The last few days will live long in the memory of British Olympic fans. Six gold medals on a single day today make it arguably the greatest day for Great Britain in Olympic history, and surely in the history of British athletics. Of course today was a day which will be remember primarily for the brilliant success of our athletes, and conclusion of a fantastic rowing regatta, but it also included yet another superb display of cycling dominance. It has been a momentous month for British cycling with Bradley Wiggins Tour de France victory and Olympic time trial gold medal, being followed up by success in the velodrome.
In only three days Britain’s cyclists have won four gold medals, and set numerous new world records. The feat is made even more incredible by the fact that there’ve only been five events concluded to date. The only one which Britain haven’t won was the Women’s Team Sprint, where Victoria Pendleton and Jess Varnish were disqualified, ending their fabulous chance of another gold medal.
The manner of victory has been resounding as well. Both of the team pursuit teams have displayed utter dominance, ruthlessly brushing aside the threat of any other teams, and winning by huge margins. Nobody has ever looked like beating them, and the main question has been will they break the world record rather than will they win gold.
Despite the controversy over youngster Philip Hindes’ fall in the Men’s Team Sprint, the trio of Hindes, Jason Kenny and Sir Chris Hoy dismantled the challenge of their opponents, including a strong French team. The Women’s Keirin was slightly closer, but Pendleton still decisively avenged the disappointment of the team sprint, by claiming the second Olympic gold of her career.
The medals may well not end there. Hoy is one of the favourites for the Men’s Keirin, Pendleton and Kenny are key contenders for the sprints, and British cyclists are likely to feature highly in the omnium. In fact British cycling is dominant throughout, and in every event whether it be on track, road or even BMX Britain has had a major contender for gold or in many cases started as favourite.
Great credit must go to the team of staff behind the scenes, led by the marvellous David Brailsford. Every cog in the Team GB cycling machine is performing to the best of its ability and the results are flowing. Rowing, where we picked up nine medals, four of which have been gold, has also excelled, as have the early stages of the athletics where three gold medals were attained in one night.
In fact the atmosphere of a home Olympics has seen the whole team shine, as Britain has picked up medals throughout a range of different events. That is apart from in the pool, where Britain’s swimmers have failed to impress. Three medals is a disappointing return, and this small haul doesn’t meet the expected standards. A lot of money is poured into swimming, but the results have not justified the amount of funding. Not in comparison to events like cycling and rowing anyway.
Michael Jamieson swam excellently to claim his silver, and two bronze medals from Rebecca Adlington helped to boost the team, but overall the performance was sub standard. The target was for between five and seven medals, but that was not achieved. If there was a prize for finishing fifth or sixth, then Britain would have excelled in the pool, but instead a host of swimmers had to settle with the anguish of missing out in the pool.
The most disappointing statistic is that whilst world records were tumbling in the pool, out of the British athletes only Michael Jamieson was able to surpass his previous personal best. At the Olympics, the greatest stage on earth, you are supposed to raise your levels that little bit higher, but the British swimmers weren’t able to do that. If they had then those fifth and sixth places could have been converted into the jubilation of medals, instead the swimming team did not perform as was hoped.
Nevertheless this should not undermine what has been a fantastic first nine days of Olympic action. London has proved itself to be a fantastic host, the fans have offered great support, and many athletes, including numerous British individuals have delivered sensational performances. Hopefully now the success can continue on the track, in the velodrome and in a series of other events, to emphatically display the brilliance of Britain on the world stage.