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Our man at the Beijing Olympics - 10/8/08

Matthew Davis
12/ 8/2008

THE Olympics tends to make me get thoroughly involved in what I would normally call mundane sports.

I reckon archery fits into category perfectly, but sitting in the Olympic Green Archery Stadium with a storm of biblical proportions rolling around the Beijing skies is seat-of-your-pants stuff.

Added to that the possibility of Stockport’s Charlotte Burgess and the rest of the women’s team winning Britain’s first medal of the games and it all adds up to a pretty exciting Sunday in Beijing.

The turnout for the archery was incredible – the fans that turned up made it feel more like an afternoon on the terraces of Old Trafford.

Special mention must go to the South Koreans and their self-appointed male cheerleader who led the hundreds who turned up, in a selection of his country’s finest chants.

I have no idea what they were going on about but there was synchronised swaying, flag waving, clapping and plenty of screaming and fist pumping as they tried to cheer their archers to Olympic glory.

Not to be outdone were the Chinese – they support anything and if that involves the red and yellow colours they go off the scale, if not in a more conservative fashion to the Koreans.

Their chants were limited to “China, China” and the stomping of feet and flag waving – but a man with a whistle did try and raise the tempo but I feared he would be thrown out by the startled volunteers and sometimes overbearing volunteers.

The rain came on Sunday, not a pattering of rain – it wasn’t refreshing, it wasn’t a welcome distraction from the heat, it was of monsoon levels and the thunder and lightning that accompanied was truly spectacular.

But sitting in an open stadium as lightning crashed around me I soon feared for my life and quickly made an exit to the press room.

I have to say as I watched Charlotte and team mates Naomi Folkard and Alison Williamson battle the conditions it did occur to me that lightning and carbon fibre bows and metal arrows were probably not a great combination.

Thankfully the organisers agreed with my musings and duly delayed the competition but not before Team GB had been knocked out by China in the semi-finals.

Having thought I had left the rain behind in England I failed to pack any sort of coat but luckily the smiley volunteers were on hand with a colourful raincoat in a bag, a nice gesture despite the fact it was utterly useless and I ripped it in three places trying to get it on and had gone through four by the end of the day.

The Brits took on France in the bronze medal match and spirits were high, I thought I would get to see history in the making.

Archery is, I now admit, compelling. Robin Hood made it look easy riding through the glen, but easy it ain’t.

The accuracy and skill needed to hit a target 70m away is phenomenal and it is nail biting as the competitors try and get the biggest score after four ends or 24 arrows.

Unfortunately Team GB just fell at the final hurdle and lost by an agonising two points – I was gutted, so I can’t imagine how they felt.

Charlotte Burgess shone through in defeat and the 21-year-old had the pressure stacked on her as she fired the last arrow for GB in turn.

Afterwards she said she was just enjoying the whole Olympic experience.

She said: “Going in to these stadiums, the big crowds, the world’s media and the Olympic Village is something I have never experienced before.”

And the Koreans were rewarded for their support as their girls cleaned up to take gold, breaking their own world record in the process - whatever was said in those chants, it clearly worked.

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