Olympic Fever

I think most people around the world will be saying the same thing - I can't get enough of the Olympics! I'm really enjoying all the events I have managed to watch and am finding that I am broadening my horizons in how many different events I'm enjoying (although I'll never be able to find Dressage exciting!)

Of course, I'm rooting for Team GB and have, I confess, become over excited to the point of jumping and screaming, particularly at the men's Gymnastics finals. However, despite all countries obviously supporting their team, the Olympics just offer so many great moments no matter where you're from. Last week When I watched Michael Phelps be narrowly denied his hat trick of golds for the 200m butterfly, despite being disappointed for him after willing him to do it, I was excited to see a first time gold medallist so happy to have beaten the best swimmer of all time. And Michael Phelps can sleep easy - he has now won a grand tally of 18 gold medals, which is incredible!

Because I genuinely enjoy watching records being broken and exciting events, it just baffles me when you see reactions like that directed at Tom Daley on Twitter, and this is the side of the Olympics that is difficult for me to cope with (as a "it's not the winning, it's the taking part that counts" kind of girl). Tom Daley is 18 years old and he has so much pressure and expectation on his shoulders - so when he doesn't win, he not only feels like he's let himself down, but everyone in the country - and then idiots on Twitter just seem to confirm that. Seeing young gymnasts burst into tears because they've made a costly mistake is very difficult to watch, and that any members of the public would deliberately make them feel worse is pretty cruel.

When you think about the devastation and broken hearts around the Olympic Village, it's hard to understand how four teams have been disqualified for purposefully trying to lose! Four badminton teams were trying to avoid a bad draw in the next round and so tried to throw the game! The only problem was that both teams had the same plan which led to a pretty abysmal match!

Overall, the spirit and enthusiasm has been contagious and after the fantastic opening ceremony there seemed to be a real sense of British pride... it's just a shame there's always a couple of people who have to spoil it!