A five year wait, but what do you think of the show so far?
We’ve waited five year for these Olympics. So what do you reckon so far? Here are a few meandering thoughts. The most obvious thing to mention is how little live coverage most of us see as many events are held in the early hours GMT.
Some oversight surely. Did no one consult an atlas? Tokyo is miles away. Future Olympics should only be hosted in places with no more than an hour’s time difference to Witherwack; if not actually in Witherwack. It’s only reasonable.
That’s that sorted. Then there is the actual sport.
Now don’t fib. Some events are less absorbing than others and harder to relate to. I distinctly remember swimming and running during my occasional school appearances, but have no recollection of PE lessons being devoted to dressage.
Dressage is a skill; but so is welding and it’s far more useful as well as presenting a comparably entertaining spectacle.
I marvel at the virtuosity and dedication of divers and gymnasts. However, it has to be pretty obvious before I can tell who should be beating whom.
Tom Daly would rightly triumph over my mate Tonka, renowned for his belly flops after guzzling too many Slush Puppies before we went to the leisure centre. That aside, divers and gymnasts all look good to me.
The highlight for me thus far has been swimming-related. The swimming itself has been excellent, yet better still was the euphoria to with which Tom Dean’s family and friends greeted his gold medal. They went quite wonderfully berserk with a reaction that could never be neither staged nor recreated.
Boxing twins Luke and McCormack have done Sunderland proud. I have also become an expert on Taekwondo; now that I know what it is.
Another enjoyable facet has been BBC coverage. The Beeb has done an expectedly good job.
The difference this time is that the broadcasts are anchored from Salford. Due to the pandemic they haven’t flown and accommodated swathes of personnel 6,000 miles away. And the difference for viewers has been negligible.
This saves licence payers a packet and all future Olympics, World Cups, etc will be broadcast in similarly economical fashion. Maybe.