victoria pendleton

Victoria Pendleton apologised for 'only' winning a silver medal in what was her last Olympic race.

She is not the only Great Britain and Northern Ireland competitor to have apologised during these Olympics for failing us.

The unrealistic pressure heaped on these athletes by a ruthless media is shocking. While at one level I have enjoyed the actual events, what has spoilt the whole Olympics for me is the unhealthy media circus and jingoism. By ten o'clock every night we are fed our medal soup, then the late news force feeds us the same dish, closely followed by the  round up programme, where, you are ahead of me, it is all plated up and served again.

If I were a cynical soul I would wonder if the whole British Broadcasting coverage is orchestrated to take our minds of the other events going on in the world at present. Little mention of fraudulent bankers, world affairs are relegated to a two minute slot between more flags and the National Anthem. They have also done a grand job in deflecting our minds from the obscene cost of it all.

I have a message for our silver and bronze failures. Stop apologising, certainly not to me. For what it's worth, not a lot probably, being good enough to compete in the Olympics is a success. Getting a medal, any bloody medal is brilliant. Well done each and every one of you. 

You failed nobody.

Back to Victoria Pendleton; I think the judges or is it Commissars, made a terrible decision when they relegated her after the first sprint. A jobsworth decision with no understanding of what actually happened. Victoria was slightly in front, the Australian rider, Anna Mears, bored in on her from slightly behind and above. If any of you experience that you will know and the Commissars should know, the only way to counter it and to actually stay on your bike, is to lean back into the person boring into you. It is instinctive, the only way to keep your balance. The other rider then eases back and with the pressure being released you automatically, still trying to keep your balance, move slightly to the side where the pressure had been applied. It was a terrible decision, an easy decision and one that anyone with no courage would make.

I think that Victoria Pendleton almost lost heart in the second sprint and in effect the Commissars ruined what should have been a classic encounter.

Victoria, you of all people have no need to apologise, you are role model a star. Thank you.

Lastly, there is nothing to debate, Hoy and Redgrave are both great Olympians. There is no best, that is a stupid concept dreamt up by the media. Ignore the media, the journalists, most of whom could not run for a bus. In there jaundiced world all that matters to them is digging up some angle to fill copy or air time. They are not your friend. There are and have been many great Olympians. To get into a debate about who is or was the best is pathetic and does them all a disservice.