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. 10 August    Dressage: The quintessential Olympic sport. No one for love nor money has a clue what's going on. A bunch of horsey types from a world more closed than the Magic Circle get a bunch of Lippizaners to do back flips, then suddenly the crowd (and country) goes bananas as we've won another Gold medal. Never mind the quality, just savour the quantity! Then 30 minutes later a black lass from Inner City Leeds smashes a Chinese to pulp in the boxing and we win another one, a juxtaposition that has me curiously teary-eyed. 9 August Wonder if Saudi Arabia are pleased to be represented by a a woman coming last by miles in her 800m heat, but wearing full head-to-toe cover - or has honour been preserved?  7 August Of course injuries happen. It's how you deal with them medically and then managing the public (i.e tax / lottery payers) understanding of the implications of this injury that count. Phillips Idowu has set himself up in direct conflict with UK Athletics and the whole (as I read it) 'Team GB' ethos they have attempted to build in the lead up to the games. He's been cut slack, since he's a proven performer in big competitions (and you cannot deny this). However, by giving it the big 'I am' he's given himself no wriggle room. If he knows best then great - now go and perform, forget who said what - just get it right on the big day. Idowu thought he knew best, went it alone (was still saying how great he was this time last week), spurned a well-oiled and funded medical and PR regime on what now looks like a misguided ego-trip and, ultimately, did not perform when it mattered most. Will he eat humble pie - or get another piercing? 6 August Rich Fellers is competing for America in the Show Jumping and Stambelova has fallen in the 400m hurdles. Well I thought it was funny. 4 August I don't doubt our swimmers have trained hard, but when I see the likes of Alan Campbell, Mark Hunter and George Nash puking their rings out after burying themselves in their rowing finals, then comparing them with our swimmers telling Sharron Davies how pleased they were with fifth place, seconds after leaving the pool, I wonder....? 3rd August Cheers Adrian Moorhouse and Andy Jameson. Rebecca Adlington and Lotte Friis. The only two women in the world to finish 3rd and 5th in a two horse race. 3 August Rightly, there's been a lot of attention today to our Women's Double in the Rowing, most of it centred on Kath Grainger Both women are fantastic athletes and if you are dumb enough to look to sports stars for role models, well they're that too. However, Katherine has been the heart and soul of British Women's rowing for a generation now and that plus her three Olympic silvers was always going to make her the centre of any Gold medal story. I'm just pleased and proud there was a story to write. Would love Sophie Hosking and Kat Copeland to do some damage in the LW Sculls tomorrow and really put GB Women's rowing on the map.  1 August Big 'if' but if the Rowers do well at these games, we should secure some serious funding for the sport for the next four years. One hopes Siemens stay on board too as a major corporate sponsor. I'd like to see a huge talent recruitment drive in the inner cities. Massive generalisation and stereotyping coming up but take some of those 6ft plus basketballers and do some basic morphology and somatoptype testing and put them into clubs like London, Molesey, Tideway Scullers etc and Lea in the East End. Okay, it's a pipedream at present but you'd have to hope that something like this is on GB Rowing's agenda. Look at someone like Mo Sbihi, the big Muslim guy in the middle of the British Eight. He was a basketball player before World Class Start talent spotting got hold of him - look at what he's achieved. 29 July Re Tom Daley getting abuse on Twitter I'm of the view, that the kind of individual who uses that internet as a dojo would pose very little threat in the real world. Leaving the house would be a problem for most and if any of them did make it as far as my door I would force them to speak to a female. Job done. 29 July Went to the Rowing today Park and ride from Maidenhead to Windsor Racecourse, then a 40 minute walk to Dorney and our seats. Superbly organised. Took our own food and drank plenty of water beforehand so can't comment on price / ease of getting food other than to say if you didn't like it then you should have done it yourself as we did. Atmosphere fantastic. Gamesmakers very professional as you would expect from British volunteers. Knew the basics - where things were, how to get there etc - and were pleasant and welcoming. Before and between races there was plenty to see on the multiplicity of big screens. GB Rowing also had a 'come and try' tent with ergos for kids to have a go on. I hope they were taking names and adresses for a follow up direct mail / e-mail campaign, or at least giving out promotional literature to anyone interested. Seats were all sold, crowd were loud and sporting - after the Brit wins, the biggest cheer was for the single sculler from Niger who trailed in 2 minutes after everyone else. He was interviewed later and admitted he'd only taken the sport up 3 months ago. Got one of the biggest cheers of the day. A fantastic day out and great to be able to be part of our Olympics  28 July If you are watching on TV, turn off the commentary and (wait for it) turn on Alan Green, Martin Cross and James Cracknell on the radio. Dan Topiolski and Garry Herbert are absolute dogshit. They simply get even basic facts wrong. For God's sake DO NOT BET ON ANYTHING THEY SAY IN COMMENTARY. Seriously - they are that bad! Otherwise, Murray and Bond were just awesome  in the Mens Pair. A World Best time - put your house on them to win, but Our boys Nash and Satch are right in the mix for even silver now (and I had them as possible bronzes before the regatta). Our Mens Eight will come on for another race in the repechage. Silver I reckon - the Germans are too classy but America are show-ponies. They were sucking wind at the end of their heat. Our Women's Pair were so smooth and got us off to a flyer, Nothing's ever nailed on but.... Our Women's quad are out - ruined by injuries basically. The rest were as expected pretty much Tomorrow I'll be there and it's like the eve of Cheltenham for me now! 28 July In 2008, China chose a girl to sing at the Olympic opening ceremony. Then told her that she wasn't pretty enough to be seen, and had another girl mime. In 2012, British ignored the convention of choosing legendary Olympians or statesman, and let some kids do it. Never should a nation be more proud