GB pedal-powers to success
My heart sank when I heard that the open-top bus was starting to rev up its engine, and that Team GB's victorious athletes were to be paraded through the streets of London.
Can't we stick to pedal and wind power? Seems to work just fine, and is much more carbon neutral. For all the jibes about the Brits sitting and lying down for their medals, you have to admit the golds have been very green.
I thought the news was certain to bring a quick reversal of British fortunes. And then, as I ploughed through all your comments, the GB wunder cyclist Chris Hoy did his thing, as did speedy Victoria Pendleton (beating an Aussie to boot).
So, too, did Christine Ohuruogu - whom the Aussies have already tagged as the Cathy Freeman of the London games (Freeman, an aboriginal athlete, lifted Australian hearts at Sydney in 2000, also by winning the 400m).
"Just brilliant," shouted the Channel 7 commentator Raelene Boyle, a former Olympic sprinter herself. "Just brilliant."
That, I think it's safe to say, is something the Brits and the Aussies share. We both recognise sporting brilliance when we see it, and can sense its broader meaning as well. More than that, we both like to imbue our sporting achievement with broader, national meaning - hence some of the heated comments.
But are we also suffering from another bout of 'Oz/Pom Syndrome', a condition that triggers a stream of nationalist invective? Is it encoded in our DNA? Are we genetically predisposed to needle each other?
On occasions, I have succumbed to this condition myself, as my Aussie wife and my Australian mother-in-law would attest. I just can't help myself.
An example. I've just been trying to track down a sports reporter for help with a piece I'm planning for the lunchtime news, but he wasn't in. "He's probably resigned in protest at having to report on so many British gold medals," I suggested to his colleague who answered the phone. She came straight back with the "per capita" argument
The Oz/Pom Syndrome. There we were parroting the same old lines, ventriloquising the same old barbs. We could not help ourselves.
Then a moment of honesty.
"I just couldn't give a s****," she said. And, in that, I dare say she speaks for much of the Australian nation. The truth is that not that many Aussies are going to lose much sleep over this. And if anybody out there is, we'd love to come round and film you, ideally before lunchtime in Britain, so please get in touch.
That said, I suspect the British performance has unnerved a few people, like grumpy old John Coates, the AOC chief, who spends many of his waking hours thinking how Australia can accumulate more gold medals.
The reason? The British success has had a very Australian edge. Long-term planning, gutsy determination, supreme self-assurance and ruthless execution.
The British cycling team reminds me of the Aussie cricket team that white-washed England. Hayden comes in and hammers the bowling. Then Ponting does it. Then, when he's out, Hussey comes in and continues the punishment. They did it for five test matches running. Victory was not enough. They wanted, and achieved, complete domination. The British cyclists have emulated their success. They are scary.
A few other quick points:
- the per capita argument may sound a little desperate, but that does not mean it is not valid. Australia does do disproportionately well and has done, pretty much, ever since the national disgrace of 1976, when its team returned from Montreal without a single Gold
- lpankhurst pointed out that "medal" is a noun not a verb. It is on Channel 7, along with "to podium"... although I have to hear "to flagpole".
So how about a few others? To Hoy. To Pendleton. To Oz/Pom.
I'm 
© MMIX~RS~q~RS~~RS~z~RS~42~RS~)
CommentsSign in
You need to sign in to contribute to this page. If you're new to BBC Blogs, creating your membership is quick and easy.
"The truth is that not that many Aussies are going to lose much sleep over this. And if anybody out there is, we'd love to come round and film you, ideally before lunchtime in Britain, so please get in touch"
Says it all, Nick.
After trawling through about 100 pavlovian responses on your topic below from enraged poms or Aussies, many vitriolically and humourlessly accusing the other of lacking humour and being, well, vitriolic, it's nice to see someone to admit the nature of these press beat-ups.
Complain about this comment
Sport is essentially tribal no matter the geographical level it is played at.
The Aussie reaction to Team GB's success is a bit like Scotland's to England's in the 1966 World Cup, and we still rave about beating them 3-2 at Wembley in 1967!
When it comes to the Olympics however we Scots are happy to get behind GB, and do know the difference between GB and England, which is why we are against Team GB competing in the Olympic Football Tournament in 2012 as it would not only help Blatter achive his ambition of a single GB team in future Euros and World Cups, and that is a step too far.
Football would also be an unwelcome diversion in 2012 as it makes a pleasant change to enjoy real success in other sports as a single GB team.
To all sports fans in Oz who are suffering right now, we understand your pain but you lost, get over it and move on. As for cricket most Celts are indifferent to who wins or loses a competition between the same two countries played every few years.
Complain about this comment
The "Aussie reaction" is vastly exaggerated (even invented if need be) in the UK media. As I write, BBC R2 is pleading for "any Aussies out there to text us and tell us how great we are"
And they claim the Aussies are the ones obsessed with the UK!
Complain about this comment
"My heart sank when I heard that the open-top bus was starting to rev up its engine, and that Team GB's victorious athletes were to be paraded through the streets of London."
Mine too. British athletes, sucessful or not, should stick with tradition by returning to their day-jobs and cosy obscurity. Hoy should resume delivering his newspapers, Adlington her pool attendant duties, and Ainsley his early shift in the glass fibre factory.
Modern politicians crave the halo effect of association, so medallists must now suffer the embarassment of ordeal-by-bus. No amount of stamina and training can equip the human body for this; maintaining a fixed grin for five hours is certainly the cruellest event of all.
Complain about this comment
Before the onset of blog, I assumed the passionate fan to be one keen to witness the joy of the game and the spectacle of the athlete and encourage their favourite team. Part of the fun was the cheering of the fan. Never mind the politics, the disadvantage, whatever, the spectacle was all for the fans of sport. How wrong could I be. The innards of the sporting fan is unraveling at each and every meet, now the Olympics displays the guts of the fan and it is certainly not pretty. Just as well young people slog out their guts for money today, their managers have kept this secret profile of the average fan for far too long. Quite obscene that the young perform for these people, they should expect millions as they are entitled to it.
Complain about this comment
As an Aussie, it's great to see the Brits doing well. In fact as someone else pointed out, the Commonwealth nations are collectively doing very well. Pity you can't include the US in that medal count. Is it something about the english language ???
Complain about this comment
Ooooh, now there is an idea - collate the medal tally by language spoken.
Then we would be able to compare the English speaking tally against the rest.
More importantly, GB - nay, England, can take credit for all of them!
Today, the Olympics, tomorrow......
Love it.
Complain about this comment
It's sport, banter, rivalry... not nationalism, jingoism or invective. Neither Australians or Brits have any true national identity. I kind of pity Chris Hoy, the flying Scotsman - for the price of winning three gold medals in cycling he has been forced to sing God Save The Queen. Three times. It's a bit like having an Anzac Olympic team and forcing the Kiwis to sing Advance Australia Fair. It wouldn't happen.
The problem with Australian sport generally, I'll always attest, is their media - they attract a mixture of laughter and loathing from all quarters, in all sports. Spend a Thursday in front of the Footy Show and just marvel. They're unashamedly biased. In England, the media is robust and objective (almost to a fault you might say Nick); but they're informed. You'd never get a British achore - as Channel Seven have - asking what would happen to the 800m should it rain.
In Australia they've never gotten over Bradman, they've basked for so long in the rays of sporting success that failure has come to be considered as 'un-Australian'. Look at players like Mike Hussey who had to wait till his 30s to get into the national cricket side. England, in all sports, have dropped to such unbelievable depths in the past, that anything above average is applauding as the work of the Gods. But sport in England is about teams, individuals, participation, the moment, the glory, the resolve.
In Australia, it's always been about winning. Remember Prime Minister John Howard's graceless gesture when he rushed handing out England's World Cup winners medals in the 2003 RWC final - that was a Prime Minister. And he was speaking for a nation. Losing on Australian soil was, after all, a very 'un-Australian' thing to do.
Complain about this comment
This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the House Rules.
As an Aussie I think competition from GB is great, it'll make the Commonwealth games more interesting.
Rather than a Commonwealth total, what about a tally for actual subjects of Q E II, GB 16 10 10, Aus 11 12 12, Can 2 6 5, NZ 3 1 5 and Jam 2 3 0.
Giving the Queen's subjects a total of 34 32 32. Second in Gold and with 98 medals, well out in front of the total medal count.
Complain about this comment
I have been reading this blog and never laughed so much in my life! With mention nobel prizes, grandfather hating the Brits, and such like, what a hoot! In all seriousness I hadn't really noticed that we were ahead until it was mentioned today.
I am really glad Team GB is doing well after such a dearth of sporting success across the board not just the olympics. Well done to all the atheletes. About time too as now its being taken seriously but unfortunately with mainly lottery not government funding. The Aussies have done well too but you must remember things go in roundabouts - remember Montreal in 1976 anyone?? but i'm sure they will come back up again. We may as well enjoy our success while we can!!!
I really like Aussies and Australia and have Aussie friends but this "pom" bating is a bit juvenile and am surprised how widespread it is, but it just shows how insecure the Aussies can be and that sections of the media and nationalist element will always take advantage of the situation.
I do think this abuse is aimed at the English rather than the other UK nations, but "pom" seems to be used as a catch-all term like English meaning British and vice-versa. personally i find the pom a little bit offensive. but doesn't it mean "Prisoner of Her Majesty"?? so shouldn't it therefore refer to the Aussies??
Just to clear afew things up:
1) The Brits are are generally self depreciating, we've had to be, you only have to look at our history to know that! but it'll only stretch to a point I'm sure!
2) the full name of the UK is the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
3) To the person who was getting wound up about wales not being a country, well Wales has only been a united country afew times in its history, the last time independantly was under Owen Glyndwr. Prior to that is was a mix of independant principalities and lordships. After that it fell under English domination but with the assistance of numerous Welshmen. In fact Glyndwr revolted initially in support of Richard II of England who had been deposed. It was then united with England in the act of union of 1536 by Henry VIII - who...wait for it... had a Welsh father. EnglishHence it was part of England and therefore the Welsh Flag (as there wasn't one at the time) does not appear on the Union Jack. I quite agree that it is overdue to change that but with devolution is there any point.
P.S. just been listening to BBC Radio 1 and you Aussies are really bitter! or some of you are anyway. what that all about "...no soap"?? you do love your little cliches dont you.
Complain about this comment
It has all been a rare bit of fun in these difficult times. I'm mystified by all this "Australia Losing" stuff when all I can see is an Australian team that has competed at the highest level in a vast array of sports and has won loads of medals! For once, Australia hasn't done as well as team GB...but it has still done well.
I see no problem in this, but then I'm British and we don't see winning as the "be all and end all" as a rule.
I don't know how much of this is myth? Do Aussie sports reporters really take such an avid interest in the performance (or preferably lack of it) by British teams. Apart from celebrating fine athletes I don't think about Australian sport from one month to the next...and I think goes for most of us Poms. I'm secretly hoping that it's the same the other way and this is all an invention of the media to fill column-inches and airwaves.
Mind you, I do recall now during the 2003 Rugby World Cup, that some Aussie media pundits were invited, as members of the host country, to look up the word"host" in the dictionary.
To those who were raising the subject on the previous blog...I have alwys been led to believe that Pom is a phonic representation of the acronym P.O.H.M., standing for Prisoner of His/Her Majesty. This was stencilled on convicts uniforms hence, anyone fresh off the boat was "a POM". But this all ancient history and I thought that convict roots in Australia was a matter of pride! (I wouild be proud...it's rather cool).
The only remnant these days is that curious question on Australian Immigration forms of "Have you ever been convicted of a criminal offence?". To which any Brit worth his salt can reply "No...I had no idea this was still necessary!"
It's an old one but still good!
PS: Don't try it on the immigration officers...they've heard it before!
Complain about this comment
They are scared!
http://blogs.smh.com.au/olympics/johnbirmingham/2008/08/20/thepomsareba.html?page=fullpage#comments
Complain about this comment
I can't believe this rubbish
These Athletes on both the GB team and Aussie team are working there hearts out for their nations and the only one especially here in the UK that are getting acknowledgement are the ones who win the Gold!
Ok so they are the top of their game but Silver and bronze are still amazing!
Go Aus! You make all of us who are overseas and at home proud no matter what medal you win!
And just because one man said some serious rubbish about a pool and soap does not mean all Australians are sore losers give us a break our team is doing fantastic as always.
Complain about this comment
Spending in olympic sports, in Oz over 30 years far outspent British sport hence the difference in results. And was caused by Australia trying to find ways to create an identity for itself through sports, something the UK didnt need as its identity is strong and known throughout the world.
Just recently due to poor performance in Atlanta and London winning the Olympics the amount of spend in olympic sports has increased 10 fold the UK causing the recent success and continued (more) success in London.
This will not be unique and Oz will need to get used to dropping the league table as other countries do the same as Britain has in recent years. Oz dont be bitter be proud you were first in realising the importance of sport. Be prepared for a difficult London 2012.
Complain about this comment
Many have been commenting on the supposed origins of "POM". it only takes a jiffy to look it up :
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alternative_words_for_British
In summary, nobody really knows for sure, but a corrupted "Pommy Grant" for "Immigrant" is the best and earliest cited reference in the OED (1912).
Complain about this comment
16 You_know_its_true
It's touching to meet someone who believes Wikipedia to be an authoritative source. I've always found it a swirling hotbed of frantically competing obsessions, particularly in contentious areas of nationalistic prejudice:-)
Complain about this comment
I'm both British and Australian. Proud of both nationalities equally. However I'm very disapointed in both my Brittish and Aussie counterparts with their bitter comments from both sides. I don't at all feel inclined to enter the debate. I'm going to adopt a neutral country and follow them instead, regardless of their medal tally.
Complain about this comment
I was going to comment on the last blog post but rather than Nick's usual 20-30 comments it has reached over 250. Is that level of passion really necessary? A week after the Olympics the majority of people will struggle to name even a few of the Gold winners (let alone anyone who got Silver or Bronze). And the debates over Per Capita, Nobel Prizes etc are just pathetic, some people really need to grow up and realise that a fortnights worth of Sport doesnt not constitute an excuse for poorly disguised racism.
p.s. When did BMX become an Olympic sport? If we can all make up a sport could I vote for "Office Coffee Run" and have the athletes run from one end of the Stadium to the other without a room full of their coworkers assuming they have just become a waiter and shouting drinks orders at them.
Complain about this comment
As an Aussie in London, I've been quite broken-hearted over this Olympics. Did we even have anybody in the athletics? Because all I saw was a bunch of Russians and Brits storming it home. And swimming! What happened?!
Talking about the Aussie/Brit acrimony... today I received three separate emails from my work colleagues: 1 cited your blog as proof that 'Aussies lose to Brits' (much smugness), 1 was from my American colleague pointing out we lost to them in the basketball (even more smugness) and one from my Japanese colleague pointing out we lost to them in the softball (very polite... with a touch of smugness). The whole world seems to be celebrating... and taking much joy in pointing out how poorly we're doing. I say laugh it up boys - because we're going to outmedal the Brits at their darn Olympics 4 years from now!! It is ON!
Complain about this comment
I consider it is helpful if GB gets more gold medals than Australia. I was teaching in Essex when you finally won back the ashes. How you carried on, but I reminded my English colleagues that you would soon be defending the ashes in Australia. I was still in Essex when our cricket team flogged you 5 nil. Our captain is still leading his team yours is retired. I cannot wait till the olympics is in London, when once again we will close your gloating mouths, in front of your patisan crouds. Bring it on.
Complain about this comment
Victoria Pendletons win was fantastic. But the higlight of the Olympics for me was Anna Meares winning the silver to Pendleton. How she has comeback from that horrific accident to get to an Olympic final is nothing short of miraculous.
Complain about this comment
alphabobjohn, re your comment on John Howard's ungracious behaviour towards Englands team at the 2003 rugby world cup. Most australians also noticed this and we subsequently voted the little git out of office. Also please remember this was almost five years ago, so you should get over it.
Complain about this comment
I agree proudozpom. I have enjoyed watching both nations perform and although I have been backing the Aussies when they compete against Britain, many of the comments in the previous blog by both nations were embarassing.
The truth is as Nick has pointed out, the majority of Australians enjoy watching the games regardless of the gold medals/success and this has always how it has been in Australia. To illustrate this point the cricket crowds in Australia were never bigger than when we were playing and being walloped by the West Indies. The gold medals won in the swimming pool were largely met by a smile and a shrug at the success. However the silver medal won by Sally McLellan made us excited about the Games again. Underdog, battler, brilliant performance. That is what Aussie love.
Equally, my friends from England are enjoying the success of Britain and the fact that it has knocked football off the back pages - but that is about as far as it goes for most.
Complain about this comment
I think I am ok with the Englsh doing well as I believe it only makes us stronger being seen as the underdog.
As for this place, it is now my second summer and both are more like Autumn in Aus. For the past two to almost three weeks the temp has not reached over 22 degress and it has rained non stop I dont even remember what the sun looks like.
I think we should give them a break having to live here for your entire life must be awfully depressing, so anything remotely positve must be good for them.
I know grass is greener blah blah I dont care if Aus is boring at least I know what the sun looks like
Complain about this comment
This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the House Rules.
I am an aussie and thank goodness here at least there is little or any nastiness and insults from Aussies and Brits.
I think all athletes have done a brilliant job from both Australia and Great Britain. I do not care who is top of the medal tally. I care about seeing athletes doing their best and some performances from all around the world have moved me to tears.
I admired particularly the gutsy performance by Mr Davies in the 10km swim. If was great to see him get a silver medal after not medalling in the 1500m freestyle.
Why armchair spectators have to jibe at each other is beyond my understanding. Just enjoy the olympics, and be happy for GB getting the medal tally they deserve. Well done GB!!!!
Complain about this comment
youngspeaker ... Nah it's not depressing living here really (as I assume you agree really, otherwise I take it you'd move back?)
The weather is not an issue as it nice to have a varying weather system. Some days it rains, some days it's sunny, some days it's just cloudy or something entirely different. I certainly prefer it over being unbearably hot and getting bitten to buggery by the local insects or unbearably cold for that matter! I'd very much dislike having a predictable weather pattern at all.
So no we don't really need to clutch at 'anything remotely positive' as there is plenty to be positive about anyway (unless you have a very negative outlook) - But it is nice to being doing well at the Olympics, regardless of how anyone else is doing!
Complain about this comment
Cheers Nick, another great article. I posted this in your last thread, but on reading, it probably belongs here. Just bear in mind that when I say 'this thread' I mean the Aussie v England thread, not this one.
I realise that sport is the domain of blind parochialism, but some of what I have read here irks me. If there was one gold medal to hand out to some of the posters in this thread, it would be for gross generalisation.
So Australia have xenophobes and sore losers? Old news mate. Some of us figured that out the minute Pauline Hanson got elected, bounced out of parliament, sent to jail then brought back as a reality tv 'celebrity' (who incidentally doesn't know the meaning of the word ?xenophobe?).
Bigotry and sour grapes don't exactly separate us from any other country of the planet, but nor are they characteristics that define us. Not all Australians gather together in loud, gaudily coloured cliques to inform the world that by virtue of our being born next to an ocean with a climate that suggested we should dive in, we are unique and somehow better. Some of us don't even think that because we are 4 gold medals shy of expectations, our lives will fall apart.
Plenty of us are either happy to see others do well, or think sport gets too much of a run on the taxpayer?s dollar or just plain don't care. We don't travel to other countries to drink their beer, urinate on their national monuments and announce to the world ?it's not as good as back 'ome". We respect local customs, seek out different cultures and try to learn more about the world around us. You probably wouldn't notice us much, because we make an effort to fit in.
And like it or not, any place where more than two people congregate for more than an hour develops a culture over time. It?s ?the way we do things around here? Australian culture may be nascent, imperfect and lacking a distinctive heritage- gotta admit Europe and Asia, you kinda have us there- but it exists, even if Aussies are the only ones who care about it. This of course assumes you ignore the 50,000 year old culture that also lives here, but we can't really blame the Brits there- we frequently do and have far less excuse for it.
I notice a few Australians in the culture wars up the page didn't think to mention a pertinent Antipodean 'gift' to the world, Rupert Murdoch. A man who built an empire across three continents that has done as much as anyone to sell out the role of the 4th estate and reduce it to the level of a cut-rate carnival barker. That the Australian rags supposedly competing with him (of which the SMH is one) choose to follow suit says a lot for the 'standards' of public discourse he helped to pioneer.
To close with a generalisation of my own, it seems that a generation weaned on the oily jingoism of tabloid journalism has grown up... and discovered internet forums. Time to grow a little more kids.
Complain about this comment
Just as a small side note....
As an Aussie I am happy they do not measure the Medal tally using the Golds per capita method, heaven forbid that would put New Zealand above us....
And the Beauty of the Olympics is that we are all getting a little excited about sports that we would never usually watch, and some (usually anonymous) kids who slave away for years to train for their day in the sun get their Warhol moment.
And there is nothing wrong with getting a slight buzz when your home Country does a little better that your Friends.
Alas GB it's your turn this time.
I cannot wait for a 2012, I am planning my trip over for that already.
Complain about this comment
And will the GB medellars get gongs from OUR Queen? We never do when we win things.
Complain about this comment
howesy_ontour:
I can't stand the Olympics. Personally, I think it is an abomination that the UK has budgeted over £9 Billion for an elitist event, when people die in our hospitals because they are dirty and our troops are being killed abroad because of inadequate equipment. There are many better uses for that money in the UK, but I will stop at those examples.
I do not watch the sporting events and abhor the amount of public money the BBC has spent sending so called sports experts (really just past-it sports personalities) to China. What a waste.
Having said all that, I have never laughed so much as when reading these blogs. Regardless of the apparent vitriol sometimes expressed, it is clear that the English and Australians have genuine affection for each other. They must have, 'cos they bitch and compete against each other like siblings. Great fun. Long may it last.
Complain about this comment
Oi! Moderators, what is going on? Why has my previous comment been referred? All I have done is stated that I disagree with the Olympics because they are too expensive and elitist (also because I have no interest in them).
Or was it because I said that the English and Australians actually have a great deal of affection for each other?
Or was it because I complained that the BBC has spent too much public money sending out past-it sports personalities to cover the games?
Nowhere did I use offensive language or tone.
This is unacceptable censorship! Remember who pays your salaries!
Complain about this comment
Post number 20. I have to agree with you about the email business. Although I suspect you'll find your prediction of Australia trouncing GB in 2012 misguided. I'd hope that the host team perform even better than they have in Beijing.
However I too have received countless emails pointing me either to this blog or crowing about Australia doing so badly, and I won't be modest and say I've shown a herculean capacity for being gracious in defeat.
If Australia beat England in sport, I'm always pleased that they performed well I'm not pleased England lost. I'm not saying all the English are awful are like this but there are an awful lot of people who are taking delight in the 'misfortune' of Australia rather than the success of the British.
Complain about this comment
I agree with post number (11), and thanks for the history lesson.
(29) liked his big words so much he blogged it twice, I had to look up ?Parochialism? never mind xenophobe (by the way, were not really foreign to Aussie?s!), good word by the way. Both nations have there minority trouble makers and there majority good natured folk, so I doubt you can say no Aussie has ever urinated in some other countries fountain while drunk? watch that tar brush!
And (31) Our Queen? Still got her Australian crown, ever since Cook came home and said to George the third: ?WE?VE WON AUSTRALIA!?
It was great to see the Jamaicans enjoying another Gold, and I bet every Jamaican was celebrating not giving a thought to any other country having more gold.
Shame on us for bickering when were both doing so well!
Well done to ALL the Athletes who have worked so hard to make this Olympics.
Complain about this comment
(35) For the record, we actually agree. I wouldn't suggest for a second no Aussie ever went overseas to drink inferior beer and urinate on monuments- just not all of us.
Pleased to have expanded your vocab btw, your welcome. Fine language, English- I can see why you guys are so fond of it.
Complain about this comment
Honestly post number 28 you must not be in the same country as I? defined weather?? you mean 1 week of sunshine 1 month of rain? have you even travelled to Australia..
In most places we have defined summers, Springs, Autumns and winters.
I have been to many places in the world and find England the hardest place to live, probably because I am used to the beach and sunshine being available most days of the year.
I have been bitten by more things all over the world then aus wierd ha!
blah am off home in a week yay!
Complain about this comment
This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the House Rules.
View these comments in RSS