Team GB have had their best Olympics in the modern era
placing them third in the medals table with 4 days still to go. Perhaps most
impressive of all has been their dominance in the Velodrome with a clutch of
both team and individual performances that have brushed aside all
competition. You had to feel sorry for
Vicky Pendleton not finishing on the highest point of her career but Sir Chris
Hoy’s reaction on the podium would’ve brought a tear to a glass eye.
Even before the Olympics started, Team Sky, and Bradley
Wiggins in particular, performance in the Tour de France (arguably the most
gruelling sporting competition on the planet) was showing how sustained
investment in the sport was paying dividends. But what, if anything, can we learn from their
dominant performance over the last few weeks?
Technology
Don’t let your tech let you down. Work closely with your
tech vendors to make sure you have the perfect fit - in Team GB’s case this
means made-to-measure carbon fibre frames and wheels which are exactly, not
nearly, round. Don’t settle for second best, but don’t think that tech will do
any more than get you to the start line.
Teamwork
Far more impressive than any of the envy-inducing bike porn
on display has been the sense that everybody in the team was working for
everyone else. Sir Chris Hoy And Vicky Pendleton inspiring Laura Trott to
double Gold at the same time as they were feeding of the enthusiasm and support
of their younger admirers. This was true in the Tour as well – probably my
favourite sporting moment (outside the Olympics) this year was Bradley Wiggins
leading out Mark Cavendish on the sprints. This camaraderie has been evident elsewhere
in TeamGB. The Brownlee brothers triumph in the Triathlon was made possible by the
selfless support of domestique Stuart Hayes.
Tenacity
Two contrasting episodes made this point clearly for me. First,
it seemed as if all the fight went out of Vicky Pendleton as she was relegated
after the first race of her final Olympic event. After that, Australian victory
seemed all but guaranteed (and, boy did they need the medal). But, to finish on
a more positive note, Sir Chris Hoy holding off the last banked turn against a strong
German challenge to scrape over the line just ahead enough to become the
greatest British Olympian of all time.
0 comments:
Post a Comment