The Australian newspapers have very much a love-hate relationship with their swimmers. On the one hand, the constant press leaves the athletes as very public figures with huge sponsor value. On the other hand, when there is a perceived wrong, the papers hold little back in their attacks. Check out the headlines below from some of Australia’s biggest publications.
The headline of the Sydney Morning Herald after the Australians failed to medal in the men’s 400 free relay.
The Australian played off of James Magnussen’s nickname of “the Missile” as well in its headline criticism.
News.Com.Au kept with the trend. This relay’s miss was especially disappointing after the Aussie women won a surprise gold in the same relay on Saturday.
With James “the Rocket” Roberts and James “the Missle” Magnussen, the Australians dubbed themselves the “Weapons of Mass Destruction”. This headline pokes fun at exactly what they’re destroying.
Basic and simple; this headline reaches back to a past era, where bombs were the weapons of war-time choice, as compared to more modern “missiles”.
And finally, the West Australian, based out of Perth, took the high road and chose to focus on the French team’s success rather than the Australians’ lack thereof.
Personall,y As soon as I saw Lochte in the relay I felt this was a mistake by the US, and it proved to be so, with hindsight, the point is obvious. Though its tough on Magnusson and Roberts, they kind of asked for the criticism when they were vocal in their confidence and when you ask for the media attention that they cultivated, you have to deal with the consequences when you unde rperform.
I only hope they can use this loss as positive motivation to swim well in their individual swims and this does not mark them for the rest of their careers’. Magnusson and Roberts are only young and hopefully they can learn from this and become… Read more »
Rupert Murdoch. It’s a cancer that Australia exported to the UK and the US.
I would not bash the Aussie media, because they do a better job than anyone of making swimming a main stream sport. The truth is the “Missle” and the “Rocket” fizzled compared to expectations.
I’m kinda surprised at how naive some of these comments are. What did you expect the Aussie newspapers to write? Pretty safe to say that relay (Roberts and Magnussen, specifically) choked. Huge favorites, who were pretty vocal about it, didn’t even medal. They deserve the bashing.
The Aussies got beat. That’s life…………
Why would America put Lochte on that relay? He’s not a 100 swimmer and had no business trying to hold off a sprinter. Grevers would have been able to drop a few tenths off his morning swim and bring home the win for the USA. Just more proof that Lochte isn’t nearly the man that Phelps is.
Did you watch the 400 IM last night?
Did you watch the 2008 olympics, where Phelps swam a monster leadoff AND went a 4:03? Phelps is the man because of stuff like that. He didn’t let “staying up till 2 AM” affect his performances last olympics, because he is THE man.
Lochte’s been 47.03 on 400 free relays. I lovve how people keep going on about how Lochte isn’t a sprinter, There are barely a handful of people in the world breaking 48 in the 100 free!
I thought the decision to put Lochte on the relay was a smart one. So was the order they chose. The US was not the favorite and was going in fourth with add-ups of the four best 100 times prior to the Games. So to peg it as a failure to come so close to pulling off another upset win is just plain stupid.
I think your statement is not FAIR with Lochte.There is no certainty of Grevers 47.2 after blasting 52.66 in 100 back semis.
the only reason he went so fast in the 100 back is that he knew that he wasn’t going to swim.
I believe Phelps had the 2nd fastest split of the night so all this talk of him being a bum after losing one race is a bit premature, but you see how quickly the press will turn on you whether your in the US or AUS.
Is Emily Seeohm in the 200m BK?
Cannot find Olympic start lists? anyone? thanks.
Seebohm did not qualify in trials
Hocking and Nay will swim 200 back for Australia.
My whole thing was Phelps really didn’t train for the 400 IM, after that disappointing race I was really curious to see what he was going to do. Luckily he stepped up with a 47.1, not bad at all! And there was literally nothing else the US could have done for that relay, We were outperformed plan and simple.
I agree completely: working the media angle, getting all the Stars in the race, may line up some great sponsorship revenue and partnership options for USA Swimming, but it does not a winning relay make.
A sprinter at the end of the quartet–the warmed up, and ready to go Grevers–could have, and should have, changed the outcome, got into the race of it. Lochte went in ahead and clearly wasn’t his league to respond.
Grevers should have been placed second in line to gain, at least, those few tenths he is faster than Lochte, which he proved (and earned!) in prelims. Grevers would have improved a few tenths more based upon his full-package poise in the backstroke. His… Read more »
This is why the Lamestream media is struggling across the west . Just who needs them to tell us things anyway? Everyone in Aust saw it on TV if they were interested.
Most people are not nearly as nasty & bitter as these forces would like us to be. I resent media trying to evoke & manipulate emotions .
Besides if you like that stuff – Twitter is the go.
Not sorry at all to see the mass redundancies & companies struggling as people give these a big miss.
Couldn’t agree more
I used to be a big media fan- loved reading newspapers & watching news.
I just hate them all now. I think a whole lot of bitter twisted people got into the industry. Give me the old time boozer journos who started out on the crime rounds.
Today the media attracts bullies who pile on unfortunate people & those who disappoint them. Then they will go on a frenzy about bullying whilst bullying the said bulies.
Its a nightmare.
LOL. Looks like The Missile forgot to take his multi vitamins.