As I checked today’s national papers, I was relieved to see that most had special coverage of athletes to watch at the 2012 games – Hooray! My initial blog that I wrote a few days ago went as follows:
Almost a week out from the 2012 Olympic games and is it just me, or has there not been that much press about potential athletic performance? Sure, I know loads about the “shambles” that is the security provision, a little about some athletes and their despondency at not being able to select their room mates, heard about the threat of boycotting the relay by the Australian sprinter and who can forget about the discussions around the “inappropriate” pictures posted on Facebook by a few of our athletes. But what about the real Games? How is my 5 year old going to remember her first Olympic Games viewing? I distinctly remember ‘88 in Seoul and Flo Jo with those nails and the 3 gold medals on the track. What about the athletes of the 2012 Games? Who is going to shine in London? Dubbed the “Social Olympics” are we overlooking the incredible athletes who will be at their peak next week after years of intense training and sacrifices who will be competing for ultimate prize? How is my 5 year old going to remember this? Is she going to remember these games for all of the social reasons or will she get to enjoy watching Stephanie Rice in the pool win Gold for Australia and Usain Bolt smashing the World Record in the 100m sprint on the track. I am really hoping it’s the latter._
Tonight, I can go to sleep relieved that most haven’t forgotten what the Games are about and the actual performance of these finely tuned machines, our athletes, will be watched and appreciated by billions around the world. I am not sure whether my 5 year old has Olympic fever yet – we’ve still got 5 days …