The Olympics: swimsuits, drugs and victory dances

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Synchronized diving? Not sure I get it, but it’s kind of ... mesmerizing. And I’m sorry about weight lifter Oscar Figueroa’s thumb ... though that knee-jerk health-nanny-with-the-halo dancing on my right shoulder is nagging me to responsibly admonish the public (citing peer-reviewed studies and expert sources, of course!) about the risks to muscle and tendon of lifting 350-odd-pounds at a time...

... ptth. There are less-tedious health/medicine/fitness-themed Olympics stories out there to be read.

Here’s a couple addressing all the world records that seem to be getting broken in swimming. Is it the suits? Is it drugs? The high-tech designer pools? Here’s the Baltimore Sun article on that topic posted on our website. And here’s another one in the New York Times. Among the topics the articles address: the Speedo LZR Racer swimsuit, which ‘can require a half-hour to put on and shoehorns the body into a more streamlined position,’ the New York Times article says. (An Italian swim coach has referred to the swimsuit as ‘technological doping’: His swimmers, needless to say, wear a different brand of suit.)

Talking of doping, a New York Times opinion piece suggests we give up trying to have Olympic Games free of performance-enhancing drugs because science will always be ahead of good, accurate tests. ‘What if we let athletes do whatever they wanted to excel?’ writes John Tierney. ‘Before you dismiss this notion, consider what we’re stuck with today. The system is ostensibly designed to create a level playing field, protect athletes’ health and set an example for children, but it fails on all counts.’

An editorial in the journal Nature, one of the sources Tierney cites, says the drug-testing process for athletic events is unscientific and secretive and that ‘antidoping authorities have fostered a sporting culture of suspicion, secrecy and fear.’ It calls for more openness.

But my favorite so far is how the victory dance we have all seen many times at athletic events is ingrained in our biology, we read in an L.A. Times article by Denise Gellene and as Shari Roan blogged here Monday. A study published Monday reports that athletes who were blind from birth -- who could never have learned the dance by watching others do it -- still clench their fists, wave their hands over their heads and puff out their chests.

-- Rosie Mestel