Committing to the cause: Runners and walkers earn the respect

 Plenty of fans turned out for the race walk by Buckingham Palace

As London 2012 reaches its grand climax, I made sure to make the most of it by getting down to two of the final unticketed events this weekend. Today, I witnessed the men's marathon, traditionally one of the final events of an Olympic Games, but yesterday I saw something completely different - the women's 20km race walk. Both listed under the athletics banner on the London 2012 website, they are considerably different both from each other and from the array of events which have taken centre stage inside the Olympic Stadium over the past nine days. However, they undoubtedly show unbelievable levels of commitment, endurance and skill which the average human just wouldn't be able to put themselves through.

Great Britian's Johanna Jackson was unfortunately disqualified

The women's race walk was certainly one of the most interesting things I have seen over the past fortnight. Taking place in view of Buckingham Palace in the pleasant surroundings of Green Park, the sight of 61 women wearing little more than beach volleyball players do, and walking at speed in the bizarre iconic way that race-walkers go about their business was admittedly a slightly amusing and surreal sight. But that should not detract from the athleticism and focus that these athletes clearly show. To fight the temptation not to go faster when for much of the race they feasibly could is no mean feat. It is one that got the better of Team GB's sole entrant Johanna Jackson, the Commonwealth Games champion  who was disqualified after 8km of the race. She was one of four competitors who were penalised for not using the correct technique. There are judges spaced around the course and if they notice a competitor is lifting both feet off the ground at the same time (meaning they are running, technically) then they are shown a red paddle. Three reds and they are disqualified. This difficulty makes it even more impressive that victor Elena Lashmanova set a new world record when claiming her gold.

The race walkers must always be in partial contact with the ground

Lashmanova stormed to victory, winning with a time of 1 hour, 25 minutes and 2 seconds, more than 17 minutes faster than the Venezuelan Milangela Rosales who came in 55th place (two other competitors didn't finish the race, as well as the four who were disqualified). The 20-year-old overtook her compatriot Olga Kaniskina, the defending champion, in the very last stages of the race. Along with the even more exhausting 50km men's race walk which took place earlier on Saturday, the women's race walk is clearly one of the more difficult endurance tasks at the Olympic Games. Often derided as not a 'real' sport, race walking in fact shows much more commitment than many other disciplines, both through the determination shown to excel at something which isn't exactly popular with spectators (Olympic crowds aside) or prominent on school's P.E curriculums and the intense levels of fitness required to maintain a fast walking pace over such long distances. The sport is also one of the oldest in the Games, with its routes in the 1800s as an original track and field event, and debuting at the third modern Olympiad.  It is one of the great things about the Olympics that these athletes who work so hard and usually remain under the radar, are granted the chance to take centre stage. 

The Union flags were out in force for the marathon

Today's men's marathon again showed the commitment required to succeed at these Olympic Games. Out of 105 entrants only 85 finished as the roads of London got the better of 20 runners. Shockingly, that included the three Ethiopians Ayele Abshero, Getu Feleke and Dino Sefir who were all amongst the top six favourites to win the gold before the race started. In the end it was Uganda's Stephen Kiprotich who finished first, ahead of Kenyan duo Abel Kirui and 2012 London Marathon champ Wilson Kipsang Kiprotich (no relation), recording a time of 2 hours 8 minutes 1 second. The medal was only the second gold that Uganda had ever won in Olympics history. Just like last week's women's marathon a runner from East Timor, this time Augusto Soares, won over the support of the enthusiastic London crowd by giving his all despite trailing by a considerable distance. And yet again, the East-Timorese managed to rein in another straggler and finish second from last. Lesotho's Tsepo Ramonene was this week's unlucky competitor finishing last, a full ten minutes behind Soares and clearly in some pain. Yet at least he finished, unlike the twenty other competitors who couldn't manage it.

East Timor's Soares brought up the rear for most of the race

On occasions throughout this tournament I've heard people asking why do athletes bother carrying on in these long distance events if they know they can't win a medal? Well it is clearly a matter of pride and a huge success even to reach the finish line. After all, how many of us can say we have completed an Olympics marathon, or triathlon? Not many. Across all sports in these Olympics, athletes make thousands of sacrifices and put incredible amounts of effort and more often than not they walk away without a medal. But for all the nights out they would be forced to turn down, meals they would have to say no to and hours which they spend training, they at least end up with a sense of achievement. And for that they deserve everybody's respect. After all without the commitment of these athletes, there would be no Olympics for us to go crazy about every four years. Well done, I say, and keep up the good work. You won't be forgotten.

James will be back tomorrow with the final Search for Excellence blog: TSFE's Team GB awards 2012. Return for that, and in the mean time, follow him on Twitter @TSFE2012

Keri-Anne tastes the Payne as Brits fail to rule the pool

The Serpentine Bridge decked out especially for the Olympics

It was a crushing afternoon for Great Britain's marathon swimmer Keri-Anne Payne when she came agonisingly close to taking a medal at Hyde Park today, only to miss out on bronze by 0.4 seconds. Payne was in fact only four seconds behind gold medal winner Eva Risztov of Hungary, which over a 10km swim lasting approximately two hours is the tightest of margins. I was stood on the banks of the Serpentine this afternoon in the baking sun where one of the Olympics' harshest events ensured a good turnout from the Brits. But the race left a subdued crowd at the end of the two hours as Team GB's representative, who had been favourite to take the gold, was denied in the cruellest fashion. The 24-year-old had claimed the silver medal in Beijing back in 2008 and since then had won the world championships twice, in 2009 and 2011, and with the home advantage of London 2012 she will look back on this with much disappointment. As she put it herself, 'Fourth in the world is not too bad but not what I really wanted.'

Payne was devastated to miss out  on the podium

Yet while Payne will be disappointed, it has to be taken into account that her event is one of the most horrendous to compete in. China's Fang Yanqiao pulled out before the race started with an unspecified injury and the Serpentine then claimed two victims during the event itself. South Africa's Jessica Roux couldn't continue after three laps and was hauled out of the water and taken away in a wheelchair, while Brazilian Poliana Okimoto fainted from dehydration after being pulled out of the lake during the fifth lap. This meant only 22 out of the initial 25 entrants finished the race with 22nd placed Greek Marianna Lymperta crossing the line nearly seven minutes behind the victorious Risztov. It must be said that the incredible levels of durability, stamina and energy required to succeed in this event is clear for all to see and just completing the race is more than an achievement.

Some Olympic jobs look more fun than others

The marathon swim was only introduced to the Olympics for the first time in 2008 and is the equivalent of swimming 400 lengths of a 25m pool. The Hyde Park course was a relatively serene one as it had been oxygenated to keep the course clear of algae and the only wildlife consisted of ducks and geese, as opposed to jellyfish or dead dogs, which Payne has encountered in previous marathon swims in Australia and China respectively. Yet despite the lack of unsavoury obstacles it still took a lot of ability and experience to win the race, with the action in the pack during the first stages of the race being particularly physical. Risztov has bags of experience having competed in the pool back in the early 2000s, including at the 2004 Olympics before retiring in 2005. She announced her return in 2009, deciding to primarily compete in the open water swimming discipline although she did make some appearances in the aquatics centre last week.

The top five swimmers on the final lap (Payne - blue cap,centre)

But while Risztov can look back on her tournament with much satisfaction this caps a disappointing showing for Great Britain and Northern Ireland in the swimming events which have taken place at London 2012. There is one final event tomorrow, the men's 10km marathon swim, but Team GB's only entrant Daniel Fogg is a real outsider and is unlikely to achieve a medal. The home nation appear set to finish the tournament with only three swimming medals, one silver from Michael Jamieson and the two bronzes achieved by Rebecca Adlington, who of course had won double gold four years ago. This looks particularly bad when compared to the USA's haul of 31 medals- 16 of which were gold, so it is certainly something for the British swimming authorities to work on ahead of Rio in 2016. With so many medals on offer for swimming, if Great Britain can start winning more often in the pool then the impossible gap between USA and China and the rest of the world may no longer seem so impossible.

James will return tomorrow morning with the third and final edition of The Friday Feeling. If you haven't already, make sure to follow him on Twitter @TSFE2012 and if you haven't read some of his earlier blogs then feel free to check them out using the menu on the right hand side of the page!

First, third and final photographs by James Phillips.

'Not conquering but fighting well': The Olympics adage rings true in 2012

This eclectic bunch fancied a nice quiet run through London today

Today, I took to the streets of central London to witness that most gruelling and honourable of sports, the marathon. The women were in action today, a week prior to the men, and they were greeted by hordes of people lining the streets and a rainstorm of epic proportions hammering down from the sky for the first half hour of the race. With Great Britain's most well known marathon runner Paula Radcliffe ruled out through injury, it was left to 29-year-old Claire Hallissey, Mara Yamauchi (from Oxford but married to a Japanese man) and late call-up Freya Murray to fly the flag for Team GB. However, the business-end of the race was a story of African rivalry as pre-race favourite Mary Keitany of Kenya just missed out on the podium in fourth position as Tiki Gelana of Ethiopia set a new Olympic record. Keitany's misery was compounded further as compatriot Priscah Jeptoo and Russian Tatyana Petrova Arkhipova both finished ahead of her.

Radcliffe's replacement Freya Murray (right) did best out of Britain's representatives

Gelana's Olympic record of 2 hours 23 minutes 7 seconds is nearly eight minutes worse off than Radcliffe's world record of 2 hours 15 minutes 25 seconds which was set back in 2003's London Marathon. This makes it even more of a shame that the 38-year-old couldn't compete in what would surely have been one of her final appearances on the world stage. The osteoarthritis which has afflicted her left foot ended the hopes of filling the one big void on her running CV, an Olympic medal. Having come 5th in the 5,000m at Atlanta 1996 and 4th in the 10,000m at Sydney 2000, Radcliffe didn't finish at Athens 2004's marathon, and only could manage 23rd at Beijing. Her world record still stands and will take some beating but the opportunity to impress in her home country would have been a fantastic way to mark a magnificent career. 

Hallissey survived the stares of the small children to finish 57th

Without Radcliffe gracing the streets around St. Paul's, her direct replacement Freya Murray did the best out of the Brits, finishing 44th out of 118 entrants, nine minutes behind the victor. Hallissey finished 57th, a further three minutes back. Unfortunately for Yamauchi, another veteran at 38, she was forced to withdraw just under the 10km mark with an existing heel injury which had got the better of her. But the encouraging cheers of the London crowd and the incredible effort put in by all participants ensured the event stayed true to the spirit of the Olympic Games. A completely different story to Saturday night's heroics where Jessica Ennis and Mo Farah in particular starred as Great Britain took the Olympic Stadium by storm, it was possible to find fairy stories within the women's marathon.

The diminutive Napoleao won the crowd over and achieved a personal best

One of the best was that of Juventina Napoleao. The miniscule 23-year-old from the tiny country of East Timor (aka Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste) was bringing up the rear for much of the race, and therefore became something of a cult hero with the crowd, receiving rapturous cheers every time she went past, clearly giving it her all. As she continued, several others pulled out of the race injured and Ireland's Caitriona Jennings was caught and overhauled. Not only did Napoleao finish ahead of Jennings but she recorded a personal best of 3 hours 5 minutes and 7 seconds. As Pierre de Coubertin, the founder of the modern OIympics said, 'the most important thing in the Olympic Games is not winning but taking part, the essential thing in life is not conquering but fighting well.' Gelana rightfully deserves the plaudits and praise for her gold medal and Olympic record, but Napoleao, as much as anybody showed that while she might not win, she can certainly fight well.


Congratulations must go to all this weekend's Olympic gold medallists, particularly Jessica Ennis, Mo Farah, Greg Rutherford and Andy Murray. Inspirational stuff from Great Britain's finest. The Search for Excellence will continue tomorrow as the Olympics heads into it's final week. And of course don't forget to follow James on Twitter @TSFE2012


Photographs by sports fan Helen Crane

A Potted History of the Olympic Games

A Greek amphora showing Olympic Games action

We all know that the Olympics has an incredible legacy and is famed around the world as the pinnacle of sporting achievements. Having said this, there is much to the Games that the average man on the street wouldn't have a clue about. So if you want to be able to impress your mates with some fascinating facts from the history of the Olympic Games then read on...

Carrying the calf

During the Ancient Olympic Games, which began way back in 776 B.C, there was a famous six-time Wrestling champion who went by the name of Milo. Originating from the Magna Graecian city of Croton in the south of Italy, Milo was renowned across the ancient world for his extreme strength. He was reputed to have trained by carrying a calf every day. As the calf grew older and bigger, Milo's strength would increase. It is even believed that he carried a fully grown bull, although that seems slightly far fetched. Regardless, he was clearly not the sort of Olympian it would be wise to mess with.

Ancient Greek Milo carried one of these each day

Banning the Games... sort of

So why exactly did the Olympic games cease to exist before the revitalisation in 1896? Well the responsibility lied with a Roman Emperor named Theodosius the Great. The last Olympic Games were played in Olympia in the year 393, two years after Theodosius had issued an edict to close all Pagan temples. This suppression of the pagan/Ancient Greek faith led to the decline of Ancient Greek traditions, which included the Olympics. Or did it? Just one of several 'Olympic Games' which continued away from Olympia was held at Antioch, modern Turkey. This continued until the year 521 when the illiterate Byzantine Emperor Justin I brought it to an end. Some people just don't like having fun do they?

Bringing it back

As with a lot of sports tournaments (I'm thinking Jules Rimet with the World Cup and Gabriel Hanot with the Champions League here) a Frenchman seemed to be the man with the plan to get things going. Pierre de Coubertin, a Parisian born on New Year's Day 1863, thought that the French soldiers lacked enough vigour when they were overrun by Germans in the Franco-Prussian war of 1870. As he grew up, Coubertin studied the education systems in Germany, Great Britain and the USA and determined that sport was the missing ingredient for his nation. After forming a sports union in 1890, he pitched his idea to revive the Olympic Games two years later. He was shot down though, as the speech he delivered failed to rouse his fellow members of the sports union. But this was a determined man, and two years later he invited 79 delegates from 9 countries to an auditorium to convince them to bring back the Olympic Games. This time he didn't fail, and within four years Athens was hosting the first of the modern Olympic Games.

The water carrier

The first modern Olympics had just 245 entrants, over 200 of which were Greek, yet it was still the biggest international sporting event of all time up to that point. One of the biggest innovations was the staging of the first marathon. The idea belonged to yet another innovative Frenchman, this time the philologist and founder of modern semantics, Michel Breal. Breal was inspired by the ancient messenger Phidippides who, in 490 BC, had run over 140 miles from the town of Marathon to Athens to report on the Battle of Marathon. He suggested the idea to Coubertin and the first marathon event was set to go ahead. It took place on April 10th 1896 and much to the Greek public's delight, as none of their compatriots had yet won a track and field event, was won by Spyridon Louis, a water-carrier from Marousi. Louis stopped off en route for a glass of cognac which was given to him by his future father-in-law and was joined on the final stretch by two Greek princes, Constantine and George. The water-carrier instantly achieved national hero status, yet bizarrely was wrongly imprisoned for falsifying military documents in 1926 before being acquitted after a year behind bars. You win some, you lose some.

Like many Greeks before him, Louis was a water carrier

Coming to a screen near you

The Olympics continued to expand with each edition held every four years, and by 1936 there were nearly 4000 athletes from 49 different nations competing. The Berlin Games are best remembered for the heroic Jesse Owens proving Adolf Hitler's theory of Aryan supremacy wrong by claiming four gold medals. Plenty has been written about that, but a lesser known aspect of the 1936 Games is that it was the first ever sporting event to be televised. The German firms Telefunken and Furseh screened over 72 hours of live footage which was broadcast in 'Public Television Offices' ,special viewing booths in Berlin and Potsdam. This set the precedent for the live sports coverage which is enjoyed by millions today, with this Olympics being the most extensively-televised tournament to date, broadcast over 24 BBC HD channels in the UK and even available in 3D.

Discarding the gold?

In the 1960 Rome Olympics, an 18-year-old American boxer named Cassius Clay claimed the gold medal in the light-heavyweight category. The icon later known as Muhammad Ali defeated the commentator-friendly Zbigniew Pietrzyskowski of Poland to top the podium and rise to the summit of amateur boxing. 15 years later, a story emerged in a biography of Ali, which was written by the boxer assisted by a writer called Richard Durham. The biography claimed that the world champion was so disgusted by racism when he was turned away from a whites-only restaurant in his hometown of Louisville that he threw his gold medal into the Ohio river. However, he seemed to discredit the story by answering at a press conference that 'he couldn't remember what he did with [the medal]'. His wife Lonnie claims he only ever talks about the subject when asked but always says that he did throw it in the river, or ignores the question, never denying it. Ali, who now suffers from Parkinson's disease, was awarded another medal to replace the first one at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta. The story surrounding the original medal seems as murky as the Ohio river water itself.

The dirty truth

Some people may consider Olympic athletes to be a pure-bred, clean and celibate bunch, but that couldn't be further from the truth. At least according to American target shooter Josh Lakatos. The 1996 silver medallist claims that after his tournament finished and his team left halfway through the Sydney Games in 2000, his house turned into an Olympic village 'brothel'. With all his team-mates gone, Lakatos claimed one room to himself and left the others open to all-comers. The next morning he claims that ' the entire women's 4x100 relay team of some Scandinavian-looking country walks out of the house, followed by boys from our side. And I'm just going "Holy crap, we'd watched these girls run the night before!".' The house became known as 'Shooter's House' and Lakatos oversaw many Olympians coming and going from his house throughout the rest of the games. 'I've never seen so much debauchery in my life', he later exclaimed. It appears there is much more going on behind the Olympic scenes than the public have any idea about. As three-time Gold medallist swimmer Ryan Lochte puts it, 'My last Olympics, I had a girlfriend. Big mistake. Now I'm single, so London should be really good. I'm excited.'

Shooter Lakatos spilled the beans on Olympic Village antics

Whatever happens on the tracks, pitches and rings of London 2012, it is certain that many more stories of intrigue will write themselves outside of the sporting arena too.

Don't forget to follow James on Twitter @TSFE2012 and return to the blog on Friday 27th July where the first 'Friday Feeling'  feature will appear.