# Non-U.S. Dopers: What is Your Take on the U.S. Olympic Atheletes? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 20, 2006, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-u-s-dopers-what-is-your-take-on-the-u-s-olympic-atheletes/345381 "2006-02-20T21:55:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![usar\_jag](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f0a364/32.png) [@usar\_jag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/usar_jag)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2006, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-u-s-dopers-what-is-your-take-on-the-u-s-olympic-atheletes/345381/1 "2006-02-20T21:55:49Z")
I’m curious as to how the U.S. Olympic team (both summer and winter) is perceived by people in other countries. Are we an arrogant lot? Do you root against us because we tend to win more medals? What say you? In general, I think we are fairly gracious in victory, and there are only a few individual athletes that really need to get an attitude adjustment. My favorite US athletes of recent memory were the 2004 4x100 (I think) relay team, that was supposed to win their event hands-down. The Brits took the gold in the event, and the U.S. relay team was very modest, made no excuses, and were extremely complimentary to the winning team. Any other good/bad examples of U.S. athletes stick out for you? ---
**Author:** ![Neurotik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/91b2a8/32.png) [@Neurotik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Neurotik)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2006, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-u-s-dopers-what-is-your-take-on-the-u-s-olympic-atheletes/345381/2 "2006-02-20T22:02:05Z")
> [@usar\_jag](#): > > I’m curious as to how the U.S. Olympic team (both summer and winter) is perceived by people in other countries. Are we an arrogant lot? Do you root against us because we tend to win more medals? What say you? Win more medals? At the Winter Olympics? Right now we’re fourth behind Germany, Norway and Austria with Russia and the Canuckistanis closing fast. In 2002 we were second behind the Germans. In 1998 we were sixth, I believe, behind the Germans, Norway, Russia, Austria and Canada. So, in short, we should all gang up on the Germans. ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2006, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-u-s-dopers-what-is-your-take-on-the-u-s-olympic-atheletes/345381/3 "2006-02-20T22:11:27Z")
I haven’t seen any of the current Olympics. I do recall though that the antics of one of the US running relay teams in 2000 at the Sydney games were viewed by most Australians as overly arrogant and went down like a lead balloon. ---
**Author:** ![Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e19adc/32.png) [@Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2006, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-u-s-dopers-what-is-your-take-on-the-u-s-olympic-atheletes/345381/4 "2006-02-21T00:45:34Z")
_psssst. Nobody outside the U.S. hears the hype about U.S. athletes…_ ---
**Author:** ![Sublight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@Sublight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sublight)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2006, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-u-s-dopers-what-is-your-take-on-the-u-s-olympic-atheletes/345381/5 "2006-02-21T01:01:10Z")
Other than some members of the recent basketball teams, the athletes themselves seem like a perfectly decent bunch, just like everyone else. It probably helps that we don’t get bombarded by constant hype about how fabuluous they are and how much we’re supposed to love them. Starts everyone off on an even playing field. ---
**Author:** ![Neurotik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/91b2a8/32.png) [@Neurotik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Neurotik)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2006, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-u-s-dopers-what-is-your-take-on-the-u-s-olympic-atheletes/345381/6 "2006-02-21T01:02:29Z")
> [@Barbarian](#): > > _psssst. Nobody outside the U.S. hears the hype about U.S. athletes…_ I don’t think anyone inside the US hears it, either. I don’t think most people could name three US Winter Olympians other than Bode Miller and Michelle Kwan (even though she withdrew). Maybe the short track dude, Apollo something (Creed?). ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2006, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-u-s-dopers-what-is-your-take-on-the-u-s-olympic-atheletes/345381/7 "2006-02-21T01:11:56Z")
When I have watched the NBC coverage in the past, I’m always amazed that nearly every American athlete has overcome some great personal disadvantage or obstacle to get where he or she is today. Did none of these people have fairly uneventful lives, apart from working and training for their sport? Is Overcoming Some Form of Adversity a prerequisite for a place on the US Olympic Team? I will admit, though, that lately it seems that it’s not as bad as it once was. But when I watch CBC coverage, the Americans are presented as any other competitor would be. There is no hype surrounding them and most seem to be good sports. A few could benefit from an attitude adjustment, as the OP states, but the same could probably be said of any other nation’s athletes. I will admit to cheering against the US athletes on occasion, but mostly that’s because I want to see our Canadian athletes win and the Americans just happen to be competing against them. Nothing personal. ---
**Author:** ![kellner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c2a13f/32.png) [@kellner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kellner)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2006, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-u-s-dopers-what-is-your-take-on-the-u-s-olympic-atheletes/345381/8 "2006-02-21T01:20:24Z")
> [@Barbarian](#): > > _psssst. Nobody outside the U.S. hears the hype about U.S. athletes…_ Exactly. Usually the only way to tell the nationalities apart is the color scheme of their suits. I have seen a lot of the Olympics coverage but I’m not a serious fan of winter sports. This means that most of the time I have never heard of them before. Foreign-language athletes get very little interview time and there is no background information on them apart from a few sentences while they are competing. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2006, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-u-s-dopers-what-is-your-take-on-the-u-s-olympic-atheletes/345381/9 "2006-02-21T02:42:46Z")
> [@usar\_jag](#): > > I’m curious as to how the U.S. Olympic team (both summer and winter) is perceived by people in other countries. Are we an arrogant lot? Do you root against us because we tend to win more medals? What say you? > > In general, I think we are fairly gracious in victory, and there are only a few individual athletes that really need to get an attitude adjustment. So far the only American athletes that have stood out by name are Bode Miller, an overhyped braggart who has underperformed, and the twit who showed off in snoboardcross and lost the gold medal as a result. Oh, and Apolo Anton Ohno, because of his comical name. Generally speaking, to me, all foreign Olympians are a nameless mass of people in other countries’ uniforms. You don’t remember their names unless they fuck up badly or are true greats in their sport. ---
**Author:** ![treis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bc79bd/32.png) [@treis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/treis)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2006, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-u-s-dopers-what-is-your-take-on-the-u-s-olympic-atheletes/345381/10 "2006-02-21T03:22:46Z")
> [@Neurotik](#): > > Maybe the short track dude, Apollo something (Creed?). Apollo Creed would be the black boxer from the Rocky movies. Apollo Anton Ohno is the speed skater you are looking for. ---
**Author:** ![Ice\_Wolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/dfb087/32.png) [@Ice\_Wolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ice_Wolf)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2006, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-u-s-dopers-what-is-your-take-on-the-u-s-olympic-atheletes/345381/11 "2006-02-21T13:04:08Z")
The U.S. are one of the teams who will win lots of medals. As with the Aussie team. It’s a given. When I used to watch the Olympics, I honestly never picked up on any more arrogance from the Americans than from other big teams. ---
**Author:** ![Omniscient](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omniscient/32/3290_2.png) [@Omniscient](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omniscient)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2006, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-u-s-dopers-what-is-your-take-on-the-u-s-olympic-atheletes/345381/12 "2006-02-21T14:05:50Z")
> [@treis](#): > > Apollo Creed would be the black boxer from the Rocky movies. Apollo Anton Ohno is the speed skater you are looking for. Of course we all know which represented the ole U. S. of A. best though… ---
**Author:** ![Bertie\_Wooster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/58f4c7/32.png) [@Bertie\_Wooster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bertie_Wooster)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2006, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-u-s-dopers-what-is-your-take-on-the-u-s-olympic-atheletes/345381/13 "2006-02-21T14:17:16Z")
I may be alone in this, but I’ve heard all I need to about Michelle Kwan’s groin. Otherwise, I haven’t been paying attention. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2006, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-u-s-dopers-what-is-your-take-on-the-u-s-olympic-atheletes/345381/14 "2006-02-21T15:06:14Z")
> [@Ice Wolf](#): > > The U.S. are one of the teams who will win lots of medals. As with the Aussie team. It’s a given. When I used to watch the Olympics, I honestly never picked up on any more arrogance from the Americans than from other big teams. I think you’re going to be very disappointed indeed if you expect the Aussies to be among the big medal-winning countries at the Winter Games. ---
**Author:** ![Balduran](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/cc9497/32.png) [@Balduran](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balduran)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2006, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-u-s-dopers-what-is-your-take-on-the-u-s-olympic-atheletes/345381/15 "2006-02-21T15:06:42Z")
On CBC coverage at this olympic’s opening ceremonies they said that every country, when they march past the host country’s team, tips their flag as a sign of respect. The lone exception is the American team, because apparently their flag tips for nobody. Other than that, their athletes seem the same as everybody else. I remember at the Sydney summer olympics, the US basketball team wouldn’t stay with everybody else in the olympic village, but rented expensive hotel rooms instead. However, I just chalk that up to the arrogance of highly paid professional athletes. ---
**Author:** ![WotNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e19b73/32.png) [@WotNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WotNot)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2006, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-u-s-dopers-what-is-your-take-on-the-u-s-olympic-atheletes/345381/16 "2006-02-21T15:21:34Z")
> [@Spoons](#): > > Is Overcoming Some Form of Adversity a prerequisite for a place on the US Olympic Team? Not at all, but the career of a top-class athlete _is_ a fairly short one, and a nice fat book deal, or even a TV movie of the week, provides a welcome cushion while they wait for those lecture tour bookings to come in. ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2006, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-u-s-dopers-what-is-your-take-on-the-u-s-olympic-atheletes/345381/17 "2006-02-21T15:43:57Z")
> [@Spoons](#): > > When I have watched the NBC coverage in the past, I’m always amazed that nearly every American athlete has overcome some great personal disadvantage or obstacle to get where he or she is today. Did none of these people have fairly uneventful lives, apart from working and training for their sport? Is Overcoming Some Form of Adversity a prerequisite for a place on the US Olympic Team? I think it was in 1984, the first Olympics with many, many hours of coverage by ABC, that the networks starting focusing on “Up close and personal…” stories featuring the athletes. The Summer Olympics in LA preempted soap operas and this was seen as a way to attract women viewers. This was before the 10000 channel universise/Tivo. The idea was that viewers, who could care less about the actual sport, would be more likely to cheer for an athlete who had overcome the disease of the week in order to compete. This also helps to build the so-called human interest story as now results are known immediately around the world. Frankly, I hated that type of coverage and I"m glad that at least the CNBC/MSNBC/USA network coverage doesn’t do too much of it. ---
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2006, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-u-s-dopers-what-is-your-take-on-the-u-s-olympic-atheletes/345381/18 "2006-02-21T17:57:29Z")
Count me as one who can’t stand the hype. One particularly egregious example is that ice dancing pair who just won the silver medal. I want to call up the news stations and say “I’ve got some news for you guys: _nobody gives a damn about ice dancing!!!_” They mentioned that the girl immigrated from Canada, but she wouldn’t have become a US citizen in time for the Olympics. Fortunately for her, one of my state’s senators (Carl Levin) pulled some strings to get her declared a citizen by legislative act. With the economy the way it is, I kinda doubt that the tale of an immigrant who was granted special favors by the government is going to resonate real strongly with the public :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2006, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-u-s-dopers-what-is-your-take-on-the-u-s-olympic-atheletes/345381/19 "2006-02-21T18:30:08Z")
> [@Spoons](#): > > When I have watched the NBC coverage in the past, I’m always amazed that nearly every American athlete has overcome some great personal disadvantage or obstacle to get where he or she is today. Did none of these people have fairly uneventful lives, apart from working and training for their sport? Is Overcoming Some Form of Adversity a prerequisite for a place on the US Olympic Team? No, it’s a prerequisite to get a feature on NBC. NBC feels that people want to know the story behind the athletes, and the more dramatic the story, the better. So “X is an Olympic skier despite having both feet amputated as a child” is going to be a better story than “Y is an Olympic skier because he worked hard every day for ten years.” Human interest sells, as does playing up the feuds, etc. ---
**Author:** ![zoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zoid/32/336_2.png) [@zoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoid)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2006, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-u-s-dopers-what-is-your-take-on-the-u-s-olympic-atheletes/345381/20 "2006-02-21T19:37:24Z")
> [@Bertie Wooster](#): > > I may be alone in this, but I’ve heard all I need to about Michelle Kwan’s groin. Otherwise, I haven’t been paying attention. I completely disagree. I for one am profoundly interested in Michelle Kwan’s groin. And talk about a band name! - _Michelle Kwan’s groin_ [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-u-s-dopers-what-is-your-take-on-the-u-s-olympic-atheletes/345381.md?page=2)