Eventually I was going to write about the Olympics. Even if you hate it, you can't avoid it at the moment.
And I do love it. But I am not loving it so much this time around. Perhaps because I am never awake to see medals being won and lost. It takes away the excitement when you wake up after the event.
What I do see each morning, as a result of watching an Australian coverage, is the disappointment of Australian commentators with our swimming results. You may be mistaken for thinking the entire Olympics is a swim meet based on our coverage. But I guess it has always been our thing.
We hype our athletes as soon as they show promise. Especially swimmers. Some live up to the hype and expectation. Many do not. Many Australian athletes enter into competition with a ready made excuse for failing before trying. Injuries and illnesses are given as excuses before the first heat is run. It is really irritating to me. If you lose it is because you were not as good on the night. Get over it.
James Magnussen has especially annoyed me this week. He was hyped to buggery. He was on Commonwealth Bank ads that have suddenly trickled to a stop since he did not quite achieve the glory that the Australian media, and the man himself, blindly believed.
There is an easy explanation for his lack of gold. On two occasions, he has been defeated by swimmers that were better on the day. No excuse needed. Any person in any competition knows, there are no sure things.
But James, arrogance is not pretty. And you have showed yourself to be an extremely ungracious and unsporting individual in the past days. Little hissy fits and standing apart from the relay team after a 4th place finish. Not shaking the hand of the faster swimmer after 100 m race. (Yes he did eventually but not without begrudgement.) Making faces like silver wasn't good enough on the podium. Mate, silver as good as you were on the day. Stop being a child.
The failure to win gold medals bothers me much less than the failure to be a fair sport. Why do we look up to sportspeople again?
And I do love it. But I am not loving it so much this time around. Perhaps because I am never awake to see medals being won and lost. It takes away the excitement when you wake up after the event.
What I do see each morning, as a result of watching an Australian coverage, is the disappointment of Australian commentators with our swimming results. You may be mistaken for thinking the entire Olympics is a swim meet based on our coverage. But I guess it has always been our thing.
We hype our athletes as soon as they show promise. Especially swimmers. Some live up to the hype and expectation. Many do not. Many Australian athletes enter into competition with a ready made excuse for failing before trying. Injuries and illnesses are given as excuses before the first heat is run. It is really irritating to me. If you lose it is because you were not as good on the night. Get over it.
James Magnussen has especially annoyed me this week. He was hyped to buggery. He was on Commonwealth Bank ads that have suddenly trickled to a stop since he did not quite achieve the glory that the Australian media, and the man himself, blindly believed.
There is an easy explanation for his lack of gold. On two occasions, he has been defeated by swimmers that were better on the day. No excuse needed. Any person in any competition knows, there are no sure things.
But James, arrogance is not pretty. And you have showed yourself to be an extremely ungracious and unsporting individual in the past days. Little hissy fits and standing apart from the relay team after a 4th place finish. Not shaking the hand of the faster swimmer after 100 m race. (Yes he did eventually but not without begrudgement.) Making faces like silver wasn't good enough on the podium. Mate, silver as good as you were on the day. Stop being a child.
The failure to win gold medals bothers me much less than the failure to be a fair sport. Why do we look up to sportspeople again?
Hopefully the guy can learn from his unsportsman-like behaviour; he is only 21 after all. But he would definitely have a gold medal by now if they were awarding them for the biggest bellends. I am surprised the media still anoint him as the 'Missile' too.
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