Ceremony was a yawn, but wait for Pistorius frenzy
PERHAPS my tastes are not as refined and as sophisticated as they should be. Or perhaps years of watching those slapstick Police Academy movies while growing up in Mthatha have finally taken their toll and affected me.
Call it what you will, the fact is the London Olympics opening ceremony just did not do it for me. Hell, I nodded off in the middle of the thing and if it wasn’t for the wonders of the PVR, I wouldn’t even have seen Caster Semenya lead Team SA into the Olympic stadium.
I have always been a fan of director Danny Boyle, and maybe I got caught up in the pre-event hype and unrealistically expected the man’s Olympic ceremony presentation to be an extension of his work on celluloid. Maybe.
Anyway, you had to gasp at the sheer size of the US team when two-time gold medallist fencer and flag bearer Mariel Zagunis led her 529 compatriots into the stadium.
I have seen fewer people at some Premier Soccer League matches in my time. Apparently that huge team will participate in almost all the sporting codes at the London Olympics. Handball is the only sport in which they will not be represented. To complete the whole spectacle, the Americans even had their First Lady Michelle Obama on hand to cheer the US team as they made their way into the stadium.
Damn, why didn’t we think of that? Were Gertrude Sizakele Khumalo, or Nompumelelo Ntuli, Thobeka Stacie Madiba and Gloria Bongekile Ngema all busy on that night?
The highlight of these Games so far was Cameron van der Burgh’s gold medal-winning performance in the men’s 100m breaststroke final on Sunday night. Van der Burgh achieved the feat in a world record time of 58.46 seconds.
South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee president Gideon Sam says there is a nice R400,000 incentive with Van der Burgh’s name on it waiting for him when he returns.
His stock has shot through the roof after that triumph, and I imagine his bank manager will have a busy time trying to keep up with the many other hefty deposits that will be made by companies desperate to have their names associated with him.
In the midst of all this, the world’s journalists in London are already rubbing their hands together in anticipation of the expected frenzy that will accompany Oscar Pistorius.
The media can hardly wait because Johannesburg-born Pistorius will become the first double-amputee to compete at an able-bodied Olympics when he lines up in the 400m and in the relay. He has managed to conduct his preparations in relative peace and quiet on the other side of London over the past few days.
That is all about to change. He is to make his first formal media appearance in London today ahead of his debut on Saturday, and he will be under constant watch from hordes of reporters, photographers and TV cameras henceforth.
Hell, Pistorius has attracted headlines in his absence. Press conferences that initially had nothing to do with him have inevitably ended up with overeager journalists asking panelists if they thought that his carbon fibre prosthetic legs give him an unfair advantage.
The fact that a number of runners have posted better times than Pistorius this year seemingly doesn’t mean a thing.
And true to form, gold medal-winning 400m hurdler Edwin Moses and 2000 Olympic Games 100m champion Maurice Greene were inevitably asked the question this week.
“They created the Paralympics to give people with disabilities a chance get out there and compete because they cant compete with us,” Greene said. “But on the flip-side if you are able to compete with us, then why not.” Enough said.
To think we are only in the first week of these Games.
Ntloko is sports editor.