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Tom Richmond: Gordon Brown's false start at the Olympics
THESE have been a bad Olympics for Gordon Brown – despite Britain's record number of gold medals deflecting attention away from the Prime Minister's difficulties.
Having piously refused to join the Olympic torch relay when it passed through London, and then chosen to snub the opening ceremony in Beijing, Brown delayed his arrival in China until yesterday – after Team GB's gold rush had reached its peak.
According to insiders, the Prime Minister is becoming so paranoid that he does not want to leave the country for any significant length of time because he is worried about his opponents plotting against him.
Mind you, there are some who contend that Brown would have jinxed many of this country's new-found sporting heroes if he had attended their events.
But, in many respects, the Beijing Olympics was the perfect platform for Brown to launch his political fightback – especially if it included the unveiling of a series of measures to ensure that the whole of Britain, and not just London, benefits from the 2012 Olympics and a grassroots sporting revolution.
The problem is that he patently failed to get out of the starting blocks – just like Downing Street's relaunched website which is about as feeble as Australia's Olympic performance.
The PM's congratulatory messages to British competitors, and his hastily arranged statement in Downing Street when he looked so uncomfortable in his ill-fitted suit, looked feeble compared to Tony Blair's joy in the velodrome when Chris Hoy won his historic third gold medal.
Blair could barely contain his glee when interviewed on television and on the radio after witnessing Hoy's triumph. If he was still in charge, I would bet my last penny that Downing Street would be organising the victory parade – and not Boris Johnson, the Mayor of London. There would also have been a raft of initiatives to boost community sport.
And, while Brown will never possess Blair's surefootedness, the PM's efforts still fall into the "also-ran" category when compared with those of President George W Bush.
The US President attended the opening ceremony, watched several events, including the swimming, and then personally called Michael Phelps after America's swimming superstar won his eighth gold medal.
Compare this with Brown who has become so self-obsessed with his own future that he has lost all sense of perspective – to the extent that he cannot even kick the ball into the back of an empty net when confronted by an open goal that might actually save his career.
THE difference between this country's self-obsessed footballers and Britain's Olympic champions is exemplified by Andy Hodge – the rower, from near Skipton, who powered the men's coxless four to gold medal glory.
If they win a couple of games, England's players immediately demand a new multi-million-pound salary, car and other perks, even though their achievements compare unfavourably with Hodge's raw courage that has earned deserved – and favourable – comparisons with Steve Redgrave and Matthew Pinsent, those two great Knights of the water.
Yet, rather than basking in his success, a trait of so many footballers, Hodge is already looking to the future. He says that he made tactical mistakes in his epic race in Beijing, errors that he intends to rectify in London in 2012.
But, more importantly, he wants to devote his energies in the next year to inspiring Britain's rowers of the future. "I am an Olympic champion. With my medal, I am now in a real position to make a difference," he declared.
Words, from a modest hero, that you cannot imagine being uttered by any of our over-rated and overpaid Premier League prima donnas who, because of their "couldn't care less" attitude, were not fit to wear the England shirt during Wednesday's friendly against the Czech Republic.
NOT content with a record eight gold medals, the swimming superstar, Michael Phelps, now intends to use his new-found status as the most successful Olympian in history to promote his sport, and its benefits, across the United States.
He also wants swimming to be a "once-a-year sport" – rather than a pursuit that is featured on television every four years at the Olympics.
It can only be hoped that he finds time, when in London, tomorrow, for an Olympic handover ceremony, to persuade Britain to do likewise.
Many municipal baths in this country are in such a neglected state that the pool where Liam Tancock learned to swim, one of the competitors who Phelps beat in
the 200 metres individual medley,
has been condemned as a health hazard because of the poor water quality.
And, to compound matters, the baths in Nottingham where Rebecca Adlington – Britain's double gold medallist – trained, are set to close.
With such a shortage of adequate facilities, is it any wonder that the 14 gold medals that Phelps now has to his name is double the number won by all British swimmers at post-war Olympics?
TONY Blair made an interesting observation in Beijing. He said that the Games had been successful because competitions had been held across China – and not just in a host city.
So, if China can stage the greatest Olympics ever, with the equestrian events staged some 1,225 miles from Beijing, in Hong Kong, why cannot the 2012 Games become British Olympics?
Come on London. Let the whole country enjoy the party. What's stopping you from allowing, for example, the horse-riding competitions taking place at Bramham, the road cycling races to be held across the Pennines – and the gymnastics at, say, Sheffield's Hallam FM Arena rather than the Millennium Dome?
tom.richmond@ypn.co.uk
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