1. Glory won over Greed.
Before the Olympics, the talk in the British press wasn’t so much of athletic glory, but of poor organisation, unnecessary cost and some of the most shameless corporate greed you were likely to find. The ridiculous rules about brands and where or where you couldn’t eat fries; were topped only by the story and subsequent campaign about the tax breaks given to some of the biggest companies in the world whilst our country sat knee dip in a recession. All this negativity, most of it fully justified, disappeared into a wave of national euphoria as over two weeks the United Kingdom finally learned how to live up to its name. Even the corporate bullshit was turned into a positive. Visa saw a record number of cancellations in a two week period, victims not benefactors of the ridiculous rule that no other form of card payment was allowed in the venues. Meanwhile did anyone waste more money than Adidas? Allegedly the official sponsors of the games, the company saw almost every major winner be backed by Nike, not least the mercurial Usain Bolt. Ultimately though, nowhere saw more benefit than London itself. The hangover may well be large, but as people 20 deep lined the streets for the entire Marathon on Sunday, there was a genuine sense that this famous city had been brought together by an event that could so easily have torn it wide open. The organisers didn’t get everything right, but they were given a huge, huge helping hand by the athletes themselves. Showing just what is possible with a committed, genuine investment in sport development, coupled with up to 80,000 screaming home fans cheering your every move, the real story of these games wasn’t McDonalds… or London… or Boris fucking Johnson… it was Team GB. Each and every one of them.
Before the Olympics, the talk in the British press wasn’t so much of athletic glory, but of poor organisation, unnecessary cost and some of the most shameless corporate greed you were likely to find. The ridiculous rules about brands and where or where you couldn’t eat fries; were topped only by the story and subsequent campaign about the tax breaks given to some of the biggest companies in the world whilst our country sat knee dip in a recession. All this negativity, most of it fully justified, disappeared into a wave of national euphoria as over two weeks the United Kingdom finally learned how to live up to its name. Even the corporate bullshit was turned into a positive. Visa saw a record number of cancellations in a two week period, victims not benefactors of the ridiculous rule that no other form of card payment was allowed in the venues. Meanwhile did anyone waste more money than Adidas? Allegedly the official sponsors of the games, the company saw almost every major winner be backed by Nike, not least the mercurial Usain Bolt. Ultimately though, nowhere saw more benefit than London itself. The hangover may well be large, but as people 20 deep lined the streets for the entire Marathon on Sunday, there was a genuine sense that this famous city had been brought together by an event that could so easily have torn it wide open. The organisers didn’t get everything right, but they were given a huge, huge helping hand by the athletes themselves. Showing just what is possible with a committed, genuine investment in sport development, coupled with up to 80,000 screaming home fans cheering your every move, the real story of these games wasn’t McDonalds… or London… or Boris fucking Johnson… it was Team GB. Each and every one of them.
2. It was a triumph for diversity.
Danny Boyle’s opening ceremony was derided in some quarters for portraying an “idyllic,mulit-cultural Britain” where Mixed Race families played together in mutual harmony with White, Black & Asian children. Looking back, Boyle may not have been saying what was actually true, but what was potentially possible. Our list of winners had roots in Somalia, Jamaica, Africa, Australia & Europe – they came from state school, private schools and even home schools. Some had been trained for two decades, others just four years. Women from working class backgrounds won medals, men from billionaire families won medals. In the end it didn’t matter, because the country was proud to call each and every one of them British. People needed some hero’s to get behind and over the past 17 days we have found them in spades. The whole thing needed a catalyst, and that moment was probably the first Saturday, dubbed “super Saturday” – it was Britain’s most successful Olympic 24 hours in over a century. Things had just started to take off anyway, but this was the moment when the whole country suddenly stood up and took notice. Few athletes possess the ability to pull people together in the way that Jessica Ennis did. Here was the face of the games, a pretty, mixed race girl from Yorkshire who only got into athletics when her parents wanted her out of the house for a while. An almost impossibly likeable person, Ennis possesses that rare ability to unite huge swaths of people from different backgrounds. She was a triumph for the working classes… a triumph for hard work and perseverance… a triumph for ethnic diversity… a triumph for the north… and took on the whole world in the hardest individual athletic event for a woman and absolutely wiped the floor with the lot of them. That by the end of the Games her historic achievement was merely a footnote compared to the almost by the day “greatest ever Olympian” debates, merely proved to highlight how far things had come in the 8 days since she crossed the line to tears in a stadium, nay to a country, that had told her she was their girl.
Danny Boyle’s opening ceremony was derided in some quarters for portraying an “idyllic,mulit-cultural Britain” where Mixed Race families played together in mutual harmony with White, Black & Asian children. Looking back, Boyle may not have been saying what was actually true, but what was potentially possible. Our list of winners had roots in Somalia, Jamaica, Africa, Australia & Europe – they came from state school, private schools and even home schools. Some had been trained for two decades, others just four years. Women from working class backgrounds won medals, men from billionaire families won medals. In the end it didn’t matter, because the country was proud to call each and every one of them British. People needed some hero’s to get behind and over the past 17 days we have found them in spades. The whole thing needed a catalyst, and that moment was probably the first Saturday, dubbed “super Saturday” – it was Britain’s most successful Olympic 24 hours in over a century. Things had just started to take off anyway, but this was the moment when the whole country suddenly stood up and took notice. Few athletes possess the ability to pull people together in the way that Jessica Ennis did. Here was the face of the games, a pretty, mixed race girl from Yorkshire who only got into athletics when her parents wanted her out of the house for a while. An almost impossibly likeable person, Ennis possesses that rare ability to unite huge swaths of people from different backgrounds. She was a triumph for the working classes… a triumph for hard work and perseverance… a triumph for ethnic diversity… a triumph for the north… and took on the whole world in the hardest individual athletic event for a woman and absolutely wiped the floor with the lot of them. That by the end of the Games her historic achievement was merely a footnote compared to the almost by the day “greatest ever Olympian” debates, merely proved to highlight how far things had come in the 8 days since she crossed the line to tears in a stadium, nay to a country, that had told her she was their girl.
3. Commentators & Presenters are still rubbish.
It was a good thing that so much excitement was going on in the arenas, because in the BBC studios the “analysis” and commentary continued to do its upmost to drive us all into a murderous rage. Following on from Trevor Nelson’s inexplicably inane attempts to describe the opening ceremony, the likes of Colin Jackson, Gabby Logan, John McEnroe, Jonathan Edwards and John Inverdale all helped devalue the achievements of legends by either talking total shit, or just being really rude. Inverdale was possibly the worst offender, refusing to let drop his belief that sprinters were only successful because they were black and then continuing to pepper a beleaguered Michael Johnson with a series of totally stupid questions about things he clearly couldn’t care less about. Mark Cavendish fared better in the Velodrome, even if he couldn’t quite drop the look of quiet resentment from his face that his own shot at glory had ended in failure. In the gymnastic & diving arena the commentary ranged from excited… to strangely absent… to maddeningly refusing to shut up depending on who was competing. Possibly the worst offenders though were during the Team GB football matches as the usual suspects regularly failed to differentiate which players were Welsh & English and continued to share some sort of strange notion that we could actually win…
It was a good thing that so much excitement was going on in the arenas, because in the BBC studios the “analysis” and commentary continued to do its upmost to drive us all into a murderous rage. Following on from Trevor Nelson’s inexplicably inane attempts to describe the opening ceremony, the likes of Colin Jackson, Gabby Logan, John McEnroe, Jonathan Edwards and John Inverdale all helped devalue the achievements of legends by either talking total shit, or just being really rude. Inverdale was possibly the worst offender, refusing to let drop his belief that sprinters were only successful because they were black and then continuing to pepper a beleaguered Michael Johnson with a series of totally stupid questions about things he clearly couldn’t care less about. Mark Cavendish fared better in the Velodrome, even if he couldn’t quite drop the look of quiet resentment from his face that his own shot at glory had ended in failure. In the gymnastic & diving arena the commentary ranged from excited… to strangely absent… to maddeningly refusing to shut up depending on who was competing. Possibly the worst offenders though were during the Team GB football matches as the usual suspects regularly failed to differentiate which players were Welsh & English and continued to share some sort of strange notion that we could actually win…
4. It’s still great to laugh at others.
It’s not often Britain gets to be great at something, so to sit proudly in the third position in the medal table enabled us not only to fist pump the air on copious occasions, but also to roll around laughing as other, supposedly better countries failed to win as many medals. Yorkshire alone finished the Olympics in a barely believable 13th position. Above the likes of Holland, Ukraine, New Zealand, Brazil & Spain. In the rivers the Great British team trounced the Aussies who came, saw and spectacularly failed to conquer. In the Velodrome, Hoy, Pendleton, Trott & Co destroyed the entire field, but especially the French who feebly whined that bikes made from wheels in their own country must have been illegal. But perhaps special mention has to be made for Russia who won a staggering 82 medals and still managed to consider the games a failure. Tears and protests abounded as they won “mere silvers” in unintentionally hilarious scenes. Of course, being British, we also really like to laugh at ourselves. And so as “Super Saturday” came to a close with six gold medals under our belt, there was still time to switch over and laugh whole heartedly as Team GB crashed out of the football on penalties. It shouldn’t be an Olympic sport anyway. But then if we’re being picky, neither should dressage…
It’s not often Britain gets to be great at something, so to sit proudly in the third position in the medal table enabled us not only to fist pump the air on copious occasions, but also to roll around laughing as other, supposedly better countries failed to win as many medals. Yorkshire alone finished the Olympics in a barely believable 13th position. Above the likes of Holland, Ukraine, New Zealand, Brazil & Spain. In the rivers the Great British team trounced the Aussies who came, saw and spectacularly failed to conquer. In the Velodrome, Hoy, Pendleton, Trott & Co destroyed the entire field, but especially the French who feebly whined that bikes made from wheels in their own country must have been illegal. But perhaps special mention has to be made for Russia who won a staggering 82 medals and still managed to consider the games a failure. Tears and protests abounded as they won “mere silvers” in unintentionally hilarious scenes. Of course, being British, we also really like to laugh at ourselves. And so as “Super Saturday” came to a close with six gold medals under our belt, there was still time to switch over and laugh whole heartedly as Team GB crashed out of the football on penalties. It shouldn’t be an Olympic sport anyway. But then if we’re being picky, neither should dressage…
5. Sports Personality of the Year will never have so much
action.
Jess Ennis must have thought she were a shoe in… as she jogged around the stadium with a Union Jack around her body, nobody could have predicted that by the end of the games she would not only have so, so many contenders for the coveted British award, but that she wouldn’t even be favourite anymore. The cyclist all deserve the plaudits, Hoy was superb, a six time Olympic gold medallist and an incredibly nice bloke to boot. Wiggo won another gold, following on from his brilliant Tour de France victory. And what of Victoria Pendleton? Only a farcical penalty and a harsh disqualification stopped her winning a ridiculous three gold medals. All the cyclists were amazing, but she was SO much faster than her competition it was unreal. Elsewhere the British rowers once again took centre stage and few would deny Jess Grainger the award following her lifelong battle for Olympic gold. Tom Daley’s bronze deserves a mention, a reward for a mesmeric final performance following the sort of storyline normally reserved for Hollywood films. Gemma Gibbons was perhaps the first athlete to bring many people to tears after her brilliant Judo silver and each and every one of our boxing medallists covered themselves in nothing but glory. Meanwhile, an enormous shout out has to go to Ben Ainslie, a complete legend who has won 4 Gold Medals in 4 consecutive games in a sport almost nobody understands but him. But when all the dust had settled, my vote will probably have to go to Mo Farah. To win the 10,000 meters (never before achieved by a British athlete) was something truly special, to win that AND the 5,000 meters was something else. In just an incredible demonstration of distance running, Farah won both races with spot on tactics and final laps of solid gold. He will go down in history as one of the greatest athletes ever, and I was proud to witness him win both events.
Jess Ennis must have thought she were a shoe in… as she jogged around the stadium with a Union Jack around her body, nobody could have predicted that by the end of the games she would not only have so, so many contenders for the coveted British award, but that she wouldn’t even be favourite anymore. The cyclist all deserve the plaudits, Hoy was superb, a six time Olympic gold medallist and an incredibly nice bloke to boot. Wiggo won another gold, following on from his brilliant Tour de France victory. And what of Victoria Pendleton? Only a farcical penalty and a harsh disqualification stopped her winning a ridiculous three gold medals. All the cyclists were amazing, but she was SO much faster than her competition it was unreal. Elsewhere the British rowers once again took centre stage and few would deny Jess Grainger the award following her lifelong battle for Olympic gold. Tom Daley’s bronze deserves a mention, a reward for a mesmeric final performance following the sort of storyline normally reserved for Hollywood films. Gemma Gibbons was perhaps the first athlete to bring many people to tears after her brilliant Judo silver and each and every one of our boxing medallists covered themselves in nothing but glory. Meanwhile, an enormous shout out has to go to Ben Ainslie, a complete legend who has won 4 Gold Medals in 4 consecutive games in a sport almost nobody understands but him. But when all the dust had settled, my vote will probably have to go to Mo Farah. To win the 10,000 meters (never before achieved by a British athlete) was something truly special, to win that AND the 5,000 meters was something else. In just an incredible demonstration of distance running, Farah won both races with spot on tactics and final laps of solid gold. He will go down in history as one of the greatest athletes ever, and I was proud to witness him win both events.
As a final point, I realise I haven’t even mentioned Usain
Bolt. Given he is now without dispute the fastest man that has ever lived, I
would personally like to see him retire from racing against humans in a way not
dissimilar to how Schwarzenegger stopped fighting earth bound creatures during
his mid-80’s heyday. What a wonder if would be if he stepped forward and said:
“for my next trick I will race against a Dingo, a Rhino, an Antelope and a Hare… one day I hope to take on the Cheetah. I’m coming for you Cheetah. I’m warning you. I’ll be back.”
“for my next trick I will race against a Dingo, a Rhino, an Antelope and a Hare… one day I hope to take on the Cheetah. I’m coming for you Cheetah. I’m warning you. I’ll be back.”
Now that’s the Olympic spirit…
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