Colin Jackson’s Jacket
Jonathan Edwards had to present the Gold Medal to Phillips Idowu today. He didn’t have a jacket, so he had to borrow one from Colin Jackson.
Even the most professional make mistakes!
Usain Bolt
I’ve never seen anything like him. I should think bets are off as to whether he finally beats a time of 9.4 seconds. Good luck to him too, as he seems to be a nice bloke too.
I do feel sorry for Tyson Gay though. He’s obviously a great athlete too, and in most generations he would be some distance ahead of the others, but for Usain.
He also has to deal with the problems of some say in his name. When I was growing up, gay was a word that was often paired with happy and girls were often called Gaynor, Gai and Gay. Now like many other words, it’s usage has changed and I don’t think too many people bother. I don’t.
But America’s Christian Right do and automatically change his name on their web sites.
I thought religion was all about loving your neighbour and not hating them for their sexuality. What happened to the parable of the Good Samaritan?
Godfrey Rampling
This is an interesting obituary in today’s Telegraph of Godfrey Rampling, who has died at a 100.
He was considered one of the finest one-lap relay runners of all time and helped the British team win Gold at Hitler’s Olympics in 1936.
He is also remembered as the father of Charlotte Rampling, the actress. She was one of the few famous people born in Haverhill in Suffolk.
Truly Great British Sportsmen
Andy Murray yesterday showed patches of brilliance to show that he might end up as one of the great British sportsmen and women, who in addition to all that talent, have that killer instinct, where they never give the opposition an even break.
How very un-British!
Tim Henman had a lot of the talent, but you know he could have an upset and never impose himself like he should have done. He would have beaten Ivanisovitch if he’d just a bit of killer instinct.
In my view there are very few, who had both talent and killer instinct.
The first I saw was David Hemery, who most will have forgotten. He turned the 400 metres hurdles in Mexico into a precession and won by an enormous margin. But he was unable to repeat it in 1972.
Seb Coe had both too and for many years he was the greatest middle-distance runner in the world. He won two Olympic gold medals and set eight world records. His 800 metre record lasted 16 years. But perhaps he greatest achievement was winning the 2012 Olympics for London. My late wife, who was a barrister, said it was the best closing speech she’d ever heard. And she’s heard many.
You have to include two jockeys, Lester Piggott and Tony McCoy. We will never see the like of them again.
I won’t include such as Steve Redgrave, good sportsman that he was, as he competed in a sport against a limited number of teams.
But the last of my list will be a surprise to many. Just as Seb Coe honed every skill in his life, so Sir Alf Ramsey honed every skill of what he did. He was a very good Spurs and England full-back in his playing days, but it was as a manager for Ipswich and England, that he showed how he was the greatest British football manager of all time. Others have done better than Sir Alf, but no-one has done it with so little talent and so loved by his players.
It was good to see that his widow has finally been given a winner’s medal for the 1966 World Cup in Sir Alf’s name. Why did she and all the others who didn’t actually play in the Final have to wait so long?
Will Murray join those greats?
The Anonymous Widower 