Does the OP not realise that she has probably trained every single day since a very young age. It is not uncommon to be up at 5am and swim 2 hours before school 5 days a week then more swimming at the weekends. By the age of 23 I would have had enough of that thanks!
Lets be honest, she got the cash young and couldn't be arsed putting the hours in.
I really love the way that people who spend a lot of their time with their backsides on a sofa like to criticize those who don't. Made you feel bad, did she? :cool:
2 golds at the same Olympic games, world record holder, 2 bronzes at the next Olympic games. Yeah, rubbish :rolleyes:
The narrow-mindedness and disrespect displayed here scares me at times :eek:
Even the pro's at the time were baffled. She did well but it was a bit of luck the other swimmers under preformed. She proved this by being shit ever since.
I really love the way that people who spend a lot of their time with their backsides on a sofa like to criticize those who don't. Made you feel bad, did she? :cool:
I really love the way that people who spend a lot of their time with their backsides on a sofa like to criticize those who don't. Made you feel bad, did she? :cool:
You're not wrong. I was making an observation thats all, probably mainly about the short life span of athletes, not their fault, the nature of the sport.
Even the pro's at the time were baffled. She did well but it was a bit of luck the other swimmers under preformed. She proved this by being shit ever since.
Rebecca Adlington is a marvellous swimmer. It's a bit mean for most people on here, whom most probably can't swim rather that well anyway, to be giving her grief.
Even the pro's at the time were baffled. She did well but it was a bit of luck the other swimmers under preformed. She proved this by being shit ever since.
She was favourite for the 800m, and put in a performance in the 400m as good as any of her opponents at their best would have welcomed.
She remained world class for 4 years afterwards.
You must be bloody good at something to call that 'shit':rolleyes:
Seems like a lot of never will be's commentating on what Elite Athletes go through, to be Elite.
It's quite sad really.
Statistically correct, should there be an 'Elite athletes' forum where the great and good can discuss exactly the same things the mere mortals talk about?
Rebecca Adlington is a marvellous swimmer. It's a bit mean for most people on here, whom most probably can't swim rather that well anyway, to be giving her grief.
Most people gauge the performance of anybody by how they compare against their peers, not themselves.
Even the pro's at the time were baffled. She did well but it was a bit of luck the other swimmers under preformed. She proved this by being shit ever since.
Yet she broke a 19-year-old record in the 800m freestyle, which she still holds today. How do you explain that? Has everyone who has ever competed in the 800m freestyle 'under performed'?
3rd best in the world is far from 'shit'. Why I'm even debating with someone who holds such ridiculous opinions is beyond me, though.
She's 23 not 33. LOL. That is still young. It's quite depressing if you ask me. I wouldn't be surprised if she regrets this decision....
Oh i'm not denying 23 isn't young, it is. But she has projected herself forward 4 years to the next Olympics when she will be 27 and considered that she'll be going up against girls who are close to 10 years younger than her, like she was when she had her best Olympics at age 19.
She also needed to work out how much effort, time and dedication was required to keep herself fit and what she required to reach peak fitness when it mattered... and more importantly, if she wanted to continue to put in that amount of work, time and effort. The older she got, the more it would hurt and the the more work she would need to put in. It doesn't get any easier.
And i'm guessing she has weighed up all of the above and decided to call it a day. Who can blame her really. Will she regret it? I doubt it. She has won her medals. She has ticked the boxes. I'm sure she knows what she is doing, just like Vicky.
I think any Athelete is lucky to get three Olympics where they're at the top of their game and achieving what they want to achieve. She didn't quite have two. Why would she want a third?
Statistically correct, should there be an 'Elite athletes' forum where the great and good can discuss exactly the same things the mere mortals talk about?
We are all equal on here.....
I'm less equal because I'm stupid.
1:48:07
Do I qualify? :yawn:
I can't understand what you are trying to say. What are you trying to say?
I'm not really that surprised she's retiring, as for many athletes the Olympics is the highlight of their career, and what a lot of people seem to forget is that she might be 23 now, but by the time of the next Olympics she'll be 26/27 and a lot of top athletes retire from top level sport around then (IIRC footballers are generally reckoned to be past their "prime" by the time they reach about 30-35 at the latest, and they're in an sport that doesn't rely on quite the same level of physical fitness).
I suspect the thought that if she retires now, she is doing it whilst at the top of the sporting level, and whilst being young enough to make a good start in whatever else she decides to do played a fairly big part in the decision, as might the thought of how hard she's pushing her body and that it's best to retire before she does long term damage...(a lot of athletes have an increasing number of "minor" problems develop over time due to the stresses they put on their body).
It's not an unexpected retirement. I would have liked to have seen her stick around for another Olympics.
But consider a few things:
Generally speaking distance swimmers, especially female distance swimmers, don't tend to have the same longevity in the sport as their male peers or female swimmers in shorter disciplines. Some perspective: consider that if Adlington had won gold in the 800 metres freestyle in London she would have been the oldest winner of this race in Olympic history. The oldest ever winner of this race was Ai Shibata of Japan who was 22 in 2004. Most winners have been teenagers. Distance swimmers train much differently than sprinters, backstrokers, breaststrokes, flyers, or even mid distance specialists. Male distance swimmers often can remain competitive and near peak well into their 20s. Both male and female swimmers in the shorter freestyle sprints often excel into their 30s.
Also remember that Adlington is a double Olympic Gold medalist from Beijing and has just swam at a Home Olympic Games. So obviously motivation and a commitment to another four year cycle of training would be an issue. Last year was a disappointment especially considering it was a home Olympics but career wise shes done almost everything: Olympic Champion, World Champion, broken world records, etc. What more is there?
Comments
It's quite sad really.
Solid post!
How the hell was she supposed to get gold when she dived in wearing a pair of louis vuittons!
I really love the way that people who spend a lot of their time with their backsides on a sofa like to criticize those who don't. Made you feel bad, did she? :cool:
Even the pro's at the time were baffled. She did well but it was a bit of luck the other swimmers under preformed. She proved this by being shit ever since.
You're not wrong. I was making an observation thats all, probably mainly about the short life span of athletes, not their fault, the nature of the sport.
and Petra Schneider who beat Sharron Davies at Moscow admitted to doping several years ago, so Davies ought to be awarded the 400m medley gold.
Rebecca Adlington is a marvellous swimmer. It's a bit mean for most people on here, whom most probably can't swim rather that well anyway, to be giving her grief.
She was favourite for the 800m, and put in a performance in the 400m as good as any of her opponents at their best would have welcomed.
She remained world class for 4 years afterwards.
You must be bloody good at something to call that 'shit':rolleyes:
Statistically correct, should there be an 'Elite athletes' forum where the great and good can discuss exactly the same things the mere mortals talk about?
We are all equal on here.....
I'm less equal because I'm stupid.
1:48:07
Do I qualify? :yawn:
Most people gauge the performance of anybody by how they compare against their peers, not themselves.
Yet she broke a 19-year-old record in the 800m freestyle, which she still holds today. How do you explain that? Has everyone who has ever competed in the 800m freestyle 'under performed'?
3rd best in the world is far from 'shit'. Why I'm even debating with someone who holds such ridiculous opinions is beyond me, though.
http://www.swimclub.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=5672
But let's have a lot of couch potatoes comment on elite swimmers retiring - despite being ignorant on the subject.
Oh i'm not denying 23 isn't young, it is. But she has projected herself forward 4 years to the next Olympics when she will be 27 and considered that she'll be going up against girls who are close to 10 years younger than her, like she was when she had her best Olympics at age 19.
She also needed to work out how much effort, time and dedication was required to keep herself fit and what she required to reach peak fitness when it mattered... and more importantly, if she wanted to continue to put in that amount of work, time and effort. The older she got, the more it would hurt and the the more work she would need to put in. It doesn't get any easier.
And i'm guessing she has weighed up all of the above and decided to call it a day. Who can blame her really. Will she regret it? I doubt it. She has won her medals. She has ticked the boxes. I'm sure she knows what she is doing, just like Vicky.
I think any Athelete is lucky to get three Olympics where they're at the top of their game and achieving what they want to achieve. She didn't quite have two. Why would she want a third?
I can't understand what you are trying to say. What are you trying to say?
She had the talent.
I suspect the thought that if she retires now, she is doing it whilst at the top of the sporting level, and whilst being young enough to make a good start in whatever else she decides to do played a fairly big part in the decision, as might the thought of how hard she's pushing her body and that it's best to retire before she does long term damage...(a lot of athletes have an increasing number of "minor" problems develop over time due to the stresses they put on their body).
Wish I could retire and I'm 42, she finally realised she will always be second best.
But consider a few things:
Generally speaking distance swimmers, especially female distance swimmers, don't tend to have the same longevity in the sport as their male peers or female swimmers in shorter disciplines. Some perspective: consider that if Adlington had won gold in the 800 metres freestyle in London she would have been the oldest winner of this race in Olympic history. The oldest ever winner of this race was Ai Shibata of Japan who was 22 in 2004. Most winners have been teenagers. Distance swimmers train much differently than sprinters, backstrokers, breaststrokes, flyers, or even mid distance specialists. Male distance swimmers often can remain competitive and near peak well into their 20s. Both male and female swimmers in the shorter freestyle sprints often excel into their 30s.
Also remember that Adlington is a double Olympic Gold medalist from Beijing and has just swam at a Home Olympic Games. So obviously motivation and a commitment to another four year cycle of training would be an issue. Last year was a disappointment especially considering it was a home Olympics but career wise shes done almost everything: Olympic Champion, World Champion, broken world records, etc. What more is there?
Keeping going for another 4 years so a bunch of people on DS who don't know a thing about her sport stop calling her names, obviously.
Because competing at the highest level doesn't involve digging deep. What about what she wants by the way?
Forget about "the fame"? On what do you base this on?
And who was the oldest female 800 metre swimmer to win gold at the Olympics?