From rec.sport.rowing:

Date: Mon, 21 Nov 2005 20:48:51 +0000
From: Carl Douglas
Subject: Child abuse is OK with IOC?

On Friday the BBC website showed Matt Pinsent's film of child gymnasts
at a training centre in China & broadcast his opinion that he had been
watching child abuse:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/othe...s/4445506.stm#

The IOC's spokesperson, Giselle Davis, promptly dismissed his report as
"third-hand" & proceeded to deny that abuse of any kind could have taken
place.

Pinsent was there, & appeared throughout film. Davis, presumably, was
in Lausanne? I think that makes Pinsent's thoughtful & concerned report
"first-hand". Which must make Davis's knee-jerk spin no better than a
shameful "third-hand", since it was apparently generated without study
or consideration of the evidence, & no decent person would have used
such words had they actually seen & heard Pinsent's report.

Now see:
http://tinyurl.com/b2r2r

in which Sebastian Coe also poo-poos Pinsent's report & is quoted as
follows:
"However Coe insisted checks are in place to ensure young
athletes are not mistreated.

"“I have spoken to a number of people this week about
gymnastics as a sport particularly. The general view is
there is no systemic or solid practice in the sport which
is actually abusing young children,” he said.

"“This is a very, very tough sport – but it is difficult to
make a observation without having seen any of the specifics."

So, may we take it that the IOC thinks that everything is perfect in its
house? That, although athletes have routinely taken drugs during & in
preparation for their Games (for a very long time with tacit approval of
the IOC & individual NOCs), no children or adolescents have ever been,
ever will be or are now being harmed in the run-up to 2008? If that's
what the IOC wants us to believe, then it is party to a serious cover-up
of child abuse.

We have seen, all too often, how readily those governing the lives of
children in part or whole, & those institutions controlling sport, will
rush to cover up abuses. When a coach's future prospects (let's forget
any other "special interests" they might also have) seem to them to
require the misuse of a few kids to get better results, don't we know
that everyone looks the other way? And, when the system, its results,
the spectacle, the commercial structures & the kickbacks are so
important, why worry about the warping & partial destruction of a kid's
future happiness?

So, does the IOC really think that its proper response to a thoughtful &
well-informed study by a famous Olympian is to smear the author &
dismiss his report? A caring & honourable institution would express its
concern in the face of such a report & promise an open investigation
forthwith. That would be especially appropriate since Matt's report has
such uncanny echoes in a report, 12 years ago in a UK paper & with
photos, of the abuse of child gymnasts at the same Chinese institution.

Or is child abuse OK with the IOC?

Carl

--
Carl Douglas Racing Shells -
Fine Small-Boats/AeRoWing low-drag Riggers/Advanced Accessories
Write: The Boathouse, Timsway, Chertsey Lane, Staines TW18 3JY, UK
Email: Tel: +44(0)1784-456344 Fax: -466550
URLs: www.carldouglas.co.uk (boats) & www.aerowing.co.uk (riggers)





--

"Allan Bennett" wrote in message
...
From rec.sport.rowing:

Date: Mon, 21 Nov 2005 20:48:51 +0000
From: Carl Douglas
Subject: Child abuse is OK with IOC?

On Friday the BBC website showed Matt Pinsent's film of child gymnasts
at a training centre in China & broadcast his opinion that he had been
watching child abuse:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/othe...s/4445506.stm#

The IOC's spokesperson, Giselle Davis, promptly dismissed his report as
"third-hand" & proceeded to deny that abuse of any kind could have taken
place.

Pinsent was there, & appeared throughout film. Davis, presumably, was
in Lausanne? I think that makes Pinsent's thoughtful & concerned report
"first-hand". Which must make Davis's knee-jerk spin no better than a
shameful "third-hand", since it was apparently generated without study
or consideration of the evidence, & no decent person would have used
such words had they actually seen & heard Pinsent's report.

Now see:
http://tinyurl.com/b2r2r

in which Sebastian Coe also poo-poos Pinsent's report & is quoted as
follows:
"However Coe insisted checks are in place to ensure young
athletes are not mistreated.

""I have spoken to a number of people this week about
gymnastics as a sport particularly. The general view is
there is no systemic or solid practice in the sport which
is actually abusing young children," he said.

""This is a very, very tough sport - but it is difficult to
make a observation without having seen any of the specifics."

So, may we take it that the IOC thinks that everything is perfect in its
house? That, although athletes have routinely taken drugs during & in
preparation for their Games (for a very long time with tacit approval of
the IOC & individual NOCs), no children or adolescents have ever been,
ever will be or are now being harmed in the run-up to 2008? If that's
what the IOC wants us to believe, then it is party to a serious cover-up
of child abuse.

We have seen, all too often, how readily those governing the lives of
children in part or whole, & those institutions controlling sport, will
rush to cover up abuses. When a coach's future prospects (let's forget
any other "special interests" they might also have) seem to them to
require the misuse of a few kids to get better results, don't we know
that everyone looks the other way? And, when the system, its results,
the spectacle, the commercial structures & the kickbacks are so
important, why worry about the warping & partial destruction of a kid's
future happiness?

So, does the IOC really think that its proper response to a thoughtful &
well-informed study by a famous Olympian is to smear the author &
dismiss his report? A caring & honourable institution would express its
concern in the face of such a report & promise an open investigation
forthwith. That would be especially appropriate since Matt's report has
such uncanny echoes in a report, 12 years ago in a UK paper & with
photos, of the abuse of child gymnasts at the same Chinese institution.

Or is child abuse OK with the IOC?

I think that there is more to this than a simple observation and personal
opinion that there may be/ are examples of child abuse in sports training
where high levels of achievement are involved.

It may be one thing for Pinsent to accuse China of systematic child abuse in
sports training, quite another for the IOC or Seb Coe to condone such
criticism. Their response, I am sure would be on the instructions of IOC
legal eagles.

There are issues though and given that the Olympics are supposed to
transgress all political and religious divides, should those elements ever
be allowed to generate comment from the IOC? I guess not in its current
guise.

However, if this is child abuse, and maybe it is, then it is as a policy of
the sport, or is it as a consequence of political interference in sport? If
the latter then we need look no further than the UK for such examples.

I many years ago, withdrew my own daughter from gymnastics due to the
painful training regime that was causing an ongoing back pain in an eight
year old child. Despite my protests the coaches persisted in the exercise,
so I withdrew my daughter. Perhaps the abuse is endemic in that sport?

Ewan Scott

In article , Ewan Scott
wrote:

"Allan Bennett" wrote in message
...
From rec.sport.rowing:

Date: Mon, 21 Nov 2005 20:48:51 +0000
From: Carl Douglas
Subject: Child abuse is OK with IOC?

On Friday the BBC website showed Matt Pinsent's film of child gymnasts
at a training centre in China & broadcast his opinion that he had been
watching child abuse:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/othe...s/4445506.stm#

The IOC's spokesperson, Giselle Davis, promptly dismissed his report as
"third-hand" & proceeded to deny that abuse of any kind could have taken
place.

Pinsent was there, & appeared throughout film. Davis, presumably, was
in Lausanne? I think that makes Pinsent's thoughtful & concerned report
"first-hand". Which must make Davis's knee-jerk spin no better than a
shameful "third-hand", since it was apparently generated without study
or consideration of the evidence, & no decent person would have used
such words had they actually seen & heard Pinsent's report.

Now see:
http://tinyurl.com/b2r2r

in which Sebastian Coe also poo-poos Pinsent's report & is quoted as
follows:
"However Coe insisted checks are in place to ensure young
athletes are not mistreated.

""I have spoken to a number of people this week about
gymnastics as a sport particularly. The general view is
there is no systemic or solid practice in the sport which
is actually abusing young children," he said.

""This is a very, very tough sport - but it is difficult to
make a observation without having seen any of the specifics."

So, may we take it that the IOC thinks that everything is perfect in its
house? That, although athletes have routinely taken drugs during & in
preparation for their Games (for a very long time with tacit approval of
the IOC & individual NOCs), no children or adolescents have ever been,
ever will be or are now being harmed in the run-up to 2008? If that's
what the IOC wants us to believe, then it is party to a serious cover-up
of child abuse.

We have seen, all too often, how readily those governing the lives of
children in part or whole, & those institutions controlling sport, will
rush to cover up abuses. When a coach's future prospects (let's forget
any other "special interests" they might also have) seem to them to
require the misuse of a few kids to get better results, don't we know
that everyone looks the other way? And, when the system, its results,
the spectacle, the commercial structures & the kickbacks are so
important, why worry about the warping & partial destruction of a kid's
future happiness?

So, does the IOC really think that its proper response to a thoughtful &
well-informed study by a famous Olympian is to smear the author &
dismiss his report? A caring & honourable institution would express its
concern in the face of such a report & promise an open investigation
forthwith. That would be especially appropriate since Matt's report has
such uncanny echoes in a report, 12 years ago in a UK paper & with
photos, of the abuse of child gymnasts at the same Chinese institution.

Or is child abuse OK with the IOC?

I think that there is more to this than a simple observation and personal
opinion that there may be/ are examples of child abuse in sports training
where high levels of achievement are involved.

It may be one thing for Pinsent to accuse China of systematic child abuse
in sports training, quite another for the IOC or Seb Coe to condone such
criticism. Their response, I am sure would be on the instructions of IOC
legal eagles.

There are issues though and given that the Olympics are supposed to
transgress all political and religious divides, should those elements ever
be allowed to generate comment from the IOC? I guess not in its current
guise.

However, if this is child abuse, and maybe it is, then it is as a policy of
the sport, or is it as a consequence of political interference in sport? If
the latter then we need look no further than the UK for such examples.

I many years ago, withdrew my own daughter from gymnastics due to the
painful training regime that was causing an ongoing back pain in an eight
year old child. Despite my protests the coaches persisted in the exercise,
so I withdrew my daughter. Perhaps the abuse is endemic in that sport?

I agree with what you are saying except your contention that child protection
is a political issue. Drugs in sport isn't - why should child abuse be?

We now hear the story of a Polish coach who was employed by the Chinese
authorities to coach their kayakers. When he arrived he was given a stick.
When he asked what it was for, he was told it was to beat the paddlers to
make them go faster. He also said that one athlete was only allowed out once
in 2 years - for a week-end to get married.

Over here, because of Government interference and target-setting, we have
lost the notion of inspirational coaching - instead opting for the
inspiration of money.

The same thing is happening in schools with pupils being rewarded for good
grades with money prizes.


Allan Bennett
Not a fan of back handers

--

I agree with what you are saying except your contention that child
protection
is a political issue. Drugs in sport isn't - why should child abuse be?

I think that whilst drugs and abuse etc, indeed anything sporting related
should be as far removed from politics as is possible. I fear that we are
increasingly being led down a route whereby sporting achievement is seen as
a tool in the political armoury. This is of course nothing new. When Rome
was under seige and the Empire was facing oblivion as the citizens starved,
the emporer was tld, "We have a fleet ready to sail to Carthage, do we bring
back wheat, or sand." The reply was bring back sand for the arenas. The
reasoning, which still holds true today is, keep the masses happy with their
sports and we can do what we like.

Today's thinking is probably more partisan, in that a sporting team doing
well results in a positive poll for the ruling party. Hence Mr Blair
crossing his fingers and hoping for an England victory in the World Cup,
hence the drive to bring the Olymics to the UK ( God save us from the impact
of that).

Other examples might be the Czechs beating Russia at Ice Hockey, the
resulting riots and the declaration of political independence. Or closer to
home, the ridiculous fortunes of the SNP which until devolution rose and
fell with the fortunes of the Scottish Football team.

The Communist bloc nations long put political importance in excellence in
sport (by whatever means possible) and I see that developing here. The Five
Step Coaching Structure beiong imposed acros the key Olympic Sports is
managed from the top, it excludes anyone doing sport for fun. Further, it
offers funding based on the importance of the sport in the medal awards,
that is clearly politically motivated.

The denial of political influence by politicians is disengenious and
utterences from our beloved leader at every opportunity to show his "man of
the people" face give the lie to the lack of political involvement.

We now hear the story of a Polish coach who was employed by the Chinese
authorities to coach their kayakers. When he arrived he was given a
stick.
When he asked what it was for, he was told it was to beat the paddlers to
make them go faster. He also said that one athlete was only allowed out
once
in 2 years - for a week-end to get married.

Over here, because of Government interference and target-setting, we have
lost the notion of inspirational coaching - instead opting for the
inspiration of money.

There is an element of truth in that. However, the big political motivation
is in the patronising concept that if they keep the plebescite happy with
sporting success then their future role in government sees improved odds -
I'm convinced.

Ewan Scott