Have Big Macs ruined Russian sports?

Posted By Photo: Nashi.su Wednesday, March 10, 2010 - 2:58 PM Share

At FP, we've been following Russia's soul-searching  following its subpar Olympic performance. This has included the sacking the country's sports minister and the admission by Prime Minsiter Vladimir Putin that funds may have been misspent. 

But, as RFE reports, a group of young nationalist activists sees a different (American, naturally) culprit: 

On March 3, a handful of activists from Zdravmol, a youth organization and a joint project of the Federal Agency for Youth Policy and the obstreperous youth movement Nashi, gathered in front of a Moscow McDonald’s and chanted: “Thank you, McDonald’s, for our 11th ranking.” They were venting their anger at one of Russia’s poorest medal tallies ever at a Winter Olympics – only three golds at the Vancouver games.

Zdravmol was founded in December 2009 with the aim of raising awareness of health matters among young people. Flash mobs are among its favorite tactics.

This time, they were not frightening smokers on the street but reenacting the Winter Games dressed as obese Olympians, within a stone’s throw of the Olympic sports complex. The site was aptly chosen, although they had to postpone their picketing and revamp their posters as Russia slid ever further down the medals table.

I don't suppose it occured to these folks that Americans and Canadians eat an awful lot of McDonalds too. We even have commercials  promising us that chicken nuggets are the path to Olympic glory.

Check out Nashi's site for a write-up of the protest (in Russian) and more pictures. 

 
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MR. BOOTS

11:29 AM ET

March 11, 2010

Get us some facts

Your defensive comment that we Americans and Canadians are bombarded by fast food advertising, too, does not tell us in any meaningful way how many star athletes actually choose to engage in that sort of diet. It can't be many or, at least, they would more than likely choose to do so only on rare occasions. These are not high schoolers bused from one school to another for an event and stopping at the highway rest stop for convenience or fast food chain restaurant because 'that's what kids like.' Coaches worth their merit know nutrition as well as how to play the sport. In other words, these are not typical Americans you speak of.
It is also worth noting that it has been shown in many countries new to the typical Western diet high in calories, carbohydrates and saturated fat that, after adopting these food choices, their populations do succumb to the subsequent Western diseases. And, those who stay true to their traditional diets do not. The youth here in Russia, then, do have a valid point when targeting McDonalds as an example of a possible culprit in the lessening of standards for their athletes.
If there is one thing Americans should not have nationalistic pride for it is our lack of value for the food we raise, grow and eat (but rarely cook or prepare).

 

SPOOD

4:16 PM ET

March 11, 2010

And a traditional Russian diet is healthy?!??!?

"It is also worth noting that it has been shown in many countries new to the typical Western diet high in calories, carbohydrates and saturated fat that, after adopting these food choices, their populations do succumb to the subsequent Western diseases. And, those who stay true to their traditional diets do not."

We are talking about the country which invented vodka, whose cuisine was heavy enough to stop German invaders in their tracks and is known for putting sour cream on everything.

Have you seen old Russian women! Decades of black bread, fatty sausages, smoked meats, carbs and loads of refined dairy are pretty deadly in of themselves.

 

NORBOOSE

6:24 PM ET

March 11, 2010

Boots...are you joking? I

Boots...are you joking? I cant believe someone here actually takes those naive russian kids seriously. If you come at this from a neutral perspective, which seems more likely A: American based fast food companies somehow ruined russia's athletes, or B: A host of reasons ranging from a corrupt management structure to bad luck? That should not even be a question. Those kids are the lowest order of nationalists, plain and simple. Their homeland is never ever wrong about anything.

Maybe you just using the article as an excuse to bring up the whole "dark side of cultural globalization," which appears to be a point of interest for you. I generally disagree with anti-globalizationists, but some have very real solid arguments, which I respect. Seriously, if thats the case, you picked the wrong example.

 

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