Hello world,
As I said in my last post I absolutely loved the Olympics & really miss it now. To try & keep the feeling going I thought I'd do a round up of my favourite bits. And wowzers was this tough to do. I really found it hard to whittle down all the amazing moments down to a top 10. So I cheated, and subtly smuggled loads more moments in under the guise of general chit chat!
Disclaimer: This is going to be British heavy, I'm sorry but it's really hard to not be biased in your top moments, but fear not other countries are mentioned!
1. When a Man is Tired of London He is Tired of Life
I'm not going to lie, I've been bashing pretty hard on the Olympics ever since the handover in Beijing. It was sooo cringe. Compared to the Chinese extravagance we seemed so amateur. We showed up with a bus & Leona Lewis & generally just farced around. Also, in the last year I have been told that as a Londoner I would not be allowed to use my car, public transport, or even walk around the area I live. Top top it off I didn't get any tickets (despite applying for £800 worth). So by the time it rolled around I was wishing that I had booked holiday so I could abandon the country.
But the day before it was due to start my feelings changed, and this was all to do with a little bit of fire. On the final day my friends dad got to carry the flame. I knew I had go and see this, as it's a part of history.When I got off the tube at Bank very early in the morning I was taken back by the number of people who had turned up to watch the relay, and overwhelmed with the cheers he received (his not being a celeb).
But the day before it was due to start my feelings changed, and this was all to do with a little bit of fire. On the final day my friends dad got to carry the flame. I knew I had go and see this, as it's a part of history.When I got off the tube at Bank very early in the morning I was taken back by the number of people who had turned up to watch the relay, and overwhelmed with the cheers he received (his not being a celeb).
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| Well done Mr S! |
Then came the opening ceremony. And it was mental. Starting off with actual farmyard animals in the stadium, followed by the red arrows, apple tossing, Isambard Kingdom Brunel, the words of Shakespeare, the Queen skydiving with Bond, The Child Catcher, good old J.K., thousands of volunteer dancers, an NHS tribute, great music, Tim Berners-Lee, honouring new upcoming athletes, an awesome cauldron, and of course Mr Bean. What else could we have wanted? I loved it. It felt unique and British & in those few hours (no that's a lie, it lasted forever, just like the results section of Eurovision) I became a fan of the Olympics, found my British pride, and fell back in love with London!
And then the games started and my love for the city only intensified. The venues for the events were all wonderful and really showed London off. I especially loved the use of Horse Guards Parade, Greenwich Park, and the route chosen for cycling time trial. London really is a beautiful city.
And then all too soon came the closing ceremony. I did not like this as much as the opening ceremony but it was good fun. Although who on earth did Emeli Sande sleep with to get 3 spots, when the Spice Girls only got 2 and Take That only 1? But Boris' dancing was the clear highlight. It seemed like great fun, and I loved the handover to Brazil! Also wasn't it nice that they thanked us for helping them put on the show with fireworks & lights etc (*cough cough Beijing I'm looking at you). It was a great ending to a great games, and I can't wait to see what the party city of Rio has to offer in four years time!
2. Super Saturday
This was a day when everything just went right for Team GB. We raked in a grand total of 6 gold medals and even smashed a world record. It all started at Eton Dorney with the men's coxless four team and women's lightweight double skulls with solid victories, followed by the women's team storming to success in the Velodrome. It all seemed too be going our way, but then the evening came and with it athletics. Let's face it we've never been a country to dominate in this particular area, so even though 2 of our golden stars were competing, I refused to get too excitied. But the golds just kept coming, in spectacular fashion. Who could ever forget Mo Farah running for his life to victory in the 1000m.
And Jessica Ennis somehow managed to look stunning whilst competing in her own mini Olympics of events, and secured her vicory in the 800m run. And we can't forget the relatively unknown Greg Rutherford flying through the air to claim his own Gold in the long jump.
What a great day, one for the history books. Oh and yeah some chap named Bolt cruised through his first 100m heat, but who was watching that?
All these victories helped us secure our place as 3rd in the medal table. And what is easy to forget is we are quite a small, broke country full of increasingly fat lazy people (don't hate on me, it's sad but true). This got me thinking about countries success (number of gold medals) relative to population, and the results are really interesting. In first place is Grenada, 2nd is Bahamas, and 3rd is New Zealand. The USA is in 28th and China is 47th. Great Britain lies in 10th place, which I think is still impressive out of a total 204 countries. And what happens if you compare the number of medals to prosperity, purchasing factor or per capita income? I'm not going to do this, but it is something to think about! Who do you think the true winner is?
And Jessica Ennis somehow managed to look stunning whilst competing in her own mini Olympics of events, and secured her vicory in the 800m run. And we can't forget the relatively unknown Greg Rutherford flying through the air to claim his own Gold in the long jump.
What a great day, one for the history books. Oh and yeah some chap named Bolt cruised through his first 100m heat, but who was watching that?
All these victories helped us secure our place as 3rd in the medal table. And what is easy to forget is we are quite a small, broke country full of increasingly fat lazy people (don't hate on me, it's sad but true). This got me thinking about countries success (number of gold medals) relative to population, and the results are really interesting. In first place is Grenada, 2nd is Bahamas, and 3rd is New Zealand. The USA is in 28th and China is 47th. Great Britain lies in 10th place, which I think is still impressive out of a total 204 countries. And what happens if you compare the number of medals to prosperity, purchasing factor or per capita income? I'm not going to do this, but it is something to think about! Who do you think the true winner is?
3. Family Ties
When you watch these athletic events you always think of the struggle & journey the athletes go through. I always think the unsung heroes are the families. They have to watch their loved ones go through years of struggle & devotion and then they have to go thrugh hell watching the actual competition take place. I found it too tense to watch certain events (the bloody beam in gymnastics had me panic eating mountains of cake), so just imagine what the loved ones must go through? So my next pick for top moments are the little bits where we saw the families reactions to their loved ones victories. There were loads of these moments caught on camera, but the one that best showed the agony the athletes put their loved ones through is Chris Hoy's mum!
The sweetest moment was when Mo Farah & his daughter found each other after his victory in the 1000m.
The Brownless brother competing & yet supporting each other in the men's triathlon was absolutely extraordinary to me, and I was so happy they both got medals. What a proud mummy they must have!
But the stand out moment for me is Bert Le Clos's reaction to his son's victory over Phelphs in the men's 200m Butterfly final.
The pride he has in his son's achievement is truly hearwarming, and perfectly shows the human side of sport.
The sweetest moment was when Mo Farah & his daughter found each other after his victory in the 1000m.
The Brownless brother competing & yet supporting each other in the men's triathlon was absolutely extraordinary to me, and I was so happy they both got medals. What a proud mummy they must have!
But the stand out moment for me is Bert Le Clos's reaction to his son's victory over Phelphs in the men's 200m Butterfly final.
The pride he has in his son's achievement is truly hearwarming, and perfectly shows the human side of sport.
4. It is in victory, not defeat, that a man's character is truly tested
So, we've covered how wonderful families were, now to focus on the athletes themselves. In a day and age where it's becoming increasingly acceptible to be competitive & selfish, it was very refreshing to see not only graciousness in defeat but humility in victory. This was most evident to me in the swiming, where after every race participants congratulated each other no matter which position they came in.
Ok, ok there was also alot of show-boating, but this is not what I will remember in years to come. I will remmeber Phelps guiding Le Clos around the pool and showing him how/where to pose, in spite being disapointed in his loss. I'll remember Usain Bolt & Mo Farah honouring each others accomplishments by swapping their trademark poses.
Ok, ok there was also alot of show-boating, but this is not what I will remember in years to come. I will remmeber Phelps guiding Le Clos around the pool and showing him how/where to pose, in spite being disapointed in his loss. I'll remember Usain Bolt & Mo Farah honouring each others accomplishments by swapping their trademark poses.
But greatest of all these moments for me was when Kirani James swapped name badges with Oscar Pistorious (blade runner) after winning his 400m heat. This will no doubt go down in history, and is a great example of sportsmanship comradery and respect.
5. Celebrate & Rejoice
So, I've harped on about the importance of being humble, so obviously my next favorite moment are the best victory celebrations.
Some of my favourites were Andy Murray winning, climbing up to find his girlfriend & mum, and on his way down hugging a random little boy. I've never really been a fan or Murray, but I really warmed to him this year. His obvious joy at winning coupled with his kind treatment of Laura Robson, meant that I can now watch the US Open and root for him! Go on Muzza!
The next two I enjoyed the most, are quite similar. I clearly have something for men diving into water! But first up was the canoe slalom, in which we unexpectedly won both gold & silver. The shock & jubiliation was clear as the whole team dived into the water to celebrate!
Similarly was the celebration at the men's 10m diving final. Tom Daley had been having a bad olympics. He had failed to medal at the synchonised final the week before, and had produced dissapointing dives at the heats to qualify for the final. The pressure on him was immense and to top it off he a flash photogapher caused him to mess up his first dive so he had to redo it. Despite all of this, somehow everything came together in the last minute (it truly felt like a Richard Curtis film) and he got a bronze medal. Some people would have been disappointed but he was elated. His whole team picked him up & ran him into the pool. It only goes to show that third place really isn't a failure.
Some of my favourites were Andy Murray winning, climbing up to find his girlfriend & mum, and on his way down hugging a random little boy. I've never really been a fan or Murray, but I really warmed to him this year. His obvious joy at winning coupled with his kind treatment of Laura Robson, meant that I can now watch the US Open and root for him! Go on Muzza!
The next two I enjoyed the most, are quite similar. I clearly have something for men diving into water! But first up was the canoe slalom, in which we unexpectedly won both gold & silver. The shock & jubiliation was clear as the whole team dived into the water to celebrate!
Similarly was the celebration at the men's 10m diving final. Tom Daley had been having a bad olympics. He had failed to medal at the synchonised final the week before, and had produced dissapointing dives at the heats to qualify for the final. The pressure on him was immense and to top it off he a flash photogapher caused him to mess up his first dive so he had to redo it. Despite all of this, somehow everything came together in the last minute (it truly felt like a Richard Curtis film) and he got a bronze medal. Some people would have been disappointed but he was elated. His whole team picked him up & ran him into the pool. It only goes to show that third place really isn't a failure.
But the most memorable celebration has to be provided by the German discus thrower, Robert Harting. Upon hearing he won he tore off his shirt, left out a roar & grabbed a German flag before takiing part in a victory lap, over hurdles. And he wasn't finished, after leaving the stadium he headed out for a night on the tiles with friends. He then fell asleep on a train, got robbed of his Olympic village pass, and wasn't able to get back in at the end of the night. Hilarious!
6. Don't Judge a Book by it's Cover
I'm having difficulty with finding the right words for this, becuase I don't want to sound like a judgemental shallow bitch. But, if I skirt around the topic, I think I'll just end up digging myself into a deeper hole. So here goes... Our athletes really don't look like athletes. Now, I don't mean all of them (hello Ennis & Daley), but during the games I was struck by how normal a lot of them look. Take for example Murray, he is incredibly fit, is a millionaire, and has a gorgeous girlfriend. But he looks like a skinny, pastey man who can't afford a haircut!
Now look at some of our top Olympians. Our gold winners in, Philip, Hines, Jason Kenny and Chris Hoy. They are at their peak, and yet they look like average blokes who fancied going cycling for a change this weekend now the footy season's off the telly.
But the pinacle is our my favourite side-burned man, Wiggo!
Now tell me does this look like a man who's won the Tour de France and an olympic gold, in the space of a few weeks? Or does he look like the nice guy next door who occasionally rides his bike down to the pub? America may have their athletes looking like Greek Gods, but we have a side-burned skinny man, and I know who I'd pick any day of the week.
Now tell me does this look like a man who's won the Tour de France and an olympic gold, in the space of a few weeks? Or does he look like the nice guy next door who occasionally rides his bike down to the pub? America may have their athletes looking like Greek Gods, but we have a side-burned skinny man, and I know who I'd pick any day of the week.
The Olympics is meant to bring all the countries toether, but some of my best bits have been the rivalries between the countries. This year Britain (well the media) seems to have been focused on the rivalry with Australia. The best things about the Aussies is that they're easy to joke around with & they give as good as they get. They are a strange & unique cacophony of laid back & competitive. They kept saying we only win gold medals sitting down, and lets face it, theyre not wrong. In fact out our 29 golds, 18 of them were won witting down (That's 62%). But, whatever, scoreboard! However, the best part of this rivalry this year was between the sport ministers of both respective countries. They made a bet on who's country would place higher on the medal table. Well we all know how that went, so Kate Lundy will have to don a Team GB shirt and row the length of the Eton Dorney course. I find this hilarious, and shows the best of friendly rivalry.I don't think she's done it yet, but I hope to go down & cheer her on!
But the rivalry that I was secretly focusing on was between France. I thought Hollande was very rude about us before the games kicked off, and then mocked us for not getting any medals in the firs few days. Hmmph, why is Cameron never rude back? I think it would help his popularity! Well, after a slow start, I'm proud to say we well & truly butchered them. Thepettiest best example of this rivalry, happened in the velorome. After royally spanking the French at cycling, their team director suggested that we were only doing so well because our kit was somehow superior, and we were hiding it from tthe other teams. We responded by saying that we had developed specially round wheels! Hilariously, these so -called "magic" wheels are manufactured in France, and are exactly the same as the ones used in the French team. I wish I knew about other rivalries between countries, serious I find them to be the most interesting & funny part of the games!
But the rivalry that I was secretly focusing on was between France. I thought Hollande was very rude about us before the games kicked off, and then mocked us for not getting any medals in the firs few days. Hmmph, why is Cameron never rude back? I think it would help his popularity! Well, after a slow start, I'm proud to say we well & truly butchered them. The
8. The Best Things In Life Come in the Unexpected Moments
It seemed an eternity before we won a medal. And that obvsiously meant we lost out on a few medals in that time (swimming, cycling etc). I feel sorry for all the athletes that the public have heard of, as they have a whole nations expectations weighing down on them. Everyone said we had a home advantage, but this can also have a negtive effect, and the pressure can get to them. But whilst some athletes didn't get the medals they were aiming for, there were some who came out of nowhere and got completely unexpected medals. My favourites of these came from gymnastics. When I think of gymnastics I think of three nations; America, Russia and China. I'm pretty sure noone was expecting us to walk away with anything. And then somehow for the first time in over a century we won something! The first was the men's team.
We were all extatic when we won silver, and it was disappointing when it got demoted to a bronze after a Japanese appeal. But then it sunk in, history had been made & the country was elated. This was quickly followed by getting two more medals in the men's pommel horse, and Beth Tweddle ending her career with a bronze medal.
And I walked away with a massive crush on Louis Smith!
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| Gutting |
We were all extatic when we won silver, and it was disappointing when it got demoted to a bronze after a Japanese appeal. But then it sunk in, history had been made & the country was elated. This was quickly followed by getting two more medals in the men's pommel horse, and Beth Tweddle ending her career with a bronze medal.
And I walked away with a massive crush on Louis Smith!
9. Sisters are doing it for themselves
In my eyes, there is one true winner of the 2012 Olymics. Women! 25 medals were won by women, and of those 12 were gold! It was wonderful to see Katherine Grainger finally win a gold medal, after getting silver in the last 3 games!
And it wasn't just great for us. This was the first time Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Bunei have etered female athletes into the Olympics, and it's also the first time women have boxed in the Olympics. I think this marks the start of great changes in terms of gender equality in sport (well I hope so anyway). GB have been lucky with their female athletes as we now have so many positive female role models for kids nowadays, insead of just scantiliy clad pop singers, reality tv strs or wags. Here ae some photos of my favourite women.
But my absolute favourite medal was the first gold we won. And it just happened to be won by my friend Helen Glover (with Heather Stanning of course). Trust me a race is even more amazing when you know the person, and they smashed it of course!
And it wasn't just great for us. This was the first time Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Bunei have etered female athletes into the Olympics, and it's also the first time women have boxed in the Olympics. I think this marks the start of great changes in terms of gender equality in sport (well I hope so anyway). GB have been lucky with their female athletes as we now have so many positive female role models for kids nowadays, insead of just scantiliy clad pop singers, reality tv strs or wags. Here ae some photos of my favourite women.
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| Well done ladies! |
10. Weirder is Always Better
Like most people who watch the Olympics or actually any sporting event, even the laziest and most un-sporty of us suddenly become experts in whatever we're viewing. This happened to me across the board, and not in sports that I have watched before, but the most abstract sports shown on the telly. I am happy to announce, I am pretty much an expert in synchronised diving, dressage, artistic gymnastics (especially the ribbon) and synchronised swimming. This is another reason to love the Olympics, it brings coverage to usually unpopular sports, which has to be lovely for the athletes, who would normally be ignored.
Bonus Point
Drum-roll please... It's finally time for my absolute favourite (singular) moment. I have chosen it because it sums up this Olympics for me: a sport I knew nothing about, a woman winner, another gold for Team GB, and most of all patriotism!
My favourite moment was Charlotte Dujardin winning a gold in individual dressage by making her beautiful horse dance to Land of Hope & Glory, whilst the crowd sung along. Absolutely perfect!
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| I'm gutted I couldn't find a video online, as it is AMAZING!!! |
Well, there we have it. I feel I have lost a few years of my life writing this, but there are my top Olympic moments. And even though it's all over now, I can't wait for the paralympics to start next Wednesday?
So did you love the Olympics as much as I did? What were your top moments/events/athletes?
Kat x
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