Another day; another medal haul, and this time New Zealand have been invited to the party. Bevan Docherty and Nick Willis claiming bronze in the triathlon and 1,500m respectively were fantastic . It was great to see Docherty bounding onto the podium to celebrate - it's not all about gold, although that would be nice, obviously.
Team GB's dominance at the velodrome continues to such an extent that I read a blog questioning whether we are too good at cycling. What? Do the Aussies ever worry that they are too good at cricket? Do the Scandinavians fret about their dominance of Nordic skiing? Do the Americans get perturbed about their invasion of countries who have democratically elected Communist leaders? There's only one thing to be said - 'On yer bike'!
The problem with success is that you come to expect it. So, it was slightly disappointing that neither the mighty Bradley Wiggins and Mark Cavendish, nor the sensational Hayden Roulston and Greg Henderson managed to sparkle in the Madison. But what an incredible event this is! The BBC live updates on-line covered it in their usual inimitable style. Their descriptions of it included the following: - The duck billed platypus of the sporting world
- Looks like something out of Ben Hur
- An athletic contest in which participants 'go queer' in their heads, and strain their powers until their faces become hideous with the tortures that rack them, is not sport. It is brutality.
- Who invented this sport? Jackson Pollock?
- The only thing that would make the Madison madder would be to give the participants swords
- The Madison will probably become a West End stage show - as long as Lloyd Webber doesn't have the final choice of riders, or music...
Wow! All those medals; all those records; what a fantastic weekend!
I have great respect for all the athletes who are rowing, riding, sailing and swimming their way to the Olympic podium and to all of those who oh-so-nearly made it. Missing out by one hundredth of a second must be heartbreaking, and if our screams at the television set could help, you know you would have made it, by a fingertip or a bow-ball.
Team GB is looking unstoppable on the track, and it’s fabulous to see all that effort reaping rewards. Britian is currently placed third in the medals table which is actually undreamt of in living memory (if you can have memorable dreams – this is certainly one). I heard one commentator remark that all the other countries must feel like gatecrashers at a private party. But Hayden Roulston had a flier – I hope that was good for heart.
My friend remarked glumly at the beginning of the weekend that I should expect a lot of fourths from New Zealand. I’m sure she is more than happy to be proved wrong by the new Kiwi golden girls in rowing and shot-put to hold a candle to Sarah Ulmer from previous Olympic outings.
And I have to admit I was cheering my heart out for Mahe Drysdale and am so glad he held on to a medal, even if it wasn’t the colour he wanted. I’m even more pleased that he managed to give such a terrific interview, minutes after collapsing, and not blaming his illness as the interviewer so wanted him to, and just remarking that, “I pushed myself to the limit and probably beyond. I'm proud and I guess for peace of mind I knew there's nothing more I could have done. That's a great feeling to know that.”
So huge bouquets to all of the athletes involved, but once again, brickbats to TVNZ who cut away from the rowing as it was still happening to show repeats of the race we had just watched. I know NZ had won its first gold medal and they were very proud of the Evers-Swindell twins, and rightly so. It was a fantastic race with one of the closest finishes between the top three likely to be seen on the water.
But there were other events still taking place. Up until last week NZ were still interested in the men’s coxless four. Now that they have not got a boat in it, the TV coverage decided not to feature it. This is simply pathetic and an example of the parochial arrogance and lack of sportsmanship, usually reserved for rugby ‘supporters’, that tarnishes their reputation amongst sports fans overseas. Most Kiwis are not like this at all, so I wish the media would stop enforcing this image! Are they really so scared of the dreaded four?
Meanwhile, Team GB won the gold in the coxless four, in case anyone in New Zealand cares. Go you good things. Thank God for the Internet and the BBC.
Another day; another medal haul, and this time New Zealand have been invited to the party. Bevan Docherty and Nick Willis claiming bronze in the triathlon and 1,500m respectively were fantastic . It was great to see Docherty bounding onto the podium to celebrate - it's not all about gold, although that would be nice, obviously.
The problem with success is that you come to expect it. So, it was slightly disappointing that neither the mighty Bradley Wiggins and Mark Cavendish, nor the sensational Hayden Roulston and Greg Henderson managed to sparkle in the Madison. But what an incredible event this is! The BBC live updates on-line covered it in their usual inimitable style. Their descriptions of it included the following: 
