13 août 2012

Triathlon and Sports Globalization


After the Olympics, it is easier to speak about it.  In Mexico we say: “Tengo los pelos de la burra en la mano (I have the donkey’s hairs in my hand).”  Globalization is against or in favor; but I am a globalized subject and I believe that it is in favor of humanity.

Look at sports like football (soccer), basketball, they are fully globalized.  We have individual globalizations in some runners and swimmers.  What does it mean this globalization?  The Chinese went to Australia and won gold, but the Australians were unable to perform well swimming.  The South Africans go to the USA to school and have won gold in swimming.  The Australians blame their coaches for “given the secrets” to the Chinese.  You cannot give the secrets to anybody when you have 60 athletes in a pool to watch as it was the case with the Chinese training in Australia.  Good for the Chinese that were able to learn something in those conditions:
Defending his swimmers ... Leigh Nugent, right, pictured with Eamon Sullivan. Photo: AP
"A lot of [Chinese athletes] are in Australia working with our coaches and ... they pay more money," Talbot said.

"If someone starts throwing money at them, they're going to start paying attention to those people."

But he also believes Australia's current crop of swimmers are less self-aware and less hungry to succeed than in previous Olympics.

A few words on classic team sports, because I believe that every sport has a team that we do not want to recognize.  Mexico was able to beat Brazil because the Brazilians have been playing against Mexico for so many years and many of them have played in Mexico.  I remember Dirceu, who many years ago played for the club America in Mexico, before going to play to Italy.  Dirceu was one of the first players exported by the Brazilians.  When Dirceu played in Mexico he used to say:  “I send them a ball and receive a watermelon in return.”  Little by little that has changed but started when the Brazilians mingled with the Mexicans.  The same thing for Basketball, according to the USA coach, 20% of the NBA is composed by foreigners. The USA had a great difficulty beating Lithuania and Spain for that same reason of globalization.

The marathon winner, Stephen Kiprotich, 23 year old, went to Kenya to train.  He became another Kenyan when coming from Uganda and was able to beat them.  This is not about Genetics, it has to do with the culture and we depend on it.  What culture you belong to?  Do not lie to yourself and you would know how far you will reach depending on the culture you belong to.  Would you like to adopt a culture?  This venue becomes necessary even in the country you live in or you belong to.  If you want to get someplace, look for the right culture to draft as in cycling.  What to say of the American runner who competed in the London Olympics:

Lopez Lomong was born Lopepe Lomong in a small village in South Sudan to Awei Lomong and Rita Namana.[8] Lomong was a victim of the Second Sudanese Civil War. A Catholic, he was abducted at age six while attending Catholic Mass and assumed dead by his family and buried in absentia.[8] He nearly died in captivity, but was helped to escape by others from his village. The four of them ran for three days until they crossed the border into Kenya.[8] Lomong spent ten years in a refugee camp near Nairobi before being moved to the United States through Catholic Charities. His name "Lopez" was a nickname from the refugee camp that he later adopted officially. He was inspired to become a runner after watching Michael Johnson at the 2000 Summer Olympics on television.[8]

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