I have no time for equestrian and little time for both BMX riding and sailing. But put a New Zealander in those sports and I instantly become a passionate follower, immersed in the hype and emotion that surrounds the athletes themselves. What a fantastic sight it was to see Mark Todd, the 56 year old who was competing 28 years after his first Olympics, win a bronze medal in the Teams Eventing. I don’t think I appreciate how hard it must be to a control a horse, get it to follow your orders, and I probably never will, but I recognize that it must take long years of training to become a perfectionist, which is what Todd is really when you consider what he has done over the years.
The same goes for BMX rider Sarah Walker. The 24 year old finished fourth at Beijing in 2008 but improved on that outing to leave London with a silver medal. The final of the women's 470 sailing race is another example of a sport that I am unfamiliar with. However, Olivia Powrie and Jo Aleh are names that will go down in New Zealand's sporting legacy. In the final race, all they needed to do was finish ahead of Britain, regardless of what the other pairs did, to win the gold. Forget that, they finished first, with Britain well behind in 9th place, an amazing feat.
The number one highlight for me was the men's rowing double sculls final that featured the duo of Joseph Sullivan and Nathan Cohen. The Kiwi pair was trailing well behind the leaders with only 500 metres to go, but staged a remarkable comeback to hurl in the leading Italian crew. I found myself cheering for both, but ultimately there could only be one winner, and I take my hat off for the way Sullivan and Cohen reinforced the do-or-die attitude during the race and the way the Italian pair congratulated the New Zealanders afterwards at the medal ceremony. For more opinion on New Zealand's rowing campaign, check out this blog.
Another bright light for New Zealand, albeit a medal-less campaign, was the excellent performance of the women's Blacksticks hockey team. Notable performances include a win against Australia and a draw against 2nd ranked Argentina. They were world class against the number 1 ranked Dutch side, taking the lead twice, before suffering in the heartbreak that is the penalty shootout. After the Games, they moved up to 3rd in the world, a just reward for an incredible two weeks. I am confident this young team will be world beaters in the near future and a gold medal prospect come Rio 2016. On a sour note, it was a shame to see the men's Blacksticks lead Germany 5-2 into the second half of their group match, then concede 3 goals, including 1 with 90 seconds remaining. To rub salt into the wounds, the Germans won the gold medal, which shows me that they can compete with the best. It was a disappointment to see them finish 9th out of 12 teams.
Then there was the embarrassing gloating of the New Zealand media where, after seven days of Olympic competition, Australia only had one gold medal and New Zealand had 3. It became even more ridiculous when the Sydney Morning Herald published a medal table with "Aus Zealand" listed as a country. Now when I think about it, "New Australia" just does not sound right either! As it turns out, the Australians had a flourish of gold medals over the next few days, and normality was restored.
It was a shame to see flag-bearer Nick Willis not live up to expectations when he finished outside of the medal positions for the men's 1500 metres. But this was largely a media construct, with other runners in great form and Nick winning the silver four years ago in Beijing. It was always going to be hard for him, but he has done New Zealand proud.
The joy on the face of New Zealand cyclist Simon van Velthooven after winning bronze in the Keirin race was great to see. At 23, what an experience it must of been for him, especially when he had to wait in anticipation for several minutes while the judges analysed the "photo-finish" between him and Dutch rider Teun Mulder. This incident revels the true spirit of the Olympics, the competitors were too close to separate and it would of been unfair to give the bronze to just one of them. Sometimes, equality can be a good thing.
It is lucky that I am writing this blog after the revelation that Nadzeya Ostapchuk, gold medal winner in the women's shotput over New Zealand hopeful Valerie Adams, had taken metenolone, an anabolic steroid. I was going to ramble on about that New Zealanders should just accept defeat and give credit to the better opponent on the day, but as it turns out, this better opponent was a cheat. Ostapchuk will now relinquish her gold medal, meaning that Valerie was successful in defending her Olympic title. Brief research into metenolone reveals that it is, indeed, banned by the World Anti-Doping Agency, and has testosterone like qualities. In everyday language, without sounding too un-politically correct, that means it can give females the advantages or characteristics of males. Ostapchuk fits this category and the appearance of her skin adds to the truth. I do feel sorry for Ostapchuk, she has to live with the shame of being labelled a "cheat" for the rest of her life. Then again, as Valerie has rightly pointed out, why would you take such a risk?
So after all that, I was upset at the thought of no more Olympics for about 1500 days. London has staged a remarkable event with great pride and enthusiasm. Watching Uganda's Stephen Kiprotich win the men's marathon and his country's first gold medal in 40 years, as well as Gabon picking up their first ever Olympic medal through Anthony Obame in taekwondo on the second to last day, capped off a wonderful fortnight of sport. Now there are the final stages of the Warriors' dismal season to look forward to, or not. The Black Caps tour to India? Don't know about that either. Four years is too long to wait for another global spectacle that is the Olympics. Then again, it wouldn't have the same aura about it if it was a regular occurrence. Can't wait for Rio 2016.
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