Olympic Stamina

Menzies Campbell, the former British 200 metre sprinter in the 1964 Tokyo Olympic Games, was elected as the new leader of Britain's Liberal democrat party yesterday.

At 64, despite being the oldest candidate, Ming (as he prefers to be known) proved that Olympic stamina and pacing can be beneficial in matters that at first sight seem unrelated to sport.

Ming held the British 100 metres record from 1967 to 1974, and had been acting leader for the Liberal Democrats since previous leader Charles Kennedy was forced to resign over alcoholism issues a few months ago.

It had been a lively campaign for the other candidates, with accusations relating to alcoholism, homosexuality and rent boys being splashed across the front pages. Ming had a poteless record, as far as these matters were concerned.

The Way To Spit

Now that the Winter Olympics in Turin have ended, people are turning their attention to the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.

The Chinese authorities, in a drive to "modify" the image of China to the outside world, are currently reminding their citizens of "the right way to spit."

Beijing city official Zhang Huiguang is running a multimedia "behavioral training" campaign, this includes lining up properly for buses and turning off mobile phones during meetings.

Needless to say, spitting is the priority.

She is quoted as saying:

"You have to spit into a tissue or a bag, and then put it into a dustbin to complete the process."

Zhang has organised a group of volunteers, wearing bright orange uniforms with the Chinese character for "mucus" in yellow on the back, to hand out "spit bags" in the streets of Beijing.

Given the threat of bird flu, this initiative is taking place not a moment too soon.

Ratings Disaster

The old saying "there's no such thing as bad publicity" might at least provide a modicum of comfort to NBC, but probably not much.

NBC the US TV channel has featured widely in the news, as a result of the ratings failure of its Winter Olympics coverage.

Turin viewers averaged 20.2 million, compared to Salt lake City which scored 31.9 million viewers.

Maybe people are just becoming bored with the whole money driven spectacle?

Germany Wins Olympics

Congratulations to Germany for coming out top of the medal table in the Turin Winter Olympics.

They won 29 medals; 11 gold, 12 silver and 6 bronze.

The USA came second (9 gold, 9 silver and 7 bronze) and Austria, despite the doping scandal, third (9 gold, 7 silver and 7 bronze).

Winter Olympics End

The Winter Olympics in Turin ended last night, in the theme of an Italian carnival.

A large set was constructed to replicate an Italian piazza.

The show included dancers, clowns, acrobats and gymnasts, confetti and pyrotechnics.

Italian tenor star Andrea Bocelli, Latin pop singer Ricky Martin and Canadian rock singer Avril Lavigne all made an appearance.

Valentino Castellani, president of Turin's Games organising committee, said that the Olympics was about building a culture of peace.

Quote:

"It has been a great celebration of sports. We learned that fair play and respect for your opponents are strong values of this fantastic event that we have lived together."

During the speech a man in a black T-shirt rushed to the microphone and shouted the motto of these Olympic games, "Passion Lives Here."

He was then bundled off by security.

International Olympic Committee President, Jacques Rogge, then said:

"Spread the Olympic dream in your countries. You are the true ambassadors of our values. And give back to sport what it has given you."

Closing:

"And now, in accordance with tradition, I declare the 20th Olympic Winter Games closed and I call upon the youth of the world to assemble four years from now in Vancouver to celebrate the 21st Olympic Winter Games."

Next stop, Beijing 2008.