Olympics

Olympics: America’s Olympic Hopes Proved Unrealistic

And the winner of the gold medal for national self-flagellation over the early failure of its athletes to live up pre-Olympic expectations is . . . the United States.

In Britain, we may not yet be ready to declare a state of mourning over Team GB’s measly medal total of one silver and one bronze, but then we never proclaimed ourselves to be the greatest sporting nation on the planet; we didn’t send the largest team to Athens, other than that of the host nation; and we didn’t arrive in town with the most hyped (or should that be over-hyped?) water vessel since the Titanic headed out to sea.

At least Michael Phelps has managed three gold medals, although he shines out like a beacon. Yesterday his team-mate Jason Lezak, the fastest 100m freestyle swimmer in the world this year, finished 21st in the heats for the event.

The Americans believed they were in line to win 30 to 35 medals in the pool, including 15 golds. Thus far they have won 18, with six golds – not terrible, but enough to make a mockery of their predictions.

However, it would be wrong to single out the American swimmers. The US basketball team, packed with NBA stars, was at the embarrassing end of a 92-73 defeat by Puerto Rico. The US shooting team – packed with army-trained marksmen – was expected to win half a dozen medals. So far it has won none.

Needless to say, the inquest has already begun. The New York Times’ thesis was that US athletes have been cowed by their Olympic Committee’s instruction to tone down their patriotism. “This good taste effort is admirable and smart in the current climate but [it] is dulling the edge on the American team,” its columnist Selena Roberts wrote.

Jim Scherr, the chief executive of the USOC, suggested that his team needed the momentum that comes with a few big victories. “We hope to get on a roll, but what happened with the basketball team has probably had a negative impact.”

He could be right. Then again, he could be making the same mistake as his supremely cocky basketball players in refusing to countenance the idea that the rest of the sporting world might just be better.

Tags: America's, Hopes, Olympic, Olympics, Proved, Unrealistic

Saturday, January 22nd, 2011 Grants No Comments

The Beijing Olympics – Day Two As It Happened

Some of the reasons to apply matchsticks to your eyelids and keep hitting refresh (apologies for Greenwich Mean Time bias as things wear on, by the way … I am reliably informed we have a global audience …): The Baltimore Bullet, Michael Phelps, kicks off his Goldfinger-greedy bid for precious metal in the men’s 400m medley at 3am. Also in the Water Cube, Team G(ah!) B(ah!) has a medal chance in the women’s medley at 3.39am (on the dot) with Aberdeenshire’s own, Hannah Miley.

Other British prospects: Beth Tweddle and the rest of the gymnastics team begin their campaign at 3am. The women’s road race at 7am features realistically-in-with-a-shout-medal-chasers Nicole Cooke, Sharon Laws and Emma Pooley. Britain’s most successful female rower Katherine Grainger goes in the quadruple sculls heat at 7.50am and at 9am, if you’re still awake, the British women’s archery team, ranked second in the world, compete in the team final.

Along the way: There’ll be the Posh and Becks of Chinese badminton, Roger Federer in the tennis (the Murray brothers hit the courts around midday), beach volleyball, fencing, poor horses being forced to serve their masters in Hong Kong, all manner of seafaring Brits in the sailing, and, just getting underway now, Russia v Iran in the basketball.

Please keep up my Olympic spirits with emails: observations, Olympic gripes, gentle pedantry, offers of work/friendship/marriage, anything….send it to taimourlay@gmail.com

2am: Right, let the Games begin again. It’s 9am in ”misty” Beijing, 2am here in rainy north London, and 5am in war-torn Tskhinvali. One world. One dream. Welcome to day two of the Beijing Olympics.

We’ll have live coverage, blogs, comment and instant response to all the breaking news right here throughout the night. According to my trusty, color-coded timetable that I spent all afternoon trying to decode, there’ll be over 20 sports to run the rule over in the next eight hours and 12 gold medals to be won.

02.05am: Politics schmolitics. Georgia’s athletes spoke out today against Russia’s ”deliberate strategy of aggression” and President Mikhail Saakashvili has told them all to stay at the Games, despite the ongoing conflict.

First question of the night: Has a war ever broken out on the first day of the Olympics before? Or, indeed, during the Games themselves? If sport is war by other means, watch out for Wednesday’s beach volleyball clash between Russia and Georgia…

02.15am: Britwatch The final session of dressage gets under way in Hong Kong after a rain delay. As things stand Australia are in top spot followed by Germany and the United States with Britain in fourth. With one session left to go, Tina Cook is the best placed Briton in 10th, with Sharon Hunt 14th, William Fox-Pitt 30th and Daisy Dick 32nd.

02.25am: Click here to read about Louis Smith’s journey from hyperactive ‘Loopy Lou’ to pommel horse Olympic finalist.

02 40am: An email finally arrives. ”For those of us distinctly underwhelmed by Dressage at the best of times, are you planning to give us minute-by-minute updates on the Water polo starting at 2:30? Water polo coverage via the medium of text, that’s what I’d like to see. And I’m sure you made up those last two names in the dressage as well. You must think we are stupid,” complains the mundanely-named Andrew Walters.

If the television shows it, we will cover it. But our fate is in the pro-horsey BBC’s hands, i’m afraid.

02.43am: Dressage – Mary King is up next, the last of the British team.

02.45am: ”Hold it together, Mary!” exclaims the cut-glass accented commentator. ”Brilliant extended trots!”, he then adds with gusto. Final score: 38.1! Britain are 12 marks closer to the Australians.

02.50am: Balding Watch – Conor O’Kane is wondering about Clare Balding. ”Does anyone know if she bases her hairstyle on Edward Fox’s in The Day Of The Jackal? The parting is slightly higher than his, but the volume and sweep are exactly the same. Sort of like a well conditioned Shredded Wheat.”

I think we need some documentary evidence to settle this. Give me 10 minutes.

02.54am: Swimming – Phelps is up in five minutes or so. He’s going for his first gold in the 400m individual medley final.

02.59am: Phelps’s main competition will come from fellow American, Ryan Lochte. George Bush is in position at the Water Cube. Go on the Hungarian Laszlo Cseh! Seriously. He’s good.

03.04am: They start with the butterfly. Phelps is half a second under his world record pace. Bald-headed Cseh doesn’t need a swimming cap. He’s in second. Lochte is close by.

03:07am: Cseh and Lochte need to make the move now. Phelps is too strong in the freestyle. A world record is likely.

03.09am: GOLD for Phelps in the 400m individual medley. A new world record. Only seven more to go, then … Cseh takes a surprise silver, and Lochte bronze.

03.16am: Just minutes after Phelps’s first gold, Rick emails in to gripe and carp and so on: ”In order to truly say Phelps is bettering Mark Spitz’s record, shouldn’t Phelps regrow his moustache? I mean Spitz was giving the other guys a bit of a chance with his facial fuzz masterpiece, said to have increased his weight by at least 2lbs, so lush and absorbent as it was. That’s not to mention the friction factor.”

03.18am: Team GB – Still at the pool: Jemma Lowe equals the British record (57.78sec) to finish fourth in her 100m fly semi-final. She’s made the final as 6th fastest, having only just sneaked into that semi.

03.24am: Another final at the Cube. Australia’s Grant Hackett, having lost out to Thorpe four years ago (no shame there), is up against South Korean sensation Park Tae-Hwa in the men’s 400m freestyle. There’s a young Beijinger in there, too. He could make history.

03.29am: Park’s got 10 years over the 28-year-old Hackett. He’s watching him all the way. They’re level at 200m.

03.31am: Park wins gold in the 400m freestyle. The South Korean stretches away at the 200m mark. It looks like he could have gone too early but he sustains the break and the 18-year-old wins it. Zhang Lin from China makes a late burst and gets silver. Bronze goes to the American Larsen Jensen, and Hackett languishes in 5th. George Bush waves his flag again.

03.37am: Coda to that 400m. ”Hackett shouldn’t feel too bad,” chirps Billy Paxton. ”He’s the husband of Australian singer-songwriter Candice Alley. He has a songwriting credit on her last album and is the only other credited writer besides Alley, so despite this poor result tonight he has the consolation of another career to fall back on.” Yes, I suppose they can pool their resources.

Sorry.

Meanwhile, Phelps is on the podium, hand on heart, eyes moistening. Bush looks pretty happy too.

03.44: Team GB Two days after her 19th birthday, Hannah Miley is up next in the 400m individual medley final. She’s in lane eight. But American Katie Hoff is the favourite.

03.52am: Australia’s Stephanie Rice makes the strongest start. But the Hoff is still there. This would be an incredible late comeback. ‘Smiley Miley’, as the typically imaginative British press have dubbed her, is a long way back.

03.52am: Stephanie Rice wins gold and sets a new world record (4:29:45). And she lets off a primal scream/woop as she does it. The Zimbabwean Kirsty Coventry takes silver and Hoff gets bronze. Miley is in 6th – and it’s a poor time, well off her best. ‘Smiley Miley’ lives up to her (awful) nickname – the British press: the best in the world – by giving a very cheerful interview afterwards. She’s still got the 200m to look forward to.

03.58am: Men’s Basketball – Russia beat Iran 71-49, with the naturalised American JR Holden scoring 19 points. That ain’t Olympism, surely.

04.00am: Zhang Lin gets a huge cheer on the podium – he’s the first Chinese man to win an Olympic medal in the pool. The South Korean anthem then blares out for Park Tae-Hwa.

Bush Watch: Word reaches me across the news desk that George Bush stumbled in the stands at the Water Cube. Must have been all that overly vigorous flag-waving. If there’s a photo of him on his keester, I’ll find it.

04.08am: It’s raining in Beijing, delaying the start of the tennis. But acid showers don’t put off the male volleyball players: China beat Austria 2-0.

04.14am: Team GB – Chris Cook finishes 7th in the 100m breaststroke semi-final in 1:00:81. It’s one second off his personal best and he doesn’t make the final. ”I’m just not on form. That time should have been easy for me to do,” he says afterwards.

04.19am: Men’s handball Defending champions Croatia beat Spain 31-29.

04.23am: I asked for emails to lift my Olympic spirits. Instead I receive this from Tom Stone, who’s obviously under the absurd illusion that human rights are more important than Yngling: ”The Beijing Olympics are a disgrace. Don’t watch it, don’t blog about it, don’t acknowledge it is happening – without at least first thinking about what this the world’s greatest sport’s event is supposed to represent.”

04.26: Brit Watch – Another final in the pool. Britain’s women are in lane eight for the 4x100m freestyle relay, the slowest qualifiers. China were the fastest. You make the prediction.

I could be mishearing things. The BBC commentators were questioning whether Stephanie Rice was an underwear model or not. Adrian Moorhouse reckons she would be very good at it: “She is very fit…”

04.32am Britain are in equal fourth, surpassing all expectations at the half way stage.

04.34am: But they’ve fallen away now. The Netherlands take gold. Silver to the US. Bronze to Australia. Great Britain take a second off the domestic record but even that’s not enough to catch the four Dutch ladies cavorting in victory at the end of the pool.

04.42am: Team GB Archery – a quarter-final against Japan for the women’s team of Naomi Folkard, Charlotte Burgess and five-time Olympian Alison Williamson. Britain lead by two.

”The hooter for the timing on the archery is clearly the horn off a 1993 Volkswagen Jetta. It’s unmistakable. I’m surprised Eddie Butler didn’t pick up on it,” says Gareth Bennett.

04.44am: An email from far, far away! ”Good Morning you poor soul,” writes Matt, who I warm to immediately since no one else understands me. ”I’m in Seoul spending a Sunday afternoon watching the Korean Olympic coverage on TV. I can’t understand the commentary but it appears Park Tae hwan has won 14 gold medals today; either that or they are showing his 400m race on a constant loop. The commentary was hilarious of the final 25 meters: another 50 and I think the commentator would have soiled himself. Oh, and Korean coverage is making me long for the BBC’s.”

The BBC coverage has been … Barry Davies-less so far. And that’s not a good thing.

05.02: Team GB – It’s very close in this one. All level with one end to go. Eddie Butler says the word ”sultry” for the 9th time – it’s hot out east, he seems to be stressing – and there goes the car horn again.

05.10am: Team GB make the semi finals of the women’s archery, seeing off Japan 201 to 188. A 9, 10, 10 in their last set ended the sultry Japanese resistance. They will now face China at 9am-ish BST.

Tired of reading my London-based witterings? Read Andy Bull’s Beijing-based profundities. He lays down the gauntlet to Michael Phelps here.

05.13am: What are Asians making of this Chinese Olympics? ”I don’t think the Koreans see any problem with China hosting the Olympics or its human rights record or the rampant nationalism on display: the Korean personality is quite similar. I’m convinced they are more concerned with winning more medals than Japan and protesting about USA beef imports,” says our Korea correspondent, Matt.

05.22am: Give just a hint of self-loathing, and the supportive emails positively roll in. ”Don’t despair,” counsels Christian Wolff. ”I’m relying on Guardian updates here in Bangalore, since Indian state TV Doordarshan seems determined to ruin my Olympics experience – despite possessing exclusive national broadcast rights, most of their coverage consists of two elderly gentlemen sitting in a studio re-capping the success of one female badminton player and the failures of the archery team, while completely ignoring any of the LIVE events going on in Beijing…”

05.25am: The gymnastics are in full swing. Tumbles, tinny classical music, impossibly young Chinese girls looking terrified of the consequences of failure… Speaking of the BBC coverage, Victoria Bingham writes: ”Is is just me or do Matt Baker’s excitable Geordie mutterings seem wildly out of sync with the grace of the gymnastics. Shouldn’t they have him on canoing or something. He’ll be well used to that. That’s all they do on Blue Peter, isn’t it?”

05.30am: Gold for China in the women’s 10m air pistol final. Guo Wenjun takes gold. Russia’s Natalia Paderina wins silver with bronze going to Georgia’s Nino Salukvadze.

05.34am: Andy Bull gets very excited by women’s fencing. Read his theatre review here.

05.39am: A missive from Down Under. ”The Aussie commentators seem a bit disappointed that they didn’t win three golds in the pool this morning,” writes Paul Meek in Brisbane, who immediately emphasizes that he’s a Kiwi. ”Yesterday was the first time they hadn’t won a medal on the first day since 1996 – oh, the humanity! And not sure whether Stephanie Rice has been an underwear model, but she did do a bit of modeling for the local FHM earlier in the year.”

05.45am: ”Despite actually being in an Olympic city (Hong Kong) I am also bizarrely reliant on your commentary to keep me up-to-date,” writes the magnificently monikered Kester Bramley. ”All the action is on free, terrestrial TV but since my building has no aerial I have what Pink Floyd called “45 channels of shit on the TV to choose from (choose from)” but no Olympics. I could go out and watch the equestrian events, I suppose – but trottage, or whatever it is called, on a Sunday? Would rather sit by my screen hoping for a blitz of Gary Naylor insights thanks.”

Oh, Naylor, Naylor, wherefore art thou, Naylor? It’s dawn in London. We expect him soon.

05.50: Fencing and judo are continuing apace. To the Beijing University of Technology for the women’s badminton (I almost felt like an anchorman just then), where defending champion Zhang Ning of China has recovered from a shaky start to beat Thailand’s Salakjit Ponsana in three sets, 21-23, 21-17, 21-7.

06.00am: Olympic spirit shames world leaders into stopping all wars for good – Georgia’s Nino Salukvadze took bronze in the 10m air pistol final. After putting down her pistol on her final shot, she wiped tears from her eyes and embraced her Russian opponent, Natalia Paderina. “I’ve been really nervous,” she said afterwards. “Since yesterday I thought we would leave the Games. The Russian political leaders, our political leaders and other state political leaders should sit and talk about this.”

06.05am: We’ve made it past 6am and the reward on the BBC is … well, i’ll let Conor O’Kane explain: ”You sit up all night with Rishi Persad, and what’s your reward? Adrian bloody Chiles. That’s what the license fee is being used on, flying him to Beijing? As if that’s not bad enough, he’s forgotten the delightful Christine Bleakley from the One show, so we get Hazel Irvine and her massive teeth.”

I think it might be bedtime, Conor.

06.13am: By all accounts the tennis has finally got underway. It’s been a long rain delay, meaning the Murrays won’t be playing their first doubles match for a while yet.

06.16am: Team GB In the sailing, the 49er races have started. Steve Morrison and Ben Rhodes have three 30 minute races today. They’re currently fourth in the opener. Also in Qingdao, Britain’s Yngling crew of Sarah Ayton, Sarah Webb and Pippa Wilson are leading from the front.

06.29am: Germany beat Angola 95-66 in the men’s basketball.

06.30am: Team GB Gymnastics. Qualification phase – Subdivision 2: GB, Italy, Japan and the US.

The shiny-blue-leotarded Great Britain team is warming up for the vault. Remember that Beth Tweddle’s hip injury means she will only compete on the asymmetric bars and the floor disciplines.

06.35am: Conor O’Kane has had a coffee and comes back for more. He obviously pays attention to his sailing, too. ”One of the 49er class boys in the sailing, Stevie Morrison, hopes his boat’s name ‘Little Miss Pipe Dream’ will prove to be apt. The Dictionary says: ‘A pipe dream is a fantastic hope or plan that is generally regarded as being nearly impossible to achieve.’ Little Miss Easy Prospect might have been better…”

06.40am: Team GB A good start on the vault for 16-year-old Becky Downie. Her 15.050 is so good it quite literally makes her American opponent cry.

In other gymnastics news, the Americans’ leotards are awful: garish red, an ugly great big star, the balance is all wrong. The Italians have gone for delightfully classic white with sparkly bits.

06.52: Heads up: Former Bluebells bassist Lawrence Donegan will be blogging live from the China v US basketball game at 2pm BST.

07.00am: Team GB Cycling – The women’s road race is coming up shortly. Nicola Cooke, Emma Pooley and Sharon Laws will take 3 and a half hours to complete the 72km route.

07.03am: Team GB Ben Rhodes and Stevie Morrison made a solid start in their first 49er class race, finishing fourth in Qingdao.

07.06am: There’s no accounting for taste. Sean Dickinson emails from Shanghai to dispute my gymnastics analysis: ”Just wanted to wake you up if you weren’t already asleep which, judging by your presumably worsening eyesight and taste, is evidenced by your lack of appreciation for yellow stars on skimpy red leotards.”

07.11am: Team GB Cycling The women’s road race is go!

07.14am: Gymnastics Rebecca Wing opens on the beam for GB. I’m told it was good.

Sean Dickinson is pining for the green fields of Hollyoaks: ”Go Tweddle! She’s from my hometown of Chester, and what she did looked impressive to me.”

Beth Tweddle’s score of 15.65 puts her fourth in the bars – the top eight go through. She hit the bar with one of her feet during her routine, costing her points.

07.17am: Team GB YnglingSarah Ayton, Sarah Webb and Pippa Wilson are first in the overall standings after placing fourth in their third race. Holland and Finland follow close behind.

07.23am: In the men’s Judo (66kg), a showdown between a Russian and a Georgian has been narrowly averted. Miklos Ungvari of Hungary beat the Georgian Zaza Kedelashvili to set up a quarter-final with Russia’s Alim Gadanov. The two countries will just have to settle their differences on the battlefield.

07.30am: Road race 110.6km to go. The riders are all bunching together. No one’s yet made the break. Speaking of breaks, I’m off in 30 minutes. Must…keep…typing….But never fear: Alan Gardner will see you through to the end with a laughably easy three-hour shift.

07.34am: Team GB News of Ben Ainslie in today’s Finn event. He’s finished fourth place in race three, which puts him second overall.

07.38am: Team GB Gymnastics Sixteen-year-old Hannah Whelan does a jig or two in her floor routine. Folkish violins accompany her smiles and wiggles. Then she attempts some real gymnastics. Oh dear. A stumble. Then a pike. Not bad.

07.46am: Team GB Sailing Ben Rhodes and Stevie Morrison finish third in the second 49er race. That puts them second overall. One more race to come today.

07.55am: Team GB Gymnastics Beth Tweddle’s floor routine begins. She needs it to go well.

It’s decent – 14.950 – but she is unlikely to make the final. Overall, Britain lie fifth after four rotations. Team qualification in the top eight will be struggle. Becky Downie is hovering close to individual qualification but there a lot of women to come.

08.13am: Hello all. Taimour has headed off to stare blankly into space somewhere, and I’ll be your Olympic guide for the next few hours. News on Beth Tweddle, and the GB women road racers asap…

8.20am: Team GB rowing Wellity, well, we have a real medal hope to discuss, ladies and gentleman. Zac Purchase and Mark Hunter are going in the mens lightweight double sculls, and they’ve apparently set their hearts on gold. The pair have started smoothly and are holding a comfortable advantage, with two to go through.

8.27am: Team GB rowing Purchase and Hunter are safely through into the semi-final, winning by a length and only 3.7sec outside the world record. Good start for the boat boys.

8.35am: China have picked up another gold, in the women’s synchronised 3m springboard. Guo Jingjing and Wu Minxia, the reigning world and Olympic champions have wrapped things up again. Russia took silver, with Germany collecting bronze.

8.45am: We got mail. And yes, it’s the first of the day from Gary Naylor. “I note from your 7.00am update,” notes Naylor, “that ‘Nicola Cooke, Emma Pooley and Sharon Laws will take 3 and a half hours to complete the 72km route.’ Unless all the competitors are stopping for a pleasant Sunday afternoon picnic with a glass or two of Pimms, I suspect that an average speed of 20km per hour won’t secure a medal.” Well, you know how the British like to do things Gary.

In fact, after some rummaging, I can scribble in my official correction highlighter that the women will not be cycling a mere 72km… it’ll be more like double that, once they’ve got up into the mountains (where it’s pouring, apparently), and done a wee jaunt along the Great Wall. They’re not there yet, though.

8.54am: Team GB Cooke, Pooley and Laws are safely ensconced in the peloton… although they may as well be in the pool, the amount of rain that’s washing around their wheels as they head out of Beijing.

Meanwhile, Billy Joe Saunders has given his opponent, Turkey’s Adem Kilicci, an absolute tonking in the welterweight class. He won 14-3, and will fight again next Sunday.

8.59am: News from Beijing. Apparently, such is their hatred for the west*, the Chinese equivalents of Adrian Chiles and Hazel Irvine have started mocking our athletes’ weight. “Watching here in Beijing on TV, my flatmate just informed me that the Chinese commentators amusingly said the British women couldn’t succeed in diving because they were too fat,” emails Nicky Goh. “To qualify it slightly, they did go on to say that with their weight, it was extremely unlikely they could achieve the necessary body strength to allow for the turning power necessary.” Oh, that’s all right then.

*Of course, we know they don’t hate us really

9.04am: Team GB archery Eddie Butler’s mellifluous tones are telling me about the women archers, who are up against the Chinese. Win, and they’re guaranteed a medal; lose, and they’ll have to duke it out for bronze. Currently, it’s in the balance.

9.08am: Team GB rowing Some more success in the mens lightweight four, where Chambers, Clarke, Lindsay-Fynn and Mattick are through in their heat, coming home behind China.

9.15am: Team GB archery At the halfway stage, the British girls trail by just two points, but they need to keep hitting the bullseye to make up ground on their opponents. Interestingly, the announcer in the archery arena appears to be American.

Oh, and on that subject, it’s the clash of civilizations, sorry, China v USA in the basketball later today, and Lawrence Donegan will be blogging about it LIVE. It doesn’t start till 3pm, though, so stick with me until then.

9.23am: Team GB archery China will take on the winners of Korea v France for the women’s team gold medal. The Brits can still take bronze though, and it’s no shame losing to the Chinese, who’ve won every gold in female arrers since the 1984 Olympics.

In the cycling, the women’s team are well positioned out in a very wet road race. Pooley is right up at the front, and all three managed to avoid a nasty crash that happened a short while ago.

9.32am: Team GB Ben Ainslie is second in the overall standings in the Finn, having won the fourth race ahead of Zach Railey of the USA. Railey currently heads the field, with a score of 11, but Ainslie is just five points behind on 16 (the lower the better).

In the rowing, it’s the women’s heavyweight quadruple sculls, where China are out in front, with one spot in the final up for grabs. In fact, they’re miles out in front…

9.35am: Team GB rowing Britain’s women’s heavyweight four, who are the reigning world champions, will go next against the Germans, with both expected to be China’s main oppo in next Sunday’s final.

9.39am: Correction corner. My hideous ignorance of the archery has been revealed. “I think you’ll find it is the South Koreans, not the Chinese, who have won all those women’s archery gold medals,” says Philip Reynolds, all the way from Wellington, NZ. “And it’s not called the bullseye; it’s called the gold or (in Olympic archery) the ten.” I was employing the vernacular, Phil.

9.43am: Team GB rowing The women’s quadruple scullers are moving well out on the water, putting some deep blue between them and the German team.

9.45am: GB being reeled in by Germany, can Grainger and her crew hold on…? Less than 500m to go.

9.48am: Team GB rowing There was enough left in the tank and the ladies will take their place in the final. They’ll be up, as ever, against the Chinese. You can get some background on Katherine Grainger and the GB quad here. Sir Steve (Redgrave) reckons they did pretty well out there.

9.52am: Cycling There’s a Russian out in front in the road race, and she’s putting some pressure on the field. The British trio are still well in contention for a medal, though. They’ve been cycling for nearly three hours now.

9.55am: Team GB rowing In the lightweight men’s quadruple sculls the chaps have pulled hard and qualified in second. I imagine they’ll all be off for an erg now, to celebrate.

10.00am: Team GB cycling Emma Pooley has made a break on the climb, and she’s in a group tailing the Russian, Boyarskaya. Cooke is back in fourth with a strong finish up her sleeve. Hopefully.

10.05am: It seems the media centre in Beijing is falling apart. At least the BBC’s studio is. A violent squall has halted the women’s archery bronze play-off – where we could be looking at a first medal for Team GB – and the women’s cycling road race is similarly pluvial. But the real drama, as I say, is at BBC hq, where someone has joined Hazel Irvine in the studio holding a bucket. They’re crouched discretely behind the sofa… but I can definitely see them holding the bucket.

10.12am: Nigeria are playing Japan in the football. I’m backing the Super Eagles there. Hopefully we’re going to get a GB medal before long, with real prospects in the cycling and the archery. I’d be reet chuffed to break such news, I can tell you.

A Chinese rider has slid into the storm drain in the women’s road race. Plenty of names still in the mix… Jeannie Longo-Ciprelli, the oldest lady in the field has just had a go at the front!

10.19am: The cyclists have just reached the highest point along the Badaling Great Wall, and with twelve kilometres to go Tatiana Guderzo of Italy is leading.

10.27am: Medal news. While we wait for Britain to get on the medal table, Thailand have snapped up their first gold. The improbably named Prapawadee Jaroenrattanatarakoon (or Charoenrattanatharakul if you want to go with the Guardian’s Olympic guide) has bossed the field in women’s 53kg weightlifting. Apparently she used to be known as Junpim Kantatian, which is altogether less of a mouthfull. Yun Jin-hee of South Korea took silver and Anastassia Novikava of Belarus bronze.

Elsewhere, the rowing has been suspended for the day due to the weather.

10.31am: 1km to go in the women’s road race. Nicole Cooke, fifth in Athens, appears to have lost contact… but apparently she’s recovered.

10.33am: Team GB Cooke leading with 100m to go.

10.34am: Team GB GOLD! Nicole Cooke has claimed the first British medal of Beijing 2008. Some confusion on the broadcast for a moment there, with the Italian Guderzo’s name flashing up on screen as the winner… But Cooke is jubilant!

10.38am: Cooke, swathed in one of those plastic ponchos you get at festivals, is enjoying this. Several vigorous fist pumps, and the Welshwoman couldn’t care a jot about the rain now.

10.42am: A big hand should go to Emma Pooley, who finished 23rd, for her earlier efforts in chasing down the leader on the climb. Cooke really seemed to benefit from her team-mates’ support, something she lacked four years ago. That’s the 200th gold medal at Olympic Games for Great Britain.

10.45am: Team GB archery The BBC’s rainfall woes in the studio appeared to have been dealt with… and we’re off to the Bronze medal match in the women’s team archery.

10.49am: The clouds are lowering above the archers, as Britain complete their first end (of four) with a score of 48. The French are just behind on 46.

10.52am: The American guy on the mic is doing a neat job, as the second end gets under way. He might well be Chinese, of course, with a nifty Yankee drawl, but hey…

10.55am: And after the second end, it’s all square, 97 each.

10.56am: Hold on… one of the French arrows has been remarked, and they’re ahead.

11.01am: Good start to the third end, with a full ten for GB, but it’s still tight as we head towards 18 completed arrows. Six more will decide where this bronze is going. GB: 149 plays France: 150.

11.03am: “Isn’t archery just darts for posh people?” wondered Gary Naylor some time ago. Three arrows left and France look like they’re going to sneak it… three points the advantage.

11.06am: Nine, 10, eight for GB. France need 25 points to win from three…

11.08am: France win the bronze medal. Gah! No success in the women’s team archery, then. Two points the margin of victory, and the GB arrer-wielders obviously weren’t posh enough. “No – darts for posh people is d’arts,” counters Philip Reynolds. Touché, Naylor?

11.12am: Medal ceremony. Nicole Cooke “conquered the course and tamed the opposition”, apparently. In fact, she beat them in a bike race. And she’s being awarded a gold for her troubles now. Sing with me: “God save our gracious Queen…”

11.18am: Nigeria have knocked one in against the Japanese to take a 1-0 lead in the football. Sharp side-foot finish in the box by Obinna Nsofor. And Everton’s Victor Anichebe has taken the field.

11.22am: The Cooke report. So, we’ve picked up our first necklace of the Games, and it’s a shiny gold one to boot. Read about Nicole Cooke’s success in the women’s road race here.

11.31am: The indomitable Koreans have opened up a lead against the Chinese in the women’s team archery final. Meanwhile, the Croatian water polo team reckon the moustaches they have grown for the Olympics will help them go all the way. “It’s for good luck, but we can’t talk about it, it’s a secret, if I tell you, it will ruin it,” Igor Hinic told Reuters, ruining his precious secret in one flap of the tongue.

Maybe they’re right, though. It worked for Mark Spitz, after all. In fact, it’s Spitz Day here at Rebranded Website, and we’re all sporting handle bars.

11.35am: South Korea win gold in the women’s team archery, setting a new world record in the process. China will have to settle for silver.

11.42am: Dave Godman, meanwhile, has trawled his way right down to the 5.22am entry to concur with Christian Wolff’s struggles to comprehend Indian television’s coverage of the Games.

“You only watch the Olympics on the state channel here [India] if you have a finely tuned appreciation of surreal farce,” says Dave, avoiding the opportunity to stick a knee in the ribs of the BBC’s (excellent) coverage. “Eight years ago I watched in a hotel room. Random live visual feeds were appearing on the screen, with no sound commentary. It was left to the two talking heads in the studio to figure out what was going on. At one point a handball game manifested, but neither of the commentators had ever seen a handball game before.” Them and me both, to be honest.

11.47am: Nigeria are 2-1 ahead now. No Joseph Yobo there, of course, because the Nigerian FA forgot to include him in their squad. Much to the delight of Everton fans, presumably.

11.53am: Turns out Victor Anichebe scored Nigeria’s second, ultimately the winner. Will England regret not calling him up when they still could? It’s not like the national set-up is exactly overflowing with confident strikers…

11.59am: Team GB swimming Gemma Spofforth and Elizabeth Simmonds have made the semi-finals of the women’s 100m backstroke, after finishing 3rd and 4th in their heats respectively.

12.05pm: Cricket corner. Steve Harmison has knocked over a couple of wickets in the Test. You can follow the action with Carrie Dunn here.

Lots of stroking going on at the Water Cube, meanwhile.

12.10pm: Medal news. China have another gold, this time in the women’s judo 52kg weight category. Xian Dongmei beat An Kum Ae of North Korea to retain the title she won in Athens. The crowd quite enjoyed that.

12.19pm: Team GB swimming Robbie Renwick from Aberdeen is racing in the men’s 200m freestyle. He appears to be in second…

12.21pm: Renwick came home in third, and is in with a shout of making the semis. The Baltimore Bullet (surely a more nautical nickname would work better?) Michael Phelps has just flopped into the pool for a lazy 200m of his own. Britain’s Ross Davenport is also racing.

12.27pm: Phelps, sans tache, finishes in second, but is surely saving himself for the crunch. Davenport was sixth.

Turns out no one else on the desk has gone with the spirit of Mark Spitz Day, and I’m the only one who turned up with a stylish facial accoutrement. Bah.

12.35pm: Medal news. Japan have taken gold in the men’s 66kg judo, Masato Uchishiba triumphing against Benjamin Darbelet of France.

Team GB swimming Despite his third place, Robbie Renwick’s slower heat has meant he will not be in the semis, his time just a hundredth of a second short. Davenport, who was in Phelps’ heat, is through though.

12.38pm: Team GB badminton Tracey Hallam is thwacking a shuttlecock back and forth against Kristina Ludikova of the Czech Republic in the women’s singles round of 32.

12.42pm: Team GB swimming Kate Haywood and Kirsty Balfour are off in the women’s 100m breaststroke…

12.44pm: Haywood finished third, Balfour fourth, and they’re both potential semi-finalists.

12.47pm: They’re both through, with the 11th and 14th best times respectively. The Australian Leisel Jones broke the Olympic record in that final heat, so she’s the fish to catch. Haywood and Balfour will need to get to the final before I’m going to be lured into medal talk, though.

12.55pm: In the Olympic football, we’ve got Netherlands versus the US, and Jacqui Oatley on the mic. Real Madrid’s Roysten Drenthe hammers a left foot volley over the bar for the Dutch, as Aston Villa newbie Brad Guzan practises semaphore.

Earlier, Ronaldinho scored twice in Brazil’s 5-0 larruping of New Zealand. Argentina nicked it 1-0 against Australia, while Cameroon beat Honduras 1-0.

1.02pm: Team GB swimming Liam Tancock, the British hope in the 100m backstroke comes home third in his heat after torpedoing off the platform. He’ll be back in the semis later.

1.06pm: Tancock goes out quick, that’s what he does. He’s pleased, as is Gregor Tait who’s also in the semi-finals.

And you’ll be smiling when you’ve cast your mince pies over these photos from today.

1.10pm: GOAL! USA 0-1 Holland Ryan Babel finishes from close range after some confusion in the box. Liverpool’s wingman gets his first goal of the tournament.

1.14pm: Team GB boxing Bradley Saunders has stopped his Ghanaian opponent Samuel Kotey Neequaye in the first round of their light welterweight match-up. Biff boff.

1.18pm: Just getting a replay of that Saunders fight, and he really crunched the little fella with a body shot. Layed him flatter than a new patio.

1.31pm: The geriatric form of Brian McBride is trundling around the more deserted parts of the pictch, ie. the Dutch half. How old is he? Answers in an email.

Meanwhile, shattering news for all male Olympic-watchers: Anna Ivanovic has PULLED OUT. “This is one of the worst moments of my career,” she said. And I can only echo that statement.

1.34pm: Half time score update:

Serbia 1-2 Ivory CoastUSA 0-1 NetherlandsBelgium 1-0 ChinaItaly 2-0 South Korea

1.38pm: Team GB swimming In the women’s 400m freestyle, Jo Jackson has just finished second to Katie Hoff, the US bellwether in the pool, in a time that is just under a tenth of a second outside Hoff’s new Olympic record.

Rebecca Adlington, who is being tipped as a British gold medal prospect, goes in the next heat.

1.44pm: Adlington pushes the current world record holder Federica Pellegrini all the way in their heat, the Brit finishing second with the second-quickest time overall.

Pellegrini also broke the Olympic record just set by Hoff, as it goes.

1.50pm: Team GB badminton Gail Emms and Donna Kellogg are playing their Chinese opposition in the women’s doubles. Earlier, Tracey Hallam progressed in her singles match, with a 21-18, 21-13 victory.

1.53pm: The US men’s 4x100m freestyle relay team has just set a new record over in the Water Cube. And Michael Phelps wasn’t even near the pool. Apparently they’re the US B-team. It’s those Speedos, I tell you, should be banned…

Great Britain are about to go in the second heat.

1.58pm: Team GB swimming The British lads have gunned their way through that heat, finishing in fourth and sealing a spot in the final. They smashed the British record by five seconds, in the process.

2.01pm: China have hoovered up another gold, this time in the men’s 56kg weightlifting. Long Quinquan won from Anh Tuang Hoang of Vietnam and Indonesia’s Eko Yuli Irawan.

2.06pm: GOAL! USA 1-1 Netherlands Sacha Kljestan hammers a strike through the Dutch stopper after Freddy Adu’s clever reverse pass. Yes, that Freddy Adu.

2.12pm: Team GB hockey The girls from Blighty are taking on the Germans as I type, with the scores currently tied nil all. Someone has just been shown a green card – which means little to me, but is “akin to a professional foul” apparently. The best news though is that the legendary Barry Davies is providing the verbal annotation.

2.17pm: GOAL! USA 2-1 Netherlands Jozy Altidore, newly-signed by Villarreal, has put the septics in front. Meanwhile, according to Sean Dickinson in Shanghai, someone in the China-Belgium game has been “sent off for what appeared to be hitting someone [else] off the ball when the ref’s head was turned”. If that’s clear.

2.25pm: Team GB hockey – GOAL! Germany 1-0 Great Britain “Beautifully done,” exclaims Barry Davies, as the GB ladies turn their opponents inside then out. Moments later Germany take the lead from a penalty corner.

2.30pm: GOAL! Germany 1-1 Great Britain Back in the game. A penalty corner at the other end and the ball squirts into the goal off the wet surface.

2.33pm: GOAL! Germany 2-1 Great Britain Ach, as soon as they’re level there’s a loss of concentration at the back by Britain and the red-clad Germans have the lead again.

2.35pm: Olympic football – GOAL! USA 2-2 Netherlands The 34-year-old Gerald Sibon, who once played for Sheffield Wednesday, drills a free-kick under the wall and past Brad Guzan. That will certainly change the state of Group B – although I’m not entirely certain in what way.

2.46pm: Final scores in the football for you:

Serbia 2-4 Ivory CoastUSA 2-2 NetherlandsBelgium 2-0 ChinaItaly 3-0 South Korea

It seems the hosts ended up with just nine men on the pitch in their loss to Belgium. Seems like the inventors of football are as adept at rolling over as we are.

2.50pm: Team GB badminton After that flurry of GOALs I forgot to inform you that Emms and Kellogg were defeated in their first round doubles mtach against China’s Zhang Jiewen and Wei Yili, losing 21-19 21-13.

Still 2-1 to Germany in the hockey.

2.55pm: Pat on the back dept. As this mbm prepares to roll up its bumper Olympic guide and head into the Beijing sunset, David Lloyd’s email lands:

“I’ve been living in north China for around 18 months now, generally having a great time in an amazing country. So I’ve obviously been looking forward to these Olympics for a long time as you might imagine. To date however it’s not been the best of starts. I was up at 5.30am to witness the torch relay but couldn’t get within 30 metres of the road barrier, then the typhoon in South China kept me and my mate stranded just long enough to miss the football match in Tinajin last Wednesday night, for which I had tickets. Now to cap it all, I find that of the endless CCTV channels showing Olympic coverage, including the specially set up one, none have any spoken or written English language coverage. Considering all the effort the Chinese have put into these games, that’s a big oversight if you ask me, especially when considering the tens of thousands of English speakers who’ve traveled here specially, not to mention the good ol’ expat community.”

Glad to have been of service, David. We’ll be here all fortnight.

3.01pm: Team GB hockey – GOAL! Germany 3-1 Great Britain Looks like a wrap there then.

With day two drawing to a close, I shall bid you all goodbye. If you fancy following the almighty ding-dong that’s bound to ensue between China and the US in the basketball, slam-dunk you way across to Lawrence Donegan’s blog now. And if diving and histrionics are more your thing, why not join Paul Doyle for the FA Community Shield. That’s it from me, cheerio.

Fin

Tags: Beijing, Happened, Olympics

Friday, January 21st, 2011 Grants No Comments

Lottery

Up to £1 billion of Lottery money will be used to build new sports facilities for London to be able to host the 2012 Olympic Games, under plans being considered by the Government.

The proposal is gaining support in Whitehall because it would allow Ministers to bring the world’s biggest sporting event to Britain without having to rely too much on government funds.

Richard Caborn, the Sports Minister, is drawing up a report recommending that, if the Cabinet backs a British bid for 2012, the Millennium Commission should be turned into an Olympic Commission and given £100 million of Lottery funding every year to help stage the Games.

The costs involved in hosting the Games are weighing on Ministers’ minds as they prepare to decide next month whether the Government should throw its weight behind a bid to stage 2012 in London’s East End. If they do, the British Olympic Association will lodge a formal application with the International Olympic Committee.

Although the cost is estimated at £2bn, Ministers fear it could spiral to £4bn-£5bn.

Caborn has just completed a tour of previous and future Olympic host cities, such as Munich, Moscow, Sydney and Athens, which is staging the 2004 Games. He was impressed by how Munich met a large proportion of its costs for the 1972 Games by creating an Olympics lottery, and by selling a commemorative coin.

Caborn, who is also the Minister responsible for the Lottery, is writing a report for colleagues on how these cities handled, and paid for, the Olympics. It will recommend channelling £80-£120 million of the Lottery money raised for good causes into an Olympics Commission.

That money would be used to build an 80,000-seat stadium to host the track and field programme, which would cost upwards of £100m; a new aquatics centre; and other sports venues.

It could also cover the up to £494m of ‘risk’ money set aside to cover overruns and any unexpected shortfalls in revenue which the Treasury would otherwise have to find. That could help to persuade Gordon Brown, the Chancellor, and Paul Boateng, the Chief Secretary to the Treasury, who are both sceptical about a bid, to become supportive.

Caborn believes using Lottery cash for the Olympics could help to revive flagging public interest in the twice-weekly national gamble. Ticket sales are falling by 7-8 per cent a year, and last Saturday’s draw saw the lowest number of tickets sold since the Lottery began in 1994. The odds against winning and anger at grants going to controversial recipients have contributed to the slump.

Two ongoing government inquiries into the Lottery are due to produce ideas for arresting the decline. They are examining whether the division of cash between five good causes – the arts, sport, heritage, charities and the New Opportunities Fund – should be extended.

Caborn has discussed his ideas with his boss, Culture Media and Sport Secretary Tessa Jowell, and with the British Olympic Association, who are supportive.

Simon Clegg, the BOA’s chief executive, said: ‘I’m delighted the Minister is thinking so positively about ways in which to fund the staging of the Games. It would give some comfort to the man in the street that they wouldn’t be responsible for funding this through taxation, and that would appeal to the Government as well.’

The Millennium Commission is best-known for ploughing £600m into the ill-fated Dome project. But it has also provided £1.4bn to create attractions such as London’s Tate Modern gallery, the Urbis Museum in Manchester, the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff and Belfast’s Odyssey Centre.

It stopped receiving Lottery cash in August 2001 and is due to be wound up in 2005, but could be given a new lease of life.

Matthew Pinsent, the three-time Olympic gold medal-winning rower who is also one of Britain’s three members of the International Olympic Committee, said using Lottery money would enhance Britain’s chances of being awarded 2012.

‘If the Government were to put in £100m a year of Lottery cash, that would strengthen our bid because it would help convince the IOC that we are serious and that we are prepared to put pots of money into it. It would also show the IOC that Ministers are 100 per cent behind it, which is one of their key criteria.’

Pinsent said soundings he had taken among his 127 fellow IOC members proved Britain had a very good chance of being awarded 2012. ‘They have told me a London Games would be great, and I’m sure athletes would love coming here because it’s a favourite stop on the circuit. We would be a frontrunner, especially as the Olympics have already been held twice in Britain.’

Tags: $1bn, 2012, Capital's, Could, Fund, lottery, Olympics