Going For Gold – Team GB’s Team Events

Following on from our hotly tipped athletes post on Friday, where we looked at the names to watch in terms of the individual events at the Olympic Games, we now can look at what kind of chances our team events have this year. Will we see our Beckham-less football team kick off with Gold? Will our Basketball net the Silver? We have a look at how the teams are predicted to perform

Badminton

Previous Games

Despite Badminton being devised by an Englishman and developing in Britain throughout the 19^th century, it is usually China who dominate the Olympics, taking home 8 medals at the Beijing Olympics in 2008. Indeed, Britain has not won a medal in Badminton since 2000, when we claimed the Bronze in Mixed Doubles.

London

Although at time of writing players are still to be confirmed, Chris Adcock and Imogen Banker are currently coming up as strong favourites in the Mixed Doubles, after their Silver win at the Badminton World Championships in August 2011. However, they lost out the Gold to the top seeds from China, so Silver might be Team GBs best hope.

 

Basketball / Wheelchair Basketball

Previous Games

Basketball is usually thought of as an American sport, and the Basketball in the Olympics is often no exception, with the USA scooping both Gold medals at Beijing in 2008. Now that professional athletes have been able to join teams too, our chances seem slimmer. Team GB (mens) last won a Bronze medal in the Commonwealth Games in 2006.

London

Team GB has representation in both Men’s and Women’s events, but competition from USA and Australia is fierce. However, the Men’s team has recently picked up a EuroBasket medal, so we may squeeze a Bronze if we are lucky. Team GB is stronger in Wheelchair Basketball however, with our Paralympic Men’s and Women’s team expected to pick up at least Silvers, after strong performances in previous events.

 

Beach Volleyball

Previous Games

Developed in Hawaii and California (no surprise there), Beach Volleyball has been an official Olympic sport since Atlanta 1996. Team GB has never won a medal (hands up if anyone out there is surprised), and our highest Olympic position to date has been ninth.

London

This year, we have the best shot at a medal, with Team GBs highest ranking duo to date taking part, consisting of Zara Dampney and Shauna Mullin. However, if I was a betting man, I wouldn’t be putting my money on it.

 

Football

Previous Games

The modern game was formulated by the Football Association of England in 1863, so it is quite embarrassing that we have not won an Olympic medal in Men’s football since 1912! Mind you, that is partly because we haven’t had a qualifying team since 1960. Lets hope we do better with our Men’s and Women’s team this year.

London

Team GB (Men’s) is being managed by Stuart Pearce, who has an excellent track record managing his team (losing only 6 of 78 games played under his leadership). The Women’s team is managed by Hope Powell, who led her team to the quarter finals in the 2011 World Cup. However, I am not sure the smart money is on Team GB. If only Beckham was playing!

 

Handball

Previous Games

First introduced in the 1972 Munich Olympics, Handball is a game Team GB has little expertise in, with countries like France and Norway traditionally performing best, with both taking Gold in Beijing 2008.

London

Our women’s team finished in third place in the 2011 World Championship qualifiers, so anything could be possible, but again, chances look slim.

 

Hockey

Previous Games

We have a mixed past performance in Hockey. Team GB (Men’s and Women’s) performed well in the 1980s and early 90s, taking home Women’s Bronze in 1992 at Barcelona, and Men’s Gold in Seoul 1988 Games.

London

Both teams have been strong in preliminary and national championships, regularly taking fourth or third places, so we may scoop a Bronze if we are lucky.

 

Table Tennis / Paralympic Table Tennis

Previous Games

Despite table tennis being a game suited to countries with poor climates (as it is usually played inside) Team GB has never won an Olympic medal since it was introduced at the 1988 Seoul Olympics. Historically, China has dominated the medals boards, winning 8 out of 12 medals in Beijing.

London

We have some strong contenders in the women’s team, such as Kelly Sibley, who has won 10 consecutive international matches during the 2011 Championships. Paul Drinkhall also is a contender, having won Silver at the 2010 Commonwealth Games.

 

Tennis / Wheelchair Tennis

Previous Games

This will be the first time Wimbledon has hosted an Olympic Tennis tournament since 1908. Team GB last won an Olympic medal in Tennis in 1996, which was Silver in the Men’s Doubles (Tim Henman and Neil Broad). In Beijing, Rafeal Nadal took home the Gold for Spain, and the Williams sisters’ the Women’s Doubles for the USA.

London

The competition is fierce from the professionals, and competing in our Men’s singles is Andy Murray who was knocked out of the Beijing Olympics at the first round. Who knows, if he has actually prepared for the Games this time round, he may just bring us a medal.

 

If this has whetted your appetite to putting a small wager on Team GB, you can find more information about each sport and how to go about Olympic betting at sports.gamble.co.uk. This is a great resource, which provides information on all athletic and team events taking place at the Games this year.

The ArcelorMittal Orbit

The ArcelorMittal Orbit is the biggest eyesore and complete waste of money in the history of the world, ever. Or, if you prefer the official line, it’s the tallest steel structure in the UK, a superb work of art, part of the ‘Olympic legacy’ and well worth the £22.7 million that it cost. Yes, the ArcelorMittal Orbit really is that divisive, and for those who haven’t yet seen it, take a look at the YouTube video below to see why…

 

Now I don’t know much about art, but if this is £22.7 million worth then I reckon I could grab a nail gun and knock out about £250,000 worth every time I clear out the garage. Yes, my art would look like an immense pile of crap, but apparently that’s what passes for culture in 21st century London, so who am I to argue?

 

Uhm no, I’ve seen it and I’m still very, very sceptical. Speaking my mind like this probably won’t go down too well in some quarters, but I really feel like I’m actually living in the story of The Emperor’s New Clothes instead of just reading it. People are looking at the ArcelorMittal Orbit and gushing about it, using words like genius, inspired and incredible. Well I’m sorry, but it is none of those things. It’s a huge monstrosity and an embarrassment to the nation. Not only is the Emperor walking around town completely starkers, but his appendage is flapping around in the breeze for good measure, and I reserve the right to point and laugh.

Had the Olympic bods in London given me just ten per cent of what the ArcelorMittal Orbit cost then I could have created something similar using nothing but a second-hand rollercoaster, some scaffolding and some carefully-pilfered racks from the Olympic Weighlifting department. Even better, I’d probably have a couple of million quid left over for nibbles, so we’d all be happy.

There is no real point to today’s post other than to bring your attention to the ArcelorMittal Orbit and highlight how pointless it is. There are starving kids all over the world and someone thinks it’s a good idea to spend over £22.7 million on something like this. Is it just me or doesn’t that demonstrate a ridiculous lack of perspective?

Olympics Facebook Pages Launched

The Olympic Games has launched its own set of Facebook pages, and regular users of the social networking site will be pleased to see that no advertising appears on any of them. That wasn’t entirely Facebook’s decision, you understand – the rules concerning who can and who can’t advertise in association with the Olympics are very tightly regulated – but it is good to see Facebook giving the whole of each page to the subject featured rather than force them to share space with banner advertisements.

The Facebook pages include profile pages for around 200 athletes, including Theo Walcott, Sir Steve Redgrave, Jessica Ennis, Tom Daley and Chris Hoy. There are also pages for 58 Olympic teams and over two dozen Olympic sports. All you have to do to keep abreast of the latest news is ‘Like’ the pages you are most interested in. Updates will then appear in your Facebook news feed in the run-up to the Games and presumably throughout the Games themselves.

Although Facebook is not an official sponsor of the Olympic Games, and will not be permitted to place banner advertisements on Olympic pages, it will of course benefit from hosting those pages. That’s because you will need to have an account with Facebook to view the pages and receive updates from them. Many readers of this blog will already have a Facebook account, but many others will sign up for one from scratch purely for access to the Olympic Games pages. My bet is that Facebook expects a high percentage of those new sign-ups to remain with the social network when the Games are over, and I don’t think such an expectation would be unfounded.

It is highly doubtful that the athletes will be posting all of their own status updates personally (they do, after all, have medals to try and win) but it is certainly good to see the Olympic organisers making full use of social media in this way. People will be using smartphones and mobile internet devices just as much as traditional methods to keep up with the Olympic action this year, so having dedicated information sources specifically geared to those kinds of consumer device will be very useful.

Olympic Millionaire Raffle

Money raised from the sale of lottery tickets has played a major role in helping the UK to fund the hosting of the Olympic Games this year. To thank players for their contribution, National Lottery organisers in the UK have announced that there will be a special Millionaire Raffle draw on the night of the Opening Ceremony that will see 100 players win £1,000,000 each.

The Millionaire Raffle draw is exclusive to British players of the EuroMillions lottery game, and one Millionaire Raffle entry is automatically given to anyone who buys a EuroMillions entry in the UK. Normally just one prize of £1,000,000 is won, but every so often a special draw is held which creates multiple winners. For example, on Christmas Eve in 2010 the Millionaire Raffle game awarded 25 prizes of £1,000,000 each, and in so doing it set the world record for creating the most millionaire lottery winners in a single draw.

With the Millionaire Raffle draw on Friday 27 July scheduled to pay out 100 prizes of £1,000,000 each, that existing world record will be smashed, and I dare say that the owners of the 100 winning tickets will be delighted with their success. But from a broader perspective, this award of £100 million makes little sense to me.

Here’s what I mean: either lottery funding was required to help the Games or it wasn’t. If it was needed then why give away £100 million of the cash that has been raised? Why not instead use that £100 million to lessen the impact on the public coffers by the same amount? And if the money wasn’t needed then why was it raised from lottery ticket sales in the first place?

The answer, of course, is that normal logic doesn’t apply here. The bottom line is that the lottery has helped to raise money for the Olympics and now it will do whatever is necessary to milk its association with the Games for its own purposes. Most lottery players, giddy at the prospect of being one of 100 millionaire winners, won’t notice this. And of those that do notice, most won’t care because they’re giddy at the prospect of… well, you can figure out the rest.

All of that said, there are now just 46 days to go until the Opening Ceremony and also until the Millionaire Raffle game sets a new world record. Expect 100 lottery players in the UK to demonstrate previously hidden gymnastics skills when their numbers come up…

The Political Olympics

It is often said that the Olympic Games are just as much about politics as they are about sport, and I think that is probably true. It seems that these days almost all international sporting events are used as excuses for governments to make political statements of some sort. One country refuses to send a team to a competition because it doesn’t approve of how the host nation is governed, and suddenly discussion of that competition doesn’t revolve around the sport but itself around the tensions, conflicts or disagreements between the nations slated to take part.

The idealist in me would prefer things to be different, but my inner realist knows that it probably never will be. And in fact, it probably never has been. Maybe the Ancient Olympics were all about who would prove themselves to be the fastest sprinter or the strongest competitor in the wrestling ring, but the Modern Olympics have always had a political element.

A new exhibition in London called ‘Politics & Olympics: Ideals and Realities’ explores the political and commercial links with the Olympic Games. It runs until the close of the Paralympic Games in September and should be of interest to anyone who wants to find out more about the role that politics has played and continues to play in the world’s biggest sporting event. For anyone who has an interest in attending this exhibition (and for those who would like to but won’t be in London) here is a YouTube video that serves as an excellent introduction to the subject.

GB Gymnastics Team Wins Gold

Yesterday I blogged that Jessica Ennis had set a new British heptathlon record over the weekend, and today I am just as pleased to point out that the weekend was also a winning one for the men representing Great Britain in the European Men’s Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Montpellier, France. The team won gold in the competition, and what makes this success even more notable is that no other British team had previously won gold at the same level.

The team members were (in alphabetical order) Ruslan Panteyleymonov, Daniel Purvis, Louis Smith, Kristian Thomas, and Max Whitlock, and the team scored 266.296. The Russian team placed second with 265.535 and the Romanian team came in third with 261.319.

For those of you who aren’t familiar with artistic gymnastics, the men’s events comprise the floor exercise, pommel horse, still rings, parallel bars and the high bar. Rather than try and describe these events, here is a video on YouTube which shows artistic gymnasts in action and just happens to have an awesome soundtrack…

 

Congratulations to the British team for winning gold at the European Championships, and I look forward to seeing how Great Britain performs at the Olympic Games later this year!

Olympic Fatigue

Olympic fatigue is a term that will crop up on an increasingly regular basis the closer we get to the event itself. For the younger readers out there, this term isn’t referring to the physical sense of fatigue experienced by Olympic Marathon runners and the like, but to a growing sense of boredom among members of the general public who just aren’t interested. The simple fact is that not everyone is enthusiastic about sporting events of any kind, so hearing the word Olympics in every news bulletin or reading it in every daily newspaper gradually wears some people down.

Blogs like this one are partly to blame, but even if my Olympic Countdown Blog (or others like it) didn’t exist, people would still get tired of Olympic references elsewhere. All nations recognise that hosting the Olympic Games is a big deal, and not only for sports fans and the participating athletes. The Olympics is also a big deal for businesses that are keen to make money by somehow associating their goods and services to the sense of enthusiasm that the Games inspire.

The organisers of the Olympics in the UK have been very careful to make sure that only authorised businesses can use this year’s event as a marketing device, and so no business can claim any formal Olympic association unless they have entered into a agreement which authorises such association. Of course, plenty of businesses have done just that, and if you perform a search on the word ‘Olympics’ at Amazon and you will see books, toys, card games, souvenirs and a variety of other products for sale that weren’t available even three months ago.

Businesses offering products and services aren’t the only entities that have a vested interest in promoting Olympic enthusiasm and hitching a ride on the back of it. Television and radio broadcasters, charitable organisations and even soap opera scriptwriters are all extremely keen to add a little Olympic magic to their offerings, and you will see greater evidence of this over the coming weeks.

Unfortunately, there is no cure for Olympic fatigue and anyone who is already frustrated by mention of ‘the O word’ will have much more to complain about as the Opening Ceremony looms closer. The only consolation I can offer is that the Olympic Games won’t last forever and by the time September gets here the O word will appear far less often in news bulletins and newspaper headlines. Of course, how long it will be until we then start counting down to Rio 2016 is another matter entirely…

The Olympics and Social Networking

Although social networking was around when the 2008 Olympics took place in Beijing (Facebook was launched in 2004 and Twitter in 2006), it wasn’t nearly as popular a way of communicating as it is today, and that gives the Olympic sports fans of 2012 a number of advantages over fans of previous Games.

The first advantage is that it will be possible for anyone with a smartphone to keep up with events even if they don’t have access to a radio, television or the web and even if they want to keep up with one of the more specialist sports. For example, I won’t be at all surprised to see people checking their Twitter feeds in the supermarket or dentist’s waiting room to find out how their favourite competitors are faring in the Olympic Archery, Fencing or Taekwondo events.

Another big advantage of using social networking services to keep track of events at the Olympics is that many competitors now have their own accounts and are in the habit of communicating their thoughts, feelings and/or results directly to their followers. For example, Tom Daley and Jessica Ennis both use Twitter to keep their fans and colleagues up to date with things (check out @TomDaley1994 or @J_Ennis if you want to follow Tom or Jessica yourself). Following your favourite competitors in this way can enrich your enjoyment of the Olympics by a large margin even if you also follow the action on television or are lucky enough to watch their events in person.

Of course, the majority of people won’t be watching the Olympic Games in person due to ticket limitations, and so social networking sites will also help to provide a sense of ‘virtual community’ among spectators who could well be miles or even thousands of miles apart. Again, this is something that will undoubtedly enrich the experience of those who are watching the games by themselves on television or who are listening to the action on the radio.

Those of you who use services such as Twitter or Facebook on a regular basis will probably be wondering why I am pointing out the obvious, but my aim here is to highlight the potential benefits for those who are not already using social networking services. That said, for those of you who are new to social networking, be sure to take a closer look at services such as Twitter and Facebook so that you can set things up in plenty of time for the Opening Ceremony if you like what you see!

Olympic Torches Up For Sale on eBay

I have previously blogged about the Olympic flame being toured around the UK by 8,000 Torchbearers, and I should now point out that each of those Torchbearers has the right to buy their torch (which costs around £495 to make) for just £199. I mention that because several Olympic torches have been put up for sale on eBay, and one of them has already been sold for £153,100!

In my opinion, the Torchbearers are entitled to do whatever they like with their Olympic torches because once purchased it is their property, but some people don’t like the idea of people profiting from their sale. Now it has to be said that the torches were probably offered to the Torchbearers at a cut price so that they could keep it as a souvenir of their involvement in the Olympic countdown, but several of the Torchbearers want to sell their torches to the highest bidder for one reason or another. Some want to raise funds for a favourite charity and others may want to raise funds for themselves, but either way I don’t think there is anything for the general public to complain about.

Lots of things get auctioned on eBay that weren’t originally intended to be sold. I have just taken a quick look and right now I could buy a variety of medals that were originally awarded to war veterans as well as a genuine Olympic gold medal from Tokyo 1964 and an autograph from diving sensation Tom Daley. Nobody is making a fuss about the sale of those or similar items, so I can only assume that people are getting riled about the sale of the new Olympic torches because they have only been in circulation for a few days.

The way I see it, if a Torchbearer has invested their own time and effort in helping to transport the Olympic flame around the UK, and has then decided to buy the torch with their own hard-earned money, they can do whatever they like with it. Whether they hang it on the wall in their home, use it as a rudimentary bat in a game of rounders or sell it on eBay to make a profit (for charity or themselves) isn’t anything to do with me.

Does my opinion make me a minority, or are the people complaining the ones who are outnumbered? I’d be genuinely interested in your comments either way, so tell me – do you think there is anything wrong with selling an Olympic torch on eBay?

Jessica Ennis Frustrated by Error

An error made by officials at the Great City Games in Manchester on Sunday proved to be extremely frustrating for UK Olympic hopeful Jessica Ennis. The error was made in the 100m hurdles race where Ennis achieved a personal best of 12.75 seconds, beating US competitor Dawn Harper into second place. Unfortunately, officials hadn’t set out the correct number of hurdles, so the competitors jumped nine hurdles instead of ten. That error rendered the race void, and Ennis was understandably annoyed.

Ennis said that the error was a ‘massive, massive mess-up’, the kind of which she has never encountered before even at the lowest amateur levels. The organisers of the Great City Games admitted making the mistake and promised to carry out a full investigation into how it happened, but that doesn’t help Ennis or indeed any of the other competitors.

At this point in time, with just 67 days to go before the Opening Ceremony, athletes in all sports and disciplines are fine-tuning themselves so that they are all set for what will be one of the biggest events of their lives. They are focused entirely on their own performance and they quite rightly assume that athletics organisers will take proper care of the event itself. Unfortunately, the error in Manchester on Sunday punished that assumption, and we can only hope that it doesn’t have any negative impact on the athletes concerned.

If there is any silver lining in this particular cloud, it is that officials will be even more careful about how they set things up for future events. I suppose it is better for a mistake like this to be made several weeks before the Olympics than at the Olympics themselves, and hopefully we won’t see any similar errors again.

As far as Jessica Ennis is concerned, Brits can be very proud of the fact that she was the fastest athlete on the track with nine hurdles in place. If she puts in a similar performance over the correct number of hurdles during the Olympic Games then we will all be smiling.