The Games are over - Australia wins

The Melbourne Commonwealth Games are over, and Australia blitzed the rest of the Commonwealth in the final medal tally.

Well done, Melbourne, it seems to have been a successful games.

However, lets put it all in perspective. BBC commentator, the great American athlete Michael Johnson, had this to say about the track and field competition, but it is largely applicable to the rest of the competitions:

“When a British - or Australian for that matter - athlete does well, people want to make it fit like an Olympic or world (championships) medal, but it is just not the same level,” Johnson said.

“Too many people try to put these championships on a par with the world championships or the Olympics but they are not - never have been, never will be.”

Basically, to paraphrase Johnson, we might be big fish in the small pond of Commonwealth competition, but wait till we go to the big leagues before we congratulate ourselves too much.

Some final observations about the Games:

1. Please can we have some major public event in Australia that doesn’t have John Farnham or Dame Edna Everage.
2. The gold medal won in the 400m women’s relay last night is a sham. England won by several lengths and the technicality they were disqualified over is a joke. Whoever of the Australians protested (I think it was Tamsyn Lewis) should be ashamed of themselves.
3. Channel 9 needs to put many of its commentators out to pasture, better still off to the knackers’ yard. Please never inflict Darrell Eastlake on the public ever ever again! (and while we’re at it, can you pay South Africa to keep Tony Greig over there, for domestic viewing only ….c’mon, Eddie, Kerry’s been gone long enough for you to axe his mate Tony).
4. What bills are left for Victorian taxpayers after the Games? I haven’t read much about the financials for these games, so don’t know what they cost and how much they’ve recouped.
5. Where will Ron Walker turn up next?
6. How long will it take to round up the Sierra Leone team that has gone missing? Will they get the usual sensitive treatment that DIMA reserves for illegal immigrants?

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