Well the 2010 Winter Games are over and they have been a success. The fitting finale was definitely the ice hockey final where Canada defeated the USA in an overtime thriller. But rather than gleefully looking back I would like to focus on the future and I think the Winter Olympics have shown the way for the Summer Olympics to expand, especially in relation to events.

The other day I watched with glee as a skier went round a fixed course and then had to stop and shoot a rifle with extreme accuracy. Fantastic. An event which tests the fitness ability of the athlete and then, in the same event, a completely different skill. The event was called the biathlon and is something I believe the Summer Games should look at developing.

 People would argue that we already have the Decathlon or the Heptathlon and that these events test athletes in a range of disciplines. Rubbish. What I would like to see is completely different events joined together to test fine motor skills and endurance at the same time. What about this for an example?  We could take the 5000m running race and bring in 4 stops within the race. At the first stop could be knitting, next up Mavis Beacon typing, the third stop would be peeling a potato and then finally changing a car tyre. Winner would be the first man home. Let’s see how good the Kenyans are now!!!

 I put this idea forward to a mate of mine at work and he wasn’t impressed. The reason being he had had a similar thought, although he was much better. He shared my thoughts on the decathlon and believed what was needed was an event called the centathlon at the next Summer Games. Based loosely on the idea behind the biathlon, the event would require every person to complete every Olympic event – from Archery to yachting and everything in between. To me this would be the ultimate sporting test. You might be the world Champion in 800m, but how good are you at horse riding or yachting. Dedicated your life to swimming may be helpful but you would have to start training for rhythmic gymnastics if you want to compete in the centathlon.

 My hope is that the success of the Winter Games serves as a catalyst for the next Summer Olympics to be held in London. Most importantly I hope we see a New Zealand athlete, compete in and be victorious in the centathlon.

The Aussie cricket team play their first game of the their tour of New Zealand tomorrow with coach Tim Neilson concerned the team hasn’t had much action off the field in the last two tours [...read more...]

It would be remiss of me not to comment on the approaching Super 14 season. Yes, it may be summer in the Southern Hemisphere but now is as good a time as any to start [...read more...]

Follow the 2010 Aussie Open Final as Federer takes on Murray.

Today is the 26th January and is AUSTRALIA DAY. Despite loathing Australians I am a fan of Australia Day as it reminds me of one of our greatest cricketing victories against the old foe. Today [...read more...]

Ozy Mandias completed his first Tauranga Half Ironman last Saturday and in the process convincingly beat previous champion Kieran Doe and defending champion Duncan Milne. Unfortunately it wasn’t a fairy tail result with Ozy being [...read more...]

Dear New Zealand Cricket
RE: BLACK CAPS COACHING POSITION
I understand that your organisation is looking  for a new coach for the Black Caps. Following the debacle that was the second test in Wellington, where the batting line [...read more...]

The 6 greatest football goals of all time. Hard to list them as there have been so many great ones but here are my six of the best. Thanks to the Guardian Newspaper for the [...read more...]

BOND IS BACK!! In a move that will excite both New Zealand cricket followers and women in general, Bond is back in the Black Caps to play Pakistan early next week. His pace bowling is stuff [...read more...]

I may have only been 4 years old when the All Whites last made it to the World Cup, (Spain 1982) but I am still excited by the massive football game on this Saturday. New [...read more...]