Brekkie Boy

Let's see how the World Cup goes first.

Even in the stadium it didn't really have pride of place. Should have been where the Olympic Bell was fairly high up in the stadium, but it was practically at ground level. This is becoming an issue though with the almost standard 360 degree enclosed stadiums now. The Birds Nest got around it though with the cauldron on the edge of the roof, even though I suspect half the people in the stadium wouldn't be able to see it.

Durban couldn't even put together a Commonwealth Games with six years notice, never mind an Olympics with a years notice - and in doing so have probably guaranteed they won't be hosting the games in the near future.

Been a joy to relive London 2012 this weekend - they've basically played out the official DVDs on screen over the last few days with the directors cut of the Opening Ceremony and seven and a half hours of games actions featuring plenty of presentation from the BBC at the time too. Unsurprisingly the Closing Ceremony is left off the repeat agenda. One thing though that really stands out, and it is nothing we didn't discuss at the time, is the cauldron. One of my favourite lightings ever but was a huge shame it didn't shine bright over the city - and even when the athletics stadium opened it was basically shoved in a corner and we saw it far more on the stadium screens than in place in the stadium.

As much as costs needed to be reduced it does feel now it's a process of secret deals and backhanders with cities rather than an open bid.

Surely clearing the calendar incase Tokyo 2021 has to go back another year. Indeed I think they'd almost be better off announcing that sooner rather than later to allow federations to reschedule all the events they moved from 2021 to 2022 back again, and therefore take the risk of cancellations and crowd restrictions still being a factor next year. Hopefully though we'll have progress to beat this disease later this year, but even then I think for the Olympics to have athletes at the top of the game there is an argument to postpone.

Agree with the logic of postponing Birmingham for 4 years. Hamilton hosting in 2026 instead of 2030 would just be annoying (I feel the same about LA 2028 and kind of hope if Tokyo doesn't happen they'll rejig things so LA happens in 2032!) . Is a real shame Singapore has yet to host the Commonwealth Games - they would be a great host city.

Just to add Seven are screening two shows reflecting on Sydney 2000 later this month - think the first is a replay of the ceremony and the second is highlights from the games themselves.

It won't move because we know these events follow the money, not the morals. If it did though relocating the Winter Games to Japan would make the most sense given what is happening with the summer games - an absolute last resort if Beijing lost hosting rights and Tokyo 2021 couldn't go ahead would be to have both games in Japan in 2022.

Can't help but feel for the ceremonies team in particular with the delay. Sadly likely their plans will have to be pretty much ripped up unless a vaccine is widespread by next summer.

The cauldron looks like a poor imitation of the 2016 version. Not a fan of these small cauldrons at all though understand the environmental reasons behind it. Has to surely be a compromise solution though - and in the grand scheme of things I suspect the cauldrons impact on the environment is negligible compared to all the people flying in and all the waste they generate.

Remains to be seen if it happens though - so often the reality of needing a football team to be the anchor tenant changes any plan for a purely Athletics venue.

See BT Sport have the UK rights again, though last time that was basically just rebroadcasting the Youtube streams (so the world feed). They really made a massive mistake not partnering with the EBU, though maybe the EBU didn't want them considering the main federations did their own thing instead. Still a shame we can't quite have the Eurolympics that Europe deserves, but maybe one day the two will come together.

One of the things which annoyed me about the 2012 legacy, and perhaps this is true of all Olympic Games, is there didn't seem to be a legacy of having the ability to host a future Olympic Games. Naturally most venues are downsized but more crucially spaces around them become urbanised or used for other purposes, so what was a functioning Olympic Park in 2012 may not be so suitable for the event in the future. However with that said we're clearly have a starting point, though I'd say the 2040s rather than 2030s would be best to target. The UK should really be aiming to host such events once every generation - we waited far too long after 1948.

In reality the games are always much more enjoyable than they are in theory and it is a shame the awful closing ceremony has overshadowed an otherwise excellent games - the Gold Coast was a great host and exactly the sort of city that should be hosting these sort of events.

Yes, I think Adelaide is the only major Australian city not to host. Alternating between the UK and Australia isn't going to be sustainable in the long term for the games which should still have a future if only they can get people to host it. I think clearly with the Gold Coast and Birmingham to follow (and to an extent Glasgow too) there has to be a focus on not building loads of new venues for the Commonwealths and hosting in cities and areas which can adapt relatively easily to host the games, and that perhaps is the real Gold Coast legacy. I would hope if anything the Gold Coast inspires New Zealand to put a bid in - timing hasn't been quite right in the past with the focus on the Rugby World Cup then the Christchurch Earthquake but 2026 would be perfect for them. As good a job as Australia do it would be nice it it was more at least another 16 years until they hosted again.

Such a shame the EOC has screwed this up and unless it merges with the European Sports Championships it's future doesn't look that promising which is a huge shame as Europe should be able to sustain both a summer and winter version of a continental games.

P.S. What would be good to see is Britain putting more effort into raising the profile of the sports they can host - certainly be good to see Short Track and Curling have a prominent World Championships in the UK. I guess some of the freestyle/snowboard events could probably be hosted too.

I don't think it would be considered in Britain's interests to do it if we couldn't do the whole thing though, and if Lillehammer were to host anything I would think the IOC would prefer everything there - or at least in Norway. Hopefully the recent games have opened up the possibility of smaller hosts once again. Sadly just think nature lets us down in terms of hosting - I'd have thought if anywhere in Scotland was capable of at least holding a sliding track then they'd be moved to install one by now considering our recent Skeleton success and relative long term interest in Bobsleigh.

Must say I loved the handover segment - actually the closing ceremony as a whole was one of the best for years. Seems this year the organisers remembered to keep some of their ceremonies budget for the end too.

A road cycling team. This report is such a farce - it admits they have no evidence to back up the claims but basically goes ahead with the accusations anyway. Seems they're using the logic "there is no smoke without fire" rather than the legal process of "innocent until proven guilty".

In the same way they've always covered such events - live coverage as the action happens then evening highlights. It's in exactly the same time zone as Pyeongchang so suspect the coverage will pretty much be scheduled the same - live on BBC1 overnight and in the morning, live on BBC2 at breakfast and then extended coverage in the afternoon followed by highlights in the evening. The BBC have full rights to the games so can offer every broadcast event live too.

Scotland were due to host Scottish Ski & Boarder Cross Championships this weekend but the event was cancelled due to the snow. That is why we could never host the Winter Olympics!

Well that was a pointless exercise.

Eurosport really dropping the ball on this one - not only has the Eurosport Player disappeared off many devices since these rights were won their parents battle with Sky last year means none of their extra channels are being broadcast on any Sky platform across Europe and in Italy even Eurosport 1 & 2 have been pulled by Sky at the last minute and replaced by a version (from Russia I think) not screening the Olympics. http://www.a516digital.com/2018/02/eurosport-confirms-winter-olympic-pop.html And a good general overview of the rights situation: http://deadline.com/2018/02/eurosport-international-broadcasters-kick-off-transformative-2018-winter-olympics-1202280408/