Olymic report

MEN OF GOLD

Chris Hoy's magnificent achievements at this year's Games, added to his previous stellar performance in Beijing have rekindled the debate about who is our greatest Olympian. His number tally now exceeding that of Steve Redgrave, some have suggested the accolade is now his. In a wonderful and moving piece of humility unusual in leading competitors, Chris scotched the debate by insisting that Steve is the greater, having achieved his golds in 5 successive Olympics.

The other favourite pub conversation current today is over who is the world's greatest Olympian. Here the swimmers Mark Spitz and Ian Thorpe come to mind, though their achievements have now been eclipsed by the astounding success of Michael Phelps, who in medal tally alone has to be a strong contender for "The Greatest". But should this be the only criterion? What of Jesse Owens, who won 4 gold medals in a variety of disciplines in 1936, despite the hostile atmosphere he had to endure in Hitler's racist state, to say nothing of the undercurrent of discrimination with which he had to deal in his own country? Or a certain Italian fencer by the name of Eduardo Mangiarotti? He won gold medals in the sabre in SIX successive games, from 1936 to 1960.
According to legend, by 1960 he was considered too old for selection by the Italian team bosses, who left him out of their squad. Mangiarotti then took it upon himself to challenge every team member to a "dual", and beat them all, one by one. The bosses then had no alternative but to include him- a wise move as he won his 6th gold at the Rome Games. He only died recently, aged 93. How's that for a great Olympian?

Finally, what of great women? They have only achieved something approaching equal status since the 1980s, so the list has to be smaller. But one thinks of Fanny Blankers Coen, who (virtually) reproduced Owens achievement by winning 4 golds in the LOndon "austerity games" of 1948, or Mary Peters, who beat the world's best in the pentahlon in 1972 with none of the high-tech, cash driven backup modern athletes enjoy (and which many of her contemporaries enjoyed at the time). But we should reserve some of our repsect for the Saudi athlete, Sarah Attar, who secured her place in history by being SA's first female competitor, whose sheer determination overcame the inbuilt prejudice that permeates every aspect of life in that medieval society.