With athletes or swimmers or gymnasts and so on, it is a matter of focus. We see it time and again that someone who performs brilliantly in the World or European Championships can "bomb" in the Olympics. Some guys look terrific in their National trials but come the Olympics perform terribly (re USA 110m hurdlers) And then there are the never-ending injuries and I am thinking of Greg Rutherford here going into the Olympics.
Now that he has achieved greatness, Usain Bolt will no doubt be knighted and maybe turned into a living saint by the Vatican. Who else do we think is going to get knighted. Certainly Mo Farah, one or two of the cyclists, Team GB manager. PS: Are Kenyans eligible for the knight of the realm?
There has been rumblings about how GB has done so well....a spokesman from our Olympic committee replied that we aim to peak in Olympic years with less emphasis on other events during the 4 year cycle I know this is only one solitary example, but Aaron Clark was dropped for 2012, despite being world number one, because he left the National Centre for Taekwondo. He fell apart in his opening bout and lost when he should have won. Perhaps he would have done better to stick within the organisation with all the support it gives. All successful athletes have talked of the massive background support....perhaps the day of the brilliant loner is, if not over, in decline.
Made a big mistake when we started handing out knighthoods when multi-Olympians were rare. Such honours should have been conferred after retirement if the athlete also involved himself/herself in charity work or training/education of future sportsmen and women. Going to be too many now....therefore less of an honour.
Bolt is sure to follow in the wake of Sir Viv Richards as having inspired a generation of youngsters.
Someone wrote a letter to newspaper asking if team GB could represent us in the next Eurovision song contest
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/olympics/37085511 Interesting comparison between China and GB. Ignoring that, there is a table near the end of the spread of our medals. Interestingly, gymnastics are second only behind cycling for medals won (7 v 12). That is a fantastic achievement. Our gold medals are in 14 sports with our nearest rivals the USA having golds in 9 sports.
"The Great One"?????? No, he was running for Jamaica mate. Calling Gatlin that is too bonkers, even for you!
Daley did well in prelims, but may go out in semi-finals as it is all going wrong. Amazing how it can differ from day to day....needs to be in top 12 and is currently 18th. Cho has gone through in taekwondo and we have one girl in leading pack in biathlon.
Nicola looked entirely different when she was serious during the National Anthem....made me realise I had never seen her without a big smile. Also good to see Muhammad has come to terms with missing out on gold in taekwondo....what a pleasant, well spoken man.
