I hope that you are all enjoying the coverage of the Olympics?
I certainly have been. After watching the opening ceremony on the 27th July it has been non-stop TV Olympics in our house. I have to say that watching a home Olympics has been truly inspiring, but also I don't think I have ever watched this much television!
I have been good enough to avoid most of it during the day whilst working, but in the evening, most social activities or training is totally planned around the events that we want to watch.
After the rowing event, we managed to work out that we could just about make it over to watch the Men's Cycle TT event. We were incredibly lucky as we got there with about 30 minutes to spare and watch the 40 or so men blitzing their hearts out over 44km. It was with a huge roar that we knew Bradley Wiggins was about to come through, and watching him zoom past us I was absolutely amazed that a man could go that fast on two wheels. It appears that he completed the course in a little over 50 minutes. He was averaging around 56kms per hour.
Next time you are out on your bike, just see how fast you can manage. I clocked around 63kms per hour on Saturday out with Will on the bikes. That was downhill, tucked into the aero position and absolutely belting it on the pedals. Just goes to show you what some people are capable of is beyond most people, which is why I suppose it is the Olympics and it is the best of the best of the best and they are peaking for that one day. It is amazing.
Team GB have really done us proud this year and Saturday was no exception. Super Saturday pulled us a record 5 gold medals with three on the track and field. Our poster girl Jessica Ennis didn't let us down. I was enthralled by the Women's Triathlon on Saturday morning at Hyde Park. I was absorbed by the event and thrilled to see so many supporters. Will and I were also scouting the best places to stand for tomorrow. We are heading to London tonight to stay at a hotel close to Hyde Park to be there when hopefully we will see the first ever British Men to win a triathlon medal since it was introduced in the Sydney Games in 2000. I am beyond excited that I imagine tonight I won't be able to sleep. I watched as Helen Jenkins was brought on by Lucy Hall who showed how strong she really is on the swim and the bike. I was then willing Helen on during the run where the strongest runners were really pushing the pace. It was around 1-2 miles from the finish that Helen began to drop off. I then knew it was all over. I even got quite teary and emotional, knowing that after all that hard work, time, effort and sacrifice there wasn't to be a medal at the end for her. At the end of the race, I was left speechless (as were probably most people) when after 2 hours of flat out racing, the win came down to a sprint for the line with Lisa Norden being edged out by Nicola Spirig by a cat's whisker. They clocked the same time, and a photo finish had to decide the gold, which is unprecedented in triathlon!
Crossing the line in 5th position, Helen Jenkins, our golden girl of triathlon was holding back the emotion as she explained that she had been training through injury for most of the last 10 weeks after her win in San Diego. I was in tears watching this lovely quietly spoken Welsh-girl just apologise for not being the winner. In my opinion, she had tried her hardest and had been hiding an injury that threatened her even being on the start line.
I was appalled however by the absolute blatant patronising from the BBC interview 2 minutes after Helen had finished. With a simple "Bad luck Helen" as she walked away. What a way to congratulate an athlete on a stellar performance which at the end of the day was not her best, but was the best she could manage given the circumstances which became known at the end.
I can only go on to say that the Team GB girls tried their up most and even with a crash for fellow athlete Vicky Holland (again which the BBC failed to show!- ITU coverage is much better maybe they could learn a trick or too) which meant that she was in the back group for the bike and worked her way back up the field on the run into 26th position.
I am now waiting in much anticipation for tomorrow's event.
Let's hope that Stuart Hayes can help the Brownlees as much as possible (well that's what he was selected for right????!) and can bring home some shiny medals. And if they can sprint against each other as the ladies did, then that would just go down as brilliant.
Enjoy the rest of the games!
Go TEAM GB!
(a bit more inspiration for you all!)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L-7Vu7cqB20
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