I know little about Sport but glimpsed the Olympics as I was working.
The grace, skill, determination and mastery of the Games in all its facets is a thing of beauty and allows us to briefly see peaceful human competition and collaboration with no higher horizon than the best is probably us as a species at our greatest.
Every Olympics has its own set of fears about infrastructure not being ready on time, this Olympics had to deal with a full blown plague.
That the Japanese managed to do this is testament to their technical brilliance.
Even their beds designed to stop sex worked, they just can’t build bad in Japan!
It was annoying that some of the Japanese tech architects had to resign for jokes they told as teenagers but any fear of woke Olympics were quickly eclipsed by raw human passion.
The tenacity of Biles to the humbleness of Hubbard added to the shine of these Olympics, they didn’t distract.
Our own Olympian winners brought back the greatest medal haul ever and I suppose in a way Jacinda must be thanked for that. I’m sure being able to train in a country not devastated by Covid meant our athletes had an edge.
Jacinda’s Covid leadership didn’t just save our public health and economy, it helped those it protected be the best they can be.
That’s leadership that echos down the corridors of history.
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Olympics = pabulum for the masses, to keep them amused and distracted as the banks, corporations and opportunists -and their lackeys, the politicians- progressively wreck the planet and impoverish everybody.
How much energy was squandered, and how much unnecessary CO2 and other pollutants were emitted high into the atmosphere by this latest round of arrogant stupidity?
Planetary Emergency! What Planetary Emergency? You’d think it was still 1980 the way these clowns and criminals behave.
‘World’s climate scientists to issue stark warning over global heating threat’
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/aug/08/worlds-climate-scientists-to-issue-stark-warning-over-global-heating-threat
And it’s ten times worse than is being admitted by the UNIPCC, of course.
But where would we be without our bread & circuses?
“iam pridem, ex quo suffragia nulli / uendimus, effudit curas; nam qui dabat olim / imperium, fasces, legiones, omnia, nunc se / continet atque duas tantum res anxius optat, / panem et circenses.”
I read the cost to Japan was officially $us 22 billion . How many 3rd World countries could have had the covid shot with that money.
Chicken feed.
Larry Page came here and is listed as one of the richest people in the world with a reported wealth of more than US$116 bn.
Not many weeks back NZ kids did the 40 hour famine raising dollars and cents.
Thank you Martyn, I enjoyed that.
A moment of bird song in the dark forest of Covid .
Diplomatic , well chosen words woven with dignity and restraint .With the pendlous wieght of Climate breakdown , Covid uncertainty and neoliberal numptys we all need the odd uplifting moment .Peaceful human collaboration to be the best you can be .Enjoyed it .
Accurate analysis and spot on timing
Probably a silver or bronze
You can’t eat an Olympic medal, and you can’t live in one either. I can’t praise Jacinda Ardern for anything until she leads a Party and a Government that governs for all, and least to say, for the least. Today in the Herald, even social service agencies have given up on the homeless. Homes are not the outcome aimed for now, food and clothing is. Better make it warm clothing. It’s cold out.
Well said Martyn.
In the words of Fred Dagg “we don’t know how lucky we are”, and we need to take a moment to acknowledge that the PM has remained resolute against enormous pressures and many people have worked tirelessly to bring us this ‘luck’.
It sickens me that so many of us can’t even do simple things like scanning the QR code.
Martyn,
Well said but a stretch to thank Jacinda Ardern I believe the commitment of the athletes and their coaches deserve the accolades.
Sorry to disagree.
I quickly get bored with a non stop wall to wall coverage of sports, but do appreciate them in moderation, the skill of the competitors and the ups and downs of the Olympics. I guess we did have an edge, actually…and by and large if there’s one decision that this govt did well was in its actions against covid. However, in many domestic key issues they are abysmal failures with little improvement in sight. Much like National.
It gives one a little buzz to enjoy the medal count rising up but the reasons offered by Martyn for our successes are way off. Nearly all our successes were scored using very expensive equipment. What are the chances that Sudan, Ethiopia etc willl ever win a medal fpr kayak racing. However for those Sudanese, who can afford a pair of shoes, one day being a medal winner is realistic. So all the cheers we offered our kayakers are not unexpected.
Even more to the point, as far as I can see all the private Schools in Dunedin have a boating shed because they are part of the enticement to draw in well heeled parents By cheering on our boating medallists we are really cheering on our private schools. which doesn’t sound quite as patriotic.
Tell it it to Lisa and Emma. Hamish Bond went to Otago Boys – a state school.
I wish we could post memes for comments.
Is this satire?
I think so but my contribution of same didn’t get airtime 🙂
If only there was a hugging contest, Jacinda would have won hands (of course) down.
Groan
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