Oddy: The Gold and medal haul continues. Just bombs me out. Great that Ron knows the show jumpers personally, wow I bet he and his family were jumping all over the place! Our cyclists and gymnasts are are just bloody amazing too. Christine ran her heart out too and really deserved her Silver yesterday. Berlin probably more successful than Munich in this respect; the playing area of the Olympia Stadium here was just too far away for the fans, and so they built this Allianz Arena. Not until after a city referendum was called however. Remember I voted against it at that time as there were just too many people desperately looking for somewhere to live, the housing situation being so serious here then. I felt that the money could be better spent. Turns out I was quite wrong, and the good folk here correctly approved the project, and the housing position has improved a lot. The son of one extremely well-known person here did land in the slammer after completion, due to a bit of the old corruption. Work was completed on time (3-years) however, and I have to say the Allianz Arena is a great success; a near perfect football stadium. Every single game played there since it opened for business, be it Bayern or not, seems to be a sellout crowd of 66,000.
On another note i wouldnt want to meet any of the woman "athlete" shot putters on a dark night....the Belarus "girl" that won i would particulary like to avoid!
Three great performances on the track tonight... 1.Kirani James.... fantastic performance to win so decisively. Has the scope to break Johnson's world record. 2. Zaripova.... You won't see a better exhibition of jumping to win the steeplechase. She made all; jumped like a stag; gained at every jump; and then she stayed on strongly to win going away. Any National Hunt fan should watch the race...a real delight! 3. Sanchez...You just don't run in an Olympic 400 metre hurdle final at 22 yrs old; win it at 26; and then come back 8 years later at 34 and win it in the same time as 8 years ago. Yet that's just what Sanchez did! For me, the most meritorious achievement at London 2012. Fantastic!
Another fantastic day for Team GB yesterday Prize for the best name for his horse must go to Nick Skelton for Big Star!! PS - I see the large island in the antipodes have finally got another gold Ah well that will keep their media at bay for a couple of days!
The big island has another coming up in the sailing. On Wednesday the 49er pair of Nathan Outteridge and Iain Jensen only have to face the starter to win gold. We have hope for Sally Pearson in the 100m hurdles.
This is a bit low......... Seen on the BBC live text stream Ben London, via text on 81111: "Huge double standards from the IOC. Some athletes sent home for not trying whilst the entire Australian team are allowed to stay!"
Sorry Cyc but now you know how we Brits felt at some previous Olympics I guess some of the athletes are working out how to get home without facing the press pack at the main airports down under I read in a very interesting book that in the 1908 games (held in London) Australia and New Zealand were represented by a single delegation under the name Australasia
That's really interesting stuff Jana. I didn't know that NZ and Aust competed as a single unit. I just had a look and found that in1908 and 1912 we were the one team. In 08 the Kiwis had just the 3 competitors. Thanks for the info.
The book has lots of interesting facts! Got it last Tuesday when I went to Olympic park - thought it would be a nice momento
It looks as though tanking has raised it's ugly head again at the games. After the Badminton fiasco where the world looked on in stunned surprise at the blatant non performances of the teams involved, the finger is now being pointed in the direction of the Spanish basketball team. Before the game, the Spanish media hinted that a loss in the game would be in the best interests of the team. A loss would see the team avoid a clash with the mighty USA team in the semis. After leading 79 - 61 with 6 minutes to play, they went down by 6 points at the game's end. In that last 6 minutes, Brazil outscored Spain 21 points to 9. Of course the team denies tanking the game, but serious doubts are being raised.
Cyc: Just reinforces my personal opinion that the modern-day Olympics are top-heavy? A bit of culling is necessary. For example, surely we see enough football and tennis? Even though GB finally got a gold in the latter, I do not reckon it's an Olympic sport. Understand a lot of the tennis players this time did stay at the Olympic village; nice of them! Have my doubts about ping-pong too...
I suppose the more seed they throw about mate, the chooks they'll attract. There will always be something for somebody to watch, and once they start talking in the billions when they discuss viewer numbers, the more they can charge when the rights go up for grabs. Gotta remember, it's the greatest show on Earth they're selling.
How come there were no darts, bowls and snooker; we're pretty good at those. Given that there is football, is there not cricket? Is there anything else the Chinese and Americans aren't good at
The 2 Brownlee brothers get a double medal with older brother Alistair, gold, beating younger brother Jonny who got bronze... I have a mate who's brother competes at the triathlon and the training is just incredible what he has do to ensure a good standard let alone whats needed to win an Olpympic medal... Just another day at the office for Team GB... They have now equalled the Gold Medal haul from Beijing, so we must beat that with still half the week left... Bring it on...
On a day off today. Went on the Emirates Air line cable car - if you get the chance do it the views of London are fantastic! Top - if you have a PAYG Oyster card you get 25% off the fare More GB gold fingers crossed for more later on!
God, now the Dressage, of all things! Could hardly bear to watch the very last bit by that amazing horse and brilliant young rider. Powww............
No sweat there, Oddy, there was a quiet horse whisper in Damon's ear beforehand.................... please log in to view this image
