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The Turf

Robin Oakley

Wednesday, 20th August 2008

Attention to detail

Who would ever have thought that two wheels could prove as exciting as four legs? Watching the triumphs of Chris Hoy, Bradley Wiggins, Ross Edgar and Rebecca Romero in the Olympic Velodrome I cheered myself hoarse. Frankie Dettori might have difficulty managing a flying dismount from the mechanical steeds on which they scored their successes, and could end up with some anatomically inconvenient splinters if he did. We are, I suspect, some time off the day when Sir Michael Stoute will employ a full-time psychiatrist on the Freemason Lodge staff as Team GB did in the cycling equivalent of the pit lane in Beijing. But what a spectacle they provided, and what a perfect mix the commentary was in blending emotion with technical know-how.

Knowledge lightly imparted is the secret and I was particularly struck by Jill Douglas’s analysis of the British success, which she put down to the careful accumulation of incremental advantages. Clothing, wind tunnel tests, diet, even the right music for the individual iPods plugged in as they prepared for their events on the stationary warm-up bikes. In horse racing, too, attention to detail is a crucial part of the mix. But horse racing has a question to answer as we watch the Olympic record times tumbling in so many sports.

Better machinery, you can suggest, helps to produce better times. Better resins and varnishes for the scullers’ boats, lighter alloys and sleeker wheels for the cyclists. More water-resistant lycra for the swimmers’ costumes. This time you could even see triple-jump athletes wearing arm-length gloves of the kind that ladies used to wear to Melbourne Races. Apparently it concentrates the blood rush to the right areas. Only the beach volleyball ladies seem to be wearing less, to the evident delight of the sports paparazzi.

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