The 'too fat' Olympic swimmer

[Locutus]

Athletes, advocates defend ‘fat’ Olympic-champion swimmer Leisel Jones



The Herald Sun was forced by an outcry from teammates and fans to take down its piece questioning the weight-gain of three-time gold medalist Jones. And she's swimming fast, says Coach Michael Bohl.

Swimmer Leisel Jones of Australia is seen, on the left, in 2008 and on the right on July 24, 2012 during a training session at the main pool of the Aquatics Centre before the start of the London 2012 Olympic Games.

All eyes will be on Leisel Jones at the London Olympics as the three-time gold medalist becomes the first Australian woman ever to compete in four Games, but the athlete has also been under intense scrutiny in recent days over her body.
Newspapers in Jones’ home country took aim at her figure on Wednesday, running photos suggesting the 26-year-old didn’t look as fit as she did the last time she competed.
"The Olympic veteran's figure is in stark contrast to that of 2008," a photo caption in the Herald Sun read, Yahoo reported.
The photos ran alongside headlines such as “Jones not here for a holiday: coach” and “Leisel is relaxed, but is she ready?” according to Western Australia today.
The Sun also reportedly ran a poll asking readers if Jones was fit enough to compete in the Olympics - which proved to rile up so many readers it was later removed from the website.


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NO RESPECT! Athletes, advocates defend

http://www.thestar.com/news/world/a...wimmer-s-weight-debate-sparks-fury-down-under

What a bunch of garbage. 'Grubby reporting' as they said.

 

[karrie]

Every spare ounce of fat OR muscle that a swimmer has can slow them down. It's true of any sport really. But, have some tact and understand that that particular balancing act is the athlete's, and the athlete's alone. The only sports where weight is an actual factor in how they compete, is boxing, wrestling, and UFC. Those are the only times it's free for remark, and only in the context of what class it puts them into. The rest of the time, back the **** off.

 

[Ron in Regina]

For those that want to criticize this girl, all she has to say is,
"I'll show you mine if you show me yours...."

 

[SLM]

Remember when newspapers reported news and not b.s. gossip items?

 

[Ron in Regina]

Remember when newspapers reported news and not b.s. gossip items?

Yep. Two Golds & a Silver....so far....& this would be her fourth Olympic waltz.
Kind'a puts the criticism in perspective.

 

[SLM]

Yep. Two Golds & a Silver....so far....& this would be her fourth Olympic waltz.
Kind'a puts the criticism in perspective.

It's tacky and 'catty' is what it is, I mean they had a poll for goodness sakes! Wonder how many Olympic medals they have? I'm guessing none.

Be nice to see her walk away with a medal. Silver of course, I get uber-patriotic when it comes to the games, lol.

 

[earth_as_one]

I hope she wins her competitions. If this athlete was a man, I doubt the Sun would write similar stories about a man not having a slim figure. which is why people shouldn't buy the Sun. Its mostly trash,

 

[DaSleeper]

I hope she wins her competitions. If this athlete was a man, I doubt the Sun would write similar stories about a man not having a slim figure. which is why people shouldn't buy the Sun. Its mostly trash,

What does the Herald Sun (Australia) have to do with Sun News (Canada)???

 

[CDNBear]

What does the Herald Sun (Australia) have to do with Sun News (Canada)???

Nothing.

But demonizing things that are dangerous to his ideology, doesn't stop at Israel.

 

[DaSleeper]

Nothing.

But demonizing things that are dangerous to his ideology, doesn't stop at Israel.

His photo of a Canadian prison in another thread came from Europe, so he doesn't vett his own posts.

 

[CDNBear]

His photo of a Canadian prison in another thread came from Europe, so he doesn't vett his own posts.

No surprise there, demonizing is demonizing. There's no ethics or standards required.

 

[Goober]

Yep. Two Golds & a Silver....so far....& this would be her fourth Olympic waltz.
Kind'a puts the criticism in perspective.

Back in the toilet where it belongs.

 

[Praxius]

Yeah there was a big stink about this "Weight" issue here in Australia, mostly towards those who target her for her weight in the first place and the level of dickery they showed.

The fact of the matter is that she qualified to be in the Olympics, otherwise she wouldn't be there, would she?

Which also means she's more in shape and in better physical condition than most of the idiots who criticised her over her weight.

 

[shadowshiv]

For those that want to criticize this girl, all she has to say is,
"I'll show you mine if you show me yours...."

She looks a little like Katy Sackhoff(she played Starbuck on the remake of Battlestar Galactica)!

Certainly, to win three medals shows that she is definitely NOT too "fat" to excell at her sport.

Remember when newspapers reported news and not b.s. gossip items?

You can thank ol' Rupert Murdoch for that!

 

[gopher]

I've watched sprint swimming for decades and recall how girls were actually encouraged to put on weight in order to improve their sprint speeds. It was said just up to the 1990s that body fat/mass increases one's speed. This was the same for synchronized swimming as well. The one swim sport where weight loss was encouraged was in diving. You might recall that I mentioned before how Paula Pope was my first female sports heroine. She was a fitness guru and kept herself in great shape as did many other divers ever since.

 

[bill barilko]

I work wiith Ocker women all the time-that swimmer looks better than 99% of them-OK well that's not saying much.

 

[damngrumpy]

Yes weight can be a problem for a swimmer but so many of these so called news
and sports people don't get it. The reason is because they have become gossip
commentators rather than people with substantive news. All you have to do is
watch Nancy Grace one evening and you see what I mean real fast.
It not really about her weight it about how important the news anchor is.

 

[spaminator]

For those that want to criticize this girl, all she has to say is,
"I'll show you mine if you show me yours...."

they're called meddle winners.

 

[Bar Sinister]

Let's just wait and see shall we? Somehow she beat out all the other Aussie swimmers to qualify for the games. If there is anyone better than her why is she not in London instead?