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| Team G.B. |
London 2012 will leave a legacy to the nation with the stadia and facilities having been promised to the next generation of athletes. As with all big sporting events, World Cups, Wimbledon, etc. the increase in interest in sport during and after can only be a healthy spin off, especially in ‘obese Britain’. The early mantra for these games was to increase sport participation amongst Britain’s youth, and whilst our youngsters will imagine themselves to be the next Mark Cavendish racing down the estate on their bikes, those slightly older may simply be inspired to just get out and about and get healthy.
There has been much written about what will become of the venues after the games, the Olympic main stadium in particular, and who will become the tenants. The biggest debate is whether or not it will remain an athletics stadium to be proud of, or be lost to a single sport such as football. What we must be careful of is to realise that the event is just the start, and that after a successful Olympics no-one wants to see the sporting hierarchy resting on its laurels. They must ensure that the legacy from London 2012 and its as yet unwritten stories are re-told for generations to come, to inspire and create heroes of the future.
But what about the participants? The last competitor from Jersey to take part in a Games was swimmer Simon Militis, who competed in Sydney in 2000. I spoke to Simon (400 Individual Medley and 200m Backstroke) on what it meant to represent his Island, and nation, at this global sporting event.
Q: When did you start swimming and what was your motivation? Was it that you were naturally good and fell into it?
A: My mum used to take me swimming at Fort Regent. From then on I have vague memories of mum and dad getting me up for early morning training - 5am wakeup calls! I wasn't an amazing youngster in the pool, but I was competitive and I used to give each race my best effort. As I got older I started to gradually improve, and it was only after my A levels that I swam really fast and won my first National Championship. This led to my first Great Britain Cap. From then on I realised my potential and progressed through Island Games, Commonwealth Games, European Championships and then on to The Olympic Games.
Q: Did you do much training in Jersey?
A: I started training with Regent Swimming Club (now Regent Tigers Swimming Club) back in the 80s and trained with them until I went to Portsmouth University in 1996.
Q: To reach the standard you eventually attained, how long and how many hours a day did you have to train?
A: I was swimming 11 sessions a week varying between two to three hours in duration as well as four land-work sessions a week – all-in-all around 30 hours a week. In the pool I was covering between 80,000 to 100,000 metres a week.
Q: When did you realise you would actually be part of Team GB?
A: Before the Great Britain Olympic Trials I had not posted a time that was quick enough to make the GB Team. At the end of the 400m Individual Medley I realised that not only had I set a new British Record, but had posted a time quick enough to represent Great Britain. From the time that I was actually confirmed as being on the GB Olympic Team there was a surreal feeling – it was my boyhood dream come true. However it only started to sink-in when I was up in London collecting my team kit.
Q: What are your most vivid memories?
A: It’s difficult to contain the excitement of being at the world’s greatest sporting event. The Olympic Village was a smaller version of a town. It had everything from a post office and gym, to a spa, hairdressers, game zone and internet cafe. The dinner hall covered the area of about four football fields: It served every different type of food for every nationality competing and was open 24 hours a day.
I didn't attend the Opening Ceremony as I was competing a couple of days later and wanted to be able to perform to my best. On the day of my race it was very difficult to keep the nerves in check. The ready room (a room where the swimmers have to congregate 30 minutes prior to the start of their race) is full of tension and at that point you are on your own. The time came where I was marched out onto the poolside with the other seven swimmers to the cheer of the 18,000 capacity crowd. The sensation when your name is called out and the crowd are cheering just for you is indescribable. It really gets the emotions and adrenaline flowing, but from the second the gun goes it’s just you and your race plan. It’s an amazing experience to compete at the Olympics, one that only a few achieve. It is a special feeling knowing that you are one of approximately 6000 athletes from Great Britain that has represented their country at the World’s Greatest Sporting Event.
Q: Twelve years on you now have a young son, Oscar; will you be encouraging him to follow in your footsteps?
A: I won't necessarily force him to swim to his most competitive level, but I do think that it is important for him to learn to swim, especially living on an Island. If he wants to take up swimming, then I will support him, although doing early mornings again I'm not sure I'll enjoy that!
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| Fastest man on Earth, Usain Bolt. |
There will no doubt be surprises and, as in all live sporting events, it is all about who gets it right on the day. Those who have shone all year may have an off-day, picked up a niggling injury or just do not perform. Putting all that aside there are two standout athletes who even on an off-day, barring injury, will almost certainly take home a gold medal and with it a great deal of the limelight.
American MichaelPhelps won eight golds in eight events in Beijing 2008. Although he will swim fewer races due to his advancing years (27 is old for a swimmer it seems), he should still be a force to be reckoned with. Already the winner of the most golds in an Olympic career (14 medals), Phelps is in need of three medals to have won more than any other Olympic athlete: Larisa Latynina won 18 medals for the Soviet Union in Gymnastics. If Phelps should accomplish this extraordinary feat, he will surely be hailed as the greatest Olympian ever.
Jamaica's Usain Bolt, won both the 100m and 200m with consummate ease in 2008. After his record-shattering speed in Beijing, he will look to become the first man to twice sweep the Olympic sprints in London. Bolt also won gold in the 4x100 relay to leave Beijing with three victories. Having beaten his own World records in 2009 and entering good form in 2012, the crowd favourite is odds on to be crowned once again, the fastest man on the planet.
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| Brit 'pin-up girl' Jessica Ennis |
Brits to watch out for:
Tom’s career to date seems to have been aimed at these games, having competed in Beijing as a 14 year old. Already a British star, the media have portrayed him of late as someone who is too happy to do the superstar bit first, train second. These games may well make or break his diving career after a troubled 2011.
JessicaEnnis
The reigning world champion in the heptathlon. Injury forced her out of the Beijing Games. The pin-up girl of the British team, she will be heavily backed on home soil.
Proved they were the best in the world after a turbulent 2011 season. After four months during which they were unable to compete together as Purchase suffered with a viral illness, the Olympic champions came back and retained their lightweight double scull world title in dramatic style.
American born, the Great British captain has a lot of pressure on her shoulders having been handed this important role, but she has been destroying national records in the sprint hurdles all year.
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| The first medal to be decided could well go to Cavendish |
Relative newcomer Payne, 24 years old, won an Olympic silver two years after taking up open-water swimming full-time and became the first Brit to qualify for the 2012 Games.
ChrisHoy
Track cyclist Hoy became the first athlete from Great Britain to win three gold medals at a single games in 100 years. Hoy also won gold in Athens and silver in Sydney.
Track cyclist Hoy became the first athlete from Great Britain to win three gold medals at a single games in 100 years. Hoy also won gold in Athens and silver in Sydney.
RebeccaAdlington
Adlington was a double swimming gold medallist in Beijing (400 free, 800 free), becoming the first British swimmer to win two golds at the same Games since 1908. Not the favourite this time, but at home she may yet find the strength.
Adlington was a double swimming gold medallist in Beijing (400 free, 800 free), becoming the first British swimmer to win two golds at the same Games since 1908. Not the favourite this time, but at home she may yet find the strength.
Reigning World and European champion. An injury has hit the best triathlete in the world at the back end of 2011, already a doubt, but fully fit no one will get near him, except perhaps his younger brother Jonny!
Britain’s global superstar. The fastest man on two wheels. Winner of 20 stages of the Tour de France and current Green Jersey holder. The GB team put Cav’ in with a great chance of winning the World Champions ‘Rainbow Jersey’ in 2011 and he duly delivered. If he is within sight of the finish come the final showdown he could win the first gold medal of the games.
For the first time since 1972 Britain will have a football team at the Olympics. The side may yet give the nation its best chance of success in this sport since England’s near miss at the European championships in 1996. Given that world class players from the smaller nations may never get the chance to play in World Cups, and the home crowd factor, team GB have an edge they’ve never had in this event.
‘And there, I think, you have the difference between us and the rest of the world. Other nations, the French, looked at a dining table and saw an opportunity to have dinner; we looked at it and saw an opportunity to play Wiff-waff. And I say to the Chinese, and to the world, that Ping-Pong is coming home, athletics is coming home, sport is coming home.’
