population has shown it can produce great dashers it is AUS. Goodness, Hogan, Norman, Boyle, etc....what happen to being the best you can be regardless of the prospect of reward.

a) yes I know wiki isn't always 100% correct, but neither is a statement like "Amongst all the butchery practiced in the name of benign colonialism on many continents, the Aussies present a strong case to be ranked number one."

You're right that the bulk of the population decline in the Americas (as in Australia and probably everywhere else) WAS due to the indigenous populations having no resistance to European diseases and having little resistance to other destructive habits such as alcohol.

But back to topic, our greatest Australian sprinters have not been aboriginal.

The fact that most of our current lot can't beat the times set by athletes like Cuthbert and Strickland and Hogan in the 1950s (let alone the Boyles and Normans in the 60s or 70s) is a worry, despite red herrings like not having a large west-african derived population base.

[imaginative]

Re: Australia giving up on the sprints?

ah yes, those empire-building Aussies who colonised Australia......

and a quote from wikipedia:

From the 1490s when Christopher Columbus set foot on the Americas to the massacre of Sioux at Wounded Knee by the United States militia, the indigenous population of the Western Hemisphere may have declined by as many as 100 million

Wiki can be off sometimes,

1) Calling the Army of the United states a "militia" is peculiar.
2) the bulk of the decline was largely a function of european/old world diseases.

why would the prospect of a 100m olympic gold medal be such a strong factor in AUS investment in the sprints. If any population has shown it can produce great dashers it is AUS. Goodness, Hogan, Norman, Boyle, etc....what happen to being the best you can be regardless of the prospect of reward.

OTOH, we have to consider that a _drop_ of a 100 million does not
equal a 100 million _killed_ (including diseases and whatnot). The
true number is likely considerably larger. (Theoretically, it could
smaller; however, this is IMO unlikely.)

[rasb]

Whatever the numbers were, or whatever the Country of origin or the Country of destination were, it is amazing that the Europeans felt it was their "right" to kill and conquer and enslave the Native populations that they encountered.
Yes, smallpox and whiskey were there too, but if they hadn't been, and the Natives had resisted, the results would have been similar. And it really wasn't very long ago.

[paulthefan]

Yes, smallpox and whiskey were there too, but if they hadn't been, and the Natives had resisted, the results would have been similar. And it really wasn't very long ago.

1) I'm not sure about that. My understanding is that the vast bulk of native american lives lost due to disease occurred before 99.9% of native americans ever saw a white face at all. The disease spread much much faster than the whiskey and gunpowder. Neverthe less there is more than enough blame to go around for the wicked treatment of native americans. The saddest being that of the treatment of one of the great friends of the US, the cherokee nation.

2) The other great cause of loss of native american culture is due to the fact that there were so many fissures, differences and competing interests BEFORE europeans came to these shores. The wars and fighting were already here and the european arrival simply escalated and exasperated them.

[Speedster]

Its pretty depressing news, probably goes to show the very tough time athletics in Australia is facing - no sponsor and the econmic slowdown making the prospect of finding one even harder.

I guess if the talent is there then it's assumed that it will get through the system at the junior level which is better supported. Pat Johnson is a once in a generation type athlete being discovered in his 20s with that kind of speed.

I know its a bit of a stretch, but essentially this is what the East and North African nations have done with their programmes and limited resources, focusing on where their strengths in the distances.

[Vault-emort]

Its pretty depressing news, probably goes to show the very tough time athletics in Australia is facing - no sponsor and the econmic slowdown making the prospect of finding one even harder.

Economic slowdown is an interesting analogy. Since 1993 when Sydney was announced as host for 2000 Olympics, Australian aths had a once in a lifetime chance to reinvent itself, ride the inevitable 2000 boom and position the sport for the next generation. And they stuffed up big time.

Perhaps "Little Athletics" should take over administration of the entire sport in Australia. They could hardly do worse than the ''grownups"..

Amazing to think we would give up on sprints when ten years ago we had four women (Gainsford/Freeman/Van Heer/Hewitt) capable of making a world or Olympic final at 200m (plus a 10.03 20 yo white guy with solid 4x4 teams in both sexes). Surely the genetic base hasn't changed that much in 10 years..

[mal]

The real issue is Australia is that there is little interest in track and field.

Similar circumstances exist in the US as well, it's just that they start with 300 million and Oz starts with 20 million.

By the time you pare it down, there isn't enough Australian sprinters of quality to fill up all the lanes.