The Sportsfreak Olympic Wrap – Part 3 of 6

DIVING – 9/10
The Coverage:
The surprise package of the games. Leon Taylor was easily the most informative and entertaining expert commentator at the games, and he gave the novice viewer a huge amount of insight. The camerawork was superb, providing an excellent perspective as to just how close the competitors are to shattering their skulls on a consistent basis. Diving was another sport to benefit from prime time viewing in NZ, and it was an outstanding watch.

The Pros:
Not since Greg Louganis kissed the diving board in Seoul has a diver captured the headlines and cameras as much as Tom Daley. The home town boy is young, smooth, pretty (albeit with a highly suspicious tan) and provided the sport with both sex appeal and a new gathering of teenage girl fans. The fact he ended up with the bronze seems irrelevant now – wait for the UK Christmas Number One. And then there was the German diver who landed on his back, scoring approximately 0 points and providing the schadenfreude moment of the Games. The fact that his name was Stephan Feck made it all the more special.

The Cons:
Not a lot.

EQUESTRIAN – 3/10
The Coverage:
Pretty good from what I saw (which wasn’t a lot). The choice of Tony Johnson as a commentator was a strange one – but to be fair, it often is. There did appear to be a spot-the-royal aspect to the coverage from the home nation which wore a tad thin.

The Pros:
The showjumping course made up of London landmarks may have seemed a little tacky at first, but it was a great idea and looked good. It brought a bit of fun to the event. And we got a medal out of it.

The Cons:
Equestrian will always struggle to grab the imagination whilst it holds the “elitist” tag. It was hard work listening to Mark “Curly” Todd tell radio listeners that the tag was unfair because they all come from average families, while in the next breath he was telling everyone it cost six figures a year just to maintain a horse. And the world could have done without the traditional Andrew Nicholson “I was robbed” outburst – he may have had a point (I wouldn’t have a clue), but to come out and say the delay cost him gold smacked of sour grapes to the average equestrian non-fanatic.

FENCING – 2/10
The Coverage:
Generally late night/early morning coverage, which gave the average punter in NZ little chance to come to grips with the finer points (geddit?) of the sport.

The Pros:
Nobody died.

The Cons:
It may sound harsh, but fencing always looks like a convention for Errol Flynn fanatics or a sport for people with Zorro fantasies. Besides, it set new lows in the officialdom department. And let’s face it – hands up how many people only watch it just in case……..

FOOTBALL – 2/10
The Coverage:
The home of football was always going to cover the event well, and some of the kick-off times were very user friendly. But back here we had to persevere with the Dewhurst and de Jong show for the national side/s, and nobody deserves that.

The Pros:
The Football Ferns, who made the quarter finals and lost out to the eventual winners. But they held their own and were by no means disgraced. The fact that Brazil have yet to win an Olympic Gold, while saying a fair bit about the status of the sport at the Olympics, is becoming one of the more interesting sporting quirks. No pressure in Rio boys.

The Cons:
Where do you start? It’s an age group competition – with some dispensation no less – and still impossible to take seriously at Olympic level. It symbolises the crass cash-cow aspect of the IOC, and as a result it becomes the ultimate showcase for that particular organisation.

GYMNASTICS (ARTISTIC) – 7/10
The Coverage:
Very good, with some insightful commentary included. There were a few delays to some events which proved a little frustrating, and only a small fraction of the event was available to be viewed in a NZ friendly time zone.

The Pros:
The artistic gymnastics is always one of the go-to viewing events during the Olympics, and 2012 was no different. Some of the skill on display is breathtaking, and it doesn’t matter how many times you see it performed, the Iron Cross manoeuvre on the Rings never ceases to amaze.

The Cons:
Not sure why, but the artistic gymnastics in 2012 didn’t quite capture the same imagination as previous Olympics. It’s been some time since we’ve seen a Comaneci or a Korbut (or God help us, a Mary Lou Retton) and the wait continues.

GYMNASTICS (RHYTHMIC) – 3/10
The Coverage:
See above.

The Pros:
Some of the synchronisation was superb. It is a discipline that requires an incredible amount of fine tuning, and the timing is impressive.

The Cons:
John Clarke summed it up best when he said he had a friend who referred to rhythmic gymnastics as the “cat toy events”. Despite being able to appreciate the amount of skill it must take to participate, it is impossible to look at it without thinking that it looks, well, silly.