The Olympics 2008: Team GB to be among the medals
There’s nothing quite like the Olympics to create a sense of national sporting pride in Britain. The country will unite behind little-known sportsmen and women as they are thrust into the limelight in Beijing.
We’ll be on the edges of our seat in front of the men’s Madison event at the Laoshan Velodrome, and jumping up and down with excitement watching the canoeing and by the closing ceremony, there will be some new national heroes.
As a proud sporting Brit, and as someone who bets on sport to make it even more exciting, I’m having a punt on a spread bet with Sporting Index. They have devised a points system for GB and Ireland medals (5 for gold, 3 for silver and 1 for bronze), and are offering a spread of 102-108.
I have bought at 108 with a small stake, which means that every point over 108 (so every medal won beyond a certain number) will earn me some money - that means I’ll be addicted to every minute of the action hoping for our team to be amongst the medals. The risk isn’t too high - every point below 102 at the end of the fortnight would cost me money, but with plenty of medal prospects it’s a reasonable bet.
Of particular interest are the cycling events, the tennis and the diving, but Team GB has a number of strong contenders.
Philips Idowu (pictured above) is the number one in the world in the triple jump, and is one of our bankers for a Gold medal. Other athletics hopes are Kelly Sotherton in the heptathlon and Paula Radcliffe in the marathon, still chasing that Olympic title.
The velodrome will offer much hope for the medals table, with Chris Hoy, Bradley Wiggins, Victoria Pendleton and Mark Cavendish all in with a chance.
Andy Murray looks in good shape on the tennis court, and is competing in the singels and the doubles (with his brother, Jamie) so he has another chance of a place on the podium.
We also have Ben Ainslie and the ‘Yngling girls’ in the sailing, Larry Godfrey in archery, Liam Tancock in swimming, Beth Tweddle in the gymnastics, Richard Faulds in shooting, Frankie Gavin in boxing, old favourites Nathan Robertson and Gail Emms in the badminton, and the usually strong rowing teams - all stand a reasonable chance of a medal.
There has been much hype surrounding young Tom Daley in the diving, and although he has said it is too soon for a medal, he could be in with a shout in the synchronised event.
So here’s to the judo, the handball and the table tennis - all will be gripping in the Olympic arena, and I shall be watching the lot.
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