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TABTE OF CONTENT

3?fd"ittl 3"D1l

3

?1i

I compulsory reading materials

al lntroduction- Evolution of Sports

b) Sports: Genetics and Ethics

c) 2 case studies of taking drugs

d) Sports: The Singapore Contexte) Past GCE question

P.1P.11P.T7

P.20P.2a

ll Supplementary reading materials

a) Sports and politicsb) Rules on sportsmanshipc) State Funding - for or againstd) Speeches by

i Dr Vivian Balakrishnan, Minister of community Development,

Youth and Sportsii Mr Teo ser Luck, Parliamentary secretary,

Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports

e) Youth olympicsf) Singapore lcons

P.35

P.40P -42

P.47

P.48

P.50

P.52

lll Further Reading (A-listers only)

a) stem Cell Research to enhance performance

(Opposing Viewpoints)bl Sports lcon - (David Beckham, the end of an era)

c) Boycott Beijing Olympics(Two perspectives)

P.55

P.63P.56

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66

I COMPULSORY READING AND PRACTICE

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SPORTS: lntroduction

SPORITIS

I What is sports?

A'tport" is a game, an amusement and a pastime. However, "sports" are physical contests pursued for thegoals and challenges they entail. Theyare part of every culture pastand present, but gAqb-lqllqC has its

own definition of sports- Sports can be defined as autotelic (played for their own sake) phvsical contests

Spoft is important. lt can have a huge impact on people's lives, bringing them togeth€r and helping them to

be happy, healthy and fulfilled. lt can build communities Sport at the local level can help to establish r

community/svalues, create harmonY and even improve an area/s€conomy. On the basis of this definiticn,

one can categorise varioustypes ofsports.

PL'qY

I

spontanes s play arganized Flay (CAMESI

_,'_ |

n'lncomrJeiiti'r'e oamesI

co!'nF stiti,,,e garlres (CONTE$TS,iI-l

int'3ll€ctual cont@sts physical coutosts 4SPORTS]

II The Evolution of Sports

Sports today has changed drastically from when it was first introduced to the world'

When you think about it, some questions should come to mind like:

. lvhat was it like being a sportsman in the past compared to

. What is the odgin of the different sports we have today?

. When did it all begin?

. Why is Chess consideled a sport?

the present?

What have you discovered about the odgins of a sport?

How are rules determined?

III The Irnportance of SPort and the power of SUBLIMATION'

Wat./aggression

SpiriluaVmental/teligious

Stalus - coInrnetciaYsocial

l.

3.


l. wa!/Aggression

Most sports as you would have seen stem from very violent beginnings and while thete

may be many reasons for this, we picked out the few we thought you should know'

' Sports as a means to channel rage/aggEession into something other than wat.

> Cames like soccer and mgby were born out of war; heads of enemies

killed in batue was used as the baII.

> Is this a possible alternative to war or a new kind of battlefield altogether?

> Is this lvhen violence is acceptable and maybe even expected?

> Here are some websites and articles you may want to look at:

o History of soccer: http://expertfootball.com,/historv/

o "Violence in Spo s" by Ismat Abdal-Haqq for ERIC digest I -89:

o "Violence and Sports - Ugly but Useful?" by Joseph Maguire for

Bdtannica Blog 6 December 2006:

http //blogs.bril!4ryq 4-cott\/blog/ rnal / 2096 / lz&islcasqalnd'

sPorts-ugly-but-usetul/

Sports as a glodfication of aggression in the fotm of strength, mastery of skill and

perseverance.

> The Olympics was an event build on strength and excellence Athletes

from all over Greece would train and Push their bodies to the limits in

events like cha.Iiot races, foot taces and lqresUing Sometimes these

athletes would even compete to the death'

> Consider events like w:restling and boxing Do we still fight to the death?

Are these sports still considered violent? Is this violence accePtable?

> Have you observed peopte at $'restling matches or boxing matches? How

do they behave? \ 41y do you think they behave in such a manner?

> Here are some websites and articles you may want to look at:

o b$p-lllrrlr{.LoqtaE qqlqlqlympiqs/

?


o "The Ancient Olympics" by Paul Sussman on Monday, 12 JuIy 2004 at

CNN.com, world spolt:

http://www.cnn.com/2004/SPORT/06/03/olympics.origins/

o "Exposed: Great Olympic Myths" by Simon Reeve, Friday 29

September 2000 at TIMES Online:

http://coJinth.sas.upenn.edu/dgrlotLerclips/myths.html

2. Spiritual/Mental,/Religious

Another side of sports is that of the spititual or teligious nature. Sports are not always

about violence or based on it. Some sports take on a holislic aPProach'

. Some sports have theit roots in religion. They started off as a way to strengthen

not only the body, but the mind and the soul as well.

> Sports such as Yoga and Kung Fu are a blend of discipline of the mind as

well as the body. Movements are often associated with the natural world

and based on spiritual studies.

> OI course the ancient Olympics was also very spiritual/religious in nature

beinq a tdbute to the gods and held on sacl:ed glounds Vuinners were

crowned with laurels from the sacred laurel tree said to belong to Zeus'

> Conversely, the Mayans who also held sporting events as a tibute to their

gods relvarded their winners with death- V/inners were sacificed in honor

of the gods and many would fight for this very honor' This can also be

linked of course to the violent nature of sports which is at the same time

coupled with the religious and spidtual nature'

> Can you think of any other sports that have their roots in spiritual beliefs?

> How have sports such as yoga and shaolin kung Iu changed? \^hat do you

think brought about such changies?

> Do changes in religious sports also aflect our kaditions and culture?

> Here are some websites and ajticles you may qrant to look at:

o Wikipedia on Yoga: http:,//en.wlkipedia orglv'iki/Yoga

o Oriqins of shaolin: htpllzed4q@lshaqh-alhiElqry hlml

o Tribal Gifts to OlymPics:

3

http://!var'!v.nativqvoices. orglarticles/tdbal girts htm

SPORTS: lntroductiol

o "The Sacred Origin and Nature of Sports and Culture" by Ghazi bin

Muhammad. Fons Vitae (1998)

. Besides having roots in religious/spiritual beliefs some sports also focused on

philosophy and were a way to hone skills of the body as well as the mind.

> Taekwondo is one such sport along with Gatka which aligns Philosophy

with the practice of martial arts.

> Does this mean that the violence displayed in such sports can then be

considered acceptable since it is not "mindless"?

> What about the religious sports that changed to be used in self defense? Is

violence in those sports acceptable as 0qell? If so, why?

> Consider the game of chess which is an interesting sport in lhe west as well

as the east. Chess is considered a mental spod which requires not just

cladty of thought but strategy and cunning as well. It is in effect a

war/battle fought on paper or in some cases a board-

! ls Chess is a way of rationalizing war?

> Can spotts like chess and those oJ a spiritual natule actually make us better

people?

! Here some websites and articles you may lvant to look at:

o Wikipedia on Gatka: http://en.wikipedia.orglwiki/Gatka

o Smug Home with some bdef description of the oigins of some

martial arts: http:/,/r -,rnv.smugvegetarian.com/alphabetical htm#3q

o The origin of Chess:

http://chess. about.com/od/historv/p/aa06a I 4 htm

3. Status - commercial/social

Accordinq to Maslow's hieiarchy of needs, people only seek out higher needs when

base needs are met. So it is with sports, once the basic needs of sports is met, peoPle

move on to seek sports on higher planes.

. Ce ain sports may start off as a ritual, a part of something and then grow to

encompass many other ideas too-

4

5PORTs: lntroduction

Sports like Sumo have their roots in mythology and were first held as a

ritual to honor the harvest gods bul later evolved into a popular pastime in

the Impedal Court and still later, into a form oftraining for soldiets

The versatility of certain sports allow them to be used not only to

strengthen the body and mind, but to reaffirm key ideas like National

ldentity and cultural inhedtance.

Read: "In Search of Personal and National ldentity" by Henning Eichberg

for PIay The Game:

o% 20of o/o 20PersonaIo/o2020ando/o2ONationaIo%20ldentity. aspx

> ln some countries, Spofis are a way of life. If Sumo is the ultimate Japanese

sport, then Baseball would be the American sport.

> \tr/hy are certain sports associated with certain counties?

> Can national identity really be built upon sports? If so, hovl,?

> How can countries benefit from having a certain ability at a sport

commercially/economically?

Read: "Moving Forward While Presewing National Identity" at

htto://www.iaDan.orq.aulpdf/Senior 2004 pdf

Spo is also about international relatiottships and commerce

> "The modern Olympic Games have become a stage for a global audience,

not just as a venue for athletic competition, but as an internationat arena

where many of the most important political and social themes of the 20th

century have played prominent roles-"1

> Research: 1936 Berlin Olympics, 1972 Munich Olympics, 1980 boycotts,

l984 communism.

> Besides the Olympics are there other events you can think of that would

involve countries and international relationships?

I Professor Dv an M. Bloy, "Pol lics, Propaganda, and violence a! the Ancicnl and Modern o vmpics" cettYsburg

Co ege, Department oI Classics.

http://www.sq{y:b!rE edql!!lE!] csllirstvear seminars/coLLrse itt iPlDoLlt cs Drop-ea4&.&l

5


> \,uhy is it important for countdes to meet annually or otherwise to pit

strength and skills agarnst each other?

> How do these games help to improve relationships betlveen countries?

! Here are some websites and articles you may want to look at:

o "The Ancient Olympics" at http:/./ww! t.perseus tufts edu/Olvmpicg:

o "In Search of Personal and National Identity" by Henning Eichberg

for Play The Came:

http : //w{'w.plavthe game. orglKnowled(1e 7o ?Qbe4kl4!!9lcvl4%209

earcho% 20of o% 20Personal"%2020and"Z20National% 20Identity.a5+x

o "Sport and International Relations: An Emerging Relationship" by

Roger Levermore and Adrian Budd.

' Sport is about status. It has become a "Civil Religion".

> Sports like soccer evolved from the ground up therefol:e people of a

certain income group (generally lower) tend to enjoy this sport as opposed

to spolts like golf or Polo.

> Consider thelefore corunon sporls vs genteel sports. Prince Hary is

knol4m to be an excellent polo player whereas soccer is more of a sport for

commoners like David Beckham. Howevel, Beckham can also stand to

benefit from his status as a soccer player namely that ofthe new "Rock Star

Athletes". Flint: What's the difference btw Sportsrnen and

Celebiities?I

> Spo'k hy the fiasses fot !fte rnasses are [ast gaining econo'nic slatus

with sPorts such as Football heing called the gteal equalizers and civil

religions that unite people despile diffetent socio'econornic

backgtounds'

IRONICALI'Y....

> Sports and Consumerism.' How have sports equipment and sports

apparel become status symbols? E.g. Ifhat is the brand Nike associated

with? \tr/hen you think of tennis, who do you think of? Is that Person also

linked with certain products as well?

> Has sport become Too commetcialized?

b


> Here are some websites and atticles you may want to look at:

o "A Look at the Commercialization of Sport: Profound Impacts on

American ldentity and Culture" by Mike Chiacos:

http://www.IcIark.edu/-rialcommercialization.html

o "Commercialization of sport" by Brian Sather, Eastern Oregon

University.

http://wvvw.eou.edu/-bsather/pesz70 historv philosophv sport/co

qrt4crslaLz4uer slrp 3!o Spo s and related issues: a PowerPoint presentation.

b{pr.i1@aw4!a4!Lqllal 3o4 Pdf

IV Useful Concepts

The IOC (Inlernational Olympic Committee)The International Olympic Committee (IOC) is the international non-governmentalorganization which conducts, promotes and regulates the modern Olympic Games The

IOC has its headquarters in Lausanne, east of Geneva- Its Plesident is Jacques Rogge, an

orthopedic surgeon and former Olympic athlete from Belgium. The IOC, founded inParis in t894, is the supreme authoity of the Olympic Movement;The IOC promotes sport in the Olympic tradition by supporting regional games'

strengthening ties among athletes of all countries, and seeking to guide modernathletics. The IOC'S medical commission collabotates with other bodies dealing withresearch in sports medicine such as in the fight against doping.The IOC ensures the regular celebration (every fout years) of the Olympic Games, and

selects the site where they will be held Since 1994 the Games of the Olympiad (summer

Olympics) and the Olympic Winter Games are no longer held in the same year but tlvoyears apart. The dates and locations of past games are: Athens, Greece, August 13-29,

z0o+; Tnritr, Italy, February ll-26,2006; and future games in Beijing, china' 2008;

Vancouver, Canada, 2010 and London, 2012

World Anli-Doping Agency (WADA)

In 1999, the IOC hosted a World Conference on Doping in Sport in Lausanne,

Switzerland where an agreement was reached to set up an independent internationalantidoping agency to oversee the global fight against drugs. A product of the

conJerence was the "i,ausanne Declalation" which states that in future the Olympic oath

will be taken not only by athletes but also extended to coaches and other officials The

declaration stipulates a minimum two-year suspension from competition for any athletefound guilty of a first doping offense. More severe sanctions will apply to coaches and

officials Jound guilty ofviolations of the anti-doping code.

'1


In November 1999, the IOC announced the establishment of the Wolld AntiDopingAgency, which has its headquarters in Montreal. WADA aims to provide a solution todrugs in sports by standardizing lules and providing an independent mechanism for.

testing. In March 2003, governments and sports federations adopted a World Anti-Doping code at the second IMorld Conference on Doping in Sport in CoPenhagen.

cotporale Governance in SportCorporate governance can be descdbed as the system by which an organisation is

directed and controlled, including the distribution of rights and lesponsibilities amongthose involved in the organisation. Effective corporate grovernance is the successful

managtement of relationships among members of an organisation through fair,transparent and accountable systems and structures. Sport organizations have an

obligation to govern responsibly and effectively.

Sports RehabilitationAthletes, referees, umpires, coaches and other participants are often considered arrd

supported while they are participating but ignored, forgotten or dismissed as soon as

they are unable to put in a performance.For instance, what can look like a simple case of tendonitis to an administrator orreporter may mean the end of a career, potential income, status and life passion for the

athlete.It is good practice for sport olganisations to have a set plocedure for assisting

participants through the plocess of lehabilitation- These procedures are supported on a

cr""-by-..". basis by organisation members, medical or other relevant Professionals,and/or participant supportets such as parents, partne6 and children'

Fair PlayFair playrefers to the conduct of individuals involved with any Part of sPorting practice'

such_as players on the field, sPectators on the sideline, coaches in the stadium, umptesduing a match ol managers in the dressing !oom. It encompasses all aspects of the

gameir event and all individuals involved. Fai! play can be defined as the upholding6f fairness before, during and afte!, and directly relating to, a game/match/event' Fair

play can often be best promoted ttuough a code of conduct thal clearly defines specificprattices that capture the ethical values of the sport' ApPropdate disciplinarypro."""a", sanctions lists and reinstatement conditions are essential to the management

of misconduct.

Gender Discrimination in SPottsIt has been identified internationally that women and girls are negratively discriminatedagainst and ale disadvantaged by a vaiety of balliers in sport'.dfa* .rau" of discrimination against women and girls are: unequal pay; verbai and

sexual halassment and abuse; lack of promotion; bias in selection; exclusion of

membership rights; pictures, assumptions, disregard for position, and innuendo These

types of discrimination are then often reinforced through the negative promotion of

women's and girls' sport, in particular the portrayal of women's and girls' sport as an

infedor version of men's participation in sport-

I

SPORTS: lntrodLrction

In terms of global media and broadcast, women athletes receive very Iittle coverage onsports programs that supposedly feature both men and women athletes. While wewould not expect to see women athletes in male sports programs such as the NFL, NBA,and Major League Baseball games or Wrestling, we would expect to see male athleteson Sports Centet and Extreme Sports. Even Extreme SPorts programming that is seenas an "alternative" open to men and women devotes only 1o% of its coverage to womenathletes.Even if they do appear, they are portrayed in stereotypical ways. such as sex objects,supportive spouses, or spectators on the sidelines cheedng the men on.

Race, Elhnicity and SportRacism can be described as negative discrimination against an individual because ofthet colour, racial origin, ethnicity, ancestry, and/or place of birth, or an indiwidual'sidentilication or connection with any of these. While there were few overtly racistimages or comments, sports programs occasionally reinJorced racial stereotypes orcalled attention to race/ethnicity in commentary. For instance in America, lacialstereotypes or comments wele found dudng the NBA and NFL games. Even TigerWoods received unfavourable remarks about his prowess. When wrestling shows are

staged, Latino, Asian, and other non-White wresuers never won the matches On the

othlr hand African A:rnerican athletes have been lauded Jor their natural supelhumanperformances in certain sports such as in long distance run4ing and in basketball(Michael Jordan, Carl Lewis, Marion Jones)

V fact Finding Exercise (Oral Presentation)

Now that you've learnt a little bit about Sports, it's time for you to apply your knowledge

and skills to answerinq the examination questions.

You may use all the material in this package as well as information you've found tbJough

your own lesearch to help you. Remember to use the essay structure that you've learnt

to help you tackle the question.

Instructions

. From the list of questions belor[ choose betlqeen one of tlvo questions Per Ievel

. Use information given and researched to answer the questions'

. Show clearly how to use the essay structu{e you've learnt'

. . Everyone in the grroup must present as you WILL be graded'

. You must have:

l A handout for your classmates

2. Proper preseniation slides

9


. You are expected to consult with your tutor AILIcEEILII{qlqeg&qbclblc your

P!esentation.Essay questions

Level I

l. "Today's athlete is more of a television star than a sportsman." Do you agree?

oJc PEg? Q1)

Level 2

l Do sportswomen deserve the same treatment as their male counterparts? (VJC

PE99 Q4)

Level 3

l. The reality of sport is that it is often very unsPorting. Is this a fair descriBltia! of

the world ofspo today? (ACJC)

2. Is sports too closely Iinked to money these days? (2001 A-LeveIs)

Prepored by Mr:

ln its July 2004 issue, Discover l\,4agazine asks, "Will Gene Doping Destroy

Sports" (Behar 2004)? The article indicates that gene doping, introducing

synthetic genes for non therapeutic uses is "cheating and a misuse of

genetics." While the research was meant to help those with debilitating

diseases, it could be used by athletes to increase performance The media,

government, and spofts organizations have all demonized it without

explaining why gene doping is considered unethical and immoral The

intent oI this research is to discover the ethica{ obiections to gene

doping, effectively trying to gauge the strength or weakness of each

argument.*'Students, when reading, note how the last line of the introductory

paragraph sums up his enlire essay?

The tirst argument against gene doping is that of cheating and

untaimess and is voiced by many (Lavin 1987). ln some instances' gene

doping would be "cheating" as it would break the contractual obligation of an

athlete, for example rf the NFL explicitly prohibited it. IMany other athletes

though, are not under any specific contract. People indicate that for these

athletes. it would be "unfail' for the athlete to obtain an advantage over their

competitors, giving them the edge in strength and stamina lt would also be

"disrespectful" to others (Lavin 1987).

. Notice how the first line of each paragraph is sometimes the topic

sentence.

The Ethics of Gene Doplng

by Jonalhan Gittins

Sports: Genetics and Ethics

Deconstructinq

Metaphors:

What does the

phrase

"demonized"

reveal about the

attitude of the

media, govt and

sPorts

organizations?

Why are the words

unfair and

disrespectful in

The argument above tends to tug on society's belief that everyone

should have equal opportunities. The problem is that some athletes

already have an innate genetic advantage above their competitors For

example, the Finnish cross-country skier, Eero l\4dntyranta, was found to

have a genetic mutation that lead to increased erythropoietin levels and

hiqher numbers of oxygen-carrying red blood cells (Sweeney 2004) There

are other examples of athletes having increased levels oJ cedain proteins.

Sports have not prevented these people from competing, even though they

have an advantaqe. We apparently consider these to be fair advantages.

How is this a

"problem"?

What does the

w ter's use of the

"apparently"

suggest about his

attitude?

il

What is ironic

about the

possible impact

of doping on

compelitive

spo rt?

[Hint: consider

the gulf betw€en

reality and an

extrapolated

future?l

Gene doping could be used to increase protein levels in all athletes,

thereby removing the advantage held by a few. The competition would

then be based on equality. One problem with this idea is based on the

economic disparity between societal classes and various countries. The

wealthy would be able to purchase the genetic therapy mLlch more easily than

the poor, with a similar dilemma with developed and developing countries

Even now, not all athletes have the ability to obtain performance_enhancing

technoloqy, so the argument could be made that gene doping should be

banned based on unfairness arising from economic disparity. lt is optimistic

to believe that gene doping could make everyone equal, bul it would be

unrealistic from an implementation standpoint, as not everyone would be

able to afford the technology.

.Gene doping is harmful. This is the second argument presented against

gene doping, and it comes in a variety of shades and colors. Gene

doping could essentially harm the athlete, other athletes, the sporting

commLrnity, society, and the nature of sports. Some of these arguments are

solely spofts-oriented, while others expand to concerns of social division

cene therapy is a relative- ewcorner to science, and its abiiities and

benefits have been unproven up to now (Holowchak 2000). Most research

has been done solely on animals, and trials that have been done on human

beings have not been accepted well by society. ln 1999, Jesse Gelsinger died

after an extreme immune reaction occurred while on gene therapy (Beardsley

2OOO). I/any are unsure what this therapy will to do the body lt could cause

unexpected problems and therefore many believe it should not be allowed,

especially for athletes that do not require it for therapeLltic use (Miah 2004)

orts : Genetics and Ethics

Wittr this argument, though, the idea of harm appears to be relative for Why woutd the

athletes. Some sports, such as boxing and football, are harmful by nature/

intrinsicallv harmful. Should we ban these sports just because they are

harmful to the body? These sports are stillextremely popular, so there is no

way they would be banned. The physiological and anatomical effects of gene

doping may be more or less damaging that the brLltal blows of boxing Until

more trials and research have been done, the possible harm to the athlete

will be unknown, so this argument coLlld either gain support or be

unwarranted.

idea that athletes

may be harmed

by gene doping

be unwarranted?

Explain this in

yout own words.

Professional sports and the Olympics wouldn't be neady as popular if it

weren't for the spectators. Gene doping could harm the sporting

community, affecting how they enjoy the sport. Spectators have expectations

for their teams, and when these expectations are unmet, there can be a great

amount of backlash. When the NHL went under strike talks, the attendance

at games greatly decreased (Strachan 2004). lf gene doping was allowed

and it didn't live up to all it was made to be, lhe sporting community could be

annoyed. Other spectators may feel that sport may lose some of its

enteftainment value as the athletes would all be genetically enhanced,

making them less unique, and removing some of the advantages that lead to

exciting plays. Essentially, if every athlete had the talent of a Tiger

woods or Michael Jordan, it would be less competitive. Andy [,4iah

though, suggests that gene doping could lead to "greater levels of excellence

in peformance, reducing the risk of unsafe drug enhancements, allowing

athletes to express their authenticity through their relationship with

technology" (lMiah, 2004). With greater levels of excellence, the game could

become more stimulating The 1oo-yard dash would be more competitive

The use of steroids may decrease, and this could be beneficial, as many

steroids have been shown to be extremely harmful.

9 ln society, tt'ere is often an unstated assumption that athletes should be

role models. The question must be answered whether gene doping is a

deviant practice in society. Frequently, disease and deviance is a 99qla!

construct. While unique, masturbation was one example of supposed

deviancy based upon society's beliefs. As Engelhardt points out, "lvledicine

turns to what has been judged to be naturally ugly or deviant, and then

develops etiological accounts to explain and treat in a coherent fashion a

manifold of dispieasinq siqns and symptoms" (Engelhardt, 19gg) ls the same

thing happening to gene doping? Could the medical and scientific community

be saying it is bad because society considers it to be deviant? The use of

steroids is illegal, but will the use of genetic enhancement be equally defined?

**lgEgq: Crime and Deviance - How are acceptable norms of a society

decided? Who has !!9l9-pqg9! in determining what is deviant and what

is not?

: Genetics and Ethics

What does the

line

"essentially...less

competitive"

mean?

The writer makes

the claim that

d€finitions of wh.iconstitutes crime

or deviance are

terribly subjeclive

and depend a gr4'rr

deal on acceptable

norfis in that

particular sociely.

What is the

possible imPact uf

such relativity {]n

the use of drugs in

sports?

i3

rts : Genetics and Ethic10 These fears go far beyond role models. lf society allows genetic therapy to

be used for nontherapeutic uses, such as bettering athletic performance,

anybody will be able to obtain these genes. This could lead to the creation of

a genetic super-class, whether a super-class of athletes or a super-ctass of

wealth (Fukuyama 2002). The technology could be too expensive for some,

so those that aae wealthy would be able to become genetically enhanced.

These fears are expressed in science fiction and could become reality.

11 There are a few people who are even more worried with the possibility

of allowing gene therapy in general. Humans are essentially interfering

with the natural course of evolution, trying to 'play God-" With this, we woLlld

be interrupting natural selection, and this could unexpectedly be detrimental

to the human race and the earth as a whole. Do these more fearful outlooks

on society and the human race warrant our preveniing gene doping? These

outlooks may be more fiction than reality.

The act of

"playlingl God"

Frankensteinian

act. Do a little

research. Who is

Frankenstein and

12 The third argument is a ditficult one to analyze, as it indicates that gene

doping could pervert the nature of sport, just as steroids and other

performance enhancing drugs have done (Schneider and Butcher 1994).

Essentially, there is an internal good of sport, such as a touchdown or a

tennis rally, which would be compromised with genetic enhancement. For

example, more home runs could be hit than expected, and this might be

considered a perversion of our natural ability that defines sport With

baseball or sprinting, a clear advantage could be gained ln other instances,

thouqh, no advantage is gained. Tennis players may not be able to rally any

better after genelic enhancement. ln these instances, gene doping could be

allowed as it will not give any advantage, but it cou'd be argued jLlst as easily

lhal since lhere is no gatn the therapy is unnecessary'

t+

: uenelcs a

13 The mosl complex obiection to the prospects of gene doping is that it

is unnatural and dehumanizes the athlete. Gene doping would

unnaturally alter the human body, with athletes now having a different

genetic makeup than they were born with. So many questions arise when

the idea of dehumanization is consadered. How exactly do we define

humanity? lf we define being human as having a specific genetic code that

stays the same from birth, then gene doping would be considered

dehumanizing On the other hand, we could also say that humans are

unique in that we have a moral compass. With genetic enhancement, our

moral compass does not change, so it is moae difJicult to define humanity

Ttre question of humanity is complicated even more when we consider

autonomy. The philosopher Kant states that dignity is defined by our

ability to morally reason as autonomous individuals. If governments

and organizations ban gene doping, they essentially take away the

autonomy of the athlete. The competition between governments and

organizations and athletes assaults our notion of humanity.

14

15 SFortfiould not be very lnteresting without humans Both the athletes

and the spectators are essential to the success of sports. lt seems odd

to suggest that changing genes makes us less human callsing sports to be

different than they were before genetic change. The change will not be

enough to turn baseball players into something ftllly different, and society will

most likely not reject genetically-modified athletes as something abnormal'

Even so, society should question its dependence upon technology for

enhancement. "What ate the ends of human existence and the degree to

which humans should strive continLlally for enhancement through technology"

(Hoberman, 1992)? lt may even be human nature to try to enhance

ourselves through technologY.

What is meant by

the cryptic line,

"Sports would not

be very interesting

without humans"?

It seems like such a

Explain in your

@d athletes creates another ethical

and practical dilemma. The lnternational Olympic Committee has already

begun the search for a viable test for gene doping that does not involve

muscle biopsies lf a test is found, we must consider the ethics associated

with privacy, as genetic information could be given to third parties, leading to

genetic discrimination. The testing could also incur great costs and time'

being so big that it would be dafficult for sports to bear (lIccrory 2001)'

Others bel'eve that a test may never be found, and we therefore may never

16

SDons - Genetics and Ethics

: Genetics and Ethicsbe able to find whether an athlete has gene doped (Wadler 1998). The

overall ethical dilemma may not have a solution, as there would be no

feasible way to test. Athletes could gene dope without consequence.

17 Why should we be asking all of these ethical questions? Unlike other

instances of doping and athletic performance enhancement, we have the

ability to make the ethical decisions before the technology is in place and

wreaking havoc. Also, genetic modjflcation is very different from other torms

of doping because it has important uses in medicine and society. Where do

we draw the line between therapy and enhancement? As a final thought, this

threat of gene doping as a form of genetic therapy gone bad may be an

unwaranted threat. As l\lonsignor [Iichael Sharkey says, oLrr society "seems

to proceed in the fatalistic thought that whatever is scientifically possible will

one day be scientifically realized " (Sharkey '1989) Many people are sure

gene doping is inevitable, but maybe we are making mountains out of mole

hills.

Essay Question:

'Sports today is about talent exploiting science.' Discuss. (AJC PE01 O6)

This reading can alsa be used to cansider any i,nplications pertaining to elhics and lhe role af'fairplay

{6

Taking drugs : Case studies

case I

Nov 16.2007

IOC may leave Mar:on Jones' 100m gold medal spot vacant

MADID - FUTURE record books may show the.e was no winner of the women s 100 n]eters at the

2000 Sydney Olympics

IOC officials said on Thursday they are considering the unprecedented step of leaving the go d-

medal spot vacanl fol owing l\llarion Jones' confession thal she used pedormance-enhancing drugs

'Thai could be a solution,'saad lOC board member Denis Oswald a member ofthe three_man

disciplinary commisslon dealing with the Jones case

Although the original second-place finisher normally would be upgraded to the gold the

lnternalional olympic committee is reluctant to give the medat to Greek sprinter Katerina Thanou

because she was caught up in a doping scandal at the 2004 Aihens Games

'ln a way, it's logical and consistent that we shollld just move her up, but there is another feeLing '

Mr Oswild said in an interview du.ing a break in the world antFdoping conference 'We'll see how

insistent she I\rs ThanoLi) is. The best way would be not to do anything and jLlst leave it as it rs and

there is no gold.'

IOC president Jacques Rogge sald no final decisioa had been made but thai 'anylhing was

possible, including leavlng the result b ank

Lastweek.MrRoggesaldtheloConlywouidUpgradeath]eteswhowere.leterminedtobe.clean.Jones won gold m;als ln the 100 met.es' 2OO and the 1 600-metre

'elay n Sydney as well as

bronzes rr lhe 400 le'ay ano lono JU-np

Afteracknowledginglasimonththatshesiarleddopingbeforethoseolympics'JonesretL]rnedal]five medals to th; lOC. Pauline Davis-Thompson of the Bahamas won the silver behrnd Jones in

the200.withSriLanka'ssusanthikaJayasinghethirdandJamaica'sBevellyMcDonaldfourlh

ThelocisawaiiingrecommendationsflomthelnternationalAssociationofAihleticsFede.ations(IAAF) before deci;ing on how to revise ihe medals. The iAAF council is scheduled to consider the

case ne),t week.

The IAAF and lOC also must decide whether Jones'American 'elay

teammates should lose their

medals. Jamaica flnished second in the 1,600-metre relay' with RLlssia third and Nigeria fourth

FrancewasfourthbehindtheUniiedSlaiesinthe40OrelayThelOCrulingcot]ldcomealtheDec '10 to 12 executive board meeting in Lausanne, Switzerland lf not, the next IOC board meeting

is in APril in Beting

A!dit. Wada presldent Dick Pound, meanwhile said he would like an'audit' of all of Jones' doping lests to

t'1


learn how she was able to beat the system for so long

'lt is noi much fun to find that someone who has been tested 160 times admits to doping ' he said 'l

am not happy to hear that someone who had that many tests was a user for that many years '

Wada direcior general David Howman cited lhe Jones case as an example of how police

investigat ons are increaslngly cruc al in catching drug cheats. He noted that Jones only confessed

after b6ing accused of lying t; investigalors about her steroid use and her associaiion with a check-

fraud scheme.

'shelsanexampleofhowanathlelecanbeaithesysiernofsamplecolleclion'n'4rHowmansaid'One-i,unareO-tl"ty samples were taken from that aihlele and n01 one resulted in an adverse flnding

.- lt was only when faced with the unenviable prospect oi golng to lail for a long time ihat the athlete

confessed that she had cheated' AP

case 2

U.S. Anti-Doping Agency Loses lts 1st Case: Jenkins Found Not Guilty

After seven years and nearly 40 arbitration hearings' the u S- Anti-Doping Agency finally lost a case -

- to four third-year law students and a law professor working for free

snrnler La fasha Je'rkrns, who faced a two_year co/npetlllon ban learned lale Wednesday that she

i5l 0""" i"""0 ""t

guirty ol an alleged doping offense from July 2? 2oa\ and w'|s inv|ed lo etL n

to competition immedlately, attorney [4ichael Straubel said yesterday

Jenkins, 29, a former NCAA champion in the 2oo meters and a former world indoor silver medalist'

n"iii,JiJp*,ti"" i"r the steroid nandrolone during a meet in Belgium straubel and the students in

ne inO.p"ri,f*t study class had argLled during ariOctober arbitration that she was a victim of a

labomtory error.

ln a decision that shocked even Straubel, the director of the University Law C'inic at Valparaiso

Uniu"irity, u three-person arbitration panel agreed lt ruled the hvo European laboratories that

i"nol"J-'n"i ,iin" samples violated World Ant;Doprng Agency slandards and the case should be

thrown out. Straubel said.

The world track and field federation (IAAF) has 30 days to decide whether it will appeal the resuli

The IAAT could nol be reached tol com'nent yesterday

iiii" in" p".iti". l."t was announced and Nike vorded her contract' Jenkrns has been working lull

il." u" . iJ tu"nn"ian in Raleigh, N c, Straubel said She plans to return to track and field and

hopes to compete at the 2OO8 Summer Games in Beiiing

"l didn't expect to win, but Iactually thought we had a chance"', Straubel said "l just thought our

aroumenl, lo an obiectrve person made sense lBull Im quite shocledl .

l;#;;l;;;k;;;.inin". nua streiched from its creation in 2oo0' and it included a victory this

past sL.rmmer over cyclist Floyd Landis.

i8


The agency, which oversees drLrg-testing operations for U.S. Olympic sports, had credited its success

in hea;ings to its meticulous approach. Only after an internal antidoping review board considers the

evidence does USADA bring doping charges. Some attorneys, however, have argued that the anti

dopinq system is so stacked against athletes that they have almost no chance of overturning positive

test resL]lts even if they are innocent.

The panel notified Jenkins of its ruling in a letter and indicated a formal decision would be available in

January. Travis Tygart, USADA'S chief executive, declined to comment

After t;lking to seieral attorneys last summer, Jenkins concluded she could not afford to fight the

positive tesj. But she was referred to Straubel, and he turned her defense into something of a class

project.

straL]bel and his students argued that Jenkins's doping positive was invalid because both halves of

her urine sample (an athlete'; sample is split into an A and B sample and each is tested separately)

were examined bythe same lab peisonnel at WADA-accredited labs in Ghent' Belgium, and Cologne

Cermany. WADA rules require tiat different personnel examine the A and B sampies to ensure that

mistakes aren't rePeated.

Amy Shipley Saturday, December 15 2007

Washington Post

Discussion Questions:

lvith r"t; :--r.nce to tL. abo* hvo cases how has the issue of doping affected the image and

"uil., ot

"p..tato..n? Who suffered a greater blow, Marion Jones or LaTarsha Jenkins?

ln case 2, Jenkins was established as a "victim of laboratory error" and the case was

pursued by lawyers who worked foI free.

Comment on the nature ofjustice and fairplay.

DovoL]thinkweshouldhaVesa{eguardsandmeasuresagainsttheoccurrenceofdopinginfLrture? List some examples and explain why

rq

sports : The Singapore Context

Dec 29. 2OA7

Sports strike gold

Secudng the bid lo host an F1 race and winning the Asean Football Championship were but twohighlights for spods here. Aciing Sports editor Wilfred Yeo sees mo.e good news ahead.

THE 'SING" that has been missing from Singapore sport seemed io return with @lggItgd Vqlgcellqin 2047.

To be sure, the eniire naiion came allve with the sound of good news throughoui the year: the firstFo.mula One st.eet race under the stars the bid to host the inaugural Youth Olympic Garnes (YOG)and the unveillng ofthe Sports Hub bidders. lt d id not matter that the three meg a projects would notmaienalise till later: Sept 28 next year for the F1 race, 2010 for the YOG and 2011 for the Sports Hub.

The F1 race, in particular, captured the public's imaginatron l\,4any had given up hope of a return tothose heady days of 1973, when Singapore last staged a motor racing event (in Thomson Road),despite earlier iniilatives

Thankfuily, they did not include Mr Ong Beng Seng, [,4r Teo Hock Seng and Mr Colin Syn ' lhe laiierpair among the thousands who took part in the 1972 races as coLrrse marchal and race driver andnow Singapore GP chairman and deputy chai.man

Entrepreneur Ong responded when the Governmenl wanted a private lnitiatjve to b d for and run iheeveni, especially as his long-time friendship with Bernie Ecclestone could help persuade the F1 ownerto glve Singapore the green light (and night lights).

The project would cost an estimated $'100 mllllon 1,r $150 lnillion, but the rewards are likely 10 be fargreater: a shot in the arm for the tourjsm industry, exposure to the world and development ofSingapore into a global city.

There was added excitement for motoa sports enthusiasts ln October when the Governmentannoufced plans to build a mulilmillion dollar, permanent race circuit for non-F1 events on a 20ha site

in Changi by 201 1 lf the luture sounds exciting fol sportsmen and fans, ihe past year has been justas rewarding as some b g-nane players, sponsors and organiseas made their way here

American world No 2 golfer Phil Mlckelson was sureiy lhe star visitor of the Barclays S ngaporeOpen, in a cast that included luminaries such as Vijay Singh, Adam Scott and eventual winner AngelCabrera

Altogether, 32 000 peop e flocked to ihe Sentosa golf course for the US$4 million (S$5 8 mlllion)event, with most of them watching his every move. How they must have wished lhey could also hearevery word ihe affable l\,4ickelson uttered to his caddie, clL,bs and golf ba {s.

They are more likely though, lo hear the famous grunts ol tennis' pin-up girl [/aria Sharapova whenthe world No 5 meets world No. 6 Anna Chakvetadze in an exhlbjtion maich at the Singapore lndooaStadium tomorlow. Another o{ spods'dariings to charm Singaporeans was swimrner Natal]eCoughlrn who cor'r'rpeted in the Fina Swimming World Cup that was the highlight of the 1O-week iongWaterFest that attracled 35,000 speclators

vo

Sports : The Singapore Context

The American chose the besl way io rnesmerise he. audience: by making her maft n the women's100m shorl-course backsiroke. lt was the first swim m ing wor d record witnessed by S ingaporeans.who also had extra reason to cheer with Tao Ll claimrng three silver medals. Tao L had a br ghtSouth east Asia Games outrng. c aiming four golds and pockettng $23.750 to be lhe most bemedalledSingaporean and top eamer lnder the l\,4ulti l\/lillion Dollar Award Programme The Thailandexpedition was Singapore's best away Games They retu.ned wlth 43 golds, one more lhan at the2005 event in l\lanila

There were lois to cheer for: twins Tabitha and Nicole Tay's historlc joint gymnastics gold and bovr'lerRemy Ong's winning both hls golds by just one pinfall, among them Equaly heroic and mernoialr{lwas triathlete l\,4ok Yrng Ren's collapsing at the I nish line and not knowing he had won unti he was :n

hospital

11 is all the more touchrng that lvlok was spurred on by the memory ol his late teammate ThaddeusCheong, who died of heart farlure after a SEA Games selecllon trial ln June The iudges fol lheannlal spods awards will certainly have a lough time when lhey meet to declde on the Sportsmafand Sportswoman eaTly next year Footballs L ons, too, could be in the reckoning for Tearn ol the

They brouqht much joy by c a m ng the Asean Footba I champ onsh p in February, before garneringmore applause by progressing to the thrrd quaiifying round of the World Cup for the iirst time lt musthave rubbed off on the Undea23 leam who cl nched their firsi SEA Games medal _ albeit a bronzes nce'1995.

8ui soccer was also responsible for some unsavoury incldenls notably Woodlands Welllngtoncha inn a n Francis Gomez s orde. ng his team io wa k oLIl of a match and Tampines Rovers strikel N oh

Alam Shah's attack on SAFFC defender Daniel Eefnett

Be thai as it may, ( has been a remarkable yesrof achievement and qood news for spo.ts al:rldan increasinq nunber of government init ativei todevelop Slngapore into a global clty The besithing is that it promlses to gel better with theSports Hub, the 2011 World Netballcl_arrpro'lsl_.p poss o / lre Yo- h O!rp c

Games and the Volvo ocean Race comrngupstream

wil be the Sports Hub which along with th sleading spofts hub by then - if not earlier.

[email protected]

-lhere is a so the 2013 SEA Games Thevefueyear s iniliatives, woLrld sure y make S ngapore Asia s

7l


Nav 24,2407

World class...and born in S'pore

A number of naiional sports associaUons have groomed local sportsmen to world standardsCthers who once looked abroad now nuftuae locals, with success. Senior Writer Yap Koon

:--long reports.

A KEY concern lvlr Low Teo Ping and hls fellow volunteers addressed seven years ago when they

decided to build a pipeline to produce world-class sailors was the question of talent

Should Singaporesailing, the national association which he had iust taken over as presideni recn-lit

foreign talent? No, they decided. While they would seek the best foreign expe.ts to help build a

wodd-class structure, ihe sallors must remain local

'We were crlticised then but we stuck io our belief,' says l\llr Low, who is leading Singapore s

contingenl to the forthcoming biennial Souih east Asia Games in Thailand from De' 6 to '15

Singatoresailing's decision was significant then because major sports such as table tennis, loofball,

athletics and badminton were recruiting foreign born talent to help Singapore win medais.

The groundwork was laid in 1993 when the gove.nment introduced the foreign sports talent (FST)

scheme but the rush to recruit acceleraled some nlne years ago The rationa e was ihat Slngapore

had to recruit talented foreign athletes and offer them citizenship largely because its tiny populat on

was inadequate and competitive spod had evolved into a full{ime pursuit

Besides, it was argued, it would be foollsh nol to exploit ihe convenient availabllity of quallty lale tabroad in an interaonnected world. But the Singapore Bowling Federalion, like Slngaporesailing,

thought otherwise.

'Foreign talent is the easy way out and I have never believed in that,'says l\,4rs Jessie Phua, who

has b;en the associalion's president for the past five yea.s she has been actively involved wiih i1

for almosi 20 years and ls a Nominated l\,4ember of Parliament. ln August' she h_ocame ihe ii'stSingaporcan, and woman, to be elected president of the sport's world governing body'

'Sometimes, the harder way is the better way because yoLi reap a genuine harvest tegularly,' she

says. After almost a decade of the foreign talent scheme the harder way appea.s to be gaining

ground. Athletics and swimming are building talent pipelines that emphaslse the scouting and

irooming of Singaporean-born athietes while niche sports stlch as cricket are sowing the seeds o{ a

loca ta e1l pool in su'rools

'We do not need 10 intentionally woo foreign talent because we have some of the best youngsters

who are comparable to the besi in the saane age group in other top cricket countries,' says lawyer

l\4ahmood Gaznavi, deputy presldent of the Singapore Cricket Association.

For soane spods, international paessure is anoiher reason to focus on Iocal laleni Key world

governing bodles are vi.tually treating citizenship_switchlng as cheating; an act thal is as

dlsagreeable as athletes inflaiing the r performances through steroids

fhese internalional boclies worry thal wooing foreign talent is a quick fix that will weaken the wrll of

c-r,-

Sports : The Sr'ngapore Context

less successful countries io develop a viable local taient scheme which is costiier, harder toconstruct and takes longer lo mature.

The lnternationa Amateur Athletlcs Federation, which governs track and fre d competiiions, recenllyimposed an indirect penalty against countries which lure top forelgn athletes The penalty, encodedin the rule called the Switch of Allegiance, bars an alhiele from representrng his or her new countryfor three years after obtaininq citizenshlp

Given atrack and field athlete's aveaage peaklifespan of flvetol5years the rule may not be assignificant a disincentive as its mosl qlgEllproponents woLrld have llked. Germany, for one, arguedfor a flve-year ban Bul it does make couniries beni on medal-winning quickies think hvice.

Fifa, which governs the world's mosl popular sport, socce., has a stricler rule and wants to imposemore measures. lt has long reslricted a player to representing only one couniry ln h s lfetime. Now.it is pushing for a cap on the number of foreign players in professional clubs.

A second reason for the trend in Singapore towards bulkinq up on local ta ent is a change ofleadership in some associations Newly elected oflicrals. some of whom are former nationalathletes who navrgated the Singapore system successfLllly, are challenglng 9!qq!qbeQlp?Ia!Liq!19.

The latter underscore lhe view that Singaporeans cannot excel because of obstacles such as a lackof strength and physique, a small population, an unfriendly educaiion system and national service

lllr Oon J n Teik, chiei executive officer ofthe Singapore Spo.ts Council, says that while theseconcerns may be unique to Slngapore, all count.les have their problems O and A level examsand national setuice are predictable humps around whlch national associations athletes andcoaches must masler plan.'he says.

'Women don I have to go through nallonal serv:ce but women's perforrnances and achlevements arenot significantly superior in Singapore to the men's' Sometimes, going through the hLrmpsprepares an alhlete better, he argues

Elsewhere, there are athletes who take hto years off to go on a chLlrch mission, return to their sportand go on to become world-class alhletes,'he says.

l\,4r Oon, who studied chemical engineering on a swimming scholarship at an American universlty,was a member ofthe golden generation of Singaporean swimn'rers in lhe 1980s who included Asiancames gold medallists Ang Peng Siong, David Llm and Mr Oon's brother, Jin Gee. Jin Gee, avice president of the Singapore Swimming Association, disagrees that the taleni pool is too small.saying: 'ltsthesyslemthatneedsfixing,notihetalent.'Forexampe,swimmersarebetterprepared now at qua|fying for international competitions on merit, rather than on appeal, he says.

'All we did was Uga( the competiuve schedule \ thich allowed them to prepare properly for thequalifying trials.' He beleves a new plan by the assoclation will help local swimmers win at a levelhigher than the SEA Games.

A third reason is that the foreign experls are reinfo.cing lhe view that Singapore can succeed oniywith a sound talent base of largely Singapore born ot bred athletes

73


While they aqree foreiqn talent shouldn't be discouraged, there is no need to source themsystemaiically.

'You cannot win by depending on a Tao L alone,' says lvlr Wen Xin Long, 58, who was hiredrecently as the swimmlng association's director for high pedorrnance. A former coach of China'sOlym pic swim team, he has coached in Singapore for the past 13 years

Teenager Tao Li, who was born in China, won a gold medal ai last Decembeis Asian Games, thefirst female Siogaporean swimmer to do so in almost 30 years. Because it is impraciical to create atalent pool that depends on someone like Tao Li, lvlr Wen recommends rebuildrng the structure tokeep local talent swimming competitively. Even spofts that rely on an active foaelgn lalent pipelineare working harder to nurture local laleni. Table tennis and badminton say they have a fresh pool

of local players who are younger and better trained to compete internationally.

Soccer, which raised the temperature of the debate over inducting foreign sports talent when itstarted its scheme seven years ago, is enjoying a winning run because its scherne in developinglocalyouth is blossoming. Ofthe45 players registered for the 2010 World Cup qualifying rounds.only six are foreign talent, says the Football Association of Singapore (FAS)

One reason for the low number? 'The early success of our local youth development progaanme.'

says FAS secretary-general Steve. Yeo Early this week, Srngapore reached the third qualifying

round for the Wor{d Cup for the first time. Nine players in the team graduated from the programme

Even so lhere is a clear divide in the ialent slakes between sailing and bowling on the one hand,

and lable tennis and badminton on the other lt !s evident in their .espective elite pool of athletesand policies.

Singapore's $7 million sports scheme to fund a select gaor.lp of full_time athleles in 3 bid io win an

Olympic medal within the next two Olympics in Beijing next year and in London in 2012 includes

iabie lennis and badrninton players as well as saiors

The four shuttlers and two table tennis players in the scheme called Project 0812 are foreign-talentcillzens whereas all the 12 sailors are native Singaporeans. Table lennls and badminton believethat foreign talenl is indispensable to achieve their goals.

For instance, the Singapore Badminton Association's (SBA) prime target is to qualify for the finalrounds of the sporl's symbol of world supremacy, the Thomas Cup, in 2012. The SBA reckons thathalf the talent who will help S:ngapore get there are likely to con'lprise foreigners who are given

cilizenshlp

The Singapo.e Table Tennis Associaiion (STTA), which recrllited the first foreigners to play forSingapoie in 1996, says it wlll keep sourcing foreign talent because of Singapore's small population

'We see no reason to lmpose this restraint on ourselves as we are {lving in a very open and

connected global village,'says STTA president Choo Wee Khlang. Foreign{alent citlzens also

insp re and attract youngsters. he adds lndeed, the Singaporeans who have come closest 10

winning an Olympic medal in 47 years are foreign-born talent such as retired star Jing Junhong and

her successor Li Jlawei.

Tan Howe L ang won Slngapore s only Olympic medal when he finished second in weightllfting at

?4


the 1960 Rome Olvmpics. Jing frnished fourth n the women's singles at Sydney 2000 as did Li in

Alhens four years later.

'To continue 1o entertain any sense of disiinction between local born and foreign talent is not heipfLl

in our national agenda to engage and encourage the besi talent from around the world ln a I fields

and industry to nrake Slngapore thelr new horne country,' says I\,4r Choo The leaders of sailing and

bowling however believe that Singapore does not need 10 supplemenl its local pool

'Firsfly, we believed that our local taleni could do lt,'says sailing's JMr Low, recalling his associat;on's

decision seven years ago. 'Lack of a sizeable physique didn't necessarily disadvantage us

because winning in sailing is as mLich about tactics as ll is about slrength.

'Second, if we were golng to volunteer blood, sweat and tears in such a long-term proiec{ should we

do i1 to bene{lt foreigners or our fellow Singaporeans?

'We decided that the beneficiar es should be singaporeans.' The bowling federation agrees 'lf

other sports be ieve in foreign taleni, that's thelr call,'says lvlrs Phua

'We think that we musl invest and belleve in oLlr own people '

Fjve years after Slngapore Sailing restructLlred, a fresh crop of sailors slarted winning' beginnlng

with jn unpreceOen"ted world championship for youth in 2005 a competition second only to the

Olympics

They followed thal up by finishing first in the gold medal standlngs for sailing at the SEA Games

late;that year and fiist igain at i harder level, the As an Games lasi December' The Asian Games

feat was important beca;e it confirmed that the local talent pool could produce champions

consistently Bowling has taken its policy a step flrlher' Jhe federation used to hire a foreigner as

head coach

Now, that job is being shared by lhree local coaches and the entire coaching staff are

Singaporeans

'The days of the SLlperman coach having to be a blue-eyed blond who can make it happen lor us

are gone,'declares l\,4rs Phua

We can do lt bY olrrselves'

[email protected]

Nov 24, 2oo1

WHAT LOCAL & FOREIGN EXPERTS SAY' It's bette. to trust local athletic talent

Associaiion chief admits iis foreign talent scheme v/as a fallure

By Yap Koon HongLAWYER Loh Lln Kok was one of the iirst senior spofts officials to soLlrce for foreign taleni to spur

SingaPore to athletics glorY

Di:


The long-iime president of the slngapore Athletic Association (SAA) runs lrack and fleld, perhaps themost intensely competitive and premler Olympic spoat.

'l wanted the forelgn talent to act as a eg!4!9! to spur local aihletes beyond South-east Asian Gamesachievement,' he said. lt was not difficLllt to find alhletes, sald lVr Loh, 60, who has been SAA presrdeni

for 25 of the past 27 yeaas. lnfact, hesaid m any came looking for hin'r.

'l was even approached by a Somaltan middle distance runner whose time for the 1 500m would havewon Singapore an Asian Games gold medal, or possibly an Olympjc one But he lurned them downpreferring lo scour china and lndia instead because he felt athleles there would assimilai€ belter here.

'l didn't just want them to win, but to make Singapore iheir home, have a good job afte. they retired and

contribute to the spod,' he said. lndia dld not pgqgllt because it was difficult persuading athleles io flin

for Singapore. So, he found hls foreign lalent n China in 1998 Nine years eight China athletes and $1

million ater, he admits that the scheme was a failure.

'll was a costly mistake,' he said plainly 'One didn't make the grade anolher ran away' three gave up

one's Ltnlikely lo return 10 defend his sEA Games tile th s year and the seventh is suing the associatron.'

Only throwe; Zhang Guirong, 29, has returned fronl China to defend her shot put crown and compete rn

the lavelin and disc-us evenG as well at the sEA Games nexl month while he has not shut the door

completely on foreign talent, fMr Loh said, this is no longei on his lo do list

sAA,s technlcal director Ralph l\,4ouchbahani, who began mapplng the scheme to produce local track and

f eld lalent fou. years ago, is even more qlEqqltthat foreign talent is unnecessa'y 'N'4y firsi principle ls

always to'trust iour ow; talent',' said the German c*izen hi.ed five years ago He offered several

.eas;ns, the fir;t of which is that forelgn athietes are motivaled prlmarily by money when they swrtch

alLeqiances Bul unlike business, he argued, sporting achievemenl is like music and painting and not

daiven by money

Anartist,ifhe'sagoodone,doesntpaintaplcturebecauseheknowshewillbesellngitforlotsofmoney' he said. iHe may be surprlsed afterwards when it does and reaiise how much olhers are wllling

to pay for it.

'But lhe point is. artists, painters, athletes and even coaches - in Europe for example _ work a second lob

;usrtoneantetosupportwhattheywanttoachievecreatively,.Thedesiretosucceedjsnotlnoney.hesaid, but a passion unique to the individual

'So'ifyourecluitforeignathletestocome'notbecauseofthepossjbilityofwinning.butbecauseofthe.oney you are payingl how can forelgn taleni be a viable ootion?' lnvesting in foreign talent is also

unfai,io a couniryis oiwn talent, he said. Unless the foreigners win consislently ai competilrons far

harder than the local athletes can manage, investing in them is not wodh the money His boss' [Ir Loh

agr;ea, ano saio that the reason he pL.tt [he foreign ialent scheme on permanent hold was that the China

athletes did not achieve ta.gets higher than the local aihletes

'We wanted them to w n at the Asian Games,' he said None did The gold medals they won al the SEA

Games should realy have been the work of local talent, he said l\'4r l\Iouchbahani said that sports

science and a largei pool of exped coaches have made the development of talent a more level plaviag

fie d

?t

Sports : The 5ingapore Context

'Because sport is unpredictable, you cannot guarantee success,' he cautioned. 'An average of only 3 per

cent of the talent identified by any sports structure make it to the top.'

The counhies that yleld rnore success in ihe ong-term adapt the largeiy common body of knowledge thatsports science offers to their own socio_cultural backgrounds. 'That is why Singapore cannot copy

China, Finland or New Zealand wholesale and expect to win medals,' he sald

sporting s!ccess is unlike most other flelds because it depends fully on a human resotrrce - the athlete

andwh;tmakeshrmtick.'so,youcannotsayyouonlywanttoselectthewaytheChinesedeveloptheirlalent and hope to succeed,' he said. 'To succeed, you'll have to impod China's entire human eco-

syslem as well - its communistic ideology and its billion_strong population '

ln other words. harnessinq local talent rs not only an eihlcal conslderation but the most practical one

And what about genes? Not as v tal as commonly believed, he argued

,Any developmenl of hrgh peaformance from a pool of potential athletes ls linked to a sound structure for

de;elopment and lheir socio-cultural background ' About 10 years ago' he went to Lebanon on a

Getmangovernrnentprojecttohelpbuildthecountry.ssportsstll]ctureaflera-civ]lwar.Lebanondidnotnave a history of success in track and field,' said l\,4r wlouchbahani who is half-Lebanese They asked

himtoseltargets.'lreplledthalhavingaLebanesequalifyfo.anolympicfinalwollldnotbeabadidea'

'l saw ihis 18-year-old Lebanese at the track and said thal he could do it' with proper guidance' he

recalled. ,Theiebanese officials lauqhed and said, 'Crazy cerman, go ahead ' 'l think they thought it

was impossible and was looking forward to a good laugh when lfailed'

Seven rnonths later the highjumper, Jean-Claude Rabbath lS' became the first Lebanese to qualify for

an Olym plc track and iield iin;l at Sydney. He did not win. but lV r lMouchbahani saidthepointwas

made: it'snotthegenes,buttheentirep;ckageofscientifictraining personal motivation and suppoft

Since then, Rabbath has qualified for the Olyrnprcs again and four world championships as well'

Last year, he became the first Lebanese to w:n an Aslan Games gold medal in track and f eld when he

won the high iumP

'He'll qualify for Beijing, for sure,' said i\r. Mouchbahani, refer'ing to next year's Olymplad

'Lebanon has fewer people than Singapore, and every country has talent and a chance,' he said

koon [email protected]

Essay Question:

''l\,4odern s little more than big bLlsiness other means." Discuss. (RJC PE97 Q1'1)

?1

Past GCE

2005 Qn 6.

question

"Hosting major sporting events creates more problems than benefits-" Doyou agree? (2005)

Caveat : Although this afticle is wtitten in the fom of an evaluation dftwn mainly from the

iydney Otympi;s, the same atguments can be usecl for all majot spofting events students

should appreciate the writet's wide range of percpectives covercd and be able ta dtaw linkages

to other areas of discussion.

lmpact of the Games on Olympic host citiesc'. ard Ca.rrran Lntra..'rlrolNF So.hWdl"lnternational Chair in Olympism (lOC-UAB)

'1. lntroduction

The rnpact can be dNided into fo!rseparate periods

r rhe o eoar.lron ola ba ano lne w''In, 9 oi lne gh oho'IIleGd'r^sz tn" r"n"^ v""' p','oo o'prepdral'on lor Ihe q.dq -q ollhe G"T". ;; ;;

"'J;"-, ,;;.i. " 2000r wnen rr^e oftoiL c"n.' d,e sraqFd o'owed o' Ihe Pard y4 oi'

4 the mlch onger Post Gamesera

There are a so many types of impactio consder:

. alterations n des qn ofthe clly;

. chd-oer Lo ln4 phy\'calano lhe buill e.vnonner I

. rtr" rep'es"nt"tron ota ctyand ourlrv dno rt5 Luliu'e

. improvements rn a r. road and railiransport,

' increased costs and laxesi. (ha.qes rn goreI ance dnd pub ic oec sion ma\ "g. ,nnov" ons rn oorilr .. and pol rca' Flat onsi ps. oolentralr|r'a eo Iour sm and bus nF,s d'll*ry. ine creauon ol new cporlrnq vFnues wt' cr have polenlrd for poslcdrr as L on r - n4\ ! s':. ine oorentralo_ o,"atl, connLnriv conrulldLon rnvol"Tentdnd erer p'olesl

. rne nvol\eneniof Lh" commLnrty as vo unleer\ dt lo-cr _bPa'er'

2. Debates and controversies

The m oacl of a n O vmprc G arnes on host c t€s s a matter of contin Lr ing debate a 'd

controvercy There

,ii;-i llir .,it,-""'il'i;"i ""Jq*'n""" -a "o*t the rmpacl or the cames Berow are six a'eas or

2.l. The decision to bid for ihe games -does il represent manutactured consent?

wi.lL,l ji -orv"lpi"

oloi".,de on ;ehalr or all the pe;pF ora criy th€ marontv are on v ndrrect \, consulied

A" an".*- G**" l";*s a larqe stamp on a host city and th s impaci on has incrcased sifce 1984 as

ihe G;m;s have beconre larger ;volvLng rnore athleles and sports and a sreater medLa and sponsor

.r.*""u rn"r. ut" ur"o "ow

nrqler exiectatons aUoutthe delivery of the Games After the lntemanonaL

51"."i" c".ttt"" riocf "hose'lo

male lhe environmeni lhe thlrd sirand of Olvmpism in 1994' ciiles

t'r'". i"" " "^p"

lt"o t" o"rrver c lea ner a nd g eene r Games Follow ns th€ T 1 Seplembe r 2001 terrorist

altacks in the USA, secuity and insurance costs have increased dramaUcallv'

ii"qi"q;" ory.pii c".": Iepresents a lons and expensive commitneni ofa ciivto th s mesa eveft

ag

as to whelherlheywant thei. cily to bid for an Olymplc Games and whatthey want to achieve in iheprocess A bid ls usually framed in tenns of some comrnunity beneflt-such as urban renewal improvedtransport or betler sporting faci lies -wh ch ii ls clalmed willcounter the potentialcosts and burdens tothe conrmunily Public op nion polls are usually ciied by lhe b d proposers as proofof plblc suppoit for a

Bid books produced by Orgaf s ng Cornm tlees, talk up the public support ior the Games and dism ss anyporenllal oppos lion. The S \/dnev Bid Boak clanned tlat there was u n iversa I enih usiasm' for the Sydneybrd and added thai supporl within New South Wales for the Sydney 2000 A d'was at 90 per cenl andcontinu ng io grow (Sydney O ymplcs 2000 Bid, 1993153)

Another lacUc of bid organisels is to rfcorpolate key pelsonnelfrom minorly grolrps such as indigenouscommun les, ethnic comm!nities and weliarc groups - who may potenlially provde opposilion io anOlympic Games and even oEan se protest movements to demonslrate wide community suppod Twocritics oithe bid prccess, Douglas Booth and Co in Tatz, have argued thaiihis process does notamo!nttorca1 consuLlation it represents 'manufact! red consenl' (Boolh and Talz. 1994)

2.2. Community consultation about the impactofthe gamesThis is a relaied issLre abolrl the degree of comm!nity consultation d!ring the preparatons iorthe stagingofan Olympic Games Fastlrackng ofvenLres and other O ympic p rojects arecomrnon praclices becauseof the enomiiy of the lask of prepaing for the Games rn a shod time Jrame As a resu t there is usu allyllmited comrnunity consultation and the over riding ot localconcerns are justified as being in lhe city and

Some measure ofcommunity opposition is a feat!re ofal contemporary O ympic Games Even though theSydney 2000 Olympic Games were judged to be successfuland wellsuppoded by the people of lhe ctylhere was some opposition lo the Games in the lead'up period The Sydney Organising Committee for theolymplc Games (SocoG) in acld ton was frequentry criticlsed by the medla and lhe p!blic of beingexcessive y secrcuve anclh gh-handed.

Comm!nity oppos lion to the Games rn Syclney focussed on lhe constructon of pafiicu arfacilties TheBondrBeach Volleyba Siad um was a conlrove rsia I developrnent becalse it closed offa slbstantralseclEn of a popular sufing beach for some six months and there were feals thal itwould causeenvlronme nla I dam aae to the beach The developrnent of lhe Ryde Pool the ven!e ofsome preliminarv

water poo matches closed a public poolior two years and converied parl of a public pai( inio a private

leisure facilily (Owen 2001)

There were comp ains fiom loca government the third terof governm€nl in Australla, thatthe vews oflocalcouncils were not adequately canvassed Auburn Co!ncrlone ofihe pooter mt] niclpa lilies ln Sy'iney,belleved that ils ratepayerc had lo bear an unfair burden forihe crcaUon of Sydney Olympic Park, wh ch

laywithin its boundarles (Owen 2001) ltwasslggesied althe l,losman Counc forurn on the impacis ofth; o rymp cs that local auiho.ities have been largely locked oui of the Io lympicl decision ma king process

and have received very litie information oi key issues like anticpated transpod flows' which are vitalforlhe fomulalion of localtranspo( plans (Cashman and Hughes, 1999a 32)

2.3. Positive versus negative impacts on host cities -weighing the balance

The costs and benefits ofan Olympic Games are mattels of continuing debate beiore, dur ng and aftertheGames lt is virtually lmpossible 10 know i\e true cost to a city ofhostng an Olympic Games becausethere is no accepled way of assessing expenditLrre Olynpc budgets are both politica, conlentious 3ndnotoriouslv unreliable To present Oiympic exp€nditure in the best possible lighi hostcities often hid€cedain tems or shift them to oiher budsets. Olympic inirasiructure costs may appear in the govemmentspublicworks budqet ratherthan the Olympic budget Presumably lhere is a iearthat the disclosure ofthefu costs ofstag ng an O ympic Gam€s might.llrninlsh the degree of publc support forthls event

The staled benefits for a cornmunity irom the siaging ofan Olyrnp c Games are often equally vagleThese benetits arc lsua y !ncosted and theit value infated Afler an Olympic Games there is lim(edassessment as io whether any prcposed benefis have been reaLrsed

The suppodeE ol an olympc Games arg!e thal these benefits wiloutweigh any negative irnpacts such

rdL-l

as overc.owding, increased cosis and taxes and disruption duelo Olymp'c_telated building Thercare,inaddilon, hidden and unanlicipaied burdens lhat mightappear iithe Games are pe.celved io be

unsuccessful leading 1o criticism of a cily or iilherc are unexpected burdens, such as a terorisi atta'k

2.4- Spreading the costs and benefits ofthe games

There has been much discussion aboutwho benefits mosl from the Games in the hostcitv and ihe host

couniry forthat mattet- and whethetthe costs and burdeas arc sharcd equally. While it is cleat thattheGame6 cafl produce langible benefits forgovemment and business, and the iourism indusiry in partic'rlar,

the non tang ible be nefrdfor the commun it are less se f evident other than the privllege ol participating in

the G ames in one way or a nother A lot depends in ihis instance on whethe I lhe promlses to lhe

cornmunity at the iimd oflhe bid - betlersporls facilities and urban inftaslructure are actually kepl

It h as bee; arg ued by radical scholars, such as Lenskvj, lhat some grou ps. such as lhe underc ass the

horneless and-low cosl rcntalg.oups, are worse ofias a resut ofan O ympic Games She coniended that

O\T o( lFoac\, oe--lrls a_.r-e lo l-F ake.dv pr \'Fged s' lo s o_ lhe oopu rlron wh l' lha

or.adr'r.lag'd oed a dr'p opolronale s dra o_rre ou'o"- Lensrvr 2002 131

2.5. Community anti-Olympic lobbies

Toronto, which bid unsuccesslu ly fol the 2008 Olympic Games spawned one olthe more prcmine'r anti

Games lobbies, Bread not Circuses This coalition of left and green groups a rg ued that the Games

.J""r""u un""i.o tt'" poor. the horneless and the environme;l The Lobbvaso contended thalto pavfor

rr e Camls nonev wa: ralFn tom r-e hec lq wFIare aro onvronm6_l budgeri wher'irwasmo(t

"""O"O rn

" q.,lp *g*O lhat plblic mon€v should be spent on necess hes bre€d rath€r rhan on

i;; soo;;;';;i,/"r; .1JJe' Aner thF oereat o r'F roronrobd EFad oLc''cuces tav"srrrr'dns atlenuon Itl'- vdnro-ver oid lor I_p /0 0 wnte o\nprc came.almoste'erv conLendrno Olvrpr' cl\/ now has an l'l Olynorca'd_cFwhr_hmarF:useollhelnlcr"'lop,o.ot"

'r. b yn p ' .r'lique PissOFr PFoole .ng"^rou5lv s"bven'ng Ihe Sldnev ol!-rLo c Far' e saq

the web site of a Sydney based lobby

The lO CC Coailt on, The lmpaci of the O lvrn pics on Comm unirv C oa trcn whrch was sel.up n c oniL I ncilon

*iir,ir,"v""".*"ta.ryl"tei(c"nacta)zotownt,ovmpcBrdiepresenlsan€wtvp€ofcommunLtv

"ouiiiio" ln tnrr

't ,l"ln"" ,t"eif as a commun ilv watchd;g ral her I ha n a n a n1 o vrnprc aroup The lOcc

o":ro." lnr'.tn an roepF ^oenr o'gan !2 rron dedralpd lo F_rurrno lnd e_/ronn enldl so' a

,'-..."""t." t o.s.nq ei o_o ".,r'd c u|qh' *sues dsso'rar'o srrh'e dre'dd'c<seo f o-r d

;;;;;;;;;;"-;cw;r th";im or th s coaliiron is to make sure thar communitv rssues are prominenr

d_o ro prol oL'. a- l, w"o rle \ gge:ts an Ol/nprLs lor all

Whlelherchasbeenaproli{elationofcommunityantolyrnpcandW?t.hdoggloLrpslheJelslerylimrtedil"pir",i""il"""i" li tn;iisuppori uase rt is orrt'u rt to a;sess ther s Lenri can ce and whether ihev speak

for anyone otherthan mdicalfinge groups.

2.6. An erosion in human rights in the host city?

Beca use so much is at stake when an o lympic Garnes are held - ihe city and the co ! ntry needs lo look ts

[JJi ir," ir"c-,i, J;"btympic ca-es ian reao to an erosion of hurnan fishts ior the c]uzens ofthat city

""1 "","1*. inJo".-oi oitishter secuitv also provrde the l!sr rcanon for an organrsrns cornmittee or a

;;;;;r';;';;,;;i,wsto'e-r'ctrndrvorarhoene!pdnrcua''vduirorheoane\soa'Loprrinn'^;n\ cFqarvrlFs lhdt nrghi be sFrTeo upo' ov lhe _terndrronc Tadia

Ihe olanrsers or rhe Canes d so clarn lhar Lhe -osr ciry neeos Lo elsure he sar"'I9ll::-! il:-"ir,'rei""", "i't"i",

t.oi" *d dignliaries However, whle host cities wa nt lo be securebul thev don'iwanl

.."ii"L0""""'b""'to.nordolhFvwa-tre;rrytoaopear ltseandnFdurro lli\hr'v ndrs- h"ir"i"J,i,.."""i:-'1"'.in'i.o-roo".o-"**q,"".io'a"'uttottnee'rorsrar,'tonlravloidiJ"i""ii""" rl s"ptitber2001 Securitv in s;Lt Lake ctv was trshterlhan everberore ll,s unlikelv

rnaius citizens wltcomplain aboul extra powels for the r securrty rorces orcurbs on the r freedoms This

willbe seen as the'pice ofireedom

ln the lead up to the Sydney Olympic Games the New South Wales Slate Government introduced special

3O

leq slalro_ d-'qneo (o gr{F polrce dnd orher recJlrtv 'o'ces oowFrs b''ond Lhosa -nde'wh ch thev

n;mal! ope aie thouqh this leqrs alion was denned as lemporary'. Under this legislation polica were

g ven gieater powerc to question and search cLiizens ii the ceniral business dislrici The Australian secreleeryic;, ASIO a so had its powe6 of srrveillance powertotap into phones iorexample increase'iThe Frcedom of lnformaion Aci was suspended for Olympic-related maiie6There is ihe danger that this erosion of civil liberties, duing an olyrnpic Games may be extended and

provlde the excuse for temporary' measures lo remarn in place iorthe onger lerm.

2.7- The size ofthe games and legacy issuesFrom 1980 to 2000 ihere was an unprecedented expansion ln the s ze of the Games seven new spo'lsafd 80 events were addecl to the program. There were many nclud ng loc Presideni Dr Jacqr.res Rogge

who be ieved that lhe Olymplc Games had become too larye therebv imposlng an incrcased burden on

host ciUes As a resuli only wealthier cities caf afford 1o stage an Olvmpic Garnes

ln an effo.t lo coLnter gigantism lhe IOC decreed that no nev/ sports wo!ld be added al the Athens 2004

Olympic Games and eie-ctive y capped lhe slze ofihe prograrn. Ai lhe Legacy Conference in Novembd20b2 Dr Rogge spoke oll against O ympic luxury'projecis thatwould become white elephanis anerthe

cames prefirrind ctevelopm;nts ihatwolr d be susta nable afie' lhe Garnes and have some post Games

use Du ring 200i D r Rogge q ue r ed whether Svd ney shou ld have constructed an Olvmp ic Stad um to seat

1 1 0.000 pe;sons q ve n tli;t th; Stadlum was dowisized afler the Games to 80.000 Th is he suggested

was an unnecessary expense

3. The lmpaci of an olympic Games on a host city va.ies during fou' periods

i; wln a bidio hosl an olymp c Games a ciiv must develop a pLan thai is altractive both to the IOC bliarso to lrost comm!nity arid iey intercst srotips ln lhe host civ. Unless the'e is sttons suppod ac'oss the

Ooanr fo."n orympi" 6 o - bip;rtisan polil caisupport and an absence of active lobbv grcups againsi ihe

Games ihe bid ls bound io fail

To win a bid contest against other cltLes a bid plan wilbe enhanc€d if !iprcmises thatthe irnpactorlhe

61'-o. ,,"1-. *|n .fr l" del.Tcnlrr lo .h.'rI/ ano rh' cour L4 - oue5lon I'dl r"e cdne' ar'.il,iiro

" r" r.l*"r socrat and cuttura term! Bid books document how rhe hosl city w achieve benefit

"lO """ii *** * O*O"n to ils ciUzens ThusanOlympcbrdmavrncudepromlseslormprovelirel'

ir..trosrcrvsu.n,.rh""_rirolr._l,ln.a'ponandlran'oorls\5le-rdoohcrb'9iirrelilensr' e O,o J o-'. - or r.- syon'v 2000 Oh-rp( Cdm" we'F ba !'o on (one onrrrlrrelr' ro lqe h' \l

-..rrit, q--""..av!d,ral .60 F laresold'g ddad d_cla HoIeb- nBrvsoJldb'remeorared Lo o^ oro th6 !116 o_ \le e ol 116-a1\pon no ldr I'll6s rn a. r'ea ol S)d e' w ere ln'\ wer'

.""i """.1"1

rn"* .-" "

so promises of improved tra fs porlal ron nc udrng lhe cons lr! ct o n of a rallwav

i""o tliiv-J*v orvtpi. pr w;ub reduceihe traific burden generate{j bvthe ovmpicGames and

encoulage more people io travelby plblic transpoi(

Another imporlant aspect oithe b d pe.iod is that a crtv needs lo ensure lhat.monev spenl-on-the bid h miwaiied lf ttie bio ls unsuccessful (For every successrulbrd crtv there are up to adozen unsuccessrd bd

Lies lhouor dn unsui .assful o o 'ndy pro/e sLu'c'i I cl a aiFr dcle\

il;il:i;";i";;;J;;,urry .o'"i i,o' so"",n'ent and business who view ihe cames as a wav or

"nn"nc'no t,e oroo"t .Lrl-s ot I ' ' ly \and co nLryr leadr g Io ous les' oooonunlFs lou.lsm and

....,,ri,"",1."i"" i"- "rr

irtoba t,/ idme. Weiri;k ^oled i-ar I e uvd.F) Olvnor e o' re"e i onl{

i,'l,,rL"iJo"*,it'i*rr-diheovrnprclaovemenl'Headdedlhat'themainimp!lsebehindiheGames,s ro oromole S\dnF/ d5 d qlobal "rrv (Ccshmd_ dnd t'ughe\' l9o9 /0\i' . ,-.""1" r ii,i tr','"

"ioo rq c L, qamer oroad suppo'1 fron rF nda) 'onnu-rriFs ano Inra esls sirh: d

,i'i 'i[.""^""ii"::" "ie;'"]

,"'i',i"'; s.**r. ,-d po5s b / r oro-ro s^ow r-ar re P 'rsrenle o' werro qan 5pd

Oli'rp " p'o'.sr sro ot d o rF ev dance ol drsunrlv dre dalrnanra o a b d' Lhan''s

3-2. The seven year period when the games are organisedii l" i"

" ott",r, p"tl"o i"t ihe o vrnpic ;rganisers to manase because ihe euphorra or w nn nq a.bLd eoi

o srprles",d lyqr.ppra<wrL 11'\,"lro}ooolpn'lh"l'dvalobeovercorp'ds ontmelrfASor: o, l-. p obr-ns ,n r, . l-ro up ppiod n' lud'

a)Raised expectationsw,.^1.., ni " r* rke wrnnrnq an eleclLon to govem a citvora country During an election many

3i

promises are macle which are not always possible to realise Olymp c cities llke governments cannotimplement or aiiord to pay for alllheir promises. !n the process, rnany indLviduals orgroups willbed sappointed that some core promises have not beeo rea ised othe€ who had hoped to secure a

cames conkact or obiain an imporlant posl rr'r the Games struciurc, wlll be equally d'sillus oned.

Politics in Ure bld city s intense because the stakes arc high there are many coflracts lo be won and

repulations to be enhanced Politics is also complex because lhere are so manv ocal national andnlernationalrelalionships rnvovinq govemment,lhe Olymplc [Iovement, bus]ness. med a and

spofsorc Undoubtedly the poliiical landscape oi a bid city is trafsfomed for a decadePolitcs in an o ympic city is often roblsi and voalile Syd ney s experie nce from 1993 was not

at!orca there were a numberof res qnatrons and changes in peBonneli. the organis ng committee' LhF ro olrrng ,ed . Ihls occ-r'ed bF a <e o l_e 5 ra _ed 4 alron5 ocn F"r slonev o os_Frns

Committee foithe olyrnpc Games (SocOG)and other oiymplc related bod es -the Ausimlian

Olympic Commjtlee lhe Olympic Co ordination Authorlty and the New Souih Wales Government

Sydn;ys answerlo lls polriical problems was to iivest power in one peBon, MichaelKnrght who

b;cam; boih Minister forthe olympics (wlinister rn the New Solth Wales Governrnent) and prcsident

ofihe SOCOG in 1996 Public squabbling and even brawlng overthe ich pums of O ympic politics

has a negatrve impact or'1lhe conrmunity respectfor the organisers ofthe Games

Sydneys green promlses atthe ume ofthe bid lhe green Games - were more ambUols than anv

"'.,.1o\mo uare5 lhev r.lalad lo e-arqy a ro {ater'onsFftduo wr"arvoddr'Fandm nim sanon recVclrnq of water lransponalon the improvemenl of a r waler and soilquality and the

orolechon of s onrfrca;t cultu aland phvs ca environments Whie the ldealof the green Games'was

"n"nr, r,-o1 Lpro,.doflr ulrod;h/e bF auseolLo'land _e'hortmpllan' to( e

satsfacton of env ronmental groups, such as Greenpeace Australia and Green Gameswaich 2000

a watchdog group set up by the stale government to inonltor llre deliverv oi environmental ln it€tives

rrrere nas"o6en i continu ris debate about the eiieclLveness of the rem€d aiion of Homeblsh Bav

wheiher toxic wasle there had been properv treaied (Cashrnan and Hughes, 1998)

d) Olympic city as a builcling site: inconvenience and disruptionT;e citiz;ns of; hosl cily are l.rsually well p'epared for chanses I the wav lhe c lv operates dling an

olympic Games Sorne;rho do notwish to parucrpare rn the c t\, celebratrons opt to leave the citv tor

lhe duration of the GamesThe host ciiy population are less well prepared for the cont n ! ing changes n the crtv's b u ili

€fvrronmeni ihai occLr in the seven years beforc the Games The consiruclion of oLvsrpic venues

malor changes rn u.ban transpod rnfiastruclure and large prolects of urban r€newal produce many

u.eroelLeo rn onre Fnce,'o lhole tho vF ln d Ol/-rp L(\

e)Hidrlen costs and agendasl; some irstances the building oiOlympic venues can dep.ive citizens of a localcommunrty of access

il ",ur"

iu"r't,"" io,.-tls 6n eno rire creatronota TO 000seat Beach Volevbal Stadium at Bondi

e;.h'e-Jlr-onr epanra closureorI eBPa'hdnoh'Bo drPdv 01-u5ed_o ro dlr'irtrrdevents - for six months from l\4ay to Oclober 2000. Tlre afnouncement thai this spo(wor'rld take

place ai Sydneys most famous and popularbeaches led to localprotests that cornmunitv resources

irao oeen ! lenateo for a arue'sca e ie rn porary mega event lt was the view of O lvm pic Co o rd ina-tion

auinoiiv rt'ar tne roc, coun;Ishoulclbe;ranv cosis'forthe benent ofbeins Australian aspadoftheOlymp c Garnes'(owen, 2001 27)

f) Unexpected external crises(o matter now we Ia clty organises an Olympic Games preparations can beserously aifected by

o;iside ;rob lems. wh ch maie the orqanlsaton of the Games more difficu t and dimlnish the potential

; .br. s -ooorl ror and enrorrnento t"lcane's/dnevsprepard'io-qw'r'od_ragcoov<'ondzl'ion rut" rgse u_o 1999 r-ral rere d' (o'raleo $rn I' e Sdl l al e C'rv W nl"r Odme: a o relaled lo'

"""nOul" il" US t""-"t attacks of 1T Seplember 2001 dramatcall)/ changed lhe contei and aclded

to the costs oflhe 2002 Salt Lake City olymp c Ganres

q) Negative publicity6'rr ng'th" ",;*"

eait-up years an Olvmpic citv is closelv scrutinised bv the international media

3a

which frequenlly publlshes negative stories aboutthe problems a cty mav have in siaging the Games

and broader socialand pollilcal probLerns wrlhin the society

h)Dealing with the problems

Because of the above prcblems an organising committee needs to be open and lransparenl aspossble Media management, incuding &mage control is also impoa(ant The€was for instance

frequenl media and pubhc ctiticism ofSOCOG because lhe organisaiion was considered excessivelv

hlgh handed and secrctive ln matterc rclaUng to lhe Garnes.

Alihoug h SO C OG eventuaily deL vered whai were descdbed by President s amaranch as ihe bestevefGame;, many cilizens of the cily had grave concems about a positive ouicome six monihs

before the G;mes Olymplc crises became staple media fale because {iamaging stories were allowed

lo.,olie€te The tick;tna frasco of 1999 was one oflhe manv damaging conrove6ies when itwas,r\jF:lc.l thal onlv s fracnin of the hchets ror some prime events werc availabb iorsa e to the pubLic

Before ihatihere was eq ual rancour about the marchrng bans conlroversv when rt b_^came known that

lh6 Tato ly or lhe renberr o_ r e mdrc_lng banoq, who pedomeo aL lF ooe" 19 cpremo v hrd

oeen';\ruiFdloaovaruedssvdcevs'uace"o-ojscc-daliand'onro\e''rp'isrvor'd'o't5'experience of OlYrnPic cities

!rBrconll.J.rhero'.nrea\,ad{olu-laFrsweegoodnew5'lonesorovornglhercan lono o_l\

-,ovp FepLolc-andg'velhensomeownershpollheGaae)-bulalsolocount.r neoalNe

npo d siori;s IheLor''-relayh"senhatedlhaco-n1un\''rvolvemF-ld_dow_'rslDo'I'ao vmo,. Cames l he lo|h r;Ev €'"' rhe O vmp{< lo nd_v conmun ler bo'r' _ ihe ho't r L d d

.,ii..""4..n, ndrr'oJallorch-oearr,.e5eacledbr'i omnu_lr'coq-ll'"''tahill I999)

iitheoroblern'olSOLOCwer'"esubF'lof"longrunninqaldca''rl'evr$o' ondd, ftbLr-"^ "n' r

.a't',.0 rne orgdn sr'9 cor-rrhep d' ounb ing and _'-r F I Tl s oroo dm

J"ronitrut"o io* eu"rturian;approirlated the Games !srns humourto poke fun at thosewho took

i"" i"i.ii* *,.-"rr rnr, wis an ,noonanr w"y - o po,r'Fd into,

AJJcl,an popLlar.t,llurF a.o wzs atolhe wa/I wnr'hmeTbF"otlhahosl on I un'\ 9d dd

access io the Garnes

3.3. The staging ofthe games

Wh Ie the staqing ofrhe Games is ihe lime when there Ls the most impaci on a ciiy tLsaperiodwhen

;ti;;"; i";il;"";;"; ;;sociated wLth rhe Games Frrst of a I ihose who chose to remain in the citv are

""i pi"p"i"Ji", *nrtr".)Qeci and howthev can lravelto lhe Gaines oihers have lhe choice to travel

to ano(n-'' 'ly

o ove sed<n nn.,nOl;mD.GarnesI_a'earFmanvoppol-nrlracfor Lh'oaoppolLhdhoslLrlr'loDdrcodterncnil;;;;;il:;;';; oinon p"i'-q''p'.'uro'' warchinq rhe rar "rnor

rrrd ronor (\ s"onsil'"i"'"E;r:::;";i;;r-'ni'"'-'o: o,'"*ot"'" rv-o". qbtunp' e'esr" r"prFded(ode''qraredlrv; s les where d;ge n -Tber' o' people Ldn conq egale ro wal(' oiani'c een",iiir." 6"."= ""

a;*"*tul, the peodle of the hoilcitv can bas\ Ln rhe run and slory of the e.veit rn

Sion"V 'n

ZOOO tr'"'" *r", iesl'valaLmo(pl_ere r^r rhP rwo $ePr r or the Game' Howover' I InprF a_6

o.oi"r" "tir-"p"n t niormalon drssem natoi or a secuitv lhis positive mood can quicklv dissipate'

3.4. The post-Games Periodi;;,;;;;;;;,;;q,,," ,ne^rron pard ro pra- r inq Io' rhe posr'od-r "' o'" ocr d d lhe reoa'v or dn

or"." c c"mes e o .ri€s foc-s lo ,ucr a ra g' "a"inL o_ *rnn no I5e o'o prcnn ng for I_e oare' znd

sllq,! 6 l.cessrurcame- lharrhe porr Gdnes oer oo nd) boFn -esra'r6d

I h;re-s a need hs( ol alllo plan _o lhe m neoEl: posr Gan's pe iod shel ' 'F e i' ofien z oredt r'n'eiir".

"-"ii"',*"t"",vm'nbersollhelo<Icommuntv Fve a oos-Oare' deoes5on [4aring

il; ";;; ;"JP,;i".;'i c"'". ,-o ,n",u" ',"v "ve-r(

a e rrporta-r e'is o'oed' 's wit' "'r' h

i"" ;,ir !ro."y r'. "

i" tgnrLe ler"vdlrn SepFno'r ?o0l o rd h lh'nn( znn /er'a1, o' l'a udmF<

6^ rd3.pi"r-#' ioor Ln6 relocated caLrLdron was re'il and is flame was mainla ned ror the dt]rction oi

the festival held over three weekends

Fnii,rrv mn..tant 6 to decrde on whalshould be done wilh ihe Games nfrastructLirc' panicu arly the new

i."'::J:'":i;i";""";-;'ruro:""''"'r'o"-""or"oepradsrownePrr e'6 aloFsoneo'eorns-;Lui; and Lo.n runr/ benerr|ron O /-rprcDFcrn L\rndv"-ps lr'u"h a'rl re do oLrrvpa

""llilii"""i rl;"t-c".;" ,"" thev can 6eiome'whire eiephants and a burden to the taxpaverc

There is also the practical question ofdeciding lo whether to maintain state oithe an Olympic venues afterthe Games ard, fso, making them cost effective sydneys Aquaic Centre is a good example of a dualpurpose venue in that it housed bolh the bestfacililies for elite sport as we las 'spod for allvenue, whichrncluded play areas for chlldren. The future ofthe [4a n Stadium by contrast is nrore prob ernaic. There sihe inilialcost of €confLgurng the Sladium reducing lts capac ty from 120 000 lo 80.000 and then there is

ihe problem of finding sufilc ent tenants to rnake the Siadrum cost effcient (Seare. 2002)

There is a s o a need fo r g.ealer management and investmenl n the legacy of ihe Games Since a clty onbehaLf of ls comm!nity has invested signifrcantly ln global promotion, it is importantlo reap the tourism,business and olher beiefits This can only be accessed with a wel'developed p an supported by researchwhich enrbles a clty lo gain ongoing benefits and io reduce possible ongoing budensAnoiher issue relates to the intelLeciual propedy ofthe Games. What becornes ofthe knowledge gai.ed instagrrg mank nd's g reatest peacetirne activity? The archives ofthe Games are a valuabe tesource for thepeope ofa cjly and a fation and need to be slored and o€an sed in a way that makes them eas vaccess ble fo r ilture ge neration s The knowledge gained n siag ng the Games s a valuab e asset for thehost communiy and should become one of its important expods, being on sold bringlfg in valuablecapital li aLso ls a very valuab e pan of a city's and country's history.

The cu livaton of the memory oi an Olymplc Games is anolher way in which there can be sorne retu.n fotihe host city comrnufily The creation ofan Olymprc [/]useum forinstafce wilLensure the memory of lheGames and provide a focalpoinl for the sporting, inlellectualand organisationallegacy oiihe event. Themarking of l# Games whether ln street names orcommemotaiive plaques, are olher wodhwhileinitaiives. The Olympic cauldron at Sydneywas removed to a nearby park to become a plblic sclrlpturewith a waterfall cascad ng from lts side. lncluded n this public sculpturc are the names of allthe meda listsofthe Sydney 2000 Olympic an{i Paralymp c Games

There s a g row ng coniern po l€ ry awareness thai an Olymp c Games ca n have many posiUve and

negatve impacts on an Orymplc city and its environmenl There ls an growlng be ef that an Olvmpiccames sho!ld ieave a host communiiy and the clty environmeni better ratherthan worse off Scholarcs ! ch as Bruce KLCId have argled th at each candldate c ty should cond uct a socra I irn pact assessment and

a pub lc constl taiion before subrn itting lls brd (Kidd, 1 992 76-7 )

Related web sites

htlpJ/w\4$7 breadnotcircuses.org/IOCC (lmpact ofthe Olympics on Community Coa ltion)hllpl/www olvmp csforall ca/PISSOFF (People lngefiously S!bverling ilre Sydney O yrnpic Farce)http://www cat olq au/p ssofi/Green Games Watch 2000htlp://www nccnsw orq au/member/qgw/abouU

hitp://www gamesinfo corn au/Sydney Olympic Parkhilpr//w\w sydneyolymplcpark nsw gov a!/

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II SUPPLEMENTARY READING

Feb 24, 2ao9

sports and politics: An indigestible mix

Spielberg's pull-out from the Beiiing Olympics shows how big sporting eventscan be politicised

By Teo cheng Wee

LIKE oil and wate.. That is how Singapore National Olympic Councii secretary-qenerai Chris Chan describes sports and politics

While sports aims to bring people together, politics pulls them apart,' he notes''The two cannot and should not m:x.'

So it is clear where he stands in the latest political episode to hit internationalsportsr The recent decision by American director Steven Spielberg to pull out as

artistic adviser for the Beijing Olympics' openinq and .losing ceremonies

The director, who came on board in 2006, issued a statement more than a week

ago saying he made the decision after failing to convince China to do more to help

eiO tne ci"il conflict in Darfur, Sudan- The violence there has killed more than200,000 people since 2003.

China is believed to have influence over the Islamic regime that runs the countrybecause it buys two thirds of the country's oil exports. In tllrn, it sells weapons to

Sudan and defends it In the United Nations Security Council

'When he withdrew from the Games, he was taklng a political stand on something

not related to sports. It hurts the event, it s a loss to the O yrnpics and it's not

something he should have done,'says 14r Chan, referring to Spielberg

That polltics and sports should not mix is a statement echoed by many spoftsmenand administrators.

Yet even the most ldealistic of them must concede that to keep the two spheres

completely apart in today's sporting world is wishful thinking'

'Oil and water'is not the right analogy in this instance Oil and water do not mix -

but sports and politics are inextricably intertwined

Athletes, after all, are mostly funded by their respective governments Large-scale

sforting events cannot be hosted if a country does not pledge funds- And

infrastr-ucture for spolting events cannot be put in place without political backing

When Singapore hosted the 117th lnte.national Olympic Committee (IOC) session

in 2005, a; many politiclans as spoltsmen were in town Then British prlme

rn;ni.i"i fonV Bliir and former US iirst lady Hillary Clinton rubbed sholrlders with

3s

David Beckham and Alexander Popov.

But one should be careful to distinguish between governmental support ior anevent ancl political interference, Singapore's IOC executive board member Ng Ser

Miang points out.

'It's impossible to say that there can be absolutely no political involvement In

sports. If a nation is investing a lot of money and .esources, the governmentdefiniteiy needs to be involved.

'But the count.y's sports associations and National Olympic Council (NOC) should

rernain autonomous and not have to make decisions under political pressurc-'

It crosses the line !vhen, say, a new sports minlster comes on board and

unilaterally sacks the elected NOC members, replacing them nrith his own peop e

Such cases have happened before and are against the Olympjc charter, says [4r

Ng.

Political involvement does not rnean there will be a political agenda, says

Parliamentary Secretary (Community Development, Youth and Sports) Teo Ser

fuck, wno has been a key member of the Republic's winning bid for the 2010 Yollth

Olymp'c Games (YOG)

He acknowledges that he is a politician drumming up suppoft for a sporting event'

but asserts th;t the bid was not for the ruling party but for the country - inparticular, the social benefits lt can bring ln bonding its citizens

'We didn't bid on the YOG for economic beneflts We didn't bid on it for political

mileage,' he tells The Sunday Times.

'If we really wanted to score political points, we won't pick a.project like this'

where we have little experience and success i5 so !ncertain'

Potitics on the Podium

POLlTlC]ANSaside,whatshouldonemakeoflndividuals,qroupsorathleteswhouse sports meets to make a political point?

snreLbero s stand on Darfur is neither the first nor the last time that such an evcnt

;ili;-;;; ; puoticrse potrtica lssues. particularly at the mother of all meets' the

Olympics.

The mass appeal of spods and the resultlng media focus make it a Llseful platform

to publicise i;sues and concerns, says Singapore l'lanagement University law

lecturer Eugene Tan

Older sports fans will remember the two American runners raising their black-

36

gloved fists at the rostrum in the 1968 t4exico Games in support of the Black Powermovement in the United States; or the tit-for-tat boycotts of the 1980 Moscow and1984 Los Angeles Games, among others (see other story).

Since then, there has been relative quiet for two decades at the Seoul, Barcelona,Atlanta, Sydney aod Athens Olyrnpics.

But with Chi.a's emergence on the global stage, the Beijing Garnes have proved tobe a lightning rod for activists who want to take the count.y to task not just overDarfur, but also Tibet and Taiwan, arnong other issues.

Since the Spielberq incident, sports ministers from several countries have hit out atcrltics calling for a boycott of the Beijlng Games, insisting it would be counter-p.oductive-

They especlally want the sportsmen to be kept out of it

The Olympics are about sport, not about hurnan rights. It is up to politicians,NGOs and the like to pursue this matter, not athletes', Slovenian Sports MinisterlY ilan Zver points out.

The Olympic charter states that there should be 'no kind of demonstration orpol,tical, religious, or racial propaganda permitted in any Oiympic sites, venues or

other areas' from athletes.

For those who feel politically inclined, however, the charter does not forbid themfrom expressing opinions elsewhere - a point picked up by political analyst Terence

Chon q.

'You can raise political issues and champ;on the purer ideals of spofts at the same

time. The two need not be mutually exclusive,' he says-

Still, for the tirne being, athletes appea. to have little interest in getting involved

Already, there have been reports of sportsmen resenting being called on tochallenge China's human rights record or even to follow Spielberg's footsteps lnquittinq the Games.

Italian kayak champion losefa Idem, who will be competing in her seventh Games

in Beijing, was initially against the awardlng of the Olympics to 'an undemocraticcountry like China'.

'But now that they've decided to go there, I'm against applying pressure forpolitical goals using the skjn of the athletes,' she says

Similarly, reigning Olymplc tennis champion JLlstine Henin from Belgiurn reiterated

tojournitistithai she was going to the olympics 'to play tennis, not play politics'

3l

What is most important to sportsn]en like former national swimmer Ang Peng

Siong is that politics should never hurt the sportsman

When speaking to The Sunday Times, he brought up a name - Craig Beardsiey -

that most people would not have heard of

The two met when Ang was traifing in the US in the early 1980s. A butterflyspecialist, Beardsley was one of the American swimmers who did not get to go tothe 1980 Moscow olympics because of the US boycott.

There is no way of knowing af Beardsley would have won the 200m butterfly gold in

f4oscow, but on July 30, 1980, he set a world record at the US Nationais The timewas more than a second faster than than that set by Sergei Fesenko of the SovletUnion, who won the Olympic gold 10 days earlier in [4oscow.

Four years later, Beardsley missed rnaking the 19B4 Olympic tearn by 0 36 of asecond.

'For athletes like him, it was heartbreaking,'Ang recalls.

So for the sake of unwitting victims like Beardsley, there may be another cause

worth campaiqninq for in Beijing: If it is not possible to keep politics out of sports,

we should at least keep it away from sportsmen

[email protected] sg

When politics invades the arenaA LOOF at polilics and lhe OlyrFpi's:

WHEN POLITICS INVADES THE ARENAA lOOk ol polilrc< a-]d heOyrloics:

1906: At the Athens Olympics, Irish athlete Peter O'Connor scaled the

flagpole to tear down the British Union flag that was flown for his second

plaCe in the long jurnp. In its place, he waved an lrish flag'

1936: German dictator Adolf Hitler used the Berlin OJympics as a

propagancia tool as well as to showcase what he believed was the supremacy

of tne-nrvan race and the infe.iority of ethnic Africans Famously, he did not

shake the hand of African- American runner Jesse Owens who won four

loicl meOals at the Games - although later stories surfaced that Hitler did not

inake the hands of many other athletes as well.

38

1968: Americans Tommie Smith and John Carlos, the gold and bronzemedallists in the men's 200m race, stood on the medal rostrum barefootedand wearing civii rights buttons.

As the national anthem p{ayed, they lowered their heads and raised a black-gloved fist each to protest against unequal rights for blacks in the UnitedStates, They were dropped from the team, packed home and banned fromthe lYexico Games.

1972: A group of eight Palestinian terrorists belonging to the BlackSeptember organisation broke into the olympic Village in Munich and killed11 Israeli athletes.

1976: Twenty-eight African countries boycotted the Montreal Games as theywere upset with New Zealand for continuing to play rugby against SouthAfrica, which was under apartheid rule

1980: To protest against the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, the uS ied a

boycott of the Moscow Games. In all, 64 nations sat out the cornpetition

1984: In retaliation, 14 Soviet-led countries boycotted the Los AngelesGames.

2ooo: Australian and aboriginal r!nner Cathy Freeman celebrated her w n in

the 40orn race in the Sydney Games by draping herself with the Australian

and Aboriginal flags.

2OO8: Director Steven Spielberq pulls out as artistic adviser for the Berjinq

Olympics'opening and ciosing ceremonies, saying that China has not done

enough to stop the conflict in Darfur.

39

Sports : Elhics and lntegrity

SPORTSMANSHIP

"For when the One Great Scorer comes to mark against your name,He writes nol that you won or lost - but how you played the game." (Grantland Rice)

It seems in our sports today, the concept of good sportsmanship has been lost. While winning at allcosts and poor sportsmanship may be condoned and even promoted in professional sports, this doesnot mean it is the proper way for athletes to behave. Whether we like it or not, sportsmanship in sportsis a direct refleclion of our own ethics in real life- Sportsmanship like ethics concerns both thecharacter and the actions of an athlete. The image you project as an athlete is a product of yourcharacter. Good sportsmanship is notiust what you do on the field, it is hopefully the way you conduclyour life both on and off the field. ln the same way, unsportsmanlike behaviour on the field is probablyan indication of your off the field conduct. unsportsmanlike behaviour -- acts that are unfair,dishonest, disrespectful or against the rules - are unsportsmanlike because they are unethical. lf youare unethical in spofts, can you be ethical in the other areas of your life - your business dealings, yourtreatment of others, your family?

Question : What claims does the writer make of people who are unethical in sports? What parallelsdoes he draw?

We can sit back and blame television and pro sports tor the decline in sportsmanship but we can alsotake the responsibility of bringing it back into at least the game of Slow-Pitch. lt is time for all of usinvolved with Slow-Pitch to practice good sportsmanship. This is especially important if we areinvolved with children either as a parent or coach. This year SPO will expect all participants to followthe basics of sportsmanship. Following are some general rules to be a good sport.

GOOD SPORTSMANSHIP RULES

1. The "Golden Rule" - Do unto others as you would have others do unto you- show respect for them if you expect it yourself.

2. Have an understanding and an appreciation of the r{rles.- the spirit of good sportsmanship depends on conforming to the intent of the rule and not look for a

loop hole. (Example - all players present must bat so several weak hitters are asked to stay home foran important game)

3. Enjoy yourself and encourage enjoyment for others- we play sports for rccreation so lets make it that.

4. Take responsibility for your actions.- don't blame others for your mistakes or find excuses for poor behaviout.

5. Recognize and app.eciate good pedormances, especially by the opponent.-Applause for an opponent's good play demonstrales generosity and courtesy. lt shows a true

awareness of lhe game and athletic ability.

6. Exhibit respect fo. the off:cials.- Umpires are impartial arbitrators who perfo.m to the best of theia ability to make sure the game is

played fair and within the rules. Mistakes made by all those involved are part of the game and must beaccepted.

Sports : Ethics and Integity

7. Expect p.oper behaviour from your teammates.- if you allow a teammate to cheat, to play dangerously, to argue and scream at officials, you are

condoning that behaviour.

Examples of Acceptable behaviour

. Shake hands with the opponent before and after the game, rcgardless of outcome.

. Cheer in a positive manner.

. Accept all decisions by officials without question.

. Applaud good plays by both teammates and opponents.

. Applaud at the end of the contest for the performance of all participants.

. Encourage all surrounding people (fans included) to display on sportsmanlike behaviour.

. Show concern for an injured player, regardless of team.

. Win with class - losewith dignity.

Examples of Unacceptable Behaviour

. Use disrespectful or derogatory comments, cheers or gestures.

. Criticize officials in any way - displays of temper over an officials call-

. Make displays of lemper when you or a teammate are not successful

. Refuse to shake hands or recognize good play.

. Laugh or name-callto disttacl an opponent.

. Criticize other players or coaches for the loss of a game.

. Use profanity or display anger.

Every time we go out and play, we are being watched We may not realize it but someone, possibly a

you;g impresionable person, is observing you and how you act Your behaviour may have a

lig;ir:..ni i.p".t, posrtive o, negative, onlhem. Maybe what they see on our slo-Pitch diamonds will

""i i f.tt", ."u-pt" for them tha; what they see on TV. lf we all perform to the best of our abilities

within the concept of good sportsmanship, we should all have an enjoyable season and possibly' just

possibly, our lives may just be a little richer.

Question: What is the link between sports and psychological development?

John Ariss - Touching Base Magazine - February, 2000

&l

spons : qure l-unding rOpf'osing Vic\\points)

State Funding : Arguments for and against

States' involvement with the funding of elite athletes is generally tied to the prestige ofolympic medals and international achievement. This involvement has a broad history,from the extremes of the former GDR selecting athletes for intensive training at age 7 toQatar's 'purchase' of the Kenyan runner Stephen Cherono for an alleged $1m and anannual salary.

Virtually all modern Western democracies allocate some funding from the Sports/Culturebudgets to the funding of elite athletes. Britain will spend 600m (300m from the National

Lottery, a state-regulated charity, 200m from the government and 100m from private

sponsors) in the run-up to the 2012 Olympics to try and take the 4th spot in the Olympicmedal table.

The ways in which elite athletes are funded differ significantly worldwide but generally

contain 3 elements: i) Funding directly from the state, ii) Funding from Charities andprivate institutions (ie. Sports institutes, the National Lottery in the UK) and iii)

Sponsorshjp (ie. Yonex in Badminton worldwide and Leon Paul in Fencing worldwide)The athletes concerned tend to be those in individual or non-salaried (ie. not football,baseball, rugby etc) team sPorts.

Typically athletes either apply for funding directly or receive funding because the

development programme in which they participate in receives funding (e.g the

Austraiian SportJcommission funds 68 recognised sports depending on level and scale

of participation,46 sports receive funding from the state in the UK). Funding can be

allocated either on a 'needs' basis or linked to performance (e.g the US Judo Federation

links funding to points accrued and offers a $3,000'gold medal incentive'in A/A+

events). Canada has a system of'carded athletes' where the top 16 athletes at aparticular sport automatically receive funding

The debate about funding most often becomes politicised in the run-up to the olympics(particularly in host nations) where disputes occur about whether the limited pot ofiunding should be allocated to sports in schools and young developing athletes, or go to

payinglthe salaries of elite athletes so they can concentrate on training full-time The

deLale focuses on athletes already competing at national level and those in

development programmes specifically aimed at achieving international success

Discussion of funding should concern both direct funding (payment of travel costs, entry

fees, training costs and a basic salary so athletes need not rely on private funding) and

indirect funding into development programmes and facility development.

42

Sports: State Fund;ng (Opposing Viewpoints)

Argument #1

There exisls a current problem ihat many talentedathletes cannot devole lhemselves fulltime to iheexrensrve rrarrinq reqJrred Io co'npele al o ymp clevel, instead lhey often have to work part-time lofund their living and training costs. lndeed in 2005,B&Q in the uK developed'Team B&O'to employathletes in their home hatdware siores but offe.ingthe flexible hours that athleies find il difficuli tosecure at other employers. Those who cannol findwork are forced to borlow money, often from theirparents, as was the case with the 1992 USO ymprc sarl'ng tear Thrs need to >crabble formoney pul) pressu'e on lhe alnleles lakes lhenminds off competing and sometimes can evenmake ihem consider quitting. The amounts ofmoney involved are large, for instance the 1996Olympic gold medallist Todd Eldeddge's build-Lrp

kaining cost over $250,000 and financial pressuresin the late 1980's almost forced him to quit Statefunding of elite athletes would remove unduepressures which impairlheir performance fot their

Argument #2

The fundlng squeeze unfairly affects sports thatare not considered commercially attractive by

sponsors. Al inter-compeiition levelthis has theeffect of creating a significant dispa ty in fundingbetween the Olympics and the Para Olympics dueto differences in media coverage and sponsorexposure Al an inter-sport level, less popular

Olympic sports such as Taekwando have accessto a significantly smaller sponsorship pot thanBaseballor Basketball although the elite athletesacross most sporls have io shoulder simllartraining costs. Softball, for instance involves70mph pftches and a similarly rigorous kalningregime to Baseball but National SoftballFederations preparing for the Olympics recerveorly a lrdclron ol lhe soonrolshlp re alved by ds nole liS Basebdll fiancl i'o In one v'd Stalafun; ng would create a level playing field al bothinter-cornpeiition and inter sport levels and prevenl

corporate sponsors for deieffiining the quality ofthe sport we can enjoy.

No

State funding is a state run, merit-based syslem ofsubsidised leisure for athletes. ln most countries thedepa'tment for Spori (Culture, IMedia and Sport in

the UK) has a limited budget within the overallgovernmenl budget and funding of elite athletestakes up a share ofihis budgei The money couldbe better spent on related areas such as health andeducation or on increasing the number of sporisavailable al school or club level. The world's moslsuccessfulOlympic nation, the unlted States doesnot publicly fund its Olympic teams bui insteadconsiders their funding a'private and communityaffair". The united States Olympic Committee(USOC) receives signif icanl corporate f undingw'rcl^ I rs lree to disllbrle to ird vrdualgoveJningbodies School pupils in Georgia are encouraged toco lect pennies for the Olympic effort and ihe US Skiand Snowboard ieam's celebrity status allows ihemro organ sF ba ls and fundrng toLrs in older Io aisemoney to pay for their training and iravel. lndeveloped nations Iunding from the private seciordoes exist and the obligation should be on alhletesand governing bodies to find that funding ratherthan on the government to provide it.

Olympic sports rarely find themselves marginaliseddue to a lack of funding, rather those who make this

claim draw a false parallel beiween Europeansoccer clubs, Norih American BasketballandFootballteams and National sports bodies to sayihal whilsl c ubs receive hundreds of millions ofdollars in endotsements and TV rights,lhe BntishTaekwando Federation receives compatatively little.

However ihis anaiogy is false because we shouldonly compare nationalspods federations, not clubswho atAad television money and attract players andfans from around the wodd. Further there is alwaysa source offunding for sports from their equipmentmanrlacturers such as I eon PaLl i,l iencln-c

Fr'ldlly. onp ol ll'e redcons whv some sporls receivemore money than others if we ailow the market todeclde is a gteater level of interest, lead ng to agreater level of participation leading to a higherstandard of competition A state funding systemwould presumably also allocate funding on a similarbasis (or else it would be unfai0 so the disparily

43

Sporls : Slate Funding (Opposing Vielvpoints)

Argument #3

Athletes who do succeed in gaining sponsorshipare beholden to pressures from their sponsorswhich conflict wilh the athletes, governing bodiesand nalion's best rnterests. The companies suchas RBC Financialand Bank ofAmerica which dosponsor high-profiie sport at Olympic leveltendbolh to sponsor individual athletes rather ihangoverning bodies and require corporatecommitrnents ofthose athleies. lf money isrece ved solely by alhleles ralher than goverltngbodies. alJ of a nalion s athletes do not benefit frornthe advanced facilities such as the ColoradoAliltude Centre. available to the Nike Elite DistanceRunning Team, that some athletes do. Fundingdirected al governing bodies could be used toconstruct these lacilities for the use of youth anddevelopment squads ratherthan the ven/ bestsimply being siphoned off to train only with thosealso sponsored by Nike. ln team sports wheretearn lraining time is already cut to a narrowwindow by club commitments, domestic seasonsand athletes competing in differenl leagues aroundthe world, the precedence of corpo.atesponsorship tours fudher cuts down the ability ofOlympic teams to kaln together. Football (Soccer),whilsl probably not a sport eliglble for publicfunding, is a classic example ofwhere internationalmanagers already have lo negoiiate wiih clubs forplayer availability for friendly games {facingoverlapping domestic seasons). At the same timethey also have to defer lo sponsorship tours forBryl Cream endorsements and motivationalspeeches to company board members.

There js no problem with the development of stronglinks belween business and elile sport. Thisencourages ihe development of long-termsponsorship links between the two and often thefirms sponsoring are simply supplying cash that canbe used by governing bodies to create state otlheai( training faciities. lt is clearly in the interests ofthe lirms sponsoring athleles not to impede theirtraining through corporate commitments as lhiswould jeopardise the athletes' performance.Sponsors want to be associated with success, notto be criiicised in the media by athleies for standingin the way ofthe medals. ln fact very few athleteshave problems training the required number ofhouls a week, Olympic fencers for inslance onlytrain for a maximum of20-25hrc per week, and farmore problems arise from overtraining which canresuli in injury and st€ss fractures. ln terms ofliming, it is perfectly possible to manage bothsponsorship commitments and training and stillhave the recovery time needed ln the longer ierm,interests outside sport are mentally healthy foralhletes, and willhelp to prepare them for life afleriherr competitive career ends.

Argument tl4

Privale rather than public tlrnding removes theleverage that governing bodies have overtheir eliteathletes. Those athletes who are funded or part-funded through the state can be required to assistin the lraining of athletes in development squadsproviding a trickle-down effect, or even asked 1o

No

The link between elite sporting success and masspadicipation is vague and unproven and a 1996study by the Universily of South Australia showedat leasl in Australia, no statisticalor causal linkbetween the lwo. lfthe stale wishes to promotesport in schools in orderlo improve public health

Sports : Statc Funding (Opposing Vietvpoints)

help coach in schools. This praciice is common-place in Badminlon in the uK where members ofthe England squad based in Milton Keynes arerequired to put in a cedain number of hoursassisting in the training oI members of Juniorsquads and coaching in either schools or clubs.The result is a support net\rork for the players andoften those players who do not succeed atLnternational levelturn out to be lalenied coaches.Further, public funding lhus means that the statecan inspire ialented young athleles at school level,provide strong role models even lo lhose whowould not compete above regional level, and havea positive public health impaci by motivatingchildren io get out of the classroom and offthesofa. ln the UK House of Commons debate onOlympic funding, one [rP pointed oul thai it wasihe strong link between schools and sportsfederations, a lowing identification of potentialfuture Olympians from the age of 10, thatcontributed to the success ofthe former EastGermany in Olympic cornpetition.

Argument #5

A successful Olympic squad allows a country lopunch above its weight in international relationsStaie iunding clearly increases the number ofmedals a nation wins. A 20 year study by iheAustralan institute of Spoa( found a strong linearcorrelation between the amount of fundingrecelved and the number of medals won bothbetween nations and sports. On average, eachgold medalcosts around $3Tmlllion and eachmedal in general costs around $Smillion. Hencethere is a benefit to the state in terms of prestigefrom choosinq to spend some oftheir limited pot offunding on elite athLetes. Further,lhe population ofa nation gets something out ofwatching theirnational athleies winning Olympic medals. Sportingachievement can bring people together fromdifferent cultural comrnunities and promotes a

cohesive nalional identiiy Even al an internaiionallevel, eliie sport can be a great healer of wounds,the resumption of cricket Iixtures beh^/een lndiaand Pakisian was widely seen as a sign of greater

then the money can be better spent di.ecily byemploying more Physical Education teachers,improving schools'sports facillties and buying back5"hoolplay ng felds which are olen sold lo Iaisecapital, rather than paying elite athletes to compeieand hoping thal there will be a trickle-down effectFurther, one of the reasons banks and maiorcorporations sponsor elite athletes is to improvethelr public image and so it is likely lhat they toowould encourage athleles to become role models bytaking tinre to coach in schools. So jfthere is alrickle down effect it can be realised wlthout thestate havlng to dlvert funds away from where theyare needed most, deprived state schoo s. Nor is itdesirable to iake potential elile athletes out ofschoolat the ages of 10 or 11 to give themdedicated training. Elite sports development squadsa-e pyralrros wrrh very wioe bases and rrarytalented athletes who don t quite rnake the gradeare cast off as lhey qet older, leaving them without acareer in ellte sporl or a satisfactory education.

No

lnternaliona I competition probably does breednationalism but this is not something that lhegovernment should Iund and sanclion. Enqllshfootball hooliganism both domesiically and aliniernational toumamenls has shown thai'inlegration through spori' is not necessarilydesirable. ln facl rioiing between Honduran and El

Salvador fans durinq a qualifying match lor the 1970World Cup decided on penaliies contribuled to the 5oay foorbdll War betwee4 lhe lwo courl ies i'l'1969. Fufiher, given that many tensions betweencommunities arise from lhe presence of immigrantgroups of a different nalionality {Lebanese in

Australia, Paklstanis in England) and that thesegrolrps often focus their nalional identity aroundtheir home nation s sports teams (football andcrcket respectively), the fact ihat the government isseen as funding iheir competitors does not buildbridges. Finally, governments who choose to takecredit for their nationalleam's successes must alsoexplain their failures (see pretty much every Englishnational spods team ever for deiails). Thetemporary performance of sporis tearns is notsomething the government should stake itspopularity on.

L(

Sports : State Funding (Opposing Vie\ ?oinls)

External links and resources:

. SportEneland: Fundine Case Studies

. Australian Sports Commission: Athlete Fundine

. The Nation: Funding for Elite Athletes in China

. Wikistub: Athletics Assistance proglamme in Canada

. CBC Archives: Fundinq ofAmateur Spe!!

. London 2012 Olympics

. lnternational Olympic Committee

4L

Sports and Business

I

SPEECH BY DR VIVIAN BALAKRISHNAN, MINISTER FOR COMMUNITYDEVELOPMENT, YOUTH AND SPORTS/ AT THE 3RD SINGAPORE SPORTSCOUNCIL'S CEO NETWORKING SESSION, WEDNESDAY 16 APRIL 2OO8,7.OOPM AT SENTOSA PAVILLION

Distinguished guestsLadies and qentlemen

1. Three years'ago, I addressed CEOS at Singapore Sports Council's (SSC)inaugural CEo networking session and shared that the sports industry In singaporewas golng through an exciting growth phase.

2. Now, we have witnessed unprecedented developments in Singapore's sportshistory that will catalyse the growth of the sports industry from now till 2015Major sports Initiatives Fuelling Growth Across Multiple sectors

3. A Pricewaterhouse Coopers report in 2OO5 estimated that the worldwidesports market wi I achieve sales of up to US$111.1 billlon in 2009 at a 6 1olo

compound annual growth rate, wlth the Asia PaciFic region growlng to US$17 hillion

4. Closer to home, Singapore has built a successful foundation in sports over thelast few years. We now have more than half the population involved in sports atleast once a week; a vibrant calendar of over 60 internatlonal and nuanerous othercommonity and qrassroots sports events annually; an active school sports scene;greater varrety of sports offerings beyond traditjonal sports; as well as greaterprofessionalism 1n sports management

5. Buildinq on this strong foundation, a few rnajor sports rnitiatives will catalysethe growth of multiple sectors across the sports industry. This includes the SportsHub - the world's first sports and ieisure infrastruct!re Public-Private-Partnershipproject the inaugural Youih Olymplc Games; the world's first Formula One nightiac-; as well as homegrown marquee events such as the standard charteredMarithon, We are seeing new growth opportunities in construction, media and

broadcasting, events management, sponsorship and marketing, retail and

merchandising, sports medicine and sports science, education and trainjng, and themotor Sports industry, just to name a few.

Commitment to Support the Growth of the sports Industry6. Leading the development of the sports industry, the SSC and the Economic

Development Board have a comprehensive plan to grow the sporls industry in sportsentertainment, services and Products The long term goal is to grow a selfsustainlngsports industry ecosystem that will contribute S$2 billion in GDP and employ 20,000

lobs by 2015.,. Tonight, I am pleased to announce that the SSC and the Ir4edia DeveloprnentAuthority (IYDA) will sign a l4emorandum of {Jnderstanding to develop the sporismedia and broadcasting sector.

8. This initidtive will serve two purposes. First, it will create new jobs withspecialist skills in sports journalisrn, spofts filming and production, medla rightsmanagement, intellectLlal property rights, sports commentating as well as spoftspublic relations. Second, it will enlarge the internatlonal footprint and value of sportsevents in Singapore and promote sports tourism

41

Sports and BLrsiness

9. The SSC and I!4DA will jointly provide an initial fund of S$1 million to seed thedevelopment of the spofts media and broadcasting industry. IndLrstry players such asbroadcasters and content companies will also play a part through parlicipation in a'Sports I,4edid Business Group'which will be co led by the SSC and l"1DA.

Growing Corporate Sector Participation10. While the Government will seed lhe growlh of the industry, ultimately, this hasto be driven by the private sedor. In the United States, the private seclor is theprime mover behind the us$200-billion a year sports industry.

11. I am optimistic that the sports industry is primed for good growth from now till2015 as we are beginning to see growing corporate sector participation andinvolvement in sports. For example. over 700 companies pledged their support forthe Youth Olympic Games through the Business Times.

12. Tonight, we also have double the number of attendees compared to when weheld the inaugural CEO gala networkrng session in 2006. Companies are indeedtaking a keen interest in what sports has to offer to their businesses, and this bodeswell for the development of the sports industry.

13. The sports industry is on an exponential growth path that will benefit thebusiness community. I strongly u.ge all oF you here this evening to ride this wave ofopportunity and heip the sports industry reach its potential.

14. I thank you all for attendinq this evening's event and for the keen interest youhave shown in helping our sports industry grow. I wish everyone a frllitful evening ofnetworkinq,

Thank you-

IISPEECH BY MR TEO SER LUCK/ PARLIAMENTARY SECRETARY, MINISTRY OFCOMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT, YOUTH & SPORTS AT THE LAUNCH OF THEALTERNATIVE DISPUTE RESOLUTION (ADR) FRAMEWORK FOR SPORTS ONMON, 7 JAN, 2.45PM AT THE SINGAPORE SPORTS COUNCIL

CEO of the Singapore Sports Council f4r Oon Jin Teik,Secretary General of the Singapore National Olympic Council, Ivlr Chris Chan

Deputy chairman of the Singapore International Arbitration centre, ProfessorLawrence Boo

President of the Singapore Institute of Arbitrators, Ivr Johnny Tan

Executive Director of lhe Singapore l"lediation Centre. l'4r Loong Seng Onn

Ladies and gentlemen and other distinguished guests,

Good afternoon to one and all.

4S

Sports and Business

1 In recent yearsr there has been a concerted efTort to push for sportsdeveloprfent in Singapore. Today, there is greater awareness among Singaporeanson the benefits of sports, and more Singaporeans are participating and excelljng insports, In fact, our record away performance of 43 Gold l'ledals at the recent 24thSEA Games in Korat refleds our proqress in sports.

2 As Singapore's sporting landscape continues to grow and evolve in variousways such as bidding to host the inaugural Youth Olympic Games in 2010, theconstruction of the new Sports Hub, lntensifying our campaign for Olympic glory -we would need to enhance our legal frarnework to complement our sportingdevelopments. This lncludes having sufficient appeal channels for sports reldteddisputes to be resolved, as is done in the more developed sporting nations like theUnited States, UK, and Australia.

3 Today, we are heTe to witness the launch and signing of the f4OU forSingapore's first Framework for Alternative Dispute Resolution for sports, also knowas'ADR for sports'in short. This initiative is spearheaded by the Singapore sportsCouncil (SSC) and developed in collaboration with the Singapore National OlympicCouncil (SNOC), the Singapore Mediation Centre (SlvlC), the Singapore InternationalArbitration Centre (SIAC) and the Singapore Institute of Arbitrators (SIArb).

4 Adapted from the various arbitration and mediation processes in theinternational sporting arena such as the International Court of Arbitration for Sports,the ADR Sports arms to resolve a broad spectrllm of sports-related disputes such as

athlete selection, liability issues, commercial rights matters and so on, in a timelyand professional manner. The framework will leverage on the existing professionalpractices and expertise of the Slngapore l4ediation Centre, the SingaporeInternational Arbitration Centre and the Singapore Institute of Arbltrators.

5 The recent dispute between Gino Ng and the Trlathlon Association olSingapore (TAS) over selectlon to the SEA Games team was an unfortunate incident-However, I am pleased to note that the dispute was eventually successfully resolvedthrouqh the mediation process. This incident exemplifles the need for a structuredprocess of mediation and arbitration to ensure that disputes within the sportingfraternity can be resolved in the most amicable manner possible.

6 In closing. I would like to take this opportunity to express my appreciat on toall the partles who have supported and contribLlted to the formation of ADR Sports.As Singapore develops its sporting culture and infrastructLlre, the establishment of

the ADR Sports will strengthen our position as a regional hub for sports developmentand best practices.

7 Thank you.

4q

Sports and Business

INTIRNATIONAL

fier*[b@ribtncSingapore beats Moscow for right to host first Youth Olympics in 2O1O

The Associated PressThursday, February 21, 2008

LAUSANNE, Switzerland: Singapore wiil host the first Youth Olympic Games in2010.

The Southeast Asian city state of 4.5 million people beat out l\4oscow in a vote of theInternational olympic Committee. The result was announced Thursday by IOCpresident Jacques Rogge during a ceremony at the Olymplc l'luseum in Lausanne.

In a postal ballot of IOC members, singapore defeated the Russian capital 53 44'

Singapore has nev€r hosted a major international multisports event but held a

sentimental edge over Moscow. The IOC was eager to reward a city which mightnever be able to stage the filll olympics

"We dared to dream, we worked hard to pursue our dream despite the odds, and

now the dream will become a reality," singapore Prime l'4inister Lee Hsien Loong

said.

The Youth Games will feature aboLlt 3,200 athletes aged 14 18 competing in 26

sports. The event, to be held every four years, ls designed to encoLlrage youngsters

to get involved in sports and spend less time in front of computer and television

screens. The first Winter Youth Olympics will be in 2012

"It's a great honor and privileqe for all of us, for singapore and every singaporean,"lee sai;. "For the first tlme, the 'olyrnpics' name will be in soLltheast Asia, and in

Singapore. We will be the focus of a new era of sports development for Singapore,

for Southeast Asia and for the Olympic movement."

Lee spoke at a public gathering in Singapore that jncluded about 5,000 studentsfrom 90 schools, mosiof whom were decked out in red and were assembled at a

large field in front of the downtown City Hall to listen to the result from Lausanne'

"We worked very hard for seven months," Lee said. "It was a national effort, but

more than that, it was a people's effort. .... Now, the countdown to 2010 begins We

have 2 1/2 years to prepare for the Youth Olympic Gam€s. Il's going to be

challenging, but it's going to be full of excltement and achlevements "

MoEcow hosted the 1980 Olvmpics, and Russia's Black Sea resort of Sochi was

picked last year to stage the 2014 Winter Games.

"l4oscow was a little bit penalized by the fact that Sochi was awarded the Winter

Games," Rogge told The Assoclated Press "I think the prevailing sentiment among

the Ioc members is also that they prefer to give it to a new city that has not

organized a Games, "

50

Sports and Business

The Russian Olympic committee was gracious in defeat.

"No doubt, the games wiil be held at a good level because Singapore has thenecessaTy resources and potential," Russian comrnittee spokesman Gennady shvetssaid, "The Olympics is our common cause. There can be no losers. .. There is somedegree of frustration, but it was a good contest and lhere is a worthy winner'"

IoC members are well acquainted with singapore, which hosted the IOC generalassembly in 2OO5 where London was picked as host of the 2012 Olympics.

"This is a key moment for the Olyrnpic movement," Rogge said. "Singapore has puttogether a very exciting project. Hosting the Youth Olympic Games for the first timeis a great responsibility, and I have every confidence in the team in Singapore "

Rogge will visit Singapore next week with Sergei Bubka, the pole vault wor{d recordholder and IOC member from Ukraine who will lead a panel monitoring preparationsin the host city.

Rogge said broadcasters will be offered free daily televlsion highlights from theSingapore Garnes.

"We know that youth sport is a difficult issue for broadcasters who are not showlngmuch of it and I regret that," he said. "However, this exposure will be much biggerthan for any other junior world championships "

Singapore, with a games budget of US$75 miliion ( 51 mlllion), will use 24 venues,

including one large clLlster for 13 sports. Nineteen of the venues already exist, fourwould be built as temporary facllities and one is under construction for equeslrian-

Singapore was asked by the IOC to provide contingency plans for a second athleies'village to allay concerns its first choice might not be ready

Construction work began last month for a 5,000 bed resldence at the Natlonal

University of Singapoie. The facility, costing US$423 mlllion ( 287 million), is due to

be completed siimonths before the Aug. 14, 2010, opening ceremony at the Marina

Bay Floating Stadium.

"I think there will be no problem wiih the athletes'village," Bubka said "we have

had guarantees explaining how the building wi lbe done but we need to be verycaref-ul. They have good venues and we know from visiting Singapore in 2005 how

they are hosting people from around the world "

Singapore and IYoscow made the final lisi after the elimination ofAthens, Greece;

Bangkok, Ihailand; Turin, Italy; Debrecen, Hungary; Guatemala City; Kuala Lumpur,

l.4alaysia; and Poznan, Poland

5r

!l

singapore's very own Sport Heroes

The fullback was also known as "Ihe Rock" for his strong defensivecapabilties which mdde it difilcult for attackers to get pasl him.

The first singapore olympian to appear on the international stagewas Chua Boon Lay. He represented a Chinese footba lteam at the 1936Olympics he d in Berlin and was the only one selected out of 3 nomindtedplayers to pdrt c pate in the Olympics.

Tang Pui Wah was the first female to represent Singapore at the1952 olympic Games held in Helsinki. Tang's introdLrction tocompetitlon came during her schooling life - where over 8 y€ars shewas groomed by 4 coaches to become the international athletics starthat she was,

In the 1950s, Pui Wah was a legend to young athletes. The'fr4tleCrorvr'winner won gold in the 100 yard race, 220-yard race and 80metre hurdles at the 1951 Maldyan Arnateur Athletic Association(MAAA) sports meet ill Kuala Lurnp!r.

Later at the Helsinki Games, the runner was placed 4th in the 100m:l

inHeats and subsequently improved to set two new records at the lvlAAA heldthe fo lowinq year.

The Golden Girl of the 90's, Joscelin Yeo Wei Ling is the only athlete tohave represented Singapore at four olympic Games. Beginning hercompetitive swimrnlnq at the tender age of seven, she enjoyed prodig oussuccess r!inning her flrst SEA Games medal at 12 and becoming the firstSlngaporean woman to swim the 100m freeslyle in under a minLlte.Her ach evements ln the pool cemented her status as the nation's prem er

athleLe and she was duly named Sportswoman of the Year in 1993, thesame year she placed 19th n lhe world in the 20Om individual r.ediey. Shewould qo on to pick up the award again ln 1995 and 1999.

S ngapore sprint legend Canagasabai Kunalan took part in lhe 1964 dnd1968 olympic Games in Tokyo and lvlexico respectively. Although he did notmake it through the Olymplc heats, C. Kunalan set a national record of10.38s ior his loorn sprint, and this record remained unbeaten for 33years. C, Kunalan was also named as one of Singapore's 50 GreatestAthletes o) Th'<nd'f i /mP. nro99.

Read more aboLrt the rLrnner in our article "Beyond the Track: SprintLegend C. Kunalan".

Kuala Lumpur

l.1

Arumugam vijiaratnam is the only man to have represented hiscountry in four separate sports. A naturally gifted attacking player, V jiplayed foolball, cricket and rugby but remalns best known for his sterllngperformance with the natlonal hockey team at the 1956 Olympic. inspiring amemorable 6-1 rout of the United Slates.

A sportsman and a scholar, Viji studied civil englneering at Brighton Collegeln England and while there, figllred promlnently in cricket team, the locaiamateLrr football circuit and, of course, captained the hockey team Easygoinq and wldely respected, Vlj is truly one of Singapore's sporting greats.

"The Tiger" Tan Howe Liang won the Silver medal for Weightlifting atthe 1960 Rome Games, and ranks number 2 in the Singapore's 50Greatest Athletes (The Straits Times, 1999) hall of farne

The then 27 year old Ho!1/e Liang placed Singapore on the world sportingmap ln 1960, when he beat 33 other ath etes to win the silver medal Hls

achlevement rnarked Singapore's first and only oiymplc medal win to date.Howe Liang was later besto\red National Day honours and decorated with thePingat Jasa Gernilang (l'leritorious Service l'4edal), an honour no other ath etehas received.

Li Jia Wei came within two points of securing a place in thefinal of the table tennis event at the 2OO4 Athens Games.Born in Chlna, L was spotted by Singapore ofFiclals during a talentscoutlng tr p in 1995. They acted qulckly and only a year later, Li

made her competillve debut for Singapore

The three time Sportswornan of the Y€ar has surged Llp theinternatlonal rankings and amassed a glttering collectlon ofmeda s along the way, including four gold ones at the 2003 SEA

Games. Lee credits her success with the dedication and profess onalism of the coachlng staff in

Singapore and, if recent form is anything to go by, she looks a strong medal prospect for the20o8 Beijinq OlymPics.

The official poster for the 1952 Olympic Games held in Helsinkiwas originally designed for the 194O Games' However, the 1940

Games were cancel ed in the face of the Second Wor d War. Minlmalchanqes were made to the orlginal paavo Nurtrl poster, likeupdatingofdates and llnes around the countries on the globe

ii

53

Tan Eng Bock's all-conquering performance at the 1954 Asiancames in lvlanila led Singapore to its first and only water polo gold in theseries. Only 18, Enq Bock played with all the finesse of a seasoned veteranat the heart of a rniserly Singapore defence and was soon nicknamed Mr.Water Polo by the Press.Retirlng after 15 years of competitive success, Eng Bock moved on to coach

the nat onal side, presiding over a nearly unbroken string of SEA Games'I gold medals as Singapore made a name for itself as the region's premler

;ater polo team. Eng Bock continues to contribute to water polo and in1986, was awarded the Public Service Star for his efforts

8en Tan was the first Singapore sailor to win the gold at theAsian Games, achievinq the feat in Hiroshima in 1994. A decoratedveteran sallor, Ben had already established himself internationaily,winning four sEA Games gold medals and having been named Asian

Fireball ChamPion.

The three time Sportsman of the Year's contribution to local sporthas been recognised even by those outside the sailing community;he has been awarded the Public services star, the Public servicelledal and the Sinqapore Youth Award.

s4

III FURTHER READING

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Sports : Talent and Sc|ence

ffwo contrasting articles to discuss opposing viewpointsl

I The drugs do work

(a) A scientiflc miracle

Justin Ga!lin was ihe world s fastesl man - then, like so many sprinters before him, he failed a dope lesiand was banned. But the cheals who follow in his wake will be usino substances that may be lmpossibleto detect Observer science editor Robin lMcKie talks to leading geneticists about the rise ofihe bionlcathlete ' and why in this chi ling new world, spori is not the only thing ihat will be changed beyondrecognition

Sweeney s experiments were simple but dramatic He had isolaied a gene responsible for manufacluinga prolein called IGF-1. ln marnmals. IGF-1 boosts muscle gro\,!,lh and helps their repair' When we

exercise vigorously, our bodies naturally churn out lhe stuff. But as we age. produclion drops off and our

muscles weaken Sweeney wanied to find a remedy so he could help the elderiy and people with muscle-

So he spliced his gene into a virus and infecied mice with ii The engineered virus carried the gene into

each mouses cells, where it was incorporaied inlo the animal's DNA Then it began pumping out excess

IGF-1 directly into its muscles The results were speclacular. Sweeney's rodents developed mighty biceps

and thighs 50 per cent slronger than normal mice He had created a super-mouse with genetically

modified, pumped-uP muscles

I\,4any alhletes and coaches called to find oul if Sweeney could do the same for them using the technique

that was used lo create his Schwarzenegger mice However it would not yel work on humans Out

complex rrnmune systems would block hjs genetlcally engineered viruses and prevent lhem from gelllng

into our cells with iheir IGF-lcargo Many more tests and trials would be needed

In the end, Sweeney slopped taking calls from sportsmen He had started h s anlmal experiments on the

IGF 1 gene rn the l;ie 1990s to helt the elderly and slck Helping athletes was the lasl thing on my mind

But ev;ry ilme a new genetic sl!dy about boosting muscle qual y or b ood supply or bone sirength ls

publlshed the calls st;fl up again. These people cruise ihe internet for an)'lhing they think cou d give

them a chance to become stronger, faster alhleles

For Sweeney and many other geneticists, the issue is now an urgent and dlsturbing one The rising tide of

phone calls ;nd the int;rnet se;rches reveal the presence of a widespread underground industry that is

iargeting our runners, foolball players and rowers. The ultimaie alm as to iurn lhem into Formula One

ath'tetesl fionlc sportsmen whose performances have more to do with science and lnvestment ihan

endeavour and naiural abrllty The crucial point is thal gene therapy or gene doping 'promises to bring

that science fiction dream much closer

(b) Desioner steroids and enhancers

ln lhe past athletes took drugs such as anabolic sterords lo make therf stronger or qulcker But these

substances leave testable arces So other drugs - such as diuretics are used as masking agenls But

these, in l!rn, leave traces Peter Schierling, a researcher from ihe l\"luscle Research Centre in

Copenhagenaddedthatad]fic]algenesWillproduceproteinslhalareidentrca]tothoselnihehUmanbodyso ihat de'teciion, ln practce, wiLt be inrpossibte. s rnon Eassom, head of spods studtes 3t De tMontforl

U1t\ersr,!. ' er-este'al"o agreed

55

Sports : Talent and Science

So does thjs spellthe end oI sporl as we know it? Already, there are ceriain spods cycling, sprinting andbaseball, for instance'ln which fans have no confdence, so blighted are they by cheatlng. IMargins in

improvements rn peforrnances have become narrower ard narrower as athletes approach the limit ofhuman achievement. Atthe sarne time, rewards forwinning have spiralled. Billlons are spent sponsoringspod in Britain ioday Now add the increasing power oi sc entists 10 ilnker wlth lhe human consiitutionand you can see why many sporlsmen give their bodies chemical and genetic boosts The mere thoughtlhat thelr compelltors might be enhancrng is enough io ilp many of them over The results are spectacularand depresslng.

Last year was perhaps the worst everfor doping scandals wilh the use of perfomance enhancerc (asopposed to masking agenis) spreading even io cricket and the Tour de France being engulfed ln scandaleven before it beqan

O One problem

The problem - which has been simmering for almost two decades - is now reaching a crisis ln 1999,responsibjlity for drug testing was devolved from lhe lnternational Olympic Commitiee io the newlycreated World Ani -Doping Agency Since then, from its centres in Lausanne and Montteal, Wada's staffhave struggled to keep controi of substance abuse among athleles At lhe same tlme those supplying thedrugs hd,/e derro'rsrra'ed F:'rdordindry cun'ring

Consider the case of Balco - the Bay Area Laboratory Co-operaiive which was eventually exposed assupplier oflhe deslgner steroid tetrahydrogestrinone (THG). Before that, no one at Wada had developeda test for it because no one knew of ils existence. Yel its use was widespread Among thosesubsequently linked wilh Balco based in San Francisco, were baseball professionals Earry Bonds and

Benito Saniiago, Brilish spdnter Dwain Chambers, harrmer thrower John lvlcEwen and shot pulters CJ

Hunter and Kevin Toih A tesl now exists for THG, but few experts doubt other designer steroids are

being made, or have akeady been designed to bypass existing tests lt is, in effect, a Darwinian batlle

with;ach s de evolving straiegies to bypass the other The question is: who willwin in the end now thegene-dopers have ioined the skuggle?

(c) ShoLrld druq-lakinq be criminalised?

Liberal Democrat MP Phil Willis ai the House of Commons is chairman of lhe Commons Seleci Science

and Technology Commliiee, which is investigating pedormance enhancement in spod He said thalalthough official statistics indicate that between one and iwo per cent oftested athietes are fo!nd io bepositive for druqs, the realfigure is many lirnes that The problem ls thai so rnany ath etes are takingtestosterone and steroids that the problem cannot be iackled in ilme for next yeals Olympics in Beilrng

Thus we can expeci even more headlines about disgraced runners, weightlrfiers and long-jumperc being

sent home from China. Sadiy, we have got used to these slories So should we care? lsn't the idea ofspoding purity a losi cause? Willis is ceftain that lhis ls not the case and is adamanl thai eveMhing musl

be done to ensure the 2012 London Olympics are ihe cleanest Games for decades

His commiiiee whose repod on performance enhancement in sport is to be published in a few days - rs

considering a range of correctrve measures to ensure lhis These include ihe introduction oi a bio-card"

which would contain detalls of an athlete's blood type headbeat palierns, DNA and other biological

records. Competitors could then be tested for a complex array of biological variables that would quickly

reveal rf any enhancement had occurred since their cards had been created

I\raking drug{aking in spoft a crimlnal offence in Britain is also being considered though it would be hard

to implement. ln addition, athletes who are found io have taken drugs would not be allowed lo reiurn locompetitive spori until they had co opetated fully in lhe iracing of all other ofienderc caught up in their

case Another idea that has inlrigued MPs would be to nsist ihat aihleles be tested for a range ofsubst'nces a vear before they actually compeie at maior events Far too often 2" I sappear from

5A

Soorfs :Talent and Science

view before reappearing wlth bulging biceps ihat have probably been chernically enhanced but whosesteroid origins are no Jonger delectab e.

(d) Cosmetics and Boosters - line is blured

Circumstances change and eihical cedainties shifr producinq baffling conlladictions Why, for example, isii acceptabl€ to permit Lase. surgery to imorove an archers eyesight while ihe boosting of an athletesbody mass by chemicelmeans ls fobidden? Orconsiderthe issue ofoxygen supply lnthe 1964WinierOlympics, the Finnish cross country skier Eero Mantyranta won two golds a feat thal was traced to hlspossession of a rare muiaiion in his DNA that caused him io churn out unusually hlgh ievels of red bloodcells (which carry oxygen 10 our muscles and give them power) l\lantyranta s natura genetic advantagemade him unbeatable However, there are ways to generate this klnd ofprowess artllcially. Live up ahigh mountain for a few months and your red blood suppLy will be boosled by the low oxygen levels thereOr you can train rn a hypoxic chamber that recreales the thin atmosphere of a rnountain top Or you cangive yourself a shol of EPo, which wil boosl the number of red blood cells in your arleties or one dayyou will be able - thanks lo gene therapy - to g ve yoursell an exlra dose of DNA thal will automaticallyboost your own produciion of red biood cells. The last two practices on thls llst are banned by sportsbodies, but the first iwo are accepted. ihough in lhe case of hypoxic chambers lhe go ahead was agreedonly after a long. pained reappraisal ofiheir use by Wada last year. li was a close run lhing, howeverThus we can see lhat the line thal separales legal and illegal enhancernents s a shifting, uncertain one

Andreea Raducan was only 16 when she won the combined exercises al the 2000 Olympic Games TheRomanian gymnast was a shor1, elfin figure with an innoceni, chlldlike demeanour Hence the shock

when she was slripped of her tille for taking pseudo ephedrine The drug was part oI a cold cure given to

her by her team doctor Tough luck, you might think, but rules are rules. The trouble is ihal the rules are

constantly being changed ln 2003, Wada removed pseudo ephedrine from iis banned lst For Raducan,

the decision was anythrng but reasonable She lost a medal for taking a substance now used happily by

alhletes All I did was take a cold pill whichdidnthelpmeatalldurngmycornpetilion'shecomplainedal the iime. 'lt was a nlghtmare,' added her coach, Oclavian Belu We will not iorg ve or forgei ' lnRomania, Raducan waa seen as an)4hing but a disgraced figure She was given a replacemeni medal in

pure gold by a jeweller and for a while it was even rumoured thai a Raducan doll would be rnarketed

A slmilar feeling of outrage no doubt affected lnger Miller, the US sprlnterwho was stripped of her bronze

in the 1999 Woild lndooiAlhleircs Championshlps for iaking caffeine. a drug ihat was rehabiltated at the

same time as pseudo ephedrrne. Her case contrasts with that of Liniord Chrrstie who. in the same year,

was foLrnd to have traces of nandrolone an anabolic steroid in his urine A IJK Alhletics panel cleared

him because it could not be proven beyond reasonable doubt that the substance present in the sarnple

was derived from a prohibited substance.

(e) A Simplifred Approach

The siiuation is comp ex rLles are constantly changed and intepreiation of them remains uncertain As a

result, rfany expens believe lt is time to lake a new sirnplifled approach io drug tak ng or fa'e thep.ospect of being submerged by t dal waves of mlsuse One of these is ihe Oxford eth cist and expert on

drug use in spod, Ptofessor Julian Savulescu He believes drugs such as HGH beta'blockers and even

EPO should now be allowed in sport.'lnstead, we should concentrate our efforts on exposing users ofharmfuldrugs Anabolrc steroids can often cause heari and other problems Similarly genellc

interveniiona gene-doping are also likely to be dangerous, for the sclence involved is slill in lts infancy.

That is what we should be really concerned abolrt

The real problem, says Savulescu is that people have forgotten that athletes have always sought to

enhance thelr pedormances, not iusl by exercising but by trying new diets and supplements and by

aitempting to allertheir bodles chemicaly Ancient Greek Olympians ale sheep lesticles which we now

recoonlse as a source of testosterone lo improve their alhlelicism lnihelate191h rry, cyclists

sl

Spods : Talent and Science

began using catfelne, cocaine and ether coated sugar cubes io improve performance and reduce pain,while at the 1904 Olympjcs in St Lours, Americas Thomas Hrcks won the marathon fuelled with drlnks ofbrandy laced with strychnine (a stimulant in low doses). He collapsed on crossing the tape and was notrevived for s--veral alarming hours

(0 Eqq4le ?I!L!Cg?!!q llpr'carions

Putiing blanket bans on enhancements - now thal science is generating rnore and more of them ' is

doomed 1o failure. according to Savulescu, especially when the potential rewards are simply irresistibleBut what happens in sport today will affect society tomorrow A host ol new rnedicines are beingdeveloped to help those with Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, rnuscle-wasting diseases and oiher condilionsMany oi these will undoubiedly help palienls. But they are also likely to boosl performance in ihe healthy:Alzheimer's drugs could help us to concentrate beiter, for example. Would a student laking lhese duringexams be cheating? Wrll we have to introduce pre-exam drug tests?'Socieiy will have to make up itsmind, says Savulescu 'The irouble is, we are being directed down this road by sporting authorities whoare setting examples but who really dont have the gravitas tor making such decisions.'

Consider human groMh hormone {HGH), which stimulates muscle and bone growth: if you lail 1o make it

al puberty, your qrowth wiJl be stunted. ln the late 1980s, scientists isolaled the HGH gene and began logrow large amounts in biotechnology plants: great news for doctors and pat ents and the black marketHGH became lhe drug du lour for many weightliiiers and athletes, and its use spread with stadling speed,

despite being banned by all sports aulhorities

ln 1998. an Ausiralian customs official stopped a member ofthe Chinese swimming leam ar.iving for theworld championships al Perth and found his suilcase was sluffed with phials of HGH. Similarly at theSydney Olympics in2000 SergeiVoynov, the Uzbek athletics coach wascaughtiryingtobringinl5vials in a jar that was conveniently labelled HGH in large letters iust in case he rnight forget what he was

carrying.

According to physiologist Dr Keith Stokes at Bath University. levels of HGH abuse by athletes have now

reached striking levels 'But ii's not at all clear that HGH will do them muchgood adds Stokes. Most

studies suggest HGH has little effecl after pubedy Yet lots of aihletes are now lakjng Al American

colleqes, HGH has spread from top athletes down lo other students who merely llke to work out in gyms

or wlio want to keep fil ln this way, spori and its infl!ence on doping and drug-laking are already having

a growrng imPact on everydaY life

There is too, the issue of ihe use of genetics not as a source of enhancements but as a way of

idenlifyinq promislnq athletes Tests are being developed that will a low geneticists and doctors to select

those young people who are going 10 develop sporting physiques They can then be selecled for inienslve

iraining This, according to Andy M ah, reader in bioethics at Paisley University, raises challenging ethicalquesii;ns about how DNA databases w ll function in society You can see easrly how genetic tests will be

able to build up information about athletes capacities Miah says 'lndeed, we already have the first oisuch gene tests in use. This is a mouth swab test that revea s information about what propoatron o{

muscle-fibre type a person has a lot of slow lwitch musc e f bre type, which wouid make you good at

endulance competltions, or a large proportion of fast lwitch muscle fibre type, which makes you better at

exp osive or power events You can see how tests like lhese will first be used al high levels of spori, then

spiead into colleges and schools to pinpoint promising pupils Nexl thing you know you will have ourpopulation being tested al b rlh

It is just ihis vislon that alarms so many ethicisis and sclentlsts They fear we face a iuture rn which those

born wilh the righl DNA, or those that can afford to enhance it will be preferred Thus we risk creating a

privlleged e ite and at the same tlme an underc ass of genetic losets The shocking thing is that this may

come about, not because of polillcal interference, but because ofthe drive by ihousands of spodsmen

and women to galn the sllghtest of advantages over iheir competitors l read Bravc " ' Wotld recently

tO"n. , t",""t "*"

says Mrchele Verroken I had to throw it away lt was ioo frlghtening. for lhat is just the cllture we are

We have a liitle way to go before we reach such a future _ bul not ihat iar The revolution has already

come a long way in a shod time, particularly in terms of gene doping [,{ost expefts bel]eve it is only a

matter of ti;e before the first genetically enhanced athlete is let loose at a nrajor event. Iam sureihere is

some rogue laboratory somewhere in lhe world, that is akeady trying to alter the genes of an athlete

schedul;d lo compete at the next Olympics ,' says Lee Sweeney One idea wolld be to turn off a

person s immune ;ysiem so il can no longer fight off the viruses that brlng in the neLgenes Needless to

;ay,lhat is a very risky ihing to attempl Bul risk doesn t seem io worry sporls slars Theyiusiwantanedge at allcosts'

ll Are Sports Medicine Miracles?

Stem Cell Research Hints at Promising Regenerative Therapies, but Real Results May Be

By DAN CHILDSABC ews Medical Unit

Designer "spare parts for ruptured tendons and torn ligaments. Stem cell injections to heal and buid

.r"i". L-l.ii"rr if',.tup"utlc; that would allow star athletes io extend their careers bv vears if not

Welcome io what some envision as the new world of spods thetapeutics Proponenls sav thai such

regeneralrve treatmenls could be on ihe way rn the years io corne

Clinicaltrials investgating stem cells potentlal n regenerat ng canilaqe and healng muscle are currentlv

,"j.. *"V- ,q"J "fr"lav,

-some companies that free;e and store ceriain types of slem celLs are promoting

tt e potenilat of st". cell therapies for sports med cine. The idea is ihat stem cells stored now mav be

usefulyearc down the road

But oiher stem ceil and regenerative rnedicine experts say today's spods slars shouldn I call lheir agents

;;ib;;r";;; '""t" t;search needs to be done before such treatments even approach realitY

Better Athletes Through Science?

Researchonstemcellsthosece]]sinthebodythatcanbenudgedtodevelopintoaWideVar]etyofdifferenttissues' has actuallv been goingon sincethe eary 1960s

However, recent advancements have bro!ght the rype of optimism ihat some argue hasn'i been seen in

scientrfic realms since the beginning of lhe aiomic age

The regenerative stem cell iherapies that may one day he p ath etes.heaL moslly fall oulside the debate

o""r. "i"...h o" ..uryonic stem cells in mosi cases, the ceLls used in sporls medrcrne would come fiom

oth., "ourc.",

su"h us'umbrllcalcord blood or even the paiients themselves

lnitial steps in siem celltherapy for athleies could be modest

''The most likely short-term applicailons of stem cells would seem to be the enhancenrent of the healinq

,""p.""" ,n"li"j*v r"O or iurgery. said tlr Rick l\Iatsen chair of orthopedics and sports medicine at

the Un versity of Washington

s9

Snorts : Taleni and Science

As an example he sald thai stem cells filay one day be used to help torn rolator cuffs heal more quickly

Stern cells may also be used lo prompt qulcker healing oi siress fractures and muscle stralns

Still, some researchers are oplimistlc that sports medicine could reap the benefils of stem cells in iheioreseeable ful!re.

Dr Johnny Huard, direciorofthe Stem Cell Res*rch Centerofthe Children's Hospitalof P tsburgh. said

h s team has akeady conducted siem cell research thal treats palients using iheir own moscl_a slern cells

ln this case, the patients were noi alhleles - they were men with bladder problems But he said lheresea.ch demonsiraies that these procedures are safe.

'When can we apply this to sports medicine? Time will iell us " he said "But we believe lhat this is in our

sight "

othelssayfUtUrestemcellireatmentscou|dtargetkneejointsandolherprob]ernaticaleasforaihleles

"ln athletes. we will probably flrst see stem cells being used to treal meniscus iniuries in the knee and

tendon injuries., said Dr s;ott Rodeo. assoctate attending o.thopedrc surgeon at the Hospitalfor special

Surgery and associate leam physician for the New York Giants

"We could also see il used in ligament reconslruction in the knee' ACL repair is a common operation

typically you take part of a ligament lrom a donor sde in the knee lnstead we might be able to use a

paiientls own cells to grow their own ligament That would be cool "

And one cornpany is cu.rently in the early phases of a clinical trial for a new technique io repair the

meniscus -- a cruclal wedge of carlilage in the knee joint

''sofarii'sbeenverysafe,.,sa]dRandallMills'CEoofoslrisTherapeutrcsAlthough.thetliaLissti]linits.rify

"fug"" he sail these therapies may one day allow athletes to heal more completely and fasterlhan

"Stem cell therapy ls much closer than people think, ' he said Once ihat happens it s really go ng to

"p* ,pln" a.,jri. r.rge scale slem cell therapies lo invade into other areas and become part of the

armament of sports mediclne physiclans "

Treatments Still Highly Speculative

8ut the menlscus project's researcher Dr Tom Vangsness professor of odhopedic surgery at the

university ot soutnern california s Keck schoot ol Medicine, said that though initial steps appear

pro*i"ini, r.."ur"n.r. nre still a long way from practicalapphcation of stem ce ls in spo'is medicine'

''We have only been playing wlth {stem cellsl for 3 few years now he said we don t know whal thev can

a" v"i, i" ,i d""""tvl Tlie iDA will not in th; near foreseeable future aLlow anv human applicatron of stem

cells in sporls medicine

Other researchers agree ihat many hurdles remain before treatmenis become wldely available

,'Even after a tissue has been generated outside lhe body one still has the challenge of getting lt in place

,ia """rnng

itia t o"*mes f;nctionat,,,Marsen said. 'The bottom line is that there is much research to

i. c"". t. J*pi"i. ]" "ffecriveness

of stem ce technologies rn solving the cartitage. |gament tendon

and bone injunes we face in athleies and in all active individuals''

8O

_ ao"n"-"

These and other complexities could mean years of reseaach before practicai applicatrons are seen

'ln five years, the hope ls to be engaged in meaningful clinical tdals, Rodeo said 'There are safetyissues we still need to work oul "

At the earliesl, he said, t would take two lo lhree years for legitimate trealmenls to follow successfuic|nicaltrral resulis

"We're not at ihe pornt where we can make recommendations for slern cell treatment on a routine basis

Eventually the answer may be yes. The ceils have iremendous poteniialio regenerate things thai dontreally heal.'

Some Athletes May Not Wait

Someathletesmayalreadybetakingslepstowardstemcellsolutions,eventhoughnodefinltiveresearchexists Stem celj banks akeady offer their servlces rn freezing and storing adull stem cells forthepossibility of iater therapeutic use.

iAbsolUtelyitislogical.'HUardsaid,addingthatstemcellbankjngforyoungchj|drenwhoshowathleiicpotenlial shouid be considered.

Bul the potenilal of stem cells in sports medicine has a worrying side as well Vangsness saicl thai if

promising prellminary results come out of early trials sorne athleles may look to reap thelr benefils before

ihey are approved in the United States _ or even proven safe

.'Profess]onalaih]etesareprivileqed,''hesaid..Theyhavemoney.andtheyhaveaccesstocertainthings

that the rest of us do not "

Huard sald that once the technology matures there may even be a possrbility that sorne 'ould

see stem

cells as the nexl steroids

"We?e not there yei, but I am already thinking that some people would be inlerested to do that " he said

Still, the greatest danger thai exisis for the time being Vangsness said is the possrbility ihai stem cell

therapy ii sports medicine could be oversoid even before it has become a reality

"We want to be absolutely responsibie in terms of what we are saying to ihe pub ic " he said "People are

,""ffv trn.J in to rLs and they are desperate in many ways This is not a panacea but still it ls clearlY

the most exciting frontier in medical scrence ihat we have ever seen '

Junko Takeshita. Copyright O 2007 ABc News lnternet Ventures

April 16,2007

6l

Sports : Talent and Science

A lype of anabolic steroid used to boost muscle development strength, and endurance (Anabolic means'building body tissue' ) Testosterone is naturally present in men and. to a lesser degree in women but

athleles can increase levels lhrough use of an inleciion a gelor a patch Excess testosterone and olheranabolic steroids are linked to high blood p.essure. heart disease and cancer

EPO

Short for erJ,'ihropoietin Made in lhe kidneys, EPo instructs bone marrow to make red blood 'ells

lhal

carry oxygen around our bodies. The developmenl of an artificial version was a boon to paiients who

coul; not;roduce red blood cels then it was adopied by athleies wanting to boosi oxygen levels in lheir

muscles to stave otf exhaustion EPO use thickens the blood and increases lhe risk of hearl attacks

Masking agents

These do noi enhance performance ihemselves, bul are used to disguise the presence of other drugs in

lhebloodskeam:apos]tivetestfolthemattractssimilarpunishmentloiheuseofsteroidsthemselves.I\,,lasking agents include amiloride and hydrochlorothiazide which are prescribed by dociors to treat

hypei(e;si;n and liver disease. They can cause dehydration headaches and nausea

HGH

ShodforhUmangroMhhormoneLikeEPo'itisasyntheticVers]onofahUman,proteinandsiimulatesmusctaana lonJgrowttr, padicutarly around pubedy when the pituitary gtand releases a ftood of it into

the body. tt is extr;mety hard to detect and is now thought to be used by a nurnber of sporlsmen to boost

muscl"massExcessHGHcanleadtoswellingofsofttissueshighbloodpressureandanincreasedlendency 1o sweat

Blood doping

An athlete takes a pint of his or her own blood, in the same procedure as donating r1 a while before

cornpeting una the;, "tores

ii Just before a race or match, he or she has a translusion of lhls blood Thls

pi""'id.. i t"""lt" O."st rn their numbers of red blood cells and so helps them get mote oxygen to their

;uscles. Transfusing exira blood into our aderies can lead to dangerous increases in blood pressure

THG

Short for tetra h yd rogesi rinone. An anabollc steroid THG is a deslgner drug only uncovered by lhe doping

a,tnonties in zrjo:, -wnen

it was found to be in wlde use tt is taken oralty and then its presence masked

with a cream. Creared specfically io bypass tests for pedormance enhancers ll boosied rnuscle power

wiihout fear of detection However, there is now a test that can detecl THG'

w'"d" ' ' loov od-lN'^ .'dM'd@ '

d)00-

Essay Question

''Sports today is about talent exploiting science." Discuss. (AJC PE 01 09)

6r

Spurr\ Iton\

Article for discussion : ls celebritv status attained at the expense of sportsmanship?

Preparatory Search : Using online searches, find out what the foliowing concepts mean givlngexamples to illustrate. Discuss the questions at the end of the passage.

F'c"n.u'..rcui[uEt^^...." Capitalism' Cult of Celebrity.

End of an era

With David Beckharn, it was never.iust about the football. lt was alsoabout class, and masculinity, and beauty. As he hands in his captain'sarmband, Zoe Williams pays tribute to the sportsman who became an icon.

Diehard football fans will be in no mood foI the ruminations of somebody whoisn't suicidal I tell you, though, the resignation of David Eeckham asEngland captain is a moment of such socio-cultural import that it doesn'tlake a diehard fan lo mark the moment.

Beckham will play on, of course, although perhaps not lor England, or even in

England, but that's not the point: the era this marks the end of is not really a

football era. lt's a proper era

At the incipience of ihe EgqKEqfuqUlC, there was a brilliant essay by David

Baddiel, talking about Beckham's right foot that defied the laws of physics l'm

afraid I can't quote it verbatim because it was before people routinely recordedthings on the wondernet. lt was before 1998 before the email was widespread

The point is, Beckham marked a lggtqd9 national shift England, pre Becks

was, to an outsider, fairly middlinq at football. Those who thought differently

were deludrng themselves for weekend pleasure. But with Becks on the scene,

whether you read, believed or took an any way serioLlsiy the Baddiel spiel. we

had hoped Beckham represented pure hope.

Fair-weather football watchers weren't interested in plodding increments of

improvement, we needed a supqrhero, and what do you know, wesuddenly had one. Obviously, this has been proven untrue. I don't wantto labour the point, but we still haven't actually, you know, won anything'And maybe Wayne Rooney's better And I don't even know what the iaws ofphysics were that he was defying.

But still, the arrival of Beckham marked a new departure in the waylootballers were talked about, and who was talking about them- You can

say what you like about lMichael Owen or Owen Hargreaves these days, and

someone will raise lheir eyebrows and say, well, they said that about David

Beckham. Nobody said Beckham-ish things pIe-Beckham.

Fxplain theof "proper"context.

Explain

meanlngin this

the"Beckham Bubble"and its influence onthe fans.

Vocabulary

qualities of acelebrlty sportsman?

He also, as a man, carried a certain amount of timely association: he carne to

embody new mannishness and not, as is commonly supposed, just by having a

high voice and wearing a sari He has been captain of the England team since

2OOO, and yet has never seemed to lead by machismo, or anv of the bullish

L3

qualities that are commonly thoLlght of as "leaderly". He captained becausehe was the best at it: he captained through a process of strinqentmeritocracy. So his time in office (if you like) made football a differentplace. And it wasn't just about masculinity; it was also a comment onclass. Beckham didn't have to be a pioneer to represent classlessness,he simply had to exist. I think in many ways, if yoLr were to assess the long

term social impact of the Posh-Becks qI6, all the money-lust and drippingconsumption epitomised by their wedding, say. or Beckingham Palace, is offsetby the simple purity of Becks's medtocratic message. This, I think, far morethan his actual backgroLlnd, accounts fo. the working-class hero he became(though the most trenchant proponent of that was Julie Burchill, and I always

flgured the real reason she liked him was because they were in some squeaky-voice pact).

Pad of our relationship with the iconoqraphY of David of course is due to theambivalence of our feelings for Posh, which veer wildly from, "lsn't she thin and

pr.tty?t'to, "Gosh, she's emaciated and ta{entless." She acted llke the decoy in

a herd of deer - any time, as a unit, they did something beyond the pale,

bqlllEtlq or grabby, it could be instantly bias]ed on her and his reputation would

b" Ulsqllg4 Th" on.lirne this didn't work, of course was when he got sent off

in france in 1998. As feverish as our loathing of Posh (and really, by

How does the mediacreate Beckham asa spoding icon?

extension, womankind) has ever been, it stopped short of blarning her for the

actualfootball. So that's nice.

The Posh-hate has kept Beckham so utterly igl!4Qqlalq that we frequenuy

ignore history in his favour: he is thought of as a stoic despite the fact that, in

his day, he has tantrummed like a big baby He is thought of as a family. man'

self-efiacinq and constant, despite text allegations to the contrary' He is

tnougha;Gs a straight-up kind of chap even though the people who make it

their"business to know such things insist that he is a skilled media-manipulator'

as canny about his image as any lqKy oleaqinous politician- We attribute to him

the sile;t mysterious dignity ola Kate Moss or a Kylie despite the fact that'

unlike lhose two properly reticent creatures Beckham has (ludicrouslyl)

"written" a number of autobiographies the first of which, in 2001

Why these misapprehensions? Partly his Posh-shield. yes but mainly his

physical beauty. liis a sad thing that we've come nowhere really at allsince the

iatuous ptizabethan notion lhaaexternal beauty represented iniernal goodness'

We pretend we can't believe our eyes, but the truth is, we cannot disbelieve

them. So even though we know everything that Rebecca Loos has said, and

have no reason to d;ubt her, the irnage of Beckham with his boys looking so

perfect, convinces us of him. Thai is the bizarre privilege of the beautiful _ we

;ill insist on the idealised version of their lives, in the face of all evidence And

it's kind of sad. but jt s not the end of the world for God's sake, and he is very

dishy

But a lot of the attachment to Beckham isn't sirictly personal Sportsmen'generally, are a good barometer of one's place in culture - a lot of hocus

io.u" go.. on;ith other cetebrities. Pop stars can be 14 or 40' film stars

iikewGe; politicians come and go, the age at which it is fashionabie to- "make.it'

can change dramatically, depending on charisma and fronting-it otrt' the

invention 6t Botox and how long [4ick Jagger can possibly pretend to be a

L4

Spon' Ic,'ns

player. But there is no quarte. for stretching the point in internationalathleticism: you are either at your physical peak, or you're not. The eraduring which your nation's main footballer is the same age as you, theaefore, is

the era during which you own your culture. lt is a sad thing to let this go, eventhough there's a nobility in so doing Watching a footballer, furthermore, is ljkewatching a life in fast-forward. They go from qtlglpy adolescent to grandfather

of the sport in less than a decade. and so of course they act as a memenlomori, even though they couidnl spell it - lhough I W;ll point out that neither can I

and l'm just hoping for a sub-editor to pick that up.

Explain the paradoxof a sporting icon.

The paradox is, Beckham means so much more than football, but only from

within football does he really gather all this significance, and if we insist uponhis stardom long after his retirement from the football A-list, it'll . well, it will all

go wrong lt will be like !rying to bring Buffy back from the dead The laws ofphysics, disturbed already, woLlld be completely disfigLlred. We'd have to starl

the universe from scratch, over a ball game.

Tuesday J!ly 4. 2006

Discussion questions:

1 What do the words underlined mean?

-]

"sportsmen, generally, are a good barometer of one's place in culture - a lot of hocus pocus

goes on with-other celebrities'i. Do you agree with the writer's point? Why and why not?

Are sportsmen or sportswomen overrated these days? Give evidence for your answer'

What is the difference between Spo(smen and Celebrities? Why do you think Sportsmen

and Celebrities are greatly admired with an almost cultish appeal? What does this reveal

about the nature of consumer cultLlre today?

L5

Past GCE A-Level question (1993)

Does sport always contribute to international harmony and understanding?

(This article is useful reading to understand how China, as the host country of the BeiiingOlympics to be held in August 2008, is t eing scrutinized by the international media withreference to unresolved human dghts issues surtaced by pro-Tibet lobbyists. Thesuggestion to boycott the games in order to put pressure on China to deal with thoseissues is being discussed. Both articles serve to give differenl perspectives on howpolitics play a major role in maior sporting events such as hosting the Olympics.)

Boycott Opening CeremoniesSet aside Tibet and other legitimate grievances. Make chinese action on Darfur acondition of attending.

NEWSWEEKUpdaled 3 43 Pl\4 ET Apr 12. 2008

li's a 100 day dash, and the world had beiter get at leasl a silver. ln ihe time before the Beiiing Olympics

opens in August, theWesl has a chance lo bring China fudher inlothe communily of responsible nations

lf we fail, we may spend the rest of the 21st century regretting that we dldn't use sorne leverage when we

had it Half a dozen European leaders and the Democraiic presldenlial candidates are urgrng a mini-

boycott of Beiing's opening ceremonies They?e right 1o do so, il's the besi shot we've got

After promlsing Jacques Rogge and lhe lnternational Olympic Commitlee ihat rt would respeci h!nranrights, at least untilthe Games end, the regime moved in the opposiie dlrecllon by stepping up its

harassment of dlssldenls. While showing some important signs of maturity in joining regional efforts to

dealwith North Korean nukes. the government has found it hard io break bad habltsr il took the baii in

Tibet, indulgrng in stale denunciations of the Dalai Larna afler cracking heads n the worst violence there

in 20 yearsi it continues to back the mililary thugs in Burma and promises of unfettered internationalpress coverage and lnternel access are proving worthiess

So are the efforts oflhe regime's public_relations geniuses Jusl as images were being broadcast of the

latesl Olympic sport (hide and-seek wilh the torch and demonslrators on lhe streets of San Francisco)

Chlna m;de a big announcement lMore than lhree dozen lslamrc extremists of Chlnese exlraction had

been arrested and charged with plotiing to kidnap athletes when they arrive rn Beiiing Could be legit, bul

I wouldn't bel the subpime mortgage on it. The iiming is highly suspicious

The worst example of Chinese qlobal lrresponsibility is in Darfur' Andrew Nalsios Presideni George W'Bush s special envoy in the region, is pralsing China s effods to push lhe Sudanese reginie to end the war

and ease the plight of 3 mlllion refugees. Where's the proof? China buys 1wo thirds of Sudan s oil and

thus calls the tune there But it cont nues lo violaie the United Natrons arms embargo by shlpping

weapons io Sudan, which are then passed on to the Janjaweed goons who by some estimates have

killed or intentLonally siarved to death nearly half a million people Andtheyverapedonas'alelheChinese sho!ld remember from their own World War ll experience with the Japanese in Nanking Those

vehicles the soldiers use for their genocide are called Dongfeng mrlrtary trucks.

Foreign policy realists say lhat human rlghts are important bLrt should be far down lhe list ofAmerican

issue; wth the Chlnese-below reskalning nukes (China has influence in lran as well as Nodh Korea)

cllmate change (on average one new Chinese coal fired plani opens there every week) and balance of

6b

kade (the company you woft for may bb in hock to a chlnese bank). Bui ihese concerns are interrelated,and can be addressed only when China rnoves beyond llp service and aciually abides by the noms ofwhat, for lack of a more fellcitous ph€se, we call the global communily

Eush s private phone chais wiih Hu Jintao every slx weeks aren t gelting that done, but shaming theChinese by wlthholdinq athletes from the Games won t wod( eiiher The insult would be felt not jusi by iheChinese qovernment bui by nearly allthe Chinese people. who have made aslonishrng progress in thepasl three decades and deservethe recognitiof theGames offer This sntexactythebesttimetomakeenemies of a biljion more people around ihe giobe Their nationalisl fervor and hair-trigger resenlmenl offoreign intervention in Chinese affeirs is grounded in bitter historical experience frorn ihe imperialisl opiumwars forward So any comparison to the 1936 Games, when Hitle. had been in power oniy three yearc, ismisplaced This rs a coming out pady for a country not for a murderous regime in power for 60 years

Theres a middle ground in allthis, and thais where the threal of head-of-stale no shows at the openingceremonies comes in. The beauty of the idea, first €ised by German Chancellor Angela [,4erkel, is thatavoidlng this mini boycott will require the Chinese to st down with allthe European countries nowconsidering it, and to do so oulside ihe stultfying confines ofihe Ge summit.

The besl way forward would be io temporarily set aside Tibet and the many other legltimate grievancesanlmating the flame chasing demonstrators in cities around the world and tocus on Darfur. NicholasKnstof ol The New York Times proposed a conference on genocjde, with lhe intriguing idea that it be heldinRwanda,siteoftheworstrnasskillingofthepast25years lf a meeting were held somewhere iiChinasigned a meaningful agreement and if the commitments were carrred out on the ground in Darfur, then all

lhe presidenls and prime rninisters show up in Eeijing and watch the parade

Thai's a lot of ifs Wh le the Chinese don\ wani rheir parly spoiled, they aren\ about to lose face by being

forced 10 capitulate But let s remember how high the slakes are We have a window of only a couple ofdecades at most before China dislodges us as the largest economy in the world At that point, it will eitherbe a responsible (if likely stiil undemocrallc) superpower, or it will be moving the planet in an aulhoritariandirection The Olymplcs may be lhe world s last lever A medal maybe even a Nobel PriTe-for lhe

diplomats who can pLill it properly .

i Don't Feed China's Nationalismj

I Public humiliation does not work nearly as well on the regime in Beijing as

I ptiYglg pl99i!{9:

Fareed ZakariaNEWSWEEKApr 12 2008

Al firsi glance Chrna's recent crackdown in Trbet looks like a familiar storyline a diclalorship represses itspeople. And of course that's pad of lhe reality as it ofien is in China But on thrs issue the communisl

regime s not in opposiiron to its people. The vast majorlty of Chinese have liitle sympathy for the Tibetan

cause. To the extenl thal we can gauge public opinion in China and among its diaspora ordinary Chinese

are ifanyihing critlcalofthe Berjing governmenl fo. being too easy on the Tibetans Therealstruggehere ls between a nationalist maiorlty and an ethnic and rellgious m notiy looking io seclrre its rrghts.

ln these circumsiances. a boycolt of lhe Olympics would have preclsely the opposite effect lhat isintended The regime in Eeijing would become only rnore defensive and stubborn The Chinese people

wou d rallv around the flag and see the West as lrylng to humi|ate Chlna in its first lnternauonal monrent

of qlory. {There are many susplcions lhai lhe United States cannot ablde the prospect of a rising China.)

6t

For most Chinese, the Games are aboul the world s giving China respect, rather than bolstedng the

Communist Pady s legitimacy

For leaders io boycott the Games opening ceremonies alone is an odd idea. ls the president of lhelJniied States supposed to lravel to Beijing to altend the women's water-polo finals insiead? (Bdtain's

Gordon Brown, for instance, has said he ll attend the closing, but noi the opening ceremonies ) Picking

who will go to which event is trying to have it both ways, voting forthe boycott before you vote against it

Some wrnt to punlsh Ch na lor fts associalion with ihe Sudanese gove.nmenl which is perpetrating

atrocitiesinDarful'B!tioboycoltBeijing.sGamesbecaUseitbUysoilfromSudancarliesth..nolionofresponsibility too far. After all, the Unlted States has much closer tres to SaudiArabia, a medleval

monarchy th;l has funded lslamic terror Shoud the world boycott America forthis relatonship?

China s attitude toward Tibet is wrong and cruel, but, alas not lhat unusual Olher nations, especially

developing countries, have taken tough stands against what lhey perceive as separatist forces A

flourishinddemocracy like lndia has often responded io such movements by lrnposing martial law and

suspendiig potiticat ind civil ights The Turks for many decades crushed atl Kurdish pteas for tinguistic

"na'"ir,ni""*tonon]y. rhe de;ocratically etecied Russian government of Boris yeltsin responded brlltally

ro chechen demanis iJnder yeltsin and his successor, vladimir puiin, also etected, ihe Russian Army

k]lledabout75000c]Vi]iansinchechnya'and|eveleditscapiial,Theseaci]onswereenthusiasticallysupported w h;n Russia. lt is particuia;ly strange to see countries that launched no boycolts while

Chechnya was being destroyed-and indeed welcomed Russia inio the G8-now so outraged about lhej.rsecrilon ot mlnoiltles. (l;comparison estimates are lhat overthe past 20 years chinahasiailed

several hundred People in Tibet )

onth]sissue'theBushadministrationhassofarfol]owedawiselcoulse.forgoingihegrandstandingt.kino Dtace in Eurooe and on the campargn trail. lt has been urging the chinese government quietly bul

i'r.tv"tt "nqug"

n senous drscussions wrth the Dalai Lama Diplomacy can be scoffed at but every

.rtrinriioni'r l'r.in""" rhat has had success in persuading the chrnese governmenl to change course will

testify that public humiliation does not work nearly as well on ihe regime as private pressure

NeooilatinowlththeDa]alLamalslnBeijlng'sinlerestasweLl'llfacesarestivepopulat]onihatlivesin

"'ooriiipl'."".o; ,"rrrdapaofChrna lManv Tibelals wa'rl'ro'perden'F Bul.lhe Da ai I arra hd '

reoearedl; sd o lhal he ooes rol seek roepe'ld;.lce onlY cultLrrdl aulonomi Fven rasl weer hp Ieleded

"",i'ii"'.,i,i"r,n" or"tnolcs and urqed his foilowers lo engage in no violenl protests whatsoever' lfthere

;;1.";i;;; ;;;';i; lepuiut,sr g-'oup *rlom one courd neaoriate wirh he's it And once the 72 vear ord

;;i; i;;;;;;;.;,"; the scene: Eeiins misht have to dealwrrh a iar more unpredictabLe and radical

Tibetan movemeni

SownvdoesnIlheCni.las--eql,nes'FlnrstBp,rghdsapad'Ldrproben Nowthdl 'orlmurrsmisi"ro in" C.."" ,'" oarty ees ir' legil n-""v as hir eo lo rls 'ole '1 pronolr q ard oefercl ag ch ne5e

naiionallsm. ft ls especlatly c umsy when rt comes to such issues C ever technocrals lhotrgh they are

Cr,i".,, "..*rni"t r""aers_mosity engineers-have nor had to refine iheir political skills as they have

ttrelr economic toucn In ihe pasi they have stoked anti Japanese and anti Amercan outbursts only to

.r'",. tl"tin "o,

*"* o-llrng orl ol ;onlrol i,ld lhen eversa corrse lhe)/ fe'r lhat "omorornis ng o'"ri,l.i*""rj ""i.pi"""?ntior

the unravelng ofthe chlnese natron' china has grown and shrunk in size

ovei tne centuries, ano tts dynasties have oft;n been iudged by the I success rn preserving ihe country's

geography

ln facl, in almost a1l cases-Turkey lndia-granlrng auionomy lo groups lhat press for rt has in the end

nroduced d more "tabte dno pea, e,u nalro;rLtm;re I rl rhar rs d lessor lhe ch,nese qo\er'rm.1l wiL'

i;"-.,;;;,; il ;;[ -il

is unrrr.erv to rar.e rnstrucrion from oursic]ers. lis handIns of rhe proresrs in ribet is

disgracelul. B!t humiliaiing the entire country over it would make maiters worse '

LIRL httD://www newsweek comiidi 131211

68

Essay Questions on Sports

1. "No more heroes, just fallen idols; no more ideais, just shattered illusions." To whai extent is this an acc!rate

description of sport today? (HCl Prelims 04)

2- "Modern sports celebrities make poor role models". Do you agree? (CJC MYE 03)

3. "Reading sports news is a waste of time". Do you agree? (iJC MYE 06)

4- "5port divides more than it unitei'. ls this a fair comment? (TPJC Prelims 04)

5- "Sport is about money". ls this always the case? (PJC prelim 04)

6- "Sport is serious business". Comment. (TlCPrelim05)

7. "Sport reflects nothing more than a mania fcr winning". What is your view? (RlC Promos02)

8- "Sport today is all about money". Discuss. (PJC promo 06)

9. "Sport today is all show and no sui]stance" Comment. (YJC prelims 05)

10. "Sports today have nothing to do with fair play". Do you agree? (lJC promos 05)

11. "There is too much at stake for a professlonal sportsman today for him to really enjoy what he does".

comment. lPJC Prelim2005)

12- "What is important is not winning, but taking part". How realistic is this attitude in the world of sport today?

1A levels 1997)

13. "Commercialism ruins sport." Do you agree? (NYJC Promos 04)

14. "Competitive sport brings out the worst in people." Discuss. (UC MYE 06)

15. "Health is not everything; but without health, everything else is nothing." How important is this

consideration in modern society? (Ml Prelim 04)

16. "Never has the spofting scene been so decadent." 's

this true of sports today? (clc CTJC 2002)

17. "Professionai sport today is nothing but entertainment and profit." Do you agree? lRlC promos 05)

18- "singapore's sport5 scene will never reach international standards, so why bother investinS money in it?"

Comrnent. (RJC Promos 06)

19. "sportsmanship is dead. lt's no longer about winninB wiih humility and losinS with dignity." Comment (RJC

cr 06)

20. "The most important thing is not to win, but to take part" lBaron Pierre de coubertin) ls this true of sports

todaV? (TJC Prelims 06)

21. "The reality of sport is that it rs very often unsporting." Would you agree? {T.lC Promos 04)

22. "The realily of sport is that it is very often unsporting". ls this a fair description of the world of sport today?

(ACJC Prelim 200s)

23. "Today's sportsmen rely too much on technology." Discuss. (MlC 04)

24. Are sports personalities s!itable role models? (RJC prelim 03)

25. Can Singapore ever be successful in international sporting competitions?(ACJC prelim 04)

26. Can sports help alleviate the world's ills? (Ml Promos 051

27. Commerciallsm is doinB sports more harm than 8ood. Do you agree? (NYJC Promos 031

28. Consider the value of sports in your country. (ACIC promos 04)

29. Discuss the appeal of sport in society today. (NlC promos 05)

30. Discuss the irnpact of the commercialisation of sports. (TlC promos 03)

31. Discuss the reasons for the appeal of sports and sporting events.lMl MYE 2004)

32. Discuss the role oftechnology in the advancement ofsport. (HOc Promos 03)

33. oo sportspersons deserve to be idolised? (ClC MYE 2004)

34. Do you agree that sport always serues society by providing vivid examples of excellence? (lJC prelim 06)

35. Do you think that commercialisation enhances the value of sports? (SAJC MYE 2005)

36. Does sport a!ways contribute to international harmony and !nderstanding? (A_Levels 1993)

37. Does sport bring out the best or the worst in us? (Sfuc MYE2004)

38. Examine the claim that sport builds character. (Ml Prelim 06)

39. ls it a waste of money for singapore to invest ln sports? {AJC prelims 04) 6'1

40 ls it fair that sports stars earn more than teachers? (VJC JC2 CT2000)

41. ls it true that competitive sport is al1 about fame and money? (VJC MYE 2004)

42. ls it true that talent alone woLrld not help a sportsman to succeed? {MJC promos 05)

43. ls sport too cioselV linked to money these days?1A Levels 2001)

44. ls there too much glamour in sports? (NYIC Prelim 04)

45. "Modern living is the killer of team sports". Discuss. (NYJC MYE 2004)

46. Should a sportsman cleserve more recognition than a politician? {NYic prelim 06)

47. Should extreme spo.ts be encouraged? (PlC MYE2002)

48- Should Singapore import foreign talent in sports? (Ml Promos 04)

49. Sport and politics are a potent mix. Discuss. (VJC promos 05)

50. sport has fallen short of its true ideals- Is this true of today's world? (VlC promos 02)

51. Sport is always more about the human ego than the human spirit. Do you agree? (VlC Promoso3)

52. Sport is human life in microcosm. To what extent is this true? (V.JC Prelims 04)

53. Sport is taking fun seriously. Do you agree? (VJC Promos 04)

54- Sports divides more than it unites. What do you think? (MJC MYE 06)

55- Sports has lost its ideals- Do you agree? {fuc promos 04)

56. Sports is the only global language Disctlss. {SAlc Prornos 05)

57-sport5whichcontaintheri5kofseriousphysicalinjLlryordeathshouldbebanned',HowfarwouldyouaSreewith this view? (A'Levels 1996i

58. Sportsmanship is now all about showmanship Do you agree? (NYIC MYE 2002)

59'Theolympicmottois,.swifter,HiSher,stronger'.,AretheseidealsstillValidintoday,ssportingarena?{NClcT20o4)

60- "Winner takes a{l." Should winninB be the primary concern ofsponsmen? ljlC promo 04)

6l. "Hosting major sporting events creates more problems than benefits" Do You agree? iA levels 2005)

10

M:c P"a\^-^ Joos - Fa1,r f

Passage A

"Sports builds characterl" This assertion is frequently made bycommunity leaders, school officials, parents, and even average citizens when adiscussion turns to the social functions of organized sports programs. Sports, itis argued, provide an environment where culturally valued attitudes andbehaviours are acquired; moreover, it is implied that what is acquired an thesports setting transfers to other spheres of an andividual's life. So the slogan that"sports builds charactel'canonizes a widespread faith that many people have in

sports as an agent of social development.

ln spite of the taken-for-granted trust in the slogan about sports buildingcharacter, there is no well-conceived research on the effects of organizedsports. There are several reasons for this- First, the word "character" canactually have many meanings, and when left unspecified there as no way ofknowing which one is implied. However, when it ls anchored to a context,.character" is reduced to a unidimensional concept. lvloreover, culturaldifferences are so widespread that what is a demonstration of good charactertrait in one culture might be considered out of place in another culture.Regardless of the meaning imputed to the word "character," it is a sociallyconstructed concept that is amenable to a variety of interpretations

This leaves attempts io demonstrate that sports builds character to

anecdotes about how a particular athlete manifested courage, perseverance, or

self-discipline in the course of a game or how a team of players displayed

dedication and teamwork. A perusal of the nation's newspapers on any given

day will reveal case histories of courage, loyalty, perseverance, and so forth' ofpeople who have never participated in sports So character qualities often

assumed for athletes are not confined to nor peculiar to them Another form ofanecdotal evidence often encountered is tlle ode to "what sports did for me-"

Testimonials of this sort are often made by former athletes who attribute theirposfplaying achievements to their sports experiences. The nagging issue here

is whether the "character" displayed by athletes or former athletes was alreadypresent, which led them to take up sports in the first place

My comments about the problems of empirically supporting claims that

sports builds character should not be misunderstood. Sporiing involvement is'

indeed, a profoundly exciting form of human self-expression; many people find

sports a source of great fun, joy, and self-satisfaction, and there is little doubt

that many young people experience personal-social groMh through sports

experiences. However, the exact effects of sports on attitudes values, and

behaviours depend to a large extent on the social contextual conditions that

exist at the time of the sporting experiences- Moreover, the sports setting may

merely be a particularly good setting for enabling persons to exhibit pre-existing

chara;ter traits. That some athletes or former athletes display culturally valued

20

10

15

30

35

40

25

1

3

personal-social characteristics cannot be wholly attributed 10 their sportsexperiences without an enormous leap of faith.

Furthermore, it is not in any way clear that only values traditionally seenas being socially acceptable or important are picked up by participants in sports.There is a strong suspicion that some negative values are acquired through 45participation in competitive sports.

Adapted frcm SPORTS PARTICIPATION AS A BUILDER OF CHARACTER? hy Georye H.Sage

-ia

4

Passage B

ln recent years a number of issues surrounding professional sports haveqrown increasingly complex. The amount of money that currently fuelsprofessional athletics has grown to such an extent that sports is conductedunder a new sei of circumstances, with many of the old values no longer beingdominant. Players, owners, and fans are the principal groups affected by anincreased business mentality and a decaying of the often mythical values thatprevailed in the past. All three groups have their own perspective on sports andtherefore view their particular agendas as the most important. However, eachelement the owners of the franchises, the fans who attend and watch sportsevents, and of course, the actual padicipants*also realizes the need for theother components, albeit not always conscious of the delicate balance within thislabyrinthine neh^/ork. While none of the particular elements are more importantthan any other, at different times each group attempts to dominate the sportsworld.

Professional athletes have recently focused on three major issuesinjuries, player rights and of course, money. Often not given adequate attentionby the media and generally dismissed by the public, the risk of injury is a serious

isiue in professional sports- The number of career-threatening injuries and

subsequent lifelong physical disabilities that professional athletes incur must be

balanced against the very short-te.m earnings that the athletes receive'Numerous operations on many formerly successful athletes have reduced these

relatively young men to physical shells of their former selves lronically, the

athletes here in participating in sports have paid a tremendous physacal price

While the six-figure salaries paid to professional athletes may seem

excessive, they pale in comparison to the "pots of gold" earned by individrrals in

other segmenis of the entertainment world Furthermore, the turnover rate in

professional sports is exceedingly high, and the number of available positions on

teams is relatively low- For his employment, the professional athlete embarks on

an extremely short and oftentimes perilous career.

During the last twenty years, athletes in professional sports have also

come to view themselves as paid employees in a particularly demanding career

role. The notion of a professional athlete playang simply for intrinsic value ofsports itself has gone the way of the dinosaur With the amount of money

currently at stake, professional sports has been transformed from a vocation to

full-time occupation.

Encompassed within this transition from game to business is the situation

where player loyalty has been replaced by a cold-hearted business rationale

The professional athlete is in constant jeopardy of having his career terminated

He is also continually aware that he may be traded from one team to another,

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having his home involuntarily uprooted Such drslocatron may also bring some 40degree of culture shock to the athlete.

6 Furthermore, the possibility of career termination resulting from simply notbeing of value to a particular team or the possibility of not being allowed anopportunity, for whatever reasons, to compete with another ieam leave manyathletes with a tremendous sense of career uncertainty. Subsequently. the 45athlete is asked to take his chances on being drafted by another team and risk areduction in skill level from lack of competition Rarely is he now seen as an

integral part of his particular team structure.

7 lt should not be surprising, in view of these issues, many players too oftenview themselves as pawns on a chessboard. Thus, they are encouraged to use 50their fleeting careers to maximal advantage. Players often give littleconsideration to the moral implications of their choices, the effects of theiractions upon others, or, quite often, even to certain aspects of their own welfare

Adapted frcm For WH)M SPORI IoLLS: PLAYERS, OWNERS, AND FANS bv Dean A'

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Read the passages in the insed and then answer all the questions which follow below Notethat up to fifteen marks will be given for the quality and accuracy of your use of Englishthroughout this Paper

Note: When a question asks for an answer lN YOUR OWN WORDS AS FAR AS POSSIBLEand vou select the appropriate material from the passage for your answer. you must still useyour own words to express it. Little credii can be given to answers which only copy woads orphrases from the passage.

Questions on Passage A

From paragraph I

'l What is the writer implying about the average citizen when he uses the word even" (line2) in this sentence? Use yaur own words as faras poss/b/e.

... ... t11

2 What do many people argue to be the "social functaons of organized sports programs"?

lline 3) Use your own words as far as possible

3 Give two words from paragraph one that suggest that the slogan "Sports builds charactei'(lines 6-7) is not really proven yet

1).

?)... .. . ... .. .

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From paragraph 2

\ hy, according to the author, is there "no well-conceived research on the effects oforganized sports" (line 1O)2 Use your own words as tar as posslb/e-

From paragraph 3

What is the author's tone when he says "Another form of anecdotal evidence often

encountered is the ode to 'what sports did for me "' (lines 25-26)?

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From paragraph 3

- 6 Explain the "nagging issue' (line 28). Use your own words as far as poss/b/e.

Questions on Passage I

From paragraph 2

- 7 VVhy is it ironic that 'the athletes here in participaiing in sports have paid a tremendousphysical price' (line 23)?

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From parag.aph 7

8 Explain the metaphor "pawns on a chessboard' (line 50).

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From both passages

9 Give the meaning ofthe following words as used in the passages You may write the

answer in a word or a short Phrase.

(a) amenable (A hne 18) ......

(b) perusal (A, line 22) .......... ....

(e) fleeting (8, line51) .............. ... Isl

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From Passage B

10 Summarise the issues that the athlete has to consider if he wishes to tu.n professional.

Using materialfrom paragraphs 3 - 6, write your summary in no more than 120 words.IJse your own words as faras poss/b/e- t8l

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tn Passage A, Sage questions the role of sports in character building while in Passage B,

Purdy mainly discusses the complex issues confronting professional players-Which of the issues discussed in the passages do you find relevant to your society?

You need to use information from both passages as well as from your own experiences.

IB]

END OF PAPER

tl

(The fo awing passage descibes lhe diplomatic and public relations disputes that surroundedthe Alympic Games ir lhe Cald War era.)

-TP{C- GI^^^N'D^ -f"^t (d L oe)2

1 lnternatlonal sport needs the int-arest and support of politicians, but not theirinterference. Politicians, on the other hand, appreciate that sport has a

politjcal dimension, and exp'oit this when they can. Both sides in the ColdWar engaged in the mosi extraordinary stratagems. mostiy unscrupulous,many akin to schoolboys' japes, and all sanctiiied by state necessity. TheOlympics provide splendid examples of the use rnade of sport by politicians in

this period2 The grandees of ihe Olympic movement were well attuned to international

politics They were, and remain, an extremely well informed elite, many withaccess tq the corridors of power. Some National Olympic Commiitees(NOCs), particulady in the West, saw themselves as independent ofgovernment, but in the Soviet bloc and many developing countries this wasnot the case Once the USSR Joined the Olympic movement in 1952, theGames became politicised, and in the United States, particularly, medal tablesgained popularity that was related at least as much to Cold War perceptions

as to love of sport for its own sake.3 Two long drawn-out problems exercised the lnlernational Olympic

Committee's skiil in international politics These were lhe rival claims ofmainland China and Taiwan, and of West and East Germany to send national

teams to the Olympic Games. Both problems turned on recognition ofNational Olympic Committees. Easi Germany was bent on gaining

recognition of its NOC as a step towards recognition of the East German

state, whereas Taiwan feared that, if its NOC lost recognition acceptance of

the mainland as the'true' China would be a step closer' ln the event once

they had been admitted to the Olympic movement, both mainland Chlna and

East Germany stopped at nothing in the pursuit of medals as aids tonationhood.

4 Following the creation of the Federal Republic of Germany ln 1949 thelnternalional Olympic Committee granted West Germany's NOC full

recognition in May 1951. There was lively discussion of whether or noi the

East German NOC should also be recognised, even though East Germany

was not an independent state The formal question was whether the loccould recognise a body which was not based in a state' but the underlying

conflict was between the Soviet Union's wish for its galqllllg to have an

independent NOC, and the feeling among some IOC mernbers that torecognise two NOCs for Germany would entrench the division of the country

5 ln 1955, the year after the Soviet Unlon released East Germany from its status

as the Soviet Zone of Germany and recognised it as a sovereign State, the

East German NOC was provisionally recognised 'on the Llnderstanding that,

after the reunillcation of Germany, the IOC wall recognise one German

Olympic Committee, standing for the whole of Germany'.6 The two Germanys entered a joint team for the winter and summer Games of

1956, causing Avery Brundage, president of the lOC, to enthLlse, 'We have

obtained in the field of sport what politicians have failed to achieve so faiEast Germany continued to ask for separate recognition, though with

assLrrances that if it were not granted it would still compete on the current

terms. NATO wished the ioint team to continue but the West Gerrnans were

also beginning to want a separate team of their own The IOC agreed by avery large majority. Thus the IOC recognised political realily lnitially ii had

been strongly inflLlenced by the prevailing belief thai Germany woLlld soon be

reunited. Tie fact that this gradually became unlikely was partly due to East

Germany's effective use of sport in helping to establish its separate identity in

the eyes of the world.

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A Chinese national Olympic committee was recognised as long ago as 1922.After the civil war between Nationalists and CommLlnasts the NOC fled withthe Nationalisi government to Taiwan in 1951 and continued to be recognisedMeanwhile, the USA, its Cold War allies and ihe United Nations recognisedlaiwan as'China' and supported its claim to sovereignty over the mainland.The Soviets and their satellites recognised the Communist controlledmainland. which adopted the name'People's Republic of China' (PRC)ln 1952 both Chinas said that they intended to send athletes to the HelsinkiGames. A majority of the IOC voted for both to be invited thereby breaking itsown rule that all teams must be sent by a recognised NOC. ln the end onlyone athlete from the PRC presented himself for the Games at Helsinki, andnone from Taiwan, which withdrew in protest against the decis'on to admit thePRC,Under continuang pressure from loC members from the Communist bloc, whowanted Taiwan expelled and the PRC reinstated, the IOC agreed in 1959 thatthe Taiwan committee could not continue under its present name of China,since it did not administer spod on the mainland The IOC made clear,though, that if it chose to reapply for admission under another name theapplication would be considered. This decision was generally rnisunderstoodby the press, which thought Taawan had been expelled, with the result thatthere was uproar in the USA. ln due course Taiwan's NOC was recognised as

the Olympac Committee of lhe Republic of China.ln 1971 the United Nations recognised the PRC and expelled Taiwan ln 1972President Nixon visited China, the way having been prepared by'ping-pong'diplomacy- Events in the olympic world marched in tandem ln 1971 the locresolved that the PRC would be welcomed back if it respected Olympic rules,although it also insisted that Taiwan would not be excluded.However, when in 1975 the PRC applied for reinstatement it stipulated that itwould only re-join the Olympic movement if Taiwan were expelled TheCanadian government, which was hosling the Montreal Games of 1976, nowmade the situation worse because, having in 1970 adopted a one-Chinapolicy, recognising the PRC as the sole representative of all Chinese, it now

refused entry to the Taiwanese team if the word 'China' appeared in jts name.

Some members of the IOC were jndignant enough to argue strongly that theGames should be cancelled, but it was eventually decided to go ahead TheCanadian government remained unrepentant in the face of consternation in

the United States and disapproval throughout the Olympic movement. ln factthe Taiwan team solved everything by packing its bags and gojng home theday before the Games.Wrangling over China continued, but in the end both sides compromised withan agreement thai the PRC'S NOC be .ecognised as the Chinese OlympicCommittee and Taiwan's as the Chinese Taipeh Olympic CommitteeSince Los Angeles the Olympic movernent, like the world at large, has

outgrown the Cold War, and the age of boycotts is generally thought to bepast. However, these examples demonstrate the extraordinary waste of timeenergy and passion that sport generated in the Cold War context By thatcriterion sport was an important Cold War counter, though the cavalier way in

which governments ireated il suggest that it was ultimately unimportant, save

symbolically and in the eyes of its own administrators.

(Adapted fram Hislarv Tadav)

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TPJC COMMON TEST JC ONE GP PAPER II

(Total = 50 MARKS)Note that 15 marks out of 50 will be awarded for the use of language.

Note: When a question asks for an answer lN YOUR OWN WORDS AS FAR AS POSSIBLE and you

select the appropnate material from the passage for your answer, you must stlll use your own words loexpress it. Little credil cen be given to answels which only copy woids or phrases from the passage

Read lhe passage and then answer the questons below using your own words as far as possible

la From paragraph 1 & 2:What does the writer mean by "access to the corridors of power"? (line 10)

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1b. Explaif howthe grandees" could gain access to the corridors of power" lll

2. From paragraph 3:Explain how sports can be used to gain statehood I2l

3. From paragraph 4lln your own words, explain the argument for and against allowing Eastern Germany to establish

its own NOC I2l

4a- Explain in your own words what 'satellite'(line 34) means. t1l

4b Why did the Soviet union "wish for its satellite to have an independent National Olympic

Commitlee (line 34 35)?

12)

5a. From paragraph 6Why did ih; President of the IOC 'enthuse (line 43)? tl l

5b Whal was the "poliiical realiiy" (line 49) that the IOC was forced to accept? tll

6 Explain the meaning of the following words as they are used n the passage You may write the

answer in one word;r a short phrase tslunscrupulous (line 4)attuned (line 8)

Pursuit (line 26)sovereign (line 38)gradually (line 51)

7. Using the case of Taiwan and the People's Republic of China, show how the two established

thelr slatus a; independent states through the Olympics in 120 words Draw your malerlalfromparagraphs 7 to 12 Use your own words as far as possibie

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8. Singapore ts lnvesting heavily in sporis and hoplng io make headway in lnternaiional sport

"u""nti. Co.prr" and conlrasi Singapore's reasons with those menlioned in ihe passage YoLr

mrst make reference to the two situations menlioned ln lhe passage'l10l

End of Paper B6

f,i1i"dt5i5lf

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