London 2012 Paralympics: My Top 10 Moments of The Games

1. Sarah Storey winning Team GB’s first gold of The Games:

I can’t think of a person more deserving of four different stamps…well.. maybe David Weir…

You might ask why I have chosen to pick out just one of her astonishing haul of four gold medals but the first one for the host nation is always a bit special isn’t it! Super Sarah led the charge and broke records a plenty on course to cementing her place as one of GB’s greatest ever Paralympic athletes, if not the greatest.

2. Ellie Simmonds first gold of The Games:

Ellie Simmonds’ astonishing first gold medal victory of the Games wasn’t in her strongest event and wasn’t necessarily one she was expected to dominate but that she did. This triumph was akin to Jess Ennis’ win in the heptathlon in the Olympic Games as it relieved an enormous weight of pressure and expectation as Ellie Swim-monds went in as ‘The Face of the Games. She then went onto follow this success up with another gold and a silver and bronze to boot. Not a bad few days.

3. David Wetherill’s wonder shot:

It speaks for itself…

4. : The high-jump:

The high jump made for an incredible spectacle

I know every event was amazing in it’s own way but this was just ridiculous. The athletes competing were truly gobsmacking, how on earth a one-legged man can leap as high as these guys were is simply beyond me. I loved watching it though!

5. Mickey Bushell’s T53 100m win:

Mickey Bushell’s moment of glory was one of the more memorable of the Games from a Paralympics GB perspective. He was already a silver medalist in the World Championships and last time out at the Paralympics in Beijing and now he has finally become a gold medallist at the Games. The emotion displayed by him as he crossed the finish line was a pleasure to behold.

6. Hannah Cockroft romping to double sprint victory:

Our very own female and wheelchair riding Usain Bolt. She didn’t just win two sprint golds, she won them by a country-mile. She was supreme.

7. Jason Smyth’s 100m final win and new WR:

Smyth suffers from a 10% loss of sight and though that might not sound like the greatest impairment of the many we have seen at the Games, he was still competing in a field of similarly disabled athletes and he blew them all away. I haven’t checked to see whether he is or not but I suspect that he might not only be the fastest ever Paralympian but that he also might well be the quickest Irish sprinter ever, able bodied or disabled. If he isn’t the fastest ever Irishman then he must be bloody close!

8. David Millar’s Golden Fortnight:

Four events, four gold medals. What a hero! Not only did he win four golds but they were in entirely different disciplines; the 800m, the 1500m, the 5,000m and the marathon. The mind boggles!

9. Juan Jose Mendez, my favourite Paralympian:

The picture speaks for itself…

This guy is unreal. He may not have won a medal or even have got that close to winning one, but this veteran of the Spanish track cycling team truly amazed me. In spite of the Velodrome’s steep angled banking he manages to hurtle round the track in spite of missing an arm and leg both on the same side of the body. I quite simply don’t know how he stays on or how he moves the bike!

10. Alex Zannardi’s road to recovery:

45 year old former F1 driver Alex Zannardi brought an incredible story to a glorious conclusion at the Paralympic Games this week. Fifteen years on from his horror career-ending crash which left him having both of his legs amputated, he returned to the forefront of the sporting world in phenomenal fashion by becoming a double-gold medal winning hand-cyclist.

The man is an inspiration but in fairness that is true of every single Paralympian I have witnessed over the past couple of weeks, but sadly it is now all over!

Soul’s A Fire: Matt Corby the Unintended Headline Act at Communion

There is something very special about beating the rush and getting to see a phenomenal artist before they really ‘make it’. This particular artist though, Matt Corby, has actually already ‘made it’ in his homeland but as yet hasn’t been fully unleashed on the UK market where he is sure to shine and gain his greatest level of recognition to date.

Last night I experienced this sensation when I visited the Notting Hill Arts Club for a gig hosted by Communion record label where Torches were meant to be the headline act but had their limelight somewhat taken by the last-minute special guest who announced his place on the billing just three days before the gig.

Australia’s Matt Corby is signed to Communion and will be embarking on his first ‘proper’ tour of Europe this Autumn/Winter

Matt Corby, if you haven’t come across him yet, is an Australian ‘singer/songwriter’ who has taken a rather unusual route to the verge of stardom having begun his singing career by appearing on Australian Idol at a very tender age, where he made it all the way through to the latter stages before being eliminated at the last. Thank god he didn’t win.

If he had then who knows where or how he would have ended up but thankfully it didn’t come to that and the then 16 year old learnt the error of his ways and took off in his own direction and what a direction it has become.

If you haven’t encountered him before, then please, before listening to Corby forget about any prejudices you might have about ‘singer/songwriters’ as in this case you’re not dealing with the Jason Mraz’s and Ed Sheeran’s of this world but you are faced with a totally new dimension of this old genre.

Where Mraz and Sheeran (both of whom are artists I have seen perform live in the past) veer towards ‘crooning’ territory and sing tales about “geeks in the pink” and “lov[ing] Shrek”, Corby strikes a far darker and more menacing tone with a far more haunting and at times devastating lyrical content.

Such comments aren’t intended to belittle the likes of Sheeran who has found his own niche and his own form of diversity in teaming up with grime artists, using loop pedals and in singing songs that sound sweet in spite of their subject matters which include rape, prostitution and miscarriage, or indeed Mraz who has his own take on the genre with his at times very slick and very witty approach to songwriting.

This comment is instead designed to sub-categorize this all too wide-spanning a genre and to elevate Corby’s daring and soaring sound to it’s own very deserving perch, a perch which I believe is deserving of greater critical appreciation and recognition than the work of artists like Ed Sheeran and Jason Mraz who may well be hugely successful and may well be talented but for me can’t match up to the emphatic performances and song-writing depth of Corby.

The angst and the ferocity of Corby’s vocals set him apart from an awful lot of the music industry’s success stories within this at times rather antiquated genre and was at first-hand like nothing I have ever really known or witnessed emanating from the lungs of a ‘singer/songwriter’ before.

Sure, I had been an admirer of Matt Corby’s for quite a while having first been drawn to his sound when I first heard a live version of his most successful song to date ‘Brother’ and I had sensed the vocal range and power that he possesses, but there is nothing quite like having it performed live and within five metres of you.

After this first-hand experience and some considerable reflection I would place him somewhere between Caleb Followill (of Kings of Leon fame) and Jeff Buckley on the vocal spectrum, in that he combines Followill’s strength and grittiness with the Buckley’s delicacy, darkness, tone and control. I am far from an expert when it comes to singing and vocal control (as anyone who has heard me in full-flow will testify) but I advise you to imagine the combined vocal strengths and qualities of these two aforementioned artists and to throw in a hefty amount of soulful inspiration if you wish to gain an idea of what Matt Corby is all about.

Corby’s set at the Arts Club last consisted of  just 5 songs which were (in order); Soul’s A Fire, Made Of Stone, Runaway, Brother and Big Eyes. The set-list from his performance last night is listed below with accompanying videos from previous live performances….

1. Soul’s A Fire:

2. Made Of Stone:

3. Run Away: (The actual performance from last night’s performance in Notting Hill)

4. Brother:

5. Big Eyes:

The journey of this set started, as stated above, with a rendition of ‘Soul’s A Fire’ which is a heavily blues influenced rock track which showed off both the delicacies of Corby’s vocal range with his ability to channel the spirit of guitar-soul icons such as Jimi Hendrix. This track features on Matt’s ‘Into The Flame’ E.P and it made for an emphatic start to his set.

The second track which he performed last night was the haunting ‘Made Of Stone’ which he performs with staggering vocal control amidst the gymnastic ability required by his tonsils throughout in order to hit the extraordinary notes which he takes on whilst performing the melodic backing track on piano.

Then, sandwiched between his more familiar tracks, was a new song of Matt’s titled ‘Run Away’ which is an epic tail of heartbreak and the breakdown of a relationship consumed by selfishness and volatility. They may not on paper sound like inspired lyrics but the repetitive burst of “She doesn’t give a shit about you” strikes an agonising chord as Corby’s vocals soar into their grittiest and most heart-wrenching state.

There was no let-off either as Corby followed this tale of woe with the previously mentioned ‘Brother’ which is another heart-wrenching tale of love and mistreatment laced heavily with regret. This is arguably the song which is most indicative of any defined genre in which one could place Corby as it combines beautifully his delicate menace and his thumping and scratching roars of emotion.

To follow such agony came the sweet ‘Big Eyes’ to close the set as Corby lulled the audience into a comfortable stupor and this closing performance was an apt demonstration of Matt’s diverse songwriting abilities and of the emotions which he is capable of evoking.

I realise that this ‘review’ of sorts sounds rather more like a love letter to Matt Corby than a fair and balanced analysis but I honestly couldn’t possibly pick fault with what I saw. The performance was stunning from start to finish and I am thoroughly looking forward to seeing a full-length performance from him some time in the near future.

I implore anyone who reads this to give him a good lengthy listen and to buy tickets for his forthcoming UK tour which there is meant to be an announcement about through his website tomorrow…. http://mattcorby.com.au/news/

I should also quickly mention Alexander Wolfe who was the other Communion signed artist I saw perform at the Arts Club last night whose performance might not have been as epic as Corby’s but was soulful and unique in it’s own right. Check him out too…

London 2012: Team GB’s Awards Ceremony

Best Quote:

Nominees: Boris Johnson – “They [the female beach volleyball players] are glistening like wet otters”, Boris Johnson ” ‘Inspire a generation’ is our motto. Not necessarily ‘Create a generation’, which is what they sometimes get up to in the Olympic Village…”, Ben Ainslie – “They’ve made me angry and you don’t want to make me angry”, Lord Coe – “When the time came, Britain, we did it right!”

You don’t want to make him angry…

Winner: Ben Ainslie’s fighting talk

Ben Ainslie’s threat to the rest of the Finn Class field may have sounded a little preposterous at the time but he yet again proved himself a class apart as he recovered a sizeable early deficit in the competition so sufficiently that he went into the final race in pole position and managed to hold on for his fourth gold medal. Like he said, you don’t want to make him angry…

Golden Oldie:

Nominees: William Fox-Pitt, Nick Skelton, Mary King, Greg Searle, Ben Ainslie, Katherine Grainger, Sir Chris Hoy

Winner: Nick Skelton

54 year old Nick Skelton may have narrowly missed out on a gold medal in the individual showjumping competition but in playing a huge part in Team GB’s gold medal winning success in the team competition he proved that he is still a spring chicken at heart.

Most Inspiring Member of Team GB:

Nominees: Jess Ennis (‘The face of the Games’), Anthony Agogo (Won boxing bronze and dedicated his triumph to his hospitalised mother), Nicola Adams (Women’s boxing trailblazer and gold medal winner), Gemma Gibbons (Judo silver Medallist who dedicated her success to her dead mother), Katherine Grainger (Three consecutive Olympic silver medals and now, finally, a gold medallist), Bradley Wiggins (Tour De France winner and now a four time Olympic gold medallist), Sir Chris Hoy (Six time Olympic gold medallist), Tom Daley (Bronze medallist so soon after the death of his beloved father), Joanna Roswell (Alopecia sufferer and now an Olympic gold medallist)

Winner: Nicola Adams

In a home Games that were full of emotion and tales to tell this was undoubtedly one of the most hotly contested categories and I have opted for Adams who endeared herself and her much-maligned sporting discipline to the nation. Before the Games many would have had reservations about women’s boxing but Adams’ bravery and skill turned people’s frowns upside down and she deserves an enormous amount of credit for playing a huge part in convincing the nation and indeed the world into giving the sport a chance and then some… 

Saddest Moment:

Nominees: Zak Purchase and Mark Hunter post-final interview, GB’s lighweight four post-final interview, Gemma Gibbons’ “I love you mum” moment

Winners: Zak Purchase and Mark Hunter

Most Exciting Moment:

Nominees: Mo Farah (Home straight of the 10,000m), Mo Farah (Home straight of the 5,000m), Laura Trott (Final event of the Omnium), Etienne Stott, Tim Bailie, David Florence and Richard Hounslow (C2 Canoe Finale) Peter Wilson (Double Trap Shooting Final), Tom Daley (10m Platform Diving Final), Victoria Pendleton (Individual Sprint)

The ‘Mobot’

Winner: Mo Farah (10,000m home straight)

Mo Farah’s double gold medal winning performance at London 2012 was a treat to behold and for me at least his 10,000m race was the most exciting moment of the Games. It put the icing on the cake of an incredible Saturday night in the Olympic Stadium as it was Team GB’s third gold medal in the space of an hour and it was the ‘mo’ment which ensured that that night would forever go down as one of the very finest in British sporting history.

Best Team:

Nominees: Cycling, Rowing, Equestrian, Tennis, Gymnastics, Canoe/Kayak

Winners: Cycling

Gold after gold after gold. Once again the cycling team were unbelievable and there huge level of achievement was made all the more incredible by the heartbreak of Mark Cavendish’s ‘failure’ to live up to the huge weight of expectation on his shoulders when he finished way off the lead in the men’s road race on the first day of the Games. Such was the British cycling team’s success that the French team were crying foul play, accusing Dave Brailsford and his team of cheating by way of having wheels that were unfairly round… 

Biggest Disappointment:

Nominees: Dai Greene, Shanaze Reade, Perri-Shaykes Drayton. Phillips Idowu, GB Relay Teams, GB Swimming Team

Winner: Phillips Idowu

As the Olympic Games have been such an overwhelming success in London and as Team GB have for the most part been terrific it is easy to forget that there have been some major disappointments along the way. The greatest of the disappointments was arguably been Phillips Idowu both in terms of his behaviour in the lead up the Games and then his performance in the Games itself. His ‘invisible man’ act beforehand and his poor performance in the preliminary rounds of the triple jump contest at which he was eliminated will have won him few admirers and one would hope he can find a better performance soon otherwise this will have been a horrible way for one so talented to leave his sport.

Best Celebration:

Nominees: Tom Daley (Pool jump), Mo Farah (The ‘Mo-Bot’), Andy Murray (A la Pat Cash), Sophie Hoskings and Kath Copeland (Kath Copeland’s ‘The face of victory’), Etienne Stott and Tim Bailie (Capsize into the rapids), Jade Jones (Good, old-fashioned scream, roar and phist-pump)

Daley’s bronze medal celebration was one of the highlights of the London Games

Winner: Tom Daley (Pool jump)

There was so much reason for celebration within Team GB during Olympic fortnight that it all seems to blend into one but one of the stand-out celebrations of the Games was undoubtedly that of Tom Daley and his diving team mates. Imagine if he’d won gold…!

Superstar in the making:

Nominees: Anthony Joshua (Boxing gold medallist), Laura Trott (Track cycling double gold medallist), Jason Kenny (Track cycling Double Gold Medallist), Lizzie Armitstead (Cycling Road Race Silver Medallist), Alistair Brownlee (Triathlon gold medallist), Adam Gemili (100m semi-finalist), Sophie Hitchon (New British record holder in the hammer throw), Michael Jamieson (Swimming – Breaststroke), Jade Jones (Taekwondo gold medallist)

Winner: Laura Trott

It is hard to see Laura Trott not ending her cycling career amongst the most decorated British Olympians of all time as she has already bagged two golds at the age of 20. If she continues at her current rate then she could well be a ten-time gold medal winner if she carries on until she is Sir Chris Hoy’s current age!

Star Performer:

Nominees: Mo Farah, Jess Ennis, Laura Trott, Jason Kenny, Andy Murray, Sir Chris Hoy

Winner: Mo Farah

There have been almost too many success stories to mention for Team GB and for London over the past few weeks but the stand-out performer of the Games has to be our favourite Somalian born distance runner, Mo Farah.

Farah’s nerve, concentration, strategic nouse and physical strength have peaked at the perfect time and in becoming only the eighth person ever to do the 5,000m and 10,000m double he has written his name into the history books as one of the greatest ever Olympic athletes.

So, huge congratulations are in order to the likes of Jess, Jason, Sir Chris and Laura as well as the rest of Team GB’s medal winners  and emerging talents but perhaps even greater congratulations are due to Mo. He might not have the looks of  our “Face of the Games” Jess Ennis but who can resist a scrawny-looking, bald, bearded man win a penchant for slapping his own slap-head and for performing the now infamous ‘Mo-bot’… Sir Mo, we salute you!

London 2012: My Top 10 Moments Of Week 2

London 2012 has sadly come to an end but the following are some of the memories that will last a lifetime…

Andy Murray’s Sweet Revenge:

Just a couple of weeks prior to the Games SW19 played host to Andy Murray’s proudest career achievement to date when he reached his first Wimbledon final and lost valiantly to Roger Federer, but now he can finally say that he has become a champion at Wimbledon.

He still isn’t yet a winner of Wimbledon title ‘proper’ or a Grandslam title but his fantastic performances en route to the Olympic final and then in hammering Federer in the final will have given him an enormous amount of hope in his quest to land a first Slam. It was also fantastic to see him gunning for glory on all fronts as he teamed up with his brother in the men’s doubles and with Laura Robson in the mixed doubles where they landed a deserved silver medal.

Golden Saturday:

Little can be said about Saturday the 4th of August 2012 that hasn’t already been said a thousand times but there is no way it could be left off of this list. 6 golds in one day and three of those in the space of less than an hour in the Olympic Stadium. It was awesome.

Epke Zonderland flies his way to Gold in the Men’s High Bars:

In a week of phenomenal achievements for Team GB it was tempting to fill this list with tales of home glory and triumph but one of my personal highlights of week two came in a somewhat surprising form. In the build-up to the Games I hadn’t exactly set my heart on watching an enormous amount of gymnastics but Team GB’s unbelievable success got me hooked and then a certain Mr. Zonderland  made me really sit up and take note. His High Bars routine was truly a sight to behold and he more than deserved his gold medal. If you haven’t already seen it then please use this link and do so… http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/olympics/18903127

Trotty’s Double Gold:

With some of team GB’s more high-profile members such as Jess Ennis, Mo Farah and Sir Chris Hoy delivering in fantastic fashion I felt as if young Laura Trott’s double gold went unfairly a little under the radar as did her boyfriend Jason Kenny’s double gold. Her individual winning performance in the women’s omnium was terrific and she sealed her precious second gold in stunning style by romping to victory in the final event and replacing the experienced American Sara Hammer at the top of the standings.

Ben Ainslie makes it 4 out of 4:

Ainslie yet again did it the hard way as he always seems to do as he once again he came from behind to land a stunning fourth consecutive Olympic gold medal and a third consecutive gold in the Finn class. The man is a legend and one would imagine that a knighthood could well be forthcoming.

Sir Chris replaces Sir Steve at the top of GB’s gold medal winners list:

His Royal Thighness grabbed two golds in what is almost certain to be his last Olympic Games

Chris Hoy’s outstanding performance in the Keirin was arguably the highlight of yet another stunning team performance from Britain’s cyclists at the Olympics and it saw him reach the incredible tally of six golds, one more than Sir Steve Redgrave who provided a very nice touch by going to the Velodrome to congratulate the man who has arguably deposed him as Team GB’s greatest ever Olympian.

Bolt doubles up on all three fronts:

I’m pretty certain that most people would already have regarded Usain Bolt as a legend prior to London but now he himself believes once and for all that he has the right to be called a legend. Once again Jamaica’s finest produced storming performances in the 100m, 200m and 4x100m relay and his second consecutive triple-gold medal haul silenced all of the doubters who thought he might not be able to match his displays in Beijing. My favourite Bolt moment from the last fortnight though was his homage to home favourite Mo Farah when he performed the ‘Mo-bot’ just after crossing the line for gold in the relay.

‘Mo Bolt’ and ‘Usain Farah’ celebrate their triumphs with each other

Brotherly love in the Triathlon:

For years I have been derogatory about triathlon in order to wind up a friend of mine who is all to keen on the sport but the truth of the matter is that triathlon is an unbelievably demanding discipline and both of the Brownlee brothers are phenomenal athletes. Tuesday’s triathlon drew an enormous crowd, one which  included myself, and Alistair Brownlee’s gold medal winning performance was well worthy of such phenomenal support.

Mo Doubles Up:

Saturday night saw Mo Farah complete arguably the greatest British athletics achievement ever as he landed the 5,000m gold medal to add to the 10,000m gold which he won a week earlier. This achievement has seen Farah soar into the realms of the greatest athletes ever to have competed at the Olympics as only seven people have ever done the long distance double at the Games.

Stephen Kiprotich defies the odds to bring glory to Uganda:

Stephen Kiprotich took an unlikely victory in Sunday’s showpiece event

Uganda are traditionally one of the least successful competing nations at the Olympic Games and until yesterday they were still without a medal at London 2012. However, on the final day of the Games Kiprotich stepped up to the plate and beat the favourites from Africa’s distance running strongholds Ethiopia and Kenya en route to winning the marathon and becoming not just Uganda’s first medal winner of the Games but also Uganda’s first gold medal winner in 40 years. This was a staggering achievement for one so young and it was deserving of the traditionally special medal ceremony that the marathon receives in the closing ceremony.

London 2012: 100m Men’s Prediction

The Semi-Finals:

Semi-Final 1 Winner: Justin Gatlin in around 9.85

Semi-Final 1 Runner-Up: Asafa Powell in around 9.90

Semi-Final 2 Winner: Usain Bolt in around 9.80-9.85

Semi-Final 2 Runner-Up: Daniel Bailey in around 9.85

I have an inkling that Gemili will run his first sub-10 second time in the 100m and will get into contention for a place in the final

Semi-Final 3 Winner: Yohan Blake in 9.80

Semi-Final 3 Runner-Up: Tyson Gay in 9.85-9.90

Fastest Losers: Richard Thompson in around 9.90 (Semi-Final 2) and then either one of Adam Gemili, Dwain Chambers or Keston Bledman in around 9.95

In short, I think that all the usual suspects will advance to the final as well as young talents Ryan Bailey and perhaps even Adam Gemili. If events on the track so far are anything to go by then I have a feeling that the home crowd could inspire either one of Gemili or Dwain Chambers to make the final as one of the fastest losers from the semis.

I think Yohan Blake, Justin Gatlin and Usain Bolt will set the tone for medal-winning finishes in the final with victories in each of their semi-finals and I think that each of their times will crank up into the region of 9.80-8.85 seconds as they start to move through the gears of the competition.

The Final:

Gold: Yohan Blake in around 9.65

Silver: Usain Bolt in around 9.65-9.70

Bronze: Justin Gatlin in around 9.75

Fourth: Asafa Powell

Will Bolt hold onto his 100m crown or will the young pretender Yohan Blake pip him to the post?

Fifth: Tyson Gay

Sixth: Ryan Bailey

Seventh: Richard Thompson

Eighth: Adam Gemili/Dwain Chambers/Keston Bledman (Second fastest loser from the Semi-Finals)

You heard it hear first: Usain Bolt will ‘only’ win a silver medal! You can never rule out Bolt, I know that of course, and I am not ruling him out. I think the pace of the final will be very decent and I think it will be either Blake or Bolt that win it in around 9.65 seconds but for the sake of interest and in aid of backing up what I have been saying to anyone who will listen for months I have gone for Blake to win.

I then think their will be a real dog-fight for the Bronze medal in a time of 9.75-9.80 seconds with Justing Gatlin pipping Asafa Powell, Tyson Gay and Ryan Bailey in the battle for a third-placed finish.

Whether Bolt wins tonight or not, tonight is sure to be another historic night for both British and World athletics so sit back, relax (if you can…) and enjoy another sporting feast.

Gold Gold Gold Gold Gold Gold

Is it just me that has Spandau Ballet ringing through my head?

What a night it has been for British athletics and what a day it has been for British sport. Two golds on the track, one in the field and three earlier in the day shared between the river at Eton and the Velodrome at the Olympic Park. Has British sport ever seen anything like it?

I can’t quite believe we won 6 of these in a day!

Well, I certainly can’t remember a night like it and I’m pretty sure that I will never see a more superior day of British sporting excellence for the rest of my existence, nor would I really hope to as I don’t think I could bear it!

So, where to start?

Well, first of all, huge congratulations to Jess Ennis, Greg Rutherford, Mo Farah, Laura Trott, Joanna Roswell, Dani King, Sophie Hosking, Katherine Copeland, Pete Reed, Andy Triggs Hodge, Tom James and Alex Gregory. You are all brilliant and we as mere spectators of your brilliance are all indebted to you for eternity for the magnificent day of entertainment with with you have provided us!

Now, breaking it down, here is the run through of my experience of Team GB’s ‘Golden Saturday’ at the Games….

10:00 A.M: Position on the sofa assumed for a long day ahead…

10:30 A.M: Jess Ennis nails the long jump and thrusts herself well and truly into the driving seat in the heptathlon…

11:30 A.M: GB WIN GOLD IN THE MEN’S FOUR! GOLD MEDAL NUMBER ONE ON ‘GOLDEN SATURDAY’ FOR TEAM GB!!!

Gold number one…

12:00 P.M: GB WIN ANOTHER GOLD AT ETON! KATH COPELAND AND SOPHIE HOSKINGS TRIUMPH IN THE LIGHTWEIGHT WOMEN’S DOUBLE TAKING TEAM GB’s GOLD MEDAL TALLY TO TWO ON ‘GOLDEN SATURDAY’!!!

Gold number two…

12:30 P.M: Team GB get a silver medal in the men’s double lightweight sculls courtesy of reigning Olympic champions Zak Purchase and Mark Hunter. The pair were desolate in the wake of their ‘failure’ to get the gold but they performed manfully and shouldn’t feel ashamed at all…

1:00 P.M: Usain Bolt begins his Olympic campaign and though this would usually have thrilled the nation, his sluggish heat win paled in comparison to the level of excitement developing for Team GB on ‘Golden Saturday’. Adam Gemili also began his 100m campaign and he looked very good in his run to a second placed heat finish to winner Asafa Powell. Gemili won’t medal but he could make the final if he can find a PB on Sunday…

1:20 P.M: Dwain Chambers also qualifies for the next round of the 100m by winning his heat in an impressive time of 10.02 seconds. It was always going to be interesting to see how well he would be received by the crowd and though I have no affection for him whatsoever I am still pleased to report that he got a very warm reception as it would have been pretty awkward had he not…

1:30 P.M: My girlfriend left my house. Usually I wouldn’t report this as a significant event but the fact that she was then on her way to the Olympic Stadium as she had tickets for the phenomenal night ahead makes it rather more relavant… Lucky git…

2:00 P.M: Jess Ennis nails the javelin also which is often her achilles heel, throwing a lifetime best distance of 47.59 metres! This was the moment where I and the whole nation finally accepted that our ‘face of the Games’ would indeed win the gold medal she so deserved…

2:30 P.M-5 P.M: Many hours spent sulking because I wish I had a ticket for the Olympic Stadium…

5:00 P.M: I went for a jog and was of course pretending that I was Mo Farah. I convinced myself for a few seconds that I was actually a little too fast to be Mo before then realising that in reality I am actually horribly unfit…

5:30 P.M: Andy Murray and Laura Robson triumphed in the semi-finals of the mixed doubles in the tennis competition guaranteeing themselves a medal winning finish. Olympic tennis usually fails to capture my imagination but today changed everything for me. The nerve and resilience shown by our pair in their back-to-back Saturday afternoon wins over Australia and Germany was captivating and they fully deserve at very least a silver medal, which is now the minimum possible reward for their efforts. Andy Murray now has a shot at two gold medals on Sunday…

6:15 P.M: GOLD FOR GB IN THE WOMEN’S TEAM PURSUIT AT THE VELODROME! TEAM GB’S THIRD MEDAL OF GOLDEN SATURDAY! TAKE A BOW LAURA TROTT, DANI KING AND JOANNA ROSWELL!!!

Gold number three…

7:00 P.M: GB’s athletic’s team captain Dai Greene took to the track for his 400m hurdles semi-final and the world champion had a shocker! A 4th placed finish saw him scrape into the final by the skin of his teeth and in hindsight maybe this was the price all us Brits had to pay for the success lying in wait on ‘Golden Saturday’…

8:20 P.M: Greg Rutherford landed a major blow in the long jump final with a leading jump of 8.21 metres and the vaguest possibility of three Olympic golds in one night for Team GB’s athletics team dared to creep it’s way into the nation’s minds…

8:40 P.M: Michael Phelps won gold as part of the USA’s relay team in the 4x100m medley final in what was his last ever competitive race but I didn’t care because GB were on course to win 3 golds in a night! OK, I did care really… What a man. What an Olympian. 22 Olympic medals and 18 of them Gold. Is he the greatest sportsman of all time?

8:55 P.M: Time for Jess to finish off a job bloody well done… The nation awaits…

9:00 P.M: Jess only went and bloody well won her 800 didn’t she! It would have been so easy for her to just pace her way to a comfortable finish high up the field but the determination she showed to win her race was phenomenal. GOLD MEDAL NUMBER FOUR FOR TEAM GB ON GOLDEN SATURDAY!!!

Gold number four…

9:05 P.M : Rutherford extended his lead in the long jump with a terrific leap of 8.31 metres, a second gold in a matter of minutes became an even greater possibility for Team GB

9:20 P.M: Mo Farah begins the 10,000m and the Olympic Stadium erupted as the realisation of three potential athletics golds in one night started to really dawn on the nation…

9:25 P.M: Greg Rutherford stuffed up his ‘jump of honour’ but who gives a toss?! GOLD FOR TEAM GB IN THE LONG JUMP, 2 ATHLETICS GOLDS AND FIVE TEAM GB GOLDS ON GOLDEN SATURDAY!!!!

Gold number five…

9:45 P.M: MOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!! FARAH WINS GOLD IN THE 10,000 m AND TEAM GB GET THEIR SIXTH GOLD MEDAL OF GOLDEN SATURDAY!!!!!!!

…and Mo makes it six!

9:50 P.M: Jamaica get their gold in the women’s showpiece athletics event with Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce defending her Olympic title in 10.75 seconds. Usually the 100m finals are the more memorable moments of the Olympics but Fraser-Pryce’s terrific defence of her title was a little lost amidst the British Euphoria at the Olympic Stadium…

10:15 P.M: Team GB’s male footballers crashed out to South Korea in the quarter finals in a penalty shootout. Usually I would have cared but not tonight. Very little could have happened to dampen my mood and I’m sure that was the case for the vast majority of British sports fans!

 

Saturday the 4th of August will undoubtedly go down in history as one of it not THE greatest day of all time for British sport. 6 Olympic golds and a few more medals to boot. If you didn’t shed a tear at some point today then you might as well leave Britain and never come back…

 

London 2012: My Top 10 Moments Of The Opening Week

France Win 4x100m Freestyle Gold:

The French quartet shocked everybody in the relay as they defeated the USA and Australia

In what was billed the battle of the USA and outsiders Australia, the tables of swimming superiority were momentarily turned and the French took a remarkable victory. Everybody loves an underdog even if it is the French…

Grainger’s Gold At Last:

Ably supported by team mate Anna Watkins, Kath Grainger finally got her hands on a gold medal

When she managed ‘only’ a silver in Beijing it looked as though Kath Grainger might never achieve a gold medal at an Olympic Games and as she put it before breaking down into a flood of tears she looked to destined to be “always the bridesmaid and never the bride.”

However, Friday morning’s terrific performance alongside the magnificent Anna Watkins saw her finally achieve the gold she so deserved and how she managed to hold herself together so well I’ll never know. Well done Kath, you are the bride after all!

Sir Chris Makes It 5:

Amidst the drama and disappointment of Jess Varnish and Victoria Pendleton’s disqualification on the first evening of Velodrome action, Sir Chris Hoy and his trusty team sprint team mates Jason Kenny and Phillip Hindes triumphed in their final breaking the World Record along the way.

Sir Chris brought home GB’s WR breaking team pursuit effort

This success was Chris Hoy’s fifth Olympic gold medal and the scenes it prompted inside the Velodrome were about as euphoric as the games has served up so far.

King-Size Judo Battle:

If you haven’t seen this already then please just take a look at this link and enjoy…

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/olympics/19109181

Still Life In The ‘Old’ Dog:

On the opening night of the games Michael Phelps managed only a fourth placed finish in his first final and this result was made all the more startling by the fact that it was his fellow US star Ryan Lochte who bagged the gold medal. This triumph for Lochte led to him being asked in a post-race interview if 2012 was his time and his games and he answered “Well… Yeah… I guess so…”

Phelps had a sluggish start to his last Games but he has since stormed back to multiple gold medal winning success

However, the greatest Olympian of all time has had something to say about that and he has out-‘golded’ him so far this games and in doing so has kindly reminded Lochte (who for the record I cannot stand…) that for this week at least he still has some serious competition.

Gold-Silver Finish For Britain’s Men In The C2 Slalom:

Team GB flourished in the two-man canoeing discipline

Going into the finals of the C2 hopes were hight that one of the two British pairings might manage to get in the mix for a medal winning finish but a GB 1-2 was never really though to be on the radar.

It was a staggering performance from both pairs and the two medals captured for Team GB contributed to a mad five minutes in which Peter Wilson also showed phenomenal nerve to grab a shooting gold to make it three medals in five minutes for us Brits.

British Men’s Gymnastic Get Team Bronze:

Team GB came within a judge’s review of a silver medal in the team competition

Having gone into the team event in the gymnastics with hopes higher than ever before and aiming for a top five finish, our men’s squad excelled beyond belief and ended up getting themselves an awe-inspiring Bronze medal.

The Olympic Games are all about triumph in the face of adversity and performing to the very limit of your abilities and this success was the very epitome of such sentiment. I never though it would have been the case but their battle for a medal was probably my highlight of the first week of Olympic action and they came agonisingly close to bettering their final position with only a judge’s review denying them the silver medal.

South Africa Get Gold In The Lightweight Four:

South Africa’s first ever rowing old may have come at GB’s expense but it still made for fantastic viewing

Before this historic race South Africa had never before won a rowing gold but their staggering late burst in the lightweight fours earned them an awesome victory at the expense of the GB crew who were narrowly squeezed out into the silver medal position in the final few metres.

The South Africans were never meant to win this race but they did and they more than deserved to on the day even though it was heartbreaking to see our boys lose out so narrowly in a race they were very confident of winning beforehand.

Wiggo Rides His Way Into The History Books:

Having fought manfully for Mark Cavendish’s failed crack at winning gold in the men’s road race, Bradley Wiggins had to lift himself for Wednesday’s time trial and he did just that.

Britain’s greatest ever Olympian?

His staggering victory by over forty seconds saw him win his fourth Olympic gold and his seventh Olympic medal in total and these achievements coupled with his historic triumph in the the Tour De France have put him right up there in contention to be thought of as Britain’s greatest ever sportsman. Arise Sir Brad….

Jess Ennis Blowing Away The Field In The 100m Hurdles:

At the time of writing this piece Jess Ennis has now built on her brilliant start to the heptathlon and has just one event remaining in her quest for an Olympic gold and looks set to close the deal with a fair amount of ease in tonight’s 800m.

Ennis’ awesome opening run in the hurdles catapulted her into the record books and straight o the top of the heptathlon standings

But in terms of the first week of the games she had only completed four of her seven events and the first of these, the 100m hurdles, saw her start her campaign in phenomenal fashion allaying any fears about her being overcome by the huge pressure of being the ‘face of the games’.

Her time of 12.54 seconds would have seen her in a photo finish for Olympic gold in the women’s 100m hurdles as an individual discipline in Beijing in 2008 and it was also the fastest hurdles time ever run by a British woman. This was an incredible start to her Games and it set the tone beautifully for the rest of her competition.

Bittersweet Weekend on the Road Continues Cycling Fever across GB

Following Danny Boyle’s brilliantly bonkers Opening Ceremony on Friday night, hopes were high across Britain that one of our glory boys of recent times would cash-in on the wave of euphoria and kick-start our Olympic campaign with a gold medal. Sadly though, Saturday’s Men’s Cycling Road Race failed to deliver the result we were all hoping for when our great hope Mark Cavendish failed to ever seriously threaten a podium finish.

However, from the ashes of Cav’s failed attempt to get Team GB off the mark rose Lizzie Armitstead’s quite magnificent ride to a silver medal finish in the Women’s Road Race and this first medal of the Games was arguably made all the sweeter by the disappointment that Cavendish, his team mates and the entire sporting fan-base of Great Britain had suffered on the opening day.

The whole of GB was holding out for a Cavendish victory in the Men’s Road Race but instead we were able to celebrate a silver in the Women’s race for Lizzie Armitstead

I was one of many who was fortunate enough to see first hand the efforts both of the men and of the women in the road races and having never been a real fan of cycling before recent British successes (call me a glory supporter if you will…) I must admit that I am well on the path to conversion.

Don’t get me wrong, you are unlikely to find me gripped to my television screen watching road cycling events all year round but the monumental achievements of the likes of Mark Cavendish, Bradley Wiggins, Chris Froome and Lizzie Armitstead on the road over the past couple of years have certainly gone a long way towards inspiring a passion within me for the sport as a whole.

In order to break the back of learning both to watch and to enjoy road cycling I have found it helpful to compare it to test cricket which is a sporting discipline I have always had an enormous affection for.

Sure, some stages of test cricket can be an absolute bore as can some stages of the Tour De France but the beauty of both comes in the moments of sheer excitement that emerge from these lengthy spells of monotony and tedium.

Just as Cavendish’s disappointment made Armitstead’s success so thrilling, the dull and at times dismal periods of test cricket and road cycling make the great spells of play all the more memorable.

I can accept that road cycling will never be on a par with something like the 100m sprint at the Olympics in terms of sheer and complete excitement but where it does excel is in it’s ability to drag viewers through the seemingly more boring moments with captivating tactical battles which can only be fully appreciated as a result of an increased understanding.

Until recently I have never tried to properly understand the real gritty and at times enthralling tactical side to top-level cycling and though I am a million miles away from being an expert on the subject now, my knowledge has certainly improved and I can say with undoubted integrity that I am much more appreciative of the skill of road cycling for having spent some time taking an active interest in it.

It is also immensely helpful to me as a spectator of road cycling that I have now had the opportunity to see before my very eyes the world’s finest road cyclists’s taking on roads and landscapes with which I am well acquainted. Even if the route had taken in merely 250 km of straightforwards roads in my local area I would have gained a greater appreciation for their talents for having a more enhanced knowledge of the route, but for the male competitors in particular to have had to conquered Box Hill nine times in a row in the middle of their race is truly phenomenal and it has earned all my respect.

I myself am sporty and would consider myself to be reasonably fit but I would happily wager that I couldn’t manage one round of Box Hill in isolation without doing myself a serious mischief along the way. So, for them to have completed nine straight circuits of the area as just the focal point of their gruelling ride is totally astounding as it is a tricky enough ascent when walking on foot let alone when trying to force an unwilling bike up there.

As for the women’s race, they may only have had to conquer Box Hill twice in a shortened version of the men’s route but I have a very sizeable amount of respect for their efforts too in what was still an enormously demanding race which was also played out in some of Britain’s very filthiest summertime weather, unlike the men’s race which was awash with sunshine.

As I mentioned I was road side to see Armitstead and co whizz down Hampton Court Way on their route back towards The Mall and as I stood observing the latter stages of the race the conditions ranged from bellowing thunder, to huge bolts of lightning and then most joyously of all to a storm of hailstones.

That spell of vile weather was enough to make me feel terribly sorry for myself for just having to stand there getting soaked and stung by the hail let alone cycle into it at 50 kph for hours on end. Therefore I have nothing but the highest of praise and admiration for Lizzie Armitstead as she rustled up a whole lifetime’s worth of my capacity for bravery and resolve in just one day of phenomenal effort on the roads of London and Surrey.

Though Team GB’s plans may have gone a little awry in the men’s race, the women’s plans were implemented and executed superbly off the back of the knowledge provided by the previous day’s efforts and Lizzie Armitstead demonstrated tremendous skill, power and determination to force home a splendid finish and to grab a hold of Team GB’s first medal of our third Olympic Games.

Armitstead’s awesome show on the roads will undoubtedly see her go down in pub quiz folklore for the rest of her existence and beyond and the honour of becoming Team GB’s first medalist of our home games must surely be beyond her comprehension.

Hopefully over the next few days Armitstead’s opening medal for Team GB will inspire further success both on the bikes and in the many other varied sporting disciplines in which we are battling for medal success and just as an aside, congratulations to Rebecca Adlington for facing up to the enormous weight of expectation in grabbing a bronze medal in the Women’s 400m Freestyle. It has been a slow start for Team GB but the best is still to come…

London 2012: 10 Days To Go, 10 Team GB Stories In The Making

With time running out until the start of the biggest and best celebration of world sport that Great Britain has arguably ever had the honour of hosting, the pre-Games excitement is reaching fever-pitch as the athletes flock to the Olympic Village and to the various other parts of the country where they’re required to be for their parts in proceedings.

There will undoubtedly be a wealth of huge stories to emerge over the next few weeks both in London and across other parts of the British Isles but with just 10 days to go until the official start of the Games I have picked out 10 big stories that could be set to unfold within Team GB.

Adam Gemili (Men’s 100m):

He may not be tipped to be in the dog-fight for medals in his first ever Games but many are tipping Gemili to break the 10 second barrier at the Olympics and if he does so it would make for a phenomenal story.

Gemili is one of the rising stars of British athletics and could be set to further enhance what has been stunning summer of personal achievement

It is enough already that the 18 year old has made the Team GB squad having barely taken the sport seriously up until the past twelve months or so, but if Gemili can plot a way through the heats then a time of less than 10 seconds may well be on the cards and that would represent yet another phenomenal achievement for the youngster.

Gemili has also made himself practically un-ignorable in terms of selection for the 4x100m relay squad with his recent form and perhaps he could make the difference and help push the team towards medal contention.

Bradley Wiggins (Men’s Cycling, Time Trial):

‘Wiggo’ is well on course to win Le Tour, could another gold medal follow?

With Wiggins currently breaking records in the Tour De France and with him looking set to become Britain’s first ever winner of cycling’s showpiece event, this could prove to be yet another huge summer for British cycling and that is before we even reach the Olympic Games where we will once again be expected to blow away much of the competition in several different disciplines.

If Wiggins were to win Le Tour and then come back to London and win another Olympic gold medal it would be hard for anybody to rival him in terms of British sporting hero status this year.

Team GB Football (Men’s and Women’s):

This is not a sport which Team GB are particularly well acquainted with given that we have never entered a Women’s team and that we haven’t entered a Men’s side in a very long time but if either of our sides make it out of the group stages at the Games then they will fancy their chances of getting themselves into serious medal-winning contention.

Pearce courted with controversy when he left David Beckham out of his squad for the Olympics

The only tickets I have for the Games are for the Men’s final of the football at Wembley Stadium so lets hope for my benefit at least that Team GB can do the business!

Robbie Grabarz (Men’s High Jump):

Grabarz is amongst Team GB’s greatest hopes in the field events

Since the days of Jonathan Edwards dominating the triple jump and Steve Backley simultaneously competing with the likes of Jan Zelezny in the javelin, Team GB have struggled to produce much in terms of major male competition for medals in field events but with Robbie Grabarz tipped for a medal at this summer’s Games things could well be about to change.

Christine Ohuruogu (Women’s 400m):

Reigning Women’s 400m Olympic champion Ohuruogu hasn’t exactly enjoyed the best years of her career since Beijing in 2008 but recent signs suggest that she could well be timing her charge for further Olympic glory rather well.

Ohuruogu is not quite at her best but her recent form has been encouraging

She may well be a little way off the world’s leading times for this year but her performance in the 400 at the London Grand Prix over the past weekend suggests that she could well still have a hope of getting herself into contention for the medals in spite of the injury and confidence problems she has suffered since her lasting outing at the Games.

The strength she demonstrated to power through the field over the last 5o metres of Saturday’s race at Crystal Palace had all the hallmarks of a classic Ohuruogu triumph and if the weather is as bad as it was the other day when the Women’s 400m final takes place at the Olympic Stadium in a couple of weeks time then she would have to be considered a serious threat.

Lutalo Muhammad (Men’s Taekwondo):

Arguably the most controversial of all the decisions made by the panel of selectors for Team GB was the omission of World Number One Aaron Cook for the Men’s Taekwondo squad.

Lutalo Muhammad’s controversial selection at Aaron Cook’s expense has the makings of a classic Olympic story

Instead, the selectors have opted for Lutalo Muhammad who is ranked just 59 in the world but many who know far more about the ins and outs of Taekwondo than myself are tipping him to make a big impression this summer. He may not be as strong as Cook on paper but those in the know think he could well be a major medal contender and who am I to disagree?

We will no doubt never hear the end of it if Muhammad doesn’t win a gold medal, so lets just hope he does even if just for the sake of the selectors!

Phillips Idowu (Men’s Triple Jump):

Idowu is undoubtedly one of Team GB’s most decorated track and field stars of recent times but four years ago in Beijing he was on the end of a shock result when he managed just a silver medal in the Men’s Triple Jump when many expected him to land gold and now he could well be cruelly denied the chance to avenge this missed opportunity because of injury.

Idowu has a point to prove after his disappointment in Beijing but injury could yet prevent him from showing his best

With such little time remaining before the Games get under way and with such little time to go until Phillips will be called into action, he is probably the most high profile injury concern of the entire Team GB squad. He is though still set to try and compete and perhaps the dampened expectations of him due to his current injury struggles will help him go under the radar and land the gold medal he so craves.

Mo Farah and Jessica Ennis (Men’s 5,000/10,000m and Women’s Heptathlon):

The evening session of August the 4th is set to be arguably the biggest night of the Games for Team GB as it plays host to poster-girl Jess Ennis’ efforts to try and win the Women’s Heptathlon and also to one of our greatest gold medal hopes in men’s athletics when Mo Farah is set to compete in the Men’s 10,000m final.

Farah and Ennis are arguably Britain’s two greatest hopes for gold medals in the Olympic Stadium

This evening session of athletics will undoubtedly be one the most sought after tickets for all Team GB fans and the prospect of us landing two track golds in the space of an hour is truly mouth-watering.

Ben Ainslie (Men’s Sailing, Finn):

Ben Ainslie begun the Olympic Torch’s journey around Britain at Lands End and now he is search of a fourth Olympic gold

He is already considered one of of Great Britain’s all-time greatest Olympians for having won gold medals at each of the last three Olympic Games as well as a silver medal in Atlanta in 1996 but if Ainslie were to win yet another gold this summer then he may well jump even higher up the list.

Surely only the likes of Sir Steve Redgrave still stand between him and the title of being our greatest ever Olympian and it would be interesting to see whether he will get the praise he deserves if he triumphs yet again, as he is often the forgotten man in such debates.

Andy Murray (Men’s Tennis Singles and Doubles):

Having endeared himself to much of the British public who still had their reservations about him with his run to the Wimbledon final this summer, Andy Murray now has a great chance to go one step closer to becoming a fully-certified national hero in the Men’s Singles competition at the Olympics.

Murray performed brilliantly at the All England Club a couple of weeks ago and now he is aiming to produce a similar level of form and grab a first Olympic medal

Even if he doesn’t fare well in the Singles he has the lifeline of competing alongside his brother Jamie Murray in the Men’s Doubles  at the Games and they as a pair would have to be considered serious contenders for a medal.

London Riots: Could the terrible scenes impact upon Britain’s Olympic dreams?

With now just less than a year to go until London hosts the Olympics it is time for panic stations, and sadly it is for all the wrong reasons. For now forget the fear-mongering that 2012 will attract an international terror threat, put aside the criticism of the much scrutinised ticketing system and focus on the more present and dangerous threat to our games and to our lives.

Mark Duggan; the deceased man behind the riots

Since Londoner Mark Duggan was reportedly shot dead by the police last week there has been a sense of societal unrest brewing slowly across Britain, but now the host city for the 2012 games has become a scene of widespread rioting and mindless thuggery.

Protests which began in more sedate and peaceful fashion in the immediate wake of Duggan’s death have escalated since Last Thursday’s revelations. Now, in areas in and outside of the capital, events of a far more malicious and infectious nature have begun to take place. The death of Duggan is being cited as the motivation for such criminal acts, but it is not unreasonable to suspect that many are not acting in the interests of the deceased. In the same breath it would be unfair to presume that the majority aren’t acting in protestation, but the agendas seem to be more personal.

There will be those acting on behalf of the deceased, there will be those pursuing their own acts of protestation, but most unfortunately of all there will be those that are using this as an excuse to perform evil deeds. The actions of these individuals are beyond unacceptable, they are stupid, outrageous, moronic and venomous.

People’s homes, possessions, livelihoods and lives are being ruined and for what reason? What cause is worth inflicting intentional and directed criminal acts upon innocent human beings? There is simply no justification for such inhumanity.

Terrifying scenes in Tottenham, the former home of Mark Duggan

This whole ongoing episode reeks of something stretching beyond the realms of a direct response to the loss of a life, and an air of disillusionment seems a more likely motivation. The progress of the active unrest in London and areas such as Birmingham over the last couple of evenings is terrifying and fear is rife that the trouble could stretch further still.

Beyond the physical damage that has already been done there are other huge considerations for our nation and for our government. Though the immediate concern must of course be to preserve the safety and well-being of the British population there are other huge issues that the rioting could cause.

Unsurprisingly the glare of the world is presently directed upon Britain in preparation for next year’s Olympic games, and this week’s panic in London will have done nothing to aid preparations. This may seem a minor problem amidst the more urgent concerns caused, but our hosting of the games are of immense political, economic and societal significance.

There has been an enormous amount of money invested into the games which will generate astronomical levels of revenue, thousands of jobs have been created and our country has been granted the privilege of working towards a major event. This global gathering that is to be so proudly hosted next year is a chance to showcase everything that is great about Britain, but some members of our population are causing huge levels of upset and are diminishing the hard work and efforts of others.

Trouble brewing in Hackney, near the Olympic Stadium

It is sickening to think that members of our society are so unappreciative of what this country has to offer them. If such selfish and frankly disgusting behaviour continues then lives will be lost and our nation will be disgraced. Thus far there has been little movement from Olympic officials in public response to the rioting, but we can be sure that the violence and unrest will have scarred public and global perceptions of our ability to play host to the world’s most prestigious sporting spectacle.