Role Britannia

[Jupp04]

Never noticed before that the U.K. is a nation of cyclists which dominates all those strange Olympic disciplines nearly completely. Did they sign some former GDR trainers or is it just the result of medical progress?

[Banana Banana]

Role Britannia

Intensive investment, an amazing team spirit and a medal-focussed development policy I think.

If you have a chance of a medal you are in and given lots of support, otherwise you are dropped quite ruthlessly.

The team all have to live in Manchester so the camarederie is strong.

[evilC]

Role Britannia

chippy wrote:

The team all have to live in Manchester so the camarederie is strong.

I think that would be 'siege mentality' you're talking about, Chippy!

[Jupp04]

Role Britannia

Oh, I see.
With concentration on all sports that remind to the country's pirate tradition (sailing, rowing, swimming, shooting) and arresting all others in Manchester, Britain should top China's current results in 4 years.

[ursus arctos]

Role Britannia

Do I detect a whiff of sour grapes from one of our German correspondents?

A good primer on the transformation of UK cycling.

[The Awesome Berbaslug!!!]

Role Britannia

I'm sure you've all heard the gag about how the english are good at sports you get to sit down to do. blah blah blah.

[Jupp04]

Role Britannia

Not at all, Eisbär.

90% of those Olypmic sports interests me less than Oberliga Bayern in football. The whole event is more like a freak show with medals for strange things like Madison, Keirin, Rabbit Shooting or Finn Dinghi which I never heard before.

That Germany performaned extremely bad in the more interesting parts (football, handball, basketball, volleyball, track & field) did not increase my enthusiasm, that's true.

[blameless]

Role Britannia

I don't think this is such a sudden transformation - Hoy and Wiggins have now won medals at three olympiads in a row, and the last time the GB team failed to win a cycling medal was twenty years ago in Seoul.

[Kusal Flyer]

Role Britannia

Isn't our Mailand correspondent a Braun- rather than eisbar? Not that I'm an expert- my marks in zoology were even worse than in Deutsch.

[ursus arctos]

Role Britannia

Genau, ich bin braun.

[Jupp04]

Role Britannia

Really?
Shame on me (and my Latin teachers in school)

[ursus arctos]

Role Britannia

Ja, it's a falscher Freund.

Ursus arctos:


Ursus maritimus:

[Reed John]

Role Britannia

Ursus americanus



Ursus thibetanus



Ursus malayanus



Ursus spelaeus



Ursus yogius