I inadvertently titled this post Commonwealth Games Creativity
because within this transmutational group we have been discussing how to ring
some changes to our blogs …
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| Dragons who can read long posts! |
I could
start with 'there be dragons', or more appropriately this be long! …
At and after the London Olympics one of the calls to the
populace has been “Get Inspired” … the Commonwealth utilised the same ideas …
there was the sport, but there were festivals, art exhibitions; the city had
museums, parks, buskers … lots of interesting ideas and places to keep all
amused …
I’ll share some of the inspirational stories that came from
the Games, along with a couple of other posts that have appeared on my radar …
“Get Inspired” is the slogan the BBC used at the Olympics
and has continued on with other sporting events … however this article and
particularly the title by-line made me sit up and realise it was so applicable
to us …
“Maybe
you’re great and you just don’t realise.
Maybe there’s a painter buried deep inside. A pianist? A pilot? A poet?”
…. Stephen Way was a smokin’ and drinkin’ man – now he’s a marathon runner –
and a good one … he’s also a healthy one … you can read his story
here on the Get-Inspired post … he came 10th in the Commonwealth
Games marathon.
Note – the story-post could be used for our ‘get-on-with-it’
nudges … but it also highlights seven people who were late developers … it’s
worth a read (I think) from many aspects.
Creativity was needed in a city that did not have an
international athletics track and stadium … what to do?
‘The Glasgow Solution’ – an out of the box thought … adapt
one of the football stadia, where all the facilities were in situ … this
solution is now being evaluated as a way
to deliver track and field sports events in other countries.
The surface was raised 1.9m (6’ 3”) on a bed of 6,000
structural steel stilts, flat-bedded, then covered with stone, followed by
asphalt before the track and grass were laid … problem solved!
Some views of the village can be seen here courtesy of “Insidethe Games” – sustainability was key for the organisers … some of the London
Olympics fixtures and fittings were recycled …
Overcoming handicaps and rising to the occasion …
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| An iphone copy |
The Scottish man of steel – Micky Yule lost his legs in
Afghanistan … but he competed in the Power Lifting – he came fourth, but as he
said … there are other fixtures ahead to keep him focused and positive … and help
him through the operations he continues to need (after 45 already) …
Another local heroine – Erraid Davies (13), a bronze medal
winner in the Para 100m breaststroke, is the youngest ever medal winner … she
struggled to walk and started swimming to help her rare hip condition (Perthes
Syndrome).
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| Erraid in action ... |
Erraid had not told her class mates that she was competing
in the Games ...
... and she was so
excited about going home to show her friends her medal. She lives 25 miles from her nearest pool in
the remote Shetland Isles.
Which country speaks Gilbertese? And who decided to live away from home for 4
years to achieve his gold? The answers
are the tiny Pacific island of Kiribati and David Kataotau who achieved his
country’s first gold in weightlifting’s 105 kg Group A.
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| So pleased! |
Another Kiribati – the teenager Taoriba Biniati had never
been in a boxing ring before arriving to fight in Scotland. Her national boxing club consists of a punch
bag hanging from a breadfruit tree … know what one of those looks likes – look
left or right!
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| Breadfruit tree |
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| Triathletes |
Kenya’s Vincent Onyangi had never swum in open water before
diving into Strathclyde Loch for the triathlon.
Twenty minutes later he was bobbing around doing breaststroke while the
leaders were onto their bikes and away …
Weightlifters need shoes … Fred Oala, a 17 year old 56 kg
weightlifter from Papua New Guinea had to borrow a pair of shoes from a
Clyde-sider – a volunteer – after his own footwear disintegrated.
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Papua New Guinea
(Indonesia border as shown, Australia's
Great Barrier Reef to the east of
the triangular Cape York Peninsula of
the state of Queensland |
His shoes were owned by two people before him and had been
held together with yellow tape … he achieved a national record of 118 kg in the
clean and jerk.
YouTube – how about learning how to achieve gold via
YouTube? That’s what Julius Yego from
Kenya did … to improve his technique in Javelin throwing …
Rwandan cyclist, Adrien Niyonshuti, rode in the time trial
– he is a Rwanda genocide survivor. The
27 year old lost six siblings during the mass murders of 1m people in the East
African nation 20 years ago.
While Dieudonne Disi, taking part in the men’s marathon,
witnessed the killing of his entire family aged 14 and ran 50 km to
neighbouring Burundi to escape the atrocities.
He came in 18th …
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| an iphone pic |
To uplift us a little: Cook Island competitors celebrate
victory in lawn bowls … just by chance did their wonderful hats improve their bowling
rolls? Had to include these two
cheerful ladies – I love their hats!
I’ve never got my head round the biased balls they use in
lawn bowls … but you have to admire a sport that’s been around for 800 years …
and is a core sport of the Commonwealth Games.
There are core sports and optional sports – selected by the
host nation – subject to approval by the CG Federation. Some team sports are/can be included.
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| Netball in action |
There was competition in 18 sports (with 22 medal events for
the Para-Sports up for grabs) … do you know what each one involves … here’s the
Wiki Commonwealth Games link to check out each one …
Athletics – core event (+ para medals)
Badminton – core event
Boxing – core event
Cycling – optional (+ para medals)
Diving – optional
Gymnastics (Artistic) – optional
Gymnastics (Rhythmic) – optional
Hockey – core
Judo – optional
Lawn bowls – core (+ para medals)
Netball – core (women
only)
Rugby Sevens – core (men
only)
Shooting – optional
Squash – core (the
sport I enjoyed and played a lot when I was in South Africa)
Swimming – core (+ para medals)
Table Tennis – optional
Triathlon – optional
Weightlifting – core (+ para medals for Power Lifting)
Wrestling – optional
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Ladies' Squash Doubles -
a devlish game! |
Other sports are recognised … but only so many can occur in
each Games …
Some more trivia questions - which might lead to a post or
two – or provide an opportunity for some extra geography lessons (for you) or
for your children?!
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I believe this is the flat world! With the
Commonwealth areas in colour |
Where are the 71 participating countries? At least I’ve given you a clue:
Africa –
Botswana, Cameroon, Ghana, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique,
Namibia, Nigeria, Rwanda, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Swaziland,
Tanzania, The Gambia, Uganda, Zambia.
Americas
–
Belize, Bermuda, Canada, Falkland Islands, Guyana, St Helena
Asia –
Bangladesh, Brunei Darussalam, India, Malaysia, Maldives, Pakistan, Singapore,
Sri Lanka
Caribbean –
Anguilla, Antigua & Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, British Virgin Islands,
Cayman Islands, Dominica, Grenada, Jamaica, Montserrat, St Kitts and Nevis, St
Lucia, St Vincent and The Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago, Turks & Caicos
Island
Europe –
Cyprus, England, Gibraltar, Guernsey, Isle of Man, Jersey, Malta, Northern
Ireland, Scotland, Wales
Oceania –
Australia, Cook Islands, Kiribati, Nauru, New Zealand, Niue, Norfolk Island,
Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuata …
Check out the country venues …
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| Strathclyde Country Park |
Find out more about Glasgow, and how it started life as a
fishing village way back when, then exponentially grew during the Industrial
Revolution – being famed for the Clyde River and shipbuilding – and becoming the second city of Britain for
much of its history.
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| Love the logo |
Culturally it holds its own in a diverse range of interests
… museums, art galleries, universities, the largest public reference library in
Europe, theatre, opera, festivals and performing arts, exhibitions … and as we
can see plenty of sports facilities …
Well if I’ve bored you … what will a smile do? = bring out
the best in most of us, brighten others’ lives and give our endorphins a lift …
Denise is with Nas Dean at the moment .. no doubt they'll check in in due course ... they're brushing up on their writerly skills, and then the chatterly skills!
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| Norfolk Island - looks good to visit? |
A few of the many admirable, heart-warming stories of
overcoming adversity, or just performing above and beyond expectations …
… or reminding us there are other places on this earth where
excellence can be found, and where sportsmen who do succeed, do not want glory
per se, but want to give back to their
homeland and to their peoples … improving their lives and offering hope for
a new future.
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A Tunnock Teacake - cut in half or perhaps
bitten in half .. but not by me: though I did see
some in Waitrose and might buy some for
the Nursing Centre staff for the Bank Holiday |
Humbleness more often than not prevailed in ‘the Friendly
Games’ … ‘the Everyman Games’ …
I mentioned Steve Way the marathon man who ran his way out
of smoking, obesity and from alcohol … then this mathematician caught my eye …
and again is an inspirational story that caught my attention …
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A cooked haggis ready to be
eaten - not sure how the
mathematician got the haggis! |
This is long … but we all need to think creatively and I
hope some of you, many of you, can find some inspirational ideas here …
Hilary Melton-Butcher
Positive Letters Inspirational Stories
