One needs an incredibly powerful central core of muscle to perform on the rings and do other gymnastic stuff. Most people of average height and up have arms and legs that are simply too long to do these things with anything like the grace with which top flight gymnasts perform. To diss gymnasts and call them midgets or other disparaging remarks hints at misinformation at the least and jealousy or outright stupidity at the worst.
For runners or soccer players, etc., to accuse gymnasts of not being true athletes would be tantamount to gymnasts saying runners aren't real athletes. They're just different disciplines and those who perform at the highest level of any sport are great athletes.
A sport isn't "stupid" just because some jealous person sucks at it. Just like math isn't stupid just because some people don't get it.
The great thing about the Olympics is that we see all walks of athlete performing at the highest level to suit their body types.
What SUCKS about the Olympics are those fatties sitting at home and in front of a news camera who turn it into a political or racial thing where Phelps shouldn't be lauded because he isn't as great as Carl Lewis or some other junk. It seems to me that if Phelps were BLACK he would be marbleized in a statue in Washington and the VP running mate of Obama by now, age minimum rescinded.
As it is, since America's biggest hero in the Olympics has turned out to be a decent, quiet white guy (and not a cheating loudmouth idiot like Mo Greene from 2000) the media backlash was bound to happen.
Already in one of the local LA papers people are saying the coverage of Phelps is racist, as is the coverage of our lady volleyball duo, May and Walsh.
UGH.Edited by: GiovaniMarcon