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The 2012 Olympics and the deep sporting culture of Britain
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RH
Aug 14, 2012, 3:25:54 PM8/14/12
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http://livinginamadhouse.wordpress.com/2012/08/14/the-2012-olympics-and-the-deep-sporting-culture-of-britain/
The 2012 Olympics and the deep sporting culture of Britain
Robert Henderson
The breadth of British sporting involvement is readily shown by the
performances in the 2012 Olympics.
The final medal tally for Britain was 65 – 29 Gold, 17 silver and
19 bronze. (http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2012/aug/05/team-gb-every-
olympic-medallist). These were obtained across 17 sports, more than
half the sports on offer at the Olympics .
There were eleven events in which gold (and often silver and gold as
well) was won: athletics, boxing, canoeing, cycling , equestrian
events, rowing, sailing, shooting, taekwondo, tennis and , triathlon.
In addition, there were six events in which only silver or bronze
was won: diving, gymnastics , hockey, judo, modern pentathlon , and
swimming .
The only sports where a medal was not achieved were: badminton,
basketball, beach volleyball, fencing, football, handball, table
tennis, volleyball, water polo, weightlifting, wrestling, a total
of 12.
By way of comparison, the USA, a mature sporting super-power which
headed the medals table with 104, also won medals in these seventeen
sports: athletics, swimming, rowing, shooting, diving, football
(women), taekwondo, tennis, cycling, beach volleyball, water polo,
gymnastics, fencing, judo, boxing, basketball, and archery. (http://
www.guardian.co.uk/sport/datablog/2012/aug/10/olympics-2012-list-medal-winners)
In the history of the Olympics (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/
olympics/8660580/Olympic-Medal-Table.htm) t he figure of 29 golds has
only been exceeded by the USA, the USSR/Russian Federation, China,
East Germany and a unified Germany (33 in 1936 and 1992, the first
Olympics after German reunification when they benefitted from the
immense resource which was the East German Olympic machine).
The USA and Britain are both mature sporting first world nations so
it is reasonable to link overall performance with population. The USA
has approximately five times the population of Britain with 311
million (http://geography.about.com/od/obtainpopulationdata/a/
uspopulation.htm) against Britain’s 63 million (http://
www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/greenpolitics/population/9403215/Census-2011-population-surges-by-3.7-million-in-a-decade.html).
If Britain had the same ratio of medals to population as the USA they
would have captured 325 medals.
The jibe made against some sports that they provided cheap medals
because the sport is only practised seriously by relatively few
countries is not the knock-down argument its proponents imagine.
The most popular Olympic sports such as athletics may nominally have
national associations of something approaching the total number of
nations in the UN (around 200), but that does not mean most of the
nations who have national associations are serious players. Being
generous there are no more than thirty serious athletic nations and
many of those like Jamaica (sprints) or Kenya (distance running)
concentrate almost exclusively on a small part of the athletics
programme. Even the most popular and widely played sport in the
world, football, is far from being a sport with depth at the highest
level. In the 82 years since the first World Cup in 1930 only eight
nations – Uruguay, Italy, Germany, Brazil, England, Argentina,
France, Spain – have won the cup. Arguably the best pointer to the
strength of a sport is generally the number of developed countries
taking it seriously.
There is also the question of the difficulty of a sport. A good
example is the triathlon. This involves a 1,500 metre swim, followed
by a 43 kilometre bike ride and ending with a 10,000 metre run. The
three events take place without a break between events.
Although a sport growing in popularity participation is tiny compared
with athletics, the winner of the triathlon gold medal in the 2012
Olympics, Alistair Brownlee, ran a time for the triathlon 10,000
metres which was only 97 seconds less than the time run by the winner
– Mo Farah – of the 10,000 metres run in the Olympic stadium. Had not
Brownlee slowed to almost a walk for the last 150 yards or so when he
was so far ahead that he could afford to slow and take the prolonged
applause of the crowd he would probably have been very close with
Farah’s time.
The two times are not strictly comparable. Farah had not swum 1,500
metres and cycled 43 kilometres before he ran 10,000 metres. Then
there is the difference between running round a stadium track and
running on a course which is cross-country and varies considerably in
its topography. Running in a stadium will involve sophisticated race
tactics because of the inhibitions of the track with many runners
clustered together . Running on a cross country course removes the
press of runners close together because the track is wider and the
standard of the runners more variable than would be the case in a
track 10,000 metres. Against that the cross-country course will demand
regular changes of approaches as the terrain changes and is not
uniformly flat. It is not unreasonable to suspect that he would be
a top class track distance runner very quickly if he put his mind to
it. It could be that Brownlee , with some track training, would be
faster over a track 10,000 metres than Farah despite there being far
fewer triathletes of quality than track distance runners .
Sports also make vastly different psychological demands on
participants. Some demand far more physical courage than others, most
obviously combat sports such as boxing and less obviously activities
such as cricket (try facing a truly fast bowler), pole vaulting,
horse riding and cycling where serious falls and crashes are a
constant possibility. Conversely, there are sports such as golf which
require more moral courage because the game is played so much in the
mind. It could be that the genetically determined distribution of
personality amongst human beings make one type of personality far more
common than another. That could mean there are far fewer potential
participants suited to one sport than are suited to another.
Just as personality differences in a population may be determine how
many people are suited to a sport so may differences of physique. For
example, if top class high jumpers have to be abnormally tall, there
may be a relatively small number of people who could potentially
become high jumpers.
The will be weaker sports in the Olympics but the large majority can
make a strong case for being anything but a soft option.
The 2012 Olympics and the deep sporting culture of Britain
Robert Henderson
The breadth of British sporting involvement is readily shown by the
performances in the 2012 Olympics.
The final medal tally for Britain was 65 – 29 Gold, 17 silver and
19 bronze. (http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2012/aug/05/team-gb-every-
olympic-medallist). These were obtained across 17 sports, more than
half the sports on offer at the Olympics .
There were eleven events in which gold (and often silver and gold as
well) was won: athletics, boxing, canoeing, cycling , equestrian
events, rowing, sailing, shooting, taekwondo, tennis and , triathlon.
In addition, there were six events in which only silver or bronze
was won: diving, gymnastics , hockey, judo, modern pentathlon , and
swimming .
The only sports where a medal was not achieved were: badminton,
basketball, beach volleyball, fencing, football, handball, table
tennis, volleyball, water polo, weightlifting, wrestling, a total
of 12.
By way of comparison, the USA, a mature sporting super-power which
headed the medals table with 104, also won medals in these seventeen
sports: athletics, swimming, rowing, shooting, diving, football
(women), taekwondo, tennis, cycling, beach volleyball, water polo,
gymnastics, fencing, judo, boxing, basketball, and archery. (http://
www.guardian.co.uk/sport/datablog/2012/aug/10/olympics-2012-list-medal-winners)
In the history of the Olympics (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/
olympics/8660580/Olympic-Medal-Table.htm) t he figure of 29 golds has
only been exceeded by the USA, the USSR/Russian Federation, China,
East Germany and a unified Germany (33 in 1936 and 1992, the first
Olympics after German reunification when they benefitted from the
immense resource which was the East German Olympic machine).
The USA and Britain are both mature sporting first world nations so
it is reasonable to link overall performance with population. The USA
has approximately five times the population of Britain with 311
million (http://geography.about.com/od/obtainpopulationdata/a/
uspopulation.htm) against Britain’s 63 million (http://
www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/greenpolitics/population/9403215/Census-2011-population-surges-by-3.7-million-in-a-decade.html).
If Britain had the same ratio of medals to population as the USA they
would have captured 325 medals.
The jibe made against some sports that they provided cheap medals
because the sport is only practised seriously by relatively few
countries is not the knock-down argument its proponents imagine.
The most popular Olympic sports such as athletics may nominally have
national associations of something approaching the total number of
nations in the UN (around 200), but that does not mean most of the
nations who have national associations are serious players. Being
generous there are no more than thirty serious athletic nations and
many of those like Jamaica (sprints) or Kenya (distance running)
concentrate almost exclusively on a small part of the athletics
programme. Even the most popular and widely played sport in the
world, football, is far from being a sport with depth at the highest
level. In the 82 years since the first World Cup in 1930 only eight
nations – Uruguay, Italy, Germany, Brazil, England, Argentina,
France, Spain – have won the cup. Arguably the best pointer to the
strength of a sport is generally the number of developed countries
taking it seriously.
There is also the question of the difficulty of a sport. A good
example is the triathlon. This involves a 1,500 metre swim, followed
by a 43 kilometre bike ride and ending with a 10,000 metre run. The
three events take place without a break between events.
Although a sport growing in popularity participation is tiny compared
with athletics, the winner of the triathlon gold medal in the 2012
Olympics, Alistair Brownlee, ran a time for the triathlon 10,000
metres which was only 97 seconds less than the time run by the winner
– Mo Farah – of the 10,000 metres run in the Olympic stadium. Had not
Brownlee slowed to almost a walk for the last 150 yards or so when he
was so far ahead that he could afford to slow and take the prolonged
applause of the crowd he would probably have been very close with
Farah’s time.
The two times are not strictly comparable. Farah had not swum 1,500
metres and cycled 43 kilometres before he ran 10,000 metres. Then
there is the difference between running round a stadium track and
running on a course which is cross-country and varies considerably in
its topography. Running in a stadium will involve sophisticated race
tactics because of the inhibitions of the track with many runners
clustered together . Running on a cross country course removes the
press of runners close together because the track is wider and the
standard of the runners more variable than would be the case in a
track 10,000 metres. Against that the cross-country course will demand
regular changes of approaches as the terrain changes and is not
uniformly flat. It is not unreasonable to suspect that he would be
a top class track distance runner very quickly if he put his mind to
it. It could be that Brownlee , with some track training, would be
faster over a track 10,000 metres than Farah despite there being far
fewer triathletes of quality than track distance runners .
Sports also make vastly different psychological demands on
participants. Some demand far more physical courage than others, most
obviously combat sports such as boxing and less obviously activities
such as cricket (try facing a truly fast bowler), pole vaulting,
horse riding and cycling where serious falls and crashes are a
constant possibility. Conversely, there are sports such as golf which
require more moral courage because the game is played so much in the
mind. It could be that the genetically determined distribution of
personality amongst human beings make one type of personality far more
common than another. That could mean there are far fewer potential
participants suited to one sport than are suited to another.
Just as personality differences in a population may be determine how
many people are suited to a sport so may differences of physique. For
example, if top class high jumpers have to be abnormally tall, there
may be a relatively small number of people who could potentially
become high jumpers.
The will be weaker sports in the Olympics but the large majority can
make a strong case for being anything but a soft option.
DVH
Aug 14, 2012, 3:35:36 PM8/14/12
to
"RH" <anywh...@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:67d4c10b-0988-4c11...@m3g2000vby.googlegroups.com...
> Alistair Brownlee, ran a time for the triathlon 10,000
> metres which was only 97 seconds less than the time run by the winner
> � Mo Farah � of the 10,000 metres run in the Olympic stadium.
abelard
Aug 14, 2012, 3:41:52 PM8/14/12
to
and farah's performance was highly tactical
Roger Dewhurst
Aug 14, 2012, 4:01:33 PM8/14/12
to
On Aug 15, 7:25 am, RH <anywhere...@gmail.com> wrote:
> http://livinginamadhouse.wordpress.com/2012/08/14/the-2012-olympics-a...
Just to keep things in perspective Britain scored about one medal per
million but New Zealand scored just over three medals per million.
> http://livinginamadhouse.wordpress.com/2012/08/14/the-2012-olympics-a...
>
> The 2012 Olympics and the deep sporting culture of Britain
>
> Robert Henderson
>
> The breadth of British sporting involvement is readily shown by the
> performances in the 2012 Olympics.
>
> The final medal tally for Britain was 65 – 29 Gold, 17 silver and
> 19 bronze. (http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2012/aug/05/team-gb-every-
> olympic-medallist). These were obtained across 17 sports, more than
> half the sports on offer at the Olympics .
>
> There were eleven events in which gold (and often silver and gold as
> well) was won: athletics, boxing, canoeing, cycling , equestrian
> events, rowing, sailing, shooting, taekwondo, tennis and , triathlon.
>
> In addition, there were six events in which only silver or bronze
> was won: diving, gymnastics , hockey, judo, modern pentathlon , and
> swimming .
>
> The only sports where a medal was not achieved were: badminton,
> basketball, beach volleyball, fencing, football, handball, table
> tennis, volleyball, water polo, weightlifting, wrestling, a total
> of 12.
>
> By way of comparison, the USA, a mature sporting super-power which
> headed the medals table with 104, also won medals in these seventeen
> sports: athletics, swimming, rowing, shooting, diving, football
> (women), taekwondo, tennis, cycling, beach volleyball, water polo,
> gymnastics, fencing, judo, boxing, basketball, and archery. (http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/datablog/2012/aug/10/olympics-2012-list-meda...)
> The 2012 Olympics and the deep sporting culture of Britain
>
> Robert Henderson
>
> The breadth of British sporting involvement is readily shown by the
> performances in the 2012 Olympics.
>
> The final medal tally for Britain was 65 – 29 Gold, 17 silver and
> 19 bronze. (http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2012/aug/05/team-gb-every-
> olympic-medallist). These were obtained across 17 sports, more than
> half the sports on offer at the Olympics .
>
> There were eleven events in which gold (and often silver and gold as
> well) was won: athletics, boxing, canoeing, cycling , equestrian
> events, rowing, sailing, shooting, taekwondo, tennis and , triathlon.
>
> In addition, there were six events in which only silver or bronze
> was won: diving, gymnastics , hockey, judo, modern pentathlon , and
> swimming .
>
> The only sports where a medal was not achieved were: badminton,
> basketball, beach volleyball, fencing, football, handball, table
> tennis, volleyball, water polo, weightlifting, wrestling, a total
> of 12.
>
> By way of comparison, the USA, a mature sporting super-power which
> headed the medals table with 104, also won medals in these seventeen
> sports: athletics, swimming, rowing, shooting, diving, football
> (women), taekwondo, tennis, cycling, beach volleyball, water polo,
>
> In the history of the Olympics (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/
> olympics/8660580/Olympic-Medal-Table.htm) t he figure of 29 golds has
> only been exceeded by the USA, the USSR/Russian Federation, China,
> East Germany and a unified Germany (33 in 1936 and 1992, the first
> Olympics after German reunification when they benefitted from the
> immense resource which was the East German Olympic machine).
>
> The USA and Britain are both mature sporting first world nations so
> it is reasonable to link overall performance with population. The USA
> has approximately five times the population of Britain with 311
> million (http://geography.about.com/od/obtainpopulationdata/a/
> uspopulation.htm) against Britain’s 63 million (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/greenpolitics/population/9403215/Census-201...).
> In the history of the Olympics (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/
> olympics/8660580/Olympic-Medal-Table.htm) t he figure of 29 golds has
> only been exceeded by the USA, the USSR/Russian Federation, China,
> East Germany and a unified Germany (33 in 1936 and 1992, the first
> Olympics after German reunification when they benefitted from the
> immense resource which was the East German Olympic machine).
>
> The USA and Britain are both mature sporting first world nations so
> it is reasonable to link overall performance with population. The USA
> has approximately five times the population of Britain with 311
> million (http://geography.about.com/od/obtainpopulationdata/a/
million but New Zealand scored just over three medals per million.
Message has been deleted
DVH
Aug 14, 2012, 5:13:42 PM8/14/12
to
"soupdragon" <m...@privacy.net> wrote in message
news:XnsA0AFE1C46...@news.datemas.de...
> "DVH" <d...@vhvhvhvh.com> wrote in news:nMxWr.872454$Ql1.2...@fx02.am4:
>
>>
>> "RH" <anywh...@gmail.com> wrote in message
>> news:67d4c10b-0988-4c11...@m3g2000vby.googlegroups.com...
>>
>>> Alistair Brownlee, ran a time for the triathlon 10,000
>>> metres which was only 97 seconds less than the time run by the winner
>>> - Mo Farah - of the 10,000 metres run in the Olympic stadium.
>>
>> "RH" <anywh...@gmail.com> wrote in message
>> news:67d4c10b-0988-4c11...@m3g2000vby.googlegroups.com...
>>
>>> Alistair Brownlee, ran a time for the triathlon 10,000
>>> metres which was only 97 seconds less than the time run by the winner
>>
>> That's pretty amazing.
>
> That's because Farrah's race was run at a slow pace with no pacer. Farrah
> has run over a minute faster in his PB. In the same article - nicked from
> the Telegraph - Brownlee reckoned it would be too big a jump to match
> Farrah's personal best and he'd settle for 28 minutes if he converted.
> Farrah's PB is around 26.45. Current best is about 30 seconds faster.
Sounds like Brownlee must be a slowcoach after all.
Message has been deleted
RH
Aug 15, 2012, 4:07:16 AM8/15/12
to
On Aug 15, 8:08 am, Malcolm <Malc...@indaal.demon.co.uk> wrote:
> In article <nMxWr.872454$Ql1.214...@fx02.am4>, DVH <d...@vhvhvhvh.com>
> writes
>
> >"RH" <anywhere...@gmail.com> wrote in message
> Hmm, the other way of writing this is that Alistair Brownlee ran a time
> for the triathlon 10,000 metres which was more than a minute and a half
> behind Mo Farah's time.
>
He did that after swimming 1,500 metres and riding 43K over a track
which was not uniform and contained ascents. He also added about a
minute to his time by slowing down at the end of the run to take the
applause of the crowd. RH
> --
> Malcolm
> In article <nMxWr.872454$Ql1.214...@fx02.am4>, DVH <d...@vhvhvhvh.com>
> writes
>
> >"RH" <anywhere...@gmail.com> wrote in message
> for the triathlon 10,000 metres which was more than a minute and a half
> behind Mo Farah's time.
>
He did that after swimming 1,500 metres and riding 43K over a track
which was not uniform and contained ascents. He also added about a
minute to his time by slowing down at the end of the run to take the
applause of the crowd. RH
> --
> Malcolm
Message has been deleted
Message has been deleted
DVH
Aug 16, 2012, 12:56:17 PM8/16/12
to
news:XnsA0B0BAD46...@news.datemas.de...
> "DVH" <d...@vhvhvhvh.com> wrote in news:kczWr.855548$IP4.8...@fx26.am4:
> Relative to 10,000 meter runners. He'd end up being lapped about 4 times.
> Relative to you and me, he's a bit better.
>
> Anyway, the Triathlon is for people who 'aren't quite good enough' at
> any of the individual sports that go to make it up.
>
He must be pretty terrible. I think I might apply for the next Olympics if
he's as bad as you suggest.
> "DVH" <d...@vhvhvhvh.com> wrote in news:kczWr.855548$IP4.8...@fx26.am4:
> Relative to you and me, he's a bit better.
>
> Anyway, the Triathlon is for people who 'aren't quite good enough' at
> any of the individual sports that go to make it up.
>
He must be pretty terrible. I think I might apply for the next Olympics if
he's as bad as you suggest.
Message has been deleted
DVH
Aug 16, 2012, 5:17:05 PM8/16/12
to
news:XnsA0B1D7210...@news.datemas.de...
> "DVH" <d...@vhvhvhvh.com> wrote in
> news:TC9Xr.1101790$1o5.6...@fx03.am4:
> If they change the triathlon to something a bit more wide rangeing, like
> swimming + fishing + 10000m, it might be a bit more interesting.
>
Ballooning was an official sport in the 1900 games. Fishing + Ballooning +
Looking at Old Buildings would hold my attention...
> "DVH" <d...@vhvhvhvh.com> wrote in
> news:TC9Xr.1101790$1o5.6...@fx03.am4:
> swimming + fishing + 10000m, it might be a bit more interesting.
>
Ballooning was an official sport in the 1900 games. Fishing + Ballooning +
Looking at Old Buildings would hold my attention...
Paul C
Aug 17, 2012, 5:40:16 AM8/17/12
to
Any thoughts on Alastair Brownlee's name Rab?
Magnus
Aug 17, 2012, 6:27:05 AM8/17/12
to
Paul C <hoddl...@gmail.com> wrote in news:278e6d6a-b84d-44f9-8b24-
9761df...@k20g2000vbk.googlegroups.com:
> Any thoughts at all, Rab?
>
Fixed it for ya, Paul.
Cheers,
Magnus
9761df...@k20g2000vbk.googlegroups.com:
> Any thoughts at all, Rab?
>
Fixed it for ya, Paul.
Cheers,
Magnus
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