Olymp-clinically Obese

With the Vancouver Winter Games now over it’s London’s turn to take on the Olympic challenge. In 877 days the capital will be immersed in an Olympic fervour. For most of us living in London the games will be incomparable to anything we’ve experienced before. World Cups, Tennis Championships and Golf Tournaments will fade into obscurity under the glare of the Olympic torch. Or this is the promise.

Despite the magnitude of the games, Londoners haven’t taken the event to their hearts yet. This can be blamed on one thing: too much hype.

We won the Olympic bid in July 2005 (the 7/7 attacks infamously followed), come summer 2012 we will have known about the London Olympics for 7 years.

Every week since our successful bid various news items related to the games have bombarded us. Even the Beijing Olympics were viewed (in British broadcaster’s eyes) as a prequel to London rather than its own Olympic Games. Since then we’ve had Boris Johnson wiff-waffing and numerous handovers including one this week (how many times can one thing be handed over?). No matter what the event, a seven-year lead up will inevitably cause overkill.

To make matters worse a vast majority of the press has been negative. Not only have we been over fed the Olympics; we have been over fed all the bad stuff. We’re olymp-clinically obese.

The only way to recapture our hunger and get match fit is to go on a diet, to shove everything Olympic related in the freezer until summer 2012 when our appetites will be suitably whetted. Londoners more than anyone want a successful Games, we just don’t want them rammed down our throats.