Back Stories

The London 2012 Olympics are over. I am now trying to catch up on the events that I missed via the YouTube Olympic channel. There are so many back stories to the events, the sportsmen and sportswomen. Like the first time women athletes from some of the Middle Eastern countries. Like Michael Phelps being crowned the greatest Olympian of all time. Like the enthusiasm of the British public. Like the superb efforts of Lee Chong Wei and Pandalela Rinong. Like the blade runner Oscar Pistorius.

One of the back stories which I could relate to of course was that of teenage British diver Tom Daley's. I had seen the BBC documentary about him, his late father and family. Anyone who has had a family member suffer from cancer I am sure would relate to the circumstances depicted in the documentary. So it was indeed a pleasure to see him win a bronze in the 10m platform diving competition. There must have hardly been a dry eye amongst the British fans at the aquatics centre when he responded to a reporter's question by saying, 'I wish my dad could have been here'.

It is back stories like this that make the Olympics so inspiring and at times even intriguing. Every athlete would have had their own tale to tell, that of hard work and sacrifice, being at the right place at the right time, of their natural talent. Only a few make it to mainstream media, but even these are enough to make us sit up and take notice, inspiring us in their own little way.

Tom Daley wins bronze at London 2012.

London 2012

The London Olympics are here. With the time difference, I am antici-pating some crazy sleep patterns in the next few weeks. I typically only follow a few sports during the Olympics - swimming, diving, gymnastics, track and field.

Swimming of course is the sport I am best at, so naturally I am an avid fan. I hope Ryan Lochte (USA) will win at least either the 200m or 400m individual medley and enroute to the gold beat Michael Phelps (USA). I wish Leisel Jones (AUS) well and hope that she proves her critics wrong when she races in the 100m breastroke. I look forward to seeing James Magnussen (AUS) smash the 100m freestyle world record. Kosuke Kitajima (JPN) will perhaps create history by taking the 100m and 200m breastroke double for the third Olympics in a row. I'd also like to see the English swimmers do well in their home Olympics. As for diving, I hope the Malaysian divers will at least make the finals of their events. Who knows, they may spring a surprise or two. It would be great if divers representing different countries can prevent a Chinese clean sweep. Matthew Mitcham (AUS) defending his 10m platform title would be awesome or perhaps Tom Daley may win the event for the home team.

So much to follow, so little time to do so. I ought to come up with a game plan on how to catch as much of the sporting action as I can. Each Olympic Games has its own inspiring stories to tell. Here's to a great London Games.

Ryan Lochte in the pool.