25)Quiz Tips warned that the Tokyo haul of four swimming golds would be hard to match. So it proved as the men’s 200m relay squad’s emphatic retention of their title our ONE gold. Disappointed quizzers will rue two fingertip finishes where Adam Peaty, suffering with Covid, and Matt Richards both missed out by two hundredths of a second.
American and Australian women dominated as ever but the real star was home favourite Leon Marchand who won four to the delight of an ecstatic crowd. Just reward for the French who created such a joyful and imaginative staging of the Olympics. I’d forgotten what that felt like in the twelve years since London.
26)There were ambitious plans for the three triathlon events in Paris. The swim in the River Seine, bike ride and run twisting and turning through cobbled streets , spectacular sights. Billions had been spent on keeping waste water out of the river, safe unless there was heavy rain. You saw the opening ceremony and perhaps like me gulped at triathlon prospects. Talk of doing without the swim, race postponed for days until there was a “safe” level of e.coli. There was more rain the night before the individual events.
Please get the swim over ASAP, I shrieked. Then came the cycling and bikes were flying on the damp cobbles, slippery as ice. Beth Potter survived it all and won bronze. Alex Yee looked booked for silver until he found an astounding burst of running speed to retain his title. Beth was again involved in a photo finish for silver in the mixed relay. If you looked with a magnifying glass, you could just see the American athlete was just in front but team bronze made THREE triathlon medals.
27)The Olympic question on Sevens Rugby did not reach Paris for the British men’s team failed to qualify. No good moping that Britain would have thrashed Kenya and Uruguay, two teams that did qualify, for spreading the game is part of the Olympics mission statement. What a launch for the French games the victory of the French men proved! The British WOMEN made the quarter finals but their limitations had been brutally exposed by Australia in a pool match. Hopes of a medal were ended by the United States and perhaps Rugby Sevens is the equivalent of cricket’s T20 as Rugby tries to break the American market.
28)The bronze won in Tokyo by Team GB women gymnasts was a surprise. It would be a tough call for the Paris team to match that. The team qualified in seventh place with their performance on the uneven bars so poor that the gymnasts spent the next day making self deprecating fun of themselves on social media.
Come competition day, the team were unrecognizable, in third place on the final piece of equipment. For a moment the team thought they’d done enough for bronze but NO, a dazzling last gasp Brazilian vault left them decimals points away in 4th just as the men’s team had been. Plenty of British gymnasts had qualified for individual finals where there were consolation GB medals.
29)Life on two wheels started so well for Team GB. My own favourite Olympic moment came as Tom Pidcock recovered from a puncture on his mountain bike that had apparently ended his hopes. In the velodrome the women’s sprint team won the first gold and we seemed headed for Eldorado. The week tailed off with disappointment the chief emotion, perhaps especially in the Omniums and the men’s Madison. Elinor Barker and Neah Evan’s silver our ONE medal. Our other hopes all seemed horribly short of energy and ambition. Yes, I know. Do better yourself, Sned
30) Team GiB’s horizons have shrunk in recent years. We rarely throw stuff, jump or run long distances. We are competitive in middle distance running and cherished medal hopes for 800 and 1500m, both men and women. First up was Keely Hodgkinson, world Number One at 800m. Usually a bundle of nerves, I was quickly calm. Keely seemed to have no doubt of her superiority and neither did her opponents who settled for a scrap over silver.
Next up was Josh Kerr who was trash talking with a Norwegian icon of the track. One would get gold, the other silver. Trash talking is fine in boxing, just the two of you, but silly when you’re racing ten other athletes. An American had not read Josh’ script, nipped by on the inside and Josh was lucky to hold on for silver. No such GB excitement in the men’s 800m.
The women’s 1500m had two British finalists with our apparent best hope the veteran Laura Muir. Laura had spent so much energy closing an early gap that she had nothing left in the straight. The unheralded Georgia Bell had stayed close enough to the Kenyan winner to take bronze; THREE medals for our middle distance runners.
31)Team GiB’s other great success was in the relays where the team won a medal in all FIVE, never threatening a gold but well drilled to make sure of no slip ups in the baton changes.
32)Emma Hayes worked her magic quickly on the international football stage by guiding the UNITED STATES to Olympic women’s glory less than three months after taking up the post after leading Chelsea to the English Championship. This marked a return to winning ways for the USA, who had been so lacklustre in the last World Cup and also failed to retain their Olympic title in Tokyo. This time the American team were ruthless throughout – they breezed through the group and then carved out a succession of 1-0 wins in the knockouts to claim their fifth Olympic crown.
The expected European challenge fell flat. It was a rare summer without Lioness interest as they failed to even qualify while hosts France were eliminated in the quarter-finals by Brazil. Germany were edged out by the States in extra-time in the first semi and then Brazil caused the shock of the tournament by beating World Cup winners Spain 4-2 in the second. It set up a repeat of the 2004 and 2008 finals but Brazil couldn’t make it third time lucky. They had the best chances of the first half but the US keeper was in inspired form. The US then broke the offside trap early in the second half and Mallory Swanson’s goal was enough to secure gold for Hayes and the USA who had been favourites for many quizzers. (NEIL SOUTHWOOD)
33)Far way in Marseilles Bay, the sailing regatta did not run smoothly. The absence of wind meant some races were abandoned mid course or cancelled. Some of this worked against the British team and perhaps excuses its disappointing total of TWO medals. Sparing British blushes were Emma Wilson still bitterly disappointed with bronze after winning most of her early races. The joy came with Eleanor Aldridge’s gold in the new event of kite surfing. Boy, that looked scary fun at 50 mph.
34)Boxing is far from my favourite sport but with the first women’s bouts, there was fresh air and fun as Nicola Adams shone in London. Over the next two Olympics, the sport became truly global. Sadly, in Paris, the talk has focussed on two boxers banned at the 2023 World Championship for high levels of testosterone. The Olympics did not follow this ruling after falling out with the world authority; hardly surprising since this is now a Putin tool, up for causing mischief. Both were born female, no tricky transgender issues here. Trump tweeted. As soon as he opens his mouth, you know which side you’re on.
Go, girls! And so they did with both Lin from Taiwan and Imane from from Algeria winning gold. Three golds were won by Chinese women with the ONE Gold left for Europeans won by Kellie Harrington of Ireland. Sadly, only bronze for Cindy Ngamba who’s lived in Bolton for fifteen years but still had to fight for the Refugee team, Hostile environment, eh!
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