Olympic Reflections 2012

Well at last those games are over and with them the joys of extreme patriotism. Early in the games you may have noticed that Great Britain amassed four gold medals. Analysis revealed

that they were all for ‘sitting down’ sports, namely: cycling, rowing, canoeing, sailing and the like. It looked as though Britain were going to continue in the fashion they set in the previous Olympics. In workmanlike spirit the British athletes set out, once more, to prove that the British are very good at sitting down. They succeeded and also proved that they are also good at doing other things whilst sitting down. It is rumoured that the British are currently the best sitters down in the world. This is not true, there are many small nations particularly in the Pacific region who are equally or even more adept at sitting down. To these nations I say, develop this potential and become Olympic champions. Your nation will gain enormously from the kudos and public relations.

When Great Britain had amassed 14 gold medals we were to notice that only eleven could be placed into the ‘sitting’ or ‘standing still’ categories. In fact, one medal was gained for excellence in one of the most athletically demanding pursuits: none other than the woman’s heptathlon. This event demands the highest level of fitness and ability for each athlete is required to perform well in seven different disciplines. After they have run fast, thrown great weights, jumped enormous heights and distances they ending with an endurance race over 800 metres. All the events are completed within 36 hours. Clearly, this level of excellence should not be achieved by a nation devoted to sitting down. The woman, who did this, is a freak and her existence offends me. How can I possibly defend my sitting down theory with girls like this around? She should be exported to a nation more in keeping with her character. Perhaps, Australia, America or New Zealand would like her.

This year, European nations gained an abundance of cycling medals. Is this a reflection on the state of the European economy; is it the case that most Europeans can no longer afford to own a car?

When Princess Anne represented Britain in European, World and the Olympics in the 1970’s

we felt that it might not be quite right. As a young princess, she would have been placed on high quality horses at a very young age and would, indeed, have benefited from her position of privilege and wealth. I now notice that HRH Prince Abdullah Al Said could have benefited in a somewhat similar manner. Is this fair? Nations with no royalty have less opportunity to attain excellence in such sports. I am not against royalty competing; after all, in years gone by they competed on a scale that rewarded them with lands and nations. I just feel that they should compete against each other on a level playing field. Perhaps we can create a “Royal Games’ with apt, specialist events such as ‘Clay Tiger Shooting ‘and ‘Fox Hunting’’. To create some controversy, ‘Royal Waving’ and ‘Salute acceptance’, would lend themselves for subjective scoring: with points for artistic impression and the like.

Once again many Olympic medal winners lived up to their names. Namely: Usain BOLT (100& 200 metres), Mohamed faster and FARAH (5000 & 10000 metres), Anna CHICHEROVA (The graceful High Jumper), Victoria PEDLETONS (Cyclist), DONG DONG(Trampoline), Kyung Seon WHANG (Taekwondo), MARINA Alabau Neira (Sailing), ROSONNAGH MacLennan (Trampoline) and Nadzeya OstapCHUK (Shot-put). I was disappointed, however, to find no PING PONG in the table tennis. Some, however, had deserted their true calling, namely: Kristen ARMSTRONG (Cycling), Laura TROTT who was on a bicycle not a horse and Make DRYSDALE got wet rowing. It was of interest to note that Nam Dae SONG will not be entering the Eurovision Song Contest. All were Gold Medallists.

 

The Olympics games medal chart shows that Dominica, Grenada and the Bahamas gained more medals per capita than all other competing nations. Jamaica was fourth. America and China, who thought they had won, both got fewer medals than Europe. The factor that the Caribbean nations’ medals have in common is that they were attained in relatively cheap sports for which scholarships are available in the universities of nearby wealthy nations. Perhaps there is a lesson here.