The Anonymous Widower

A Row About the GB Athletics Team Captain

There has been a bit of a row about Tiffany Porter being appointed GB Team Captain for the World Indoor Athletics Championships. It’s reported here properly in the Guardian, but some papers seem to be following a rather different tack.

It would appear that Tiffany has two of the things that make me British; a British mother and a UK passport. I have a British father as well.  Mo Farah incidentally, has a father who was born in England, has been here since he was eight and has a British passport.

So if Tiffany is the best for the job, why shouldn’t she have it, as in my view she’s more British than many in various British teams?

In some ways we put too much emphasis on where you are born and sadly, the race of your parents. Sometimes, some sports generally get it right.  Freddie Brown, Colin Cowdrey, Ted Dexter, Gubby Allen, George Harris, Nasser Hussain, Douglas Jardine and Pelham Warner, all captained England at cricket, despite being born outside of the UK.  This is not a complete list and I have also left out others born in the UK, but who were not English.

March 9, 2012 - Posted by AnonW | Sport | Athletics, Race