Next up was Lutalo Muhammad, who had been the innocent victim of some terrible & inexplicable selectorial shenaningans from UK Taekwondo. Without ever providing a proper explanation, Aaron Cook, number 1 in the world & world champion was not selected and Lutalo, who droped down a weight so he could fight here, was. All sorts of shit had hit the fan in the build up, and no one is any the wiser as to why.
His first two fights were cagey affairs, almost like the pressure & expecation on him to succeed was overwhelming him. When he lost in fairly dismal style to a Spanish fighter Cook beats all the time, there was much eye rolling, but people were forgetting that when you lose to the eventual finalist, you get another go. He had been utterly devastated when he lost, the ref had to get him up off the mat so they could complete the post fight ritual of bows & handshakes.
When he came out later in the evening for the repechages, he was so much better! Why hadn't he fought like this earlier? For whatever reason, he seemd to fight with a lot more confidence, and ended up winning 2 further rounds and getting a bronze.
Huge sighs of relief all round from the blazers, but this should not be seen as a vindication of their selection policy, which was wrong. However, all hail Lutalo Muhammad - none of this was your doing, and to come out of it with a bronze after all the abuse you had had in the build up was quite brilliant. Well done!
Lutalo Muhammad, Bronze, Taekwondo.
Over at Weymouth, we had two guaranteed silvers in the 470 class. The men were first, where they needed to beat the Aussies, and get another boat between them. It started well enough, and a very tense race unfolded, but the Aussies got ahead, and we couldn't catch them. However, the boys were delighted with Silver - they're young lads at their first Olympics, one of the Aussies is a veteran who is retiring, and they have been world champions for the last 3 years. At the end, they both capsized their boats & jumped into the sea together to celebrate - it was wonderful stuff, they'd had a heck of a race but could then enjoy each other's success afterwards - I found myself unexpectedly affected by a brief allergic reaction to the dust...
Luke Patience & Stuart Bithell, Silver, Sailing 470 class, Men
I didn't see the women racing, but they only needed to finish ahead of the Kiwis. Somehow they were caught in a bunch when the wind changed & the Kiwis were in the right spot & won easily. There was not the unalloyed delight we saw from the boys, but they seemed to get there by the time the medals were presented. I'm sure both crews will be back in Rio...
Hannah Mills & Saskia Clark, Silver, Sailing 470 class, Women.
Things are looking good at the boxing, with 3 fighters into their respective finals. Losing semi-fianlists get awarded the Bronze, so this is what Anthony Ogogo gets, after he was outclassed by the Brazilian in his semi.
Anthony Ogogo, Bronze, Boxing.
The women's hockey team, Bronze.
And so to the Athletics, where I'd be lying if I said I had high hopes for the 4x100 relay boys. I was listening to Darren Campbell talking about relay running on my way home, making a lot of sense, and clearly not that confident about the team, and the order. I'm thinking to myself that he should have a coaching role somehow. Anyway, off they went, and YET AGAIN they cock it up, this time on the final changeover, where they'd put the most inexperienced runner. He started too soon, looked back for the baton, took it too late then ran out of his lane! Poor kid, but FFS! Sort it out! How hard can it be? Ironically the one time in the last 5 olympics where we didn't cock it up, we won the bloody Gold!
Mystic Campbell had flagged up all of these areas, and questioned the order, and then it turns out that he's offered his services to Charles van Comminee (sp?) of UK Athletics FOR FREE and been turned down! Charlie boy needs to get his head out of his arse and involve Mr C as soon as possible, as we have become whatever comes after "embarassment" and "laughing stock".
The 4x100 final for women was won by a formidable US team, who also shattered the 27 year old world record set by the doped up East Germans - no one will miss that record.
In the 4x400m relay, traditionally a good one for us and real medal chance, the team was changed before the final, and team captain & hurdler Dai Greene was brought in. This was a bad call, and had been flagged as a potentially bad one 24 hours earlier. Dai took the 3rd leg, and while the first two had left him a lot to do, he left Martyn Rooney even more to do, and even though Rooney ran a blistering anchor leg, he was a couple of metres short on the line - but it was certainly exciting!
Away from the Athletics, Brazil got into the final of the Men's Volleyball, with a convincing straight sets win over Italy, and Tom Daley scraped into the final of the diving, 15th out of 18. If he is on the daily preview brochure thing tomorrow, his fate will be sealed.
Oh yes, and the BMX. Reports from my friend Giules, taking one for the team by sitting out in the sun all afternoon about 4 rows away from Becks, were that it was an excellent afternoon - though she was a bit far away from crash corner! Loads of athletes tried to get in and had to be directed to a separate area outside the velodrome.
BMX is definitely a great event, but it's also a total lottery, all thrills & spills, so I don't think we should pile the pressure on any GB hopes, as you really can't control the result. Unfortunately, there was to be no retribution for Shanaze Reade :-(
Still, at least Colombia won their second ever Gold, so well done to Mariana Pajón!
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