Attorney Michael de Broglio on: South Africa, Law, Politics, Attorneys, Sport, Photography, Technology, Gadgets, Media, Crime, Road Accidents Fund,
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I have always been fascinated by how the US team chooses its athletes for the Olympics. They have their own trials a few weeks before the Olympics, and if for example there are three places in the women’s 200m, then the first three ladies in that trial go through to the Olympics. They don’t worry about the fourth lady who, won 100th of a second back, is the reigning Olympic 200m champion and because she came fourth in the US trials, will not be able to defend her title.
That is very different to how we choose in South Africa. We obviously don’t have the same talent pool, the same numbers as a country with a population of 330 million, so we choose our athletes partially on the basis of trials and partially on the basis of qualifying times and we make exceptions for people. That does not really work, as we have seen in the results we get. The American approach, which is harsh, at least forces their athletes to be in form 2 or 3 weeks before the Olympics. If you are not, then it does not matter what you achieved 4 years ago, it does not matter whether you are the world record holder, the Olympic champion or number 1 in the world, if you don’t make the top three positions, you are not going.
Obviously, there will be those who would say that is unfair – but then should the lady who came third not go? Do you hold trials, have a champion beaten by somebody else and then send the champion instead of the person that just beat the champion? You cannot do that and it basically forces people to perform on the day, and not be judged on their past reputation. I think that is true of work as well. It does not always matter what you have done at any time in the last 10 years.
Today’s client is going to judge you on what you do today. Being fantastic for 10 years will not excuse you if you put in a sub-standard effort today and mess up somebody’s case. When you are watching the Olympics this year and you see how few medals we get don’t forget that it is not just because we have less people, it is not just because we have less money for sport – all of those things to make a difference – we also have far easier standards for making our Olympic team and truthfully, we will be sending a lot of people to the Olympics who simply don’t have any chance at all in their respective races. Of course, in South Africa we love to have excuses, we love to make exceptions and we love to give people chances and as a result we send a lot of no-hopers along to the Olympics. There are athletes who have been left at home in America who have far faster times than some of the athletes on the South African team who we are paying for to go to the Olympics.
When you think about paying for people to go to the Olympics, how good would you like them to be before you fund their trip with part of your salary, in the form of taxes, and the purchases you make at shops? Would you like them to be real potential medal-winners or No 30 in the world?
Posted by Michael de Broglio on Thursday 04-Aug-16
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Comments
Sally said:
on Monday 03-Oct-16 08:14 AM
I think that the US have a great and interesting approach to the Olympics
Lourien said:
on Wednesday 17-Aug-16 08:46 AM
Well I think its all about their training on that specific time and the last race they have done, did they give everything or not. Yes, they might of had a slow start on that race, but the fact is that they did get fourth place and unfortunately the first three places should be taken. Sports has their advantages and disadvantages as well as a little bit of luck, but I believe its about the training and how hard they ran that specific race and yes then I would agree of allowing the first three places to take part in the Olympics.
Regarding funding I would say that they need to be able to win a place or hold their position, you cant be funding people that will not perform as then everyone would be "training to be the best" but never get anywhere. They need to hold a few positions and be determined to win.
Suzanne said:
on Tuesday 16-Aug-16 12:46 PM
It may be harsh, but I agree with the US method. You want to send your best athletes that you have NOW. And if that means that you have to prove yourself on one day, participate in trials and be in the top 3 to join the Olympic team, so be it.
Liesl said:
on Thursday 11-Aug-16 04:50 PM
It's a great opportunity for all who get to go to the Olympics. For some probably a once in a lifetime experience
Johann said:
on Wednesday 10-Aug-16 09:19 AM
That is a very interesting approach by the US team. With the Olympics being such a once-off event it makes sense to send the in-form athletes to compete.
Alexis said:
on Monday 08-Aug-16 08:59 AM
It is about who is best at that particular time. So yes the US may be harsh but a person who was good 4 years ago may not be as good now. And everyday there are new people and new athletes emerging who are better as they want to be the best.
Brenda van den Bergh said:
on Monday 08-Aug-16 08:26 AM
It is quite shocking but also sad that South Africa does not bring home a lot of medals from the Olympics. Such a variety of sport at the Olympics and the only place we really excel is in swimming, but that too is also minimum. There is an incredible lack of talent in our country and i am sure there are more athletes out there with great potential, but they are not coming out. Maybe it is due to lack of funding and lack of sponsors, but one always has the hopes that the younger generation will step up in the future.
Melissa P said:
on Friday 05-Aug-16 04:55 PM
I'm very excited for the olympics this year. I will be supporting SA all the way. I believe that they will be bringing home a couple of medals.
Nicky said:
on Friday 05-Aug-16 04:17 PM
I think that Americas approach of selecting its athletes is a good approach. I do, however, also think that although South Africa does not use the same selection criteria we do still have good athletes representing us at the Olympics(I doubt that the first random athlete that can be found is sent to the Olympics)
Taking into account our athletes lack of funding and sponsorships I think that we generally do well in the Olympics. Based on the 2012 Olympics where South Africa was rated 23rd out of 79 countries I don't mind "paying" for someone to go to the Olympics even if they aren't first place, especially when doing a fair comparison against the other top other countries that do have more funding and better infrastructure.
Sarah said:
on Friday 05-Aug-16 08:04 AM
I agree with Safia kids should have an early intro to sports cause what if some kids are not good at academics but they good at sports. As for the Olympics this year I think SA team is one of the best teams yet. GO South Africa bring home the medals.
Safia said:
on Thursday 04-Aug-16 06:41 PM
We are a very sports orientated country and schools introduce sports early at school. It is very different from other countries and i am very proud of it.Every kid needs to have a dream to succeed in some sport and to have a competitive personality. This to get to things done at the same time:a kid will be a heathy person with the strong body and mind and in the process there will somebody who will become a professional athlete ready to take on big world.
Joyce said:
on Thursday 04-Aug-16 04:35 PM
I think what the US does of having their own trials few weeks before the Olympics, It is a good idea of choosing
real potential medal-winners
Jolene said:
on Thursday 04-Aug-16 04:33 PM
I donýt think the same approach will work in SA, we have too few athletes, we must send who we have and at least hope for the best. One of my friends is taking part in this yearýs Olympics for the first time and I am very excited to see how she does. Linique Prinsloo ý Long Jump.
charlotte said:
on Thursday 04-Aug-16 04:27 PM
I think we should up our game in the sports world when choosing candidates competing in the Olympics. Maybe we should be using the same approach to ensure that we only send the best to represent our country, so that we don't land up with egg on our faces when they have to return back to SA with no medals in hand.
Kaylee said:
on Thursday 04-Aug-16 04:23 PM
I actually think that they way the US is selecting its athletes is the correct way to select them. Pity we don't have such a big pool of athletes to select from. I guess this limits our options
daria said:
on Thursday 04-Aug-16 04:05 PM
I wish the South African team al the best, I hope they make us proud and show everyone what South Africa can really do.
latoya said:
on Thursday 04-Aug-16 01:29 PM
There are a few South African athletes who are amazing and i know will make us proud.We will never know until Olympics.Go SA Go! Bring those Medals Home!!
Chanika said:
on Thursday 04-Aug-16 12:42 PM
I think we have a good team. Hopefully if we do well, it will attract more sponsors and things will only go better from there.
Tamaryn said:
on Thursday 04-Aug-16 12:38 PM
I would like to see SA select athletes using the same approach as the US. Attend at trials, be placed in one of the top three and make the Olympic team. Let the best athletes represent the country. Why should it be any other way?
Angelique Jurgens said:
on Thursday 04-Aug-16 12:30 PM
If we do not pump more money into sport then how can we expect to be on par with countries who have money for sport? Sport begins in schools and I went to a school where there was A and B team - if you don't make the cut you don't make the cut. The best get to go end of story - If that is the level of "best" we have then I guess someone needs to represent our country. Hopefully we will be pleasantly surprised at teh medals brought home.
Angelique P said:
on Thursday 04-Aug-16 12:25 PM
The Olympics are going to be very exciting.
I think South Africa will do very well in the Olympics we have quite a few athletes that are good. I think it will be interesting to watch.
Good luck to South Africa make us proud!
Mathilda said:
on Thursday 04-Aug-16 10:50 AM
We cant bring this type of system to SA I mean comparing the amount of athletes the US has and the amount we have, we dont have a huge variety to choose from like the US, so we take our best who has out shined the other athletes .
And I also think the team we have going to the Olympics this year really has the potential to bring home some medals.
And its not all about winning, what a huge honour it must be to represent your country
Thabitha said:
on Thursday 04-Aug-16 10:41 AM
If it was soccer I was going to be worried but to our team SA its not that bad there is still hope and good luck to them bring medals home team SA
Zanell said:
on Thursday 04-Aug-16 10:20 AM
I think we have very talented athletes who work so hard and dedicate so much of their time to do their best in the Olympics, even if we don't win a lot of medals at least they gave it their best and were there to represent our country.
Catherine said:
on Thursday 04-Aug-16 10:14 AM
I believe in every competition, the best of the best should be sent to participate. It will be pointless to send second best just for reputation as there are new developments in every field and we need new faces to break forth as well.
Daniella said:
on Thursday 04-Aug-16 09:37 AM
I think tough love is need when it comes to the Olympics , because the Americans are so tough it ensures that they work harder and that they strive to be better constantly.
Melissa said:
on Thursday 04-Aug-16 09:06 AM
South Africans partaking in Olympics actually bring in more medals than initiated. I believe that if we had more sponsors and maybe proper trainers, we would be in the top lead such as USA, Canada and Australia, but financially, we are not that inclined.
Nina said:
on Thursday 04-Aug-16 08:55 AM
I am really looking forward to the Olympics this year. I always enjoy watching it and although South Africa do not always bring home tons of medals like the USA, we certainly have a lot of talent out there and I am sure our athletes will make us proud.
Prishani said:
on Thursday 04-Aug-16 08:47 AM
I am all for our SA team, I think our athletes are talented and I have no doubt that they have been training hard, I am looking forward to some good results.
Bianca said:
on Thursday 04-Aug-16 08:40 AM
I am rather confident in the team that South Africa will be sending to the Olympics! Our team is extremely talented and I wish team SA all the best! I think our team will be bringing back a lot of medals and I am looking forward to watching their success!
Tamzyn said:
on Thursday 04-Aug-16 08:39 AM
I think we will all be pleasantly surprised by the amount of medals bought home, despite the amount of sponsorship we have available to us. GO SA!
Jessica Apfel said:
on Thursday 04-Aug-16 08:31 AM
I think that our South African team is probably one of the BEST yet! We can expect a few medals - we shouldn't forget about the sports that do not attract as much media coverage. For instance, we have an athlete defending his title as a tri-athlete. Sure, we probably don't have as much money as the USA to invest in training etc but we cannot let that detract from the athletes - on the contrary we should be commended for our performance in spite of the shortfalls! TEAM SA
Sandra said:
on Thursday 04-Aug-16 07:54 AM
I think it's not that SA doesn't have potential, it's because we don't have any sponsors, or a few, because SA never has money for supporting our team sports.
Johannesburg based attorney specializing in personal injury matters including Road Accident Fund claims and medical negligence matters. My interests include golf, reading and the internet and the way it is constantly developing. I have a passion for life and a desire for less stress!
