COVER -> RECOMMENDED DAILY REQUIREMENT
LAST OLYMPIC GAMES - KEVIN CAREY describes his first and last Olympic Games.
Although it pains me to admit it, in much the same way as I am forced to admit a liking for certain pieces by Berlioz, I enjoyed the Olympic Games.
Regulars will recall that I set out for Australia quite accidentally coinciding with the Sydney Games. As I said, I had never been interested in feats of physical strength or prowess --- which only goes to show how little I knew about Olympic sport.
What caught my fancy above all were the long cycling, running and walking races where an individual would suddenly break from the leading pack forcing the rest to decide how far to collaborate and how far to compete in reining in the precocious front-runner. As each race of this kind came closer to its conclusion the collaborate/compete tension became ever greater so that, for instance, in the Men's Marathon the lead might well have changed inside Stadium Australia but for some minor tactical miscalculations just outside it.
 |
At last, here was a shining example, beamed all over the world, of the public sector out-performing the private sector.
Some of the niceness was, to put it mildly, challenged -- in the contemporary sense of the word -- by the Australian tendency to apply military metaphors to sporting matters. There definitely was a "War" in the pool and on the track between Australia and the United States which, using medals per capita, the Australians clearly won handsomely although, on that basis, the Bahamas was at the top of the table.
As a lifelong butt of Australian ribaldry because of England's poor cricketing record, I first learned to endure and am now a connoisseur of the science of sledging (intimidating insult) and can only comfort American sensitivity by saying that the world's great athletic superpower was let off lightly. I suspect this is because the Sydney Games finally convinced Australia that it neither needs to emulate or envy the United States. It may (strewth) gain enough self-confidence to be gracious.
| WIN ROD AMIS'S MONEY!!!
IS THERE ANYTHING BETTER THAN FREE BENJAMINS IN YOUR POCKET? You tell us.
With the holiday spending season looming big-time, wouldn't it be nice if you could spend our publisher's money instead of your own? Well, just click-through to our special Sweepstakes Page and find out how easy that can be, Dreamer. Do it now |
You only have to look at the weight of the boxers, the height of the basketball players and the strength of the weight lifters.
What I had not appreciated, however, was the extent to which amateurism has disappeared. There were many athletes who play for professional sports outfits and individual track and field stars are almost all in full time training. This rather crude erosion of the Olympic ideal might have been obscured by the general level of good sportsmanship and the ubiquitous ambience of well being which good organisation, good humour and generally fine weather generated --- but I doubt it will survive the smog and muddle of Athens.
I think this will be my first and last Olympic immersion.
This week's Poll: Playing the Stock Market is...?
RDR RECOMMENDED SITE OF THE DAY: WE know... You don't care where you meet the lady, right? You'd even consider Jail Babes, Slacker!
