Back in the day, knuckle-dragging football fans used to boast about how hard they were.
Nowadays, it's who can claim the moral high ground.
It's progress I suppose.
Johann GutsMuths
A healthy mind in a healthy body
Thursday, 27 September 2012
Thursday, 16 August 2012
Post-Olympic Thought
I'd like to think that first thing Monday morning, all the leaders of governing
bodies of Olympic sports, together with the BOA thought 'How can we improve our
sports performances in Rio?'
Of course it's going to be tough. No home advantage, continued recession in our country putting pressure on budgets for fripperies like sport and the retirement of a (cliche time) 'Golden Generation' of athletes but overcoming the insurmountable is one of the things sport should be about.
One thing we have got going is the enthusiasm, interest and (cliche time again) all round 'legacy' that these Games have left GB with. Ride that wave UK Sport! Both in terms of getting athletes in at the base of your sports pyramid and in securing sponsorship for your sport from companies keen to ride the 'Success Express.'
Of course it's going to be tough. No home advantage, continued recession in our country putting pressure on budgets for fripperies like sport and the retirement of a (cliche time) 'Golden Generation' of athletes but overcoming the insurmountable is one of the things sport should be about.
One thing we have got going is the enthusiasm, interest and (cliche time again) all round 'legacy' that these Games have left GB with. Ride that wave UK Sport! Both in terms of getting athletes in at the base of your sports pyramid and in securing sponsorship for your sport from companies keen to ride the 'Success Express.'
Saturday, 11 August 2012
Olympic Diary
12 August Oh, so Mo Farrah is now apparently Somalian according to the more enlightened of the Twitterati and the Chatrooms. | |
Some people just can't help themselves can
they?
Unless it's a Gold medal, won by a clean-nobbed heterosexual male, displaying Corinthian values that makes Chariots of Fire look like the Hansie Cronjie Guide to Ethics, who can trace his Anglo-Saxon lineage back 10 centuries, then it doesn't count. Oh, and if they do get through that particular Venn Diagram, then it's got to be in a sport that doesn't involve sitting down, because - ho, ho, ho and if I've heard it once I've heard it a thousand times - that's all us Brits are good at. |
11 August | |
We just needed to harness all the things that
make us brilliant.
Our sense of humour, our history our artistic heritage, which all came together in that spell-binding opening ceremony. Then our willingness to volunteer. The 'Gamesmakers' are the unsung heroes of these last couple of weeks. Their sense of humour, warmth and knowledge - which you cannot replicate from a conscripted peon - has been awe-inspiring. Our athletes were always going to respond to a home environment and by and large they have done so If only Bill Sweetenham had been kept on as the Head of Swimming, maybe our swimmers might have put in a shift too. All that and the release of the latent 'we're pretty damn good on the quiet' psyche that is there in the average Briton and there you have the ingredients for a magnificent Olympics. 11 August | |
Lisa Dobriskey has the worst tactical brain of
any UK Athlete I have ever seen, including Tom McKean.
To continue doing the same thing in the hope of a different outcome is the definition of lunacy and the sooner we begin to focus on Laura Weightman (who showed maturity beyond her years at these Games) the better. |
11 August | |||||
The 50 km mince
Larry Grayson would piss it.
|
Wednesday, 25 July 2012
Is London Ready?
This entry is as factual an account as possible of what I did on Tuesday 25th July.
It is written in an attempt to address the negativity there is from some quarters, about the Olympic Games, from their costs, to the degree of disruption Londoners especially will face, to the commercialisation of the Games, to the security blanket under which they operate.
Train into London from the Northern Home Counties. It was delayed in arriving at my station and then delayed on arrival in West London, due apparently to 'debris on overhead power lines'
Cost: £38.60 for two off-peak adult return fares and one-day Travelcards for Central London. Parking cost £6.20 for the day.
Bought a sausage baguette, a vegetable samosa and 2 cups of coffee, take away (oh the high life!)
Cost: £8.10
Travelled across London on the Central Line to Mile End then changed to the District Line to get to Bromley-by-Bow. This was done in about 30 minutes with no delay, seated all the way and for me, rather worryingly uncrowded; I was expecting many more people to be heading out towards the Olympic Park only three days before the opening ceremony
Met up with a Blue Badge Guided Tour around the perimiter of the Olympic facilities. This was pre-booked a day before at http://www.toursof2012sites.com/ and would be my second such tour, the previous one being in May of this year. It represents an opportunity to see, as close as possible within the constraints of the Olympic security programme, the facilities at the Olympic Park.
The tour began with a walk through Three Mills Island and alongside the River Lea, to the south of the Olympic Park. There has clearly been significant re-generation of this area and the guide also explained the level of clearing work that has had to be undertaken in this area to leech out the heavy metals poisoning the soil due to centuries of industrial pollution, before an Olympic brick could be laid. The River Lea had substantial sized fish in (Carp I was told), indicating a level of cleanliness capable of supporting life beyond algae. However, there were also unsightly mounds of Tesco's bags and detritus from picnics around the path of the walk.
Notwithstanding the significant and very visible new-bulid flats and offices, including the cleaning of the art-deco Yardleys bulding on Stratford High Street, there was also a substantial level of less-saloubrious (obviously) social housing on the walk.
There was a visible, but low-key security presence oserveable comprising green-shirted private contractors, Police and Army personnel.
Our tour guide was extremely knowledgeable and engaging about his brief. He was clearly pro-Olympics, however, when asked by a young boy in our party of 15 'why companies who make things that are bad for you, like McDonalds and Coca Cola' he said such questions should be better addressed to the Olympic authority, but pointed out that the tier 1-3 sponsors such as the aforementioned contributed £1bn to the Games, which was £1bn that did not come out of the taxpayers pocket.
He also admitted that Londoners have had to pay c. £300 extra in Council Tax to help put on the Games, but that he, as a Londoner, did not mind this.
Sticking to my brief to remain as factual as possible, I will not give my thoughts on the facilities at The Olympic Park / Village, beyond saying they looked ready from a distance of about 1/2 mile, but were in total security lockdown.
Very visible branding activity, including large coverage of several tower blocks by Adidas and Gillette among others, bit nothing visible, in accordance with the Olympic charter, within the Park facility itself.
Cost of walking tour: £18 for two adults, for c.90 minute tour.
Left Stratford station after listening to much cheering, flag-waving and bonhomie from members of the Mexican team and their supporters with whom many of the crowd at Westfield Shopping Centre were having their pictures taken. Overheard one local resident complaining about TV people making noise at 1.30 in the morning outside her house and that her car parking spaces were taken by media personnel.
Went to Tower Hill tube station and walked across Tower Bridge, along the embankment to London Bridge Station.
Plenty of tourists visable but no more than usual for a sunny day in an attractions-heavy part of the Capital. Ver noticeable clean-up operation taking place on the Bridge itself and in fact throughout the day one was aware of a higher-than-expected volume of litter pickers and cleaners working thoughot the Capital.
Saw the huge Olympic Rings suspended from the overhead walkway on Tower Bridge. Plenty of pictures being taken with this as a backdrop, by tourists of all nations. Also saw the construction of a very impressive outdoor photo exhibition by Tom Stoddart, on the walk to London Bridge.
Lunch of two rolls and two orange juices.
Cost of Lunch: £10 total.
Tube from London Bridge to Westminster. Sat down all the way.
Walked from Westminster Tube up Whitehall with the merest glimpse of the Beach Volleyball arena on Horseguards Parade. Entry was guarded by soldiers from the Rifles, who confirmed they had been given this task over 6 months ago and therefore were not part of the emergency call up of armed forces personnel as a result of the G4S shortfall.
Walked round Trafalgar Square, down Pall Mall, down Picadilly to Hyde Park. Into Hyde Park to see the Serpentine, venue for the Long-Distance Swimming and Triathlon events. Plenty of waterborne craft still on the lake but the towpath on the North of the Serpentine was closed for security reasons. The facility looked ready, to this untutored eye, if somewhat warm and sludgy (read 'unhealthy') for swimming. I hope competitors have had their injections.
Bought ice creams and drinks.
Cost: £7.75
Walked down Knightsbridge to see the window display in Harrods. No Olympic themes there however, in keeping with most of the streets of Central London, bunting, Union Jacks, Olympic and 'Team GB' paraphenalia were very much on display.
Grabbed a beer and a diet coke in a pub in Knightsbridge
Cost: £6.80
Back to Euston on the Underground at 7.00 p.m and was unable to sit on what was a hot and uncomfortable train.
Baguette and orange juice at Euston.
Cost: £5.79
Homeward journey of c.40 minutes with no delays and a seat all the way.
Other than the above itenarary, there was visible security presence of which one was aware all day, especially around the major tourist and government facilities and of course at the Olympic Park. The pink Olympic Venue signage on the Underground and at other transport hubs was excellent and, there appeared to be a high number of people with Olympic Games accreditation throughout the whole of London, not just Stratford, who were enjoying themselves.
I winessed no acts of violence, drunkeness and very little graffiti during the day, however there was one guy openly smoking a joint in Hyde Park, something I have never seen (in public) on any previous visit to London.
Apologies for the very factual nature of this blog - I hope this helps you decide if London is worthy and ready for the self-styled 'Greatest Show on Earth', free from any taint of cheerleading or cynicysm on the Author,s part.
It is written in an attempt to address the negativity there is from some quarters, about the Olympic Games, from their costs, to the degree of disruption Londoners especially will face, to the commercialisation of the Games, to the security blanket under which they operate.
Train into London from the Northern Home Counties. It was delayed in arriving at my station and then delayed on arrival in West London, due apparently to 'debris on overhead power lines'
Cost: £38.60 for two off-peak adult return fares and one-day Travelcards for Central London. Parking cost £6.20 for the day.
Bought a sausage baguette, a vegetable samosa and 2 cups of coffee, take away (oh the high life!)
Cost: £8.10
Travelled across London on the Central Line to Mile End then changed to the District Line to get to Bromley-by-Bow. This was done in about 30 minutes with no delay, seated all the way and for me, rather worryingly uncrowded; I was expecting many more people to be heading out towards the Olympic Park only three days before the opening ceremony
Met up with a Blue Badge Guided Tour around the perimiter of the Olympic facilities. This was pre-booked a day before at http://www.toursof2012sites.com/ and would be my second such tour, the previous one being in May of this year. It represents an opportunity to see, as close as possible within the constraints of the Olympic security programme, the facilities at the Olympic Park.
The tour began with a walk through Three Mills Island and alongside the River Lea, to the south of the Olympic Park. There has clearly been significant re-generation of this area and the guide also explained the level of clearing work that has had to be undertaken in this area to leech out the heavy metals poisoning the soil due to centuries of industrial pollution, before an Olympic brick could be laid. The River Lea had substantial sized fish in (Carp I was told), indicating a level of cleanliness capable of supporting life beyond algae. However, there were also unsightly mounds of Tesco's bags and detritus from picnics around the path of the walk.
Notwithstanding the significant and very visible new-bulid flats and offices, including the cleaning of the art-deco Yardleys bulding on Stratford High Street, there was also a substantial level of less-saloubrious (obviously) social housing on the walk.
There was a visible, but low-key security presence oserveable comprising green-shirted private contractors, Police and Army personnel.
Our tour guide was extremely knowledgeable and engaging about his brief. He was clearly pro-Olympics, however, when asked by a young boy in our party of 15 'why companies who make things that are bad for you, like McDonalds and Coca Cola' he said such questions should be better addressed to the Olympic authority, but pointed out that the tier 1-3 sponsors such as the aforementioned contributed £1bn to the Games, which was £1bn that did not come out of the taxpayers pocket.
He also admitted that Londoners have had to pay c. £300 extra in Council Tax to help put on the Games, but that he, as a Londoner, did not mind this.
Sticking to my brief to remain as factual as possible, I will not give my thoughts on the facilities at The Olympic Park / Village, beyond saying they looked ready from a distance of about 1/2 mile, but were in total security lockdown.
Very visible branding activity, including large coverage of several tower blocks by Adidas and Gillette among others, bit nothing visible, in accordance with the Olympic charter, within the Park facility itself.
Cost of walking tour: £18 for two adults, for c.90 minute tour.
Left Stratford station after listening to much cheering, flag-waving and bonhomie from members of the Mexican team and their supporters with whom many of the crowd at Westfield Shopping Centre were having their pictures taken. Overheard one local resident complaining about TV people making noise at 1.30 in the morning outside her house and that her car parking spaces were taken by media personnel.
Went to Tower Hill tube station and walked across Tower Bridge, along the embankment to London Bridge Station.
Plenty of tourists visable but no more than usual for a sunny day in an attractions-heavy part of the Capital. Ver noticeable clean-up operation taking place on the Bridge itself and in fact throughout the day one was aware of a higher-than-expected volume of litter pickers and cleaners working thoughot the Capital.
Saw the huge Olympic Rings suspended from the overhead walkway on Tower Bridge. Plenty of pictures being taken with this as a backdrop, by tourists of all nations. Also saw the construction of a very impressive outdoor photo exhibition by Tom Stoddart, on the walk to London Bridge.
Lunch of two rolls and two orange juices.
Cost of Lunch: £10 total.
Tube from London Bridge to Westminster. Sat down all the way.
Walked from Westminster Tube up Whitehall with the merest glimpse of the Beach Volleyball arena on Horseguards Parade. Entry was guarded by soldiers from the Rifles, who confirmed they had been given this task over 6 months ago and therefore were not part of the emergency call up of armed forces personnel as a result of the G4S shortfall.
Walked round Trafalgar Square, down Pall Mall, down Picadilly to Hyde Park. Into Hyde Park to see the Serpentine, venue for the Long-Distance Swimming and Triathlon events. Plenty of waterborne craft still on the lake but the towpath on the North of the Serpentine was closed for security reasons. The facility looked ready, to this untutored eye, if somewhat warm and sludgy (read 'unhealthy') for swimming. I hope competitors have had their injections.
Bought ice creams and drinks.
Cost: £7.75
Walked down Knightsbridge to see the window display in Harrods. No Olympic themes there however, in keeping with most of the streets of Central London, bunting, Union Jacks, Olympic and 'Team GB' paraphenalia were very much on display.
Grabbed a beer and a diet coke in a pub in Knightsbridge
Cost: £6.80
Back to Euston on the Underground at 7.00 p.m and was unable to sit on what was a hot and uncomfortable train.
Baguette and orange juice at Euston.
Cost: £5.79
Homeward journey of c.40 minutes with no delays and a seat all the way.
Other than the above itenarary, there was visible security presence of which one was aware all day, especially around the major tourist and government facilities and of course at the Olympic Park. The pink Olympic Venue signage on the Underground and at other transport hubs was excellent and, there appeared to be a high number of people with Olympic Games accreditation throughout the whole of London, not just Stratford, who were enjoying themselves.
I winessed no acts of violence, drunkeness and very little graffiti during the day, however there was one guy openly smoking a joint in Hyde Park, something I have never seen (in public) on any previous visit to London.
Apologies for the very factual nature of this blog - I hope this helps you decide if London is worthy and ready for the self-styled 'Greatest Show on Earth', free from any taint of cheerleading or cynicysm on the Author,s part.
Tuesday, 17 July 2012
Dark Forces at The Olympics!
London 2012 Olympics: American and Australian team buses get lost from Heathrow to Stratford
That's because the bus drivers took them to Stratford ON AVON.It's all part of the Black Ops programme Team GB is running on our opponents. Have Brian Blessed, clad only in his tights, declaiming the Prince of Hamlet's speech to them outside the Royal Shakespeare Theatre, at Krakatoa volumes.
Yeah! Deal with THAT Usain Bolt!!
Sunday, 15 July 2012
Olympic Rowing Preview
The
rowing events at the Olympic Games will be held at Dorney Lake near Windsor, If you are watching the events live, it promises to be a
fiesta like no other, but for many, it will be a case of settling down in front
of the TV, with this preview to provide visionary insights / comedic mis-predictions
(delete as appropriate post-Games, when hindsight is everything).
If
you’re going to bluff your way through the rowing, there a few fundamentals to
understand.
There
are two types of rowing. ‘Sweeping’ where crew members have one blade (note
that ‘blade’ there. Never an ‘oar’, got it?) and ‘Sculling’ where they have
two. Then there are ‘Lightweight’ events, where the average and total weight of
crews must not exceed strict parameters and the stroke-rate (number of strokes
per minute) is much higher than their Heavyweight counterparts. Finally of
course there are Men’s and Women’s events.
Thankfully,
it’s an easy sport to understand. Typically six nations will race each other
over a straight 2,000 metres, in heats, followed by repechages (for the
higher-placed losers in the heats) followed by finals (or by quarter finals and
semi finals in some events) where the medals are decided. There are certain
tactical nuances to races, but by and large, most crews will aim to establish an
early lead and then hang on for grim death.
And
finally, with Tug Of War consigned to Olympic history, Rowing and (stretching a
point), the High Jump are the only events where the competitors travel
backwards to victory!
A
quick look through the runners and riders then for each of the 14 events, with
an emphasis on the British challengers, since Rowing is a sport where ‘Team GB’
can expect a decent medal haul. Performance Director David Tanner has
challenged our oarsmen to better the six medals that saw Great Britain top the
rowing medals table in Beijing and on home water and with excellent funding
from Siemens and the National Lottery, this is a realistic objective.
Men’s Eight (Final: Wednesday 1st August)
The
‘Blue Ribbon’ event of the regatta, in which, up until the final World Cup
event in Munich in June, Britain could reasonably have expected to be on the
podium. However, the British crew well and truly fluffed their lines in
Germany, trailing home third behind Australia and the surprise winners Poland.
This race was without the all-conquering German Eight and would have sent our
crew off to their pre-games camp with plenty to think about, not least the composition
of the crew – they were missing young hotshot Constantine Louloudis in all
three of the World Cup events, due to injury - and the order (who will row in
what position in the boat?) Louloudis is back for London and should add power
but this will be the first regatta at which the full-strength GB Eight will
have rowed together and it’s asking a lot for them to gel quickly. One hopes
their time at camp has seen them generate a rhythm to add to their undoubted strength.
It will still be a huge ‘ask’ to see them overhaul the favourites Germany (in
their fearsome green boat) and the USA and Canada will not be far away either.
Women’s Pair (Final: Wednesday 1st August)
We
may well see history made in this event as Heather Stanning and Helen Glover
are the favourites to become Britain’s first Women’s Olympic Rowing gold
medallists. They have carried all before them this season after just being
pipped for Gold by New Zealand in the World Championships last autumn. They
have come back stronger, worked on their technique under Coach Robin Williams and
have seen off challenges from the USA and then a morale-boosting win over their
nemesis, New Zealand in Munich. Both the latter crews will be competitive and
Romania always throw in at least one ‘where did they come from?’ performance –
but this is GB’s to lose.
Women’s Quadruple Sculls (Final: Wednesday 1st August).
Four
women, each using two blades, remember? The Quad is the most beautiful boat to
watch when everything is in harmony. Power? Yes, for sure – you’re nothing
without the miles on the ergo through the winter to build strength, but the
precision and ‘swing’ of a perfectly honed Quad is the stuff better men then me
write poetry about. The GB Quad have been borderline competitive this season,
but injury has meant a shuffling of the line up and whilst Fran Houghton and
Debbie Flood survive from the crew that won silver in Beijing, a similar result
in London would be a huge achievement. This should develop into a shootout
between Ukraine and Germany.
Men’s Double Sculls (Final: Thursday 2nd August).
After
a surprise second place in the first World Cup regatta in Belgrade, GB’s Bill
Lucas and Sam Townsend have subsequently been put in their place at Lucerne (6th)
and in Munich where they went ‘eyeballs out’ holding second place through 1500
metres before fading into fourth behind Norway, New Zealand and Germany. One
would be putting a lot of faith in the enervating power of home water to see
them holding on and bettering this position at Dorney. Watch out for the bow rower
in the Norwegian boat. Long hair and a celebration style more over the top than
the First World War, if they grab a medal!
Men’s Lightweight Four (Final: Thursday 2nd August).
The
first Lightweight final and a noticeable difference in technique. What
lightweights lack in raw strength, they make up for in a higher stroke rate
than their heavyweight counterparts. It’ll look like threshing machine, will be
desperately close but GB go into this with real hopes of a Gold. Our crew of
the Chambers brothers, Chris Bartley and Rob Williams produced a flawless
performance in Munich, winning by over two seconds, which is an eternity in
Lightweight rowing. Denmark and Australia will challenge hard and China are
very much a live but largely unknown quantity however Britain should fear no
one.
Women’s Eight (Final: Thursday 2nd August).
A
bronze medal in last year’s World Championship set a marker for the GB Eight in
2012 and they’ve been just around that level in the key international regattas
this season. The Dutch have been disappointing so it’s a question of how to
find speed to get in amongst the powerhouses of Canada, USA and Romania? Stroke
Victoria Thornley has switched from the Women’s Quad back to sweep rowing and
this is an experienced boat, boasting Olympic silver medallist Annabel Vernon
and a host of Beijing Olympians. A boat then that home advantage can propel to
the medal podium. The talent is there.
Men’s Single Sculls (Final: Friday 3rd August)
If Ulsterman
Alan Campbell can pace his race correctly, he can come away with something
shiny. It’s asking a lot for him to beat Mahe Drysdale (NZ) and Ondrej Synek
(CZK). Olaf Tufte (NOR) is a fearsome Olympian, who does very little between
Games but is always at concert-pitch for the ‘big un’ whilst Marcel Hacker
(GER) won impressively in Munich. There is also a dark horse in the shape of
Cuban Angel Rodriguez in what promises to be one of the most competitive events
at Dorney as well as one of the most compelling. Six athletes, on their own,
with no one to rely on, blame or share the brickbats and plaudits with.
Competitive sport at its rawest and not to be missed!
Men’s Pair (Final: Friday 3rd August)
If
New Zealand don’t win this, it will be the biggest surprise since the Captain
of the Titanic said ‘What iceberg?’ In such an eventuality Hamish Bond and Eric
Murray will be forced to row back home themselves. Utterly dominant throughout
the four year Olympiad, they have forced Great Britain’s Andy Triggs-Hodge and
Pete Reed back into the GB Four – and the British pair were their closest
rivals at last year’s World Championships. At Dorney, GB will be represented by
the youth of George Nash and Will Satch. They will give a good account of
themselves but if it’s anything other than New Zealand first, fresh air second
it will be one of the shocks of the regatta. Scrub that; the whole Olympics.
Men’s Quadruple Sculls (Final: Friday 3rd August)
The
Leander Club threesome of Matt Wells, Tom Solesbury and Stephen Rowbotham are
joined by Reading University’s Charles Cousins, but they face probably the
toughest challenge of all the GB crews. After failing to make the Final in the
World Championships last season, our Quad has once again been found wanting for
speed against the likes of Croatia, Germany, Australia and Italy and Estonia and
it is unrealistic to expect a wholesale reversal of fortunes in London.
Women’s Double Sculls (Final: Friday 3rd August)
This
could be another one of the stories of the Games. Thirty Six year old Katherine
Grainger has won a silver medal in the last three Olympics, the last of these
in heartbreaking fashion in Beijing when the Quad was overhauled by the Chinese
crew within sight of the finish. This time around, she is in the Double with
Anna Watkins and they go to the Games as favourites, following their unbeaten
record this season. The biggest barrier to this piece of British Olympic
history could be a piece of Australian Olympic history as Kim Crow will attempt
to win two Golds, here, with her partner Brooke Pratley and in the Single Sculls, a schedule which
will guarantee Ms Crow a minimum of six races over eight days. It should be the
first of two GB vs. Australia showdowns (more of which next) with Poland in the
medal mix too.
Men’s Four (Final: Saturday 4th August)
Likely
to be the second great GB vs. Australia clash (with all respect to Greece,
Germany and Belarus), with great storylines abounding if either of these
countries win. Britain have made the Four their number one boat, changing last
year’s World Championship winning crew to accommodate Pete Reed and Andy
Triggs-Hodge, chastened after their year as a Pair perpetually following home
the mighty New Zealanders. The GB coach Jurgen Grobeler has overseen a crew to
victory at every Games since 1972 and will not expect that sequence to end at
Dorney. Given the priority this boat has received in the GB hierarchy, coming
second is not an option, however there is a very real chance of this since the
Brits will be facing an Australian Four containing Drew Ginn. This phenomenal
athlete will be aiming for his fourth Olympic Gold (he’s also posted world
class performances as a cycling time trialist in 2010, when he took a year away
from the water.) His crew beat the GB Four in Munich in June, where their
superior technique trumped the raw power of Reed, Triggs-Hodge, Alex Gregory
and Tom James. For many, this will be THE event of the 2012 Olympic regatta.
Men’s Lightweight Double
Sculls (Final: Saturday 4th August)
Reigning
Olympic Champions Zac Purchase and Mark Hunter are set to defend their title on
home water and their Championship-winning pedigree puts them in with a chance
of achieving this; however it has been a far from smooth journey this season.
After winning the World Championships last September, any thoughts of the
Olympics being a rubber-stamping exercise were dashed by heavy defeats in the
Lucerne and Munich World Cup events this season. The Britain’s have the
know-how and desire to turn things around but sharks, in the shape of New
Zealand, France, Italy and Denmark, smell blood.
Women’s Single Sculls (Final: Saturday 4th August)
From
a partisan perspective, time to put your feet up and enjoy a brew or something
stronger, as GB have not qualified a boat for this event. Ekatarina Karsten
from Belarus turned 40 in June and will go off favourite to add a further
Olympic gold to the two she already has, following an eight year hiatus which
saw her take silver in 2004 and bronze in 2008. Another heroic story beckons
therefore but Kim Crow of Australia (see earlier), Xiuyun Zhang (China) and Emma Twigg (New
Zealand) will be out to ruin the Belarus party. If we are to claim an
‘athlete-by-proxy’ for GB then Mirka Knapkova of the Czech Republic spent much
of 2010 and 2011 training in Henley and won the Princess Royal Challenge
Cup at the Henley Regatta in both these years – as British as Fish and Chips
then! She should be competitive at Dorney.
Women’s Lightweight
Double Sculls (Final: Saturday 4th August)
Following
their bronze in the World Championships last year, Hester Goodsell retired and
crewmate Sophie Hosking has teamed up with new partner Kat Copeland. An
encouraging second place in the opening World Cup event in Belgrade was
followed by more sobering fifth and fourth places at Lucerne and Munich. It
would be foolish to put a line through them for a medal at London, but China,
New Zealand, Denmark and Greece hold stronger claims based on their
performances this season.
None
of the athletes highlighted in this preview are millionaires. None will kiss
the Union Jack on the winner’s podium then demand a pay rise the next day. None
will fall out of a nightclub, drunk, on the arms of a pneumatic starlet /
thick-as-mince hunk, and be splashed all over the Fleet Street redtops.
They
are, by and large, approachable, utterly dedicated, possess an ‘off the scale’
level of fitness and will put on a hell of a show in a little piece of
Buckinghamshire in these next few weeks.
Wednesday, 11 July 2012
More 'over the top' than World War One
MELBOURNE could host a homecoming parade for champion racehorse Black Caviar.
The Baillieu Government is in talks with management of the mighty mare about
throwing a welcome home party through city streets.The event could be staged in as little as two weeks once Black Caviar, who landed back in Melbourne today, clears quarantine
And the Aussies had the nerve to rib us about giving Paul Collingwood an OBE for one appearance in the 2005 Ashes series!
Imagine what they'll do for a real sporting superstar like Drew Ginn.
Spontaneously combust I imagine
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