There’s no such thing as an even playing field when it comes to the big stars in sport and Team GB were always going to do everything they could to get Mo Farah on the plane to Tokyo.
He is one of the iconic British Olympic athletes and if he says he thinks he can get fit enough in the next few weeks to compete for another gold medal, they’re going to bend over backwards.
That’s what has happened to arrange a 10,000 metres race specially for him to reach the qualifying time – despite the official trial having passed without him achieving it.
Farah is getting the red carpet treatment.
It’s an invitational race in Manchester with pacemakers to help him do it.
There’s a big part of me that doesn’t like it but, as I said, he’s a track legend and has brought so much publicity to the sport over the last decade.
I suspect he’ll probably hit the time but he won’t contend for a medal.
He seems convinced he can bridge the gap between himself and the top runners at his distance in five weeks but I reckon that will be beyond even Mo Farah.
And then the question arises – was it all worth it for him to bow out as an Olympian amongst the also-rans?
You’ll not find a more complicated and sensitive issue in sport than transgender athletes competing at the Olympics.
It’s a debate that crosses into so many areas – not all of them sporting.
Transgender weightlifter Laurel Hubbard has been selected by New Zealand to compete in Tokyo and to say it has divided opinion is an understatement.
Everybody has followed the rules set by the International Olympic Committee but my gut reaction is I have a lot of sympathy for fellow competitors who aren’t at all happy.
We would not think it fair that a 15 year old competed in an race or team for under 12s or in para sport an athlete having to compete with another who has the use of more limbs. We have categories for a reason – fairness. It’s really very simple. Bodies not feelings compete
— Sharron Davies MBE (@sharrond62) June 24, 2021
There is a scientific school of thought that the physical advantages of growing up as a male are more significant than the IOC gauging testosterone levels before their first competition.
In a sport as dependant on raw power as weightlifting, this just doesn’t feel right.
Talking of not feeling right, if you take away the Scotland v England thing I can’t help but feel sorry for Ben Chilwell and Mason Mount after they were the only ones deemed to be close contacts of Billy Gilmour.
It does stretch credibility to think that a catch-up on the Wembley pitch and then again in the tunnel should trigger Covid-19 quarantine, while Scottish players who have shared a camp with Gilmour weren’t affected.
Grim news about Billy Gilmour and the positive test. He was brilliant but is anyone else struggling to understand why 2 England players are isolating but no-one from Scotland?
— Dan Walker (@mrdanwalker) June 21, 2021
Watching the game on Friday night it felt worlds apart from the strict conditions we competed in at our World Championship bubble in Canada a few weeks ago.
Everything seemed much more relaxed.
Scotland players were able to go across to one of their former team-mates, Kenny McLean, who was working trackside for TV and high-five him one after the other.
The worst of the lot, though, is the way in which the rules are being bent to breaking point to get VIP guests into Wembley for the Euro semis and finals.
Apparently the scientists have been wrong all along – clearly Covid will be leaving the VIPs alone now!
