First Joey Cheek, now Mathieu Razanakolona

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Jamila

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We all remember the heroic stand that U.S. Gold Medalist Joey Cheek took earlier this week regarding the humanitarian crisis in Darfur.

On a bit of a different level, now steps up another outstanding Olympic story - the story of Mathieu Razanakolona, the first Winter Olympian from Madagascar.



Here's his story ( check out the picture):

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060217/wl_canada_nm/canada_olympics_alpine_skiing_madagascar_col





NO SNOW BUT MADAGASCAR TAKES TO SLOPES

by Elizabeth Piper
Fri Feb 17, 12:43 PM ET



TURIN (Reuters) - There is no snow and the only skiing is on the Indian Ocean.

But a young Canadian is leading Madagascar into its first Winter Olympics in the Italian Alps.

He has only been there a handful of times -- the price of tickets from Canada are "quite expensive" -- yet 19-year-old Mathieu Razanakolona has turned his hobby into an all-but full-time job to honor the country of his father's birth.

"First we had to create the Malagasy Ski Federation which they didn't have because, of course, there is no snow in Madagascar," he told Reuters in an interview, adding he then had to travel Europe to compete and earn some points to qualify.

"I have been skiing for 15 years but only as a hobby and at weekends."

It took two years to get here, but Mathieu and his 24-year-old brother, Philippe, who runs fundraising for healthcare, education and clean water projects, are having a blast. They are celebrities in Madagascar and on the slopes.

And they got to march on to center stage at the Turin Olympics' opening ceremony -- albeit as one of the smallest contingents.

"It's incredible. I mean, our first experience was the opening ceremony which was just awesome, carrying a flag made me so much prouder," Mathieu said. "It's incredible, it's just continuing on and on every day."

He competes in the giant slalom on Monday and the slalom on Saturday, February 25.

Born in Canada, Mathieu has taken a year off school to pursue the Olympic dream, and help a country he has seen little of and which his father left for a better life.

Even he admits using Winter sports as a platform for attracting interest in a country, which located in the Indian Ocean just over 400 km (250 miles) off the eastern coast of Africa just south of the equator rarely gets cold.

"The Madagasies find it really strange, they don't have snow. They've never seen it," Mathieu said, adding he hoped his Olympic bid could draw attention to Madagascar and help boost investment and tourism.

"They are really supportive, we went this summer to make the population know what we are doing for Madagascar ... In the streets they were shaking our hands."

But this time round, Madagascar is unlikely to win its first Olympic medal. Maybe next time.

"I have no chance of getting a medal because I never trained. I never did ski to get a medal in the Olympics. It was a dream as an athlete but it was never one of my realistic goals," Mathieu said.

"Four years is a really long time but I think if I come back in the next Olympic Games I am really going to ski rather than just participate. I will be going for medals for sure."

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

I really liked this story - the story of one person's determination to see a dream come true for himself and the country of his father's birth.

Mathieu Razanakolona is already a winner! :hug:
 
I guess no one picked up on the personal sense of courage and commitment to a cause higher than themselves that runs through these two men.

:scratch:
 
Jamila said:
I guess no one picked up on the personal sense of courage and commitment to a cause higher than themselves that runs through these two men.

:scratch:

That's right. We are all just dumb as stumps. :|
 
indra said:


That's right. We are all just dumb as stumps. :|

I am going to stay above the fray on this:ohmy:

I am trying to have a positive outlook on things.:yes:

I am not responsible for how you view comments.:shrug:

Can't we just love each other:kiss:
 
nbcrusader said:

Actually doesn't God command us to love each other?

I bet God doesn't also like people to take potshots about His commands either.

If someone doesn't like this thread, why are they here?

Find a thread that makes you happy.

I know I don't like to be miserable.

Another feel good story coming from the Olympics on the way. :rockon:
 
And here it is (American history in the making):




Commentary: Shani Davis rises above the criticism
By Tim Dahlberg

The Associated Press

The USA's Shani Davis became the first black individual medalist in Winter Games history.

Long-track speedskater Shani Davis, pictured en route to winning the gold medal in the men's 1,000 meters Saturday night, declined to participate in the team-pursuit event earlier in the week.


TURIN, Italy — The stories coming out of the Olympic long-track speedskating oval Saturday night were about as feel-good as they get.

There was Shani Davis winning the first individual gold medal by a black athlete in Winter Olympics history by racing to victory in the men's 1,000 meters.

And there was Joey Cheek finishing just behind, then donating his $15,000 reward from the U.S. Olympic Committee to give impoverished kids a place to play.

When Bud Greenspan produces his latest Olympic film, these will be the tearjerkers, the stories that make you want to believe that the Olympics are really what the snobby elite who run them want you to believe. These are real athletes with real Olympic dreams that don't need to be manufactured by NBC.

Davis spent 17 years as an outcast in a primarily white sport, hoping the whole time that someday he would hold an Olympic gold medal. He did, and was joined on the podium by a guy whose idea of glory is being able to help kids who can't help themselves.

The Olympics don't get any better than this.

There was no reason for Chad Hedrick to try to spoil the whole party.

Hedrick, if you haven't heard, doesn't think much of Davis. Thinks even less of him now because Davis declined an invitation to skate in the team pursuit earlier this week and may have cost Hedrick — who already has one gold medal of his own — another medal by doing so.

So while Davis and Cheek were still celebrating, Hedrick was beneath the stands griping. Not about his own sixth-place finish, because the 1,000 wasn't his best race, anyway. He was griping about people who don't do everything they can to be a part of a team and help the United States win more medals.

He didn't call Davis out by name. He didn't have to.


"I'm part of Team USA," Hedrick said. "I don't care about how it's going to affect my individual race. I'm part of the team."

There's nothing wrong with being patriotic and engaging in a little flag-waving. It looks good on television and probably plays well for Hedrick back home in Texas.

But unless you're a hockey player or a curler, the Olympics aren't about winning one for Team USA. They're a series of mostly individual sports where athletes try to do their best and win one for themselves.

The fact the medals drop into the U.S. win column is just an added bonus.

Bode Miller's first thought at the top of the hill this week likely wasn't how the folks back home would love him to win, but how many more millions he might get out of Nike for doing so. Hedrick himself will do a lot better financially should he come home with multiple golds instead of the one already in his pocket for winning the 5,000.

Maybe that had something to do with Hedrick still not being able to get over Davis' perceived slight two days after the team pursuit. Or maybe he's just a rah-rah kind of guy who got in this speedskating stuff late and doesn't really understand that skaters, whether competing in sequins or speed suits, are basically only in it for themselves.

Davis said as much afterward when he talked about skating since he was 6 years old and joking with friends as a kid that he would someday win the Olympic 1,000. Those friends long ago hung up their skates, but Davis kept after it, knowing that chances for Olympic glory come around only every four years and can be fleeting indeed.

He wasn't approached until a week ago about even being in the team pursuit, and he didn't want to hurt his chances for gold in his best race by throwing off his carefully planned schedule. He didn't apologize for it because he felt he didn't need to. Still doesn't.

But when he should have been enjoying his Olympic moment, Davis had to explain how he was not somehow un-American.

"A lot of people might think I'm unpatriotic or not a team player," he said. "But if the shoe was on the other foot, would he [Hedrick] have skated the team pursuit if the team pursuit was a day before the 5,000? We will never know."

Davis was never going to win a medal for being best teammate, even before he came to Turin. He and his mother have long had disputes with U.S. Speedskating, down to refusing to allow his bio to be displayed on the group's Web site. Once in Turin, he stayed to himself, avoiding both the media and the rest of his team.

There was even talk he might blow off the official news conference if he won. Clearly, this is a guy who worries only about himself.

Athletes, though, come with different needs, different motivations and vastly different personalities.

That was never so clear as it was Saturday night when Cheek sat next to Davis at the podium. Cheek won the 500 a few days earlier and donated his $25,000 USOC reward to Right to Play, a charity run by former speedskating star Johann Olav Koss to help children in war-torn areas.

He added $15,000 more to the pot by winning the silver medal, and said his original donation has now grown to $250,000 with corporate matches.

"I'm much more proud of that work than winning a gold medal in the Olympics," Cheek said.

Davis couldn't top that, but he did have his gold. And he had some support from outside his team.

"What the U.S. thinks about Shani Davis doesn't matter," said bronze medalist Erben Wennemars of the Netherlands. "He got the Olympic gold medal, so he's right."

Hard to argue with that.

Unless you're Chad Hedrick, that is.

Copyright © 2006 The Seattle Times Company



http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/sports/2002815011_olyshani19.html?syndication=rss


Congratulations to Shani Davis. :applaud:


His victory shows that with perserverance and a positive attitude, you can triumph over any obstacle -
even the negativity of those who surround you.


A lesson to remember - the Good ultimately do win out. :yes:
 
woah woah woah... shani davis has a positive attitude?

are you nuts?

look i have the utmost respect for what he accomplished, but shani davis has turned his back on his team, including his team, the US Speedskating Association, and even the man who introduced him to the damned sport when he was a kid, all in pursuit of individual accomplishment.

hardly the olympic ideal.
 
Jamila said:


If someone doesn't like this thread, why are they here?

Find a thread that makes you happy.

I know I don't like to be miserable.

Wow, if discussion makes you miserable, you must have it bad. FYM is not about warm fuzzies. If you can't take the fact that other people who may not agree with you or the author of your articles may be posting in your precious warm fuzzy threads, you might not want to post them here :shrug:

As for Shani Davis, I admire his ability and am happy for his success, especially as an African-American, but other than that I have little respect for someone who turns his back on his teammates and his country. It would be one thing if he had never participated in the team event, but he was named to that team months ago and then DAYS before the event, backed out because he didn't feel like wasting his energy for a team event doesn't. Not only is that disresepctful to his teammates, but disrespectful to other skaters who may have qualified to skate that race in his place if he'd been honest from the beginning. Sorry Jamila, but I just don't think skin color makes that kind of behavior acceptable.
 
Headache in a Suitcase said:
woah woah woah... shani davis has a positive attitude?

are you nuts?

look i have the utmost respect for what he accomplished, but shani davis has turned his back on his team, including his team, the US Speedskating Association, and even the man who introduced him to the damned sport when he was a kid, all in pursuit of individual accomplishment.

hardly the olympic ideal.

:up:

i'm sure someone else would've loved to march out in the opening ceremonies of the olympics...what a shitty thing to do.
 
LivLuvAndBootlegMusic said:


It would be one thing if he had never participated in the team event, but he was named to that team months ago and then DAYS before the event, backed out because he didn't feel like wasting his energy for a team event doesn't. Not only is that disresepctful to his teammates, but disrespectful to other skaters who may have qualified to skate that race in his place if he'd been honest from the beginning. Sorry Jamila, but I just don't think skin color makes that kind of behavior acceptable.


Davis, the first African-American to win a Winter Olympics gold, has said he was informed only days before the team pursuit that he was on the team and was not prepared to change his plans preparing for his best race, the 1,000 meters.


It is interesting how everybody considers themselves an authority over what Shani should do and why he should do it. Just a reminder-- Team Davis never editorializes on what other competitors should or shouldn't do. We leave their business as private to them. However, the running commentary on Shani, whether the Chicago Tribune or some Internet know-it-all sites, never ceases.

Shani is considered medal contender in the 1000m and 1500m longtrack speedskating events. The pursuit is two days before the 1000m. Participating the in pursuit will jeopardize performance in the 1000m. Other competitors in the same situation are also choosing to forego the possibility of racing the pursuit for the same reason. I have not yet seen any media flaming those competitors.
Everybody wants to believe that Shani was going to win a medal for the pursuit team. HA! There is absolutely no evidence of this conviction. In fact, Shani has never practiced with the pursuit team. Ever so logically, those who come around only every four years have the answers. Shani may not even win a medal in those events he is favored in. Again, those who are involved at the ground level know nothing.
 
nbcrusader said:
no negative posts allowed :shame:

Just flow with the positive :angel:

Cause we are all one :heart: :bono:

:sexywink: :drool:

Doesn't God command us to never respond unless it is positive and fits the mold of whatever point the author of said thread is trying to make?

:madspit:
 
Jamila said:


Actually doesn't God command us to love each other?

I bet God doesn't also like people to take potshots about His commands either.


I see a redwood in your eye!

Do you need help removing it?
 
Davis, the first African-American to win a Winter Olympics gold, has said he was informed only days before the team pursuit that he was on the team and was not prepared to change his plans preparing for his best race, the 1,000 meters.

Well, that makes me feel better if it's true. When the story first came out on NBC I didn't think much of it, but then they kept saying he'd been named to the team months ago and decided days before to officially not compete.
 
Sadly, a good deal of the dispute stems from the relationship with Chad Hedrick

"If he was part of the team pursuit, we would have had a great chance to win the gold medal," Hedrick, the world record holder in the upcoming 1,500 and 10,000 meters, told ESPN. "Like Eric Heiden said, how many days do you need to prepare for your race?"
 
I think it is sometimes difficult to feel a part of a team when you have busted your ass to achieve something no one else has.

His mother's support....

His heritage....

The mantle of being the first....

All weighing on him...

that said...He was a total ASS when they interviewed him last night.
 
Headache in a Suitcase said:
my god commands me to include an excesive number of smilies after my posts :heart::bono::drunk::combust::love:

Where's the angel smilie, damn it? :mad:


(although I do like your use of the drunken smilie. Inspired! :yes: )
 
Headache in a Suitcase said:
woah woah woah... shani davis has a positive attitude?

are you nuts?

look i have the utmost respect for what he accomplished, but shani davis has turned his back on his team, including his team, the US Speedskating Association, and even the man who introduced him to the damned sport when he was a kid, all in pursuit of individual accomplishment.

hardly the olympic ideal.


I am going to agree here. My sister is very involved with the speedskating community, as a speedskating competitor on a club/TEAM level. She knows most of the US Speedskating TEAM. What Shani Davis has done is alienate himself from his TEAM, and the public doesn't know the HALF of what this and his attitude has done to affect the US TEAM. Yes, his hard work and perseverence has paid off in that he won Olympic gold, a great personal achievement as well as a notch for the US in these Turin 2006 Olympic Games; however I am embarrassed as a fellow American to sit idly watching his terse attitude and forced one word answers during press interviews following his win. I am disheartened to learn that there was even talk he wanted to blow off the official news conference if he won. (He was forced to face the Press, does this surprise anyone?) Clearly, this is a guy who worries only about himself.

I am trying not to let the disappointment in Shani Davis affect my enjoyment of watching the Olympic Games and cheering on the American TEAMS, but I must say Shani Davis does not hold a candle to Cheek or even to Hedrick (TEAM MATES!!) in what they contribute to the sport, to the Games, and in Cheek's case, what he has given back in monetary donations to underprivileged. Cheek and even Hedrick will inspire more future young athletes and TEAM athletes than Davis ever will, my opinion, based on Shani's very poor attitude which to me seems borderline unsportsmanlike.

Athletes do, though, come with different needs, motivations and personalities. Maybe, just maybe, Shani Davis should knock that chip off his shoulder before someone else does it for him.
 
I must say I'm not real big on the whole team thing. And let's face it speedskating isn't exactly a team sport, it's individual sport with a manufactured "team" race in the relay. And in many ways that's what I like about it...it shows individual excellence. While relays are fun to watch, they've always seemed like a nice exrtra to me. You know, the last race of the competition and a way for people who haven't done as well as they could during the "real" races to redeem themselves. So I can't really blame Davis for not skating in the relay. Perhaps if it had been held after all the other races he would have participated.

And why isn't anyone telling Hedrick to stop his whining and just fucking skate?
 
indra said:
I must say I'm not real big on the whole team thing. And let's face it speedskating isn't exactly a team sport, it's individual sport with a manufactured "team" race in the relay. And in many ways that's what I like about it...it shows individual excellence. While relays are fun to watch, they've always seemed like a nice extra to me. You know, the last race of the competition and a way for people who haven't done as well as they could during the "real" races to redeem themselves. So I can't really blame Davis for not skating in the relay. Perhaps if it had been held after all the other races he would have participated.

i agree




indra said:
And why isn't anyone telling Hedrick to stop his whining and just fucking skate?

someone should, it's pathetic

hedrick says davis should of raced in the team race. why? because it would've given HEDRICK the chance for another gold medal. he's just as "self centered" as davis.
 
Carek1230 said:

I am disheartened to learn that there was even talk he wanted to blow off the official news conference if he won. (He was forced to face the Press, does this surprise anyone?) Clearly, this is a guy who worries only about himself.

this would hardly be the first time (not even close) an athlete didn't want to talk to the press. it doesn't not mean he is self centered or anything close

and i for one can't blame them the way the media goes after them


Carek1230 said:
I must say Shani Davis does not hold a candle to Cheek or even to Hedrick (TEAM MATES!!) in what they contribute to the sport, to the Games, and in Cheek's case, what he has given back in monetary donations to underprivileged. Cheek and even Hedrick will inspire more future young athletes and TEAM athletes than Davis ever will, my opinion, based on Shani's very poor attitude which to me seems borderline unsportsmanlike.

i don't see how hedrick is any better than davis in that regard, they are both bickering and it's just lame. i don't see how hedrick is any better than davis. like shani said, "what if hedricks best event would have been right after the team event, what would he have done? we'll never know."

however what cheek has done is great :up: and he gives a far greater impression than either davis or hedrick. he just seems happy to be doing what he's doing while hedrick is pouting like a 3 yr old and davis acts cocky. the should both grow up.
 
indra said:
I must say I'm not real big on the whole team thing. And let's face it speedskating isn't exactly a team sport, it's individual sport with a manufactured "team" race in the relay. And in many ways that's what I like about it...it shows individual excellence. While relays are fun to watch, they've always seemed like a nice exrtra to me. You know, the last race of the competition and a way for people who haven't done as well as they could during the "real" races to redeem themselves. So I can't really blame Davis for not skating in the relay. Perhaps if it had been held after all the other races he would have participated.

Is swimming much different? Yet, it maintains a team atmosphere at many levels.
 
nbcrusader said:


Is swimming much different? Yet, it maintains a team atmosphere at many levels.

Swimming is much more established overall, and the US is generally strong enough that the best swimmers don't have to swim the qualifying heats in the relays. We have several excellent speedskaters, but no where near the depth we have in swimming. So often this specific situation doesn't come up. The top swimmers do their individual events while the secondary swimmers swim the heats. Then the big guns come in for the final.

Of course, I've never been very big on team sports (or "team" projects in school or work either for that matter), so I can certainly understand someone not getting all excited about a recently added pseudo team event. :shrug:
 
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