Golden touch
- 20 Mar 06, 05:40 AM
Mark Cavendish is keeping cool despite being the first Isle of Man Commonwealth gold medallist in 20 years.
The 20-year-old world madison champion claimed gold in the scratch race but says he went into the race as something of a sure thing. "I knew for the last two years that I was coming here with a good chance.
Some men make their own luck - that's how I see it. The whole island has been behind me but I thrive on that pressure."
Cavendish now goes in the road race on Sunday.
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My comment is a general one about the way the medals table disguises the exceptional achivement of athletes representing teams with a comparatively small population base. It would be simple and informative to have a table which also included a figure of "number for medals won by population (in millions)". That could either be added to the exisiting table; or, preferable, it would be a separate table with the ranking being this measure of success, rather than the of number of gold and other medals won.
It would be possible to refine this suggestion by giving a weighting to each type of medal, but given the tiny margins that can mark the difference between gold and bronze, a simple medal total is as good a measure as any of how important sport is for people from each participating nation or territory.
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Iain,
I think that is a really interesting suggestion - not something we can do for this event, but I will pass it on to our development group as an idea.
It may also be something someone in the blogosphere will pick up on.
There are some very interesting things being done out there with data feeds.
Claire, Assistant Ed.
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It was the first cycling gold for 40 years though wasn't it?
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Apologies Dave,
Sarah did of course mean 20 years not 40. I am amending her post.
(For the record, it was Nigel Kelly at the Edinburgh games)
Claire
Assistant ed.
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Congratulations Mark! From all on the Isle of Man!
Oh Land of our Birth
Oh Gem of Gods Earth
Oh Island so strong and so fair
Built firm as Barrule
Thy throne of home rule
Makes us free as thy sweet mountain air!
Oh and just for the record, the Island's first Commonwealth gold medal in 40 years eh blog?! What about the skeet shooting gold we won in 1986?!
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Superb victory by Mark Cavendish, is he going to get another lead-out from an English guy.
You have to love the work the British Cycling guys are doing to try to not look like they are helping each other.
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Can we say congrats to Emma Davies-Jones too who made a remarkable recovery from a broken back 5 months ago to take bronze in the womens track cycling!!! Well done Emma!
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Hi,
They would have played the Manx national anthem, the words being:
Oh Land of our Birth,
Oh gem of God's earth,
Oh Island so strong and so fair,
Built firm as Barrule,
Thy throne of home rule
Makes us free as thy sweet mountain air.
The IoM isn't part of the UK so God Save the Queen would never be played when representing the IoM, although the Queen is considered 'Lord of Mann'. Manx competitors who excel beyond Commonwealth Games status do form part of the British Olympic squad however and will usually be included in general GB squads. It's a rather intricate and unique situation :)
Well done to Mark - and to the shooters who clinched bronze the other day - and good luck for the next race :D
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It's "Jake the Peg", I think!
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What would they have played for his 'national anthem'? - just curious!
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