World Championships in Athletics in London - Day 2

Clicca qui per la versione italiana

For once I will talk about sports seen on TV, waiting to enter the Olympic Stadium for the first time. I arrive at the hotel in the early afternoon: the way is more complicated than expected, so I wonder if my choice was the best. For the Olympic Park there are 5 stops, but of 3 different lines: tomorrow I will try to jump the first 2 by walking on, it should be 1.3 km. Also in Moscow I had chosen an hotel not far from the stadium, but to reach it 2 or 3 lines were needed: from the center the journey would have been simpler.7pm  are coming and there is the problem of where to go to see this race session, for which I have no ticket (some have been sold in the last few days, but they were "hospitality packages" for over £ 900. I consider Casa Italia (Italian House), but in the end I choose the O2: there are many restaurants and also the  Sky Sport studios, so there will be plenty of screens. When I arrive I find that the O2 also hosts Jamaican House: I see people coming in but I'm afraid it's an invitations night, but instead you simply need to buy a tickt, so I do and I get in.Inside I find out that it's not a athletics-only party, but it celebrates also the country's 55 years of Independence. Most of the attendance is really Jamaican, but not particularly passionate about athletics. The 100 semifinals are shown throughout the hall, but there are only a couple of screens on the side of the bar showing the races (but others show videos about the successes of Jamaican athletes).

Even without audio, I notice two things about BBC coverage: the first is that they have different commentators for each evnt, at least for track ones. Almost always they are former champions: Cram, Colin Jackson, Radcliffe, Foster. The second is that if I often get angry with Italian TV RAI because they chat instead of showing the races, the BBC does a lot worse: there have been two periods of at least 10 minutes each, where instead of competitions they showed chats and old videos.Then we get to the final of the 100, with disappointment. Someone was illuded that Bolt had won anyway, and then when they announced Gatlin's win the hall got chilled. The presenter says that we must be proud anyway, then dancing resumed.Coming back by underground, I meet people coming back from the stadium, including a girl who does not look like a Jamaican, with the flag of Jamaica on a cheek.