So the Olympics are over and I'm sorry to say, not being a Foxtel devotee, I didn't get to see much of it. Just bits and pieces on Channel 9 which seemed to me to be pretty poor at this gig. There seemed to be no coverage of anything that didn't star an Australian - hence, no weightlifting, my personal favorite- except when there was really nothing that had any Australian in it, so we did get to see some awesome gymnastics finals.
In the end it wasn't so bad for the Aussies, I think 8th or 9th in the medal tally, and 6 golds? (I'm sitting in an airport doing this on my iPhone so my research is a bit patchy.) Just the swimmers disappointed in the beginning. And as stated in my previous post, we Aussies build up our athletes only to cut them down if they don't bring home the gold. We are deluded.
So now the party's over and London did a good job, it seems, and no terrorists killed anyone (why would they attack a fellow Muslim city after all? Only half joking).
But there are some sports that have to go. Top of the list is race walking. I mean, it makes no sense! If you're in such a hurry to get someplace, just RUN! This bizarre unnatural gait is just ludicrous to watch and what's the point? Sure, it's difficult and uses different muscles than running but so what? Why not have a race where everyone walks on their hands then? You marvel at the sprinters and the distance runners and you laugh at the walkers. It isn't fair but what's the point?
Synchronized swimming. Everyone makes jokes about this. How did it become an Olympic sport? Bizarrely made-up girls who can hold their breath for amazingly long times executing Busby Berkeley routines under water. Good for an Esther Williams Hollywood movie routine maybe, but a sport? Is ballroom dancing, sorry, Dancesport, an Olympic event yet? Why not? More people dance than sync-swim.
Synchronized diving. Ok, amazing to watch but why is it better than just watching diving? What control freak coach thought that individual diving wasn't hard or dangerous enough, let's add telepathy?
Hurdles. I'm not suggesting this should be removed but what a crazy discipline. It's like it was invented on a dare. And so dangerous if you put a foot wrong. They outlaw steeplechase for horses because of the danger to horse and rider, but not hurdles. (but yay! Sally Pearson GOLD!)
And to change tack, why are there no black swimmers or white sprinters? Then for the 400 and 800m there are some white people (including Steve Solomon, Aussie! Jewish! Didn't medal but got into the finals, came last, but who cares? 8th fastest in the world!) and then in the longer races it's all black again. But not in the pool. Seriously, why? Don't black people float? Is it anatomy? Is it socio-economics? But surely, just as the Williams sisters have dominated women's tennis, a middle-class sport if ever there was, surely there must be middle-class black people with access to a pool? High school coach? Please explain!
Equestrian. Don't get me wrong, I love the equestrian events, even dressage. Especially dressage. The horses are so beautiful and the riders so accomplished. But I think the only reason this is retained is for historical purposes. How many people in how many countries do this stuff? Surely not many nowadays. Who could afford it?
Weren't sporting meets about keeping warriors fit, back in the day? Hence decathlons etc with the running and jumping and hurling spears and stuff. And archery. And cavalry. And I guess now the shooting. Paradoxically, I like shooting because it's about the only sport where you can be fat. Proper fat, not like weightlifters and shot putters who are walls of muscle under the fat. You can have a beer and a ciggy and then line up a target and bullseye! Or trap shooting- maybe not the beer, but seriously, how fit would you have to be for that? Pity Michael Diamond didn't come anywhere. I seem to remember that he had a problem with caffeine last time around. This time, it just didn't happen for him. Never mind, I would think he has another Olympics or 2 in him. That's the other thing, unless you develop a tremor, you could shoot for years!
So it's all over for another 4 years and then they go to Rio. Surely they'll add Dancesport for Rio. I can't wait to see THAT opening ceremony!
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