Today, 110 years ago, World War One begun. Arguably the defining moment of modern history, the Germans thought they could reach and conquer Paris in six weeks. Thankfully, the athletes of many nations have peacefully made their way to Paris to participate in a fortnight of frenetic sporting activity. One week down. One to go.
Great expectations existed about the first Covid free Olympics since 2016. Predictably, the Olympics quickly became a cauldron, suspended beneath a Montgolfier inspired hot air balloon, of controversy.
Debates began from Day One. For some the rain-soaked opening ceremony was an overblown, rain soaked and tiresome extravaganza that saw the French avant-garde step into sacrilegious territory with its parody of the Last Supper. For the French it was a stirring tribute to their cultural heritage.
On the sporting field it was the best and worst of times. The omnipresent controversy about the participation of transgender and biologically altered athletes in women’s sport was, no pun intended, fought out in the boxing ring. The absurdity of physiological men taking part in Women’s sport, as exemplified by Algeria’s Imane Khelif’s was there for all to see. The only silver lining is that the controversy may see the end of both boxing and transgender participation. J K Rowling has said it best:
Since the East German super steroid campaign that was unleashed on the sporting world at the Munich Olympics of 1972, concerns about drug use by elite athletes have never entirely dissipated. At this Olympics they resurfaced in the swimming stadium. The pool at the La Defense arena was criticised for being ‘slow’ and preventing world records being achieved. That was until the final of the Men’s 100 metres when the Chinese swimmer, Pan Zhale, won the race by an absurdly atypical margin and broke his own world record by close to half a second. Clouds of controversy quickly gathered.
Thankfully, the triumphs have outnumbered the concerns. It is a truth universally acknowledged that the host nation of an Olympics always performs well.
This year France has produced a quintessential hero in the pool. Leon Marchand has marched his way through the history books, winning four individual gold medals, including an unprecedented double of the 200 metres breaststroke and 200 metres butterfly. In the land of Macron and multi-coloured macarons, Marchand has a golden lustre that outshines everything else francaise.
Existing superstars have only seen their reputations strengthened. Think Katie Ledecky who has won the 800 metres for the fourth successive Olympics, becoming the first female swimmer to achieve this feat and becoming the most successful female Olympian swimmer and athlete of all time with her haul of 13 medals, 9 being gold.
For Australia, their female heroines confirmed their greatness think Arianne Titmus who defeated Ledecky for the second successive Olympics to defend her four hundred metres freestyle.
Think Kaylee McKeown who became the first Australian to successfully defend two swimming titles at successive Olympics with her double back to back victories in the 100 and 200 metres backstroke.
Think Jess Fox with her two canoeing gold medals.
On the gymnastics floor, Simone Bayle achieved even greater renown as she dazzled audiences with her gymnastic routines. How remote her troubled Tokyo days now seem.
There may be new legends to come. Canada’s Summer McIntosh, aged only 17, won 3 gold and 1 silver medals at her debut Olympics, which echoed Australia’s Shane Gould winning 3 gold, 1 silver and 1 bronze as a 15 year old in her one and only Olympics in Munich in 1972. It is likely Summer’s swimming days will last for longer.
There were delightful new etchings into swimming history. Cayman Islands had a finalist in the 50 metres freestyle final and Apostolos Christou won Greece’s first medal in the pool since 1896. Daniel Wiffen won Ireland’s first gold medal in the pool in the 800 metres.
On the Athletics track where competition has begun there were some also some delightful triumphs. St. Lucia won its first ever Olympics medal when Julien Alfred won the Women’s 100 metres final.
Thea LaFond from Dominica then won the triple jump to continue the carnival of Caribbean success.
When Martina Navratilova won her record ninth Wimbledon title in 1990, she quipped “that all good things are worth waiting for.” Australia’s Cameron McEvoy no doubt shares the sentiment.
Martina’s nine titles were won over a thirteen year period, her first won in 1978. McEvoy had to wait twelve years for his gold medal in the 50 metres freestyle. Competing in his fourth Olympics aged 30, McEvoy triumphed in a sport that he abandoned after his disappointments in Rio in 2016. Using his knowledge of mathematics and physics, McEvoy revolutionised his training method to return to the pool in triumph. He won his final by an infinitesimal margin- 5/100ths of a second! In the Men’s 100 metres breaststroke final, there was less than a second between the eight finalists: “…the little less and what worlds away.”
Australia’s gold medal winning Tennis Doubles pairing of Matthew Ebden and John Peers will also be revelling in their longevity and persistence. Each 36 years of age, they prevailed in a gripping final, winning a match tie-break 10-8, after splitting tie-break sets.
Sadly, some sporting superheros failed to recognise that their time had come well before Paris. Andy Murray limped his way through two Doubles’ matches with his brother, Jamie, before his inevitable departure. Nadal ended his storied 60 match rivalry with Djokovic in a second round match- their greatest match was the 2012 Australian Open final-with Djokovic emerging with a 31-29 advantage after a facile 6-1 6-4 victory.
Djokovic, still a bona fide superstar, plays the rising superstar Carlos Alcaraz tonight to see if he can claim his much craved Olympic gold medal. China’s Zheng Qinwen, runner-up at this year’s Australian Open, has won the Women’s Gold medal.
Regrettably, the esprit de corps of sporting Paris has failed to emanate worldwide.
When the Paris Games end, focus will resume on the parlous state of the Middle East, which now sees Lebanon and Iran more likely than ever to be drawn into a full scale conflict with Israel. The chances of this occurring have risen dramatically after Israel’s targeted assassinations of Hamas’ political chief, Ismail Haniyeh, in Tehran and Hezbollah commander, Fouad Shukur, in Beirut have further heightened the direct involvement of Iran and Lebanon in a Middle East war.
Meanwhile in America, Donald Trump has predictably embarked on chaotic and bizarre attacks on Kamala Harris: “I never knew she was black until recently- I always thought she was Indian”. Kamala may encounter the same problem that Hillary Clinton did in 2016, namely the wilder and more bizarre the Trumpian tactic is the harder it is to rebut. This is especially when Trump’s forte is to draw attention to himself with provocative and wild statements daily.
Usually, the Olympics and a Presidential race have much in common. They typically involve years of preparation, training and campaigning before a final crescendo either at an arena or a polling day. This year American politics has turned convention on its head. The presidential race has begun again. It is now a frenetic sprint of less than one hundred days until November 5th. Everything that came before Biden’s withdrawal it is now forgotten, including his hapless debate performance.
Democrats will be hoping that the radical change in the dimension and nature of the contest will galvanise support for Kamala. They will seek to make Trump’s age and values the issue. The endorsement of Kamala has clearly re-energised the Democrats. No doubt Kamala will score great victories in the Democrat heartland. Consolidating the support of the committed does not, however, win you the Electoral College.
For Harris, the critical issue is whether she can gain the support of a sufficient number of wavering voters in the six swing States; Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. She will be hoping the ‘freshness’ of her candidacy will be convincing. After all, a learned friend reminded me recently that the forthcoming Presidential election will be the first since 1976 without the name of either a Biden, Bush or Clinton on the Presidential ballot paper.
Britons have been forced to take their eyes away from the Parisian Games- where their Triathlon champion, Alex Yee, produced an astonishing final sprint to claim gold- by a hideous domestic rampage by a 17 year old in Southport.
Echoing the evil of the attacks at Australia’s Bondi Junction Shopping Centre the attack on those attending a holiday dance party which left three children dead, and many others injured, has rightly traumatised the nation, leading to civil unrest focussing on England's immigration policy.
Down under in Australia our Prime Minister announced a Cabinet reshuffle on the day after the opening ceremony to minimise attention on the poor performance of some of his senior Ministers.
With less than a year until Australia’s nextscheduled election, the items on Mr. Albanese’s ‘To Do’ list show no signs of reducing:
Stubborn inflation, rising wages, and poor labour force productivity underwritten by a chronically inefficient taxation system
A Public Housing shortage exacerbated by Australia’s expensive costs of construction
A shortage of rental properties
Restoring integrity to Australia’s largest construction union
Controlling runaway spending on Australia’s National Disability Insurance Scheme
Addressing the nation’s teacher shortage and falling educational standards in secondary and tertiary institutions-
Conquering the nation’s surge in antisemitism
‘Bridging the Gap’ of indigenous disadvantage
As for the Olympians over the final week of the Games in their respective sports, so too for world leaders: there are no easy social or political victories ahead.
Comments