December 11, 200816 yr Beckham had had a good 2001 though. Especially considering how much everyone hated him after 1998, and that goal was some goal too! In the last kick of the game too iirc. In November 2000 he was appointed captain of England's international Football Team; & he was captain setting up 4 assists in their stunning 1-5 victory against Germany on September 1st of 2001. In 2001 he finished 2nd in FIFAs World Footballer of The Year & 2nd in European Footballer of The Year (both behind Luís Figo). He helped Manchester United win the Premiership by a Record Breaking Margin (that still stands) & in the Year 2001 helped Manchester United accumulate more points in a calender year (he scored 16 goals & 34 assists for them in this calender year) then any other Premiership club so far has. It was a wretched year in British sport (England's Cricketers lost the Ashes series 4-1; Rugby Union's British Lions lost the series down under in Australia; foot & mouth disease decimated Horse Racing; UK Athletics won just 2 medals at the 2001 World Championships; no Brits were in contention for a major at Golf; David Coulthard was our only half decent F1 driver; Boxing's Lennox Lewis & Naseem Hamed lost their World Titles...) which was why Michael Owen finished 3rd behind the runner up round the world yacht sailswoman Ellen MacArthur. Although it was a surprise to many that maiden Snooker World & UK Champion double winner Ronnie O'Sullivan did not feature in the top 3.
December 12, 200816 yr Becuase pools now (especially the one used for the Beijing Olympics) are built to help the swimmers, they have wider lanes and greater protection from the splash or waves the other swimmers create, it's almost as if they're swimming in their own pool now compared to years before. Not to mention the fact that swimmers now swim in about 90% lycra, 10% skin. It used to be the other way around! ok thanks :)
December 12, 200816 yr how can a pool be 'fast'? Becuase pools now (especially the one used for the Beijing Olympics) are built to help the swimmers, they have wider lanes and greater protection from the splash or waves the other swimmers create, it's almost as if they're swimming in their own pool now compared to years before. Not to mention the fact that swimmers now swim in about 90% lycra, 10% skin. It used to be the other way around! not quite, but close. A constant depth pool is recognised to be faster than one with a shallow and a deep end, due to hydrodynamics. It's something to do with resistance and depth. The 'protection' you speak of works ok, but is useless against anyone with a good kick and does nothing to prevent the currents underwater. The lane ropes used at the Olympics are used at more or less every competition. Even my club champs used anti-turbulence lane ropes. They just stop small to mid size waves, and prevent massive waves from making it from one side of the pool to the other. Something normal ropes are c**p at :angry: The chemicals can also make a difference. The less chemicals, the more water molecules, therefore the 'lighter' the water. Making it easier to swim in. In recent years the lanes haven't gotten wider, but the pools have. The modern Olympic standard is 10lanes, it used to be 8. Lanes are 2m-2.5m wide to allow swimmers with wide arm spans not to hit each other whilst swimming. I think it's 2.5m as Ponds Fordge is 10lanes and 25m across, but i think Olympia is only 2m as i can touch both lane ropes with my fingertips, whilst standing in the middle of the lane. But they have stayed a constant width for Olympic standard pools. The costumes that swimmers wear, Skins as they are known to swimmers thanks to Speedo, do help, but only a little. The new(ish) Fastskin Lazer only carries an improvement of 0.3-0.4secs per length. A slow start on a 50m or a bad turn in a 100m (Long course) and that advantage is gone. Only a small part of skins is actually lycra :P my Speedo Fastskin 2 legs are 75% Polyester and 25% Elastane (Lycra) My TYR Fusion3 Legs are 82% Nylon and 18% Lycra Edited December 12, 200816 yr by The Fear
December 12, 200816 yr Rebecca Adlington wasn't swimming in a different pool to everyone else in the final though so that argument holds no weight. Lewis Hamilton's car is considerably better than most in the F1 championship, so it's not a level playing field there.
December 12, 200816 yr Rebecca Adlington wasn't swimming in a different pool to everyone else in the final though so that argument holds no weight. Lewis Hamilton's car is considerably better than most in the F1 championship, so it's not a level playing field there. But the Ferraris are faster than the McLarens though hence why it was an achivement for him!
December 12, 200816 yr But the Ferraris are faster than the McLarens though hence why it was an achivement for him! You are not taking into account variables merely looking at raw straightline speed Ferrari tyres were like driving through treacle in wet/damp conditions and much of the 2nd half of the season had bad weather also Ferrari tyres had a tendency to "grain" because of their shorter wheelbase than the McLaren's which somewhat compromised Ferrari strategy at times so yes the Ferrari was of more BHP but that is it
December 12, 200816 yr Beckham had had a good 2001 though. Especially considering how much everyone hated him after 1998, and that goal was some goal too! In the last kick of the game too iirc. In November 2000 he was appointed captain of England's international Football Team; & he was captain setting up 4 assists in their stunning 1-5 victory against Germany on September 1st of 2001. In 2001 he finished 2nd in FIFAs World Footballer of The Year & 2nd in European Footballer of The Year (both behind Luís Figo). He helped Manchester United win the Premiership by a Record Breaking Margin (that still stands) & in the Year 2001 helped Manchester United accumulate more points in a calender year (he scored 16 goals & 34 assists for them in this calender year) then any other Premiership club so far has. It was a wretched year in British sport (England's Cricketers lost the Ashes series 4-1; Rugby Union's British Lions lost the series down under in Australia; foot & mouth disease decimated Horse Racing; UK Athletics won just 2 medals at the 2001 World Championships; no Brits were in contention for a major at Golf; David Coulthard was our only half decent F1 driver; Boxing's Lennox Lewis & Naseem Hamed lost their World Titles...) which was why Michael Owen finished 3rd behind the runner up round the world yacht sailswoman Ellen MacArthur. Although it was a surprise to many that maiden Snooker World & UK Champion double winner Ronnie O'Sullivan did not feature in the top 3. Points respectfully taken. But there were several other awards that year that he (Beckham) didn't win. And it's quite possible that Owen would have won it if it wasn't for that free-kick, due to that hat-trick.
December 12, 200816 yr Author Owen won the Ballon d'Or in 2001, most likely because of his goalscoring record for Liverpool (and helping them win the FA, League and UEFA Cups) and as well as that he had a fantastic year for England. But in terms of nationalism Beckham probably had a better year, as if Beckham didn't score that free kick we probably wouldn't have got through to the World Cup.
December 14, 200816 yr I've not watched this but Adlington 3rd and Lewis 2nd! A decent winner then! Chris Hoy! :cheer: :cheer: Edited December 14, 200816 yr by RabbitFurCoat
December 14, 200816 yr Author The right person won... The Top 3 was always going to be Hoy, Adlington and Hamilton, it was just a case of what order. All 3 have had fantastic years and each of them deserved to win imo.
December 14, 200816 yr I've not watched this but Adlington 3rd and Lewis 2nd! A decent winner then! Chris Hoy! :cheer: :cheer: Yes, I totally agree. Unlike the bookies fav Adlington, he has dominated his sport for over 4 years so is a worthy winner. As for Lewis Hamilton I wonder if he will end up like Bobby Charlton who finished 2nd 3 times & 3rd once in Sports Personality of The Year but never won, until he was given a Lifetime Achievement (best Sportsman never to win the main prize) award this year, which got the loudest roar & longest applause of the night from 9,000 Scousers to the greatest player to ever play for Manchester United IMHO. Unlike George Best he was the ultimate professional & ambassador for his club & the highest goalscorer for his national team (49 goals for England in 106 appearances) having been one of the survivors from the Munich Air Disaster went on to play 758 times for his club (a record just passed by Ryan Giggs)) tonight.
December 14, 200816 yr Never thought that a sweaty would win a vote that was largely made up of English viewers but congrats to him :)
December 15, 200816 yr dont mind hoy winning.... at least hes a real sportsman, an athlete at the top of his discipline. adlington though should be above hamilton... i dont consider driving a 'real' sport, although i respect hammiltons acheivement. just goes to show that motor racing is more popular then swimming, adlington peaking for the olympics is exactly what athletics is about though... ohurugu did it, past greats have done it either to medal or get a world record... christie, gunnel, edwards, jackson, backley, thompson etc etc etc.. imho adlingtons acheivements are up there with the greats.
December 15, 200816 yr Well quite. But when you have 7 olympians, 1 F1 driver, 1 boxer and 1 tennis player there's always going to be some split vote. Hamilton fans will vote for Hamilton, people who were amazed by the olympians achievements had 7 people to choose from.
December 15, 200816 yr Well quite. But when you have 7 olympians, 1 F1 driver, 1 boxer and 1 tennis player there's always going to be some split vote. Hamilton fans will vote for Hamilton, people who were amazed by the olympians achievements had 7 people to choose from. which will split the olympians vote non?.,... im sure hammilton will win it one day, he has a yearly contention, but adlington is unlikely to repete her outstanding triumph... i hope im wrong!
December 15, 200816 yr Never thought that a sweaty would win a vote that was largely made up of English viewers but congrats to him :) Especially when you consider that the Scottish sports personality of the year - which, I believe, is voted for by Scotland - went to Dario Franchitti. He's a racing driver who, by the looks of his Wikipedia page, only competes in American races.
February 12, 200916 yr My prediction is this year the sports personality of the year is either going to be Lebron James or Kobe Bryant--slight edge to Lebron at this point. As avid sports fans, I wanted to let you know about what Mountain Dew is currently doing. They have looked to the public to choose their next drink flavor and the result is Mountain Dew Voltage. Mountain Dew is now looking to the sports community to give away great prizes including a Xbox and a snowboard. Voltage is loaded with caffeine and can keep you up watching and playing your favorite sports all day and night. The marketing company I work for is actually running a campaign with Mountain Dew. To have some fun and for a chance to win these great prizes try out the new flavor chosen by the people and go to http:// tinyurl. com/ btrcgl to earn points and win!
February 12, 200916 yr My prediction is this year the sports personality of the year is either going to be Lebron James or Kobe Bryant--slight edge to Lebron at this point. As avid sports fans, I wanted to let you know about what Mountain Dew is currently doing. They have looked to the public to choose their next drink flavor and the result is Mountain Dew Voltage. Mountain Dew is now looking to the sports community to give away great prizes including a Xbox and a snowboard. Voltage is loaded with caffeine and can keep you up watching and playing your favorite sports all day and night. The marketing company I work for is actually running a campaign with Mountain Dew. To have some fun and for a chance to win these great prizes try out the new flavor chosen by the people and go to http:// tinyurl. com/ btrcgl to earn points and win! Considering Lebron James and Kobe Bryant are both American..they stand no chance of winning?
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