So, is Daniel Wiffen from Co Armagh or Co Down? The BBC set out to end the debate for once and for all. The problem, of course, is that while his home village of Magheralin “straddles the border between counties Down and Armagh, it’s officially in Co Down”. So he’s a Down man? “I think the village is in Co Down, but the postcode is Co Armagh,” said his father Jonathan. But one local the BBC spoke to, Tommy Edgar, begged to differ. “Magheralin is Co Down, no doubt about it,” he said. Mind you, Daniel declaring after his victory that “we’re All-Ireland champions and Olympic gold medallists – what a great county” hints at where his loyalties lie. Sorry Down.
Hong Kong wins when it comes to the top prize
By Marketwatch’s estimate between them the United States basketball team in Paris are worth $4.7 billion (€4.4bn) so the prize of $37,500 (€34,790) offered by their Olympic committee to every US gold medal winner at these Games is akin to what they’d find down the back of their couches.
That prize pales, though, next to the reward Hong Kong is offering its medallists – gold medallists will receive the equivalent of €712,512, the largest prize given by any nation at these Games. Their bronze winners will receive €177,984 so our very own (ish) Siobhan Haughey will bag twice that amount for her two swimming bronze medals. Decent.
According to Forbes, Israel, Serbia, Malaysia and Italy complete the top five of the highest paying nations. Serbia is guaranteeing a state pension from the age of 40 for their medallists which, in three years time, will ease any financial worries Novak Djokovic might have about his future should he make the podium.
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The incentives offered to Poland’s competitors are the quirkiest – their medallists will receive a painting from “respected Polish artists, an investment-grade diamond and a vacation voucher for two”. And individual gold medallists will receive a two-bed apartment in Warsaw while those from team sports will be given a one-bed.
O’Donovan goes straight to the guts of the matter
The much coveted “too much information” award from week one of the Olympic Games goes to RTÉ’s badminton commentator John O’Donovan who, during Rachael Darragh’s match against Carolina Marin, told us: “The original strings for badminton racquets were made from the stomach linings of cows or sheep. It takes the intestine of two cows to make enough string for one racquet.”
Happily most players use synthetic strings these days, although John reassured us that “gut strings are still available to buy”.
You’re grand, thanks. Synthetic it is.
Australia expects its sports people to deliver
The Australian media tends to be quite, well, sharp in its criticism of any of its sports people who don’t live up to expectations. “UNMITIGATED DISASTER,” for example, was the headline over the Australian Telegraph’s report on their women’s football team’s failure to get out of their group in Paris.
Their women’s Sevens side got similar treatment after they failed to medal, finishing fourth. Quite how they’ll react to captain Charlotte Caslick’s now deleted Instagram post, we dread to think. The photo showed her partying in a Paris nightclub after the tournament, her caption reading: “4th on it but always 1st off it!” It was, wrote News.com.au, “a controversial look”. That deletion was probably wise.
Word of Mouth
“I drank a lot of water….it doesn’t taste like Coca-Cola or Sprite. While swimming under the bridge I felt and saw things that we shouldn’t think about too much.”
Belgian triathlete Jolien Vermeylen after her swim in the Seine on Wednesday. Ew.
By the Numbers: 9
As of late Thursday afternoon that’s how many times Italian competitors have finished fourth at these Games, more than any other country. Exasperating.
