An excellent piece by Simon Jenkins – This
Olympics hysteria shows that Britain has turned Soviet
Related:
Australians and continental Europeans express amazement
at the sudden and unusual success of the British in Olympic cycling events:
“Germany's Kristina Vogel, gold medallist at the
London games and bronze winner here, has said she finds Great Britain's
dominance of Olympic Games after they perform nowhere near as well other
meetings such as world championships "very questionable".”
A neat Bloomberg piece: Jingoism Is the Ugly Side
of Olympic Competition
“A swimmer or long jumper represents herself and her
coaching team as much as her country. Celebrating human achievement, regardless
of nationality, makes more sense in a globalized world than turning an archery
competition or a 100-meter race into a proxy war between countries.
While many athletes feel the highest honor is to
represent their country in their sport, that doesn't change the fact that the
goal of high achievement sports is ultimately to set records and celebrate
individual mastery. There ought to be rules for TV companies requiring equal
coverage for individual events (they can do whatever they want with team
ones). There is even a good argument for removing the national flags
from individual competition -- allowing the athletes to wear sponsored kit
instead of the team kit -- so that only team events count in the final medals
tally.”