Luol Deng Nominated for FIBA Europe Player of the Year

Britain's best basketball player, Luol Deng, has bagged a nomination for the 2010 FIBA Europe Player of the Year.

The prestigious award honours players whose performances with his or her national team and/or sports club have reached the highest level of excellence. The award is voted on by the public, a panel of experts, media members and coaches from 25 different countries.

Greg Tanner, editor of MVP magazine, has been following Deng's career longer than most and feels that the nomination is fitting.

'It's great news that Luol has been nominated for FIBA European Player Of The Year - and he deserves it', says  Tanner. 'In terms of national duty, he was ridiculous this summer - averaging over 22 points, 8 boards and 3 assists as he led us to EuroBasket qualification. NBA-wise he's having a great season so far. He's thriving under the new leadership of coach Thibodeau, putting up good numbers and helping the Bulls to third place in the East. Luol winning would be a fitting tribute to his achievements this year - and would no doubt provide a welcome boost for the sport in Britain.'

Should Deng win the award, he will be the first Briton to do so in the awards five year history.

You've got until the 31st Jan to visit FIBA Europe and place your vote.

Good luck Luol!

What’s Your Craziest Sports Fantasy?

As I've already had the pleasure of golfing off the top of Tower 42, my current sports fantasy involves playing volleyball in Chanel kneepads and Swarovski studded kit, bit I suppose that’s more bougie than it is crazy...

Anyhow, if you have an absolutely ludicrous sport wish, MTV would like to hear from you.

MTV are developing a show that is all about granting people’s most bizarre, extreme and ludicrous sports wishes. 

The key with this show is for people to think of something they’d never dream of doing - something which really pushes the boundaries of anywhere the sport has been played before, or an extreme environment no one has ever had to play in before.  So long as it’s crazy enough (and legal) they’ll do their best to make it happen! 

If you have a weird and wonderful sport wish you would like granted e-mail: takepart@gallowgatetv.com or ring 020 7297 9814

Good luck!

Ready to Get Moving?

It’s that time of the year when everyone seems to shove a little more grub down their throats all the while reminding themselves that ‘come January I’ll get serious’. Yeah yeah.

Unless you plan on dumping every last remnant of your Christmas indulgences and all your bad habits in the bin on the 31^st of December, you’re probably setting yourself up for a fall.

What you could do is use the remainder of this month to research the tools you need for a realistic game plan for 2011 with Find Sports.

This free online sports directory can help you find a number of sports and fitness activities in an area near you. There are literally over 100 sports/activities to choose from – just pop your post code and preferred activity in the search and you’ll provided with a number of venues near you.

Excuses are futile – get clicking.

You Can Lead a Horse to the Water...

It’s fairly common knowledge that obesity is an issue that the UK is currently battling. I have many views on why obesity is a growing issue in Blighty – one of which involves the lack of availability of healthy food choices. However, after a recent trip to California, it suddenly dawned on me that tangible resources aren’t necessarily the issue.

Americans have access to EVERYTHING they need in order to live a healthy lifestyle:

• Numerous fitness magazines
• Massive natural/whole food stores
• Mainstream grocery store aisles dedicated to weight management
• Nutritional values on menus
• Lighter options on menus
• Alternative food choices e.g., turkey sausages, tofurkey, etc
• An abundance of parks and open spaces in which to burn calories

With all these options, you would think that the Americans on the whole would be as fit as a fiddle, but we all know this is not the case. It’s actually quite surprising that so many Americans still struggle to make healthy lifestyle choices.

Let's face it - resources without stimuli are pointless.  Until an individual is ready to make a change, you can build them a house made out of rice cakes and they’ll still find a way to get their hands on Krispy Kremes.

Budget Cuts Strike Close to Home

The defense budget is being cut. Travel fares are on the rise. Students are mashing up central London because they’re tuition fees are set to soar. I’ve managed to remain neutral about the impact of this ‘coalition’ government – until I found out that the already paltry sports budget could be SLASHED.

 

The thought of the amount of undiscovered talent scattered around the country due to a lack of resources, outlets and foresight makes me sick. If sports is a sector that doesn’t need a budget – why bother to host the Olympics? For first row seats? Bragging rights? Puh-leeze.

 

The development of sports has been an uphill battle in this country and we are only now beginning to feel that some sort of ground is being broken with regards to the average child’s access to various organised sports.

 

Some of you might think ‘big deal, a bunch of kids won’t be able to kick a ball around anymore’ but it is a big deal - bigger than most people understand.

 

A well developed sports structure could be a major impact on this country’s challenges with obesity, anti social behaviour and general apathy. Participation in organised sports can play a key role in an individual’s overall development. The playing ground is where a child develops a healthy, competitive spirit, learns how to work well with others, raises their confidence, acquires leadership skills, learns how to be disciplined and also keeps the body and essentially the mind healthy.

I don’t have the answers to this conundrum, but feel very strongly against decisions that hinder the development of sports in the UK. Should the decision to cut the budget go ahead, the social landscape in 10 years time could be very interesting indeed.

Anyone Up for a Channel Swim?

When I heard the BBC coverage over the possible banning of channel swimming the other day I have to admit, I didn’t take much notice. As a land lover, I didn’t really get the appeal but as luck would have it I’d have the privilege of spending some time with channel swimmer Anna Wardley who would enlighten me as to why anyone would undertake such a mammoth task.

To include all the detail Anna shared with me would turn this blogpost into a blogdissertation so I’ll simply highlight some interesting points instead:

• A channel swim is about 21 miles in length and takes an average of 20 hours to complete
• Anna trained for 9 months to prepare for her swim
• Her preparation involved a combination of sea swims, pool sessions, weight training, runs, bike workouts and physiotherapy
• Channel swimmers must hire a pilot boat at the cost of £2000 (roughly)
• More than 500 vessels pass through the shipping lanes each day
• It is not uncommon to take a hit from a jelly fish (or two) whilst swimming

By the time Anna was finished describing her physical, mental and emotional journey I had a newfound respect for channel swimmers. I was however, still confused as to why she did it. In her own words:

‘I guess it appealed to me as a challenge as it is one of the great feats of human endurance where you are pitted against the elements and Mother Nature. There is also something great about swimming from one country to another across one of the most iconic stretches of water in the world (also one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes). It is seen as the Everest of marathon open water swimming, and the more I found out about it, the more I wanted to do it.’

Can't argue with that.

www.annawardley.com

www.twitter.com/annawardley

A Volley Dream

Many successful athletes have reached the upper echelon of success by starting out with a simple dream. So with this in mind I’ve decided to share one of my dreams via this blogpost:

I dream of a day when athletes who participate in minority sports in the UK can focus on honing their skills and not raising money to pay for referees, training venues and kit.

I absolutely love playing volleyball., Yet it never fails to irk me when I have to add another line on my budget sheet entitled ‘volleyball’: registration fees, club subs, transportation to away games, post match hospitality – when I add up how much I spend on volleyball at the end of each season I’m always amazed that despite the financial outlay, myself and my teammates continue to invest our time and money in order to play this sport at an elite level.

I’m not exactly sure what it will take for the sport to become popular enough to fund itself but I’m starting with the basics – a dream.

Half-Time

Last week when my colleague asked me if I wanted his ticket for the Chelsea v Newcastle Carling Cup the answer was a no-brainer. I’ve only attended the odd match but I absolutely love the atmosphere in the stadium and I genuinely enjoy seeing the football played live as opposed to on a flat screen.

The one detail that I missed due to my excitement was that the seat would not be the usual seat....

On match day I headed down to the stadium looking forward to seeing a few familiar faces and enjoying my first match of the season but as I climbed higher and higher up in the stands the ‘small detail’ regarding the seat came back to me. My excitement almost immediately turned to dread.

Despite being a sports lover, it has taken me 9 years to muster up the courage to go to a Premier League football match – quite simply because I know that not all football fans are created equally. The same atmosphere that I love can also be incredibly intimidating. However, I was inside and figured I’d face my fear and make the most of it.

After locating my seat my dread evolved from discomfort into an acute awareness of my surroundings. I was the only chick in that section – as a matter of fact I was probably the only black chick on her own in the entire stadium’ (let alone the section or the stand). Everyone around was emotionally invested in the game but they just sounded angry. I was sitting next to a fat so-and-so who insisted on calling the referee a fat so-and-so. Every time Anelka, Essien, Sturridge or Kakuta went to touch the ball I was silently praying that didn’t stuff it up in case any of the fans wanted to make their jeers a little more colourful. It is absolutely laughable that I felt that way – but I did.

After holding my breath for most of the first half, I grabbed my bag at the buzzer and left the stadium feeling nothing but relief upon exiting.

The further I got away from the stadium, the calmer I became and my mind reflected back to Paul Canoville’s autobiography ‘Black and Blue’. That’s when the penny dropped and his contribution to football became tangible – personal even.

My experience is in no way comparable to the experiences of Paul Canoville and other pioneers – but it provided me with a snapshot of the passion, conviction and self belief that was required for them to play football during the 70s and 80s.

This blogpost is a special thank you to Tony Whelan, Brendan Batson, Howard Gayle and Paul Canoville for not walking out at half time.

6 inches

Photos Courtesy: Victah Sailer@Photorun, Richard Simonsen, adidas, Bob Karetsky

What’s the difference between Tyson Gay and his competitors? 6 inches.

Calm down – I haven’t taken investigative journalism to another level or anything like that. I have however, been observing Tyson Gay’s approach to his craft since his performance in Beijing.

After Usain Bolt obliterated the 100m record in Beijing, neither Gay – or anyone else for that matter – was ever expected to beat Bolt. Ever. And for good reason. Bolt was the athlete who stepped onto the track with his shoes untied wearing only half of his warm up gear yet still managing to clock up record times despite pulling up a good 30m before the finish line. Bolt is undoubtedly blessed with oodles of natural ability. Freakish ability to be exact.

What Tyson Gay lacks in ‘freakish’ ability, he more than makes up for with one unique quality – raw determination. It’s the kind of determination that spam filters comments like ‘You’ll never beat Bolt’. It’s also the kind of determination that comprehends “impossible is nothing” as a mantra and not a cliché. It’s the kind of determination that lends itself to the impeccable discipline required to come back from a career threatening injury to run the best 100m time for 2010.

On the 6^th August, 2010 Tyson Gay silenced the naysayers when he beat Usain Bolt in Stockholm.

Yes, Bolt can run faster and yes, Bolt didn’t appear to be on form, but the long and short of is Gay beat Bolt.

So to clarify my opening statement, the difference between Gay and many of his competitors is the 6 inches between his ears.

Is 4 Weeks Enough for a Bacchanal Body?

With 4 weeks left in the run up to Notting Hill Carnival I know there are a handful of masqueraders who are hittin’ the cardio with a vengeance in a bid to be the hottest body on the road.

The Caribbean is a ‘bodyproud’ region so whether long and lean or short and curvy, women will be celebrated over the Bank Holiday Weekend. But that doesn’t stop them from wanting to look their absolute best for Carnival.

Here’s the deal though – 4 weeks is simply not enough time for a complete transformation.

4 weeks IS enough time to enhance your finer assets though. I caught up with two personal trainers who know fitness and Carnival inside and out to get the low down on how to prepare your pins for Notting Hill.

Fat loss specialist and kettlebell freak Gavin de Souza was frank about the possibility. ‘If you are thinking of losing a significant amount of weight, you should give yourself an adequate amount of time to achieve that goal. However, a fair amount can be achieved in 4 weeks’.

Gavin’s bootcamp is a sure fire way to send the fat cells packing. Held in Clapham Common on a Wednesday (7pm) and Saturday (10am), boot camps are designed to keep you moving and to keep the heart rate elevated.

Gavin offers 5 useful tips for getting ready for Notting Hill Carnival:

1. Set a realistic, specific goal of what you want to achieve.
2. Get you nutrition correct 90% of the time. Don’t make this complicated, simply cut back on dairy, wheat, gluten, sugar, caffeine, and ALCOHOL. Aim to eat 5-6 well balanced small meals per day.
3. Drink loads of water.
4. Get Moving. Fluffing around in the gym doesn’t count. Find a high impact activity you enjoy doing and get stuck in.
5. Find a support team. Who will be jumping with you on Carnival Day? Do they have similar fitness goals? If so, motivate and encourage each other – having a support network always helps you to stick to your goals.

Spin instructor, Julian James, stresses that stamina and endurance are mandatory, especially if you’re planning to hit the warm fetes that lead in to Chocolate Band early Sunday morning.

‘If you haven’t done so already, get down to your local gym and register,’ says James. ‘Focus on cardio and strengthening those legs for chippin’ on de road, but don’t go overboard – Carnival is fun and your preparation for it should be fun too. Classes like spin are designed to offer quality cardio exercise without boring you to tears’.

For those fortunate enough to live in South East London, Julian conducts his spin class every Tuesday (730pm), Thursday (730pm) and Sunday (1pm) at FitSpace Woolwich.

See ya on de road!

Go Spike

Volleyball England has unveiled a total image overhaul with a new logo and fresh red, white and grey colour scheme as part of a brand repositioning to enhance awareness, understanding and participation of volleyball in all its forms in England.

The new branding will be rolled out across Volleyball England in the coming months as the organisation continues to develop the sport to appeal to a wider audience in line with their “Go Spike!” campaign.

Lisa Wainwright, Volleyball England Chief Executive said: "”The new brand positioning has been designed to convey the sports of volleyball as adaptable, social, fresh and invigorating.”

“In order to achieve the highest standards of volleyball in this country, we felt that the organisation needed a new look that truly represented the modern, innovative, and professional qualities of both the sport and the Volleyball England organisation.

Volleyball England chose Thinkfarm, a strategic brand consultancy based in London, to help rebrand the organisation and develop campaign themes to promote participation.

Mark Norton, Creative Director of Thinkfarm, said: “Volleyball is totally inclusive, competitive but safe and offers a great social buzz. We feel that the new branding and ‘Go Spike’ campaign capture the sprit and excitement of the game as well as the values of Volleyball England’s committed and enthusiastic team.”

Nigeria Need More Than Goodluck

So Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan thinks it’s a good idea to ban Nigeria from international matches for the next two years. Can anyone tell me why this is a sensible move?

I'm guessing that the match that may have prompted President Goodluck Jonathan to make this controversial decision was the match against South Korea when Yakubu missed an easy goal...

Granted, a lot more was expected from the supposedly experienced squad, but let’s look at the situation from a different vantage point.

-Nigeria lost 1-0 to Argentina, Mexico lost 3-1 to Argentina so a 1-0 loss to Argentina isn’t wholly abysmal.
-North Korea was totally bum rushed 7-0 by Portugal (who was later sent packing by Spain)
-France completely self-destructed
-England never showed up to the tournament

With this in mind Nigeria’s early departure was relative.

Something worth noting is that in the first games of the World Cup, all of the African sides found it difficult to put the ball in the back of the net for whatever reason. Whilst their defense was respectable, their ability to convert plays into goals left a lot to be desired until the Ghana v USA match.

I understand the need to address technical issues on the team, but I don’t see how embarrassing your team and putting them at risk of penalisation by FIFA does anything to better the situation.

I find the decision extreme, especially when the easy solution is to ban Nigerian players from consuming any form of yam or garri whilst preparing for international tournaments.

It's Not Football - It's Personal

With Ghana being the last African team with any hope of advancing to the quarter finals, they stepped onto the pitch with an enormous amount of expectation laden on their shoulders and delivered a fairy tale result.

Football is arguably the only truly international team sport so when the World Cup rolls around every four years, it is literally anyone’s game. When Americans contemplate their chances of winning the World Cup, they genuinely believe they can do it. When they crash out, their fair-weather fans are bitter.

Take a look at some of the post match comments I found on Yahoo Sports

‘I believe Ghana is only known for it's internet scamming and soccer.’

‘We lost to a country where a basket of fruit is the national hat?’

‘The slaves finally get their revenge’

‘It's nice to see that a secondary sport (areana football is bigger than soccer in usa) that americans play in we can still compete on the world stage. Grats on barely beating us on something we barely put any of our talent pool in. In the end we lost a soccer game, but we are still the only superpower in the world’.

‘USA is much better than Ghana in everything! What is an African country known for besides poverty, starvation and world leader in spreading deadly diseases. I wouldn't step foot onto AFrica. Enjoy it because this is the only victory Ghana will have against a western nation. Look at the World Cup 2010.......so much disorganization, hardly any people at games when non-African country plays because its a dirt poor country who can't afford tickets. And stadiums are in really poor conditions. Without other industrialized countries giving billions$ and billions$ in aid, Africa would cease to exist as a continent!! So be thankful!’

What I find particularly amusing about these responses is that they are fuelled solely from nationalism – not from any understanding whatsoever of the beautiful game. The US, sadly, are on their way home, but they can hold their heads high in the knowledge that their sports minister hadn’t prebooked economy seats for their flight home.

Ghana on the other hand should be relieved that George W Bush III is not the current American president. In the words of a fellow tweeter (@abigvictory) ‘ If Bush was still in office, we'd invade Ghana now.’

Country or Self - Which Ranks Higher?

"I told them they could no longer be heroes for our children. They have destroyed the dreams of their countrymen, their friends and supporters – Roselyn Bachelot, French Sports Minister."

The French football team have provided us with unprecedented World Cup entertainment since the day they qualified, but reports of dissension in the camp have been of particular interest as they bring into question the national pride of the French players.

Anelka was reportedly sent back to France after insulting coach Raymond Domanech in the locker room after their loss to Mexico. This was followed by reports that the French team boycotted training the following day and that France team director Jean-Louis Valentin resigned.

Reports. Reports. Reports. Any athlete worth their salt will tell you that what happens in the locker room – stays in the locker room. End of.

As the exchange between Anelka and Domanech appears to be a leak anyway, the scandal is already overhyped. But let’s just say that for arguments sake the French team are justified in their actions – at what stage is it ok for a player to put himself before his country.

I’m guessing that had Adebayor known the impact of the decision to travel via bus instead of plane during the African Cup of Nations, he would have opted to travel by plane. My question is, had he done this, would he have been described as being disloyal to his country?

Unfortunately, we will never know. Even more unfortunately, three people paid for this decision with their lives.

Admittedly, this is an extreme example, but it does bring into question whether or not a player should sacrifice personal pride for national pride.

In my opinion, this particular argument on national pride extends beyond the players to the person that leaked details of the altercation, the French media’s reports of the mutiny, the French Football federation’s handling of the scandal and Domenech’s inability to effectively manage his squad.

How Advertising Ruined the World Cup

No major sports tournament is complete without unforgettable advertising. As the World Cup occurs every four years it is inevitable that advertisers will want to surpass their efforts from previous tournaments and World Cup 2010 is no exception.

Kehinde Wiley partnered up with PUMA to create a jersey for the teams and create a piece of art that depicted Samuel Eto’o, Emmanuel Eboue and John Mensah standing in unity. The artwork is phenomenal and this partnership arguably kicked off the 2010 World Cup love marks campaigns.

After the PUMA launch other advertisers began to release their contributions to the World Cup build up but none had the impact of the ‘Write the Future’ Nike ad... Ribéry, Cannavaro, Rooney, Drogba, Ronaldinho, Ronaldo, Kobe Bryant and Roger Federer. The advert is literally and figuratively iconic.

But could it have jinxed the very stars it featured?

Eto’o has been on the receiving end of criticism from Roger Milla
John Mensah is nowhere to be seen
Ribéry plays for France so there isn’t much that he can do now anyway
Cannavaro has had better matches
Rooney’s contribution has been insipid
Drogba is nursing a dodgy elbow
Ronaldinho didn’t make the cut
Ronaldo’s performance can be described as lacklustre at best

The only person that seems to have escaped the advertising jinx is Kobe Bryant.

I don’t want to see any British athletes featured in advertising in the run up to the 2012 Olympics.

World Cup Eye Candy

The World Cup is a spectacle for many reasons, but the amount of eye candy that has been running across our TV screens cannot be ignored.

When I first constructed a Top 6 list I had a few challenges to overcome...

1) I had lost Ballack and Beckham to injury
2) I wanted to try and limit my choices to one player per team
3) I wanted to highlight talent from teams that don’t usually receive much attention

With those factors in mind, my Top 6 list included Tim Cahill, Nicholas Anelka, Danny Shittu, Fabio Cannavaro, Jermain Defoe and Didier Zokora.

Now that the World Cup has kicked off and I’m getting a much better view of the talent my current list is as follows:


Kevin Prince-Boateng – Ghana
Age: 23
Caps: 2
Did you see the Ghana v Serbia match?







Danny Shittu - Nigeria
Age: 29
Caps: 15
His swag earns him a place on this list







Tim Cahill – Australia
Age: 30
Caps: 38
Can’t put my finger on but there’s something about this lad from down under. I’m a sucker for an Aussie accent anyway.


Nicholas Anelka - France
Age: 31
Caps: 64
The PUMA advert says it all really.






Fabio Canavarro - Italy

Age: 36
Caps: 132
If you saw him in the Nike advert I wouldn’t need to justify why he is on this list.

What Does Sweeten De Goat Mouth...

As some of you may now I’m in the final stages of my competition diet so sugar is not allowed anywhere near me. That being said, I was craving the taste of something other than egg whites, grilled chicken and broccoli so when I saw some Sugar Free Buttercreams whilst queueing in Marks and Spencers I decided to grab a box. In fairness to M&S, I DID see the warning on the back:

The adjective ‘excessive’ is subjective because I ended up eating the entire 42g box in about 20 minutes. What can I say? After weeks of abstaining from sweets, opening this box of sugar free sweets was like opening a can of Pringles... once I popped I couldn’t stop (and not for the first time that day as it turns out).

It wasn’t long before I paid the price for my ‘gluttony’. Within half an hour it felt like World War Three was kicking off in my gut... there were grenades, landmines, roadside bomb attacks – the lot. And the worst part was not being able to suffer through the war in the comfort of my own home. One of my colleagues could actually hear the war taking place in my belly. ‘Superbad’ and ‘Hot Ghetto Mess’ were the catch phrases that played in mind on loop all day long.

In between my covert trips to the loo my mind kept going back to the innocent looking packet of sweets - surely that tiny box of sweets couldn’t be responsible for this carnage!

Seems those blasted sweets were in fact the culprit.

‘Human enzymes can digest Isomalt only in small amounts and more slowly than sugar. As a result, blood sugar and insulin levels do not change significantly following consumption. Because the human body uses about half of the Isomalt ingested, it can act like a fiber that stimulates the bowel to counteract constipation. Thus, ingesting too much can cause diarrhea’.

-The Sugar Association

My enemy was Isomalt, but most sweeteners have the potential to throw a spanner in the works. www.lowcarb.ca states that

'because they are not completely absorbed in the bowel, they have a nasty reputation of holding onto water, and promoting diarrhea, gas and bloating. This is politely termed the "laxative effect". Sorbitol and mannitol are the worst offenders, maltitol and lactitol less so. The label should indicate the serving size. This is the amount considered safe to eat before the laxative effect takes over. So beware that overeating these foods can have serious effects. Especially for children, who of course will experience the effect from an even smaller amount'.

In layman’s terms, the body doesn’t recognise this dietary innovation so it may freak out when you consume it.

Whether you are dieting for weight loss, fitness competitions, or general healthy living, it’s no secret that sugar is one of the biggest diet villains you could encounter. Therefore, sweeteners are a godsend for many people as it helps to take the edge off of some sugar cravings. I have used other sweeteners in the past that have not had any effect on me whatsoever, but I have definitely learned a lesson in adhering to warnings on food labels and conducting better researching on what I eat.

In a way, I’m glad it happened to me so that I can now champion the benefits of eating sensibly and hopefully prevent others from making the same mistake I made. We live in the world of quick fixes but sometimes we just need to step back and be realistic. Did I need the ‘sugar free butter creams’? No. Would a small bowl of yoghurt and strawberries have sufficed? Yes.

In future, I’ll either eat the Werther’s and do the extra cardio or just forgo the sweets altogether.

Mascots or Memories

According to the Telegraph the 2012 Olympics mascots were designed to inspire a generation of children and persuade their parents to contribute to the £15 million the mascots are slated to raise in merchandising revenue...

Gimme a break.

Are the Olympics about generating merchandising revenue or a lasting legacy?

I can’t tell you anything about the mascot of the 1988 Calgary Olympics – but I can tell you that seeing Debi Thomas glide across the ice inspired me to go beyond societal constraints and make me believe that the world was my oyster.

The 1988 Tokyo Olympics taught me the importance of cultural association when I saw Ben Johnson morph from a Canadian to a Jamaican in the time it took for his drug test results to come back positive. I also remember Flo Jo for her incredible speed and fabulous nails.

The inclusion of professional athletes on basketball teams brought us the Dream Team in the 1992 Barcelona Olympics which included Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson and Larry Bird. I admit – I bought Olympic merchandise that year.

I had the pleasure of actually meeting the Angolan basketball team during the 1996 Atlanta Olympics so my Olympics memory is slightly biaised. Beach volleyball debuted at that Olympics and Michael Johnson smashed it in the 200m and 400m.

I’ll never ever forget the qualifier of the swimming in the 2000 Sydney Olympics – when I switched on the telly and saw Eric Moussambani swimming with no other competitor around him - I was transifxed. Then the camera panned out and I realised that he was in the pool in his own! Call it comical, call it embarrassing, call it whatever you want – but you still remember it.

The 2000 Summer Olympics was one of my favourite memories. Three flags which all relate to me on the 100m winner’s podium: Maurice Green (USA), Ato Boldon (Trinidad and Tobago) and Obadele Thompson (Barbados) .

Ironically I remember the Athens Olympics for Greek sprinters Konstantinos Kenteris and Ekaterini Thanou who were errrr, involved in a motorcycle accident around the same time as a drug test. I also remember Dame Kelly Holmes making many a Brit proud with her double gold and Michael Phelps for his medal haul.

Do I even need to get into the 2008 Summer Olympics???

This is literally the tip of the iceberg with regards to what aspects of the various Olympic games remain firmly imprinted in my mind – what do YOU remember?

I appreciate that revenue is important – but it shouldn’t be masked as legacy. The effort put into creating mascots should be focused on producing exceptional home grown athletic talent that will inspire our young people and not toys that they can pressure their parents to purchase.

Digitally Fattened?

No matter where you turn nowadays size seems to be an issue.

If it isn’t because of models being too thin on the runway, it’s because of stylists storming out of shows because they feel that some models are too curvy for the runway.

It’s a lose-lose situation. If a publication goes for what works – they are accused of negatively impacting the body image of millions of young girls worldwide. If they go for what is technically normal, they risk alienating themselves from their industry.

Healthy Magazine thought they found the solution when they chose to ‘digitally fatten’ their cover model.

Not a bad idea in essence, but there is a not-so-little thing called the media that jumps on these revelations like a pit-bull and will not let go until something juicier comes up.

It seems some people are just up in arms for the sake of being up in arms because the only real ‘losers’ here are the ‘plus-sized’ (fashion speak for normal sized) models who lost out on the job and Healthy readers who believed that their magazine was genuinely promoting all things... err healthy.

The Big Blocker from BIM

The Caribbean has always made a solid contribution to international track and field by producing athletes such as Ato Boldon, Kim Collins, Obadele Thompson and Pauline Davis Thompson, and Merlene Ottey to name a few. Over the years Caribbean involvement has become so prominent that the 100M finals at the 2008 Olympics loosely resembled the queue to a flags fete: Richard Thompson (Trinidad & Tobago), Marc Burns (Trinidad & Tobago) , Churandy Martina (Netherlands Antilles), Michael Frater (Jamaica) Asafa Powell (Jamaica) and of course Usain Bolt.

Although established in track and field, their contribution to other high profile sports has been minimal and largely gone unnoticed until now. The tiny Eastern Caribbean island better known for their rum than their athletes can now boast of its first ever NFL football player. Tthe sporting world inevitably sat up and took notice when it was announced that Ramon Harewood of St Michael, Barbados was the last draft pick of the Baltimore Ravens.

Harewood is not a second generation Bajan, nor is he Bajan on a genetic technicality. He is a genuine product of the former colony and is well on his way to becoming one of their biggest exports. The 6’6” 25-stone Offensive Tackle is not a dumb jock either – he was accepted to Morehouse College on an academic scholarship, majored in engineering and physics and graduated with a 3.0 GPA. It was only after he arrived at Morehouse that he decided to try his hand at football and found that it came to him quite naturally.

As far as Ramon is concerned there are a number of talented athletes from BIM (Barbados for those of you who don’t know) whom we simply don’t know about so watch this space:

‘It’s an untapped market. I can think of dozens of my peers from back home who , if given an opportunity to play American sports whether it be baseball, football or whatever would excel’.

Reflections or Regret?

So... I participated in my first fitness competition this year and bombed out. Talk about a knock to the confidence. After weeks of dieting, running and weight lifting I flexed my muscles to a panel of judges that I couldn’t even see properly from inside the spotlight and walked away with a commiseration medal. Wow.

I should have been pleased that I managed to safely and healthily sculpt my body into some semblance of a toned and fit athlete but it wasn’t enough to earn a title and essentially that’s what we were all there for.

The harsh reality is that my competitors – who I now view as fitness friends – all trained, dieted and practised their poses that little bit more than I did. End of story.


Ironically, it’s not so much the competing that potentially knocked my confidence, it was allowing 6 mortals to judge and deliberate as to whether or not my physique was worthy enough to place in this prestigious competition. These competitions are not for the weak-willed or weak-hearted for the judging aspect alone.

Outside of the judging there is a very scientific approach to one’s diet which includes accounting for body type, lifestyle, and goals. On top of this ‘clean’ diet, there is the training – the cardio, the weightlifting, etc. If you aren’t part of a fitness circle, your fitness goals can excommunicate you from just about everyone. Between not eating carbs after 2pm, carrying Tupperware as an accessory and backing a variety of minerals and supplements you will find that you are the odd one out of your social circle before long.

The life of a bodybuilder is not an easy one – but it is a chosen one. So in the same way I have been able to suck it up over the last few weeks, I’m gonna have to chalk this ‘loss’ up to experience and train even harder for the next one.
Furthermore, if my weeks of hard work yield yet another commiseration medal – so be it. No one should enter a competition without having first deciding that regardless of the outcome, they are in fact a winner.

2010 Volleyball National Cup Finals

The turnout at the National Cup Finals was inspiring to say the least. It was reported that 700 people turned up to watch the pinnacle event in the volleyball calendar. The Under 16s, Under 18s, Sitting Volleyball Grand Prix, Shield and Mens and Women’s Finals all took place over two days in South London.

The highlight, of course was the Men’s finals between London Polonia and Malory Eagles. Don’t get me wrong as a female volleyball player I respect women’s volleyball – duh. But let’s face it – the men hit hard. And when there’s a good block – you can feel it up in the stands. The crowd was definitely at its largest when the men set foot on the court.

Unfortunately for the volleyball fraternity, both sides seemed to be playing reservedly which was a bit of a let down for those who have seen the teams play phenomenally before crowds of 10 people.

It was, however, great to see the implementation of the three ball system, buzzers, paddles, floor wipers AND floor sweepers which are quite standard in other countries. It’s a shame we in the UK can only do it for the finals, but hopefully the sport will grow to a level where these things become standard.

Congratulations are in order to the winning teams:

Men's Shield - University of Birmingham 3-0 (25-18, 25-22, 25-15)
Most Valuable Player was awarded to: Nikolai Nikolov (University of Birmingham)

Women's Cup - Polonia Ladies - Polonia Ladies won 3-0 (25-19, 27-25, 25-13)
Most Valuable Player was awarded to: Jevgenija Livca (Polonia Ladies)

Men's Cup - Malory Eagles Won 3-0 (25-17, 25-17, 25-22)
Most Valuable Player was awarded to: Richard Dobell (Malory Eagles)

Women's Shield - MIddlesbrough College won 3- 1 (22-25, 25-14, 25-10, 25-22)
Most Valuable Player was awarded to: Victoria Swindells (Middlesbrough College)

Sitting Volleyball Grand Prix Series Top 4 Playoffs - East London Lynx 3-0 (25-10, 25-5, 25-10)
Most Valuable Player Awarded to Jabbar Mustaffar (East London Lynx)

U16 Girls - Tameside 3-0 (25-15, 25-15, 25-20)
Most Valuable Player: Jodie Gregson (Tameside)

U16 Boys - Wessex 3-0 (25-18, 25-16, 25-22)
Most Valuable Player: Ryan Stout (Wessex)

U18 Women - Ashcombe 3-2 (25-20, 20-25, 20-25, 25-21, 15-12)
Most Valuable Player: Isobel Fumagalli (Ashcombe Dorking)

U18 Men - Newcastle Staffs 3-2 (25-16, 23-25, 25-16, 24-26, 15-5)
Most Valuable Player: Roman Neveykin (Newcastle Staffs)

Sitting Volleyball - England Vs Wales
England beat Wales 3-0 (25-14, 25-22, 28-26)
Most Valuable Player: John Munro (England)