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Saturday May 18, 2013

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Bogut: Concentrate on your events and not fighting each other

Posted by: Ellen Feely | 26 July, 2012 - 10:43 AM
Andrew Bogut Beijing

NBA superstar and Boomer Andrew Bogut has called on the Australian team to focus their energy towards beating their opponents, rather than creating tension within the ranks.

Speaking with Neil Mitchell, the injured basketballer said he hopes the Australian team puts as much fight into competing against other countries as they have given to fighting each other.

"All these issues, to me a lot of them are non-issues that can be discussed after the Olympics,” Bogut said. “Why bring them up now and create tension amongst the ranks? You've got to see some of these athletes in the village that you're competing against. It's just not good for team morale.”

”You put that energy towards beating the USA, or Russia or China, I think it'll be better suited.”

Bogut’s calls come after sprinters John Steffensen and Josh Ross criticised officials after they failed to make selection for individual events.

”I believe I have the potential right now to make a semi-final or an Olympic final in the form that I’m in,” Josh Ross said.

Image

Sprinter Josh Ross complains to the Australian media in London after not being included in individual track events. (Photo: Pat Scala)

Chef de Mission Nick Green has called on the Australian team to stop whinging and concentrate on competing.

” My suggestion would be that you get into the village, you put your head down and your bum up and you just concentrate on your job, and that is to run and compete for this country,” he said.

Andrew Bogut said he believed some of the stirs caused by Australian athletes recently, such as shooters Russell and Lauren Mark’s complaints that they would not be sharing a room in the athlete’s village, and beach volleyballer Natalie Cook’s off-the-cuff threat to boycott the Opening Ceremony should a female not be chosen to be the Australian flag bearer, were examples of smaller sports trying to attract media attention.

”A lot of us wouldn’t' really know who his (Russel Mark) wife was leading into the Olympics, but now we all do,” he said.

”Here we are talking about sleeping pills and rooming with my wife...When's it going to end?”

Andrew Bogut has attended two Olympic Games, but will miss London after breaking his ankle in January.

LISTEN: Andrew Bogut speaks with Neil Mitchell:

Blog comments Your Say

  • I agree Kathy - it would be wonderful if Australia lost every event and came home with no medals. Unfortunately they would use that as an excuse to waste even more taxpayers money on Olympic training. You just can't win against the sports-mad ignorant Australian public.

    Peter Hillster Friday 27 July, 2012 - 7:09 AM

  • North Korean state television has confirmed that the country's leader Kim Jong-un is married to a woman named Ri Sol-ju.

    I imagine she signs her credit card statemetns RSol, kind of a catchy name for some reason.

    Pieter van Wessem Thursday 26 July, 2012 - 5:09 PM

  • Well the games are in London the home of the whinning poms. As the old saying goes "When in Rome do as the Romans do"

    Ben Thursday 26 July, 2012 - 3:53 PM

  • This Olympic squad will go down in history and being the biggest pack of sooks. They have brought shame on Australia.

    Lisa Thursday 26 July, 2012 - 3:30 PM

  • I am sick and tired of the whinning Australian Olympic team. I hope the Aussies now get flogged in every single event as they do not deserve our support any longer.

    Kathy Thursday 26 July, 2012 - 2:54 PM

  • Anyone else want to point to the elephant in the room?
    Memo to Messrs Ross & Steffensen, just because you are indigenous or part thereof, doesn't give you a mortgage on an individual spot in your chosen event and playing the race card and generally sooking does not endear you to the Australian public. You in particular Steffensen, with your petulant display the other day by missing the team photograph, should take a big spoonful of cement and harden up.
    You do yourselves no favours and in the bigger picture, crap like this does nothing to enhance the great social engineering project we call'reconciliation'. At least being indigenous will ensure your punishment, (if you even get one), is a mere slap on the wrist.
    As for Russel Mark, I'm sure you will get to sleep with your missus again mate, just concentrate on shooting clay discs and Natalie, Germaine Greer you aint so just play volleyball. Effectively, you have all applied the blowtorch to yourselves and have only increased the pressure and expectation to perform and win medals.Of course, if you fail you will all say your preparations were torpedoed by external distractions, one's that you yourselves orchestrated!!!

    Sinbad Thursday 26 July, 2012 - 2:16 PM

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