Tony's Column - Reflections on the Games

Tony wrote a column for Freeonline on our experiences of the Olympic Games in Sydney. This is the last post. We saw one more event, the Men's Handball medal matches the following night, and then returned to Melbourne.

There were six posts published on:

• 16 Sept: First Impressions after the Opening Ceremony
• 19 Sept: What Sydney was like while the Games were in town
• 20 Sept: Baseball, Softball, and Sydney
• 21 Sept: Badminton and other thoughts
• 24 Sept: Table Tennis, The Flame, and the Olympic Spirit
• 29 Sept: Reflections on the Games

Deb 2015.

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Today I roamed the CBD to witness the cosmopolitan crowds and the tourist-ready shops, and to see how the centre of Sydney has been spruced up for the Games. It was cleaner than I’ve seen it and it was certainly busier than usual for a mid-week night, but far less busy than, for example, the annual Christmas crush. There’s a festive, party-like atmosphere and a great deal of seemingly genuine goodwill. It’s a nice place to be right now.

Merchandising

The Olympic mascots – Syd, Olly and Milly – have been conspicuous in their absence during the course of the Games. Of those who have seen them, few have missed them. Previous Olympics have managed a single, generally naff, mascot. We’ve managed three. Much of the Olympic merchandise – and there is a great deal of it – sensibly ignores the tacky trio too. Speaking of merchandise, so far I’ve seen t-shirts, towels, key-rings, bum-bags, crockery, sweatshirts, medallions, postcards, coins, posters, ties and, of course, pins. And I haven’t really tried. Amongst all this forgetorabilia, the stand out items are the “day” pins. I kid you not, there is a Day 1 pin, a Day 2 pin, a Day 3 pin and so on. These pins are available only on and after the day in question. I could not yet, for example, get a Day 14 pin, even if I was heavily anaesthetised and therefore tentatively considering this course of action. What a brilliant marketing ploy.

Clever too is the official pin “doll” : a small doll on which, presumably, you attach pins as you collect them, buying additional dolls as the pin collection swells. Since the surface area of a doll is considerably less than that of a typical human being (the clothes of which would seem to be another, logical pin-holder), this can only be good for business. But my favourite item, though probably not an official Olympic souvenir, was a pair of boxer shorts imprinted with a to-scale map of the Sydney CBD. The practical uses of such shorts are obvious, but I suspect being lost and consequently forced to refer to them would require an especially persuasive way with the local constabulary.

Champions

Throughout these Games, the true champions have displayed one consistent characteristic : the ability to perform when it really matters. At the Olympic level, it’s no longer about skill and technique – these are a given – it’s about producing extraordinary performances on cue. Hackett, Freeman, Thorpe, Jones, Johnson and a host of other’s have shown the ability to do just this while competing here in Sydney. Australians reserve special treatment for such champions : referring to them by their nickname or, for the absolute elite, their first name. For example, it’s now okay to refer casually in conversation to “Cathy’s run” and “Cathy’s medal”.

On the night of Cathy’s final, I found myself in a “Modern Australian” restaurant in the north of Sydney. Come the vital moment, only 2 tables in the entire restaurant were occupied and no television set was in view – an oversight that, at present, ranks on a par with, say, having no salt or pepper. One of the waiters asked every one of us at both tables in turn whether we would mind if he turned on the radio to hear Cathy’s race, seemingly unaware that he was at great personal risk should he decide not to do so sometime in the next 15 milliseconds or so. Post-race, our companions on the neighbouring table “insisted” that the waiter break out the champagne in honour of “Cathy’s medal”, Australia’s 100^th. Under some considerable duress, the waiter acquiesced. This was kind of him. I hope he still has a job.

World Records

We’ve be fairly spoiled these Games with the number of World marks that have been set, especially in the pool. But, logic tells us that this can’t last, even though our thirst for records will not abate. How about this as an idea then? We change the distances for the swimming and track events, thereby opening the door for athletes of the future to set brand new world records and, come to that, personal bests. In the pool, we could have the 55m Butterfly, the 4x220m Relay and the 1650m Freestyle. On the track, we could enjoy the 125m sprint and the 140m hurdles. I assume this is the sort of idea the Gymnastics officials had in mind when they set the vaulting horse up 5cm too low, although it would perhaps have been more polite to inform the gymnasts before doing do.

Alternatively, why not bring back some of the events of Olympics of yesteryear, events in which all countries could start equal. What about the Both Hands Javelin, Both Hands Shot Put or Both Hands Discus seen in 1912. Or the Rope Climbing, which disappeared from the Games in 1932 after the US had filled all three places on the dais. Maybe the Men’s Club Swinging which appeared in 1904 and 1932 adding 6 medals to the US all-time tally. Or even the Live Pigeon Shooting of 1900 (then again, perhaps not). Or maybe the Underwater Swimming (1900) or the Plunge for Distance (1904). Or the Tug-of-War, last seen in 1920.

Then again, maybe we should create some new events to reflect the 21^st century. How about the Ultra Modern Decathlon : an event requiring both brains and athletic ability. We could choose any 5 of the existing 10 athletic disciplines in the decathlon and combine them with say Chess, Bridge, Checkers, Poker and Cryptic Crossword Solving. Remember, you heard it here first.

Language

The Olympics is, of course, redolent with history and tradition, much of it good. But it does seem quaint to insist that all official announcements be made in French and the local dialect and that all signage be similarly bilingual. It probably doesn’t add significantly to the cost, but it adds nothing to the Games.

On entering Olympic Park the other day, an announcement was made suggesting that “Spectators requiring the Accessible Shuttle Service should follow the signs to the Accessible Shuttle Service”. “How helpful!”, we all thought. The announcement was not translated into French, although I imagine it would be equally uninformative in any language.

Medal Tally

I’m still compiling the statistics on the number of events in which each nation has medalled. More soon.