And it is not jingoistic to express my gladness at the GB team (again why GB and not UK?) doing well. Congratulations to all who have made the team – it is not just about winning – although I guess the number of free condoms distributed will be well down on past Olympics when the figures were tens of thousands! Criticism has been made of the inclusion of football – but I guess that it is included for financial reasons. It would be better to be like rugby (wash my mouth out!) and have a 7-aside tournament with added restrictions on age (23 years old), and max 10 appearances in top leagues?
Finance is of major importance in hosting the tens of thousands of participants, coaches, support staff even before we include the press and spectators. Next time I have been briefed that it is likely that Amazon, Apple, Facebook, Twitter, Disney, etc. will all be involved in a bidding war! With so many different sports I wonder if logistically it would make sense to spread it over a longer time period, allowing hosts to either spread out, or concentrate activities using similar facilities. Maybe fresh water, salt water, ‘field events’ , gym events, etc. culminating in the Athletics in August. Just a thought.
And Sport UK or whatever they are called – get money invested in local facilities. Basketball is an obvious one, as is squash. Basketball, every school playground could be utilised out of hours. Or is it because most players are black and poor? HEY Priti Patel “Do you know the difference between a carrot and a stick?”. To be honest basketball would not require a huge amounts of funding , no expensive equipment like rowing and cycling, Could involve thousands and be beneficial to the well being of participants. I could get romantic here and suggest that proper funding for inner city sports could lead to a reduction in crime and greater racial harmony – silly thought, the nasty party would much rather send the storm troopers in to put the youth of today into boot camps and picking up the litter left by the tory generation (18-29 year olds have been adults with a continuous nasty party ruling and setting out the role model for them to follow (The Teresa May immigrant bus, Grenfell denial, Windrush abuse by government, Brexit – vote for selfishness, etc.)