The Crashes

Searching for answers

So we are now a couple of days into the Olympics and both Australia and Great Britain (sorry... Team GB I’m supposed to say right?) have had some disappointing results. For the Brits, the Men’s Road Race didn’t go as planned when they put all their eggs in the Cavendish and no one was going to let that one happen. They would have been better served to at least send one team member, maybe Millar, into the breakaway and give themselves another option when the inevitable lack of help eventuated.

Without medalling, Stuart O’Grady had a wonderful ride and finished 6^th, a great effort for a great statesman for the sport and Australia. The Brits just fell short of gold in the Women’s Road Race but couldn’t get past the amazing Marianne Vos from The Netherlands.

Both Australia and Great Britain have been disappointed in the pool as well. For the Brits, Rebecca Adlington couldn’t grab gold in the 400m freestyle and for Australia, I think we all know what happened in the 4x100 freestyle relay.

I can’t pretend to know for sure why the team failed to meet expectations. Were expectations of gold that unreasonable when we had the favourite and one of the other contenders for gold in the individual 100m? Not to mention two other highly rated swimmers in the other two spots. Was it all mental after there was such an air of expectancy that they couldn’t handle the pressure?

I think we’ll only really know the answers to that when we see what the Missile and Roberts can do in the individual 100m. I just hope they come out for redemption as opposed to breaking under the spotlight.

Meanwhile the Australian teams for the most part have not gotten off to the best of starts. The Hockeyroos, the Boomers, Men’s Volleyball, Men’s Water Polo all lost. I’m probably forgetting someone else too. The Opals won as they were expected to and whilst I didn’t see the game, I’m told it was a shaky performance. I expect them to find form and go into the gold medal match as a legitimate 50/50 chance.

I must admit the relay upset has shaken my confidence in Australia reaching double digit gold medal, but I guess that can all be fixed if the boys make up for it in individual events. I hope by the end of the swimming we take at least 4 gold from the pool. Emily Seebohm can certainly help out with that target tonight/tomorrow morning.

Also, yeah it goes without saying, but how good are China? They have kicked these Games off on fire. Every time I change the channel, which is a lot, there is a Chinese kid not only winning, but dominating their event. Weightlifting, shooting, diving, swimming... they just keep coming. I guess it’s a reflection on where we are headed as a planet in general. I, for one, welcome our new Chinese overlords. I’d like to remind them that as a trusted online personality, I can be helpful in rounding up others to toil in their underground sugar caves.

I’m exhausted already. So many more nights to go.