Our Olympics Hopefuls Lie in Water
The Olympics are underway and so far China has been more in the news for security threats and human rights protests than the actual games. Hopefully the focus will get back to the action now, as our British hopefuls nervously wait for their events to draw closer. So who should we pin our hopes on?
Well, athletics is always one to watch. They say the pollution in Beijing is so bad that it is expected to impair the athletes’ performance, so much so that it is expected that no records or personal bests will be broken in these conditions. So much like London then. With the likes of young guns Craig Pickering and Simeon Williamson competing in the 100m there should be plenty to get excited about, although they aren’t really medal hopefuls to be honest. However, we have number one seed Phillips Idow looking to gain a medal in the triple jump. Christine Ohuruogu will be running the Women’s 400m. She served a one-year ban for missing drugs tests, but came back in 2007 to win gold in her event at the World Championships. Definitely one to keep your eye on. Also doing it for the women will be heptathlete Kelly Sotherton. In 2004, she won bronze at the Olympics in Greece and went on to win gold in the last Commonwealth Games – so get the pom-poms out for her for sure! Not to mention Britain’s successful cycling team, which comprises Rebecca Romero, Victoria Pendleton, Chris Hoy, Mark Cavendish and Bradley Wiggins. They are all medal hopefuls too.
However, it looks like our best chances of winning medals could be in water. Our top sailor Ben Ainslie will be vying for his third gold in a row. The Men’s Coxless Four gained golds in the last two Olympics, but were defeated last year at the World Cup regatta. Can the new team of Tom James, Peter Reed, Steve Williams and Andrew Triggs Hodge do it this time around? Then there’s David Davies who won gold at the 2006 Commonwealth Games in the 1500m freestyle – he’ll be participating in that and the Men’s 10km Open Water this year, so fingers crossed for him. Less likely to win a medal is Tom Daley who, at 14-years-old, is the second youngest ever Olympian. The 10m diver will probably be a true threat at the London Olympics in 2012 but there’ll be a lot of publicity surrounding him during these games so good luck to the young’un.
It’s time to clear your summer schedules and get behind our hopefuls – Go Britain!
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