YOUR ARMCHAIR GUIDE TO THE OLYMPICS ON TV
The BBC is turning its schedule
over to the Olympics, serving up 300 hours of sport. Here, top presenters have their say on why
the Games are so special and who will be the star of Sydney
SUE BARKER
Sue Barker will be covering her second Games. Her fondest Olympic memory is watching Mary Peters triumph in the 1972 pentathlon: "Watching Mary was a moment that inspired me as a young girl."
Barker believes the star of Sydney will be teenage Australian swimming sensation Ian Thorpe, who is aiming for four gold medals in the pool.
SHARRON DAVIES
Sharron Davies first tasted the Olympic atmosphere in Montreal in 1976 as a 13-year-old swimmer. She won a silver medal in 1980 and came out of retirement to compete at Barcelona in 1992.
Her Olympic hero is the American swimmer Mark Spitz, who won seven gold medals at Munich in 1972.
She is another to plump for Ian Thorpe as the athlete of the 2000 Games: "He is an incredibly natural talent. He is a huge, lollopping figure with huge hands and feet."
STEVE RIDER
Steve Rider believes Sydney will repair much of the damage done to the Olympics in 1996: "Atlanta was devoid of any class, sense of occasion or national identity. Sydney has the climate and the facilities." Rider's one to watch is Matthew Pinsent, the British rower who is the powerhouse behind Steve Redgrave's chase for an historic fifth gold medal.
TECHNO FILE: GOING ROUND THE BEND
Technology refuses to stand still and the BBC's latest gadget, a remote trackside camera that can travel around corners, will follow the 200m sprint races from start to finish.
For the first time, viewers will be able to follow the athletes stride
for stride as they battle round the top bend of the track, and the camera will be in place to give a unique view of the lung-bursting finish as they cross the line in Sydney's Olympic Stadium to
earn their medals.
A DAY DOWN UNDER
7am: Olympic Report - Steve Rider and Sue Barker present a
round-up of what you have missed while you were sleeping.
8am: Olympic Grandstand - as the evening competition begins Down Under, there will be coverage of all the major finals.
12.30pm: Olympic Report - a comprehensive round-up of all the day's action.
7pm: Day Down Under - John Inverdale, Clare Balding and Steve Cram review the day's action, catch up with events and look
forward to the new day's competition.
11.30pm: Olympic Grandstand - Hazel Irvine, Roger Black and Sharron Davies present the new day's live action.
If all that is not enough, British Eurosport will be on the air with coverage from Sydney 24 hours a day.
ARMCHAIR OLYMPIANS NEED TO BUILD UP STAMINA
OUR athletes may think they have it tough, but they should spare a thought for those they leave behind. While they focus on their medals, millions of us will be struggling, bleary-eyed, to focus on the televised target shooting at 4am. Whose bright idea was it to stage the Olympic Games in the southern hemisphere anyway? Some of us have jobs to go to.
Who cares what time of night Steve Redgrave goes for his fifth gold medal? We'll be there, rowing every stroke with Steve and the boys, telling our partners afterwards to shoot us if they ever again see us going anywhere near the remote control button at 2am.
The BBC, having been marginalised in the sporting arena by satellite TV, have secured the Olympics and, boy, are we going to know about it. If you thought the world snooker championship suffered from overkill, then you ain't seen nothing yet. The Beeb will be showing more than 300 hours - that's right, 3O0 hours - of action from Sydney.
There's no Des Lynam this time, but Steve Rider, Sue Barker, Sharron Davies, John Inverdale et al will be doing their utmost to ensure the insomniacs among us have no chance of nodding off
The BBC's Olympics policy is simple: show everything, all the time. It's a veritable television marathon with only the briefest
of respite for the armchair Olympian as viewing begins at midnight, stretches throughout the night, and includes regular bulletins through the day.
Forget matchsticks, it will take railway sleepers to prop your eyelids open as the action turns to synchronised swimming.
Munich 1972: tragedy strikes
A terrible day nearly
30 years ago changed
the life of David Coleman.
By Derek Clements
SEPTEMBER 5, 1972, is a date that changed the Olympic Games forever. The world's sporting elite were in Munich to take part in the 20th Summer Games when eight Palestinian terrorists forced their way into the athletes' village and took a group of Israelis hostage.
The terrorists demanded that Israel's government release 200 Arab prisoners and provide a flight for themselves
and their hostages from Munich to Egypt. Under the watchful eye of special police units, the kidnappers and their hostages left the Olympic village and boarded two helicopters.
The botched rescue operation carried out by the German police - determined not to give in to terrorists Ð ended in a bloodbath. During the shoot-out at the airport, nine Israeli athletes, one policeman and five of the terrorists lost their lives.
And there to witness it all was a disbelieving David Coleman, the doyen of athletics commentators. He had travelled to Munich expecting to see a celebration of sport; instead, he found himself telling the nation about an unimaginable tragedy.
Coleman found out about the crisis while enjoying a rare day off. There was a hammering at his door; it was fellow commentator Ron Pickering, telling Coleman that he was needed urgently. As he arrived at the BBC studio, the horror of the events that were taking place quickly unfolded. The terrorists, from the Black September group, had already killed two Israeli coaches.
What followed was the longest 48 hours of Coleman's broadcasting career:
"I was live on the air at 12 and remained on and off for the rest of the day.
Time just came and went. Deadlines came and went."
By late afternoon, it appeared that 5pm was to be the moment when the deadlock would be broken. "Troops were scattered all over the roof overlooking the Israeli compound where the terrorists were holding the hostages. They had their guns out and were crawling along. It looked like 5pm was going to be the attack," Coleman said. "I remember watching the big finger of the clock wobbling around with 30 seconds to go. But nothing happened."
Coleman ended his broadcast thinking there had been a peaceful end to the crisis. On the way back to his hotel, he learned of the shootings, but there was no news of casualties. He went on air at 6am the following day, still unaware of the scale of the tragedy. "They kept the story quiet until 5am, when they admitted what had happened," he said.
The Games continued at the insistence of IOC president Avery Brundage, who vowed: "The Games must go on." Mark Spitz, the American swimmer, won seven gold medals and Olga Korbut charmed the world, but Coleman didn't have much appetite for it. "It changed the whole world in every sense," he said.
Sunday Times
