Who's watching the 2012 London Olympics?
I'm surprised there hasn't been a thread sooner than this. I've watched a lot of rowing and swimming, because (up until a few days ago, when we forked out for pay TV), that was about all there was to watch on the one channel that had rights to cover more than 15 minutes a day. I watched Usain Bolt's 9.63 when I got off the train this morning. It was quite comical. Literally as everyone got off the traim, we all took a few steps and stopped at the nearest window to see the TVs in the bars and cafés. Watched for 10 seconds, and then went on. It was like a short moment's silence, it stopped hundreds of people on the platform.
I've also been keeping an eye on Australian media coverage of the Olympics in light of their difficulty of achieving gold medal success so far (they have one). One nightly news show had been showing a daily 'top 10 countries' list, notably missing Australia. But when New Zealand (now with 3 gold medals) hit tenth for a time, they instead changed it to a top 9. A newspaper similarly reported on the success of 'Team Oceania' (another using the portmanteau 'Aus Zealand') to artificially inflate our place to 9th overall.
I'm still holding out for the men's 1500m, where we have a favourite for the gold medal in Nick Willis, the Commonwealth Games champion and 2008 silver medalist. His father was also one of my lecturers last year.
I was really impressed by the opening ceremony, and my dad loved the children singing O Flower of Scotland. Made him all emotional. I loved the celebration of British film and music. Really made me appreciate how many things that I really love have come from such a small area on the other side of the world.
What is your take on these games? What are you looking forward to? Did you like the opening ceremony? Etc.
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