The Sports Factor

As we know, the Australian team won an impressive 14 Gold Medals. Unusually, the Brits won more: 19 in fact, and the self-satisfied glow could apparently light up half the Midlands.

Transcript

This transcript was typed from a recording of the program. The ABC cannot guarantee its complete accuracy because of the possibility of mishearing and occasional difficulty in identifying speakers.

Now to the aftermath of the big gig in Beijing.

As we know, the Australian team won an impressive 14 Gold Medals. Unusually, the Brits won more: 19 in fact, and the self-satisfied glow could apparently light up half the Midlands.

To engage in a little masochism I spoke to the esteemed British sports writer, Martin Kelner from The Guardian, and asked him what the mood was like in London.

Martin Kelner: Well more or less the mood in Britain is euphoric, I would say. But of course, being Britain, we always like to look for the cloud behind the silver lining and there are people who are saying Well the sports that we've done well in are sports like - obviously they are sports that have had huge investment via lottery money in Britain, but they are sports like cycling, where if you get the technology of the bike right, there's a good chance you will win a lot of medals. Similarly rowing; we've got lots of medals in rowing, and sailing.

So what people are saying, one argument that you're hearing is the fact that we were hoping that success in sport, because we have an obesity crisis in Britain at the moment, and we were hoping that success in sport might trickle down to all sorts of people in the street, and especially kids who are in gangs and that sort of thing, and kids who are obese, and they'd take up sports.

But the sports we've done particularly well in, don't appear to be those sort of sports. Athletics we didn't do so well in, like Christine Ohuruogu obviously got her medal, but I think we got two medals in track and field.

So clearly, people are saying Well some money needs to be diverted to track and field, because the events that we're doing well in are well they're events that are equipment-based events if you like, like cycling and rowing and sailing. Also interestingly enough you'll hear people say 'Oh G.B. does very well in sitting down events', we're very good at sports in which you're able to sit down.

Mick O'Regan: Indeed. And I think in fact that it was an Australian who said that. Now that possibly fuelled what seems to me at a distance to be this untrammelled delight that Australia came away with 14 Gold Medals, but Great Britain came away with 19. There must be a particular enthusiasm for beating Australia.

Martin Kelner: Oh, absolutely. What I'm telling you now is the sort of arguments that are emerging in the wake of the euphoria of beating Australia, and clearly that is the big thing. However, it's sort of tinged with a little bit of caution, because we know what happened after the Rugby Union World Cup success, we know what happened after the Ashes success. So there's a great sense of 'Hey, let's just hold back just a little bit.' Sure, when we were above Australia in the medals table, huge joy right across Great Britain, but what people are now saying is, 'If the Aussies beat us, what happens then if they stick to it.

They do it again and again and again.' What we have to do now - and this is in the hindsight and the wisdom of what happened after the Ashes, and what happened after the Rugby Union World Cup, people are saying, 'You know, the Aussies will do it again and again. We now have to do it again.' And obviously all the focus is on 2012 and doing it again.

Mick O'Regan: I suppose that's the thing too, because the tabloid delight I understand that there are these mobile billboards being drawn through streets of both London and Sydney, paraphrasing the tourist slogan which has 'Where the bloody hell were you?' with 19 Gold for Great Britain and 14 Gold for Australia. The tabloids ride this razor's edge between fury and delight, don't they?

Martin Kelner: Yes, they absolutely do. The thing about the British tabloid press is they do like to beat the drum, although having caught out in the past you see, the tabloid chauvinism I seem to remember during the '96 European Championships in football when England were playing Germany there was a very famous Daily Mirror headline which was 'Achtung, surrender!' which of course really annoyed our fellow Europeans.

So I think they are a little bit careful, but I think they feel the Aussies, because the Aussies have had so much success over the years in sport against Britain, they think it's a fair target, let's have a go at them.

Mick O'Regan: Martin Kelner from The Guardian newspaper.

And that's our show for this week. But before I go, just one quick update on the progress of the English football team Ebbsfleet United, which regular listeners will know as the team purchased and run by the online group MyFootballClub.co.uk where subscribers collective bought and now manage a team via the internet.

Well in another first, a player transfer is to be decided by an internet vote of thousands of supporters, who'll decide if they're prepared to pay around $300,000 to sell a player.

Sports: It's a brave new world.

The Sports Factor is produced by Andrew Davies, with technical production this week from Peter McMurray. Thanks to them, and also to Paul Penton and Carey Dell.

Guests

Martin Kelner
Guardian newspaper columnist.

Presenter

Mick O'Regan

Producer

Andrew Davies