The Seoul games of 1988 marked a watershed in the modern Olympics. Following the apartheid and cold war inspired boycotts of the previous three games all the world’s superpowers were now back fighting for sporting supremacy. As for me? I was ready to enjoy my first Olympics. The only problem was that I was going to be stuck in a field in Essex on scout camp.
Unfortunately for me this was the age before mobile phones and the internet. Computers were still the size of a Ford Cortina and I remember waiting in line to call my parents from the communal phone to receive the shocking news that Ben Johnson had beaten the silken Carl Lewis to win the 100 metres. More astonishing was the press conference that I got home in time to see – Johnson was powered by drugs. That was my first Olympic memory and still the most shocking.
Other sportsworthy feats of note went relatively unreported as Stanozolol grabbed the headlines. Apparently some chap called Redgrave rowed a boat and a Canadian by the name of Lewis was a knockout in the ring. These feats didn’t register on my radar at the time but they got more than their fair share of positive headlines in the years to come.
Aged 11, with an obsession for all things sporting, the Olympics were a boy's dream. The world’s best runners, archers and synchronised swimmers had gathered on my TV screen to provide me with two weeks of compulsive viewing and my mum with two weeks where she didn’t need to worry about where I was during the school holidays. I realised that I didn’t need to know the competitors or even be familiar with the sport that I was watching. What’s important about the Olympics is the knowledge that you are watching the best in the world whether they be men, women or in the case of the old eastern bloc countries - frequently a combination of the two.
Thanks to the power of internet and wall-to-wall television there will be many more 11 year olds around the world who will be captivated by their first Olympics when the flame is lit in Beijing this Friday. I’m just happy that it will be Asafa rather than Baden Powell who will be holding my attention for what promises to be an equally historic 100 metres.
DS
Unfortunately for me this was the age before mobile phones and the internet. Computers were still the size of a Ford Cortina and I remember waiting in line to call my parents from the communal phone to receive the shocking news that Ben Johnson had beaten the silken Carl Lewis to win the 100 metres. More astonishing was the press conference that I got home in time to see – Johnson was powered by drugs. That was my first Olympic memory and still the most shocking.
Other sportsworthy feats of note went relatively unreported as Stanozolol grabbed the headlines. Apparently some chap called Redgrave rowed a boat and a Canadian by the name of Lewis was a knockout in the ring. These feats didn’t register on my radar at the time but they got more than their fair share of positive headlines in the years to come.
Aged 11, with an obsession for all things sporting, the Olympics were a boy's dream. The world’s best runners, archers and synchronised swimmers had gathered on my TV screen to provide me with two weeks of compulsive viewing and my mum with two weeks where she didn’t need to worry about where I was during the school holidays. I realised that I didn’t need to know the competitors or even be familiar with the sport that I was watching. What’s important about the Olympics is the knowledge that you are watching the best in the world whether they be men, women or in the case of the old eastern bloc countries - frequently a combination of the two.
Thanks to the power of internet and wall-to-wall television there will be many more 11 year olds around the world who will be captivated by their first Olympics when the flame is lit in Beijing this Friday. I’m just happy that it will be Asafa rather than Baden Powell who will be holding my attention for what promises to be an equally historic 100 metres.
DS
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