As a recently naturalized Brit (technically I am a Limeo-American), I am deeply conflicted. I absolutely love the Olympics and I am torn between cheering for the country of my birth and the USA, especially when it comes to sailing.
As a Brit, you grow up loving the underdog. Lets face it, being an underdog has been a national trait. We cheered for our British athletes with very low expectations. If Fred Bloggs (that’s Brit for John Doe), who no one had ever heard of, won the bronze in clay-pigeon shooting, it would be national delirium followed by write-ins for a National Fred Bloggs Day. Fred was assured of a knighthood and a parade.
Growing up in Britain in the 70s we watched enviously as Americans competed with Russians for every piece of metal going. America was a medal-winning machine in pretty much every event. It was the Great American $ against the Might of Communism.
OK, the USA is still going to win a lot of medals and may only be surpassed by China. Number of competitors counts. When it comes to sailing, it’s a different story. Britain is the new medal machine. Historically, the US dominated. No country has won more Olympic medals with 57 total. Of late things haven’t been so great. Team USA won two medals in 2004,a gold in the 470 and a silver in the Tornado. Britain won 5, topping the sailing medal table. The US ranked 4th.
Expectations for the Brits are huge. The British sailing team is a very professional machine. It is well-funded by the Government, using Lottery money and through sponsorship by Skandia. It is very well-run organization and they are expected to win. In Britain, the top sailors like Ben Ainsley are well-known athletes. This is a picture of some of the team posing for a magazine shoot.
Lets face it, the US Sailing team are underdogs. Most of the 19 US Sailors may hope to be among the medals but there is a much lower expectation on Team USA.
But…
…As I write this Zach Railey is in first place in the Finn Class. First place. First place, ahead of Ben Ainslie. The rookie is beating the Finnasaurus, the triple Olympic medalist, the mighty Ben Ainslie.
There is a lonnnnnng way to go still and this is exactly how Ainslie has won in the past but this is a moment to cherish. Maybe, just maybe the underdog will bite. Maybe the light airs, fog and fluky conditions will work in Zach and other Americans favor.
Go Zach beat the Brit!
Did I really say that?
PS1: I totally reserve the right to cheer and weep uncontrollably when Britain wins the rest, although the chances of me actually seeing this on US TV are remote. That’s a post for another day.
PS2: As I write this, the Brits are winning the 49ers and Yngling. Rule Britannia, Britannia rules the waves. Told you I was conflicted.
Go Team GB Sailors! Go, Go, Go!!!
Actually the medal league would be comprehensively won by neither China nor the US – the winner if you add them up is most likely to be team EU!
Aaahh the great Sir Fred. How proud we were in Britain on that famous day back in 1956 when he stood on the Olympic podium in Melbourne. I was only a little whippersnapper at the time but I remember how the whole nation was swept up in a wave of enthusiasm for the humble pig farmer from Lincolnshire and his amazing feat in winning the first ever British medal for clay-pigeon shooting.
I actually attended his victory parade at the football ground in Grantham and saw the emotional spectacle of the release of fifty clay doves symbolizing how clay-pigeon shooting would bring the nations of the world together in peace. And I will never forget his speech… Did you know that he trained entirely on a diet of Melton Mowbray pork pies, bangers and mash, and fish and chips on Fridays?
They don’t make ’em like Sir Fred any more. Such a shame that his celebrity status went to his head. I never believed those rumors about him and Vera Lynn. And I didn’t want to believe the news about the pigeon-doping allegations either but sadly it was true. I hear he died recently of an overdose of mushy peas… how sad.
You are totally barmy. Don’t ever change. I just laughed my ass off
Um, if the team is supposed to be going for the gold, why does that portrait show them seriously bronzed?