‘unbelievable’ ‘indescribable’ ‘look, he cries, just like me’
We get all the coverage but of course not the BBC continuity nor interviews. JM brought this interview to my attention (thanks JM) it’s titled ‘The media moment of the games so far’ at only 1:45 it’s short, entertaining and well worth a look. (Link to BBC interview)
Here’s an interview with Chad Le Clos (pronounced Clow) from his bedroom a couple of months before the games. What a nice young lad, check out his medals towards the end of the clip.
I found the explanation of ‘fast’ and ‘slow’ swimming pools fascinating. (5:50)
Boadicea's Chariot 
The boy might have won Gold, Chad’s dad is also a star. All interviewees should be like him. Brilliant.
Evening TR
Yes, Yes, Yes, Bert deserves a gold medal for showing us what sport is all about, Passion (with a capital P)
Soutie, fast and slow pools? A Danish badminton player (who won) said it was a tough match because the hall was ‘heavy’. Wembley Arena seems unlikely to vary much so it’s a mystery.
Howzit Janus, the ‘fast’ and ‘slow’ pools is actually quite obvious, the deeper the pool the less surface turbulence (apparently) but Chad explains it beautifully in his interview.
‘Heavy’ halls? Altitude perhaps?
Well, the halls in Denmark are probably at lower altitude even than Wembley! 😮
Ja well, perhaps most of their competitions are higher up (Switzerland, Austria? ) I honestly have no idea, how about heat? Humidity? Air-conditioning?
I suspect the ‘heaviness’ of the hall is all about humidity which presumably is effected by the air-conditioning in the Arena, the number of spectators and by the weather in general. Badminton is the fastest racquet sport in the world, apparently, the fastest stroke on impact ever recorded being 332kph as opposed to 251kph for tennis. However, given its design, the shuttlecock decelerates far more rapidly than any ball. I would imagine that changes in humidity would have a far more dramatic effect in badminton than in tennis or squash.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Badminton#Comparisons_with_other_racquet_sports
I’ve been wondering if part of Andy Murray’s problem at Wimbledon is perhaps ‘heavy balls’ ❓
Sipu, probably right. Sweaty crowds increasing the humidity. They don’t get big crowds here!
Hi Soutie.
The BBC have been doing tidy up tv this morning, including going round all the commentators they employed and asking for their favourite moment of the Olympics.
Ian ‘Torpedo’ Thorpe chose Bert and said that he represented all those parents of Olympic competitors who had put so much time and effort into their children’s dreams.