Flat Bag
If you are of an age and anything like Mrs W and I, you would have found great enjoyment watching the gymnastics at the Tokyo Olympics.
The Games of the XXXII Olympiad were a roaring success with team Australia outperforming expectations across a range of sports.
The coverage was exceptional, the commentary outstanding, the Seven Olympics App superb, and the positivity expressed in times of great challenge - inspirational.
The highlight, however, was the sportspersonship displayed in the most competitive environment imaginable. Success was acknowledged as competing at the Olympics or making a final just as much as those who celebrated a medal.
The gymnastics is always a favourite with the trials faced by champion athlete Simone Biles front and centre of commentary and opinion with most supportive of her decision to rest. Alas there was still room for significant negativity and a significant lack of tolerance regarding Biles' mental health challenges and, although we have come a long way, our ignorance and lack of empathy continues to create more problems than it solves. The disgruntled "you have let the team down" attitude has no place in modern sporting culture, nor any culture, because the consequences can be permanent.
Of course, our goal is to win, but it is also to celebrate achievement and camaraderie in all its forms. In the year 2000 at the Sydney Olympic Games gymnastics sprung to fame, and it was not just the efforts of the athletes. Comedians Rampaging Roy Slaven and HG Nelson better known as the duo Roy and HG made us laugh out loud long before lol was acceptable lingo with descriptions of movement and tumbling and passes and routines that have never been forgotten.
So much so that Mrs W and I added descriptions to the commentary at the Tokyo Olympics to make each other laugh and to assist the special comments team. The twins' faces reacted quizzically to our apparent bizarreness. The floor routine was where Roy and HG made their mark with their show, The Dream, a hit with fervent Aussie humour perhaps a little risqué, yet witty enough not to denigrate the incredible skills of athletes.
"Corkscrew, hello boys, close the door," Roy taught us. "Party date, tool bag, flat bag," HG announced.
And then there were "Russians with landing problems" - for every Russian entered in the program with connotations of space exploration and the Cold War the inspiration for the humour.
"Battered sav, crazy date, spinning off the flute, twinkle in the sparkling position." I laugh as I type. "Goose - we haven't seen one of those...," they concluded.
The Dream was the humour that many of us had grown up with. The Late Show had been our go to, and Roy and HG expanded on comical observation and self-deprecation, calling movements in a manner which explained them perfectly. It still has us laughing to this day.
In 2032, Brisbane will host the Summer Olympic Games. Fortunately, federal Sport Minister, the Hon Richard Colbeck, was on hand in Tokyo to ensure the Games were brought home - an essential traveller in COVID times to secure the bid.
Skateboarding, surfing, BMX freestyle, and sport climbing were tremendous additions to the schedule. Who knows what Roy and HG thought ... flashbacks to our own BMX bandit Nicole Kidman made the event even more memorable. Netball must be next, and cricket should return after trialing in 1896 at the Games opened by the King of Greece. It then featured at the 1900 Paris Games, where England demolished a French team ironically made up of Englishmen.
But now it is time to plan for 2032 with sports that could see the return of the comedic duo to the commentary team. Perhaps we should introduce long forgotten events to whet their appetite. Can you imagine Roy and HG bringing to life in our living rooms the long forgotten pursuits of tandem cycling, tug-of-war, plunge for distance, underwater swimming, 100m freestyle for sailors, dueling pistol, stone throw, all round dumbbell contests. What about the arts events: architecture, literature, music, painting, and sculpture. What an opportunity it would be for Brisbane to reignite the competitive flame with the once popular swimming event, the 200m swimming obstacle race - "you know it makes sense".
Even without masses of spectators at the Tokyo Games they were a triumph. The energy and focus returned solely to our athletes whose performances were elite and matched with poise, dignity, and grace showcasing to the world that although our humour can, at times, be challenging to understand, it is simply the way we roll.