The music has stopped in London and I feel the ones who will be left without a chair are the tax paying public of Britain!
It’s a sporting extravaganza bar none but I often think that there is too much money wasted on the Olympics although the basic premise of the Games is sound if not a little outdated.
I enjoy the Games but I look at elite sport through rose coloured glasses nowadays. Anything that requires strength or speed leaves me thinking there is something more to elite athletic performance than meets the eye and I feel we are not seeing the best “natural” performances possible. But that is just me. I know millions around the world enjoy the Games and don’t have nearly as pessimistic view on these things as I do. And that is okay.
The Olympic Games at it’s best is where all different nations and cultures can come together and mingle and enjoy the best that each particular entity has to offer, free of politics and dissension. What other event in Britain can any Argentinian team get a cheer at?
It’s seems the British really got into the spirit of competition and for the most part there were incredible crowds and enthusiasm across the board at every event imaginable. The British have spent massive amounts of money on sport in the last decade and it has paid off with a third place finish on the medal tally behind the sporting behemonths of the United States and China.
It was often said of Australian sporting teams of the 20th century that they played so hard because of a self-conciousness and a desire to prove our place in the world by defeating larger nations, particulary the English.
I think we have gone far beyond that in Australia now but it still rankles to get ribbed by the Brits and Kiwis if things don’t go as well as we or they think it might. It perhaps says something about the way sport has been treated in Australia and our conduct overseas amongst our Anglo Saxon kin-folk that such a reaction is forthcoming when we lose or don’t reach the heights we expect.
I think Australia did quite well at these Olympics and finishing 10th on the medal table and seventh overall in medals won is probably a good indication of where we stand amongst the world sporting elite. I don’t think there is any need to spend more money on sport in this country, perhaps just a review of the way that money is spent and how our sporting systems operate.
I think the way the British public have reacted to their sporting success is interesting. It seems a wave of nationalism has swept through the United Kingdom and there is much rejoicing about the efforts of their team and good luck to them. Since World War 2, British self confidence has taken a battering. From being the leading power in the world they have fallen behind the United States and China and even in Europe, Germany is regarded as being leader and I think the Brits have often wondered about their place in the world, their glorious past a bitter memory.
At the Olympics they have shown they can lead again and the “Great” is still in Great Britain. Let’s hope they can now address the more pressing problems facing their little island.
So, in four years the circus will take place again Rio de Janeiro. It will be interesting to see how Brazil manages an Olympic Games and the face they will show to the world. A South American Olympic Games? Bring it on!
It’s a sporting extravaganza bar none but I often think that there is too much money wasted on the Olympics although the basic premise of the Games is sound if not a little outdated.
I enjoy the Games but I look at elite sport through rose coloured glasses nowadays. Anything that requires strength or speed leaves me thinking there is something more to elite athletic performance than meets the eye and I feel we are not seeing the best “natural” performances possible. But that is just me. I know millions around the world enjoy the Games and don’t have nearly as pessimistic view on these things as I do. And that is okay.
The Olympic Games at it’s best is where all different nations and cultures can come together and mingle and enjoy the best that each particular entity has to offer, free of politics and dissension. What other event in Britain can any Argentinian team get a cheer at?
It’s seems the British really got into the spirit of competition and for the most part there were incredible crowds and enthusiasm across the board at every event imaginable. The British have spent massive amounts of money on sport in the last decade and it has paid off with a third place finish on the medal tally behind the sporting behemonths of the United States and China.
It was often said of Australian sporting teams of the 20th century that they played so hard because of a self-conciousness and a desire to prove our place in the world by defeating larger nations, particulary the English.
I think we have gone far beyond that in Australia now but it still rankles to get ribbed by the Brits and Kiwis if things don’t go as well as we or they think it might. It perhaps says something about the way sport has been treated in Australia and our conduct overseas amongst our Anglo Saxon kin-folk that such a reaction is forthcoming when we lose or don’t reach the heights we expect.
I think Australia did quite well at these Olympics and finishing 10th on the medal table and seventh overall in medals won is probably a good indication of where we stand amongst the world sporting elite. I don’t think there is any need to spend more money on sport in this country, perhaps just a review of the way that money is spent and how our sporting systems operate.
I think the way the British public have reacted to their sporting success is interesting. It seems a wave of nationalism has swept through the United Kingdom and there is much rejoicing about the efforts of their team and good luck to them. Since World War 2, British self confidence has taken a battering. From being the leading power in the world they have fallen behind the United States and China and even in Europe, Germany is regarded as being leader and I think the Brits have often wondered about their place in the world, their glorious past a bitter memory.
At the Olympics they have shown they can lead again and the “Great” is still in Great Britain. Let’s hope they can now address the more pressing problems facing their little island.
So, in four years the circus will take place again Rio de Janeiro. It will be interesting to see how Brazil manages an Olympic Games and the face they will show to the world. A South American Olympic Games? Bring it on!
Strange Notations From a Laborious Life 