Blog

The Olympics that is. The last event, the men’s marathon was spoiled by some nutter running onto the track and pushing the leader into a barrier. I’m sure it’s the same idiot that ran onto a grand prix track last year (Silverstone?). Don’t think it affected the outcome as the guy was tiring but to think you’ve spent four years training for someone to do that. Fool.

Highlights have to be Kelly Holmes, Matthew Pincent and Amir Kahn. The 1500m was superb and to top the night off the shock of the men 4x100m – I thought the Americans had snatched it but 1/100th of a second is all that matters. Pity about the boxing but the kid (17!!) did really well to get to the final. These have been great games with something to watch almost every day – previous Olympics have always got off to a slow start or had dull days but not this time. Roll on Beijing.

Watching the Olympics tonight showed the difference winning and losing can make. Kelly Holmes in the 800m was magnificent, and the shock on her face will probably be all over the front pages tomorrow. That she only decided to run this race last week was surely a bluff, no?

Contrast her win with Paula Radcliffe last night. At first I felt she had let herself down in the way she had ‘given up’. In hindsight that was harsh – the conditions were tougher than I had realised. I would have struggled to walk never mind run a mile in that heat. To see her still upset today and admitting she was baffled as to her loss of form shows just how difficult it is for her to even understand what she went through. I thought last night it was an odd time to run a marathon as I always remembered from previous games that it took place in the early morning. It’s no surprise to read today that it’s believed the run was held in the late afternoon for American TV. I guess we’ll never know how different the outcome would have been if it had started 10 hours earlier.

The performances by GB in the Olympics over the last 3 days have been superb. Highlight had to be the coxless fours yesterday morning. Not only was the race good to watch, but seeing Pincent crying on the podium brought home how much effort these guys put in and what it means to them. The cyclists have also been good to watch and the sailors have done well although I’ve had more fun watching Rangers in Europe than trying to sit through a sailing competition. It makes snooker almost watchable.

Hopefully more success today for Paula Radcliffe in what will be a tough race in the early evening heat.