- 7 Aug 08, 06:15 AM
Today is tinged with sadness for me as I bid farewell to the Olympic countdown that has been my life for the last three and-a-bit months (I have done bits of other stuff too, just in case the boss is reading and, yes, I have had a haircut).
Thanks to all who have contributed. If you managed to read every one, there's now no need for you to ever go the Olympic Museum in Lausanne.
I went there a couple of weeks ago and was dismayed to learn nothing new apart from how running shoes have developed over the years.
And a quick thanks to my wife, who has put up with me locking myself away for many an evening while I pored over yet more Olympic statistics to keep this countdown ticking.
There's now just the small matter of the Games themself to get through - I'll see you on 25 August, dear!
On to today's topic. Only five nations have competed at every Olympic Games since their return in 1896.
They are Australia, France, Great Britain, Greece and Switzerland - and just one holds the unique record of winning at least one gold medal at every Olympics.
Yep folks, it's Great Britain.
Scottish weightlifter Launceston Elliot started the ball rolling in Athens 112 years ago, winning the one hand lift. Since then, British competitors have brought home another 187 gold medals out of a total of 688.
That is enough to put Team GB third on the all-time medal list at the Summer Games behind the United States (894 gold and 2188 total medals) and the Soviet Union (395 gold, 1010 total).
I think the whole world would be surprised if Britain did not keep the gold run going in Beijing - UK Sport is expecting a minimum of 35 medals and has set a target of 41, while an Italian called Luciano Barra, who is apparantly quite good at this guessing lark, reckons 48 is a more realistic figure, with 18 of them being gold.
So, who will be the one to keep the run going?
Judo world champion Craig Fallon is a likely contender on the opening day of action on Saturday, while the women's archery team of Alison Williamson, Naomi Folkard and Charlotte Burgess, who are ranked second in the world, are ones to keep an eye out for on Sunday.
Who do you think will pick up Britain's first gold?
Enjoy the Games!
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Comments
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One of our first genuine medal contenders is Nicola Cooke in the women's road race, while I'm not sure she will get gold (due to the pretty random nature of olympic road racing) I do think she will get a top 3 place.
However, I think it may be a bit of a slow start unless we get a suprise gold in one of the judo events, slalom canoeing, shooting or maybe equestrian I suspect we may have to wait almost a week for our first gold: Men's team sprint in the track cycling.
I hope this isn't the case as you can gurantee there would be alot of negative media as there would be nations like Chinesse Taipi, Albania, Zimbabwe and Hungary above us in the medals table. Patience might be needed.
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Waiting for a gold medal, might be like waiting for a London bus. A long wait and then a barrage to follow after that!
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My detailed knowledge of the GB Team is pretty low mainly due to the fact that I live in France so the coverage is generally biased towards the French!
However, I plan to follow closely via the web.
There has been lots of talk about the US – China battle for top spot. I am interested in the GB – French battle! Sports Illustrated predicted that we would finish in 7th spot with 35 medals and the French in 6th with 38…. It’s going to be close! Are there any BBC predictions? Italy is also in the mix…
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I'm optimistic for a large GB medal haul this time out. We have a lot of athletes in a mix of events that go into this Olympics as REAL medal contenders. That's not something we can often lay claim to - usually we pin our hopes on the odd surprise here and there and the handful of favourites we have turning up and delivering.
Track and Field is what i am excited about. In Athens we had very little to shout about - apart from Dame Kelly and the mens 100m relay Gold, the only other bright spots were Kelly Sotherton's Bronze and the near misses of Jo Pavey and Dean Macey. There was the disappointment of Paula.
Beijing promises much, much more. Our Athletics team boasts more real medal prospects than we've had for a long while. Philips Idowu, Kelly Sotherton, Jo Pavey, Goldie Sayers, Christine Ohurugu, Nicola Sanders, Martyn Rooney, Greg Rutherford, Paula Radcliffe, Marilyn Okoro, Lisa Dobriskey, Andy Baddely. All of these guys have the potential to deliver medals - and it's a very real prospect. Some head to Beijing with a track record of success (Sotherton, Radcliffe), while others are just in scintilating form right now (Okoro, Rooney, Dobriskey, Rutherford).
Aside from the Athletics, we have a team to be proud of and I'm hoping to see many British Athletes across all events up on the podium! As for who'll get the first British Gold - Why can't Craig Fallon achieve that proud feat?!
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According to Wikipedia, they said that Switzerland didn't compete in the 1956 Summer Olympics
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1956_Summer_Olympics
But this article makes me proud to be British! Come on the Brits!
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Hi Rhys,
The Swiss team boycotted the 1956 Games in response to the Soviet invasion of Hungary.
But as the Olympics were being held in Melbourne, Australia, which had strict quarrantine laws, the equestrian events were staged in Stockholm, Sweden.
Switzerland sent a team to that portion of the Olympics, keeping up their run, and won a bronze medal.
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'Apparantly quite good at this guessing lark'
Apparently 'apparantly' is spelt apparently - according to my spell checker!
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Comment by lukeowl
Why cant Craig Fallon achive that proud feat!"
You would not believe how hard this guy trains he would have been devastated by this result, he still is a great player and has a realistic chance of winning in 2012, look at Neil Adams the greatest judo player I believe ever to grace the judo mat from GB he won 2 silvers against players he would normally beat Gamba and Weineke, it just wasnt his day judo is a very diverse sport and difficult to predict. Its who is on top of their game on that day !
and I believe an element of luck.
GOOD LUCK TO ALL THE REST OF THE JUDO TEAM, AND OF COURSE TEAM GB
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SORRY ACHIEVE
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