| 29 .12.12
THE LONDON 2012
O LY_ mPIC_ GAMES “Citius, Altius, Fortius.” “Faster, Higher, Stronger.”
01
LONDON 2012 OLYMPICS
REWIND << “The images of victory and defeat. . . will remain charged with emotive power for many years to come.” As I sat shivering under cold-damp skies, along with the other 80,000 lucky spectators, I experienced an epiphany: I’d much rather be at home watching on television. Say what you like about Gary Lineker’s taxing puns and Colin Jackson’s banal emphases, but there are few pleasures more gratifying than studying extreme physical effort close-up from the stretchedout comfort of one’s own sofa. I say stretched out, although of course¬ I sat up when Michael Johnson was talking. Partly out of respect for his studiously informed opinion, but mostly due to fear. Something about Johnson’s demeanour makes the drill sergeant in Full Metal Jacket seem like Graham Norton. Perhaps it’s his posture. Ramrod straight during his magnificent running days, his spine could still centre the bubble in a spirit level. The effect certainly focuses the attention. Both his fellow pundits, Jackson and Denise Lewis, are noticeably more anxious in the great man’s company, as though at any given moment they expect him to tell them to: “Drop and give me 20!” This may account for the pair’s tendency to lose verbal control during moments of high drama or, come to that, when asked a question by the silvery-smooth John Inverdale. It was Inverdale who rather cattily pointed out why Jackson wouldn’t cut it as a commentator, by running the film of the former champion hurdler flicking his fingers and screaming: “Look at what’s his name!” and “Here comes the big man!” during the men’s 100m final. We learned that “what’s his name” and “the big man” referred to Yohan Blake and Usain Bolt, respectively the runner-up and winner of arguably the finest 100m ever staged.
Oh yes, the sport, which has managed to be both epic and intimate – global in its scale but human in its sensibility. If there hasn’t been a lot of record-breaking, the Games have been well-served by memorymaking. The images of victory and defeat – designations often decided by the length of an ant – will remain charged with emotive power for many years to come. Equally, some might see an almost sadistic interest in tears, with the placing of cameras and inquisitors in front of overwrought athletes who can scarcely breathe, let alone talk. But the result, has most often provided a moist glimpse of the exceptional emotional commitment required, win or lose, to go for gold. In any case, weeping is now a recognised component of the narrative arc of competition, to be slotted in alongside the other familiar rituals: the pre-event strut and camera stare, the after-win air-punching and track-kissing. When 400m runner Martyn Rooney started talking about losing a life to training, after failing to qualify for the final, you got a sense of the unrewarded sacrifice that the great majority of athletes face. While Jones has done a commendable job in treating the two impostors of triumph and disaster with the same hearty embrace, his work has been made considerably easier by the unusual preponderance of British triumphs. Even after Super Saturday some broadcasters still had trouble adjusting to the new reality. With Andy Murray two sets up and leading 4-2 in the third in the tennis final against Roger Federer, Andrew
Castle gathered himself to sound a note of jubilation. “This is…” he began promisingly, in a suitably elevated register. But the poor man could go no further. The decades of defeat had taken their toll, reducing him to a superstitious silence. “Well,” he lamely concluded, “let’s not say anything.” Left to speak for itself, sport can be surprisingly eloquent, but it does need the right context. Given the leg-up of gold medal significance, these extraterrestrial staples have presented a welcome respite from the national obsession of football, just as the smiling humility of their participants has made a telling contrast with the surly prima donnas who dominate the Premier League. Yet what will linger longest in the imagination, a year on from the riots, is the dreamy sense of national unity across class, race and religious barriers that has characterised the past fortnight, right from the inclusive vision of Danny Boyle’s spectacular opening ceremony. What will be its legacy? So far the most authentic answer has come from the showjumper, Scott Brash. Asked by Clare Balding, who has enjoyed a stand-out Games, how a gold medal at his first Olympics will change his life, Brash gave a sleepy-eyed, toothy grin and replied in an unexpectedly gritty Scots accent: “Well, I really hope it improves, eh, my pulling power with women, to be honest with you.” Long may the Olympic flame keep burning.
The Guardian Weekend | 29 December 2012
02
The Evolution of the Olympic Medal Medals have been presented to event winners and runners-up since the first modern Olympic Games in 1896. For each host city, different medals are minted and the designs and sizes have changed through time. Below is visual representation of the change in size and weight of each medal from 1896 to 2012.
0 5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
50
55
60
65
70
75
80
20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180 200 220 240 260 280 300 320 340
Indicator of the diameter of each medal (mm) Indicator of the weight of each medal (g)
2012
The year of the Olympics
360 380 400
The Guardian Weekend | 29 December 2012
03
WOMENâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S HEPTATHLON The heptathlon consists of seven track and field events; with a points system that awards higher scores for better results in each of the seven events. All events in the womenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s heptathlon are outdoor and performed over two days. Day 1 consists of the 100-meter hurdles, high jump, Shot put and 200-meter run and, day 2, the long jump, javelin throw and 800-meter run. This graph shows how the top 3 winners scored and ranked in each event over the two days. The higher the arc of the semi circle the better they fared. The wider the diameter, the higher they scored.
1 2
100mH
(1195)
200m
100mH
(1096)
(1086) 200m
4 5 7
HJ
(1013)
(1054) HJ
SP
(1016)
(845) SP
10
(813) SP
13 15 16
24
(805) 100mH
(1053)
HJ
(978)
200m
(908)
The Guardian Weekend | 29 December 2012
04
1
Jessica Ennis (1st)
High Jump
100 meter hurdles
Lilli Schwarzkopf (2nd)
Shot Put
800 meter run
Tatyana Chernova (3rd)
Long Jump
200 meter run
Indicates how the athlete ranked in each event
Javelin Throw
D AY 1
D AY 2
13
(788)
10
(812)
(894) (943) (957)
5
(971)
2
(1001) (984)
4
(1020)
1
The Guardian Weekend | 29 December 2012
05
MENâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S MARATHON The marathon is a long-distance running event with a distance of 42.195 km (26.219 -mile). The 2012 Olympic Marathon Course consists of one short circuit with a distance of 3.571 km (2.219 miles), followed by three circuits of 12.875 km (8.0 miles). The data shows how the top three athletes fared after each 5k (1st, 2nd, 3rd etc) and the time it took each to reach each 5k. The time is indicated by the circles, each representing 15 minutes.
Start
8,16,24
5k 3,11,19
30k
40k 26.2m 42.194988k
2,10,18,26 15k
1 9,17,25
Finish
The Guardian Weekend | 29 December 2012
06
15min
5k
30min
45min
Stephen Kiprotich (1st) Abel Kirui (2nd)
10k
Wilson Kipsang Kiprotich (3rd)
5,13,21 20k
15k
35k
4,12,20 25k 7,15,23
6,14,22 10k
20k 25k 30k 35k 40k
The Guardian Weekend | 29 December 2012
07
MENâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S TRIATHLON A triathlon is a multiple-stage competition involving the completion of three continuous and sequential endurance disciplines. The three sports are swimming, cycling and running, completed in that order. The course is a 1,500m swim, followed by a 43km bike (seven laps of a 6.137km course), finishing with a 10km run (four laps of a 2.5km course). The data below shows how the top 6 athletes ranked in each sport and the time it took them to complete each.
1 / 76.51
1 / 106.25 2 / 106.36
2 / 17.00
3 / 106.56 4 / 107.14
4 / 17.02
5 / 107.21
5 / 76.51 6 / 17.04 8 / 76.52 9 / 17.20
SWIM
BIKE
10 / 77.21 11 / 76.52
RUN
6 / 107.26
13 / 76.52
19 / 17.24
25 / 17.25 Alistair Brownlee (1st) Javier Gomez (2nd) Jonathan Brownlee (3rd) David Hauss (4th) Laurent Vidal (5th) Jan Frodeno (6th) postion / time
The Guardian Weekend | 29 December 2012