I have for the past two weeks been glued to the TV. It has really got in the way of my working. However given the 9 billion pound price tag, I was certainly going to make the most out the Olympics. I have seen so many sports all performed to the highest standards an many efforts have truly inspired.
I was lucky enough to get down to the watch the qualifiers of the womens gymnastics and was blown away. I was gutted to not have got tickets to the Athletics as the atmosphere in the stadium seemed to have been electric.
In terms of performance from Team GB, its been amazing. Even those that didn’t medal have put in amazing performances, but third in the medal table seems unheard of in my lifetime. More importantly though as the first games to see parity across sports from male to female, not to mention all countries entering both men and women another first for the Olympics. The first disabled athlete entering the 400 metres was a touching moment, especially when the winner of the race swapped number with him.
Of course I couldn’t mention the Games without the amazing 44 minutes last saturday when we took 3 gold medals in Men’s Long Jump, Womens Heptathlon and Mens 10000m. It is a credit to Team Gb that to just mention every medalist would take too long. But Ennis and Farah are just two of the stand outs for me. Mo inparticular coming back to win the 5000m kept me on the edge of my seat as he relentlessly held off the challenges in the last 800m of the race.
It has raised the question again as to weather Climbing should be in the Olympic Games. For me I would love to see it included as at the very least it embodies the olympic motto Citius, Altius, Fortius or Faster, Higher, Stronger. However the Olympics is restricted to a certain number of sporting events. So for climbing to go in other activities would have to come out.
Now please don’t take this the wrong way but there are some sports that could make way. Surely they could have less dressage. As not only is it part of several events but it is also an individual event as well as another event where the dressage is set to music. Personally, I would get ride of the standard dressage and keep the horses dancing to music as I would never have thought I would have to tell a friend that I would be out in 5 minutes, as I had to wait to see the result on the final routine.
I would have said rythmic gymnastics but for some reason I am somehow captivated with the finals of this. Although only the group stuff. So maybe they could drop a couple of swimming events and make way for a climbing event. Although my most hated sport, one which I have never watched in teh greco-roman wrestling. Its just awful.
The Modern Pentathlon is also an odd sport as well, although the story behind it is good, the fact they now use lazer pistol rather than air pistols is something that makes it run and shoot part more like glorified Laser Quest.
The biggest problem other than which sport to replace is what climbing to include. As one of the biggest reason for the inclusion of sports is how goos they look on television. Here I have some great ideas first off, watching a series of skinny climbers get to various heights on a climbing wall can be dull. However the recently interweb broadcasts of the bouldering championships have been good watching. Speed climbing also makes great viewing, and if you standardised the routes it could make world record times and such things the public like. However my best idea so far is to take over the aquatics centre and have some awesome Deep Water Soloing Challenges, although at the latest Olympics I can see there being a queue for clandestine ascents of the Orbit, that strange high structure in the olypic park.
How we fair against the other sport trying to get into the Olympics who knows. I just hope one day indoor climbing makes it. As the Olympics is a truly inspiring event to watch. Although nothing is as imspiring as this….