warky old chum, its not even to do with our clubs of choice! norwich are in fine fettle but for me, just watching the interviews after each event has made me wake up to the disgusting face of football (no, not luke chadwick). and its not just our own athletes either - anyone who saw felix sanchez would have found it hard not to be emotional. we all know about the dedication involved, though its still hard to comprehend just how difficult those four year cycles are for each and every one of them, but what they put their bodies through and give every single ounce of sweat to achieve their goals is inspiring and anyone who says it isn't needs to be checked for a pulse. they've put football to shame but i very much doubt any of the high profile footballers will have been inspired by any of this themselves - they don't need to be as they'll still be worshipped by their clubs fans regardless and that's a shame.
i was half expecting to see a dwarf thrown over one of the fences! and there's another sport where its professionals could learn a little from the athletics... dwarf throwing, sorry, i mean rugby
Football has become a victim of its own hubris Money has eroded the values of the game to an extent where everything now has its price. Nothing is sacred in football anymore and there is now this huge disconnect between the majority of the players and the fans. Just an aside, I am taking my two boys to a Jason Dozzel soccer training camp over the next couple of days. I hope that my boys will be inspired but even they are getting bored with football and are now looking at cycling and swimming!
One of the most inspirational athletes for me has been Gimilu. Only started training in January and he just missed out on the 100m final. He's only 18 and he was so apologetic. He didn't need to apologise. Also loved the Brownlee brothers and Mo Farah amongst others.
I agree with all of you who hope that the Olympics will encourage people to participate in sport as long as they don't get in my way - am I the first Olympics nimby? I do disagree however with people who suggest that any of these events can become spectator sports in any shape or form once the attraction of the Olympics is over. Yesterday morning I had to house sit an elderly infirm relative and watched the triathlon. The effort put in was wonderful, the end result was brilliant, the reaction of the crowd was special but the event itself - it was like watching paint dry!!! A lot of the more popular sports such as Athletics have, in the past, been shown on TV but have not been watched by sufficient numbers to justify anything other than occasional ' off peak ' slots. Who watches the Tour De France - a handful of devotees tuned in to Channel 626 or wherever it appears. Show Jumping used to get good coverage for a while on BBC but again nobody watched it so it was scaled down. Tennis is only popular during Wimbledon and if the lack of continued participation is down to the British weather how many of the budding cyclists currently dusting down and oiling their long forgotten bikes will venture out when it starts throwing it down with rain and how many speedos will go back in the drawer when the cold mornings arrive. To be brutally honest I will now be glad when the Olympics finish and the Football season starts and I seriously believe that the ' Olympic effect ' will be a distant memory in less than 6 months time. If, however, we end up with Old Trafford and other grounds being half full because everybody is at home watching a triathlon or a hop, skip and jump competition on TV I will be man enough to admit that I was wrong. From a personal point of view the only sports I watch and/or play are football, golf, horse racing and cricket and that will not change.
Sorry to be a pedant again Wonky, but his name is actually Adam Gemili (just in case you were making a banner to take tomorrow!)
That's why it's important for things to be done after the olympics. Also, we are discussing more about participation that watching it. Look at my response to your earlier post.
Olympians have been wonderful. Footballers are overpaid t**sers, apart from the ones that play for Norwich of course. To be serious, at least our wage structure has some semblance of reasonability and is out of step with the rest of the Premier League.
i think you have a very simplistic view of these sports and that's a shame. these sports can become good spectator sports if people are inspired to a) take part and b) go and support. personally, i'd much rather take part in a triathlon than watch it but there will be others who have the opposite view. where you are missing the point is that your view of these sports are to watch on the tv - surely the point is they are there to be participated in and to enjoy being a part of. put down the remote and get your speedos on.
Just coped why I was going to say supers! This 'inspire a generation' goes beyond spectators and even participation. People need p realise that there is more than football. The athletes have shown that to be the best takes pre than talent it requires hard work and effort. This also goes beyond sport. You can't just walk in and expect to be able to be a professional sportsperson. There's more to it than just money.
Spot on wonky, It's not just inspiring in sport, it's inspiring in most things. The one thing I have learnt through this Olympics is how much hard work pays off and that absolutely anyone can do anything if they put in the effort. It's made me think about what I want to do career wise and to actually go for it. It's making people unite as well, a year ago was the London riots, a year later I've heard stories of people hugging strangers on the tube because we have won a Gold medal. The inspiration stretches and touches many different aspects.
I put on a post on a different topic about the financial aftermath of the Olympics. That will be a problem for a few years. The legacy of the Olympics is up for debate. As a 61 year old I run, cycle, swim (badly, synchronised drowning really, so the Brownlees can relax), play golf, football with my grandchildren and exercise most evenings on a fancy dan sit up machine. I have followed sport ever since I could walk and will watch most sports either live on on the box. But there again I'm from a generation when apart from school (yes they had big areas of grass behind them in those days) there was very little organised sport so you had to sort it out for yourself. Thats probably why we were relatively unsuccessful at the Olympics. Now we are relatively, no brilliantly, successful. But when you take a closer look there are motives and reasons. Mo Farah moved his family to Oregon to get the training and coaching that converted him from maybe a finalist into a Gold medal winner is one example. He had the choice and took it. A great many of our Olympians have had that choice and taken it. Of course some do see that as a sacrifice such as leading a purely training existence and not enjoying many of the other pleasures of life. That means to me that we have the talent. And as with any sport, a bit of fine tuning and support and you can produce a champion. We have those individuals who can go the extra yard such as Laura Trott who did what she had to do in the final event of the Omnium. We have nearly all been enthralled by this standard of excellence. And I am sure many youngsters will be inspired to take up one or more of the sports and hopefully get the support of their parents. And they to will get the use of the improved funding and training available. But on the other side of the coin, many of them will fall by the wayside and we will end up with those who really do want to do it. However, I do honestly believe that once the football season starts and X Factor starts again, there will be so many youngsters who have the talent but have never thought to use it, will take the easy option. No 5am starts for training or weekend trips to training camps.
the success at these olympics, especially rowing and cycling, can be put down to success at previous games causing more people, and especially youngsters, who witnessed this success joining clubs and progressing to these games through their enthusiasm and dedication. so if even more sports have this knock on effect then we could be in line for medals in events where we have previously had no success. until these games, for instance, we had never had a female gold in rowing, now we are the top nation.
i think the major new player will be gymnastics. i was in london the other day (sadly not to see the olympics) and there were a host of young girls, aged 8 or 9 on the tube all practising how they will finish their routines, arms out wide, little bows and curtseys to the crowd etc. it was quite cute really
I am 67 years old and overweight - you really do not want to see me in speedos!! I have a simplistic view on most things in life I watched a few episodes of 'soaps ' years ago, didn't enjoy the experience so don't watch them any more. I don't like Supermarkets so don't go in them - but they are there and if other people want to use them rather than independents then they have every right to do so. I like watching football, cricket, horse racing and golf so I do. I like playing golf so I do. I didn't like playing Croquet or bowls so I don't. I have no interest in watching a mass of cyclists riding around France in large groups for a fortnight so I don't watch it. I don't like the stop,stop,start,stop, stop nature of NFL so I don't watch it even though I understand the rules and watched live games whilst working in the States. I have enjoyed some of the atmosphere, effort and GB results in the Olympics but have not particularly enjoyed watching the events themselves. Take away the atmosphere and the one off nature of it being the Olympics in the UK I would have no interest whatsoever. Simplistic? Perhaps but I suspect I am in the majority.
I will still go and watch my beloved Norwich City, it is part of my life after all, but I can't help agreeing with the majority of the veiws on this thread. Football lost it's soul many years ago, Robin Van Persie saying he wants to move to win medals and cups, then demanding £200,000 a week, is typical of the out and out greed, lies and crassness that is now the norm in the game. I see FIFA have now got England 3rd, 3rd in the world rankings, that only goes to prove to me how daft the whole thing is. The problem is our footballers will believe that hype, and probably demand MORE money. The last time our national team won anything was 46 ago!!! We are not that good. Most of our footballers when interviewed struggle to put together 3 or 4 words in a sentence, and then it's mainly cliches that the've heard other people come out with. Our athletes have put them to shame, they have been articulate, humble and proud. FOOTBALL take note!! I've been inspired by the olympics, and I've loved it!! ILD OTBC ILD OTBC
well no offence, but you are not the generation this is aimed at, though i feel you may be in the minority rather than majority, even from that generation - my parents are in there 60s but they are both inspired by it. it's not even my generation, its the young un's who are watching this as maybe their first or second olympics - if they haven't found this inspiring then i'll be amazed. many, many people my age have commented on how they will be trying out new things and getting out and brushing up on what they already do, inspired by this, so i'm sure the youngsters will be even more so.
