Olympics Thoughts 25.7.21

When Simone Biles performs gymnastics, she looks like every tendon in her body has been replaced with springs.

Taekwondo is a weird thing to watch. The fighters face each other and never seem to bend their backs. They stand bolt upright trying to kick each other in the head. It’s like Riverdance mixed with the High Jump.

I can’t watch the weightlifting. I keep worrying their eyes will pop out with the strain, or they’ll drop the bar on their head and their skull will crack open like a dropped egg.

Good to see the perceived perfect playbook thrown out of the window by a cyclist with no professional team behind her, leading to her pulling away and winning the most unexpected Gold Medal for decades. Just goes to show – years of planning, every fine detail computed and algorithmed, and it all goes to shit when someone just breaks away and does it all on instinct. Shove that up your hard drive, Brailsford.

It’s weird that the medallists have to present themselves with their prizes from a tray. I understand why the Covid regulations forbid one person from placing a medal around the neck of another, but it’s a bit like someone buying you a bunch of roses for Valentine’s Day and you having to pick them yourself.

RC 25-7-21