Posted by spoonman Thursday 27 March, 2008 06:07 PM
New technologies are constantly making sports more about scientific edge than natural competition, so is it time to go back to the days of the nude Olympic Games?
How come the world can spend millions a year testing athletes for performance enhancing drugs, but whack on a new high-tech Speedo LZR Racer swimsuit and that's ok.
A heap of world records have been smashed by swimmers using the suits recently, but they are considered ok by FINA, the sport's governing body.
Bit hypocritical isn't it?
Boosting performance with drug technology is verboten, but use a special covering for skin that makes you faster is not - it's actually encouraged.
How can athletes who can't afford, or don't have access to, the $600 Speedo suits even hope to compete?
Simple answer is they can't.
So in the interests of purity, simplicity and tradition, I'm calling for the Olympic Games to be held in the nude - or very close to it - just like in ancient Greece.
No fancy swimsuits. No spiked running shoes or starting blocks. You get the idea.
Combined with a vigorous drug testing regime we might even see the best athletes winning, for a change.
Either that, or we go the whole hog and allow drugs, hormones, fancy suits and shoes - whatever it takes to win.
You might call them the Enhanced Games.
But the current situation is a joke on the athletes, who are breaking records they don't deserve to, the public and the Olympic Games themselves.
Over to you.......
