The Lighter Side of the Games

Bing Crosby famously sang, “You’ve got to Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate the Positive”, and that’s what most people aim to do; in some situations, you just have to laugh. You must have heard, though, of the recent North and South Korean flag fiasco at the Olympics, when it took officials an hour to get the right flags and coax the furious North Korean women’s football team back onto the pitch.

At least here in Britain we’ve got a pretty good sense of humour, so we see the lighter side of the most serious sporting event to reach our shores (even if you’ve packed up and headed to the beach to escape the Olympic mania!):

 

Some Olympic wipeouts are unavoidable, particularly if it’s your trusty steed that lets you down. In this instance, Hunhun the horse would rather go through the wall than over the gate during the Men’s Modern Pentathlon Riding Show in Beijing.

 

High jump must be one of the most heart-in-mouth events, but Tatyana Chernova seems to have been born to it considering both her parents were once world-class athletes. Here she is hugging the mat in despair after knocking off the high jump pole.

 

Australian Victoria Mitchell looks better suited for a music festival than the 3000-metre steeplechase, which is an obstacle race in athletics consisting of barriers and water jumps.

 

We’re hoping not see too much rain this summer, but this 100-metre water-sweeping final is off to a dripping start!

 

The lightest (and arguably) the best part about the Olympics is the spectators who rally behind their favourites to bring on the medals! As double Olympic gold medallist Rebecca Adlington said recently, “A home crowd changes things – they will spur you on”. Go Team GB!