To show that athletes will compete against each other for any reason whatsoever, the Commonwealth Games, formerly the British Empire Games, was wall to wall on the BBC on Sunday.
It is where the dominions compete for medals, the long-standing connection between the countries involved being that they were all once colonised by the hosts.
A novel reason for staging such a large enterprise, Ireland of course are absent from the field, although many Irish athletes, who will compete in the 2024 Olympics with Ireland, are competing with Northern Ireland.
Around Birmingham, where the Games are taking place, protesters have already described them in the local press as the “Plantation Games”.
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That word caused some fuss in May, when US congressman Richard Neal was forced to defend his use of the term “planter”, a description of the Scots/English who settled in the north-east of Ireland during the 17th century plantation of Ulster.
Ulster Unionist leader Doug Beattie subsequently said he was deeply offended by the term, although former DUP leader Peter Robinson used it in the past and as recently as 2006 in the US.
While there were no protests evident on the television coverage, in the era of the Windrush scandal, when people are tearing down statues of slave traders, when reports that Jamaica plan to ask Britain for compensation for the Atlantic slave trade and Barbados, led by Mia Mottley, became the latest Caribbean island to remove the Queen as head of state, replacing her with a female president, the biggest news of the day was a freak crash in the London Velodrome.
In the final lap of the 15km scratch men’s race, England’s Matt Wall was catapulted over the barrier and into the stands along with his bike.
Wall ended up being treated where he landed for 40 minutes as organisers put up screens around him and abandoned the morning session. Not seriously injured, two riders were taken to hospital with the BBC opting not to show the incident on its Games coverage or on the News.
Much less bloody, one of the best rugby Sevens matches for quite some time played out between Fiji and New Zealand in their semi-final meeting.
Fiji came back into the match from 14-0 down to level the scores but as the seconds ticked away two of the New Zealand players were binned leaving seven against five as the game tumbled into extra-time. Finally, a length of the paddock gallop earned Fiji, who won their first Olympic gold medal in rugby Sevens at Rio 2016, their first ever final in the competition.
If the Commonwealth Games invited a look into the past to stir up some unsavoury history so too did the Women’s Euro 2022 final at Wembley.
As Gaby Logan pointed out on the BBC coverage, coach Sarina Wiegman’s England were chasing a first ever European Championship crown and England’s first major tournament title – men’s or women’s – since 1966.
Runners-up in 2009, the Lionesses have never won the trophy while their medal-rich opponents, the pesky Germans, have been to eight finals and won all of them.
Typically, the coverage began with a collage of good wishes from just about everybody you have ever seen in the Royal Box at Wimbledon. The ubiquitous British celebrity list along with a few royals left their calling cards.
The crowd, well it was more festival than football with less scowls and more dancing and lots more women and kids, with singer Becky Hill and her vanishing trousers sweetening the mood before the match.
Averaging three goals a game, England, with 20, led the field going into the final, Germany behind them on 13 with England’s Beth Mead and Germany’s Alexandra Popp, injured in the warm-up, leading in the goalscoring with six each.
But England games, especially finals against Germany, are rarely about stats. Enmity and the countries’ histories are always part of the thread.
“Football is a simple game,” Gary Lineker famously said after England were knocked out by Germany in the semi-finals of Italia ‘90. “Twenty-two men chase a ball for 90 minutes and at the end, the Germans always win.”
With the teams 0-0 at half-time and England having the better chances to score, Lineker’s adage was still alive and well in the sold-out stadium where a record 87,192 turned up.
Nervous former international players Ian Wright and Alex Scott, along with Arsenal women’s coach Jonas Eidevall, were all smiles.
The smiles were wider again when England’s Ella Toone sprung from deep on to a threaded ball and with consummate composure chipped the advancing German goalkeeper to put her side 1-0 up.
Germany hit the post a few minutes later and you wondered if the roles were to be reversed, Germany this time playing the close-but-no-cigar team.
But Lina Magull put that to rights to make it 1-1 and, as the referee blew for extra-time, Gaby piped up to say “so near and yet so far”.
But Chloe Kelly had other ideas. A goal for 2-1 and a yellow card for her top whipped off amid the wild celebrations. England Euro champions. The Empire strikes back.
