Open Writing

After covering five Olympic Games, you would have thought I would have become something of a cynical old hack.

But that could be no further from the truth as I remain in awe of the Olympic movement which stages the greatest sporting show on earth.

There is no other event to my knowledge which brings together almost every nation on the planet at the same time every four years.

When it comes to football’s World Cup and other major sporting events, it is usually only the elite nations which contest them.

What is so refreshing about the Olympics is that the movement encompasses nations whatever the size of their population.

There were 204 in Beijing.

And providing the athletes achieve the qualifying time and rankings they are able to compete.

So you can get competitors from as diverse nations as Spain and the Seychelles, Botswana and Brazil, China and the Cook Islands.

And in a world where nations are so often divided and sometimes go to war, it is heart-warming that sport unites the world for just over a fortnight.

You had Russia and Georgia, who have been recently fighting over a disputed area, locked in sporting combat as have been Iran and Iraq, two other deadly rivals.

I hope the Olympic movement not only survives but prospers because I have no doubt sport helps make the world a better place.

What memories will I take away from China?

I must admit that the Beijing I discovered was far different from the one you see portrayed in the media back at home.

The Chinese, while remaining a staunch Communist state, has embraced capitalist values, something necessary if it is to prosper and flourish in a global economy which it is doing.

By remaining insular, there is no way that would have ever happened had Chairman Mao remained alive when China was effectively closed to the rest of the world.

Mao would, however, probably turn in his grave if he could witness what was happening since his death in 1976.

Mao remains revered and the state’s father figure as I discovered when I queued with thousands of others to file past his body in Tiannaman Square. Hundreds bought flowers to lay at a giant statue of him seated in power, and there were genuine outpourings of emotion.

Yet had Mao still been in power, there is no way the Chinese would have had a society as open as it appears and freedoms which were unheard of in the 1970s, something they fail to appreciate.

Beijing, in fact, has very much of the feel and appearance of an American city with a skyline of skyscrapers, the first of which was only built in 1985. Since then the city has undergone a remarkable transformation.

And the vast building programme remains in progress as the face of Beijing is ever changing.

What I will also never forget are the happy, cheerful faces of the Chinese whose smiles have lit up the Olympics.
It is spontaneous and there is no way that could ever have been rehearsed and their friendliness has enriched the Olympics.

Nothing has been too much trouble to do for visitors as they have been polite and courteous.

There is a genuine interest from the young to learn about the west while for the older generation those of us from the west remain curiosities as you detect when walking along the street to see eyes focused on you.

As a journalist, I am considered to be part of the Olympic Family and I have found it an enriching experience to meet other media persons from throughout the world.

There are no barriers as we are in the same industry and, from the conversations I have had, I feel a more rounded individual having learned an immense amount about different countries and cultures.

There have friendships forged including one Anita Lonsborough and her husband Hugh Porter, two former Olympians, now working in the print and broadcast industries.

Anita was our most famous female Olympic swimmer until Rebecca Adlington’s exploits in Beijing when she became the first British woman to capture two golds.

I will never forget having a meal with Hugh and his Aussie co-commentator Gary Sutton, a former world cycling champion, and being regaled with terrific stories and anecdotes from their careers. That was something money couldn’t buy.

And the Chinese could not be faulted in any way for their organisation as these must have been the smoothest-run Olympics without the glitches which usually occur.

The media transportation system, for example, has been a revelation and the Beijing subway system state of the art. You can even watch the sporting action unfold on television screens in each carriage.

The only downside about using public transport – the bus and subway for sightseeing – is the congestion with passengers crammed like sardines on to both modes of transport.

And I have spoken to a number of British visitors who have complained about their experiences of public transport and also of their difficulty obtaining tickets.

Strangely events are reportedly sell outs yet on the day stadiums are half empty and punters are having to pay over the odds for tickets. I did my own research and was quoted £100 on the blackmarket for a ticket for the Argentina v Brazil football semi final.

And so on to the sport which was the prime reason for being in China, and Beijing did not disappoint.

There have been some remarkable individual sporting feats, and it has been a privilege to witness many of them. I have lost count of the number of world and Olympic records I have seen shattered.

Here I am thinking primarily of American swimmer Michael Phelps with his record-breaking haul of eight gold medals and smashing seven world-record times and one Olympic best.

To personally see Phelps win five medals, including the historic eighth to beat the seven from Mark Spitz was one of those stories to tell your children and grandchildren.

And in athletics there were the electrifying runs from sprinter Usain Bolt as the Jamaican shattered the world 100m and 200m times and also helped the 4 x 100m relay team do likewise.

And what a remarkable Olympics it was for the Brits who won more gold medals than at any time since 1908 when London hosted them for the first time.

The dream was to finish fourth in the medal table at London 2012, but to achieve it here in Beijing has come sooner than envisaged.

They have been heady days for British sport, but with success comes its drawbacks and expectation levels for successes in London will go through the roof as a result of their triumphs in Beijing.

But the investment in sport in Britain over recent years is beginning to reap rich dividends and the future looks especially bright, especially in cycling where we won seven golds, rowing/canoeing, and swimming.

There has even been the odd glimpse that better times may even be ahead in athletics which is important as that remains the flagship Olympic sporting event by which success is often measured.

How we long for the golden days of Coe, Ovett and Cram in middle distance or more recently the likes of Christie, Gunnell, Jackson and Edwards?

We have women’s 400m Olympic champion Christine Ohuruogu, triple jump silver medallist Phillips Idowu and high jump runner-up Germaine Mason and Tasha Danvers, a bronze medallist in the 400m hurdles, but need to bring a lot more through the system to create a new, golden era in track and field.

That was something touched on by athletics performance director Dave Collins who saw signs of optimism, despite winning only four medals.

He pointed to 14 fourth-placed finishes in athletics and the frustration of the medals which slipped away, a case of being so near and yet so far.