- 15 Oct 08, 08:13 AM
At the end of August, as the Olympic extravaganza in Beijing drew to a close, Lord Coe reiterated his desire that London's Games in four years' time would inspire "fewer couch potatoes and more participants".
The 2012 chief said: "The real challenge for our governing bodies, and for sport more broadly, is how many people can you get into the sport off the back of that great moment?"
As long as the rowers and sailors keep producing these great moments, Chris Hoy's mighty pins and his Mr Spock impressions lead to more velodrome glory and Becky Adlington remembers to take off her Jimmy Choos before jumping in the pool, then Coe's dreams could and should be reality.
It seems quite a few of you, possibly millions (we should have some specific figures soon with a UK Sport participation survey), have been buzzing on the back of Team GB's 47 medals (including 19 golds) and ParalympicsGB's 102 (42 gold).
Let's start with the bikes. Hoy's triple glory, the golden girls of Victoria Pendleton, Rebecca Romero and Nicole Cooke, and Bradley Wiggins' flying side-burns, seem to have done wonders to get the nation on two wheels.
A spokesman for Edinburgh RC, one of the UK's largest cycling clubs and based in Hoy's home city, told me he had never heard so many people talking about the sport and that big shop owners were reporting "a shortage in bikes".
Cycling clubs have had unprecedented numbers of people banging the doors down to get on over-subscribed taster sessions, while the manager at Manchester's Velodrome, HQ for all of GB's cyclists before Beijing, said the phone traffic after the Olympics had been "manic".
Mildenhall Cycling Club was sizzling with excitement over the efforts of honorary member Victoria Pendleton and member Ross Edgar, and although it was too early to measure membership increases, club spokesman Mark Burchett said GB success had definitely "raised the profile of cycling" and thanks to other factors like rising fuel costs and obesity, expected no let-up in the increased interest.
Meanwhile, it seems that just about every club and governing body is seeing new arrivals, inspired by feats in Beijing.
Andy Banks, who has overseen Tom Daley's development at Plymouth Diving, and a spokeswoman at Elmbridge Canoe Club, former home to kayaking king Tim Brabants, are rejoicing over the extra enquiries generated for their sports.
Same goes for the rowers. Caroline Searle from GB Rowing said the level of club enquiries and hits on the 'taking part' section on the website for Olympic and adaptive rowing had been huge. And with training just about to restart, the feet of Andy Hodge (coxless four gold medallist) and Co had not "touched the ground" since they returned from China, with countless requests for appearances.
And it's not just youngsters feeling the Olympic love.
Royal Lymington Sailing Club has nurtured every tack and jibe of superstar Ben Ainslie and Yngling champ Pippa Wilson over the last few years, and according to manager Jon Chittock, their golden efforts have got everybody excited, including the "old and bold".
With GB topping the sailing medal table, Lyndsey Bell of the Royal Yachting Association said "kids have been dragging their parents down to their local sailing club". Catherine Rowson, manager at Queen Mary - home to Yngling girls Sarah Ayton and Sarah Webb - said: "Even the older ones have told themselves to dust their old boats down and give it a go again."
And swimming pool managers beware - you may have to prepare your venues for something similar with an influx of freshly dusted-down goggles and under-sized trunks.
Having sifted through sack-loads of fan mail and gala requests for Paralympic sensation Sam Hynd and queen of the heels Adlington, Andrew James from Nottinghamshire's top club Nova Centurion SC says swimming is experiencing a "huge upsurge of interest".
It seems people not previously involved in all things aqua are also being drawn in.
A father recently wrote to Nova Canturion saying his son, who has the autistic condition Asperger's Syndrome, was struggling at school, but had been transformed since watching Adlington on TV. He had not only taken up swimming, but swam five days a week to copy her regime. His school results have improved dramatically.
James said: "Stories like this are worth as much as the medals, especially to Hynd, who knows more than most how important swimming can be in overcoming limitations."
Rewind a few weeks to the Paralympics and an ecstatic boccia arena. GB had just won team gold and player Dan Bentley was happy. Very happy. He'll be pushing Bradley Wiggins for the super-zealous celebration award, although Wiggy may be discounted after inviting a taxi bonnet to his gold medal party.
Boccia, along with wheelchair rugby, was my surprise package of the Paralympics and the national boss Chris Fitzgerald has seen a hugely encouraging increase in enquiries, revealing how the sport was proving to be a uniting force.
"Boccia is getting bigger and bigger - for disabled and non-disabled athletes - anybody can play. It's not a physical sport. Being non-disabled doesn't necessarily mean you have an advantage."
The sight GB stars waving their medals on the podium isn't the only thing to have got the nation moving. Scottish Cycling's performance manager Gary Willis believes it was the cycling events themselves, rather than the personalities, that captured the public's imagination.
A massed blur of riders, team-mates pulling each other's hands and seemingly random bursts of sprinting. It could only be the Madison. Bemusing, but utterly compulsive Olympic viewing and Willis said: "Kids keep telling me they want to be part of the Madison racing."
And it's not just the hot velodrome action encouraging a new generation of cyclists. "Although everyone has watched the track racing on TV, the mountain biking is seen by many as their pathway into cycling. It's growing massively," Willis added.
So enough about everybody else. It's over to you. What have you been up to since the curtain came down on Beijing and David Beckham played ticket inspector on the great red bus?
Dusted down your old bike, tried your hand at sailing or dug out your old swimming shorts? Do you reckon you could be on a start line in London in 2012?
Or are you one of life's sofa spuds, happy to see others take the glory. I want to hear your thoughts.
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I've taken up handball, and am now training with a local side.
I may never get into the GB Olympic squad, but I've found a new sporting passion.
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But what of Athletics???
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Was reasonably active before the olympics. Sport is an excellent way to bring communities together. It doesn't matter what language you speak
I'd like to see less spent on the olympics venues with that money saved going into public facilities, because in my mind, this is what London 2012 is representing for us
There's a lot of lazy people out there, not just physically but socially as well
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Flatwater Canoeing is great! I am 25 and have just started after watching Tim Brabants win gold.
Its a great sport for people with knee injuries. My local club is friendly and has facilities for beginners to elite athletes. Try it out!
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I'm just carrying on doing what I was doing; going to the gym 5 days a week.
I am, however, comtemplating starting running half marathons, if my physio (who is also my wife) will let me. That, however, is just a natural progression from the 10k runs I currently do.
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I was spurned into taking up running after watching Paula Radcliffe's exploits over the years. I've just done my third 10k and am about to enter my first half-marathon.....
Good luck Paula for New York next month!
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I've taken up wrestling, though the professional stuff rather than the olympic ones, but close enough!
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Can the UK Govt afford the London Olympic drugs fest?
After forking out hundred of billions on the banking system, shoudn't the ultra-expensive Olympics be kicked into touch?
I suppose too many establishment figures are set to make a fortune whatever happens.......
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My question is why are the Paralympians having a seperate reception in January at Buckingham Palace. Strange
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Why have all the videos of the winning performances disappeared off the BBC sports website?
Surely people want to watch their heroes win!
Shows how little the BBC care about the Olympic athletes.
Disgraceful.
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Greg, The BBC no longer has the rights to show the videos.
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And also, Greg, the Olympics finished months ago.
Can't expect them to be up there for ever.
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Peter Reed's first rowing club at the University of the West of England in Bristol had 150 people sign up to the first day of the new season - about 8 times more than normal.
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There's no reason to call the coxless four 'Hodge's four'. If anything it should be 'Steve Williams' four' as double Olympic champion. they were a team and Williams, Reed, Hodge and James all took part equally.
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All members of my badminton group (we're all 50+) are in training for the badminton team, one bad game and we're in the reserves! It's great fun and the olympics have been an inspiration. C'mon you youngsters, get moving and join in.
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Good article, although it's the comments above that have been the most illuminating for me. I think it's fantastic how inspirational the olympics have been to getting people active. Perhaps this can go some way of tackling our current average physical activity levels of around 21%!!
I am in favour of the olympics yet I can't help being synical ! I work in the sports development sector and already Sport England and the Youth Sports Trust have reallingned their focus on more competitive opposed to physical activity frameworks. Why? One answer - 2012. (a lot of good work around physical activity has been done over the years).
As you say at the beginning, 2012 was mainly won on the idea of legacy and lasting participation, yet how much of our lottery money for grass roots sport is and will be eaten up by the olympics? It will be interesting to see how sustainable our sporting frameworks are at grass roots level in 4 years time (or even sooner!).
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Every cyclist could win gold for the british olympic team but that would not constitute a successful olympic games for britain. Medals won in the track and field is what determines how good the olympics were for a nation.
Cylcling, rowing, Modern Pentathalon...; if peoples feelings towards all olympic sports were sub divided into ones they care about and ones they care less for i no the above sports fall into the latter group.
im pretty sure i could do a job for the olympic rowing team, i mean i aint half bad on my local gyms machine; however im pretty sure i couldn't keep up with usain bolt no matter how often i went to the gym.
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Luke Moore,
What's your 2k time on the rowing machines then? Under 6 minutes I presume?
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#16
Rowing in a real boat is vastly different to rowing on a machine and requires enourmous power and fitness, combined with technical precision and skill.
If you think you could row for Britain at the next Olympics - then great, go for it - but you must be a supreme athlete if you think you can...
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In public swimming pools it is actually impossible to swim; cycling around the roads is dangerous - cycling in parks is illegal; I'm not a wealthy posh bloke so haven't been in a boat.
So no.
Now, show me some sports that are possible for everyone to try!
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Levdavidovich,
You don't have to be a 'wealthy posh bloke' to row! You just have to be near a river - there are tonnes of rowig clubs around and anyone can join:
http://www.ara-rowing.org/clubfinder
Pete Reed went to a comprehensive and started rowing in Bristol docks. Andrew Hodge is from Yorkshire.
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Heros is the wrong term!
Believe me there is NOTHING heroic about running around in circles, or in a straight line or for that matter getting your body wet and doing faster than everybody else.
I made this point when the England Rugby team used the term and my views are still unchanged.
Nothing is heroic in this matter!
It is an achievement like everything else in life.
For example the operation on Seve Ballasteros...Is this heroic as well?
No! It's an achievement. Nothing more nothing less and they have been compensated for it.
So Gordon Brown's comment about all of them receiving an new years honour is totally out of order.
If this is going to be the standard set then we should give an honour to the postman that has to put his hand through a letter box everyday ...This is more dangerous and more heroic than an atheletes efforts of running, hopping, skipping and jumping all over the place.
Or perhaps we should consider awards for all the surgeons and doctors that save lives day in day out. This is by far more beneficial to the community than somebody receiving and award for getting their body wet.
But then again, our Gordon always did have difficulty living on the same planet as the rest of us.
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For all of you keen rowers out there looking for a challenge, why not sign up to Siemens Stroke for Stroke Week. Visit: www.siemens.co.uk/strokeforstroke
Taking place between 27th October ? 2nd November, the campaign aims to encourage people to head to the gym and row 10km during the week to raise awareness of the importance of regular exercise in stroke prevention and raise vital funds for The Stroke Association. This year national health club chain, LA Fitness are offering free gym access for the week for anyone taking part!
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I am fat and 40. A week before the Olympics started my partner turned 60 and we decided to go swimming. Since then we have been swimming 2 or 3 times a week. We also bought bikes and are out on those also 2-3 times a week, enjoying our local countryside in Inner London.
It's not entirely because of the Olympics, because I think it's fair to say they have added extra inspiration.
It's life-changing.
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Glad to see the Olympics have inspired some people to start/take part in a sport.
Sad but not surprised to see the negative and moaning comments on here.
As above has stated - it's never too late and life-changing and as someone that works for the NHS trying to keep people healthy both physically and mentally healthy, I welcome the Olympics and all it does for motivating and promoting physical and mental activity.
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Massive thanks for all your inspiring comments. Seems like a few of you aren't stuck to that sofa after all.
I doff my cap - especially for Ehutche's golden oldies on the badminton court and gert68's life-changing tummy-tucking antics in the pool.
And can anybody help Levdavidovich? He's after a decent public swimming pool, a park he can legally cycle in and a rowing club that accepts non-posh blokes.
Big apologies to all those sports I missed off - the credit crunch forced a 12% reduction in words, plus the fact your screens would have exploded if I had included all medal winners.
Another club's member to have rocketed since Beijing is Northern Ireland's Rathgael Gymnastics & Trampolining Club. Thank you for getting in touch and keep up the good work in Bangor.
So with the Olympians and Paralympians strutting their stuff in London town, keep your thoughts coming in on your club stories and all the sports you've been trying out.
Roll on Twenty Twelve and beyond.
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The able bodied team did well, finishing in the top three but overall the Paralympic team did just as well.
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@Mark A - Paralympians don't just strut, many of us wheelers st-roll....... pun intended :-> Great article btw
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It's very nice to read a positive blog post-Olympics. I was very depressed reading Tom Fordyce's I hope he isn't blogging in 2012 as well.
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