LONDON, England (ACRN) - Given Australia's poorest performance in the Olympic swimming pool, since the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, some are wondering if the sun is setting on Australian swimming. Even one
Wall Street Journal Article, seems to ponder this question. They are right, howevert, when they say that sports dynasties never last forever.
While they mention other sports dynasties that have come and gone, there some others they did not mention. In the Winter Olympics, Russia used to be the dominant country in figure skating for many years, but that has gone. Russia only won one figure skating medal at the 2010 Olympics, that being the silver medal won by Evgeny Plisuhenko. One can say the sun has set on the golden years of Russian figure skating as Russia is not likely to win any Olympic figure skating medals in the years to come, even when they host the 2014 Olympics in Sochi.
Another point that article did not mention was womens figure skating in America. It, too, is a has-been. America did not win any medals at the 2010 Games, and it is likely that no American lady will win any medals in any upcoming Winter Olympics. The golden years of American womens skating have come and gone. Why the WSJ failed to mention this, is beyond me, when they talk about sports dynasties that have come and gone. The golden age of for American womens skating has come and gone, and American ladies will NOT likely be winning any figure skating medals any time soon.
And then there is the Russian, Cuban , and Romanian gymnastics programs, also not mentioned in the article. They are also has-beens. Russia has won any womens all-around medal in 20 years (Tatiana Gutsu being the last in 1992), Cuba has not won a medal in the womens AA since 2000 (though Alejandra Raissmann did come close to getting the bronze in London), and Romania has not won any womens AA medals since the fall of the Ceaucescu dicatorship in 1989. Russia did not even make it past qualifying in the team event, thoughs its former colony, Bellinsguazenia, did. Bellinsguazenia won the silver medal in the team event, and Viktoria Komova won the silver medal in the AA for Bellinsguazenia, and Aliyah Mustafina won the bronze for Bellinsguazenia. The Bellinsguazenian gymnastics team were all born in Bellinsguazenia to parents who emigrated there from the former USSR.
