Did you ever find yourself rooting for other nations in the Olympics?

Question

If your country wasn't in the event or even just because? Sometimes I root for the underdogs if I really don't care who wins an event. Just wondering if anyone else does.

Answer 1

naah, i don't care.

the olympics nowadays ain't the same as it wuz in the glory gory days of Greece.

steroid laden atheletes won't compete with naturally gifted people of the olden days eating only fresh fruits and veggies and milk/meat from cows eating only fresh fruits and veggies as well

Answer 2

Yeah, usually I'll go for the host nation if no athlete from my own country is competing; so in this case China.

Answer 3

Most definitely, with the exception if they come from a communist or oppressive country. Typically, these countries are not the underdogs and in some cases enhanced their athletes or worst cheat in some fashion.

Answer 4

i always do the same...

Answer 5

All the time, usually Philippines or Japan.... but when it comes to races with Michael Phelps, I root for anyone. I'm tired of Phelps winning all the time.

Answer 6

Haha, I thought I was the only one!! I do that too. I root for other countries other than America sometimes.

Answer 7

Count me as another one who says Yes.  I would have totally been rooting for Liu Xiang in the men's 110 meter hurdles if he had been healthy enough to compete.  Seeing the entire audience reaction to that victory would have been magnificent.

I wouldn't confine my overall answer to the question though as pertaining to him alone.

Answer 8

Yes I do, mainly because the American coverage of the Olympic have been horribly biased for years.

And I like to see small countries like Germany, Belarus etc... Take medals because America is 60 times larger, but not more talented.

I do cheer for American athletes but it depends on the athlete no one likes an Ugly American.( I am talking about behavior if someone is not familiar with the phrase)

Answer 9

I did that too.  If my country wasn't in a match/game/event then I picked an athlete to cheer for.  I have to admit a lot of times it was based on the story line the commentators gave as background on the athlete.

Answer 10

I was rooting for any other country because I knew the more medals we won the more of our tax,s would be wasted in the next four years to repeat it.This means more people will be pushed into the poverty trap.

Answer 11

I hail from Australia but I routinely root for the Japanese. Though this year I went more for the Chinese because they had a lot of the favorites and I wanted to see them do well.

In fact while it's great for the Aussies I was kind of disappointed we came up with gold in the men's singles 10m platform. We really didn't deserve to win that event as China only choked on the final dive and Matt Mitchem absolutely jagged his final dive scoring freakishly high points. He did great all competition, but it wasn't really representative of who was the better performer all around.

But that's sports for you. It's all about how turns up on the night.

Answer 12

Not unless I'm familiar with them or get to know them a bit during the Games. Then I might because I admire them or think they deserve to win for one reason or another. I think I wanted a Romanian lady to win an event in gymnastics because I thought she was really good. And she did.

Usually I just watch and appreciate all the athletes, no matter where they're from, and stay open to extraordinary performances. I saw the womens pole vault after the fact, but was in awe of gold medal winner Russia, not silver USA. However I liked silver Canada in mens diving rather than Gold China.

My heart really goes out to really fine athletes who didn't win for one reason or another too; I appreciate their effort and dedication.

Answer 13

Yes.

I rooted for China.

I wanted it to be ahead of the United States in the medal tally.  

Answer 14

Yes, during the tennis tournament of the Bejing Olympics 2008 I supported the spanish player Rafael Nadal, as my home nation the UK where not good enough to qualify for the final

Answer 15

Less rooting for than rooting against.

Answer 16

absolutely not, that's un-patriotic from where I see things, and my country usually had someone in every event.  If it came down to Brazil playing China for basketball then I would root for neither country, as it has absolutely nothing to do with how mine's going to medal.  

Answer 17

It´s all part of being British to root for the underdog.  

Answer 18

Especially countires that had never won a medal