18 Days in August, an Olympic Blog

Paula Radcliffe - not once, but twice she failed to finish a race in which she thought she was the gold favourite (only to herself and many of her unfortunately gullible compatriots). To top it all off, the whole media manipulation surrounding her (again, in the UK only, as this is a non-story in the rest of the world where real athletes exist) was sickening. From the let's-pretend-it's-Diana's-death-all-over-again brigade (any chance to break out the white hanky and tears) to her cries of victimhood (Boo hoo it's so hot in Athens - we'll make sure we change the climate to accomodate you next time Paula) to her anticipated tell-all in one of the quality British tabloids (Paula's Olympics Nightmare! How Brave Paula Will Fight On!), the whole story would be laughable if it didn't occupy the majority of the British coverage for days on end. Bottom line is that real athletes win in the Olympics - just making records in controlled conditions in races of your choosing doesn't cut it, and neither does blaming the race conditions that all other athletes toil under. Time to get the pity party out of here and stop hogging that spotlight - there are many real athletes in Athens that actually deserve it.