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cesarvillapando

Listed below are comments made by cesarvillapando between Wednesday, 18th June 2008 and Wednesday, 20th August 2008.

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Was this swimming or boxing? 5:57pm on 20 Aug 2008 Just want to send my personal congrats to the girls! Truly phenomenal efforts, great racing - two of the hardest earned medals the Brits have got!

Loved the post race interview too, two real stars of this team!
All set for Open Water 3:59pm on 19 Aug 2008 Would love to see Cassie and David get something out of these races. A world record, 3 or 4 European records and 20-odd British records is a fantastic return from one gala, and clearly shows the huge strides brit swimming has made.

Now, given the platform of talented, olympic-experienced youngsters in the swim team, could the swimming head honchos be given Dave Brailsford's phone number for some advice in turning a good team into a truly great one?

I for one am bored stiff with the 'sport x should lose it's funding cos they didn't win any medals' comments. Can we please focus on where the *expertise* is sent, and give the underachieving sports a chance to learn a thing or two from the successful ones!
Hoy the pick of GB's golden bunch 6:41pm on 16 Aug 2008 ha ha, how would cycling use the money better - they're winning all the medals already! (we've only had 36 hours of velodrome magic and already the GB cycling team are ahead of all the other sports put together!)

I wonder if any track cyclist in the british team is going to fail to get a medal.....
The Olympic projection game 2:18pm on 05 Aug 2008 Hemsk01 - lots of non sports people have their hobbies subsidised by the lottery, just about anyone with a constituted organisation promoting an activity can apply for grants.

Furthermore, if a successful olympics persuades more youngsters to get off the streets (or their backsides) and try some new sports in the new sporting facilities this money's paid for, then maybe it'll even pay for itself when our next generation doesn't turn into a bunch of Jim Royles and cost the NHS millions with their unhealthy lifestyles.
The Olympic projection game 10:54am on 05 Aug 2008 So if this generation of olympians doesn't match some medal target plucked out of thin air then the next generation will be punished for it by having all their funding and infrastructure chopped away? Is that really the message the money-men are putting out?

Surely even the most bone-headed government minister must realise it takes more than 4 years to get a talented kid trained up to win olympic medals?

We have stepped up hugely since our 1 gold in Atlanta, and whether or not we get 35 medals this time, we'll easily have our most successful recent games in terms of finalists and top 5 finishes, so chopping funding right before we host the damn games is stupidity of the highest order.

Surely what they should be looking at when deciding whether to continue funding is how well our juniors are doing and whether there is sufficient strength in depth in the squads that we can cope with some no-shows. I very much doubt the tick-in-the-box bean counters can cope with such woolly concepts.
The Olympic projection game 10:20am on 05 Aug 2008 There's not much science to this is there? He's got us winning medals based on world championships where the best in the world this year didn't compete!

Surely it's not too difficult to factor in that Sanya Richards didn't run in Osaka, thus repeating our Gold and Silver there isn't going to happen. Preusmably he's got Carolina Kluft down to win the Heptathlon which is why Sotherton's only due the bronze.

Rebecca Adlington has the fastest times in the world this year for the 800m freestyle, but will apparently finish outside the medals.

Can you do me two favours; one, ask any old bookie next time you want info like this, and two, where can you find out if Mr Barra is on bet fair, I could use some drinking money
Cavendish provides boost ahead of Beijing 1:10pm on 20 Jul 2008 Poster 3, my guess would be that the course is going to be too hilly. All of Cav's wins have come on pan-flat stages of the Tours of France and Italy. As soon as there's hills he gets left behind by people who specialise in climbing. I suppose the equivalent is if there was only one athletics race and it was over 1500m, there'd be little point putting sprinters in it.

Chris - if you're reading this, the Track cycling is going to be my highlight of the games, the sight of you guys rocketing round the boards is truly amazing! Best of luck to all of you!
Performance anxiety 00:38am on 03 Jul 2008 I don't know where to find the figures, but hasn't it been shown that there's a measurable economic benefit to countries winning major sporting events? Perhaps the millions spent will turn into a half-decent investment?

Even if not, as one of a generation who have watched olympics after olympics of Brit underachievement, punctuated by the heroics of the few who succeeded despite the system, I for one applaud the efforts to support our sportsmen and women properly, even if it is costing me money.

OK - 600 million in 4 years is a lot of money, but you can bet your life the Aussies wouldn't worry about spending that kind of cash, they understand the benefits to the nation's morale, sense of identity, togetherness, etc, etc.

God knows, while we're at it, some decent performances at this and the following olympics might persuade a few kids to get out there and try some sports - and we might save ourselves a few bob on the NHS when they don't all turn into Jim Royle.
Olympic countdown - 50 - King of the Road 12:44pm on 19 Jun 2008 GB gold medallists in athletics? Philips Idowu and Kelly Sotherton are the only two with a realistic shout.

It'd be great to see some of the others picking up medals, but any other golds would be a big (albeit welcome) surprise!
Olympic countdown - 51 - Third time lucky 7:20pm on 18 Jun 2008 I've seen the footage, and frankly, not withstanding allowing the timeout the refs did incredibly well. It was incompetent scoreboard operators (or faulty equipment) that caused the problems. Not many refs would have correctly spotted that the buzzer went after only one second, not three!

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