Hacking the Olympics
What makes this interesting is that he's a 36 year old tech guy. He's worked in the video game and web industry for the past 15 years. Knowing him, it would be a stretch to call him an athlete when he started this.
He's approached this in a very cool manner. Instead of brute force like most athletes, he did his research. He went out and found all the sports that had more open qualifications. This led him to narrow it down to 4 sports of Bobsled, Luge, Downhill Skiing and Cross-Country Skiing.
Subsequently after trying a few of them he picked Cross-Country Skiing. He needed to get on the snow asap so he let his lease up in San Francisco and moved to Northern Finland above the Arctic to chase the snow. Subsequently this summer he flew around to wherever there was snow and it took him to Austria, New Zealand and Australia.
He knew that he would never qualify as a US citizen. So he thought to himself… maybe I can become a citizen of a tropical country. After a huge email and snail mail writing campaign to embassies and olympic committees he was able to get interest from a few. One agreed to do it and as of August he became a citizen of Colombia!
So I'd like to present you with, Paul, the first ever Colombian Cross-Country skier.
He released a trailer video yesterday and also put up a Facebook page. I personally find his persistence in pursing his dream inspiring. Please support him be sharing and liking.
https://www.facebook.com/teampaul2014
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QO2VSdncp1o
In 1996, Nike decided on a sports experiment / PR stunt - it would pay for two Kenyan long distance runners, Philip Kimely Boit and Henry Bitok, to train in cross-country skiing for the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan. The two Kenyans have never skiied before in their lives - heck, they've never even seen snow until they arrived in Finland to train.
Bitok never qualified for the race, but Boit did. He cross-country skiied in the 10-kilometer classic in Nagano ... and came in dead last. The awards ceremony for the race had to be delayed because the winner, Norwegian cross-country skier and legend in the sport Bjørn Dæhlie, insisted on waiting 20 minutes for Boit to cross the finish line so he could cheer Boit on!
Eddie was a much more accomplished athlete than the Congoese swimmer who could barely get the end of the pool, and probably a better skier than your friend, but the IOC took a dim view of enthusiastic amateurs hurtling down ski-slopes in front of millions of viewers that were genuinely pleased just to see him survive the jump, and introduced qualification requirements. I'm surprised they haven't introduced them for dangerous sports like the luge as well. At least your friend had the sense to pick cross country skiing
The way to get an Olympic medal is to be naturally gifted and train every day from teens onwards, like one of my brother's friends did...
I still regret not learning to play handball in approx 2010 since the Great Britain felt compelled to enter a team at their home Olympics despite it being about the only sport British people don't play.
First they have to get a spot on an Olympic team. Since you asked about track and field, let's consider that.
First you have to go through the "trials" for your country. When you run a sanctioned race (i.e., a real competitive race with timekeeping, not a 5K beer run or whatever) if you run it fast enough you might post a qualifying time.
http://www.usatf.org/events/2012/OlympicTrials-TF/entry/qual...
The A time is the "A"utomatic, "you're allowed to come to the trials" time. The B is the "B"ackup - we'll invite you to the trials if you are consistently hitting B times and there aren't enough A people.
If you post an A time (or enough B times), you'll be able to attend the US Olympics track and field trials. You go there and run like a mad man or woman against the best athletes in the country. If you are fast enough, congrats - you're going to the Olympics!
But how fast is "fast enough"?
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A 5K is a pretty common race, right? How fast can you do it? I'm lucky if I can do it in 30 minutes, but I'm a big blubbery programmer.
The B time for a 5K is 13:50.
Let's look at some times for 5Ks. Here's a big one with lots of finishers:
http://www.albanyrunningexchange.org/results/search.php?ID=3...
The fastest runners aren't even close.
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OK, not a 5K. Let's consider another data point. The NYC & Boston Marathons attract major talent.
http://www.runnersworld.com/races/tougher-standards-for-2016...
There aren't even B standards for men. You have to run a marathon in 2:18 to go to the trials.
http://raceday.baa.org/top-finishers.html http://www.ingnycmarathon.org/Results.htm
The top 15 are already almost falling outside the qualifying. Do you think any of your friends can finish in the top 15 of the Boston Marathon? I know a guy who has been running all his life, who trained his ass off and ran the Boston Marathon in 2:50 a few years ago - he finished in the top one percent for the race, but that is nowhere near Olympic trial times.
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What about a nice sprint? The 800M A time is 1:46.50, and the B time is 1:48.30. Not too long, or so it seems...
http://www.tfrrs.org/results/31188_1946804.html
The best college athletes in the country aren't even automatically qualifying. But hey, ~a man and a dream~, right?
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This entire idea is beyond ludicrous. No one's going to "hack their way to the Olympics", especially a 36 year old that is nowhere near their peak physical condition & has limited experience in the sport.
Sprint is one of six types of skiing in the Olympic Games.
That said, there is use in comparing something that (I'd wager!) many people know (running) to something far fewer people know(skiing times). Frankly I didn't know how hard 'finishing within 10 minutes' would be; but now I've got something to compare with.
And what that illustrates is that coming anywhere near a qualifying time is extremely difficult.
I know several people who have competed at the Winter Olympics in Alpine Skiing for countries that don't have a tradition in the sport.
He's got to get 300 FIS points by Jan 20, 2014 to get the B standard in order to qualify for Colombia.
http://www.fis-ski.com/uk/604/607.html?sector=CC&listid=3000...
If that's up to date, I don't see that he has any.
The method of calculating scoring is available at [2]. It doesn't make much sense to me though - it appears the second place competitor only gets 0.53 points?
(Now I know way more about cross country skiing than I did this morning)
[1] http://www.fiscrosscountry.com/data/document/media-informati...
[2] http://www.fis-ski.com/data/document/fis-points-rules-2012-2...
http://www.fis-ski.com/uk/disciplines/cross-country/competit...
Athletes do not make it to the Olympics through "brute force." Exercise is the least part of Olympic training. Olympic-caliber athletes spend years practicing their specific discipline(s), developing everything from the mechanics of their movement to the interplay of their body with the environment.
Cross-country skiing isn't just something you can "pick up" a few months before the Games and hope to have a shot. It is a grueling physically demanding sport that requires tremendous endurance, technical, and mental preparation.
Also--simply being a citizen of a low-population country is not sufficient to qualify for the Olympics (winter or summer). The Olympics are a competition for the best athletes in the sport--novelty acts don't just get to waltz in. Prior to each Olympics, each sport sets forth the qualifying standards (time, place in qualifying races, etc.). Even the Jamaican bobsled team had to qualify for the Olympics.
I say let him have his games - it's not for us to shit on other people's dreams.
Paul has already his story raving up for him. It is clear he knows what it takes, and has the determination to achieve it.
More about her story at: http://espn.go.com/espnw/blogs/training/article/6177784/kath...
>"What is Olympism?
"Olympism is a philosophy of life, exalting and combining in a balanced whole the qualities of body, will and mind. Blending sport with culture and education, Olympism seeks to create a way of life based on the joy found in effort, the educational value of good example and respect for universal fundamental ethical principles.
"The goal of the Olympic Movement is to contribute to building a peaceful and better world by educating youth through sport practiced without discrimination of any kind and in the Olympic spirit, which requires mutual understanding with a spirit of friendship, solidarity and fair play."
Sounds like what he is doing follows the spirit of Olympism.
That's something I can get behind!
He has set his mind to do something, and is preparing for it, but he has set his mind on competing in the Olympics any way he can. Most athletes have a goal of being the best they can in a sport, so that they can compete in the Olympics. I think there is a subtle difference between those, that could very well be called disrespectful to the Olympics.
I'm sure he's trying to be the best he can. Why do you think otherwise?
You didn't say "the best in the world," which would be out of reach even for the vast majority of athletes who do make it to the Olympics.
In case you are 22, let me tell you that at 35 he can't say "I'll train for five or ten years" - that training would be offset by his natural physical decline, and an increase in injuries.
This attitude makes me want to vomit. The American Exceptionalism attitude of "we're the best country on Earth" is the root of so many problems in today's world.
Please check your ego.
A) Please do some research and determine if in fact you must cede your US citizenship in order to become a Columbian citizen, plenty of countries have dual-citizenship agreements with the United States.
B) "gave up one of the most valuable things anyone could have" -- Please qualify that. What exactly does he get for his American citizenship? Sure he can live here without being hassled for a Visa, but if he's married to an American citizen, then that point is moot. This isn't Sweden where citizenship entitles one to heavily subsidized healthcare/childcare/higher education or Switzerland where citizens might soon be entitled to an unconditional income. The right to a social security number, some paltry Welfare income and the ability to tell your friends that you live in the "land of the free, home of the brave" is not exactly much of a birthright.
My understanding when researching my own dual-citizenship is that you do not loose your American nationality when acquiring another nationality unless it was your intent to do so. Some countries require that you do this as a condition of nationalization (and some make exceptions for marriage, previous family ties, etc). So if you acquired a second nationality in a country that required this, knew that it meant giving up your US nationality, and willingly did so, you would no longer be American. Whether or you or the second country mention this to the US authorities is a totally separate matter, which can result in some interesting consequences later.
So if you need to renounce your previous citizenship as a condition of becoming, say, Columbian, then you would no longer be American (probably). Seeing as though he became Columbian through presidential decree, I'm guessing Columbia didn't make him do this. So now he is a dual-national, but from the US government's perspective he is American.
The problem is that you really don't want to be in a limbo state with your citizenship. Some politicians or bureaucrats in the future could decide that there are a lot of people abroad collecting social security, let's audit their citizenship.
You were planning it all life long :)
I am a guy interested in security and I am sensitive to the word "hacking". And I bet most of the HNers are interested in security too.
Given the whole PRISM thing about different government was intercepting communication during the London Olympic game, calling out "Hacking Olympic" would ring the bell. This is a sensitive title to me.
I had to read the text three times before I realized there was no hacking involved other than "being creative".
I will wish him best but please, OP, please, don't ever do this again. If I had to sound harsher, this is a marketing strategy. You have captured everyone's attention, but to me it's a bad attention.
Imagine everyone doing something "creative" and starts making a post starting with "Hacking...".
Sorry to be harsh, but this is how I feel.
http://stallman.org/articles/on-hacking.html
it would seem that the "old-school" (typically a more conservative) generation of hackers would not have found this use of the word "hack" incorrect at all.
Same here. This title is controversial to me and I think my point regarding London Olympic MITM is valid. Hence, please use something more descriptive.
It seems like almost any action performed by a human matches the vague definition of "hacking" sometimes used on HN.
Cross-country merely has the lowest risk of death of the four named. The skill and co-ordination needed to be good are dramatically higher than the skill and co-ordination needed to make it to the finish line intact.
[1] But then again, so is walking (postholing) in soft snow, without skis.
However like you, when I saw the title I expected him to adopt the smartest training regime and tactics while competing, thus enabling him to compete with younger fitter individuals. That would have been much more interesting.
Nordic makes slightly more sense, but not really; they're some of the most fit people in the world and the technique is a large part of their speed. Out of shape and not knowing the technique? Not a good combination.