Parade of Nations

Watching the parade of nations provokes mixed emotions. Him Outdoors reckons things start to get serious from here and he begins to feel the competition – if we didn’t despise the expression so much, we would probably say we were getting to the business end of the contest.

Although I am proud to see him march beneath the New Zealand flag, my heart still feels British. He tells me there are numerous Kiwis and Aussies who are representing Great Britain so I suppose that evens things out.

Some of the lads do the haka, turning round and facing the other competitors. South Africa, used to seeing this and knowing how to respond, push through Portugal, Poland and Qatar (they are lined up in alphabetical order) to front up to the challenge. It is good to see the skinny white blokes putting passion into it.

South Africa sing harmonies as they parade, Canada hand out little flags, Japan wear strange constumes, and France and Italy contest the best-dressed award.

Meanwhile the Great Britain team fly the union flag upside-down which is either a great insult (lese majeste) or an international distress signal. Him Outdoors points out that this isn’t the best look before a race, and no one had even noticed.