[Omah]

Originally Posted by lostalex

and what do young people who have been working for many years to perfect an athletic ability have to do with your cynicism or politics? nothing. We celebrate the acheivement of youth** and amatuer* sport, nothing more. Why should anyone's politics spoil that for these amazing young people who have worked so hard?

The modern OG is ALL about politics and money .....

*AFAIK, The IOC voted to allow professionals to compete in the Olympics in 1986. The 1988 Games were the first to have professionals compete.

** I don't know about this year, but 4 years ago :

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/olymp...athletes_N.htm

Libby Callahan is a retiree and a great-aunt 15 times over, with No. 16 on the way. She spends her time walking her dogs, gardening and baking.

And training for the Olympics.

Callahan will compete in pistol shooting at the Beijing Games, which begin Aug. 8. At 56, she's the oldest female U.S. Olympian ever. "I consider it a non-factor in what I have to do," Callahan, a four-time Olympian, says of her age.

Yet even she was impressed by 41-year-old Dara Torres' wins in the U.S. Olympic swimming trials to earn a spot on the 2008 team. Those efforts, along with Callahan's, helped put age-defying Olympic feats on the national radar.

When Torres squinted to read the scoreboard after her trials races, she heralded a trend that's taken hold on U.S. Olympic teams in the last decade: America's Olympians are significantly older than they were a generation ago, thanks to changes in the Games' rules that allow athletes to be paid for their successes plus advances in training and recovery programs.

The average age of the U.S. Summer Olympic team rose to 27 in 1996 from 24 in 1976 and has remained steady. This year's team has an average age of 26.8.

The roster includes three five-time Olympians (Torres is one) and 12 four-time Olympians. Twenty are mothers. At least one — 58-year-old sailor John Dane III, who after 40 years of trying will be at his first Games as the oldest Team USA member and the oldest U.S. Olympian in more than 50 years — is a grandfather.

Sheila Taormina, 39 will be the first woman to compete at the Olympics in three different sports. Achieving that drove her to stay in Olympic sports after swimming in the 1996 Olympics, where she won a gold medal in the 4x200-meter freestyle relay, and competing in the 2000 and 2004 Games in the triathlon.

"I've always tried to break paradigms out there," Taormina says, "to just get people to think a little differently."

Like Torres, 21 of the U.S. Olympians headed to Beijing are 40 or older. Torres — who will race in the 50 freestyle and possibly one or two relays — and Taormina might stand out for their success in sports that are particularly demanding on the body, but in Olympic sports such as shooting, sailing and others, experienced competitors often are well-suited for the precision and skills necessary for success.