Tag: Equestrian

Merci Paris Part 1 – Olympics Review

What a glorious summer of sport this is proving to be. I don’t usually watch or write about a lot of sport, but the Olympics and Paralympics are one of those things I make an exception for, because they’re such massive and special events that I get sucked into very easily.

After the very quiet and stripped back events that had to be held in Tokyo in 2021, the first post-pandemic Olympics in Paris brought back the traditional atmosphere of excitement and drama that everyone loves about the Games, as we watched lots of incredible feats of speed, strength, coordination and agility in a wide variety of sports. It made such an enormous difference having the crowds back again to cheer on the athletes, for whom there was gender parity for the first time, with 5,250 men and 5,250 women competing. It’s not yet equal for the Paralympians though, so there’s still work to do there, and I’ll also be posting a review of those Games next month of course.

Once again Team GB have done very well, with a similar number of total medals to the last few Games. Not as many golds, sure, but some of the silver results have been very close indeed. The competition has certainly been stronger this year, and indeed there have been some notable stars from other nations who caught my attention as well.

So here I’m going to review a lot of my favourite highlights from the last couple of weeks, mainly related to the British team but with a few other people mixed in. I’m not affiliated with anyone involved, it’s just nice to relive the memories, and I hope you enjoy looking through it all too!

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London 2012 Revisited – Olympics Highlights – Days 9-16

Welcome to the next part of my trip down memory lane to the London 2012 Olympics, following on from my detailed reviews of the Opening Ceremony and Days 1-8 of competition.

This time I’ll be looking at the second half of the Games, as I continue going through the highlights on the BBC’s Blu-ray box set. As I explained last time, my main focus is inevitably on Team GB’s performances, but there are other stars who get a mention here as well, including Usain Bolt for starters.

I’ve also created an Olympics playlist on Youtube with lots of highlights, often from the official Olympics Youtube channel with their American commentators, along with interview footage and other related videos. There was certainly plenty going on, and I hope you enjoy this latest instalment of sporting memories!

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London 2012 Revisited – Olympics Highlights – Days 1-8

Following on from my in-depth review of our spectacular opening ceremony, I’m now going to take an extensive look back at the big sporting moments from the London 2012 Olympics, as I continue to celebrate their 10th anniversary.

I’ve been rewatching the highlights on the BBC’s Blu-ray box set of the Games, which splits the coverage across the middle 3 discs, hosted by Sue Barker and featuring lots of other presenters and commentators from the original broadcasts. Considering they had so much to choose from, I think they did a very good job picking out a lot of the most important and memorable achievements, as it is a very extensive compilation. There will always be a few things that people are disappointed that they missed out, it would be impossible to please everyone.

The BBC’s animated title sequence, showing lots of different sports in action, is a wonderful introduction to it all, accompanied by a fantastic tune called First Steps by Elbow (with the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra and NovaVox Gospel Choir), that gets increasingly epic as it progresses. It was released as a charity single in aid of Children In Need & Sport Relief, and there’s an interesting video online about the making of the tune and the title sequence, which gives a nice insight into how it all came together.

Naturally the focus of the BBC’s Blu-ray set, and my personal interest, is on Team GB, who did exceptionally well. They were clearly driven on to great success by virtue of being in front of hugely supportive home crowds, which enhanced their already amazing talents. But there are several big names from other nations who get a mentionalong the way as well.

So, for this post, here are the many athletes and results that stand out for me from the first 8 days of the Games, finishing on the now legendary Super Saturday. I’ve linked to various BBC articles throughout, some of which include clips from their TV coverage (which are only available to UK viewers), along with some items of interest from other sites. I’ve also created an Olympics playlist on Youtube that’s full of highlights, including a lot of footage from the official Olympics Youtube channel with their own commentators, along with interview footage and other random but relevant clips, so feel free to look through that as well. I hope you enjoy!

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Thank You Tokyo – Olympics & Paralympics Review

They did it. After all the delays, controversies and restrictions that threatened to scupper their hopes and plans, Tokyo successfully managed to host the 2020 Olympic Games and Paralympic Games, a year later than scheduled. It’s not been without understandable criticism in these extraordinary times, with suggestions that it should have been delayed further, among various other issues, and there were a few athletes and other personnel who tested positive for Covid both before and during the competitions. And the absence of spectators, along with the widespread use of face masks, hand sanitiser and other safety protocols, gave the events a very different feel to usual.

Nevertheless, they still went ahead, and turned out to be a great success, treating us to a lot of incredible sporting action as a result. And it’s all the more impressive given that the competitors haven’t been able to train in the usual way over the past year, often being stuck at home instead of using the normal venues and facilities that would otherwise be available to them. Congratulations to all the athletes and teams who took part, and well done to the event organisers, staff and volunteers for making the events happen.

So I’ve really enjoyed watching the Games – especially the Paralympics of course, but the Olympics were great too. It’s all given us some welcome escapism from the pandemic, despite the constant reminders of its presence and impact. And so I thought I would share some of my favourite highlights in this post, as well as a Youtube playlist. I’m not sponsored by any organisations or people mentioned here, I just want to acknowledge and celebrate a few of the many amazing achievements of the athletes who I enjoyed watching.

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