I feel rather sad about this (especially the gold medallist who's now building the velodrome for 2012), and also kind of outraged on their behalf, as I am on behalf of the women I know who play / have played on the England football and rugby teams, and never made enough money out of it to give up their day jobs. Ridiculous when you think how much male footballers are paid.
But surely the Olympics has always been like this? There were all those people back in 1948 who took a few days off from their normal jobs for the games - and there's the chap my father swims with every morning, who competed in the Olympics (possibly even in 1948), and is now content with striking fear into the hearts of fellow pool-users in Mid Wales.
I really am in two minds about this. I'm pretty sure that if I'd won a gold medal I'd be similarly indignant about the lack of attention. But then again, when has an Olympic gold ever been a guarantee of lifetime success? It works for some, but not for everyone. And isn't being able to hold onto a bit of your life and obscurity something of a blessing?
I feel rather sad about this (especially the gold medallist who's now building the velodrome for 2012), and also kind of outraged on their behalf, as I am on behalf of the women I know who play / have played on the England football and rugby teams, and never made enough money out of it to give up their day jobs. Ridiculous when you think how much male footballers are paid.
But surely the Olympics has always been like this? There were all those people back in 1948 who took a few days off from their normal jobs for the games - and there's the chap my father swims with every morning, who competed in the Olympics (possibly even in 1948), and is now content with striking fear into the hearts of fellow pool-users in Mid Wales.
I really am in two minds about this. I'm pretty sure that if I'd won a gold medal I'd be similarly indignant about the lack of attention. But then again, when has an Olympic gold ever been a guarantee of lifetime success? It works for some, but not for everyone. And isn't being able to hold onto a bit of your life and obscurity something of a blessing?