Firstly, if anybody reading this happens to be a regular reader of my blog and disappointed by my recent quietness, then apologies for the lull and thanks for coming back! I’d like to be able to give a decent and comprehensive reason for not posting in so long, but the best I can really do is ‘I’ve been busy’! Anyway, I’m back now, and hopefully that’s the most important thing!
One of the reasons for my not blogging in so long is that I went on holiday for just under a week to Budapest (I had a lovely time and would definitely recommend adding it to your list of places to go, if you haven’t already!). Although I had a great time, I was very disappointed to find that the entirety of the Olympics road cycling was taking place while I was away, which meant I missed all of it. Other than that, I didn’t feel that bothered about the Olympics in the run-up, but I actually got surprisingly into it when I got back from my holiday. I was amazed and inspired by how well Team GB did and found it really exciting to watch them win medal after medal. As a keen amateur cyclist myself, I was particularly pleased to see us doing so well in the track cycling (although don’t even get me started on Victoria Pendleton’s relegation in the Individual Sprint final, or the fact that we’re only allowed to enter one person or team per event in the cycling, whilst Jamaica are allowed to claim every medal in the Men’s 200m Sprint!).
Anyway, I digress (I seem to have a habit of doing that!). The point I’m trying to make is that I became really enthusiastic about the Olympics and kind of surprised myself by just how much I’d got into it. This was most noticeable when I found myself getting quite defensive when a friend expressed unfavourable feelings towards it, and we found ourselves having healthy but somewhat heated discussion! It started when I asked this friend (for ease of writing style, I will now point out that this friend’s name is Beth…) whether she had been watching any of the Olympics, to which she replied that competitive sports and misplaced national pride makes her feel sick! I must admit I was a little taken aback by this remark; I knew she wasn’t really a fan of sport but hadn’t been aware that she was disgusted by the whole concept! Anyway, I went on to ask her why she saw this national pride as being misplaced, and she came back with a persuasive reply that almost made me feel a little guilty for my abundant enthusiasm for the Games! I like to think I made quite a decent counter-argument though; in fact, I think we both made some good points, which is why I decided to write a blog post about it.
Beth’s reply when I asked her about her ideas of misplaced national pride was this:
“I feel there should be no pride in wasting millions of pounds in training a teeny tiny percentage of people to do something physical very well. Of course it’s likely that ‘we’, the fifth richest nation in the world, can afford to train people very well to do something, so why is this an achievement, or anything to feel good about? The best possible future use of all that money that was wasted was that in a few years’ time, a few more people might win some more pointless medals. Why is that a good thing? Considering you work in an area where you see proof everyday of families who can’t afford to feed their children, what is there to be proud of?”
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| Some of the Team GB gold medalists |
Well! I have to say I was a little stunned by the last remark, but also impressed and glad to see Beth speaking about it with such passion and giving me a good challenge to respond to! By the way, it’s worth explaining that was based on the fact that my current job is within the team that processes free school meals in Poole Council. However, what Beth was forgetting here is that although this is indeed my job at this moment in time, my passion and hopefully my life’s work is psychology, wellbeing, and all that sort of thing; the sort of stuff that makes up the majority of my blog posts so far. And I like to think the Olympics could have a massive role to play in that field. Whilst it was all going on it definitely gave me a lift to see Team GB doing so well, and I think that was the case for many people. I also hope there will be longer term benefits in encouraging people to get into sport and exercise, which I strongly believe to be a massive factor in psychological wellbeing (as you can see in some of my previous posts!).
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| Was London 2012 just a waste of money? I hope not! |
As for the financial side of things, I have mixed feelings on this. In response to Beth’s point, I would be inclined to think that the Olympics taking place or not taking place in London wouldn’t have made a bit of difference to the number of people that can and can’t afford to feed their children. Beth said it herself; we are one of the richest nations in the world, and yet there are still people in that position in this country. I’d say that sadly it’s a symptom of society, rather than a problem caused by things like the Olympic Games. I don’t know what the long term plans are for the Olympic venues yet (I’m not sure anyone does!), but I hope that they will be put to good use, create lots of jobs (therefore enabling more people to feed their families!), and boost Britain’s economy. Admittedly, it could go completely the other way and end up being wasted, but the hope is there…
My final comment is a response to Beth’s view that we would obviously do well in the Olympics because we can afford to train people to be really good at a sport. That is true to an extent, and it’s undeniable that good equipment and training will benefit sportspeople and improve their 
performance. But even with the best equipment and all the money in the world, there is no way someone is going to become Olympic champion at something without a massive amount of training, hard work and determination. And I think that’s what made me feel proud of Team GB; the thought that all those people had evidently put an enormous amount of effort into working towards the Olympics, and that their hard work was paying off and making so many viewers happy as well. I’ve never felt such a sense of unity or a particular sense of pride to be British before, but the Olympics really did instil those feelings in me. I think they did for a lot of other people as well, and in a time of hardship for many people, I think it was just the lift GB needed. That can’t be a bad thing, right?!
performance. But even with the best equipment and all the money in the world, there is no way someone is going to become Olympic champion at something without a massive amount of training, hard work and determination. And I think that’s what made me feel proud of Team GB; the thought that all those people had evidently put an enormous amount of effort into working towards the Olympics, and that their hard work was paying off and making so many viewers happy as well. I’ve never felt such a sense of unity or a particular sense of pride to be British before, but the Olympics really did instil those feelings in me. I think they did for a lot of other people as well, and in a time of hardship for many people, I think it was just the lift GB needed. That can’t be a bad thing, right?!I hope you’ve found this a good read and that this debate has given you some food for thought, as it did for me. As usual I would love to hear about other people’s views, and comments are welcomed and encouraged! As always, thanks for reading.
Links:
http://www.xperthr.co.uk/blogs/employment-intelligence/2012/08/could-an-olympics-happiness-ef-1.html
