Gun-toting Olympians forced to leave London early, banned from social media

Two Austrailian Olympic swimmers visited a gun range in California, took pictures of themselvs posing with a few weapons, and were banned from participating in the Olympic games because of it. ...WTF?

They did nothing illegal. They were just average guys wanting to send a few rounds down range on there visit and are now threatened to have their careers taken away from them. What a joke.

The Australian swim duo who posed with guns at a California shooting range and posted the photo to Facebook will be forced to leave the Olympics after the swimming competition ends on the second Sunday of the Summer Games. Nick D'Arcy and Kenrick Monk are also banned from using social media for a month-long period beginning July 16 as part of the punishment stemming from the controversial photograph.

...the only problem I have with the picture is the guys have their fingers on the triggers. Get those fingers off boys!

Seriously, what the hell's the matter with what they did? This world is over policing itself, but that's no suprise to us.

Linkedy Stinkedy

I don't believe they are banned from participating. They just don't get the chance to hang around afterwards and enjoy themselves. They are coming home as soon as they've finished competing.

Either way it is simply ridiculous. It was a massive media beat up (as always) which forced the hand of the sporting body.

I think a major difference is the love for guns isn't as prominent here so it was made a big deal of.

Also, the media here love nothing more than hassling sports people.

Had they been posing in Camo next to an Aussie M1 tank with Steyrs in an ad for the army they would have been praised for helping the military to indoctrinate young men to send them os to die.

This is pure stupidity!

P

The Poms are just scared of us convicts coming back with guns!

Reparations for sending our forefathers out here in chains!

That's messed up. See what happens when you post on Facebook? Why do people use their real names online? Much less how do you get banned from using social media?

Well, organizations don't like negative publicity from it's members. I wonder if it was Australia, England, or the Olympic committee that decided this?

reply to post by becomingaware


There was a Previous Thread about this event.

I don't think your title is accurate. They were not "gun-toting." You make it sound as if they had guns in London and the Olympic people forced them to leave. It was actually their own country and own officials mad at them for something they did legally while in the US.

Stupid story, stupid officials, but then again the US came down hard on a guy with 14 gold medals for something he did on his own time, in the off-season, so we don't really have any right to criticize.

Basically, governments and nanny-state laws are stupid. Let these guys enjoy themselves as long as they don't hurt anybody, break the rules, or ruin their own performances.

The same sort of thing would happen if an American Olympian would take photos of them smoking weed in the Netherlands.

Originally posted by RealSpoke
The same sort of thing would happen if an American Olympian would take photos of them smoking weed in the Netherlands.

Yep.

Equally stupid though. That is what got Michael Phelps in trouble, except he was actually breaking the law by doing it in the US, but still pretty stupid.

The two young men need no introduction to stupidity. D'Arcy was involved in a brawl on the night the 2008 Australian Olympic team was announced and broke the jaw, nose, eye socket and cheekbone of a teammate. He was kicked off the team but avoided jail for the incident.

The lawyer of the man he punched was surprisingly surprised at D'Arcy's current brush with infamy. "I can't believe it," Sam Macedone told The Age. "Despite all the criticism, he still does things that are stupid."

Monk broke his elbow last September and blamed it on a hit-and-run driver. Four days after filing a police report, he confessed that he had actually fallen off his skateboard. Police didn't charge Monk, calling him a "wannabe B-grade celebrity athlete." (Police in Australia sound sort of awesome.)

"It was all just meant to be a bit of fun, the photos were just a bit of fun," D'Arcy told reporters upon his return to Australia on Friday. "If anyone's been offended I deeply apologize. It was never the intent, it was never supposed to be offensive."

There are reports that the Australian Olympic Committee could keep both swimmers off the team for the "foolish" action that was "clearly inappropriate for members of the 2012 Australian Olympic team."

These guys are idiots... I don't know how D'Arcy is still even on the team... I would have removed that guy permanently, so fast it would have made Michael Phelps jealous.

Being that this is an international competition, and these individuals are there to represent the best of their country... it doesn't look very good to the public to see these teammates in another country holding weapons. Think about it...

What do you think the 2012 US Olympic Committee would say if 2 athletes from the US decided to go over to China and take some pictures of them holding guns, and then the athletes promoting the pictures on their Facebook.

I'd say they(Australian Olympic Committee) made the correct choice... these guys are foolish, is that what you'd want representing your country? Not me...

reply to post by FractalChaos13242017

These guys are idiots... I don't know how D'Arcy is still even on the team... I would have removed that guy permanently, so fast it would have made Michael Phelps jealous.

Being that this is an international competition, and these individuals are there to represent the best of their country... it doesn't look very good to the public to see these teammates in another country holding weapons. Think about it...

First off, they are athletes. They are on the team to make the team as good as it can possibly be. If they are removed from the team it only hurts the team and the sport as a whole. It lowers the level of competition. They are supposed to perform at the events, and in my opinion it makes no difference what they do outside that performance. I don't care if they fly them in from a penitentiary. I want to see the best athletes Australia has to offer against the best athletes the rest of the world has to offer.

Secondly, what does holding a gun have to do with the looking good to the public or the teammates? They were out shooting homeless people or robbing convenience stores. They were in a store. Doing a very common thing for all Americans, while they were in America.

Be interesting to see the olympic shooting team posing in the a similar scenario with guns and all.
would they be subject to the same criticism.?
Yes they have guns in the olympic games ,and spears and steel balls on a chain . After all the games are based on family friendly violence,pursuit and ways of escaping .

Originally posted by getreadyalready
reply to post by FractalChaos13242017

 

These guys are idiots... I don't know how D'Arcy is still even on the team... I would have removed that guy permanently, so fast it would have made Michael Phelps jealous.

Being that this is an international competition, and these individuals are there to represent the best of their country... it doesn't look very good to the public to see these teammates in another country holding weapons. Think about it...

First off, they are athletes. They are on the team to make the team as good as it can possibly be. If they are removed from the team it only hurts the team and the sport as a whole. It lowers the level of competition. They are supposed to perform at the events, and in my opinion it makes no difference what they do outside that performance. I don't care if they fly them in from a penitentiary. I want to see the best athletes Australia has to offer against the best athletes the rest of the world has to offer.

Secondly, what does holding a gun have to do with the looking good to the public or the teammates? They were out shooting homeless people or robbing convenience stores. They were in a store. Doing a very common thing for all Americans, while they were in America.

First off, to compete in the Olympics, this day and age... you ARE MUCH MORE THAN AN ATHLETE. You are a public figure, a role model, the best of the best in all sorts of areas... not just performance on the field. No matter what you say to try and defend otherwise is inaccurate. There's much more than just 'sporting events'... it even originally consisted of Religious Sacrifices and such... Should it be about the events... yes, but it also has much to do with the individuals that participate and their lives, they are often seen as a reflection of the country in which they represent.

It DOES make a difference what these people do in their 'off-time'... many of these competitors have a very small window of time in which they are able to compete(physically and mentally). Call it a self sacrifice, but that's what is to be expected and demanded out of these individuals. Just because an individual may appear to be the best in the world at something, it doesn't mean that they should be in the position to perform on a world stage as a representative of a country. simple really....

Secondly, what does holding a gun have to do with the looking good to the public or the teammates? They were out shooting homeless people or robbing convenience stores. They were in a store. Doing a very common thing for all Americans, while they were in America.

What is so difficult to understand about public perception? A majority of all money spent in every market is in regards to public perception... c'mon! This is about appearance, sacrifice, and skill... if you wanted to be thought of as the greatest athlete in the world in a particular sport, these are exactly what needs to be considered. Performance comes and goes, these guys are 'legends' in their own rites. Consider it a 'rite of passage' or whatever, it is what it is, it always has been since the creation of the Olympics and still is today.

If I have to explain what holding a gun in another country has to do with looking good to the public, especially in regards to the Olympics... I worry, seriously. This should be easily understood, at this time I will pull my 'escapist' card, and let you figure this one out on your own.

They can go to America, after the games, and enjoy themselves all they want... for now, they are supposed to be dedicated to a team that represents a country. That's it... if you don't agree with the sacrifices necessary to fit all aspects of what it means to participate in the Olympics... well then don't try out lol.

This is not little league, High School, College, or the Pro's.... this is the Olympics, it's a different level... there are different rules of engagement, it's just how it goes.

reply to post by becomingaware


The crazy Liberal Euro's hate guns. They prefer their public weak and subdued.. I'm not really surprised by this action.

Perhaps they will keep there Facebook profiles private from now on lol

reply to post by getreadyalready


That's the headline of the article. Just following the t&'c's my friend.

reply to post by becomingaware


This thread should be closed as your title is deliberately misleading.

The Australian swimmers were photographed posing with guns in California - they were nowhere near London and they were banned from the Olympics by the Australian Olympic Committee - nothing to do with the UK at all.

And how can someone be forced to leave if they've never actually been there?

But typically we get the whinging about 'The Poms' and the typical odd American whining on about European so called 'paranoia' about guns - sorry, so wide of the mark this time guys because it's neither.

reply to post by Freeborn


Wtf? What the hell is going on with you guys. That's the headline of the article!!!

I even said in my opening post they were at a gun range in California. For Christ sakes, read the article and the post better.

...I hate posting on ATS anymore because this always happens. I post an article that pisses me off, then some people come in and attack me for posting correctly according to the guidelines of ATS.

reply to post by becomingaware


Actually the title of the article you linked to says

Australian Olympic swimmers criticized for Facebook gun photo

Like I said, they never even got to the UK so how can they be forced to leave?

And read the posts in your thread and I think you'll see exactly who the comments about 'whinging Poms' and 'paranoid Europeans' were aimed at and why.

reply to post by Freeborn


Well I'll be damned. I swear I copy and pasted the headline that they provided earlier. ...maybe they changed it?

I posted this because Im an avid gun enthusiast. It struck a nerve with me, since they weren't do anything illegal why is it any of their committees business?

I really didn't mean to hyper inflate the story. The story itself is weird enough

...ahh, here's the original link. ...not sure how I did that. Link I meant to post