Britain’s Secret Ingredient – The Twenty-Third Of March
Someone has just pointed out on Radio 5 Live, that Steve Redgrave, Chris Hoy and Mo Farah, all share the same birthday; the 23rd of March. They were born in 1962, 1976 and 1982 respectively.
Believe it or not they share the date with Roger Bannister, who was born in 1921.
The theme is carried on by Chris Hoy’s colleague Jason Kenny, who won gold in Beijing and London.
Saturday Night Fever
Is there any other headline for Mo Farah‘s two triumphs on successive Saturday nights in the 10,000 and 5,000 metres? Let’s hope after tonight’s exertion, his wife doesn’t give birth to the twins she’s expecting. Now that would be a double double!
I can just about remember the second of Lasse Viren‘s second Olympic double in 1976, although for his first in 1972, C and I were pre-occupied with the arrival of our third son. But I don’t think there will ever be another long distance double done by a British Athlete in an Olympic Games held in the UK. And remember, that Mo Farah has spent most of his life in London. But what odds will I get on Mo repeating the feat in the Athletics World Championships in London in 2017?
Hopefully, I’ll see it.
The last few years have been difficult for me to say the least.
Mo’s feat has given me a big lift and hopefully, the thought of seeing a repeat might keep me going.
If there is any sport, I wanted to be good at, it was running the classic distances of 1,500 metres upwards. But I wasn’t any good, although I got great pleasure in watching the classic races as they were shown live on the BBC. I can remember Chataway defeating Kuts , to claim the world record at the White City, Derek Ibbotson‘s mile record and Bruce Tulloh‘s triumph in Belgrade from my childhood. All gave me a tremendous lift, but all feats are small when compared to what Mo has done.
Hopefully, the lift I get will be proportionate. I need it more than ever I did all those fifty or more years ago.
The View From On High
The Olympic Stadium has set new standards for views in the high seats.
But then the architect of this stadium is probably the most experienced in the world.
Has Murray Cracked it?
Does Andy Murray’s gold medal mean that he’ll now go on and be a more consistent player and win a grand slam tournament?
I would hope so! But then being a tennis player, is a solitary existence and does his performance in the Olympics come down to being surrounded by other British winners. He doesn’t exactly get this when he’s playing at Flushing Meadows! I keep getting drawn back to an interview given by Julian Golding at Wimbledon, which I mentioned in this post. The important part is this.
Golding said that he had been invited by the LTA, as he was encouraging youngsters in London to take part in sport. Golding disclosed that he had been a promising tennis player, but had found the life very lonely, when travelling to overseas tournaments. So he had turned to his other sporting asset, athletics, mainly because of the cameraderie of his fellow athletes.
So did the cameraderie effect help Murray in the Olympics?
A Night At The Athletics
I went to see the athletics at the Olympic Park last night.
It was a gold-less night, but at least others have repaired some of damage Gordon Brown did by selling off our gold reserves too cheaply.
The Park and stadium are magnificent and hopefully will remain so, unlike Athens, Montreal and Moscow, which are the only Olympic stadia, that I’ve visited. One of the lasting memories in my mind, will be the glorious flowers. In Athens, all that’s left is weeds.
In fact this post could be titled something like Trees, Flowers, Water and Steel with a Few Sporting Events Thrown In. Only the British and perhaps the Irish, Dutch, New Zealanders and a few others would say that the legacy for the Games needs to be another park. Especially in a city like London, which is already endowed with many large and magnificent parks.
On the other and there is nothing worse in life, than tending a garden. But that doesn’t mean I don’t enjoy them!
My Most Expensive Ticket Ever!
I went to the Olympic athletics last night and I got some tickets for Thursday morning in the ballot. But I really wanted to see Mo Farah run on the last Saturday night.
I didn’t get a ticket in the ballot, so as I’ve finally sold my stud, I decided to try to buy a ticket for the Saturday night. But I couldn’t so I bought a ticket for the Friday night, to see some more finals.
I’ve never really paid a high price for a ticket and certainly, I’ve never paid over the odds. Although, I did buy an unwanted Senior ticket at Sheffield Wednesday for £10 instead of £11 from a tout at Sheffield Wednesday.
The most expensive ticket, I’d bought was one for about three hundred to see Ipswich play Torpedo Moscow in the Moscow Olympic Stadium. But I suppose it did include a flight from Luton.
I went on the official site and bought one for Friday night for seven-hundred or so.
Does that seem excessive? Probably at the moment, yes! But ask me again on Saturday!
An I Was There Moment
One of the BBC presenters on Sunday was talking about Mo Farah on Sunday. It could have been Brendan Foster or Steve Cram, who were both good distance runner in their time, but they were nowhere near as good as Mo .
Whoever it was said that it was one of those I was There sporting moments, like Roger Bannister running the first four-minute mile, Llanelli beating the All Blacks or Liverpool winning the Champions League in Istanbul.
Obviously, the 82,000 in the Olympic Stadium were actually there, but how many of the British squaddies on Olympic duty will claim they sneaked in to watch? After all, servicemen are not known to varnish the truth to make better tales are they? Especially, when it’s about something like being the Army’s champion for painting lumps of coal white! i.e. Anything where no-one gets hurt.
A survey done in a few years time, will show that there were at least a quarter of a million crammed into the stadium.
What is going to be the size of the claimed crowd on Saturday?
Presenters Go Mad For Mo
This must surely be one of the best video clips from the BBC, as their presenters go mad cheering on Mo Farah in the 10,000 metres on Saturday night.
To me what makes it even funnier is that Michael Johnson is rather the calm American and he’s cheering on a Brit!
Why Are Our Women Athletes Good At Heptathlon?
I’m just watching the start of the Olympic women’s heptathlon and we had three in the field.
I do mind it strange that we do so well in this event, especially when it is compared to our performances in other athletic events.
It would be easy to blame Dame Mary Peters for her inspiring performance in Munich in the pentathlon. Did she inspire the previous generation, who are now the coaches and parents? But over the last few years, the good performers have just kept coming.
The Unknown Sprinter
Unless you live in London and regularly watch the local BBC News, you won’t know of Adam Gemili. It appears too, that the Olympic Accreditation Department didn’t either, as they got his picture wrong on his ID.
He runs on Saturday morning in the heats of the hundred metres.
I don’t think he’ll be unknown for long! Even Tyson Gay thinks he’s very good.
The Anonymous Widower 