Won too much, much too young?

Is this already the end of the road for the likeable Adlington?

Rebecca Adlington is only 23 years old. Yet she is contemplating retirement and referring to herself as 'old' after winning bronze medals in both the 400m and 800m freestyle at London 2012. The Mansfield-born swimmer stormed to national icon status back in Beijing 2008, when as a 19-year-old she claimed gold medals in both events, including smashing Janet Evans' 800m record which had stood since the year Adlington was born. Now, after failing to defend the titles, losing out to 22-year-old French competitor Camille Muffat in the 400m and the 15-year-old American Katie Ledecky in the 800m, Adlington is having a serious think about whether she is good enough to continue at the highest level, particularly bearing in mind that she will be aged 27 by the time Rio de Janeiro 2016 rolls around. 

Ledecky is one amongst a new generation of female swimmers who have taken the thirtieth Olympiad by storm. The swimmer from Maryland was only born in 1997 and is the youngest member of the entire USA Olympics squad. She improved her personal best by 5 seconds within less than a month to land the gold in London's aquatics centre and it must be said she will be eyeing up Rio excitedly in the expectation of more success. Another young female swimmer to hit the headlines earlier during the tournament was the 16-year-old Chinese competitor Ye Shiwen. Shiwen claimed gold in the 200m and 400m individual medleys, setting a world record in the latter and swimming the last 50m in an outrageous 28.93 seconds. Many people suspected doping but Shiwen passed tests and her record stands. Ledecky's fellow American, Missy Franklin, who is just 17 is yet another swimmer making waves with her performances in London and collected four gold medals and a bronze in a variety of events last week. All of these young athletes will be looking to improve further in the run up to the next Olympics.

It is not only amongst the female swimmers that success comes at a young age. Ian Thorpe, the Australian fan favourite who claimed five golds, three silvers and a bronze at Sydney 2000 and Athens 2004 was only aged 17 at the former and 21 at the latter tournament. The Thorpedo even retired aged 24 after some fitness issues led him to believe he was unable to compete at the top level. He made an attempted return to the pool in 2011, still aged only 28,  but earlier this year he failed to qualify to compete at this year's Olympics, making it clear that at his age he is no longer good enough to win medals. London 2012 has though, had the pleasure to see Michael Phelps in all his glory as the American became officially the greatest ever Olympian, adding four more golds and two silvers to his already stratospheric haul of Olympic medals taking him to a grand total of 18 golds and 22 medals overall, won across just three tournaments. But the Baltimore Bullet has now announced his retirement at the age of 27, an age where many other sportsmen are believed to be at their very peak.

So why do swimmers peak so early? BBC's swimming experts Steve Parry and Sharron Davies attribute it to hard work done by coaches and the fact that young competitors don't get fazed but surely there is more to it than that? Another theory is that swimmers 'burn out' as the sport has such a toil on the body that competitors need to stop their intense training by a certain age and then are not in a strong enough position to compete with the younger athletes who can maintain the intense training regime. Motivation could be another factor as after achieving so much early, like Thorpe and Phelps did, the thought of working so hard just to compete again in something they have already won would not be entirely appealing. One theory is that young swimmers, while having well-trained muscles, have not fully bulked out meaning that there is less unnecessary weight on their bodies, a slight advantage over their older, larger competitors. Regardless, it is clear that swimmers peak extremely young. Ledecky, Shinwen and Franklin will be expecting to dominate the pools at Rio 2016 but who knows? By then, someone who is currently just 11-years-old could be outpacing all of them.


It's the final week of the Olympics now but The Search for Excellence has plenty more to offer. James is off to the women's football semi-final between Japan and France tonight, and the triathlon, open water swimming, walk race and men's marathon later in the week. Make sure to follow him on Twitter @TSFE2012 and come back tomorrow for the next article.

'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

London 2012: a triumph of obscure sporting excellence

Guest post by Redbrick Sport editor Sam Price 

Peter Wilson literally shot to fame in an instant

 

For people that don’t like sport, the Olympics can generally be explained away as a series of trivial sporting pursuits contested in a far-flung region for a couple of weeks every four years. Not this time. As London continues to impress audiences worldwide with the staging of a thus far spectacularly successful Olympic Games, the British public consciousness is being increasingly pervaded by the same obscure sports that people wouldn’t usually bat an eyelid towards. The presence of British medal challengers in sports such as archery, diving and equestrianism has boosted domestic interest levels significantly, raising the profile of these sports and their participants to an incomparable high.

Take shooting, for example. The majority of Brits, myself included, who tuned into BBC One’s coverage of Thursday’s men’s double trap final would have never watched a shooting event in their life. But those who did would have found themselves captivated by a tense climax to a sport which they were quickly able to gain an understanding of, bringing celebration when nerves of steel from British finalist Peter Wilson earned the man from Dorset a treasured Olympic gold medal. The 25-year-old went from a relative nobody to talk of the town (or rather, the nation) in a matter of minutes, for shooting clay targets more accurately than anybody else in the world. You can’t get more obscure than that. 

Or can you? On the same day Gemma Gibbons beat the odds to win an unprecedented silver medal in Judo, a sport which, to the untrained eye, looks no more than a good old game of rough and tumble. But some brief swotting up on the sport and a basic understanding of the rules enables you to appreciate the skill of Gibbons’ manoeuvre in the semi-final, where she performed an ippon throw in the highly pressurised golden score situation to beat World and European Champion Audrey Tcheumeo, guaranteeing the Brit a medal. Gibbons’ twitter following has since skyrocketed from around 600 to over 20,000; always a good barometer of the modern sportsperson’s fame.

Sailing enjoys its fair share of the limelight during the Olympics

The host factor has certainly contributed to a better understanding and appreciation of the skill, dedication and achievement of the Olympians of 2012, for ticket-holders, armchair viewers and journalists alike. I’ve been involved with the BBC’s excellent coverage of the Olympics, a role which has seen me asked to cover sports such as sailing and fencing, the rubrics of which I had no idea beforehand. However, after some prior research and attention to detail while watching them, I feel in a much more privileged position to appreciate and enjoy the ferocious competitiveness of British sailor Ben Ainslie, who is pursuing a fourth consecutive Olympic gold, and the devastating skill of the Italian fencing team, who completed a clean sweep of medals in the women’s foil discipline. 

A more nuanced understanding of a sport cannot illuminate the countless hours of practice and self-improvement away from the television cameras that have gone into these Olympians’ moments of reckoning, but it can leave us better placed to enjoy and appreciate their endeavours. In some ways this is the beauty of the Olympics. For two weeks the spotlight in Britain is being shone brightly onto obscure sports to which competitors have dedicated their life to, a theme which the British public have resoundingly bought into. From the Opening Ceremony onwards, a genuine ‘feel-good factor’ seems to have engulfed the nation, creating an atmosphere which has turned the scarcely known into heroes, and has ensured that the Olympian’s mastery over their chosen sport has received full, rewarding recognition by a wider, more conscious audience.

The Search for Excellence hopes you enjoyed this excellent guest post by the talented writer that is Sam Price. You can follow Sam on Twitter @Sam_Price19 and don't forget to follow James on @TSFE2012 . James will be back with another blog tomorrow, after he attends the men's football quarter-final between Senegal and Mexico and the women's marathon in the morning.

The Friday Feeling #2

This is the Friday Feeling. The second installation of a hat-trick of features which will appear on The Search for Excellence each Friday (you guessed it) during the Olympics. Expect some astute observations, irreverent opinions and priceless nuggets of information...possibly.

We've had plenty of time to get used to it, but the 2012 logo still looks silly

TODAY

So a week into the tournament and Team GB have rocketed up the medal table to 4th position. A slow start to the Olympics had the nation a bit worried but since our first gold medal, claimed by Helen Glover and Heather Stanning in the women's pair rowing on Wednesday, everything is looking up. The tournament seems to have been a resounding success on the whole so far with plenty of talking points, many new world records set and barring the trouble with corporate seats being empty and the London Underground's Central line failing on occasion, has worked surprisingly well logistically. Today the Athletics competitions in the Olympic Stadium have finally begun, and many feel like this is where the true essence of the Olympic Games really comes to life. Jessica Ennis, Great Britain's poster girl, is wowing the crowds as I write this with some stellar performances in the hurdles and high jump to get things off the ground. With the 100m final to come over the weekend and the longer tournaments such as basketball,hockey and football yet to reach their latter stages, it certainly feels like the best is yet to come from London 2012.

THE MOOD

Personally, I'm feeling optimistic of Great Britain's chances of finishing in the top 3 of the medal table and am fully indulging in the feel good factor of staying in the host city of London 2012. But who cares about me? What do the masses think? Well let's have a look at Twitter, where we find...

This London-based singer-songwriter getting very much into the Games and supporting Team GB:

I'm getting way more excited about #Olympic2012 than I thought I would. I blame Danny Boyle. Anyway, FOURTH PLACE OVERALL #teamGB
— Eddplant (@eddplant) August 3, 2012

While this Paris-based PR girl is clearly a fan of heptathlete Jess...

THE ONLY WAY IS ENNIS #london2012
— Imogen Roy (@imogenroy) August 3, 2012

The Olympics is having such a strong effect on this guy that he is even changing his tennis allegiances:

Only during the Olympics will I support Murray over Djok and Fed. Come on Andy! #teamgb
— Jamie Lam (@jayteeyell) August 3, 2012

Evidently this chap is more excited today than he has been so far:

Finally! Athletics time, best part of the #Olympics! Come on @teamgb! #London2012
— Will Brinkley (@brinkley_will) August 3, 2012

But I guess you can't keep everybody happy...

Everyone's gunna hate me for this, but I think the Olympics are soo boring.
— Shelbs(@shelbymaas) August 3, 2012

Having been in Hyde Park yesterday when Sir Chris Hoy claimed his fifth gold medal, equalling Sir Steve Redgrave in that department, I can testify the mood of London's sports fans is arguably at an all time high. But that doesn't mean nothing has have gone wrong...


THE BLUNDERS

Locog have largely behaved themselves this week but a member of Team GB seemed to make a huge mistake last night. Philip Hindes, the German-born Brit who won gold alongside Sir Chris Hoy and Jason Kenny in the men's team sprint admitted to journalists that he had deliberately crashed in the heats to force a restart and ensure Great Britain recorded a better time. He later appeared to backtrack and say that he had genuinely crashed, and British Cycling said comments had been lost in translation as Hindes has only recently learnt English. However, it seems pretty clear that Hindes had admitted to a bit of gamesmanship, and while the IOC say the result would stand, and Team GB deservedly won the final, it is hardly great for the image of cycling.  While the Americans have been outdoing the Brits in terms of medals, across the pond their broadcasters have also been outdoing them in terms of blunders. NBC, who have the television rights for London 2012 have made mistake after mistake leading to the trend #NBCfail appearing multiple times on Twitter. From silly comments during the opening ceremony, including an assumption that, like the commentators, no viewers would know who Sir Tim Berners-Lee was; pretending that coverage of Olympic sports is live when it is actually delayed and getting an Independent journalist banned from Twitter for criticising their coverage it has been one huge PR cock-up for one of the biggest broadcast companies in the world. It is fair to say that over here, with their incredible online coverage and 24 channels ensuring all sports are televised, the BBC are doing a much better job.

NBC have been infuriating Americans all week long

THE QUESTION

On Sunday night, arguably the most-anticipated Olympic event yet is set to happen. Can Usain Bolt cement his place as the definitive athlete of our time, or will his friend and training partner Yohan Blake usurp him in the 100m final? The iconic Jamaican, who spent the warm-up period prior to the Olympics based in Birmingham with the rest of his nation's athletes, holds the world record of 9.58 seconds, as well as the Olympic record of 9.69 seconds, with which he clinched gold at Beijing back in 2008. However, Blake, three years Bolt's junior, beat the Olympic champion in both 100m and 200m at the recent Jamaican trials and appears to be in better form going into the race. If Bolt is in peak condition, scientists have stated that it is physically impossible for anybody to beat him. But if he isn't Blake won't give him any second chances. Tyson Gay, the American, remains an outside bet but the most glorious of Olympic golds is surely set to head to one of the Jamaican speed demons.

Blake, left, and Bolt will not be too pally on the track this Sunday

THE VILLAINS

Eight Asian badminton players were thrown out of the Olympics this week after deliberately trying to lose their games to ensure a preferable draw later in the tournament. The women's doubles players, two pairs representing South Korea, the others representing China and Indonesia, were all desperate to either avoid their compatriot teams until the final, or simply end up with a perceived easier draw in the knockout rounds. Regardless, their tactic of hitting shots into the net, deliberately over-firing them and generally not bothering to perform was disgraceful considering plenty of fans had shelled out up to £75 on tickets. It is fantastic that the IOC decided to throw them out of the competition the next day, but tragic that such a situation even occurred in a tournament which is meant to represent the pinnacle of sporting achievements.

THE SUPERHEROES

Heroes have been left, right and centre over the past week, starting with the Opening Ceremony where Sir Steve Redgrave, David Beckham, the Queen and even Mr. Bean fall into that category for varying reasons. But a huge congratulations has to go to the rowers Helen Glover and Heather Stanning.  Just when the nation's optimism was at a low, the coxless women's pair claimed Great Britain's first gold at Eton Dorney on Wednesday morning. Not only that but they were the first British women ever to win a gold in rowing at the Olympics. Stanning is an officer in the Royal Artillery and Glover only began rowing four years ago, but this unlikely duo got Team GB off the mark when they needed it most. Elsewhere Michael Phelps has to be given huge amounts of credit for his performances, where despite being labelled as past his best, has picked up two gold and two silver medals to take his overall haul to 20. This makes him the most successful Olympian of all time despite only being 27 years old and having won medals in just three Olympic tournaments. The man who set a record by winning eight medals at Beijing 2008 is not going to be forgotten any time soon. And finally a shout out has to go to last week's Friday Feeling superhero Bradley Wiggins, who bounced back from Team GB's road race failure by claiming the gold in the time trial. Wiggins, who became the first Brit to win the Tour de France just last month is almost certainly a shoo-in for the 2012 BBC Sports Personality of the Year. Long live the mod.

Glover, left, and Stanning kick started things for Team GB

Something different will land on The Search for Excellence tomorrow with a special guest post by another super-talented writer. Before then, make sure to follow James on Twitter @TSFE2012

The unlikely lads. British footballers could yet become Olympic heroes

Could this over-paid motley crew really end up on the podium?

Football and the Olympics are an uneasy fit at the best of times. This can be seen by the fact that so many tickets were impossible to shift for this year's Olympics football tournament and the way that, unlike every other sport at London 2012, the organisers have decided to take the tournament around the whole of Great Britain, including Glasgow, Cardiff, Manchester, Newcastle and, somewhat surprisingly, Coventry. In fact, the confusion over rules in the Olympic tournament back in the 1920s led to the creation of the football World Cup, which launched in 1930, and ever since the Olympic football tournament has lived an unusual existence, particularly in the way it is perceived in England. 

So when Great Britain progressed last night as group winners, after defeating a talented but disappointing Uruguay side 1-0 at the Millennium Stadium, it came as something of a surprise as a team who hadn't competed in the Olympics tournament since 1960 were suddenly very much in the running for a medal. The controversy of a Team GB football team competing stems from the fact that England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland all have their own football governing bodies, meaning they are on equal footing as other independent countries within UEFA and FIFA and even have a disproportional say within IFAB, football's rule-making body, due to the way the organisation was originally set up (each home nation has one vote each, and the rest of FIFA has only four votes, meaning it is a 50/50 split between the UK and the rest of the world). Proud Scotsmen, Welshmen and Irishmen have opposed the existence of a GB football team due to fear of losing the privileges enjoyed as individual nations, and the thought of a Great Britain team replacing the national teams of the home nations in all football competitions. However, with host status granting Great Britain a place in the finals, the FA took the initiative and the Team GB football team was re-formed albeit with no Scots or Irishmen eventually selected.

But British football does have a history within the Olympics. A team representing England won gold in 1908, in the days when all Olympic footballers had to be amateurs. The English even retained the crown in 1912. Uruguay emerged as a force in the 1920s and their back-to-back successes in 1924 and 1928, in front of huge crowds, led to them hosting and winning the inaugural World Cup in 1930 (a forerunner to Spain's recent triple tournament success). This lead to the football being dropped for 1932 but Adolf Hitler's Nazi government ensured that it returned to the 1936 Berlin Games where they needed to attract large crowd. At this infamous Olympics, a Great Britain side featured and included 13 Englishmen, five Scots, two Welshmen and two Northern Irishmen. The team went out to Poland in the quarter-finals but they returned after World War II, where they were managed by Manchester United boss Matt Busby. But by the 1960s Britain started failing to qualify and in 1974 the FA realised that as all footballers in the country were paid to some extent, there were no amateurs left to compete and GB stopped entering.

Rule changes in the 1980s led to the tournament which we have today, no longer amateur but an under-23 competition. The addition of three overage players was later included in the rules and the tournament has gained popularity in many parts of the world, including South America and Africa. This explains why Brazil are so desperate to win this tournament, and with the premature departure of a shockingly out-of-form Spain under-23 side, are the strong favourites. Brazil have won five World Cups and plenty of Copa Americas so the Olympics is the only obvious gaping hole in their trophy cabinet. As well as this, they are hosting the 2014 World Cup, so without qualification matches, they need all the competitive action they can get. Mano Menezes, the boss of the senior Brazil side, is at the helm in this competition and is attempting to groom Neymar, Oscar, Rafael and co. into a side capable of rivalling the sides of Ronaldo, Pele, Zico and Romario that have starred in the past. If he fails to take the gold, it is rumoured he will be sacked.

While Great Britain are likely to meet Brazil in the semi-finals, should they overcome a beatable South Korea side on Saturday, Stuart Pearce's charges should certainly be targeting a medal. Brazil have looked vulnerable defensively, letting in two goals to Egypt and one to Belarus whereas the British have been solid at the back. Crucially, even if the hosts fail to topple the South Americans, a play-off will allow the opportunity to claim a bronze medal. Jack Butland, the young Birmingham City goalkeeper has starred in goal, and in front of him Steven Caulker and Micah Richards have provided a reliable back line. The experience of captain Ryan Giggs has been priceless and his young Manchester United team-mate Tom Cleverley is showing the talent he displayed briefly last season before injury struck. With Daniel Sturridge, Scott Sinclair and Craig Bellamy looking incisive at the sharp end of the pitch, there is no reason why this Great Britain side can take one of the least-expected medals of the Games back to the Team GB camp. Due to the qualification system in place, Great Britain won't ever be able to compete in the Olympics again unless they are hosting, or the rules radically change. But if they finish on the podium this time, it would have been worth all the effort and there will be plenty of cries for a repeat.

There's plenty more where this came from. The Search for Excellence will be back tomorrow with the second installment of the Friday Feeling! And don't even think about not following James on Twitter @TSFE2012 !

Nerve, skill and superhuman accuracy. Meet the archers.

GB star Amy Oliver in action at Lord's

So where were you when Team GB won their first gold of London 2012? Well, while Helen Glover and Heather Stanning were covering themselves in glory by finishing first in the women's pair at Eton Dorney, I was sat at the legendary Lord's Cricket Ground. Yet despite the rain coming in dribs and drabs the action didn't stop as the sport gracing the turf was not cricket, but archery.This is the beauty of the Olympics, for every Usain Bolt, Jessica Ennis and Neymar involved, there are stars from more obscure sports, usually kept far from the public eye, who can compete for their nation's glory. At Lord's, temporary stands have been erected to seat 6,500 spectators and, despite a few empty seats, it made for a vibrant atmosphere with plenty of cheers for competitors from all nations. A unique experience, I must say that there were several aspects of the sport which were unique when compared to other live sport events I have attended in the past.

You wouldn't normally see this at Lord's Cricket Ground

One of the most over-riding differences was the fact a pair of commentators, including a particularly grating American, could be heard over the whole arena. This meant the bowmen could hear every word they said and it is hardly ideal for athletes trying to focus on their performance when they hear things like 'there is some wind out there, but not enough to be held accountable for that' after one poorly aimed effort. Despite being sometimes irritating, the commentary did add to the overall experience and made sure everyone knew who was who and what was going on. A variety of pop and rock music songs were also played over the speaker system at every plausible opportunity, and while it kept the mood upbeat it could also be listed under the irksome category. But the format of competition was good, with two matches in the men's individual 1/32 (last 64) round followed by two in the women's individuals before the winners went head-to-head in the 1/16 immediately after. This meant the winning bowmen played twice in fairly quick succession, allowing the crowd to get behind them in their efforts.

A spectator tries her hand at Archery before the Olympians begin

On the field of play, there was plenty of action as reigning champion from Beijing 2008, Viktor Ruban stormed through to the last 16 round which takes place prior to the quarter-finals,semi-finals and final on Friday. The Ukrainian edged past China's Zhaowu Liu before obliterating Chen Yu-Cheng of Chinese Taipei, who himself had impressed in the first round.  The other danger man competing in the men's half of the competition this morning appeared to be South Korea's Oh Jin Hyek who left the Swiss Axel Muller for dead in the first round before beating the impressive Mexican Luis Alvarez in round two. Meanwhile, the biggest cheers of the day came in the women's first round where Amy Oliver, Great Britain's representative and a fan of felines judging by one of the albums on her official website, defeated world number one Deepika Kumari, from India. Despite shooting a 4 on one round, the lowest individual score of the morning session, Oliver hit plenty of 10s to claim a 6-2 victory over the young Indian who was just 16 when she claimed two commonwealth gold medals in 2010. Disappointingly, the British ecstasy was almost immediately ended as minutes later Oliver crashed out 7-1 at the hands of the incredibly accurate Indonesian archer Ika Yuliana Rochmawati in the 1/16 round.

London 2012 might not be run by a dictatorship, but they can still tell you what to do

Archery has it's fair share of intriguing characters, including the Georgian born American Khatuna Lorig. Lorig  represented the Soviet Union and won bronze as far back as the 1992 Barcelona Olympics but after going on to represent Georgia took US citizenship and represented the States from the 2008 Games. The 38-year-old taught Jennifer Lawrence her archery techniques ahead of the actor's role in the recent blockbuster 'The Hunger Games' and she provided a suitably Hollywood finish in her 1/16 match with Denmark's Louise Laursen. Laursen, who had earlier defeated another character in red-haired, facially-pierced Canadian Marie-Pier Beaudet, held Lorig right to the end of the fifth set and was seconds away from the match going to a single-arrow shoot off. However, the Georgian-American called on all her experience and, needing a 10 to clinch the game, pulled one out of the bag in style to progress to the next round with the last shot of the morning session. While the rowers' gold and Bradley Wiggins fantastic time trial success will be plastered all over the news tonight and tomorrow, the archer's results may fly somewhat under the radar. However, with their displays of nerve, skill and superhuman accuracy, these bowmen are undoubtedly true Olympians, and deserve the respect and adulation that all the other athletes at this thirtieth Olympiad will receive.


The Olympics go on, and so does The Search for Excellence. With Great Britain off the mark, James will be focusing on one particular British team tomorrow, so return for that on Thursday evening! And don't forget to follow on Twitter @tsfe2012


Again, all photographs by James Phillips himself. 

A pleasant afternoon at the boxing

The venue, which is a conference/exhibition centre in its spare time

Today I visited ExCel, the largest competition venue in the Olympics, for the preliminary rounds of the light flyweight and light welterweight boxing competitions. This was the first London 2012 event I have attended for which I have splashed out on tickets (the road cycling and live sites being free entry) and I wasn't disappointed. The venue had a vibrant, family atmosphere and the organisation of transport and security was better than expected. £50 for category C tickets may be a bit over-priced as I was sat in far from the best seat in the house, but enjoying 11 bouts of boxing between fighters from parts of the world as far flung as the Philippines, Ecuador, Uzbekistan and Hungary meant entertainment was definitely not lacking.

The ring where medals will be won and lost

Boxing at the Olympics is an interesting one as it is played with amateur rules, making it somewhat different to the professional fights that we have seen the likes of David Haye, Wladimir Klitschko and Manny Pacquiao compete in in front of huge television audiences over recent years. In professional boxing, the aim of any big match is ultimately a knockout, meaning a tournament held over a brief two-week period as it is the Olympics would be impossible to stage due to the brutality and recovery time needed after fights. In amateur men's boxing, fighters wear protective headgear and bouts consist of three three-minute rounds. It is therefore highly unlikely for any knockouts or technical knockouts so the emphasis is on connecting with clean punches to rake in the most points from the five-strong panel of judges. This also allows the boxers to compete in multiple fights in quick succession.

Just in case you forget what event you're at, it's written on the walls!

The light flyweight action, the lightest of all eleven categories with boxers weighing in at under 48kg provided some fast-paced excitement. Highlights included the explosive Filipino Mark Barriga defeating the clumsy-looking Italian Manuel Cappai 17-7 and the referee stopping the contest after just two minutes 24 seconds of the first round to award victory to Indian Devendro Singh Laishram who was giving Honduran opponent Bayron Molina Figueroa the beating of a lifetime. Laishram could well be one to watch at the tail end of the tournament next week. The biggest excitement of the day came in the third bout of the afternoon when Frenchman Jeremy Beccu took on the Kazakhstani Birzhan Zhakypov. A tensely fought encounter was poised nicely with Beccu leading 11-10 after the first two rounds. The 21-year-old from Auchel then seemed to perform the best in the final round, and was half-celebrating when the final bell rang. However, the judges thought differently and the game went to Zhakypov 18-17, leaving Beccu furious. He later said, 'I knew I had to also fight against the judges. It's really unfair. Nobody can convince me otherwise.'

Excel is hosting table tennis, wrestling, judo, weightlifting and fencing as well

The drama continued into the light welterweight category where the crowd became even more lively, particularly during the fight between American Jamel Herring and another Kazakhstani Daniyar Yeleussinov. The anti-American feeling in the British crowd, presumably amplified by the fact Great Britain are still in search of a first gold, meant that Yeleussinov received rapturous support from the crowd at the Excel, and he was roared towards a 19-9 success, comfortably overcoming Herring with some powerful precision punches. It was a shame that I didn't get to observe any British fighters in action as judging by the support for Yeleussinov and the massive cheer reserved for the announcement of a British judge, there would have been a cacophony inside the arena. Tomorrow sees Brits Luke Campbell and Anthony Joshua competing in the last 16 rounds of the bantam and super-heavyweight categories respectively. Whoever is lucky enough to have tickets should make the most of what is bound to be a riotous viewing experience.

James is off to the archery at Lord's Cricket Ground tomorrow morning so except some bow and arrow related words to appear on The Search for Excellence by late afternoon! Don't forget to follow on Twitter @TSFE2012 for the duration of the tournament and beyond...

All photos by James Phillips himself. Who needs photographers?