I’m not a great sports-watcher, but I did see the women’s 10,000m final and was very annoyed by the BBCs unswerving devotion to Paula Radcliffe, who didn’t even bother to finish her race. They seemed to think it was just fine that she should give up when she realised she wasn’t going to get a medal. I call it very bad sportsmanship. I think if you start a race, you should finish it, even if you come last. She certainly wasn’t in a state of extreme exhaustion; she simply decided it wasn’t worth it.
I also felt very sorry for Kathy Butler, who came about 10th but ran a good race, and who actually finished, and who was almost completely ignored by the commentators. It’s not as if we have such a plentiful supply of athletes that we can afford to ignore them. Anyway, I appreciated this Times article by Giles Smith.
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