It is Day 2 of the London 2012 Olympic Games and I've spent most of the weekend watching the games unfold, watching astonishing performances and awful weather, watching young people being faster and stronger than ever before and reading a load of rubbish about the politics behind the Opening Ceremony. I say 'tosh!', that's what I say.
Athletes from China are currently ruling the roost with some really great performances but the ones that got me on the edge of my seat were Lizzie Armitstead in the road race this afternoon and Becky Adlington in the pool this evening. It was also nice to see Zara Philips in the dressage this morning (with mum and granda in the audience) and Beth Tweddle's performance on the uneven bars in the gymnastics this afternoon.
TeamGB won it's first medal when Lizzie Armitstead cycled through the rain to win a Silver Medal in the road race where the men's team was unsuccessful yesterday. Up and down Box Hill, through Richmond Park with the rain pelting down and into the outskirts of London, the three cyclists worked together, GB, Netherlands and Russia, to get closer to the winning line on The Mall. At the last minute Marianne Vos made a break for it and succeeded, with Lizzie being in Silver Medal place. Well done Lizzie!
This evening saw Becky Adlington trying to defend her 400m freestyle
Gold and Olympic Record from Beijing 2008. 400m is not Becky's chosen
distance but we all, naturally, expect her to win, which adds to the pressure. She tweeted this
morning that she'd do her best but didn't expect to win. None of the
pundits thought she'd win either. And she didn't. She finished in Bronze
Medal position and that was such a great achievement - the first British swimmer to gain medals in consecutive Games. And she was on the
medals podium - that's a great thing to do, and she crossed the podium
to hug the other women as a great sports-person would do. Well done
Becky, very proud of you!
So, that's two medals we've won. It's nice to be on the medals table but I think we ought to remember that we're the host of the Olympic Games. It would be bad form if the host won all the medals - that would, quite frankly, be rude. It's the host's job to make sure everyone enjoys themselves and the goodies are shared out properly. Be proportionate... but some Gold would be nice ...
Athletes from China are currently ruling the roost with some really great performances but the ones that got me on the edge of my seat were Lizzie Armitstead in the road race this afternoon and Becky Adlington in the pool this evening. It was also nice to see Zara Philips in the dressage this morning (with mum and granda in the audience) and Beth Tweddle's performance on the uneven bars in the gymnastics this afternoon.
TeamGB won it's first medal when Lizzie Armitstead cycled through the rain to win a Silver Medal in the road race where the men's team was unsuccessful yesterday. Up and down Box Hill, through Richmond Park with the rain pelting down and into the outskirts of London, the three cyclists worked together, GB, Netherlands and Russia, to get closer to the winning line on The Mall. At the last minute Marianne Vos made a break for it and succeeded, with Lizzie being in Silver Medal place. Well done Lizzie!
This evening saw Becky Adlington trying to defend her 400m freestyle
Gold and Olympic Record from Beijing 2008. 400m is not Becky's chosen
distance but we all, naturally, expect her to win, which adds to the pressure. She tweeted this
morning that she'd do her best but didn't expect to win. None of the
pundits thought she'd win either. And she didn't. She finished in Bronze
Medal position and that was such a great achievement - the first British swimmer to gain medals in consecutive Games. And she was on the
medals podium - that's a great thing to do, and she crossed the podium
to hug the other women as a great sports-person would do. Well done
Becky, very proud of you!So, that's two medals we've won. It's nice to be on the medals table but I think we ought to remember that we're the host of the Olympic Games. It would be bad form if the host won all the medals - that would, quite frankly, be rude. It's the host's job to make sure everyone enjoys themselves and the goodies are shared out properly. Be proportionate... but some Gold would be nice ...
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