"Honestly, I think the thing I find moving about The Lympics is not the medal table but humans trying. It's fucking great." - Tweeted Chris Addison on 29 July.
So, there've been a few great moments in the Games so far. I'm angry about the whole corporate money/ sponsorship/ banning stuff/ interfering side of the Games... BUT humans trying is really truly amazing. Sports are fun to watch and the athletes try so hard. And I found out that I don't only like the really really exciting, edge of your seat type moments, but also the "what is that bit of equipment for?" type moments. So I'm going to write as many of them down here as possible. The boyfriend pointed out earlier that we're a third of the way through the Olympics, but hell, I'm doing it anyway. I'll start with a few from the last week in no particular order:
- why do the divers have small wet towels?
- the divers wear a lot of that physio tape
- I still gasp on every single dive and I even watched some of the qualifying events this year
- there's some random extra people standing on the edge of volleyball. Who are they?1
- the women's hockey uniform is great. Hockey skirts did not look like that when I played at school!
- There is no way Wiggins will not win Sports Personalty of the Year - but some women are nominated - YES! Winning the Maillot Jaune and a gold medal in one week. Awesome! I've been watching cycling for years, glad the rest of Britain and probably the world has caught on!
- They don't fasten their belts when they come undone in judo - later found out it is against the code of the discipline to do this unless the umpire tells them to. The ladies wear a vest underneath.
- Friday's events in the velodrome have brought some classics:
- The team pursuit which just looks like a computer game. The riders are so streamlined and so alike, that when they just go round and round and round they look computer generated.
- Their helmets make them look a bit like gnomes (just seen 3 twitter posts describe it as Smurfs)
- There is a race called the Keirin which brings with it some new vocabulary. Most notable is the oldish bloke on a bike who comes out to set the pace like the speed car in motor racing. Except that he looks like a cross between a copper and a Dutch guy popping out to the shops - upright with a load of streamlined fixed speed riders behind him. Anyway, this is called a derny, it's a small motorised scooter basically. The Keirin originates in Japan - this does not surprise me!
- also the Omnium, which is basically the heptathlon of cycling.
Super Saturday was amazing, but I think the whole world was watching and nothing new to me.
However, my attention was drawn to the young men participating in the long jump. Without exception "You're fit, but don't you just know it...!" Very good looking; very arrogant. Like the sprinters they all have a little signature move they do when the camera is on them.
There were three young British girls who won a medal in the team pursuit in cycling (Dani King, Laura Trott, and Joanna Rowsell ). They were so down to earth and enthusiastic. Also, they all had matching Union Jack nails. That was immediate-post-event interview of the year for me, as others have been so awkward and imposing at times. More of this please, Team GB.
-Synchronised swimming is pretty awesome, it's always been a favourite of mine
- The costumes are amazing; Brazil had a costume representing the human body
- A lot of the girls put their nose clips onto the bottom of their costume when they get out of the pool (like when I put my gumshield in my helmet?!?!)
- Apparently they put their hair up with gelatine!
- They walk about like models from the 1950s
some ace photos here
-Some of the table-tennis and basketball players (male) have a round thing under their knee. That's different from the kinesio tape but I'm guessing it does the same job. What is it though? It looks like a quoit.
-Laura Trott has been interviewed quite a lot. She's just lovely and inspiring and she herself talked about being influenced by Victoria Pendleton and Bradley Wiggins (got to be honest, I'd never even heard of Wiggins until last year...)
- Watched some BMX; it was oddly similar to watching a ski or snowboard event (time trials), not that exciting really. Latvian guy went over his handlebars and got winded.
-Today everyone seems mainly to be watching horses dancing. I don't agree with the use of animals in sport, so I'm not, but it's making for an amusing facebook and twitter feed anyway!
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