Monday, August the 23rd, 2004
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One of the great pleasures of the Olympic Games is listening to the commentators on radio and television. For one thing, there are all those obscure, minority activities for which arcane and incomprehensible terms have been coined. Listen to a skeet shooting or, in the Winter Olympics, curling commentator and you will be lucky to understand a word of what they say. Those whose remit is more familiar—athletics, gymnastics—have to do their best to compete. Thus, yesterday, I was delighted by the BBC pundit who noted, with due gravitas, of an entrant in one of those events where athletes run repeatedly around a track, “I've been dubious about her hydration”. One can only echo that sentiment. For my part, I know that dubiousness about hydration is always to the forefront of my mind when watching people in numbered vests running around with that gleam of demented concentration in their eyes.