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The Olympics - does it tell us anything about ourselves?
Despite all the doom, gloom and cynicism beforehand it does look as though GB & NI may be about to have pulled off one of if not the greatest Olympics ever. Regardless of what you think of the Games, has your opinion of this country changed as a result of the last 16 days? What if anything have you learned about our country that you were unaware of before or what aspects has it confirmed to you or maybe disproved?
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Maybe I didn't phrase my question very well. I was thinking more of the organisation rather than the team performance. The reason I asked the question is because it seems to me that on occasions like this we do indeed invariably and perhaps unexpectedly do very well, but that perhaps in order to do so we have to adopt practices or a mindset which are not necessarily thought of as traditionally British?
I live on the edge of London and I have been up to Hyde Park quite a few times to watch the events. I wouldn`t say that the games have changed my fundamental opinion of the UK but I have definitely witnessed some fantastic patriotism that people have for this country. I was most surprised by the patriotism and enthusiasm of the younger generations. When a gold medal was won for Britain, everybody got up and sang the National Anthem. I was quite surprised by that as I didn`t expect it. If any attitudes in society can be changed by the 2012 Olympics, I hope that they will be that people can feel proud to wave and display the union flag in the way that the Americans wave the stars and stripes. Two nights ago I was sitting in my Mum`s garden and I heard the kids two doors` away singing God save the Queen! Fab. I don`t even know the words now, let alone when I was their age. A legacy from the Games perhaps?
there were plenty of negatives before the games, so any doubts were well-founded. The ticketing was a shambles, the G4S security business was downright dangerous, and the artistic input was weird, from the horrible logo and silly mascots to the Orbit tower.
However, the actual organisation of the events has worked excellently, as has the infrastructure. (No doubt this was helped by having everyone scared away by worst-case scenarios.)
On top of this Team GB has done very well indeed. Some of this built on the successes of Beijing. But there was also talk tonight of how the new coach has lifted UK athletics out of mediocrity. A disproportionate number of winners have been public-school types, but there's at least a chance the successes may encourage sports at other schools too. (It would help if Gove stopped encouraging the selling off of sports fields, wouldn't it?)
The crowds have taken delight in inclusiveness. Perhaps the Daily Mail would like to forget it called Mo Farah a "plastic Brit" - an immigrant - before the games. The audience at the stadium tonight clearly couldn't have cared less.
I do have some beefs about the greedy sponsors - £2.30 for a bottle of Coke?? When you've been forbidden to take liquids into the park? That was an unwanted whiff of good old rip-off Britain.
However, the actual organisation of the events has worked excellently, as has the infrastructure. (No doubt this was helped by having everyone scared away by worst-case scenarios.)
On top of this Team GB has done very well indeed. Some of this built on the successes of Beijing. But there was also talk tonight of how the new coach has lifted UK athletics out of mediocrity. A disproportionate number of winners have been public-school types, but there's at least a chance the successes may encourage sports at other schools too. (It would help if Gove stopped encouraging the selling off of sports fields, wouldn't it?)
The crowds have taken delight in inclusiveness. Perhaps the Daily Mail would like to forget it called Mo Farah a "plastic Brit" - an immigrant - before the games. The audience at the stadium tonight clearly couldn't have cared less.
I do have some beefs about the greedy sponsors - £2.30 for a bottle of Coke?? When you've been forbidden to take liquids into the park? That was an unwanted whiff of good old rip-off Britain.
It's shown, or confirmed, that Britons aren't ashamed of showing their emotions openly in public now. That's one good thing. That has changed completely in the last decades. 'Stiff upper lip' used to be praised and great effort was made to show it, but now, I think, it is coming to be regarded as odd.
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