The Most Successful Athlete at the 1984 Games

So here we are.  The Olympic Games are underway and now that the excitement of being able to watch anything and everything has dwindled somewhat it’s time for the serious business of picking what I actually want to watch.  One of my favourite Olympic sports is artistic gymnastics and my fascination with it started back in 1984.

The Soviet Union boycotted the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics in retaliation for the US boycott of Moscow 1980.  Of the Soviet allies, only Romania bravely defied the boycott and sent their team to the Olympics where they ended up an impressive 2^nd in the medal table behind the hosts.  One of the Romanian medals came in the women’s artistic gymnastics team event where they narrowly won gold, by a single point, over the USA team.  This rivalry set things up nicely for the All-Around competition, the most coveted prize for the best individual gymnast across all 4 disciplines.

Ecaterina Szabo

It was a classic East vs West encounter.  For the West - American Mary Lou Retton; for the East - Romanian Ecaterina Szabo.  Szabo was slim and graceful with a messy ponytail, blue eyeshadow and a serious expression whereas Retton was strong and powerful with fashionably short hair and an easy, winning smile.  Their contrasting styles made the contest all the more exciting and my 6-year-old self was firmly on the side of the Romanian.

Mary Lou Retton

In the absence of the Soviet gymnasts, including the famous Natalia Yurchenko, Szabo was the favourite for the title.  She was a Hungarian immigrant whose name was changed from Katalin to the Romanian Ecaterina by a communist regime keen to hide her ethnic origins and normally that’s the sort of story that makes you a crowd pleaser – plucky young immigrant from a brave defiant nation etc.  But this was Los Angeles, and American dreams needed to be realised:  there had never been an All-Around Olympic champion from outside Eastern Europe and it was Retton who was set to make history and capture the hearts of the nation. After trailing Szabo for the first two rotations, Retton gained a perfect 10 for the floor and then, propelled by the strong home support, she flung herself at the vault with amazing strength and gained another 10.  She beat Szabo to the All-Around title by 0.05 of a point and became America’s sweetheart and a household name.

Retton won 5 medals in total at the 1984 Olympics but, no, she wasn’t the most successful athlete of the games.  That accolade goes to…(drum roll)…Ecaterina Szabo.  After the disappointment of the All-Around competitition, Szabo picked herself back up for the individual apparatus finals where she won an impressive 3 out of the 4 – vault, beam and floor.  Add the gold from the team event and that’s a remarkable haul of 4 golds and 1 silver making Ecaterina Szabo the most successful athlete of the 1984 games (in 2^nd place, with 4 golds, was some bloke called Carl Lewis).

Ecaterina sorts her hair out

Copper Box at the 2012 Olympics

At the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games we saw the acclaimed Birds Nest stadium and the beautifully bubble-wrapped Water Cube - two fine examples of iconic Olympic architecture.   London 2012 will feature an award-winning Velodrome, a much-praised Aquatics Centre and a decent-looking stadium.  Yes they are tidy enough but, personally, it's some of the other venues and constructions in and around Olympic Park that have caught my eye.  

So here's my Top 5 London 2012 venues (I use the term 'venue' a bit loosely...).  

I'd like to add a disclaimer that I have no knowledge of architecture but, to borrow a quote from C. Montgomery Burns, "You know, I'm no art critic, but I know what I hate.  And... I don't hate this.". 

1. The Copper Box

A box made of Copper.  The Copper Box will host handball and modern pentathlon events. Simple and chocolaty on the outside, the inside is bright and filled with seats in Olympic ring colours.  The inclusion of 88 "light pipes" in the lid of the box (aka the roof) allows natural light to penetrate, saving energy.

It looks clean, functional and warm.  I love it and if I was a giant I would want to bend down and touch it.  And perhaps remove the lid and see what treats lie therein. 

Copper Box | London 2012

2. Pumping Station

The Olympic Park Pumping Station is a vision in pink.  Or is it more of a puce?  Either way, this station has the responsibility for removing all of the waste water from the site so when Usain Bolt has a pre-race wee it'll end up here.  

The external walls feature old engineering drawings of a pumping station built by the great Sir Joseph Bazalgette.  Of course, like all decent Victorian men, his favourite colour was pink. 

Pumping Station | London 2012

 3. The Royal Artillery Barracks

Thousands of metres of stretchy white PVC membrane interspersed with brightly coloured ventilation holes - these temporary shooting ranges and grandstands cluster the grounds of the Royal Artillery Barracks like giant futuristic blancmange toadstools from space. After the games there will be a mad rush to take down the structures before the MOD get all fighty about it.

Royal Artillery Barracks | London 2012 

4. Basketball Arena

Another temporary structure.  This frilly, billowy, cushiony lump of softness is made from recyclable white PVC fabric prettily arranged over a steel frame. Inside it looks huge with orange and black basketball themed seating for 12,000.  As it's a temporary structure its use after the games is a bit unclear but if you need a few thousand metres of PVC you know who to call.

Basketball Arena | London 2012

5. Primary Substation

The Olympic Park's electricity substation has been partially built from materials salvaged from demolitions in the nearby area and has already won a couple of architecture awards. It is a striking, dark industrial structure with perfectly sharp corners.  But it has a soft side - it incorporates a "brown roof" meaning the roof has been covered with some locally sourced rubble to create an ecosystem favourable to plant growth.  How they get up there is anyone's guess.  Little ladders I presume.

Primary Substation | London 2012 

 

The Olympic Record | The National Archives

Cycle race Iliffe & Son Coventry, 1893.

For the first time online...

The National Archives presents The Olympic Record - a collection of records on the modern Olympic and Paralympic Games.

This is an excellent collection for anyone interested in sporting culture or the politics of the games. The inclusion of declassified government documents gives us a fascinating, if disturbing, insight into events such as the Black September terrorist attacks at the Munich '72 games and the proposed boycott of Moscow '80 following the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.

The Olympic Record | The National Archives

Thanks to Jenny G for the heads-up!

My Torch Coverage is Bigger than Yours

The Torch Relay...Online

I must admit my initial reaction to the arrival of the Olympic torch was one of apathy.  No, that's wrong.  My initial reaction was "Why has David Beckham come as a pirate?  And not even a good pirate.  A kind of cartoon pirate that my nephew might have drawn".  Anyway, at first, it's fair to say, I was unimpressed.  Now I'm addicted.  I can't stop myself checking the route, watching the video and announcing loudly to no-one in particular "it's in Street at the moment...a street in Street, geddit, ha ha ha ha".

But I have a problem.  And it's online.  The BBC's site has provided us with a live feed incorporating video, some words, twitter highlights and a map with a pulsating red orb so you know exactly where that torch is (0 mins from Coxley! Watch out Coxley!).  On the other channel...there's the official London 2012 site with their video and interactive map where you can find out about who is carrying the torch.  I don't know which I prefer so I've taken to having both open and jumping between the two if one video crashes (or if the man carrying the video camera crashes...yes, I know it's probably a tiny webcam embedded in the skull of one of the police officers, duh!). 

Anyway, decide for yourself...

BBC Torch Relay

Official London 2012 Torch Relay