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Hi, Rusty!
Yes, I have been reading all about it.
I was just about to send you a message when I got yours!
But USADA seem to have got things back to front?
They appear to be condemning the IOC for indecisive leadership - okay, no arguments there.
The members of the IOC are wimps!
We will agree with that.
But then they go on to say that the IOC had delivered a "significant blow to the rights of clean athletes."
I don't think we are all worrying about "clean" athletes here, more all the "dirty" ones!
The main concern is that the doping in Russia was state sponsored and because of this the country should be banned.
USADA is also worried about Stepanova and thinks she should be allowed to compete as a reward for her whistle-blowing.
Quote... "The decision to refuse her entry in to the Games is incomprehensible and will undoubtedly deter whistleblowers in the future from coming forward."
Why should have she have a reward for covering her back?
This is only the bare bones obviously, but I do not think USADA is emphasising the right points.
More to the point are some of the tweets from our athletes that have been quoted.
Sorry if I am interrupting the cycling!

Hello, Elle!
Cycling is over.
Andre Greipel won today, Peter Sagan was second.
The IOC decision is shocking. Something we feared.
"Just decide among yourselves what to do about Russia"
That's what it amounts to.
I have not seen any tweets from our Olympians so far.
Dick Pound of WADA, called it "state sponsored doping" after an intensive enquiry.
Then punish the state!
IOC are playing pass the parcel again.
Abdicating the responsibility to have a fair honest Games.
Sickening!

Hello all.

New poster, but a lurker for a while. A very, very helpful place, especially on a Dean Mayer Sunday!

Telegraph cryptic devotee, and the Times on a Sunday.

Big Everton fan. Maybe some Blues on here, you never know!

Hey, Rusty!
Dick Pound is supposed to have said that the IOC 's decision had revealed that there "was zero tolerance for doping , unless it's Russia"
And Greg Rutherford thinks that the IOC's decision to pass the buck is a "spineless attempt to appear as the nice guys to both sides"
Greg went on to say that the IOC missed out on an opportunity to show that the Olympic movement is to be believed in.......etc
But the IOC president insisted that " it is important to respect the rights of individual athletes".
I wish I didn't keep on going around with rose-coloured glasses and expecting happy(ie justified) endings!
Rusty, you were right in your expectations all along!
Yes, it is sickening!
I am thoroughly disillusioned!
Tell me about something nice to cheer me up!


Welcome, markymark!
Everyone is very helpful and friendly on this forum.
I hope you enjoy being part of it.

Thanks Elle. Like any forum, it takes a bit of getting used to!

Sure I will cope. I am a moderator on a large football forum, so the traffic on here is a nice, relaxing diversion.

Nice ambience as well.

Hello, Elle!
Forget the Olympics for a while.
The stench from IOC is overwhelming.
Something nice to cheer you up? A story?
Emily was four years old, and lived with her Mum in a quiet street, in a small town in Queensland, Australia.
One day Emily and Mum were having breakfast when they heard some noises outside their home.
They peeped out of the window, and saw a lorry with some men unloading bricks and building materials.
They had come to build a house opposite from Mum and Emily.
After breakfast Emily went across to say "hello" to the workmen.
They were friendly lads, and Emily started to "help" them.
Bringing glasses of cold lemonade to them and other little things like that.
The workmen and Emily became great friends and when the boss came around with the wages on Friday, the workmen made sure there was a little pay packet for Emily, too.
Emily and Mum were delighted, and Mum suggested they go to town the next day and deposit Emily's "wages" in the local bank.
Off they went the following morning and went in to the bank and saw Mr Smith the bank manager.
They explained that they wanted to deposit Emily's wages in the bank.
Mr Smith asked Emily how she had earned her wages.
"i've been building a house this week, Mr Smith" said Emily, proudly.
"Excellent" said Mr Smith, "and are you going to be building a house next week, too?"
"Yes", said Emily, "if we ever get the f???ing bricks!"
Mum was not so sure if it was a good idea to let Emily continue her career as a house builder!

Rusty, I was not distressed, but I still found your little tale very sweet and amusing !





Welcome on the Forum Markymark !

Hey, Rusty!
Yes, I liked that!
A great tale.
I couldn't see where it was going ........the end was good!
It made me laugh!
Thank you, Rusty... I feel much better now!
I have quite a busy week coming up.
Tomorrow is ostensibly a 'free' day, but I have a lot of accumulated household jobs to do, that I have actually been putting off since before Wimbledon.
I think a purge on the house is warranted tomorrow!
On Tuesday I regrettably have a dental appointment, the result of my check up a couple of weeks ago.
My dentist assures me that it is only the teeny weeniest filling! A bit has broken off a back tooth.
No doubt I shall survive the visit.
Wednesday I am out to lunch.
Friday has yet to be decided, but we are doing something with daughter, BB and baby!
"Baby" is now nearly five months old! Where does the time go?
So a hectic time ahead!
You will miss your cycling - a good win for Froome!
Dare I say "Roll on the Athletics".......I'm beginning to have ambivalent feelings .......
I WAS looking forward to the Games......
I'd better get off the subject before you need to tell me another story!

Good evening, Elle!
Now that tale is not an original effort from me.
But I came across it years ago and it "stuck"!
I liked Emily and Mum!
There is a big bike race on Saturday, the Clasica San Sebastian.
And Ride London is on, too.
The Games are just a blessed mess, Elle, and we have no hero to fix things.
i did see the tweets from James Cracknel etc.
Universal disbelief and disgust from them all.
Remember to phone your cousin?

Good evening, Pigale!
Glad the story appealed to you!
It has been in my head a long time.
Not quite sure where it came from!

Hello, Markymark,
Make yourself at home on the Forum.
Plenty help etc available on here!

It may be pusillaminous of the IOC but at least perhaps they might have averted a war.
I've just been talking to the son who is keen on sport. he isn't going to watch any of the Olympics except hockey. Not just because of the drug problem, but also because he is very uncomfortable with so much being spent in a country where there are so many desperately poor people. Like the football stadium they built in the jungle, it can't be worth it.
Goodness, I wrote more than six words about sport!
A propos of my book club reading, "Painter of Silence", has anyone a view on whether a person who is deaf and mute, and can only write a very few words, (and doesn't sign) , think? Is thought possible without language? What could such a person make of, say, a church service?