Excellence. Friendship. Respect. So whose motto is that? Boy Scouts? Alcoholics Anonymous? Who would guess that these are the watchwords supposedly encapsulating the modern Olympic movement? Actually, says the International Olympic Committee (IOC), it’s not merely a slogan, but the organisation’s ‘life philosophy’. Funny thing that, the gap between imagination and reality. While those three […]
Olympic Games
Posted inNews/Politics, Sport
Caster, Oscar, Hashim — their victories, our hope
By Greg Nott This past week has been filled with extraordinary and historical sporting moments that are so inspirational they’re almost too good to be true. They hold a key for our political future; if we’ll appreciate the significance of the events. When I first met Caster Semenya, it was August 2009. She had just […]
Posted inNews/Politics
An opening ceremony as confused as the British psyche
“We know we’re great, we’re just not sure why.” For me those words sum up a generally strange, occasionally spectacular Olympic opening ceremony in London on Friday. I guess the starting point for opening ceremonies is the desire to be bigger and deliver more prolonged thrills than the previous guy. And if good sex is […]