Minority Report

Here in the UK, the most frequently televised sports are generally Football, Cricket, Rugby and F1 - all steeped in tradition, and also rife with money.  During the Olympics, the TV coverage tends to veer towards a few mainstream sports – typically Athletics, Swimming and Cycling – and my other blog posts will cover my experiences at those events.  Over the past few days however, I have been to see some sports which, whilst popular in other countries, are still considered minority sports in the country.

Firstly, Handball, which is fast developing a reputation as one of the success stories of the Games.  I had never seen a Handball game, before this week, and did not know the rules.  It is played (until the middle of next week) in the Copper Box, which is a colourful amphitheatre, in the heart of the Olympic Park.  I bought these tickets on the recomendation of a very close friend from Scandinavia, who considers Handball as her number 1 favourite sport.

My experience at Handball was a very positive one – I found it to be a fast-moving sport, with straightforward rules, and which has the potential to appeal to the masses.  Of course, the newly created Team GB was far inferior to the other participants, but I think that the potential exists for a sustainable programme of coaching in that sport, for this country.

The spectator experience for Handball was amongst the best I’ve witnessed all week.  Fans of the various competing countries were present, in their national colours, with their flags.  Also, despite the inevitable defeat, Team GB was supported by a legion of passionate sports fans.  I’m sure that if tiddlywinks were to become a London2012 Olympic sport, this same crowd would still support it with the same level of fervour.

I also attended the semi-finals and final of the Men’s Table Tennis tournament.  In China, this sport is huge, and, predictably, the final pitted two Chinese players against one another.  Again, this was a very popular event with the fans.

It is important to understand and acknowledge that, for us fans, a trip to a session such as this one is a relaxing day out and a bit of fun.  For the competitors, however, it represents the culmination of several years of training – often in very unglamorous locations – and essentially represents one of the most important days in the lives of these guys.  To win an Olympic Gold medal represents the pinnacle of a career, and the realisation of a dream.

I leave you for today with a video I shot of Zhang Jike, the Table Tennis Gold medallist, as he realised his lifelong dream before our very eyes – winning the final point, then hurdling the perimeter of the playing area, and bowing down to kiss the Gold Medal step of the winners rostrum.  To me, this conveys far more feeling than anything an overpaid footballer could ever display...